Budget barmy in bargain basement Barcelona. Are we heading for Serie B? (4 Season save).

[Sonic Youth]

The Pjanic deal wasn't a football deal that's for sure!

[InkyFM]

Just read all this and love it @Jimbokav1971 ! I have been watching and playing along with Lollujo Barca save as well , just finished my first season. I was going to use my save as my first time writing in this community but noticed you also had been posting about it! I will still post my updates and we can compare, the first season transfers were difficult, selling players wasnt the issue, signing replacements was! Only 5% of transfer revenue allocated to the budget means its essential in the first season to rely on free transfers and loans, Surprisingly in the 2nd season they give you a big budget, you wouldn't think the budget would be high at all with all the debt at the club!

[Jimbokav1971]

26 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

The Pjanic deal wasn't a football deal that's for sure!

That's a brilliant article, but call me stupid, (no, really call me stupid), I can't understand how this deal, or set of deals allows either club to show the deal as a profit of anything more then £12M. 

Arthur Melo from Barca to Juve for £72M.
Pjanic from Juve to Barca for £62M.

I understand that the deals weren't done as a swap deal + £12M to Juve, (but they might as well have been). 

Even ignoring that, I don't understand from the article how Barca were able to show £60M immediate credit and £72M repayments staggered over the length of the contract. It just doesn't make sense. 

Let's assume for a minute that the deals are kept separate, (so that the value we're talking about here is £72M 1 way and £60M the other way rather than just £12M 1 way), but then there is the question of how the deal is structured. Because of FM, we're all quite well-versed with how the basics of football deals might be structured, often with small amounts paid up front, but with larger amounts paid in instalments later down the line. That makes complete sense and I'm sure it makes sense to all of you. 

I have a bit of a financial background so & can understand a P&L sheet and what I would have expected is to see an income line for income received, and a 2nd income line, (at the bottom of the page), for future income agreed but not yet received. In exactly the same way I would expect to see a line in the loss column for transfer fees paid, but also a 2nd line, (again, lower down), for future transfer fees that are still to be paid. Effectively 1 line has the club as the debtor, (owing money), and the 2nd line has the club as the debtee, (being owed the money). 

Profit. 

Gate receipts. 
Sponsorship.
Transfer fees.
Prize money.
TV income. 
---------------------- 
Actual Income. 
Future transfer income. 
Future TV income. (The reason I include future TV income here, to muddy the waters a little, is that I'm aware that Barca have mortgaged some of their future income in some way, whether it be season ticket sales or TV income or something like that). I will try and find a link to whatever it was, but they have basically taken cash up front for selling the rights to future guaranteed income that will instead to paid to the the group providing the mortgage. I'm pretty sure that both Leeds, Rangers & Sunderland did something like this during their period of financial woes. They were effectively taking money for future season ticket sales for the here and now, refusing to understand that when they then didn't have this income the whole thing would come tumbling down on top of them.)
Projected income.  
-----------------------
Total Income. 

 

Loss.

Player wages.
Staff wages. 
Ground maintenance.
Transfer fees.
-------------------------------
Actual expenditure. 
Future transfer expenditure.
Any additional monies owed. 
Projected expenditure.
-------------------------------
Total Expenditure.

So you would effectively have 2 positions shown on a balance sheet. 1 showed you how much cash the business had available. 
The 2nd position showed you what the position would be once all debts, (in and out), were taken into account. 

Actual Income +.
Actual Expenditure -.
------------------------------
Current position. 
Projected Income +.
Projected Expenditure -.
-----------------------------
Projected position. 

To only look at the projected position would be stupid, in exactly the same way that it would be stupid to only look at the current position rather than the projected income. 

Let me get back to my point though. If both the £60M from Juve to Barca is to be paid over the course of the contract, (and it is), and the £72M from Barca to Juve is to be paid over the course of the contract, (and it is), how does either club show this as actual income rather than money owed? 

This is just basic and football just can/'t run like this. You can't count future money owed as immediate income if you are not going to do the same for future expenditure. 

This is a FT article on the same transfer and it says "Under bookkeeping rules both clubs could book it's handsome supposed selling price as immediate income". I just don't understand that. That has got to be a football thing rather than a bookkeeping thing. It just can't. 

https://www.ft.com/content/0fc895b3-91a1-4ab9-a490-64e1df973a1d

I've been trying to find an article confirming what I wrote previously about Barca mortgaging future income, but I can't find anything so it's possible I'm wrong. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, InkyFM said:

Just read all this and love it @Jimbokav1971 ! I have been watching and playing along with Lollujo Barca save as well , just finished my first season. I was going to use my save as my first time writing in this community but noticed you also had been posting about it! I will still post my updates and we can compare, the first season transfers were difficult, selling players wasnt the issue, signing replacements was! Only 5% of transfer revenue allocated to the budget means its essential in the first season to rely on free transfers and loans, Surprisingly in the 2nd season they give you a big budget, you wouldn't think the budget would be high at all with all the debt at the club!

Glad to have you along for the ride. Feel free to post a link to your thread in here because I'm sure that anyone interested in reading my drivel will also be interested in yours. 

Yeah, I wondered about the 2nd season, (and I'm not up to date with the @lollujoupdates partly because I didn't want to see who he had signed. I saw that he had signed Abraham and 2 Chelsea defenders and I didn't want to be influenced. I think I will only continue watching once I'm ahead of where I've watched. That's why I was so chuffed with the Moukoko signing. I have genuinely never heard of him before. 

I'm not concerned about a big 2nd season budget though because my eyes will very much be on the prize that is clearing the debt. I also think it's realistic. There is enormous income in La Liga and especially Barca & R.Madrid and I don't think it would take much to get things back on track even though the initial amount of £1.2B is scary big. I have got rid of 8 biggish earners, (and there are 4 more I want out the door), and those 12 players leaving fix a fair chunk of the problem, added to which of course, I don't think I did very well in the transfer fees I got for Dembele & Coutinho but I was just so desperate to get them off the books. (I'm hoping you did much better). 

[InkyFM]

13 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Glad to have you along for the ride. Feel free to post a link to your thread in here because I'm sure that anyone interested in reading my drivel will also be interested in yours. 

Yeah, I wondered about the 2nd season, (and I'm not up to date with the @lollujoupdates partly because I didn't want to see who he had signed. I saw that he had signed Abraham and 2 Chelsea defenders and I didn't want to be influenced. I think I will only continue watching once I'm ahead of where I've watched. That's why I was so chuffed with the Moukoko signing. I have genuinely never heard of him before. 

