I feel we're stuck in the same cycle.
Every Summer we have fans in here saying "complete rebuild needed"
Every Summer we go for it: over half the team changes.
We always go for the expensive option too. Our spending is greater than any team without parachute payments.
When you have so many loan players and players on short term contracts, plus an unproductive expensive academy, there is obviously going to be huge player turnover every year. There is at most clubs.
This notion of slowly building with lots of continuity in the Championship is mythical.
We don't go for it every summer - not at all.
We don't always go for the expensive option either, quite the opposite.
Brentford are quoted as this wonderful model.
They certainly crawled to promotion over 7 seasons, but they
recruited 72 players (44 buys, 15 frees and 13 loans) spending
£72.9m.
They
released 108 players, some on loan more than once, or on loan then sold or freed later (32 sold, 31 freed, 45 loaned) generating
£171.2m.
It is absolutely true that Brentford earned their success, were brilliantly led, gaining promotion after years of auto and play off flirtations. They generated a transfer surplus of £98.3m, built a new home and stayed up.
Their success was largely funded by trading profits on recruits, not on their academy. (£24.1m profit on Watkins, £24.8m on Benrahma, £12.2m Maupay, £9.4m on Konza, £12.2m on home grown Mepham, £8.6m on Hogan, £10.6m on Gray). Finding just 6 players, developing them and selling them at the right time generated £89.7m of their transfer surplus. They only grew 1 of their own to take their surplus to well over £100m on just those 7 players. So buying and selling wisely can eventually deliver success for even a very small club like Brentford, out of the top flight for over 70 years, with a very small fan base, surrounded by giant clubs.
However, it was never a gentle and gradual build, there was massive turnover of players every season.
On average over 10 players were recruited every year, while over 15 were moved out for the season.
Interestingly, they became more and more successful as they stopped borrowing players and signed fewer frees.
What has happened at Boro this season is similar to Brentford's average player turnover and we have clearly followed their cashing in on talent policy this summer.
Norwich is another interesting one. 7 seasons in the top flight this century. Relegated 3 times now in a row after promotion.
£5.3m net transfer spend across the 7 seasons prior to this,
but huge turnover of players too. 81 in inc loans, 53 out exc countless loans.
Interestingly all the notable profits on player sales are on players bought before Kieran Scott was even at the club as a scout exc Buendia. (i.e. Godfrey, Maddison, Murphy, Murphy). Norwich are always hugely turning their squad over, every summer.
What is striking about Boro over the same period is how few players we have bought that we have made a transfer profit on; how few players the academy has generated a significant profit on (Reach and Gibson) until the cashing in this summer on Tav and Spence. We have bought really badly and not developed enough of our own talent.
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Numbers below taken directly from Transfermarkt.com Brentford all transfers.
14-15 where we beat them in the playoffs.
IN:
16 players. 5 buys for total £5m, 4 Frees, 5 loans and 2 more that are unclear where fee is unclear.
OUT:
21 players. 1 Sold £3.4m, 8 Freed, 12 Loaned out
15-16 we were promoted.
IN:
14 players. 7 buys for £9.4m + 1 Unclear fee, 2 Frees, 4 loans.
OUT:
23 players. 6 sold for £23m, 9 Frees, 8 loaned out.
16-17
IN:
9 players. 3 buys for £4.6m, 4 frees, 2 loans.
OUT:
10 players. 4 players. 4 sales for £13.0m + 5 freed and 1 loaned out.
17-18
IN:
7 players. 5 buys for £10.2m, 2 frees, 0 Loans
OUT:
12 players. 6 sold for £13.7m. 1 Free, 5 loaned out.
18-19
IN:
6 players. 4 buys for £5.9m, 2 frees, 0 loans.
OUT
14 players. 6 sold for £31.5m, 2 frees, 6 loaned out.
19-20
IN:
14 players. 10 buys for £31.2m +3 unclear fees, 1 Free, 0 loans.
OUT:
14 players. 6 sold for £30.8m, 4 frees, 4 loaned out.
20-21 PROMOTED
IN:
6 players. 3 buys for £6.6m, +1 unclear fee, 0 Frees and 2 loans
OUT:
14 players. 3 sold for £55.8m, 2 frees, 9 loaned out.
