We've spoken about the club adopting Brentford's model but Brentford spent £7.3m on transfers the season they got promoted. We've spent £25.19m overall this season, and that's not forgetting that we're paying a high % wage contribution to loan Travers, Giles, Doak, Iling-Junior and Iheanacho, who I'd imagine will all be on decent wages.
This is where it becomes conflicted when trying to compare us to Brentford. On one hand, they did sell players for big money and in return, signed players for low transfer fees, but ultimately they didn't end up spending much overall, therefore it would have been easier for the club to manage fans' expectations.
I think both the Chairman and fans have every right to expect the club to finish in a play-off spot at the very least this season, taking into account the money that has been spent, so with that in mind it's difficult for fans to think back to the way Brentford did it and accept that it's going to be a long-term process.