That may be true but unless you mean 'a European club' (and I don't think you do) then he doesn't have many options. I can't see him at a top four club so that leaves: Liverpool, who clearly prefer Benteke and / or Ings; Spuds, possible; Southampton, maybe; or Wet Spam. Palace would be a good option for him but Spammers or Spuds may pay more and would probably beat Palace if they go in for him.

How many more seasons in the Prem do we have to wait before we can raise our expectations? The clubs in a good position, we have money, a great atmosphere and are being recognised by many now.

Is a player like Austin really too much to expect or must we keep hoping to get lucky in the Championship market?

Four or five seasons I'd say, we have money but not much, and spending it all on a few grandstand signings in order to finish a couple of places higher (at best) is probably not worth it. We'll probably lose a few players over the transfer window, and need to bring people in to fill those roles, and we will need to spend money now, or in the future on the ground etc.

Things are good, but fortunes in football can turn dark very quickly, it isn't that long ago Charlton were in the same position as us, and Leeds were a champions league team.

Its better, probably, to play the slow game. Finishing 8th would be nice, but as long as we never finish in the bottom 3 we should be happy.

Its very unlikely that we will do much better than 8th place in our future.

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I also agree. One of our best bets for super talent is still our academy - if a Victor Moses or Clyne emerged now we would be able to hang on to them and benefit for a few seasons. That along with a good scouting network to add a few canny buys is what need to challenge for 7th/8th and maybe even having a good season one year when we finish higher than that - but we will never be able to hang onto our top talent which is one of many things we would need to do to displace one of the top 6.

It would take oil money - as we'd need a new stadium and a few seasons dropping ridiculous money on older big name players to start it going. It would also ruin our club as we know it.

I also agree. One of our best bets for super talent is still our academy - if a Victor Moses or Clyne emerged now we would be able to hang on to them and benefit for a few seasons. That along with a good scouting network to add a few canny buys is what need to challenge for 7th/8th and maybe even having a good season one year when we finish higher than that - but we will never be able to hang onto our top talent which is one of many things we would need to do to displace one of the top 6.

It would take oil money - as we'd need a new stadium and a few seasons dropping ridiculous money on older big name players to start it going. It would also ruin our club as we know it.

IF we had the likes of Mosses or Clyne coming through our ranks would they even start or get a chance? Those guys got a chance because we was broke or in the championship.
We got Bannan who plays at international level and he can't break into our team or get a chance. Its all right saying we will have youth coming through but whats the chance unless we give them 4 games to see what they are like.

I dissagree with this.
If a youung academy kid breaks through, and is good enough to regular play in the premier leauge, he will be snapped up by bigger teams.
See berahino, sterling.

This post has been merged from a topic called 'Charlie Austin (rumour)' by james03

Apparently he's going to west ham, although some have slashed odds on him going to chelsea. So who knows. I don't know how west Ham can still attract quality players. They've been crap for a while now, and they now have a completely unproven manager. I wouldn't be surprised to see them go down next year.

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