nPower Championship Transfer Spending

The nPower Championship is over, another mixed emotions year, with my own club starting as possible mid-table fodder ending with relegation amidst administration. For other clubs it was either missing out on play-offs, title chases or merely a write-off of a season. Now the season closes to an end with Reading emphatically taking the title back to Berkshire, Southampton are also promoted once again finishing in 2nd place.

With the play-offs still to be played I thought it was time to reflect on the transfer spending, I felt this would be an interesting one to researching as it would give a good observation on how much money has been spent and the comparison between that and the clubs league position at the end of the season. For some clubs it's surprising, for others it isn't.

Here is the graph I compiled using stats from Transfermarkt.co.uk, these use the most accurate transfer fees you can get (minus the undisclosed fees, as they are listed as '?'), the graph was compacted due to 24 entries on the X axis!

Click on picture to see the full size graph

Transfer Spend;

Barnsley- £1.14m

Birmingham City- £0.5m

Blackpool- £0.66m

Brighton & Hove Albion- £5.32m

Bristol City- £0.35m

Burnley- £1.65m

Cardiff- £1.94m

Coventry- £0.48m

Crystal Palace- £0.59m

Derby- £3.02m

Doncaster Rovers- £0.12m

Hull- £1.42m

Ipswich Town- £2.89m

Leeds United- £0.81m

Leicester City- £15.78m

Middlesbrough- £0

Millwall- £1.21m

Nottingham Forest- £1.08m

Peterborough- £1.75m

Portsmouth- £4.23m

Reading- £1.75m

Southampton- £4.5m

Watford- £1.04m

West Ham- £10.85m

On the final Championship table with the net spend displayed alongside the league table makes for an interesting read into how much investment went into the teams and where they ended up, most notable being Leicester;

 What the relation between the chart and the final table shows is that teams with relatively little funding put up a good fight in this season, with many clubs going for more astute free transfer signings over potentially expensive ones. Middlesbrough have finished just below the play-offs and their frugal transfer policy nearly paid off, with a large squad full of quality players it is easy to see why they finished so high and without needing much investment.

On the flip side large investment hasn't garnered success, as previously mentioned Leicester have invested a huge amount into their squad, buying expensive players into the squad by Sven Goran-Eriksson. Their policy lead to them stuttering this season, finishing a respectable 9th place, and I'm sure hoping to push on next year for promotion, they were hot favourites at the start of the year.

Portsmouth are the biggest casualty of the big spenders, after the collapse of CSI and administration in February 2012 the club tumbled down the league with the 10 point deduction and was unable to salvage another Great Escape. As a Pompey fan I'm still bemused that the £4.23m spent on players only got us around 5/6 players, utterly ridiculous, as when Steve Cotterill left we had a squad of 18/19 players which left hardly any cover for injuries or rotation. Very bad business by the club, thankfully those involved have duly left. 

West Ham have invested heavily after falling from grace from the Premier League, they have invested a whopping £10m into the squad with Sam Allardyce at the helm, they lead the division for much of the season, but poor home form cost them the automatic promotion spots as Reading romped past them in the second half of the season. January transfer window saw West Ham invest heavily again in players after their stuttering forwards couldn't find the goals, dipping their toes they bought Maynard and Vaz Te for a combined fee of £3m. Earlier in the season they signed Sam Baldock from MK Dons for a £2.2m deal, but the young lad has found it difficult after the January arrivals only playing 23 times this season.

A lot of the clubs on the list have used this season to consolidate or build for the next season, I've noticed a few clubs who have had players leave the club on large fees and the club investing those funds to either pay debts or invest back into the club, i.e. Oxlade-Chamberlain going to Arsenal for £12m and Middlesbrough selling £4.2m of players without spending that immediately back into the playing squad and still finishing 7th is commendable and astute.

So there we go, another quick little blog, apologies if I've skimmed over a few clubs and their transfer activity, I'd love to go into detail about all the clubs, but I've neither the time or the patience to go over it at this moment in time. I may make another blog similar to this comparing the spending over the Football League (and Premier League) and perhaps mix in the sales market as well.

Dave

Marko that! Portsmouth vs Watford

Heady days at the moment to be a Portsmouth fan, on the upside is that after yesterdays result we are unbeaten at home since the 3-2 loss to Peterborough, another is the rise of Marko Futacs into the first team. The 6ft 5' Hungarian striker has burst onto the scene after a few cameo appearances throughout the season (first time I've seen him play properly since FC Rostov and Saints game), after finishing emphatically against Leicester he was given his second start against Watford, but more of that later. I met him a few weeks back at work with his girlfriend (who was stunning) and was really friendly, no one recognised him.