I'm not concerned about a big 2nd season budget though because my eyes will very much be on the prize that is clearing the debt. I also think it's realistic. There is enormous income in La Liga and especially Barca & R.Madrid and I don't think it would take much to get things back on track even though the initial amount of £1.2B is scary big. I have got rid of 8 biggish earners, (and there are 4 more I want out the door), and those 12 players leaving fix a fair chunk of the problem, added to which of course, I don't think I did very well in the transfer fees I got for Dembele & Coutinho but I was just so desperate to get them off the books. (I'm hoping you did much better). 

 

I will attach the link to this reply, give it a read if you would like. I am only on to Episode 7 of the @lollujo as I am doing it the same way as you are. Dembele went to Man U for £10m but I somehow managed to get £60m for Coutinho, I missed out on a lot of my pre contract targets unfortunately, Ive also never heard of Moukoko. I agree with you that the main aim is the debt and I will be looking to be very shrewd in the transfer market

 

 

 

 

 

[Sonic Youth]

Amortisation is the football contract / price spreading cost word your looking for (might already know).

I think the deals you’ve done are far better than what the board did. Consider the Suarez deal…

[Sonic Youth]

Oh, and the Pjanic-Artur swap deals thing was basically a way for the board not to have to pay out of their own pockets.

[Jimbokav1971]

2 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

Amortisation is the football contract / price spreading cost word your looking for (might already know).

I think the deals you’ve done are far better than what the board did. Consider the Suarez deal…

Amortisation is a word that I've head before but not used & didn't know the meaning of so thanks. 

[Jimbokav1971]

2 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

Oh, and the Pjanic-Artur swap deals thing was basically a way for the board not to have to pay out of their own pockets.

Yeah I read that, but it shouldn't be allowed. 

[Sonic Youth]

2 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Amortisation is a word that I've head before but not used & didn't know the meaning of so thanks. 

American sports do this a lot with their contracts too.

[Sonic Youth]

2 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Yeah I read that, but it shouldn't be allowed. 

They stuffed up when they bought Coutinho after Neymar left. That’s where this all really went off the rails.

[Sonic Youth]

6 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Amortisation is a word that I've head before but not used & didn't know the meaning of so thanks. 

It’s also a big issue for them as players like Griezmann still need to go through this but are not at the club anymore 

[Jimbokav1971]

I'm just trying to work out what our squad depth will be in all positions so I know what I have to keep an eye out for. 

GK. If I can sign a top GK on a free then I will do so to sell Ter Stegen, but it's not a priority. 
Ter Stegen is contracted until 2025 so that will see us through the 4 seasons of this save. He's 29 though so ideally I would like to cash in on him at some point and replace him with  a younger GK. He is a glove wearing God though.
Arnau Tenas is 20, a product of our Academy and has a 1+2 contract. 
Iñaki Peña is 22, a product of our Academy and has a 1+3 contract. 

DL. I would like to sign a left back even if we sign Luke Thomas. 
Luke Thomas is 20 and in on loan from Leicester. I like him and will hopefully extend the contract or even sign him on a permanent deal. 
Alejandro Balde is 18, a product of our Academy and has a 4 year contract. 
Àlex Valle is 17, a product of our Academy and has a 1 year contract. I have just signed him to a long-term contract.
Arthur Zagré is 20 and is joining on a free at the end of the season. 

DR. I'm happy with our right backs.
Sergiño Dest is 21 and has a 3 year contract.
Moussa Wagué is 23 and has a 1 year contract. I want to extend his contract but he's unhappy with how I have been treating everyone. 
Álvaro Sanz is 20, a product of our Academy and can also cover centre-mid.
Guillem Jaime is 23, a product of our Academy and can also cover left back. 
Sergi Rosanas is 21, a product of our Academy and has a 1 year contract. 
Calum Chambers is 27 and is joining on a free at the end of the season. He's going to be 2nd choice to Dest.

DC. I definitely want to sign a centre-half, and ideally 2. 
Piqué 6'4" is 35 and earning approx. £500,000 per month. He's got 2 and a half years on his contract so I really need someone to take him off our hands. 
Umtiti 6'0" SELL is 28 and earning approx. £900k per month. He's got to go but I will need to keep playing him to generate interest. 
García 6'0" is 21 and going nowhere as he is contracted until 2026. 
Mingueza 6'0" is 20 a product of our Academy and although he's out on loan at the moment, I'm hoping he will play an important part next season.
Comas 6'3" is 21, a product of our Academy and contracted to 2024. 
Comas 6'3" is 17, a product of our Academy and contracted to 2023. I need to extend his contract. 

MC. I think we're ok in the middle for the moment, but I will always be in the market for a freebie. 
FdJ is 24 and contracted until 2036. It will take a bog bid to prise him away. 
Pedri is 19, a product of our Academy and contracted until 2024. I really need to extend his contract now!
Pjanic has got to go. He has to go soon!
Busquets needs to go.
Araujo 6'3" is 22 and was initially earmarked as a centre-half, but I like him in midfield, (although he can cover centre-half). I've just extended his contract for 4 years.
Riqui Puig is 22, a product of our Academy and contracted to 2025. 
Gavi is 17, a product of our Academy and if I can keep developing him we will have a player on our hands. 
Billy Gilmour and Ronaldo Camara are 20 and 19 respectively and joining at the end of the season. 

ML. & MR.I think the way we're playing with 1 wide player inverted, I think there needs to be a certain amount of crossover between the 2 positions. I'm definitely in the market for a wide player or 2. 
Fati is 19, a product of our Academy and I have just signed him to a 4 year contract while keeping his wage under £500k per month, (which will be my limit). 
Trincão is 22 and contracted until 2025. I will look to play him next season and then sell him because he's on £608,000 per month.
Ilias Akhomach is 17, a product of our Academy and contracted until 2023 so I need to extend his contract. 
Ángel Alarcón is 17, a product of our Academy and contracted until 2023 so I need to extend his contract. 

SC. We're a little short up front at the moment so ideally I will bring in another to add some more depth. 
Aguero is going nowhere and although he's 33 I will look to extend his contract past 2023. 
Moukoko is 17 and contracted until 2025. 
Fabian Luzzi is 17, a product of our Academy and I have just signed him to a 2+3 deal. 
Arkadiusz Milik is 27 and arriving on a free at the end of the season. 

[Sonic Youth]

2 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Calum Chambers is 27 and is joining on a free at the end of the season. He's going to be 2nd choice to Dest.

