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Reply | Swans target expensive midfielder.
at 12:30 28 Jan 2025
This is exactly the profile we should be looking at. His estimated wage according to salary sport is £1,900 a week. He fits the age profile, salary profile etc. Never seem him play and frankly I've never heard of him but, assuming proper scouting and due diligence has been done (big assumption I know) then this feels sensible and a step in the right direction from a financial and, hopefully, a football point of view. |
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Thread | Finances around sale of Matt Grimes
at 10:29 28 Jan 2025
This is my take on the finances surrounding this sale and also the Swans as a whole. Matt Grimes is reportedly on £20,000 a week, a staggering £1,040,000 a year. When employers NI and pension contributions are taken into account this could easily cost the club £1.2 million a year. The total turnover of the club in the last accounts was £21.5 million. This means that Matt Grimes accounts for 5.5% of the total income of the club. That is an amazing £1.80 of every general Category A ticket sale goes to Matt Grimes. or £3.10 of every replica shirt sold goes to Matt Grimes. These figures are just incredible and not sustainable for any business.
For the club to be truly sustainable and to survive long after my days, I have been a fan since the mid 70's (had a poster of Herbie Williams on my bedroom wall) the club needs to stop this madness. In reality wages should be no more than 75% of turnover (Premier League average is 66%). If we use this 75% as benchmark then total wages should be £16 million. Allowing for other staff, manager, coaches, marketing, U21 wages etc this would leave an estimate of £13 million to spend on players wages, if we take off employers NI and pensions say gross wage to the players are £12 million. If we assume a squad of 22 supported by the U21's then this means an average weekly wage of £10,500 a week.
This means that wages of £20,000 are really exceptional and the player has to be outstanding with a large sell on fee as a makeweight. I would respectfully suggest that Matt Grimes is neither exceptional nor going to attract a massive sell on price and therefore we should do everything in our power to push any price up but not ruin the deal. Matt Grimes needs to go for the long term benefit of our club.
On footballing matters we need to readjust our aims for the immediate future, these should be set at retaining our place in the Championship and changing the whole coaching set up to one that actually encourages our youngsters. Swansea City cannot compete with Birmingham, Stoke, Leeds etc on a financial basis so we need to change tack and get young, hungry overseas and local talent on the pitch playing the same way throughout all age groups.
Any investment from our owners goes directly to transfer fees, any transfer fees received is reinvested in the playing squad, this reinvestment will include young teenage prospects and not necessarily first team players.
This is a long term strategy but the only way I see for my team to be sure to continue providing professional football for my children and grandchildren to support.
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Reply | Darling, Cabango & Cullen : Contract Latest
at 10:49 16 Oct 2024
What I can't wrap my head around is why can't they seem to make a strategic decision, as painful as that may be. In this case the 'obvious' thing to do would be to accept Darling is going, Cullen can stay or go doesn't really matter, Cabango we need to stay. Therefore as a business surely you would accept this position and offer Cabango what we need to to get him to stay. We will have to fund this increase for 6/7 months until Darling (and probably Cullen) leaves which will free up cash to finance the Cabango deal going forward into next season.
It just appears that the current owners are not being proactive in making decisions just letting things happen and fire fighting when it all goes tits up. This is no way to run any business let alone a football club. |
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Thread | Pubs in London to watch Wales England
at 19:20 22 Nov 2022
I’m going to be in London next week and was wondering if anyone knew of a pub that would be mostly Welsh to watch the game. The Welsh Club is obviously sold out so any suggestions would be gratefully received. |
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Reply | Russell Martin ‘ This is what we have got’ No more help from the USA !
