Quinny Rips into Portsmouth and West Ham

[MyTown]

Some good points from the Sunderland Chairmen here IMO:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/s/sunderland/6918707.stm

[gustavo]

so spending 5.5 million on Kieran Richardson isnt wasting money in any way.

[DmanDmythDledge]

so spending 5.5 million on Kieran Richardson isnt wasting money in any way.
I think you completely missed his point.

[MyTown]

I think you completely missed his point.

I think so too..................

[gustavo]

My point was that he is going on about people wasting money although in a different context, he is talking about teams that are already in the Premiership that are spending big money on players that that big 4 wouldnt want ,well he is after spending big on a player that very few teams in the Premiership would want

[jebus]

Don't think its any business of Quinns what West Ham and Portsmouth pay for their players. Couldn't Colchester have said that Sunderland pushed the prices of Championship players up last year and gone on their own little rant? I'm sure if Sunderland were to maintain their Premiership status they wouldn't be worried about pricing newly promoted Championship clubs out of the market

[MyTown]

Fair points Gustavo & Jebus

NQ & the boy Roy are probably smarting because it seems players they were after (Nugent, Baines) just couln't face the prospect of life on Wearside and the Lithuanian guy was looking for crazy money for the Hearts keeper.

However, there is a valid argument that middlemen (agents) are bleeding clubs (and their supporters) dry.

Yes it's market forces - but what happens if the market loses interest in the product, if supporters are no longer willing to pay the shocking money it costs now to see the EPL? Would you be confident that supporters would go back to following their "local" teams, and that professional football would find a new equilibrium again? I wouldn't.

'Arry & Curbishley are both long time personalities in the English game, but their Chairmen (and they're not alone) seem to have decided that it's a case of win at all costs - literally.

As an Arsenal supporter, the thought of Freddie Ljungberg pocketing a cool £9.4m (sterling not euros!) for his time with West Ham at 30 years of age and with a recent track record of injury is little short of outrageous - but hey - that's the market for you:confused:

[jebus]

West Ham do seem to be paying ridiculous sums of money in wages, Lucas Neill anyone, but they'll live or die by that. I'd be worried about a few potential Leeds situations happening in a few years alright, as I can't see how Spurs, Portsmouth, Everton, West Ham etc. can keep paying wages the way they are if they don't break the top 4.

As for agents, the sooner they are thrown out of the game the better, but you'd have to look at the players, and who they get advising them. Some of them seem to go for the most dubious characters, and in my opinion it's up to the clubs to say they are not dealing with them anymore. I think it will eventually happen alright, but there will have to be a few high profile cases along the lines of Leedshow long we'll have to wait though is another matter

[shedite]

What a ****. West Ham spent 23.5 million (Parker, Faubert, Bellamy, Wright, Ljungberg) so far this summer, and sold 20 million (Reo Coker, Harewood, Benyaoun, Konchesky, Mears). They also got 4 players off the wage bill (Sheringham, Carroll, Newton and Tevez ). Net 3.5 spent

Mr Quinn has spent 5.5 on Richardson, 5 on Chopra, and 3.5 on Halford, and but for being rejected, would have spent double that on Baines, Gordan and Nugent.

How are West Ham overspending???

As for the wages, West Ham learnt their lesson last time they got relegated. Think it was Don Hutchinson who was being paid £40,000 a week and wasn't playing. All contracts now have clauses where players are free to leave if relegated or if they stay their wages are halved.

Yes I am a West Ham fan!

[EalingGreen]

West Ham do seem to be paying ridiculous sums of money in wages, Lucas Neill anyone, but they'll live or die by that. I'd be worried about a few potential Leeds situations happening in a few years alright, as I can't see how Spurs, Portsmouth, Everton, West Ham etc. can keep paying wages the way they are if they don't break the top 4.

As for agents, the sooner they are thrown out of the game the better, but you'd have to look at the players, and who they get advising them. Some of them seem to go for the most dubious characters, and in my opinion it's up to the clubs to say they are not dealing with them anymore. I think it will eventually happen alright, but there will have to be a few high profile cases along the lines of Leedshow long we'll have to wait though is another matter

I've a great admiration for NQ, and I daresay there's a kernel of truth in what he's saying, but why is he saying it now? I mean, it's hardly going to cause Pompey or WHU to revise their transfer policy, is it? In fact, it only risks p issing off other clubs whose future coperation he might need, either to buy players from, or sell to.

My guess is that Sunderland having been knocked back on a number of signings (Baines, Gordon, Baird, Robinson etc), perhaps he feels the need to "manage expectations", either to the Board (i.e. why he can't sign players) or the Supporters (why he won't)?

And as for the quality/value of SAFC's own signings, others have mentioned
Richardson as being expensive, but he is an England international, coming from a club with a huge squad of superstars. Tbh, I think £5m for Chopra is a much bigger gamble (at least on the basis of seeing him at Loftus Road last season, where he looked decidedly average)

P.S. On a technical point, Spurs don't actually pay huge wages (at least Big Four, or WHU level!). The club is profitable and well run and backed by ENIC, the vehicle of billionaire British Tax Exile, Joe Lewis. In fact, ENIC look to be trying to take the club out of its plc status by buying all the shares back, which suggests they're v.confident for the future. So whilst we might see another Leeds, as a Spurs fan, I'm confident it won't be us!

[kdjaC]

His point is noone in their right mind will play for Sunderland, so blaming someone else is a football thing.

They a PL club so they should pay PL wages ffs offering 15k a week whens someone else offering 60k then complaining about and blaming the other club.

kdjac