[Jimbokav1971]

10 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

errrr. Well in my defence..... he was free, can cover at centre-half so is good to have on the bench and...... have I mentioned that he was free?  I'm not used to managing at this level. 

[Carambau]

Lovin´this! Good transfers in the january window! gonna follow your road here

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, Carambau said:

Lovin´this! Good transfers in the january window! gonna follow your road here

Thanks very much. 

Yeah, the 2 that arrived in Jan (Moukoko & Thomas), seem to be decent. Need to do the prep work to add some more in the Summer now though. I think Chambers, Gilmour & Camara will be reasonable and I think Milik will be good. 

Edited September 21, 2021 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, Sonic Youth said:

If you didn't like Chambers, just wait to you see the Swansea player I've got my eye on! 

[Jimbokav1971]

Barca. Feb 2022. 

La Liga. The only shot that Sporting Gijon had on target was the penalty that they scored to hive them the win. We had chance after chance but just couldn't score past their GK who was obviously MOM. Sometimes you have to take it on the chin, move on and make sure that it doesn't affect the next game. Thankfully we collected maximum points in out other league games, with Aguero increasingly influential. He now has 24 goals and 13 assists from 34 appearances at DLF. I know I could get more out of him in other roles, but I think this is the role that suits the team best.

Champions League. This was a really tough test. Their left winger, (Berghuis), scared the life out of us early on until I corrected things tactically. Aguero gave is the lead in the 2nd half and although I switched to a 4411 we still couldn't hang on and they levelled it up. I'm happy with the draw because they bossed the middle and the end of the game and if anyone deserved to win then it was them. Because I usually just press the IR button, I'm really enjoying having tactical control during games. I'm sure I make some mistakes, but getting this squad to play 442, (or even 4312 Asymmetric AM(L) as the game calls it), has been well worth the effort. 

Finances. Our bank balance is now , (down £9M on the previous month), and our net debt is , (which is a reduction of £13.7M from last month). 

[Jimbokav1971]

Good news. Mar 2022. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Club vision. Mar 2022. 

Someone should have gone to Specsavers. 

[karanhsingh]

This is a great read so far. I have read a lot about the problems at Barca and some of the decisions have been baffling. None more so than Pjanic Griezmann and Suarez. 

Question where is Yusuf Demir? He should be there on loan with an option to buy. 

Also when you say the game starts in May 2021 it still simulates a season in game right? So the promotions and relegations and also the league and cup winners would differ from real life? 

[Jimbokav1971]

31 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

This is a great read so far. I have read a lot about the problems at Barca and some of the decisions have been baffling. None more so than Pjanic Griezmann and Suarez. 

Question where is Yusuf Demir? He should be there on loan with an option to buy. 

Also when you say the game starts in May 2021 it still simulates a season in game right? So the promotions and relegations and also the league and cup winners would differ from real life? 

Thanks very much. 

I don't know anything about Suarez, but have discussed the Pjanic transfer itself but not really touched on the fact that he was/is being paid £1,172,000 per month until the Jun 2024. 

Griezmann is simply mind-blowing. £2,574,000 per month again until Jun 2024 and to be honest they are lucky that Atletico agreed to bail them out by taking him off their hands at full wage cost immediately. 

Yusuf Demir is here on loan and yes he is 5.0 PA, but I've never heard of him, (I just don't play this sort of save ever so never learn about real life Wonderkids). I only know about Fati & Pedri from real life rather than the game. I wondered about the reason for the Demir loan, but I couldn't see any future deal in place and couldn't see a clause. Maybe I need to have another look. I would sign him, (if the price was right), simply because he's a 5.0 PA player. 

OMG  there is a future fee option of £10M. I had missed that. 

We have £25M in the transfer kitty and I think it makes sense to sign him.

@karanhsinghyou have just been promoted to Chief Scout 

Edited September 21, 2021 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Generational Talent? Youth Intake Day. Barca. Mar 2022. 

It's been a while since I've seen one of these. 

I like the look of Mendy and the only think that stands out as not being good is his Natural fitness and his Workrate. He's 15 years old. He's very good for 15 I think.

You might say that there is no point me signing any of these because we're only here for 3 and a bit more years, but old habits and all that.... They will ALL be signed to Youth contracts and some will be signed to pre-contracts. 

ps. I'm loving the Nationalities and 2nd Nationalities. 
pps. I'm loving the Determination, (apart from Arribas and Arjona)
ppps The Workrate is looking pretty decent too, (but typical that Mendy isn't included in that). 
pppps  

Edited September 21, 2021 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

8x 5.0 PA players. Barca. Mar 2022. 

Something I like doing in my normal saves is keeping an eye on any 5.0 PA players that we have. I know this is only going to last 4 seasons, but why break a habit of a lifetime. 

Pedri & Fati are my favourite players in the squad and are both already called at International level. 

Luke Thomas is a young player I liked in real life when I saw him so it seemed a no-brainer to sign him when I saw he was available. 

Gavi seems the next one on the La Massia midfielder conveyor belt. 

Akhomach and Alarcon are both inverted wingers, (what other type would you find at Barca), but luckily for me they play on opposing flanks. 

Moukoko has been my only permanent signing to go through so far. 

Mendy is the "Generational Talent", from todays youth intake.

Demir is only showing as 4.5 PA. (He was 5.0 until very recently). 

Nico is only 4.5 PA, but I've taken a little shine to him and as soon as I can get Busquets in a taxi we will see more of him. 

If you add in Ter Stegen, a back 4, FdJ and Aguero, that's basically not far off the squad that I plan on taking forward over the next 3 seasons. Yes of course I have other players coming in, but I have still somehow managed to turn a 4 season long Barca save concentrating on finances, into a Youth Development save.  

[Jimbokav1971]

Barca. Mar 2022. 

La Liga. It appears that we haven't been playing well, but actually we absolutely battered Pamplona, (that's Bilbao right?), Levante and were by far the better team against Atletico but Suarez scored a dodgy pen and a really good solo strike to earn them a share of the spoils. We're 2nd but we have a game in hand on Atletico in 1st, but R.Madrid have closed on us and are now just 2 points behind us. I could really do with Suarez getting injured for a few games, (he's a machine). 

Champions League. I was really pleased with this performance and result. They had caused us a few problems in the 1st leg so I set-up to deal with that and it worked a treat. Early on I noticed that Daley Blind was playing at left centre-half in a 4 rather than a 3/5, so I swapped Moukoko onto him and asked Aguero to play on our left of the 2, (but in their normal roles). It worked a treat because although Blind coped well in the air, he couldn't live with the athleticism of Moukoko, and he basically just ran off him for all 3 goals of a marvellous hat-trick. We were really well set up, but I was delighted that such a simple change had such a big impact. 