at 14:50 21 Aug 2022
I am no fanboy of Martin or hater of Cooper but my take on the position is that the Americans have been very clear that Swansea must be self financing. They have not taken significant sums of money out of the club, nor have they input megabucks, they are just being true to their word and their aim is, I believe, for the club to become self sustainable in the Championship with the hope of a cup run or promotion push some seasons. This is not the most exciting business model but is a financially realistic one. The manager's remit is to develop players to sell on at a profit and also to maintain our Championship position. If you accept this you can see how Martin is a decent fit for these owners. His possession based style of play showcases players in a way that is attractive to Premier League clubs and therefore can lead to player sales at significant profits. Also Martin is happy to be here as he has the time, with limited expectations from the owners, to implement his ideology. This seems to be a perfect fit for the owners and the manager. Us as fans, however, are left in a kind of no man's land with the owners looking for financial stability and the manager perfecting his ideology, neither of these have promotion as their main target, so for the foreseeable future I see us a mid table/ lower end Championship team but one that has low level of debt and is in no danger of bankruptcy. Not the most exciting position to be in but that is how I see the position the club is in at the moment.
The question for us as fans is do we accept this or do we push for change. I've been a fan since the early/mis 70's and maybe as I'm older I'm more concerned about the club surviving financially than I am about chasing the Premier League, however I do want to be entertained so Martin has a bit of work to do as far as I'm concerned. |
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Thread | Last night shows where we are as a club
at 09:19 27 Apr 2022
Firstly I thoroughly enjoyed an exciting game of football last night, initially I was disappointed we didn't win but it's also a game we could have lost at the end. For 60 minutes we went toe to toe with one of the best teams in the division and were comfortably ahead, even if 3-0 flattered us. The game changed with the substitutes Scott Parker could bring on, in particular Robbie Brady & Keiffer Moore. To be fair to Russel Martin we had no one of that calibre on the bench. That coupled with the fact the Obafemi & Piroe were knackered meant that there was no out ball and no way to relieve the pressure, the ball just kept coming back. A draw on reflection was probably a fair result but it shows the large gap in squad depth between us and the teams at the top. Our starting 11 is a match for most if not all teams in the division, however we do not have a squad deep enough to compete at the top of the table . This will not change as the business model being pursued by our owners is for the club to be financially self sufficient, this will mean that every year we will sell our best player (Piroe probably sold in the Summer) and only part of this income will be reinvested in the squad as the rest will be used to cover expenses etc. This will mean that we cannot buy a squad as good or as deep as Bournemouth's and realistically we will be a mid table Championship club that once every few years flirts with the playoffs, or relegation or a cup run. This is where we are as I see it. You can say this is a lack of ambition but actually I see it as a way to ensure we have a football club in 20 years time that I can take my grandkids & great grandkids to. I first went to the Vetch in 1973 and for the majority of the time I have followed the Swans I would have been thrilled to see us in the Championship (or Div 2 as was). There is more to football than the Premier League and watching the Swans play good football in an exciting game (like last night) knowing we are financially secure, is fine by me.
Spending money doesn't guarantee success (look at Everton) but it can rob a city of its football club (Macclesfield, Bury etc) so I for one am happy with the current approach and look forward to supporting the Swans for many years to come. |
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Reply | People's first game?
at 23:04 2 Mar 2022
1974 or 5, Herbie Williams' testimonial. Aged 9 or 10. Been a few times before but remember that game for some of the stars playing, several of whom went on to play for the Swans, Jimmy Rimmer, Leighton James, John Mahoney |
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Reply | Will there be another fire sale this deadline day?
at 17:33 28 Jan 2019
This is far too sensible a post to be on here. Like you I would be disappointed to see Dan go, however, if Leeds can stump up £10 million, they will also be able to offer him a significantly larger salary. The truth is we cannot compete with that, so it may be that Dan will be off. The reason we cannot compete goes back to the last 3, or so, seasons and we are now reaping the whirlwind of paying large sums for bang average players in a desperate attempt to stay in the PL. I would not expect to see any of the £10 million (if that is what the deal is) be reinvested in the squad as the number 1 priority (like it or not) is to make us more financially stable.
This is all a bit piss poor but it is the reality of our situation. The truth is we lived beyond our means and now have to restructure financially. I do not think the yanks are taking money out of the club (I may be naieve and they haven't help themselves in not showing the Trust the management accounts) but this is the price we pay for stupid gambling with the future of the club in trying to stay in the PL. It is like a gambler making riskier and larger bets chasing his losses. This is what Huw et al did with the Bony, Ayew transfers and this is the price we have to pay. |
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