Price and value
The price of a football player does not always correspond to his value to a team; Colin Doyle will be worth more than £1 to Bradford. However, the clubs that pay the most for players are more likely to be near the top of the table than clubs that can’t afford large transfer fees. Leicester City defied financial logic to win the Premier League last season but it had been 21 years since any team other than Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City or Manchester United won the top-flight title.
Relegated Premier League clubs generally have better squads than the other Championship clubs and also receive parachute payments. So it is not surprising that the Transfermarkt site lists last season’s relegated clubs as having the top market values in the Championship this year: Newcastle United £140.04m, Aston Villa £87.51m and Norwich City £60.82. Wolverhampton Wanderers come 11th in their list with £23.21m. Birmingham City’s market value is listed as £12.58m and they are 20th, above Rotherham, Preston North End, Burton Albion and Barnsley.
This doesn’t mean that Birmingham is going to be 20th in the League next May. Money is not the only factor that determines how many games are won or lost. Some players can turn out to be bargain buys. Jamie Vardy was one of the reasons why Leicester were top last season but he has admitted that the step up from non-league to the Championship was hard for him when he first went to Leicester. The club stuck by him and he has repaid them by not signing for Arsenal.
Blues have some players that are stepping up, such as Che Adams, from League 1, who scored a good goal on his first start on Saturday. And an article on the best summer transfers describes the acquisition of Robert Tesche on a free as “low-key but shrewd”. So we can hope but we shouldn’t expect too much. Unrealistic expectations can place a burden on players but our support can boost their confidence.
4 Comments
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Blues in the last 5 years have spent £4million on transfers.What hope have we got!!
I can fully understand our current financial situation on price and value. However,I am most concerned as to the astuteness of our manager in his signing of players. Woeful comes to mind with the exception of Morrison and maybe Adams. Fabrini,Tesche not anywhere near Championship levels as can be said of Vaughan. Yes,Rowett did steady the ship after Clark,but we are coming to a very thin end of that gratitude. Our current position in a fiercely competitive league is just about right.
Sorry can’t agree with some of your comments. As well as Morrison Kieftenbald, Shotton and Kuszczak have been good signings. I also believe Tesche will prove good if Rowett ever plays him. The problem is he continue to play poor players like Grounds, Gleeson, Cotterill Maghoma and seems totally unwilling to give the youngsters a chance.
Spot on. GR and many other managers have proven you don’t need a massive budget to compete well in this league. Big money players don’t always live up to expectation and in honesty I cant think of one who has proven to be good value over recent years. The players standing out are those with something to prove and we have a few of these at Blues. Our supporters need to be patient and get behind the team. I know its not easy when we see performances like Saturday but we are not far away from having a very competitive team.
A couple of full backs who can pass the ball rather than lump it or give it away with a simple pass into midfield, or even linking up with a wide player is all we are missing. Our best moments in games have been when Caddis works with Cott’s down the right hand side. We penetrate and get crosses in. The left hand side has not been anywhere near as effective because we don’t have a left back with the same quality. Pretty sure this is high on GR’s list as I’m sure he doesn’t want to play the system we have adopted for the first four games.