jts1882
Dean Richards
It's a false question but if it has to be one its the stadium.
All the top sides have large consistent revenue streams from a mixture of gate, TV, commercial and owner. The first is the only one we can change dramatically and consistently. We can improve the TV money through CL qualification but we are currently at a major disadvantage when compare with United and Arsenal on gate and Chelsea and City on owner. As it is we can compete for a CL place but even in good years we just fall short most of the time (2005-06, 2010-11, 2011-12 vs 2009-10). The reason is that we are at a significant disadvantage compared to these teams. The gap in revenue is huge. In the years we qualify for the CL we can narrow the gap but we are still fighting an uphill battle.
With a new stadium we join United and Arsenal in the gate revenue category. This means we are competing for a top four spot on more equal terms. Without CL we would still be behind, but our chances of CL qualification would be significantly higher. Qualifying for the CL more often closes the gap further, helping us become a regular CL with the revenue stream and appeal to bring in better players. If we can become a CL regular and the FFP rules restrain the sugar-daddies, we could within a decade become realistic title challengers on a regular basis.
In contrast buy a striker only helps us get top four now. If he is good enough he will move on to one of the clubs we are trying to catch. And note, those arguing for getting a striker now are only talking about challenging for the Wenger Trophy, not the PL title. Unfortunately, this would only partly close the revenue gap and not in a reliable way like the stadium. Even if successful it does nothing to help the next step. True it might help us keep Bale a bit longer, but he is just one player. It's extremely hard to find players like that with our current status and the best we can do get one or two occasionally for a few years. Arsenal and United can handle the loss of key players because they can get adequate replacements. We can't buy a Bale or Modric (2012 versions) and have to gamble on younger versions.
We need both the stadium and CL to change our status. The stadium helps us do that down the road. The striker only helps with the CL now.
All the top sides have large consistent revenue streams from a mixture of gate, TV, commercial and owner. The first is the only one we can change dramatically and consistently. We can improve the TV money through CL qualification but we are currently at a major disadvantage when compare with United and Arsenal on gate and Chelsea and City on owner. As it is we can compete for a CL place but even in good years we just fall short most of the time (2005-06, 2010-11, 2011-12 vs 2009-10). The reason is that we are at a significant disadvantage compared to these teams. The gap in revenue is huge. In the years we qualify for the CL we can narrow the gap but we are still fighting an uphill battle.
With a new stadium we join United and Arsenal in the gate revenue category. This means we are competing for a top four spot on more equal terms. Without CL we would still be behind, but our chances of CL qualification would be significantly higher. Qualifying for the CL more often closes the gap further, helping us become a regular CL with the revenue stream and appeal to bring in better players. If we can become a CL regular and the FFP rules restrain the sugar-daddies, we could within a decade become realistic title challengers on a regular basis.
In contrast buy a striker only helps us get top four now. If he is good enough he will move on to one of the clubs we are trying to catch. And note, those arguing for getting a striker now are only talking about challenging for the Wenger Trophy, not the PL title. Unfortunately, this would only partly close the revenue gap and not in a reliable way like the stadium. Even if successful it does nothing to help the next step. True it might help us keep Bale a bit longer, but he is just one player. It's extremely hard to find players like that with our current status and the best we can do get one or two occasionally for a few years. Arsenal and United can handle the loss of key players because they can get adequate replacements. We can't buy a Bale or Modric (2012 versions) and have to gamble on younger versions.
We need both the stadium and CL to change our status. The stadium helps us do that down the road. The striker only helps with the CL now.
