The Footie Thread

[Red devil]

Blimey that’s a first for 2026 on the forum

There were some good points made, deserves respect

 

[PaulMdj]

There is nothing stopping them from trying

If Palace want to offer Guehi or who over £400k a week then away they go

If they want to build up a brand new 60k stadium then there is nothing stopping them

The reality is that there is always a bigger club that will be able to take the best players - and thats valid for every club bar one

Doesn’t matter how big a stadium or how much money a club makes - top players will always be at risk of wanting to leave to one of the very best teams in the world

They can’t currently offer Guehi that though, that is Alex’s point, they need to increase income, one method being via a bigger stadium.

Newcastle are currently hampered by ffp etc, so it’s not so simple as saying there’s nothing stopping them from trying, there is lots stopping clubs and you know that.

Wanting to play for top Clubs for footballing reasons and financial reasons are 2 vastly different things.

Some people are just happy to keep the status quo.

 

[Swango1980]

There is nothing stopping them from trying

If Palace want to offer Guehi or who over £400k a week then away they go

If they want to build up a brand new 60k stadium then there is nothing stopping them

The reality is that there is always a bigger club that will be able to take the best players - and thats valid for every club bar one

Doesn’t matter how big a stadium or how much money a club makes - top players will always be at risk of wanting to leave to one of the very best teams in the world

I thought you made a point a few posts ago about how well these clubs were run, to which I do not disagree.

Now your point is Palace could offer a player £400K a week or just go out and build a 60k stadium, just as easily as I could decide to go out and buy a new putter. Surely it is not as simple as that. If Palace went out and gave a player £400K a week, would that immediately put them under PSR pressure, and general financial pressure (thats well over an extra £10 million a year out of the club). How much does it cost to build a 60k stadium, in London?

If Palace COULD do those things easily, I bet more and more top players WOULD join them and stay with them. See Man City as an example. However, I don't think it is viable at all. If they did do that, they would probably quickly become a terribly run football club.

 

[Lucifer MorningStar]

I thought you made a point a few posts ago about how well these clubs were run, to which I do not disagree.

Now your point is Palace could offer a player £400K a week or just go out and build a 60k stadium, just as easily as I could decide to go out and buy a new putter. Surely it is not as simple as that. If Palace went out and gave a player £400K a week, would that immediately put them under PSR pressure, and general financial pressure (thats well over an extra £10 million a year out of the club). How much does it cost to build a 60k stadium, in London?

If Palace COULD do those things easily, I bet more and more top players WOULD join them and stay with them. See Man City as an example. However, I don't think it is viable at all. If they did do that, they would probably quickly become a terribly run football club.

The other issue for someone like Palace is going and building a 60k seater stadium is the surrounding community. Holmesdale road just doesn’t have the physical space to accommodate that, so the options then become moving out of the area completely which would massively affect the local community spirit of the club, or buy up the houses in the surrounding area and demolish them for redevelopment so again affecting local community.

That part of London/Croydon isn’t easy to just get space in without a huge financial outlay and disruption to local residents.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

They can’t currently offer Guehi that though, that is Alex’s point, they need to increase income, one method being via a bigger stadium.

Newcastle are currently hampered by ffp etc, so it’s not so simple as saying there’s nothing stopping them from trying, there is lots stopping clubs and you know that.

Wanting to play for top Clubs for footballing reasons and financial reasons are 2 vastly different things.

Some people are just happy to keep the status quo.

The financial rules debate will go around and around and there is never a right answer or one that suits all clubs because it’s impossible

A club with a rich owners wants to spend their owners money

Clubs that don’t have rich owners want clubs to bring in their own money

There always seems be this idea that everything needs to be fair or some level playing field when it’s just not possible in any walk of sport

 

[Hobbit]

Where do the extra 30,000 fans come from for the super new stadiums? If the current stadium is full for every home game, capacity needs increasing. But 30,000? How does a club change the habits, and spending patterns amongst the local populace to generate an extra 30,000 through the gates?

An extra 30,000 might generate £20,000,000 through the gates but what does £20,000,000 generate in new players and increased wages?

There’s a lot more required than a bigger stadium, and ffp stops the speculation needed to make that leap.

 

[PaulMdj]

The financial rules debate will go around and around and there is never a right answer or one that suits all clubs because it’s impossible

A club with a rich owners wants to spend their owners money

Clubs that don’t have rich owners want clubs to bring in their own money

There always seems be this idea that everything needs to be fair or some level playing field when it’s just not possible in any walk of sport

You’re right, this isn’t about ffp and no one wish’s to revisit it, but your last paragraph, imo, sums up why ffp was brought in as it maintains the status quo for the top clubs.

 

[chrisd]

Its been quite a week. We do have ambition, we are always looking to improve on and off the pitch and generally the Palace support appreciates the Board in that regard. We , like any other club, are tied by the PSR and with such a small income compared to some clubs (We take in financially less than 20% of what Arsenal do every home game) we simply can't compete.

