According to a table just published Saints were way down the list of the big payers in the Premier League in 2015/16 although that may change slightly this coming season.

Saints are shown as being 14th out of the 20 Premier League clubs when t comes to wage bills in a table published by the Express today.

The table however does show that paying big money does not guarantee success wit Leicester City being 4th from bottom in the table and Chelsea top.

Above Saints are many clubs who did far worse than us last season, including relegated Aston Villa and Newcastle and teams like Sunderland and West Brom who battled relegation.

According to the report Saints wage bill was a mere £55 million last year with the biggest weekly wage being the £55k we forked out to sign Charlie Austin.

Most teams till you got to the top six of in order, Chelsea £215 m , Man Utd 203m, Man City £194m, Arsenal £192m, Liverpool £152m & Spurs £110.5m are paying between the £55million of Saints up to the £75 million Newcastle splashed out to get relegated.

Lowest was Bournemouth who are listed as £25 million with Juan Burbe as the highest earner on £55k a week and Artur Boruc second on £32k.

The table shows a couple of things, the first is that you do need to spend to get up in that top six and that is the task that Saints face in the coming years, Spurs wage bill will increase as will their stadiu capacity in a few years time and that will mean they can pay more wages.

The top six are paying more and that does keep them up there.

But it also shows that although big money can guarantee you a Premier League place, it still needs someone spending it wisely, Leicester are of course evidence of that, as are the two clubs who finished above us and got relegated.

Money is a big influence but all it is buying you is a better chance of success not a guarantee.

You would expect Saints to move up the table a little in the coming season given that we have signed so many players to new long term deals and perhaps a couple of more to follow.

However so far we have lost Gaston Ramirez whose wages where fairly substantial as well as Pelle, Mane and Wanyama, all of the latter three would probably have been on more money than the two signings so far Hojbjerg and Redmond.

This table should show Saints supporters that our strategy is correct, we cannot take on the top six in terms of wages, to try to do so as leeds United found out would take us close to bankruptcy and there is the matter that as we found with Ramirez, you may pay big money for a player but that doesn't mean he is worth it.

So I am happy with this table, yes of course I would have preferred to see Saints higher up, but it satisfies me that in today's game although money is king, what really matters is what you do wit it not how much you have.

We have a good foundation, a good strategy and can move forward confidently, there are targets for the season that we should aim for and there are those that might prove beyond us, however as Leicester City showed anything is possible.

Photo: Action Images

LanzaSaint added 09:57 - Jul 25 We have improved our league position in each of the last seven seasons. Can any other club match that, or does that make us the best managed club in England?
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ExiledSupporter added 10:32 - Jul 25 The truth of the matter is that we are a club with a sensibly limited ambition, to sustain our earnings from the PL deals (TV, prize money from final league position, merchandise etc) and sufficiently successful to ensure full ticket sales by playing attractive football. But not to force our way into the top four by running a significant deficit on transfer acquisitions and sales. Transfers in must be paid for by sales out and this generally precludes marquee signings who are actually strong additions to the squad (unlike Ramires and Osvaldo for instance) But without a significant step up in quality in players who form the spine of the team (keeper, centre back(s), No 10 and a 20 goal per season striker we won't make it into the top 4 or 5. And yes we still have to develop our own which seems to have been less successful recently. I strongly approve of signing proven players on longer term deals eg. VVD, Long, Tadic (a No 10 waiting to happen?), Bertrand etc and presumably raising us a little higher up the wages table; but the truth is that we are a selling club that tries to backfill with talented bargains (sounds good, I agree) in a market where there is decreasing opportunity to do so. Not least because we have lost key backroom staff and very talented managers to other clubs who can or are prepared to pay more in salaries (aka demonstrating their ambition to these individuals) where we either cannot or will not. On the other hand our circumstances now are so totally different from 6 or so years ago that nobody can really seriously complain about our transformation during this time

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ChristchurchSaint added 11:51 - Jul 25 Agree with most of what you say, Exiled, however I personally reserve judgement for a while on our youngsters. Two years ago, we were excited about some of our youngsters coming through, they did quite well in their respective leagues, and we had some good prospects. Last season, Koeman decreed that they were not good enough, so why? Did they not make the required improvement, or was it a case that he didn't want to play them? If the rumours were true, then probably the latter. I do not advocate throwing several youngsters in at one go, but as we can name 7 subs for a game, hopefully we will see 1 or 2 in a match day squad, and if things are going well during a game, then put one or both on and see if they are up to it. If we can coax the youngsters in gently, along side the wise older heads, then who knows.

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saintmark1976 added 11:55 - Jul 25 Nick. Is the table you refer to taken from the Daily Express? If so I would not read too much into it. After all how can they possibly know details of individual players wages?
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abingdonsaint added 13:49 - Jul 25 As I have mentioned before, it's also worth noting that the STCC rules, which are part of FFP, limit the level of wage increase we are actually allowed year on year. Because of our rapid rise from League One, our base figure is considerably lower than the biggest clubs, and even the likes of Everton, who are PL ever-presents. This is also one of the reasons Leicester and Bournemouth are down the list. So, even if Katerina decided she would push the boat out, and not saying she should, she would not be allowed to. Those giving the club stick for selling need to bear this in mind sometimes....

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BoondockSaint added 14:28 - Jul 25 While the FFP rules are supposed to stop teams spending more than they should, in reality they help keep the status quo for the usual group at the top. It limits how much a new rich owner can spend on a little team to challenge them. If the crooks running football had any intention of making things "Fair " there would be a salary cap.
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