Originally Posted by
Super Ghel
Yup I feel the same. One out of the two is still manageable, but lose both and we’re fucked imo. Wholesale changes in a short space of time would do a lot of harm in our ability to function as a cohesive unit.
People argue that finances isn’t a legitimate excuse for our failures and are often perplexed why AW and the board is so drawn to bargain bins and youth policy with an aversion to experienced quality, but Nasri’s situation just demonstrates why it is so. Financing fears are still predominantly in the back of their minds and our board’s refusal to budge from our wage structure is what separates us from the other “Big” clubs imo. This is Cashley and Adebuywhore saga all over again.
Clubs with no such risk aversion, and being quite effective with their strategy of dangling a huge carrot, means we are constantly under pressure to address this massive gap in pay which eats into our transfer funds every season, and to ignore it would mean we risk being seen as undeniable cheapskates which would severely impact our future ability to attract players of quality.
Rumours say we’re offering Nasri in the region of 90k per week, but if he’s offered twice that amount elsewhere, anyone in a similar quandary would be turned imo. I wonder how much we’ll have to end up paying Wilshere down the road to keep him away from the filthy hands of other clubs.
Supporters cry out “spend some fucking money” don’t always consider the wage implications imo and this is where the misconception begins. The two are not mutually exclusive but often go hand in hand in an overall package. Perhaps this is why we always fail to sign the experienced quality we need and negotiations are often protracted or seem to break down at some point. It’s the damn wages, not just valuation fee!
Imo you can’t go screaming your lungs out asking for transfer spending on the one hand, while on the other, refuse to blame the board for being ‘small time’ with their wage offers but readily castrate players for being greedy mercs when much better offers are available elsewhere. That’s just convenient double standards to suit our slant on the issue. If we want the club to spend big like others, we must be prepared to accept that our wages need to be adjusted to commensurate with the ‘market rate’ elsewhere!