Olise was off to Chelsea, but we managed to get him to sign a contract extension with the promise/guarantee of starting every week and a small increase in wages BUT had to include a release clause. He is a brilliant footballer, ripping it up almost every week for Bayern in Germany, so he was always going to leave us.

Eze has doubled his wages (on 90k with us). He has gone to the PL winners (likely). We invested most of his fee on 3 new players this season, including Pino a regular Spain starter.

Guehi has played 4-5 years for us. We took a risk and took a 20 year old out of the Chelsea squad for £20m 5 years ago. He is a brilliant centre back, future England captain, classy on and of the pitch. He has gone from 65k a week with us to 333k a week. He has joined the most successful PL club of the last 10 years to play for Pep. He was out of contract, what can you do apart from enjoy his time playing for Palace and wish him well?

Mateta. 18 months left on his contract. 28 years old. If someone will give us £40m for him I will drive him there and trust me, Glasner would pay for the fuel. He misses far more than he scores. We can replace him with an upgrade for less than £40m and secure someone for 3-4 years.

Glasner won the FA Cup and gave us the best moment of our lives supporting the club, but in polls on-line 90% of our support have the hump with him more than our board. His comments were unprofessional, sulky and bratty (just like refusing to make sub against Sunderland) and he is likely looking for a payoff and a chance to go to a 'bigger' club with rumours Spurs want him. Parish has imo played a blinder and basically told him if he wants out he needs to quit. His press conference on Friday pre the weekend games could be box office.

All I hope is the dust settles soon., Our injured players are due back starting this week (Munoz and Sarr back at the weekend). Selhurst will be lively and little old Palace might just surprise a few people.

Nothing to disagree with there, and some insights into the Club I hadn't thought of. I've seen Palace since the 3rd Division and up and down the leagues, so a 36,000 capacity would bring in much more revenue than 24,000 does and will improve the view from the stand. I don't see us as a team to win the title, battling against the Man Cities of the league, but I've been content to see the best players of the Premier League at Selhurst over the years and watched some great football on occasions that I've had season tickets.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

You’re right, this isn’t about ffp and no one wish’s to revisit it, but your last paragraph, imo, sums up why ffp was brought in as it maintains the status quo for the top clubs.

I have always been in the belief that the best teams should be the ones that run the best, have the best scouts , develop their players , bring their own income outside media deals etc etc

But a genie was opened in 1992 and the sport became very much centred around money

A club will try their best to satisfy their fanbase and what they want to see

If that’s trophies year on year out then a club will do all it takes to try and achieve that

But as with all sports there always levels

Clubs can build a huge stadium but that might end up being a negative

They can throw loads of money around but we all know that’s never any guarantee

The fanbase will on the whole let the club know what they want to see their club do

 

[PaulMdj]

I have always been in the belief that the best teams should be the ones that run the best, have the best scouts , develop their players , bring their own income outside media deals etc etc

But a genie was opened in 1992 and the sport became very much centred around money

A club will try their best to satisfy their fanbase and what they want to see

If that’s trophies year on year out then a club will do all it takes to try and achieve that

But as with all sports there always levels

Clubs can build a huge stadium but that might end up being a negative

They can throw loads of money around but we all know that’s never any guarantee

The fanbase will on the whole let the club know what they want to see their club do

Isn’t that what City are doing? They may, in some people’s eyes, used shortcuts but if those owners can afford to make it a 5-10yr project rather than 30-40yrs, why not.

LPool were not as you describe in that state when FSG came in, but you had the infrastructure, it’s totally wrong to expect a Club to build from the bottom up to compete with the best without throwing money at it.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

Isn’t that what City are doing? They may, in some people’s eyes, used shortcuts but if those owners can afford to make it a 5-10yr project rather than 30-40yrs, why not.

LPool were not as you describe in that state when FSG came in, but you had the infrastructure, it’s totally wrong to expect a Club to build from the bottom up to compete with the best without throwing money at it.

We can go through specifics of every single club and find multiple nuances

A club’s infrastructure is built from somewhere , and for most it’s built from the success that they have had through their history

It’s easy to say” well if their owner” can afford to take a shortcut then why not , what about the clubs who don’t have owners that can afford to take a short cut - is it fair on them ? So it becomes a case of someone having an owner with more money than the rest - how is that then fair

An owner can throw all the money they want building stadium to help bringing in more revenue and income - there is no restrictions on how an owner can spend on infrastructure

 

[PaulMdj]

We can go through specifics of every single club and find multiple nuances

A club’s infrastructure is built from somewhere , and for most it’s built from the success that they have had through their history

It’s easy to say” well if their owner” can afford to take a shortcut then why not , what about the clubs who don’t have owners that can afford to take a short cut - is it fair on them ? So it becomes a case of someone having an owner with more money than the rest - how is that then fair

An owner can throw all the money they want building stadium to help bringing in more revenue and income - there is no restrictions on how an owner can spend on infrastructure

I’ll leave it with your quote from a previous post:

“There always seems be this idea that everything needs to be fair or some level playing field when it’s just not possible in any walk of sport”

 

[Arthur Wedge]

I’ll leave it with your quote from a previous post:

“There always seems be this idea that everything needs to be fair or some level playing field when it’s just not possible in any walk of sport”

In a sporting sense

 

[Swango1980]

I wonder how many people actually knew, or cared, that Brooklyn Beckham had fallen out with his parents? I was completely oblivious to it anyway.

