The difference between spenders

Comments (5)

The current spending spree in the transfer market by both the top four clubs and the lesser clubs has been amazing this summer. Both types of clubs have spent huge sums of money on players and have agreed to pay huge wage bills into the bargain as well.

In my mind though there are two major differences between these types of clubs that support David Moyes' present stance in relation to the transfer market.

Firstly,the likes of Utd and Liverpool are paying huge money for players that are likely to help them win premierships and champion's leagues. The likes of Man City and West Ham are paying huge money for players that may help them with league cups and gain Uefa cup qualification.

Secondly, your Utds and Liverpools can support this spending with revenue streams outside of having an investor to pay for it all. Huge merchandising streams, large capacity crowds and lucrative sponsorship deals. With consistant Champions' League and top three league finishes money added, the cash is always going to be there. Your Man Citys and West Hams don't have these same revenue streams to support the huge spending. Without their new investors' money they were unable to compete before on such a scale and would be in big trouble without it in the future. But yet they are only thinking of the now and are spending on a lavish scale.

Right now, Everton are not in a position to be either type of club. Any money we actually have has come from our non investor type revenue streams alone. League finish, t.v money, Chang money, gate receipts and so on. While not anywhere near the scale of Utd's or Liverpool's, Moyes would still love to have this money in his transfer kitty right now. The most of it though seems to have been put aside for the new stadium.

As there is no investor or any sign of one at present there is no other ready cash to access. We cannot do a West Ham or a Man City either. Moyes just has to make do with the reported 15m. And 3m of this, discounting the 1m we got for Naysmith, has already been spent on Jagielka.

As an aside, we are only servicing our debts at present by selling off the likes of our training ground and then leasing it back. The banks are certainly not going to extend our credit so the idea of spending money we haven't got isn't a viable option either.

And this is what Moyes is currently faced with. Apart from talking a good fight, his Board seems incapable of sourcing and securing the revenue and investment that wil give him the transfer budget he knows we need to step up. The man just has to make do with what he has. His approach mirrors this. A couple of the right type of purchases each transfer window is the slow sensible way to go. True,it's the only option available to him that would work but he has grasped it with both hands.

I honestly feel that the man is as frustrated as we are right now. He is being priced out of the market at every turn by clubs that are spending money in the most stupid of fashions. Richardson is a prime example. He would be a sensible progressive purchase for us, coming in at the right time. 3m is a reasonable valuation. Next thing you know,other clubs are offering 5-6 million for him. Moyes must be pulling his hair out at this.

I think in part it was his frustration that prompted him to release the statement he did. I think unfortunately he may have also felt the need to justify his current approach to this transfer window. Whatever his motivation for the statement, in the context of the state of the club's finances compared to others, it is one that I would agree with.
kieran Fitzgerald, Dublin     Posted 14/07/2007 at 10:40:36

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