The mind boggles. And you wonder how teams like Fulham and West Brom can stay up for years earning this kind of money every year, yet still be s***

Classic Hambo! Good post, lest we forget!

Edited by homes (15 May 2014 9.59pm)

The point in bold isn't true. No team has their games 'moved to Sundays' because they're in the Champions League, at any stage of the competition. You have your game moved because you are on tv, it's a high risk derby requiring extra Police and possibly an inconvenient KO time, or you or your opponent are in the Europa Cup. Every season there are plenty of fixtures played on Sundays because one of the teams is in the Europa Cup. Lots of these games are not on Sky at 12, 2, 4pm but are played at 3pm on Sunday. They might be on another foreign channel but they are not on Sky where the cheques come from.

The reasons for the tv games are probably:

Spurs H - 1st game back in Prem. London derby.
Sunderland - relegation match. Fill up quota.
Man U A - Poss spanking.
Fulham H- Relegation battle. London derby. Fill up quota.
West Ham H - London derby. Relegation threatened teams at time.
----------
Arsenal A - Title contenders. London derby. Poss spanking. Quota filler.
Man City H - Prem chase hotting up.
Liverpool H - Prem chase hotting up. Interesting whatever the result when it was announced.

I think people need to rememeber that wages will be significant, as well signing on fees for the number of transfers we did. Loan fees for Jerome and Ince significant too.

We'll certainly have seen a jump in revenue - but personally I suspect the profit would be the region of the difference in finishing last and finshing 11th once everything is taken into account.

The more I read on finances, the more I think fans should do all they can to steer clear of any thoughts about them. The lists of items that cost the club are almost endless.

The Premier League seems completely mental in terms of things you "have to have" - £1million undersoil heating is the latest, the new gantry, the TV studio that wasn't used once, the additional cameras for match coverage and goal line technology, the electronuic advertising hoardings etc etc

Then there is the money spent getting to the Premier League to think about. Then all the stadium improvements carried out. The player contracts. The paying the additional staff. Then paying the manager that left. Then bonuses.

I honestly think the initial idea that promotion would transform the club was very different to reality - it's easy to see that irresponsible spending even off the back of the huge financial rewards of the top division could see what we've seen in many of the relegted teams having horriffic debt. You think about Bolton being £130million in the red in spite of a sustained spell in the top division. Hull needed rescuing in a big way. Cardiff nearly imploded getting there and had to accept the only person insane enough to take on their debt. Then there's the less lucky such as ourselves in the past, Charlton who have had multiple takeovers and are now a feeder club for a Belgian team and the extreme example of Portsmouth.

Without sustained success or a very disciplined approach to spending, you have to have very deep pockets to survive.

So if I read one thread next season asking where the £73million went and why we aren't siging players for £20million I will lose it.

Edited by Hambo (15 May 2014 1.25pm)