The draw hasn't been kind to us with 1st Chelsea and then the winners of Liverpool and Benfica in the Semi's if we get through. There are no easy teams at this stage though so we will just have to get on with it. 

Awards. 

Finances. We've got  in the bank, (which is a loss of £49M from last month). Net debt is up to  though, (which is an increase of approx. £25M). 

[Rikulec]

30 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Barca. Mar 2022. 

La Liga. It appears that we haven't been playing well, but actually we absolutely battered Pamplona, (that's Bilbao right?)

Nah, it's Osasuna.

[Sonic Youth]

1 hour ago, Rikulec said:

Nah, it's Osasuna.

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, Rikulec said:

Nah, it's Osasuna.

I really struggle with foreign Nations when the names of clubs change. I remember seeing Real Sociedad called Real San Sebastian and I didn't have a clue who they were. It was only when I saw that John Aldridge was on their favoured personnel list that I realised who they were. 

The Portugese teams confuse the hell out of me too. I'm forever calling SLB, Sporting Lisbon, when in fact they are Benfica, (or possibly the other way around). Do you see what I mean? And don't even get me started on the Brazilian clubs! 

I'm not one for use of the editor, but 1 of the many things we are not allowed to discuss in here is an absolute must for me. I don't care about graphics or facepacks or guff like that, but names... Bloomin yes! 

[Sonic Youth]

Tight at the top but locked on for top four and Champions League next season which is important for the debt (where Leeds fell down). Now all that’s left is focusing on how to keep winning until the end of the season!

And on how to keep reducing the debt 

[Sonic Youth]

9 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

I really struggle with foreign Nations when the names of clubs change. I remember seeing Real Sociedad called Real San Sebastian and I didn't have a clue who they were. It was only when I saw that John Aldridge was on their favoured personnel list that I realised who they were. 

The Portugese teams confuse the hell out of me too. I'm forever calling SLB, Sporting Lisbon, when in fact they are Benfica, (or possibly the other way around). Do you see what I mean? And don't even get me started on the Brazilian clubs! 

I'm not one for use of the editor, but 1 of the many things we are not allowed to discuss in here is an absolute must for me. I don't care about graphics or facepacks or guff like that, but names... Bloomin yes! 

Bilbao is easier as they are from Bilbao.

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, Rikulec said:

Nah, it's Osasuna.

 

12 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

You know, I didn't even mean Bilbao because Bilbao are still there. I can't remember who I thought they were, (but it wasn't Osasuna), because for some reason every time I hear the word Osasuna I think of a Japanese City/Football club. I have no idea where this comes from, but it's been that way for years and I just can't help it. 

I also thought for years that Girona was in Italy and although I saw them playing in Spain, I honestly thought it was like Welsh clubs playing in England. It wasn't loads of years ago that I sat down after being properly "triggered" by it again, and searched for Girona on the internet, only to be told that it's a City in Spain.....  Well it's obviously right on the border I said to myself, (as I slowly rocked back and forth humming soothing noises to my frazzled brain). It's about an hour away from the border.  The only problem is that Spain doesn't have a border with Italy. The border it's relatively close to is the Spain/France border. It's a LONG way away from Italy. 

Osasuna isn't in Japan. 
Girona isn't in Italy, (or even France for that matter). 
Real San Sebastian is the name of the City where Real Sociedad play and that's why they name them like that. 
The Portugese clubs.... 
Not even starting on Brazil. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

5 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

Bilbao is easier as they are from Bilbao.

And still called..... A.Bilbao 

[Jimbokav1971]

U19's goal crazy. Apr 2022. 

I haven't been paying any attention at all to the U19's because it's only a 4 season save, but this just caught my eye. 

That means that they are winning their games by a margin of 5.9 goals on average.  

13-0 was the biggest win and Luzzi is top goal-scorer with 63 goals. 

Even better than that, Almeida 6'0" is our 2nd top scorer with 29, and he's a centre-half.  

This is the best stat yet. The U19's scored 44 goals from corners in 41 games. To be honest we don't score many at all in the Senior squad and I was thinking of changing things around. This shows me that there is nothing wrong with the corner set-up. It's the players that are the problem.

Luzzi. 

[corinthiano]

17 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Osasuna isn't in Japan. 
Girona isn't in Italy, (or even France for that matter). 
Real San Sebastian is the name of the City where Real Sociedad play and that's why they name them like that. 
The Portugese clubs.... 
Not even starting on Brazil. 

And Serie B isn't in Spain   (Sorry I couldnt resist)

Long time lurker of your threads, love the attention to detail and the segways you go into when you get into something. This one has been particularly fun, have to be honest, didnt think you still would be winning as much as you are after the January clear out. Eager to see how you finish the season, and even more so what the summer will bring!

[Jimbokav1971]

 

1 hour ago, Sonic Youth said:

Tight at the top but locked on for top four and Champions League next season which is important for the debt (where Leeds fell down). Now all that’s left is focusing on how to keep winning until the end of the season!

And on how to keep reducing the debt 

 

36 minutes ago, corinthiano said:

And Serie B isn't in Spain   (Sorry I couldnt resist)

Long time lurker of your threads, love the attention to detail and the segways you go into when you get into something. This one has been particularly fun, have to be honest, didnt think you still would be winning as much as you are after the January clear out. Eager to see how you finish the season, and even more so what the summer will bring!

I didn't think we would continue to win either. 

To put it in perspective though, (not having played in Spain much ever), I have just won a La Liga game 3-1 against Granada, (who are comfortably 8 points clear of relegation). 

I rotated the whole squad and the ages of my starting XI were as follows. 

GK. Tenas 20.
DL. Balde 19.
DR. Wague 23.
DC. Umtiti 6'0" SELL 28
DC. Almeida 6'0" 18.
ML. Alarcon 17.
MR. Akhomach 18.
MC. Gavi 17.
MC. Puig 22.
SC. Demir 18.
SC. Luzzi 17.

Sub 1. Comas 6'3" 22.
Sub 2. Nico 20.
Sub 3. Mendy 15.

8 teenagers playing in a league game. 

1x 19.
3x 18.
3x 17.
1x 15. 

That's ridiculous. I have never played in a big league where you can win like this. 

Having said that, we have hit a bump...... 

[Edit]

And I should add, that's without my best teenagers playing. Pedri, Fati & Moukoko are 19, 19 & 17 and all 3 make our strongest line-up.

