Corrected salaries according to Salary Sport [Link]

I literally just copied and pasted the original post, calm your pants.

Now Zaha's got a bit of green grass ahead of him here... and finds Ambrose... not a bad effort!!!!

because we dont get the right players, Jaydon Bogle and Ben Johnson are young RBs better than what we have and as a squad player they are on 20k and 33k respectively, we should have one of them tied up already, on a free

“That’s a joke son, I say, that’s a joke.” “Nice boy, but he’s sharp as a throw pillow.” “He’s so dumb he thinks a Mexican border pays rent” “ “Son… I say, son, some people are so narrow minded they can look through a keyhole with both eyes.”__ Forhorn Leghorn

You're agreeing with me. Our recent windows don't demonstrate success in snapping up the most popular players that are available on frees at the rate needed to enable us to let all of this group be released. Therefore, we end up a) spending the transfer budget on lots of average players, b) having a smaller squad, c) renewing this group, d) having a far better window than we have for a long time.

(Note that neither of these players are currently available on frees - they're under contract at English clubs so we can't talk to them)

26th January 2010 - Enter Administration
2nd May 2010 - D-Day 1 - Survival at Hillsborough
1st June 2010 - D-Day 2 - Survival at Lloyds
7th June 2010 - CPFC2010 exchange contracts.

Leaving aside whether either player is an improvement on what we have (and accepting that they are at least younger), how do any of us know that Palace haven't tried to get them, or what wages those players (and others of potential interest) want?

If either player is good enough for us then they will also be of interest to half the teams in the league, and seek to create an auction. Johnson in particular seems to be in a bit of a contract standoff with West Ham, suggesting he may want far more than the salary you've quoted.

All of this is part of the point I was trying to make yesterday - Palace should be keeping Hughes, Schlupp, Ward and Cylne (and possibly even Reidewald) unless upgrades are secured.

An upgrade on our out-of-contract squad players means a player who is better than what we have, within our transfer budget (which, as you point out, means a free transfer or very low transfer fee seeing as we wouldn't be paying a fee to keep the existing players), within our wage structure, and also prepared to choose us ahead of up to ten other clubs of comparable status and means, all of whom are likely to have some interest in anyone who ticks the previous three boxes.

Our chances of keeping a squad player we already have are far, far higher than our chances of signing free-transfer players who are as good, if only because we are in more fierce competition with other clubs for the latter.

It's great when we get a Lerma, but rare, just as it is for any club our size. The idea we can get three or four just isn't realistic.

Edited by TheBigToePunt (03 Jan 2024 10.50am)

It's not necessary about improving the side, i.e the first XI, it's whether they can take a squad position.

What is the point paying Jairo over £50k a week to play a couple of times a season and a few sub appearances. Ozoh can clearly fill that void. Same with say Tomkins. He never plays and his injury record is shocking. Maybe Kofi Balmer could do likewise.

Hughes for me is a dilemma. He is 28 and should be at his peak. However, he is so slow games are passing him by. Currently with Doucoure injured he should be a shoe in alongside Lerma. Yet Roy is picking a CB Richards in his position, despite his limited passing ability. So what is the point of renewing someone who doesn't even play when there are injuries in his position?

In terms of replacements. Well a few of the youngsters can take squad places, not necessarily starter positions, and there are bargains out there.
Look at Barkley at Luton. On half of what Hughes is on and playing week in week out.
Similarly, if we say bought a LW then Ayew could become a squad player next season rather than a starter every week