Usually by this stage of the season

[NYCBlue]

If we were doing well, this message board would be declaring the league "the worst standard it has been in years" and saying that we really should be getting promoted as we wouldn't get another opportunity like this again.
I don't think I've seen that at all this year, but it was a regular occurrence during the DJ years and probably malkys promotion too.

Why do you think that is?

Maybe people just realised that it was a spurious argument. It's always been a tough league to get out of.

[Croesy Blue]

Warnock says that, if Grujic doesn't play, Cardiff pay more. That's expensive because Warnock is in a position of knowing his club will be penalised if Grujic doesn't play, thereby compromising Warnock's position to pick his best team. My understanding is that Grujic has not been impressing.

The other fact that I came up with on this thread is that Cardiff have spent close to £10m this season - you also seem to miss that, conveniently, as you try to claim Cardiff are punching above their weight. Perhaps Cardiff didn't turn down £18m for Zohore either? Cardiff are, financially, well backed - do you agree or disagree?

Yeah but what is your point? Cardiff have had some backing but plenty of team’s I this division have been backed with lots more.

Grujic has done pretty well so far when I’ve seen him.

[Pedro de la Rosa]

In all seriousness this season would be a far bigger acheivement than when we did it with Malky or if we had done it with Dave Jones.

Back in those days we were regarded as one of the big spenders of the division and the money floating around was nothing compared to the figures being spent now.

Wolves, Villa, Derby, Fulham, Sheffield Wednesday, Boro, Hull, Sunderland, Birmingham, Leeds, Norwich have all assembled squads using money we can only dream of at present yet we have defied the odds and challenged with a budget squad.

Ask any City fan if they thought Mackay would get them promoted, I think most would have said very likely, to probable. It's always a gamble but we stood a good chance.

If you look at Boro, Wolves, Fulham, Reading, Derby, Leeds etc who have all spent 15-50m this summer, what we're doing is incredible. I think most thought play-offs would be tough but just about possible. Boro, Wolves, Fulham, Wednesday etc have bought one player (or near enough) for the cost of us rebuilding a team over the summer and let's not even discuss wages! Villa are paying Terry 60k a week, and they have about 10 players on about 40-50k. Henri Lansbury quadrupled his Forest wage to go to Villa. Quadrupled!

[dembethewarrior]

Ask any City fan if they thought Mackay would get them promoted, I think most would have said very likely, to probable. It's always a gamble but we stood a good chance.

If you look at Boro, Wolves, Fulham, Reading, Derby, Leeds etc who have all spent 15-50m this summer, what we're doing is incredible. I think most thought play-offs would be tough but just about possible. Boro, Wolves, Fulham, Wednesday etc have bought one player (or near enough) for the cost of us rebuilding a team over the summer and let's not even discuss wages! Villa are paying Terry 60k a week, and they have about 10 players on about 40-50k. Henri Lansbury quadrupled his Forest wage to go to Villa. Quadrupled!

No doubt Grabban is on 30k

I'd not be scared to put my money where my mouth is with Ledley being on 20-30k plus either.

We have by all accounts, rid ourselves of those kinds of earners.

Let's say we have the 10th biggest wage budget in the league (anyone care to agree disagree)

We have also been outspent by more than enough teams to put us outside the top 6.

Yet here we are.

[Rjk]

No doubt Grabban is on 30k

I'd not be scared to put my money where my mouth is with Ledley being on 20-30k plus either.

We have by all accounts, rid ourselves of those kinds of earners.

Let's say we have the 10th biggest wage budget in the league (anyone care to agree disagree)

We have also been outspent by more than enough teams to put us outside the top 6.

Yet here we are.

I think in the latest available data we were one of the highest wage bills. We have possibly reduced ours, while others have almost certainly increased, I still think it is likely we would be comfortably within the top 10

[Ianto13]

If you look at transfer market,we are joint fifth biggest spenders overall in Championship this season at just over 10m. Villa,Derby and Fulham behind us because they have sold players for a lot more than they have spent.They say the only two players we sold for a fee were Saadi and Huw’s.

[Rjk]

Latest data on wages I can find is the 15/16 season, we had the third highest wage bill, behind QPR and Fulham.

I guess we have reduced since then and the likes of villa have joined the league, wouldn't be surprised if we weren't still in the top 6

[jon1959]

If you look at transfer market,we are joint fifth biggest spenders overall in Championship this season at just over 10m. Villa,Derby and Fulham behind us because they have sold players for a lot more than they have spent.They say the only two players we sold for a fee were Saadi and Huw’s.

Yes but that site claims we paid £6.12m for Madine (Warnock insists it was £5m including 'add ons') and £2.97m for Lee Tomlin (Warnock clarified that months ago and the real figure was something like £1.6m - a number that even the Bristol Post is now quoting).