Edited September 22, 2021 by Jimbokav1971

[corinthiano]

I think this somewhat mirrors the real life gap in quality between the top teams and rest in Spain, it's no wonder that the league is routinely won with close to 100 points.

Mind you, Barca drew against Granada a couple of days ago with a much strongerline-up than yours, so maybe its Koeman out, and Jimbokav in

 

[Sonic Youth]

3 hours ago, corinthiano said:

I think this somewhat mirrors the real life gap in quality between the top teams and rest in Spain, it's no wonder that the league is routinely won with close to 100 points.

Mind you, Barca drew against Granada a couple of days ago with a much strongerline-up than yours, so maybe its Koeman out, and Jimbokav in

 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Barca. Apr 2022. 

La Liga. It's a brilliant three-way fight for the title, but just as our rivals start to bang out win after win, we drop points 1st to Real Sociedad and then to Villareal, (who are decent it's got to be said). The problem is that while I might love playing all these youngsters, they are youngsters and they just tend to struggle a tiny bit when the pressure gets cranked up. Just look at the ages of our goal-scorers this month. 17, 17, 18, 18, 18, 17, 21, FdJ, 23. I particularly like the symmetry of Araujo scoring a 93rd minute equaliser in the last game of the night after he scored an injury time leveller against Granada last night. 

If I had to say what was wrong with this team, (other than the inexperience), it's that the centre-backs aren't good enough and that we can't cope in the absence of Aguero. It probably needs to be mentioned again that while Aguero might have scored 26 goals and 13 assists this season, he's not playing to his strengths at all and I have been playing him as a DLF in most games. He would score LOADS more goals if I used him differently, but this isn't all about him and I particularly want to play with 2 up. 

Champions League. We were so close to doing this. We led on away goals for about an hour, but we couldn't hand on and crash out to a very good Chelsea side. 

Records. He's made 2 sub appearances in the league, (without scoring), but Mendy has started to settle in with the U19's where he has scored 6 goals in 9 games playing as a DLF. 

Finances. The board are giving me £110M to spend on transfers next season. Maybe I should go and buy Haaland? (No, that's not how this save is meant to work!)  Let's just say I did have £100M to spend, I certainly wouldn't be blowing it on Haaland, (even though I would love to manage him). If I was going to sign a striker I would be looking for the most athletic right sided DLF I could find, but even then I love the fact that Aguero is playing for us. No, if I had £100M to spend I would probably go out and by not 1 but 2 centre-backs for £50M each. 

I'm not sure how this works. We have cut the debt enormously this year. How can they say we're losing money when the debt is substantially smaller than it was when we started? 

We have  in the bank, (up £6.8M), and our net debt is now , (down £33M), so things are moving in the right direction, (no doubt helped by almost 100,000 fans watching the Chelsea game and the subsequent prize money when we got knocked out).

[Jimbokav1971]

5 hours ago, corinthiano said:

I think this somewhat mirrors the real life gap in quality between the top teams and rest in Spain, it's no wonder that the league is routinely won with close to 100 points.

Mind you, Barca drew against Granada a couple of days ago with a much stronger line-up than yours, so maybe its Koeman out, and Jimbokav in

 

Just look at the timing and the scorer of our goal against Villarreal! 

2 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

 

Oi! you aren't meant to laugh at things like that! 

#KoemanOutJimboIn

[Jimbokav1971]

Barcelona: The toxic battle ripping apart a European giant

Last updated on2 hours ago2 hours ago.From the sectionEuropean Football

When Joan Laporta was elected Barcelona president in March, one of the first things he did was make it abundantly clear that Ronald Koeman did not figure in his long-term plans.

Six months later, he suggested he was on the verge of extending the Dutch manager's contract for a further year.

But six months and two weeks later, it now looks as if the only thing keeping Koeman in the job is the fact he would be due a huge pay-off. And that he is the focus of attention - useful to the board in a time of crisis.

What on earth could have occurred to bring about this lack of balanced thinking from Laporta?

Unsurprisingly, money has a lot to do with it, or in the case of Barcelona, the lack of it.

Let's not mince our words here. Barcelona are skint, potless, brassic, broke. The finances dictate a lot of what is being decided.

But the situation is becoming so tense between the president and the manager that the club are looking for alternatives and, depending on the next few results, they might have to use a big chunk of their small savings to get rid of a manager who does not follow the official line because he feels betrayed.

Roberto Martinez, who wants to continue with Belgium at least until the end of the Nations League campaign, is one of the candidates to replace him.

So how did we get to this point?

Laporta and Koeman met before the start of this season. At the lunch, Laporta asked the Dutchman to give him 14 days to decide whether or not the club would continue to have him as their manager or, to put it a slightly different way, 14 days to see if they could find anyone they fancied for the job more than him.

Koeman's agent, Rob Jansen, summed it up perfectly: "Imagine: I want to marry you, but I have doubts. Give me two weeks to find a better partner. If I can't find the right person, we will get married anyway!"

Barcelona were beaten 3-0 by German champions Bayern Munich in their opening Champions League group stage match

He couldn't, of course. Laporta didn't fancy bringing in Barca midfield legend Xavi at that point and had absolutely no chance of getting Julian Nagelsmann, whom Laporta admires because of his love for detail and his modern methods. He was never going to opt for Barcelona over Bayern Munich, having already reached an agreement with the Bavarians.

So instead what we have now is a marriage of inconvenience - and it's fair to say that since then, the two haven't exactly walked hand in hand into the sunset to enjoy a life of wedded bliss.

The situation inherited from the previous regime means the club now find themselves very much between a rock and a hard place. Koeman would have settled for a one-year deal. Previous president Josep Maria Bartomeu - in his wisdom - offered him two. Bad enough, but that was just for starters.

The Dutch manager had a permanent contract as coach of the Netherlands, which meant Barcelona had to pay almost 6m euros to release him. Except they didn't have it, so Koeman decided to cough up the fee himself in August 2020, but only after making an agreement that he would be reimbursed the full amount if he did not get a third season at the club.

And it gets worse. Barcelona will have to pay even more if he is fired in the interim. Last week, TV3 reported that a high severance payment - amounting to a total of about 12m euros - is on the table.

In other words, Koeman gets paid handsomely (and more or less the same amount) if he does the job, if he gets fired or if his contract gets renewed. Another terrible legacy of the Bartomeu era.

Logically, one would have thought this would be the perfect time to batten down the hatches and try to make the best of a bad job. This, however, is the ego-fuelled world that is Barcelona FC; normal rules do not apply.