However, in an attempt to let people know that all he wants is "peace, privacy and happiness", he releases a 6 page Instagram post outlining all the reasons he doesn't want to make up with his mum and dad. Now, I'd imagine, most of the world knows about it, and it is all over the front pages.

One thing is for sure, his post has earned him huge exposure within the public eye. I'm guessing that could earn him a fortune is social media followers and potential exclusive interviews going forward.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Okay, I'll ask, what the heck is this doing on the football thread .

Even VAR could see this is wrong

(it's a world of social media and I believe in that world, this has been grumbling along for many months, it's been huge. In my world, nothing, nada, zilch. I'm happy in my world )

 

[Swango1980]

Okay, I'll ask, what the heck is this doing on the football thread .

Even VAR could see this is wrong

(it's a world of social media and I believe in that world, this has been grumbling along for many months, it's been huge. In my world, nothing, nada, zilch. I'm happy in my world )

Fair point. I only clocked it as a football fan, rather than a social media fan. I only know the people involved due to David Beckham

 

[Swingalot]

@Swingalot really interesting post . The only point I would challenge is your belief of how easy it will be to replace Mateta for £40m. Clubs have spent far more than that last summer to get strikers half as successful as him. He might frustrate you but he does deliver better than most

If you'd like to drive him to the Hill Dickinson Stadium, doesn't it just roll off the tongue , then I'll pay for your fuel

A very good point and tbh if he signed a contract extension I would be happy with that. However, he was proper rubbish for his first 12 - 18 months with us and I do feel we have shown him to the wider world a little bit inflated than his talents deserve. I guess I'm putting a fair amount of faith in our recruitment team with my statement, but they normally do ok. With a new manager and possibly a new system, we do have Nketiah as well and there is 100% a decent player in him, just not in the system we currently play under OG.

 

[Swingalot]

I did see that and it's a good step. The trouble is football is getting bigger and bigger and 36,000 will only be low to mid table. Leeds and Forest are expanding to 50k. Palace need to be run amazingly well to compete but unless you've got a 50k plus ground it'll be an uphill task.

I fully expect Brentford and Bournemouth to fall away soon, due to the numbers.

Although I agree 36k is not a massive number, the money and revenue at clubs is not the paying public, its the corperate/sponsor/entertainment offering and the use of the facilities outside of match day. Our new stand only adds 10k to the capacity, but once it is built it has a huge footprint that will dramatically increase our revenue. It will be miles behind some clubs still, but it will make a big difference to us. We also are 'lucky' to be in London, where prices and revenue are over inflated. Look at the ticket prices in the new Fulham riverside stand every week, they are nuts! £135 a ticket and higher. The thing I like about our ground plans is that the new stand will host the tourists and high spenders and that will leave the rest of the ground to retain its 'character'. Give me a leaking roof, no room to move in the concourse and the smell of onions and pints over a padded seat and a plasma screen all day long!

 

[Arthur Wedge]

Although I agree 36k is not a massive number, the money and revenue at clubs is not the paying public, its the corperate/sponsor/entertainment offering and the use of the facilities outside of match day. Our new stand only adds 10k to the capacity, but once it is built it has a huge footprint that will dramatically increase our revenue. It will be miles behind some clubs still, but it will make a big difference to us. We also are 'lucky' to be in London, where prices and revenue are over inflated. Look at the ticket prices in the new Fulham riverside stand every week, they are nuts! £135 a ticket and higher. The thing I like about our ground plans is that the new stand will host the tourists and high spenders and that will leave the rest of the ground to retain its 'character'. Give me a leaking roof, no room to move in the concourse and the smell of onions and pints over a padded seat and a plasma screen all day long!

To try and bring in the revenue that makes a difference on new stands does mean corporate packages and visitors etc get the full package and it does have an affect on atmosphere and very rarely brings in more “fans” as such

 

[Swingalot]

To try and bring in the revenue that makes a difference on new stands does mean corporate packages and visitors etc get the full package and it does have an affect on atmosphere and very rarely brings in more “fans” as such

I agree, but the stupid thing is that is not what I would want as a visitor. I once got taken to Upton Park through work. We meet in the pie and mash shop, had a few pints in the local pub, watched the game and afterwards had a curry round the corner from the ground. A proper day out.