What were Watford thinking -Andre Gray

[Romford Hoop]

Andre Gray signed a 5 year / £18,200,000 contract with the Watford, including an annual average salary of £3,640,000. In 2021, Gray will earn a base salary of £3,640,000, while carrying a cap hit of £3,640,000.

[davieqpr]

It's what happens when Prem teams offer contracts with no relegation clauses in. Expires end of this season though.

[stainrodisalegend]

Question is, whether he will roll his sleeves up to earn himself his next contract which will likely be for circa 20k a week in the Championship or whether he will think its all beneath him, he has all the money he needs for Rolex's and Ferraris and strut about half fit for the next couple of months upsetting the camaraderie of the dressing room.

Still, in Warbs we trust...

[QPRDave]

Warbs knows what he's doing, give the fella a chance.

[SheepRanger]

Andre Gray signed a 5 year / £18,200,000 contract with the Watford, including an annual average salary of £3,640,000. In 2021, Gray will earn a base salary of £3,640,000, while carrying a cap hit of £3,640,000.

£70k a week for a premiership striker is pretty standard, if not cheap these days. Wasnt Charlie supposed to be on £60k at week at WBA? Most top strikers are surely on £150k with the elete even more than that.

I'm not convinced Watford have done anything wrong here, it seems the general madness of being in the premiership and trying to be competitive and staying up. If we get promoted I hope the players that got us there will get their salaries doubled and halved if relegated. We should take the cash and stay away from the SWP £50k and Barton £70k a week contracts.

[cross it Dave]

We have a really happy united squad, this to me is a risky signing, the bloke seems to have outsides issues.

And why can’t he get in an lower average premiership Watford team?

Not for me.

[BusRider]

£70k a week for a premiership striker is pretty standard, if not cheap these days. Wasnt Charlie supposed to be on £60k at week at WBA? Most top strikers are surely on £150k with the elete even more than that.

I'm not convinced Watford have done anything wrong here, it seems the general madness of being in the premiership and trying to be competitive and staying up. If we get promoted I hope the players that got us there will get their salaries doubled and halved if relegated. We should take the cash and stay away from the SWP £50k and Barton £70k a week contracts.

Yup. The going rate for premiership players is absolutely huge, and the gap between the 1st and 2nd tiers in terms of what is spent on wages has never been higher. You can argue wether it is sustainable or not. The massive TV deal is helping sustain it over here in England, but looking at the continent even Barca and Real are struggling a bit financially now. Basically only PSG (who are essentially funded by an entire nation state not looking to recoup their expenditure) can compete with the big prem clubs in the financial/wages arena.

I do worry about the sustainability of it, wether it will all collapse, or wether we will just have a top elite of 4-5 clubs whose owners are so enormously wealthy they don't care about making a profit or the money sunk in with no hope of recouperation. Who will obviously hoover up all the best talent. We are already seeing this - Messi, Neymar, Mpappe all playing in one team in ligue 1? Absurd.

[Jeffqpr]

We have a really happy united squad, this to me is a risky signing, the bloke seems to have outsides issues.

And why can’t he get in an lower average premiership Watford team?

Not for me.

He said he’s a changed man & what’s to say he won’t unite in our team, if he doesn’t he will shot out, Watford have had so many manages & everyone is different when picking players & he wasn’t one of them, not even signed yet & if he does give the bloke a chance

[SheepRanger]

Yup. The going rate for premiership players is absolutely huge, and the gap between the 1st and 2nd tiers in terms of what is spent on wages has never been higher. You can argue wether it is sustainable or not. The massive TV deal is helping sustain it over here in England, but looking at the continent even Barca and Real are struggling a bit financially now. Basically only PSG (who are essentially funded by an entire nation state not looking to recoup their expenditure) can compete with the big prem clubs in the financial/wages arena.

I do worry about the sustainability of it, wether it will all collapse, or wether we will just have a top elite of 4-5 clubs whose owners are so enormously wealthy they don't care about making a profit or the money sunk in with no hope of recouperation. Who will obviously hoover up all the best talent. We are already seeing this - Messi, Neymar, Mpappe all playing in one team in ligue 1? Absurd.

When you see that relegated clubs get circa £100m for one season in the premiership its very easy to get carried away. I have always said that I'd rather be competitive in the championship than cannon fodder in the premier league. When I buy a ticket I want to see my team win on my day out more often than lose or draw.

https://www.planetfootball.com/quick...e-prize-money/

I guess with parachute money, one season in the premiership is worth £200m over four seasons. Although I'm not sure what that structure or duration is these days?

[QPRDave]

When you see that relegated clubs get circa £100m for one season in the premiership its very easy to get carried away. I have always said that I'd rather be competitive in the championship than cannon fodder in the premier league. When I buy a ticket I want to see my team win on my day out more often than lose or draw.

https://www.planetfootball.com/quick...e-prize-money/

I guess with parachute money, one season in the premiership is worth £200m over four seasons. Although I'm not sure what that structure or duration is these days?

Football is sadly ruined

[cross it Dave]

He said he’s a changed man & what’s to say he won’t unite in our team, if he doesn’t he will shot out, Watford have had so many manages & everyone is different when picking players & he wasn’t one of them, not even signed yet & if he does give the bloke a chance

I wonder what the squad think about Billy big ######## coming in.

I am happy to be proved wrong, but will this leopard change his spots?

[Jeffqpr]

I wonder what the squad think about Billy big ######## coming in.

I am happy to be proved wrong, but will this leopard change his spots?

We will see! Think the squad will welcome him in, they’ve got to & keep the atmosphere good

[WeAreQPR12]

Not a bad signing. Certainly an improvement that would keep dykes out of the side. I wouldn't say no to deeney if the wages were reasonable on a free. 33 but does a job. Think he wants to go to his home town club Birmingham unfortunately

[Abseits]

Gotta be honest..... I'd walk past him in the street clueless and oblivious, have literally no clue who he is or what he looks like. Obviously the name rings a bell but beyond that I have no idea. I don't have the blind and unyielding loyalty to Warburton some seem to have therefore I'm at best underwhelmed about this acquisition and at worst WTF??? The player who is on the lips of literally nobody is how I'd describe him.

[Stainrod]

Not a bad signing. Certainly an improvement that would keep dykes out of the side. I wouldn't say no to deeney if the wages were reasonable on a free. 33 but does a job. Think he wants to go to his home town club Birmingham unfortunately

We need pace up front , Deeney hasn’t broke sweat in years , him and Austin would look like a couple of OAPS up front .