Despite knowing that getting rid of Koeman was going to necessitate putting his hand very deep into what are currently very shallow pockets, Laporta changed tack a couple of weeks ago by summoning journalists for an off-the-record briefing about what was going to happen with the coach.

He told them he was prepared to renew Koeman's contract but only on the condition he reverted to playing the possession-based Barcelona style of football, always used a 4-3-3 formation and picked Samuel Umtiti and Riqui Puig more often in the starting line-up.

Laporta's attempt to establish himself not only as the man responsible for the club's financial decisions but also, apparently, as the person in charge of the football philosophy and the future of the manager is a new sign of a club living in confusion.

It is fine to say Barcelona have to play the Cruyff way but it has not been decided within the club exactly what that means now football is faster and more physical. Koeman is troubleshooting, is not an ideologist and does not have any inclination to start that debate.

It didn't take long for the manager to hear about that briefing to reporters, not least because a collection of Barcelona journalists were never going to keep a bombshell of these proportions to themselves just because the president had told them it was off the record. And Laporta would have known that.

It is difficult to imagine a scenario in which Laporta could have demeaned Koeman more or shown him less respect. The manager was not a happy man.

Barcelona president Joan Laporta revealed in August that the Spanish club was 1.35bn euros (£1.15bn) in debt

From that moment on, Koeman has taken every chance he gets to remind everyone prepared to listen that his belief is that he is the person doing all he can to drag Barcelona out of their current plight.

It is he who has done everything the club have asked of him since his arrival, including overseeing the brutal culling of many of the club's legends - Luis Suarez was thrown away in a phone call which, by all accounts, lasted less than 90 seconds.

It is Koeman who was told he would have to deal with the loss of Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann (a departure completed on the last day of the transfer window) and it was the Dutchman who also followed the wishes of the club by placing a massive importance on the young players coming through the system.

Koeman was quick to point out he had no fewer than four teenagers on the pitch at the end of last week's Champions League loss to Bayern. Yusuf Demir (18), Alex Balde and Gavi (both 17) had by then joined the 18-year-old Pedri on the pitch, with El Mundo Deportivo saying at the final whistle the Barcelona side looked like a children's nursery.

The average age of the 11 against Granada in La Liga in the following game was 24, with seven under-21s used.

Of course, what he omits to mention is that his actions are the result of necessity rather than inspired innovation and that he was the first one asking the club for reinforcements (Georginio Wjinaldum, for instance) when he arrived.

While the youngsters were loudly praised for their efforts against Bayern, the reality is they only came on at a point when the game was effectively lost, which would not suggest Koeman sees a policy of faith in youth as a solution to his problems.

Koeman, who has eight senior players injured including Ousmane Dembele, Sergio Aguero and Ansu Fati (himself only 18), insists he will use youth. Fans seem willing to accept that, despite the players not being ready to lead a team like Barcelona, because they represent a more hopeful future than seeing the usual faces.

The situation is tense and - with varying levels of hypocrisy in evidence from both sides - the rope is being stretched to breaking point. Laporta is getting fed up with putting out all the fires that keep emerging around the club every time Koeman opens his mouth, while the Dutchman, protected by a bulletproof contract, is probably thinking 'as you sow, so shall you reap', and only just resisting adding the phrase: "Come on then, sack me!"

For the time being, he will carry on doing his own thing.

After the Bayern game Laporta met with a couple of key directors to discuss what could be done because he was so upset. Koeman had picked a side to avoid losing badly rather than to go for the win. For the first time in Champions League history, Barcelona did not have a single shot on target.

After the match Koeman made no attempt to hide that fact. "If we played more open, the loss would have been bigger," he said.

And it's that absence of fight and that level of acceptance from people like Koeman and defender Gerard Pique, who shrug their shoulders and come out with phrases like "it is what it is", that is driving Laporta to distraction. It is why the two men will never be able to sing from the same songsheet.

Damage limitation at home in the Champions League against any club - even the mighty Bayern - is anathema, a humiliating white flag to Laporta.

Koeman will say you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear and that he is doing the very best he possibly can with what is available to him. His side are unbeaten in the league, two wins and two draws putting them seventh, six points off reigning champions Atletico Madrid with two games in hand.

But against Granada on Monday when they managed to squeeze out a last-gasp 1-1 draw, a side containing the creative talents of Sergio Busquets, Sergi Roberto and Frenkie de Jong in midfield lumped in 54 crosses, proof positive that in Koeman, Barcelona have a manager who does not fully believe in the club's style.

So despite not getting on, being poles apart on football philosophy, enduring a relationship that is becoming more and more toxic with every passing day and sniping at each other on a continual basis, both men are likely to be compelled to carry on working together.

But make no mistake, if Laporta had the money, plus anyone ready, willing and able to replace Koeman, the Dutchman would be toast.

In this battle between where Barcelona should be (Laporta's dream) and the realities of life that determine where they actually are (Koeman), it's difficult to see how this can have anything remotely close to a happy ending.

[Sonic Youth]

56 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Barcelona: The toxic battle ripping apart a European giant

Last updated on2 hours ago2 hours ago.From the sectionEuropean Football

When Joan Laporta was elected Barcelona president in March, one of the first things he did was make it abundantly clear that Ronald Koeman did not figure in his long-term plans.

Six months later, he suggested he was on the verge of extending the Dutch manager's contract for a further year.

But six months and two weeks later, it now looks as if the only thing keeping Koeman in the job is the fact he would be due a huge pay-off. And that he is the focus of attention - useful to the board in a time of crisis.

What on earth could have occurred to bring about this lack of balanced thinking from Laporta?

Unsurprisingly, money has a lot to do with it, or in the case of Barcelona, the lack of it.

Let's not mince our words here. Barcelona are skint, potless, brassic, broke. The finances dictate a lot of what is being decided.

But the situation is becoming so tense between the president and the manager that the club are looking for alternatives and, depending on the next few results, they might have to use a big chunk of their small savings to get rid of a manager who does not follow the official line because he feels betrayed.

Roberto Martinez, who wants to continue with Belgium at least until the end of the Nations League campaign, is one of the candidates to replace him.

So how did we get to this point?

Laporta and Koeman met before the start of this season. At the lunch, Laporta asked the Dutchman to give him 14 days to decide whether or not the club would continue to have him as their manager or, to put it a slightly different way, 14 days to see if they could find anyone they fancied for the job more than him.

Koeman's agent, Rob Jansen, summed it up perfectly: "Imagine: I want to marry you, but I have doubts. Give me two weeks to find a better partner. If I can't find the right person, we will get married anyway!"

