Yeah the league has got stronger is trotted out every year regardless of the evidence that suggests it hasn't and never is. I'm not at all worried about the newly promoted teams.fxceltic wrote: ↑Thu Jul 31, 2025 11:25 am its almost as though we pushed the whole scouting and player operation out the door recently, I said at the time thelwell had done an OK job is very hard circumstances and should have got another year while we stabilised
I also never get the following statements you see kicking around each season
"the league has got stronger" - has it? what evidence have we for that before its even begun?
"everyone around us has strengthened" - have they? or have they bought players that we have no idea yet whether they will work out or not, same as every year? I must have missed a few years where every signing every club but us makes works out just great
I had a quick scan of other team's spending, didn't look further down than us, but Villa, Bournemouth and Brentford have all spent about the same as us or less so far. Think Fulham have spent less too.
Obviously we 100% need signings and fast, not disputing that for a moment, but also are we going to spend £25m + £130k a week on some like Xhaka? I'd hope not, so being frugal will make things harder but it's the right way to go about things even if it narrows down your potential signings significantly.
What I can't understand is why we haven't sorted someone like Dewsbury-Hall on loan, that'd make a world of difference, but I'm guessing teams like Chelsea want mad bucks for loan fees at this stage of the window which we wouldn't be willing to pay.