Rayvin

Didn't look amazing for Sunderland last season but they were hardly a good team to begin with. Hopefully he does better with us.

Rafa could have come out saying the things he is to set a face saving stance ahead of the season. If he knows it's going to be tough, by doing what he's doing, he'll protect his reputation. Moyes did it at Sunderland last year.

Couldn't you argue then that Ashley is just trying to keep Rafa sweet for as long as possible, knowing that if we can make it to next season, we can have a proper go in the following year? Maybe even Rafa knows that.

And yet, a club policy surrounding the concept of wiping one's own nose is actually a long term, sustainable approach.

Really don't think Rafa has said anything here that we need to be unduly concerned about. He's had the same position all summer.

Is this, or is this not, money being spent

This coming just in time to fly in the face of the prevailing wind in the Rafa thread.

Fine, if that's true then your theory fits. But it makes Rafa an idiot, unfortunately. EDIT - unless Rafa knew this was coming as much as Ashley did, and the whole sorry affair has just been about posturing for the inevitable fallout; fans and football be damned.

Why would Rafa have left a meeting with Ashley, without an actual figure concerning what the budget would be?

Also, your theory suggests that Rafa went into a meeting with Ashley, was told 'we can spend what we earn' and never questioned what that figure was...

Do we not get some manner of instalment of the season's windfall in a week or two?

'Optics'.

We'll have to agree to disagree. I remain unconvinced that Ashley gives a fuck about the day to day running of the club, and as long as it 'wipes it's own nose' he'll be happy. Charnley is the one who got us relegated, will be responsible for replacing Rafa if he goes, and actually, is responsible for keeping everyone singing from the same hymn sheet. He is woefully out of his depth running this club, and has proven it repeatedly. Charnley is paid far less than any other CEO in the Prem. Largely because he's a compliant, incompetent fucknut. But he'll be topping up what he earns through profit related bonuses. He's probably more interested in those than in building something for the future.

It is, but how is the situation with respect of time any different now than it was prior to Rafa's interview, with the exception of the fact that now a couple of hours have past, and that Rafa has acknowledged we're having a hard time signing people - something we're all aware of. I genuinely think that interview has revealed nothing we didn't already know, and shouldn't cause any more panic than any of us had at 9am this morning

Genuinely think Charnley is a bigger problem for the club than Ashley in the short term.

You reckon? I think it implies that Rafa isn't on the brink of walking out, and that there's a time window he has in mind for Ashley to deliver. But we knew that going into the summer, so as I say, it's not really changing anything. Even if the squad remains as it is, I can't see any clear evidence in that statement which suggests Rafa will leave. Has Rafa ever quit from a previous position? Not as far as I can recall.

To me, that reads like we still have time to bring people in, and that Rafa is hoping this will be the case. This situation is no different to where we were a couple of weeks ago to be frank. If the signings come, they come. The only thing that's really changed is the available time left to sign them. Rafa's statement doesn't change anything as far as I can tell. Agree with this.

Still think it's all posturing tbh.

Aye, even if we'd not gone up we could have sold him on for profit.

Aye but it's notable that the TV deal started last year, and yet it's only one year in that clubs are spending the big money. We're a season behind the others. Might be hugely simplistic, but if borrowing against the future was a sensible option, surely everyone would have been doing it last summer. That said, I can't quite remember last summer - maybe the spending was big? Feels more significant this year though.

In fairness to the club though, it hasn't benefited from the windfall yet.

Oddly, yes. He's suing them for breach of contract and the notion that had they stood by the contract, the book would have done far better. I'd be interested to know what the exact termination clause used in the contract was.

Quite. I noticed he's suing his original publisher for $10m though, so he'll probably still get a good payoff out of all of it.