Barcelona were beaten 3-0 by German champions Bayern Munich in their opening Champions League group stage match

He couldn't, of course. Laporta didn't fancy bringing in Barca midfield legend Xavi at that point and had absolutely no chance of getting Julian Nagelsmann, whom Laporta admires because of his love for detail and his modern methods. He was never going to opt for Barcelona over Bayern Munich, having already reached an agreement with the Bavarians.

So instead what we have now is a marriage of inconvenience - and it's fair to say that since then, the two haven't exactly walked hand in hand into the sunset to enjoy a life of wedded bliss.

The situation inherited from the previous regime means the club now find themselves very much between a rock and a hard place. Koeman would have settled for a one-year deal. Previous president Josep Maria Bartomeu - in his wisdom - offered him two. Bad enough, but that was just for starters.

The Dutch manager had a permanent contract as coach of the Netherlands, which meant Barcelona had to pay almost 6m euros to release him. Except they didn't have it, so Koeman decided to cough up the fee himself in August 2020, but only after making an agreement that he would be reimbursed the full amount if he did not get a third season at the club.

And it gets worse. Barcelona will have to pay even more if he is fired in the interim. Last week, TV3 reported that a high severance payment - amounting to a total of about 12m euros - is on the table.

In other words, Koeman gets paid handsomely (and more or less the same amount) if he does the job, if he gets fired or if his contract gets renewed. Another terrible legacy of the Bartomeu era.

Logically, one would have thought this would be the perfect time to batten down the hatches and try to make the best of a bad job. This, however, is the ego-fuelled world that is Barcelona FC; normal rules do not apply.

Despite knowing that getting rid of Koeman was going to necessitate putting his hand very deep into what are currently very shallow pockets, Laporta changed tack a couple of weeks ago by summoning journalists for an off-the-record briefing about what was going to happen with the coach.

He told them he was prepared to renew Koeman's contract but only on the condition he reverted to playing the possession-based Barcelona style of football, always used a 4-3-3 formation and picked Samuel Umtiti and Riqui Puig more often in the starting line-up.

Laporta's attempt to establish himself not only as the man responsible for the club's financial decisions but also, apparently, as the person in charge of the football philosophy and the future of the manager is a new sign of a club living in confusion.

It is fine to say Barcelona have to play the Cruyff way but it has not been decided within the club exactly what that means now football is faster and more physical. Koeman is troubleshooting, is not an ideologist and does not have any inclination to start that debate.

It didn't take long for the manager to hear about that briefing to reporters, not least because a collection of Barcelona journalists were never going to keep a bombshell of these proportions to themselves just because the president had told them it was off the record. And Laporta would have known that.

It is difficult to imagine a scenario in which Laporta could have demeaned Koeman more or shown him less respect. The manager was not a happy man.

Barcelona president Joan Laporta revealed in August that the Spanish club was 1.35bn euros (£1.15bn) in debt

From that moment on, Koeman has taken every chance he gets to remind everyone prepared to listen that his belief is that he is the person doing all he can to drag Barcelona out of their current plight.

It is he who has done everything the club have asked of him since his arrival, including overseeing the brutal culling of many of the club's legends - Luis Suarez was thrown away in a phone call which, by all accounts, lasted less than 90 seconds.

It is Koeman who was told he would have to deal with the loss of Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann (a departure completed on the last day of the transfer window) and it was the Dutchman who also followed the wishes of the club by placing a massive importance on the young players coming through the system.

Koeman was quick to point out he had no fewer than four teenagers on the pitch at the end of last week's Champions League loss to Bayern. Yusuf Demir (18), Alex Balde and Gavi (both 17) had by then joined the 18-year-old Pedri on the pitch, with El Mundo Deportivo saying at the final whistle the Barcelona side looked like a children's nursery.

The average age of the 11 against Granada in La Liga in the following game was 24, with seven under-21s used.

Of course, what he omits to mention is that his actions are the result of necessity rather than inspired innovation and that he was the first one asking the club for reinforcements (Georginio Wjinaldum, for instance) when he arrived.

While the youngsters were loudly praised for their efforts against Bayern, the reality is they only came on at a point when the game was effectively lost, which would not suggest Koeman sees a policy of faith in youth as a solution to his problems.

Koeman, who has eight senior players injured including Ousmane Dembele, Sergio Aguero and Ansu Fati (himself only 18), insists he will use youth. Fans seem willing to accept that, despite the players not being ready to lead a team like Barcelona, because they represent a more hopeful future than seeing the usual faces.

The situation is tense and - with varying levels of hypocrisy in evidence from both sides - the rope is being stretched to breaking point. Laporta is getting fed up with putting out all the fires that keep emerging around the club every time Koeman opens his mouth, while the Dutchman, protected by a bulletproof contract, is probably thinking 'as you sow, so shall you reap', and only just resisting adding the phrase: "Come on then, sack me!"

For the time being, he will carry on doing his own thing.

After the Bayern game Laporta met with a couple of key directors to discuss what could be done because he was so upset. Koeman had picked a side to avoid losing badly rather than to go for the win. For the first time in Champions League history, Barcelona did not have a single shot on target.

After the match Koeman made no attempt to hide that fact. "If we played more open, the loss would have been bigger," he said.

And it's that absence of fight and that level of acceptance from people like Koeman and defender Gerard Pique, who shrug their shoulders and come out with phrases like "it is what it is", that is driving Laporta to distraction. It is why the two men will never be able to sing from the same songsheet.

Damage limitation at home in the Champions League against any club - even the mighty Bayern - is anathema, a humiliating white flag to Laporta.

Koeman will say you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear and that he is doing the very best he possibly can with what is available to him. His side are unbeaten in the league, two wins and two draws putting them seventh, six points off reigning champions Atletico Madrid with two games in hand.

But against Granada on Monday when they managed to squeeze out a last-gasp 1-1 draw, a side containing the creative talents of Sergio Busquets, Sergi Roberto and Frenkie de Jong in midfield lumped in 54 crosses, proof positive that in Koeman, Barcelona have a manager who does not fully believe in the club's style.

So despite not getting on, being poles apart on football philosophy, enduring a relationship that is becoming more and more toxic with every passing day and sniping at each other on a continual basis, both men are likely to be compelled to carry on working together.

But make no mistake, if Laporta had the money, plus anyone ready, willing and able to replace Koeman, the Dutchman would be toast.

In this battle between where Barcelona should be (Laporta's dream) and the realities of life that determine where they actually are (Koeman), it's difficult to see how this can have anything remotely close to a happy ending.

Ugh  

That previous bunch in charge were hopeless.

