Even in the Jim Smith, Ossie Ardiles days I have never felt so pessimistic as I do now. This is an object lesson in asset stripping. The FCB has realised he can’t get his £350m for the club he bought without doing due diligence (and hence didn’t realise owed Barclays £80m). So he’s got rid of the one man pressuring him to spend the incoming TV money on players and managed to get save on his salary by letting him walk. Only to replace him with a yes man who’ll be trying to tell us the championship calibre players he’ll ‘buy’ are good enough. They wont be.
The players confidence is already shot judging by today’s performance. We’ll be down by February and the FCB will be reluctant to sell again because the club will be worth far less than what it owes him. That’s down to his running of it though.
Had he spent a couple of £m on the training ground and infrastructure (as Benitez wanted) then like many higher level PL teams, they would have a decent supply of young lads ready to supplement purchases or be sold to boost revenues. Much in the way Chelsea and Liverpool get strong money for unproven but talented players.
The FCB has always done this though. Buying another faded/distressed brand, taking advantage of what goodwill and customers it has and peddling an inferior version of it until it’s brand is practically worthless. See Karrimor, Slazenger, House of Fraser. I hope to god they all fail – including NUFC if that means getting shot of him and starting again.
Glad you asked Loddrik?