My best guess is that the club have spent £4-6m net this season over the summer and January windows. Wages - who knows - but I expect the bill has come down.

[Bobby Dandruff]

In all seriousness this season would be a far bigger acheivement than when we did it with Malky or if we had done it with Dave Jones.

Back in those days we were regarded as one of the big spenders of the division and the money floating around was nothing compared to the figures being spent now.

Wolves, Villa, Derby, Fulham, Sheffield Wednesday, Boro, Hull, Sunderland, Birmingham, Leeds, Norwich have all assembled squads using money we can only dream of at present yet we have defied the odds and challenged with a budget squad.

I don't think that is the case when Jones was in charge as his team was put together largely by loanees and freebies, with the odd signing. Tan has backed Colin in the transfer market way more than Ridsdale was able to back Jones.

[dembethewarrior]

I think in the latest available data we were one of the highest wage bills. We have possibly reduced ours, while others have almost certainly increased, I still think it is likely we would be comfortably within the top 10

I just can't see how that's possible looking at the players in teams from sheff weds to villa to boro etc.

[Rjk]

I don't think that is the case when Jones was in charge as his team was put together largely by loanees and freebies, with the odd signing. Tan has backed Colin in the transfer market way more than Ridsdale was able to back Jones.

Jones paid high wages, we had one of the higher operating budgets in the league. Looking at transfer fees alone is meaningless

[Croesy Blue]

Jones paid high wages, we had one of the higher operating budgets in the league. Looking at transfer fees alone is meaningless

The club could afford to spread the money throughout the season but not in lump sums.

You can’t judge it purely on transfer fees but Jones’ hands were still tied.

[Rjk]

The club could afford to spread the money throughout the season but not in lump sums.

You can’t judge it purely on transfer fees but Jones’ hands were still tied.

I don't buy that, you can pay transfer fees in installments if you want to, and I specifically remember Jones when interviewed saying that he preferred to spend more on wages and less on fees, as he felt you get a better player that way

[Croesy Blue]

I don't buy that, you can pay transfer fees in installments if you want to, and I specifically remember Jones when interviewed saying that he preferred to spend more on wages and less on fees, as he felt you get a better player that way

We couldn’t even afford to spend 1m on koumas

[Eric the Half a Bee]

I don't buy that, you can pay transfer fees in installments if you want to, and I specifically remember Jones when interviewed saying that he preferred to spend more on wages and less on fees, as he felt you get a better player that way

I believe it was a joint decision between Jones and Ridsdale. The idea being that you were more likely to pick up a big name who was out of contract.

[Eric the Half a Bee]

We couldn’t even afford to spend 1m on koumas

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/...koumas-2335332

West Brom wanted £2m, most of it up front. There's also an interesting line here "Their (City's) wage bill currently remains too high and much of the money from Jerome will be used to make up the shortfall over the next couple of years." Back then we only sold 5,500 season tickets.

[the other bob wilson]

Time to let it go I think

Why? It is the thing behind Badly Ironed Shirt'x whole attitude towards a club I know he really thought an awful lot of - when it comes to differences of opinion on Cardiff City with him, it's impossible to let the rebrand go.

[the other bob wilson]

To go back to the original question, I usually say it's very hard to judge the quality of the Championship from one season to the next and so tend to stay out of such conversations, but, more than most years, I have some thoughts about this season's Championship compared to others. My impression is that, with lots of clubs carrying long injury lists, it is a league with even more emphasis on power and physique this time. There are reams of Championship related stats available these days and for me the most relevant one is that we are second in the table with twelve games to go despite playing the least number of passes in the division and having the highest numbers for unsuccessful short passes and unsuccessful long passes. This tells me that possession of the ball is not as much of a factor as it has been in an era where, generally speaking, the trend has been to try and retain possession - I think since we returned to the Championship in 2003 after a long absence, there has always been more sides than the average for other divisions that play in a direct and physical way, but there seems to be more of them this season than ever before.

[goats]

No doubt Grabban is on 30k

I'd not be scared to put my money where my mouth is with Ledley being on 20-30k plus either.

We have by all accounts, rid ourselves of those kinds of earners.

Let's say we have the 10th biggest wage budget in the league (anyone care to agree disagree)

We have also been outspent by more than enough teams to put us outside the top 6.

Yet here we are.

Don’t tell BIS this, it would break him

[goats]

Jones paid high wages, we had one of the higher operating budgets in the league. Looking at transfer fees alone is meaningless

We had to pay high to lure players here in the past too, prob not so much now. And of course we have Neil, who everyone loves to play for...