I was apprehensive about this game, I think it's the fact when in the bookies prior to the game I read that Watford were on a 8 game unbeaten streak and then remembering how awful we played at the reverse fixture (worst game of football I've seen). I know from that game they have some very quick and skillful players such as Sordell and then big physical players like Iwelumo up front (he was a constant menace in the reverse fixture).
For us we had two suspensions (Halford and Ward) and injuries to count too (Rocha and Varney), it was a worry, especially with the possibility of Mokoena in defence against fast, quick players. After reading the line-up with Huseklepp, Kitson and Futacs heading our attack it sounded promising, but the first half would give a indication on how this would work.
The tribute to Len Phillips was well observed by all corners of the ground (something Watford fans aren't used to), including the away fans. The first half was entertaining for us, good passing play and pressing forward at any opportunity, Futacs and Kitson worked well together acting as holding forwards allowing everyone to get forward, it was still stifled and static at times allowing us to be punished in the midfield. Still have a lack of belief in our final third, I don't know why no one can just have a shot if they can? Do they fear ridicule? I mean it'll either go over, be saved, or go in, even go out for a corner! Kitson had a good shot at goal with a quick touch, swivel and volley but straight at Scott Loach, perhaps Norris and Kitson should have made their shots count better, as they had more time on the ball and wasted their shots at times, especially Kitson. By half time the BBC statistics said that Watford hadn't had a single shot on-target OR off-target, mind-boggling! Usually it's the other way around! Not that Watford had any chances during the first half, they had numerous but we eventually broke down the attacks and stifled it, often giving them little room to get the header or shot away, Sordell was the main danger man, quick on his feet!
A few bits of sloppy play here and there by Mokoena, kept being caught out time and again, luckily for us he wasn't punished by this, another was how slow we are to break out of the box, by the time it's kicked out Watford have got back into position! No urgency to get forward or playing it quickly.

Second half was perhaps the best team performance of the season by us I think, completely dominated the game and made Watford pay for being poor in the first half. After a lacklustre beginning in which the Fratton End went a bit silent for a while we pressed forward, constantly knocking on Watford's penalty box, after a cleared corner Lawrence and Norris combined for a quick corner and Norris crossed it deep to be met by Futacs who headed top corner to put us in the lead, well deserved for the lad as he worked hard during the game, him and Kitson were being a nuisance to the Watford defence (who may I add are quite short for defenders? With two 6ft 4/5 strikers in the box they were not going to win anything!) throughout the game. Straight from the restart we pressed again. Carl Dickinson fouled Liam Lawrence shortly after the goal which led to much banter between him and the fans, chants of "You're fucking useless, we've seen you before" etc. which led to him revealing his 'golden boys' later to the Fratton End, much to the guffawing Fratton End!

Futacs celebrating after scoring against Watford (from Daily Mail)

Then came what we thought was the 2nd goal, but wasn't, I thought Lawrence wasn't offside, Appleton doesn't believe he was either. After a quick break Mattock worked his way into a shooting opportunity and let rip a curling shot which Scott Loach was equal to but had to only palm it away Lawrence pounced on the looping ball to head into a exposed goal, cue jubilant celebrations but quickly quelled with the sight of the linesman's flag, it caught everyone by surprise, even Sky Sports News reported the goal before rescinding it.
A mention quickly to mention the Watford fans who cheekily chanted at us "Shall we sing a song for you" which was met by a few laughs since I seem to remember Vicarage Road is one of the quietest stadiums I've been at since Loftus Road! 1,700 out sang all of home fans I seem to remember! The banter stretched to a quick and silly "Da da da da fucking Eustace" when he came on a sub.
More pressing play from Pompey which kept us fans on our toes as we were hoping for the second killer goal in the last 15 minutes of the game after Lawrence's header was ruled out earlier, and our moment looked to come in the form of Scott Loach being sent off after handling outside the box while challenging the oncoming Futacs, it was hard to call from where I was sitting, I thought he impeded a goalscoring opportunity, but the reports say different and seem more correct. On came the young Jonathan Bond and boy was he tested after, we piled on the pressure once more, constantly looking for the killer goal, it didn't take long though. A cross by Erik into the box was mis-kicked by Mullins who then controlled once more and fired low into the net, game over, it was the killer goal we needed to make sure we got 3 precious points, the relief was felt all around the ground and probably the manager too. Nearly grabbed as Futacs beared down on goal, rounded the defender and let rip a thunderous shot that cannoned off the upright and over, what a hit it was! We all thought it was going in! The man of the match was a bit dubious (Henderson....), I personally would've either given it to Lawrence or Futacs, they played brilliantly and were instrumental to the victory, always moving into space and creating chances, especially Lawrence, finally getting back to his old self which is good!

