Southampton 7th in PL but 16th in wages table. QPR 19th in PL + 8th in wage table. please log in to view this image please log in to view this image
Also a reminder: that's the wage bill for the entirety of the club, not just the players. And because it's the 13/14 numbers, and includes the teams that were promoted in that season, we might have actually been lower among the twenty teams in the league that season. Which makes QPR's standing even more frightening...they were 8th in wages while in the Championship.
Comparative info for whole PL on accounts is here: http://sport.bt.com/sport-football/news/southampton-have-best-return-S11363976893651 please log in to view this image
Interesting couple of tables? It just goes to prove that throwing money around does not always solve the problem?
That said, it does show that all the likely ECL qualifiers will be spending between 2.5-3.5 times more on wages than us and show how far we have to go before we can expect to qualify on anything like a regular basis and with FFP protecting the larger clubs it will be "interesting" trying
Saw a stat the other day (not sure how true it is, was just on the internet somewhere) that in 35 of the last 40 top flight seasons the 4 teams spending the most money on wages finished in the top 4, looks likely to be true again this year
It's simple, we have to increase our income dramatically to support the relative increase in wages, if we are to compete in and around the top six in the EPL. If we don't then we can expect to be a mid table team at best with occasional forray into Europa places which will wreck the following season
Can't run before you can walk. Ignoring the football side, a lot of work has been put in to make SFC the best it can be throughout the business. The procedures are in place, but obviously more work to be done. Rodgers has said that plans have been laid for qualifying for the CL, EL and even relegation....as he said, good business practice. Everyone says that the Europa damages your season...perhaps Saints will be different. Let's sit back and enjoy the ride.
I agree, I was anti Europa League for a while but I'm warming to it now. There is no point in striving to be better if we don't embrace what comes with it. Hopefully, there will be some away days at places that don't end in .......khstan!
Absolutely. I am amazed how many people seem reluctant to embrace the Europa League. It is part of the progression. Yes, it may well be a testing time for the club/players/squad, but so be it. We have to work through that. If we want to be winning cups, qualifying for Europe, then we need to be prepared for some adjustments and possibly some dips in league positions as part of that progression. I can imagine us finishing 10th-14th next season and all hell breaking loose. Life isn't about straight line graphs.
Spot on, agree with absolutely every word, also it's a new thing to a lot of Saints fans, Ireally don't understand people not wanting to play in it, I also think our style under Ron is very suited to Europe, do enough business in the Summer n we could end up in latter stages, then anything can happen? I believe the people not wanting Europa are the same people who would rather finish 6th than win the FA Cup
This table shows just how far behind we are even Liverpool and Spurs - let alone the top 4! This is what I was trying to explain before when I said I didn't think top 4 was realistic for us, there's a reason why no clubs of our size have done it in the past 10 years.
http://www.accountingweb.co.uk/article/how-southampton-fc-tackled-expenses/575601 Exciting change of SFC expenses claim system from paper to electronic system (yawn). However, an insight into how looking at details can save money...using postcodes to reduce travel claims from 7 miles to 6.8 miles #meanbastards
The Europa league has been cursed by all the negative media it gets. For teams who are really trying to break the top 4 every season like Liverpool/Spurs and Everton to an extent it is viewed as a massive hindrance, but for us it would be fantastic. If we are regularly challenging top 6 for the next few years then my view may change, but it would be a great accomplishment for us this year.