Also never been a fan of Koeman (spellcheck changed his name to Korean ). Even less now if he’s using such a defeatist attitude to the situation 

[Sonic Youth]

2 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Oi! you aren't meant to laugh at things like that! 

#KoemanOutJimboIn

Laugh at? No way! 

Definitely #KoemanOutJimboIn  

[Sonic Youth]

2 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Barca. Apr 2022. 

La Liga. It's a brilliant three-way fight for the title, but just as our rivals start to bang out win after win, we drop points 1st to Real Sociedad and then to Villareal, (who are decent it's got to be said). The problem is that while I might love playing all these youngsters, they are youngsters and they just tend to struggle a tiny bit when the pressure gets cranked up. Just look at the ages of our goal-scorers this month. 17, 17, 18, 18, 18, 17, 21, FdJ, 23. I particularly like the symmetry of Araujo scoring a 93rd minute equaliser in the last game of the night after he scored an injury time leveller against Granada last night. 

If I had to say what was wrong with this team, (other than the inexperience), it's that the centre-backs aren't good enough and that we can't cope in the absence of Aguero. It probably needs to be mentioned again that while Aguero might have scored 26 goals and 13 assists this season, he's not playing to his strengths at all and I have been playing him as a DLF in most games. He would score LOADS more goals if I used him differently, but this isn't all about him and I particularly want to play with 2 up. 

Champions League. We were so close to doing this. We led on away goals for about an hour, but we couldn't hand on and crash out to a very good Chelsea side. 

Records. He's made 2 sub appearances in the league, (without scoring), but Mendy has started to settle in with the U19's where he has scored 6 goals in 9 games playing as a DLF. 

Finances. The board are giving me £110M to spend on transfers next season. Maybe I should go and buy Haaland? (No, that's not how this save is meant to work!)  Let's just say I did have £100M to spend, I certainly wouldn't be blowing it on Haaland, (even though I would love to manage him). If I was going to sign a striker I would be looking for the most athletic right sided DLF I could find, but even then I love the fact that Aguero is playing for us. No, if I had £100M to spend I would probably go out and by not 1 but 2 centre-backs for £50M each. 

I'm not sure how this works. We have cut the debt enormously this year. How can they say we're losing money when the debt is substantially smaller than it was when we started? 

We have  in the bank, (up £6.8M), and our net debt is now , (down £33M), so things are moving in the right direction, (no doubt helped by almost 100,000 fans watching the Chelsea game and the subsequent prize money when we got knocked out).

Blah! Third looks like where your finishing.

Tough luck in Champions League as well 

Bring on Season 2 of Barcadebta 

[Jimbokav1971]

Net Transfer spend. Barca. May 2022. 

I'm quite proud of this. 

I know it appears as if we fall slightly short in terms of the league title, (we're 3rd with 3 games remaining), and also in terms of the Champions League, (where a very good Chelsea pipped us in the Quarter Finals), but the aim of this save isn't to win competitions while trying to reduce the debt. It's to actually succeed in completely removing the debt within 4 years while remaining competitive. In view of the extreme transfers out I made in the 1st season, (and in particular the 2 full backs), I think we performed admirably. Had we kept both full backs we would have won the league and would have beaten Chelsea, but the full backs would then still have to be sold and at least now we have had half a season of blooding their replacements. I'm really happy with the decisions I made and where we have finished.

I fully expect next season to look pretty similar. I don't really want to sell FdJ, but it seems as if Man Utd are going to come in and pay is £100M+ for him, and nobody is staying when we get an offer like that. I'm going to keep a small core, but basically everyone is for sale at the right price. Ter Steggen has been amazing, but if someone offers me big money for him then I would definitely sell him. 

[Jimbokav1971]

19 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

Blah! Third looks like where your finishing.

Tough luck in Champions League as well 

Bring on Season 2 of Barcadebta 

I quite like #BarcaDebta 

[Sonic Youth]

33 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Net Transfer spend. Barca. May 2022. 

I'm quite proud of this. 

I know it appears as if we fall slightly short in terms of the league title, (we're 3rd with 3 games remaining), and also in terms of the Champions League, (where a very good Chelsea pipped us in the Quarter Finals), but the aim of this save isn't to win competitions while trying to reduce the debt. It's to actually succeed in completely removing the debt within 4 years while remaining competitive. In view of the extreme transfers out I made in the 1st season, (and in particular the 2 full backs), I think we performed admirably. Had we kept both full backs we would have won the league and would have beaten Chelsea, but the full backs would then still have to be sold and at least now we have had half a season of blooding their replacements. I'm really happy with the decisions I made and where we have finished.

I fully expect next season to look pretty similar. I don't really want to sell FdJ, but it seems as if Man Utd are going to come in and pay is £100M+ for him, and nobody is staying when we get an offer like that. I'm going to keep a small core, but basically everyone is for sale at the right price. Ter Steggen has been amazing, but if someone offers me big money for him then I would definitely sell him. 

There’s a certain symmetry with that table with top two having the highest spend while third and fourth have the largest profit.

[Jimbokav1971]

Wages to Turnover ratio. Barca. May 2022. 

I think this is what Barca fell foul of in real life. They would have been spending 110% of income on wages had Messi been allowed to re-sign. 

It appears as if we are doing badly here, (with such a long blue line, but actually our % of wage spend to turnover is now the lowest in the league after just 1 season. 

When you think that I have Pjanic, Busquets, Umtiti & Pique who I hope will all move on in the Summer, then things really are on the up. Trincão will be given at least 1 season and the idea being that I get him to perform at a level where people actually want to pay good money for him. 

[Jimbokav1971]

3 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

There’s a certain symmetry with that table with top two having the highest spend while third and fourth have the largest profit.

That wasn't lost on me. When Villarreal drew 1-1 with us to extinguish any lingering hopes of a title, I did at least think to myself, at least they are a "proper" club. 

[Sonic Youth]

8 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Wages to Turnover ratio. Barca. May 2022. 

I think this is what Barca fell foul of in real life. They would have been spending 110% of income on wages had Messi been allowed to re-sign. 

It appears as if we are doing badly here, (with such a long blue line, but actually our % of wage spend to turnover is now the lowest in the league after just 1 season. 

When you think that I have Pjanic, Busquets, Umtiti & Pique who I hope will all move on in the Summer, then things really are on the up. Trincão will be given at least 1 season and the idea being that I get him to perform at a level where people actually want to pay good money for him. 

That’s pretty amazing. Doubly so when you think how much that turnover is being wasted servicing that debt.