Overall it was the best team performance of the season, we piled on the pressure and were right on top of the game throughout, after worrying about the game prior to kick-off I'm mightily relieved to come away with a 2-0 victory going into what is a tough fixture list ahead. Improved performances from Lawrence who has steadily improved and getting back to his best after a poor start to the season. I also think this is the first of many good performances from Marko Futacs, he has great skill and composure for someone his age and looks to be a real bargain if he continues to perform well. Has a cracking shot on him, as well as his heading ability, makes you wonder how the team will shape up after Varney is back from full fitness, maybe a 4-3-3 formation might appear? Who knows, but for now it's all about Marko Futacs and his explosive start to the starting line-up, long may it continue!

Up next is tricky games ahead, FA Cup away tie against Chelsea, title chasing West Ham and 'rivals' Cardiff in the next 3 weeks! Let's hope for some loan signings in the window, but that's for another blog! Play Up Pompey!

What a load of rubbish!

Sam Vokes went to Burnley on loan! Bastard! Open my mouth way too soon sometimes...should be a scout?

Saturday I went to the dreadful game that was Watford at Vicarage Road (which we have a bloody awful record there now). It was even worse than the Barnet game earlier in the season, the away faithful were treated to an abysmal display made worse by the fact Watford were playing only slightly better than us.

What I will say about Watford is that they showed what we lack, space, they broke in space with play being switched and using their large physical players to hold up the ball for their pacey wingers (again destroyed by pace...).
Chris Iwelumo was a constant menace throughout the game, Pearce had almost no chance going up against him at time, he even took out two players trying to kick the ball. Good crosses and nice passing helped Watford achieve their win, but like I've said earlier, it wasn't amazing football, just simple.

Portsmouth were undone in their lack of movement, very static play, the midfield kept getting choked unable to break out of their own half, often with people dropping out of positions to try help them out leaving us vulnerable. Kitson constantly made this movement which was alright, he does often win balls through this method, but that game he was like Buck Rodgers, floating into space but nothing to get out of it. It left a very hair-raising predicament that when Watford won the ball they instantly passed it out wide and broke down our defence who were still tracking back into their positions, Ben-Haim was constantly doing this the whole game, coming out of position too often with nothing to show for it.
The long-ball tactic was employed in the game as well, to no avail, it just didn't work, I don't know who thought it would be a good idea, as we don't have anyone with the pace to run behind the flick on (well if Kitson ever jumped for a ball!). Pearce and Huseklepp were the stand out players from the game, always focused and trying to salvage anything from the game! Huseklepp's free-kick right at the death gave us a glimmer of a consolation goal but Loach was equal to the free-kick (Huseklepp on set-pieces from now on please?), Peace again was a rock in that defence, constantly talking to the other defenders making sure they had their man covered.

I applaued Appleton as he got his post-match comments spot on and was refreshing to hear the honesty, I think he's getting a good idea of who is the dead-wood at the club (i.e. Ben-Haim, Kitson, Norris) and realising that players are being made to play awkward football, I mean even under Guy & Gray we still played this badly, just on those occasions we managed to capatalise on goalscoring opportunities. Nottingham Forest were on top of us first half until Huseklepp scored, Barnsley pegged us back for 30 minutes with their blistering pace and attacking threat (well Vaz Te being crap), and even Doncaster they had us on the back foot, so the pattern is across the previous games, not just this one.
The 'experts' at The News and Facebook already saying Appleton is a rubbish choice and should be given 1 month to prove himself.....rubbish! He's had 5-6 days to train with the players, hardly anytime to get to know them or even ask them to gel to his way of training. Hopefully he'll add a few more players to our beleaguered squad to give it more depth and fight for places in it, personally I think we need to go for a more 'defensive' formation for the next game against leicester, go for a 4-2-3-1 formation.
With this we will have a strong back line with two defensive midfielders sitting in front stopping the midfield from progressing and also helping slow down the play. Mullins and Mokoena/Norris/Ward could fit in these roles. Then have a combined attacking midfield of Huseklepp, Razak and Lawrence (if fit) with Varney as your lone striker and it will have a formidable attack as well as defence. As much as 4-4-2 is a great formation it does not reflect the positional strengths we have in the squad.
Here is a quick diagram of how it would look;

 

 

 

 

A 4-2-3-1 formation I feel would work better

This is only what I think....which is never always right. Only when 'scouting' players, ha!
Hopefully by Thursday Appleton will of raided the loan market for a few players to have until January, then the real test will begin for him.

Play Up Pompey! Dreading the Leicester game, return of Nugent.....hat-trick....I bet...