How many players will we sign before the end of August?

[cross it Dave]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c2ll8jdknzeo

things seemed to have changed last season.

[cross it Dave]

And TV revenue..........and some of those leagues are very cheap to buy tickets.

By budget we'd be in the top 200

Then add in that it is not inconceivable that we might play in the most lucrative football match in world football at Wembley next May.

[cross it Dave]

And TV revenue..........and some of those leagues are very cheap to buy tickets.

By budget we'd be in the top 200

In Bordeaux you can get a ticket for a baguette and a cheap glass of local wine, and they bus them in from miles away.

[Abseits]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football...s/c2ll8jdknzeo

things seemed to have changed last season.

There is a difference between average attendance and total attendance. Obviously the Championship has a lot more games due to having 24 teams. Hence the 12mil total.

The Prem spent years crowing about being best supported league but too many piddly clubs with sub 20K stadia are ruining their brand recently.

[SheepRanger]

In Bordeaux you can get a ticket for a baguette and a cheap glass of local wine, and they bus them in from miles away.

I'm in Berlin right now for the Euros, and met a Brummie lad. He jumps on £40 return RyanAir flight and goes all over these smaller Leagues. A £10 ticket and you're in the best seats apparently. I think he paid £10 a ticket to watch Lecce in the Italian top division!

Outside of these top Leagues, if the players were any good they would have moved on.

I doubt there's many players in the Scandinavian, Central and Eastern European Leagues on £10k a week. Even in Spain most of the TV money is carved up by Real & Barca. In Italy there's no real away support and they watch at home and that's it. Southern Italy is very poor.

We'll show them with our new team.....top ten for sure and we'll get a bit more credit.

[cross it Dave]

Oslo is without doubt a top poster on this site, and I agree with 99.9 % of what he posts, but this just does not feel right, good debate though.

[SheepRanger]

Oslo is without doubt a top poster on this site, and I agree with 99.9 % of what he posts, but this just does not feel right, good debate though.

Yeah.....top poster here and adds a huge amount of insight.

I think it maybe lies lies and statistics

You can crunch data to produce what you want to get. Put our team nrxt season against the 7th placed teams in the Scandinavian, Central & Eastern European Leagues and we'd have a healthy points tally.

Our team of the last two seasons has been aweful but we start our campaign for world domination next season!!

[QPROslo]

Thanks a lot for kind words.

I agree, it is a good debate.

I have looked at it in more detail.

Better clubs in England/Wales: 37
Germany (all of Bundesliga): 18
Spain (all of La Liga): 20
France (all of Ligue 1): 18
Italy (all of Serie A): 20

Based on these 5 countries top divisions and the Championship clubs that are better than us, the number adds up to 115.

Other countries:

Netherlands: PSV, Feyenoord, Ajax, AZ, Twente, Sparta Rotterdam (6)
Belgium: Anderlecht, Brugge, Genk, Gent, Charleroi, Union SG, Antwerpen, Standard Liege (8)
Scotland: Celtic, Rangers (2)
Ireland: None
Northern Ireland: None
Portugal: Sporting, Benfica, Porto, Braga (4)
Switzerland: Young Boys, Lugano, Servette, Zürich, St Gallen (5)
Austria: Salzburg, Sturm Graz, LASK Linz, Rapd Wien (4)
Poland: Legia Warszawa, Jagiellonia, Slask Wrochlaw, Lech Poznan (5)
Czech: Sparta, Slavia Praha, Viktoria Plzen, Banik Ostrava (4)
Slovakia: Slovan Bratislava (1)
Hungary: Ferencvaros (1)
Romania: Steua Bucurest, Cluj (2)
Bulgaria: Ludogorets, CSKA Sofia (2)
Moldova: Sherrif (1)
Ukraine: Sjahktar Donetsk, Dynamo Kiev (2)
Russia: Zenit, Spartak Moskva, Lokomotiv Moskva, Dynamo Moskva, Krasnodar, CSKA, Rostov, Rubin Kazan (8)
Croatia: Dynamo Zagreb, Hajduk Split (2)
Slovenia: None
Serbia: Red Star, Partizan (2)
Bosnia: None
Montenegro: None
Macedonia: None
Albania: none
Greece: PAOK, AEK, Olympiakos, Panathinaikos (4)
Turkey: Galatasaray, Besiktas, Fenerbache, Trabzonspr, Istanbul BB (5)
Cyprus: APOEL (1)
Georgia: Dynamo Tbilisi (1)
Denmark: Copenhagen, Brøndby, Midtjylland (3)
Norway: Bodø Glimt, Molde, Brann (3)
Sweden: None
Finland: None
Baltics: None
Belarus: Dynamo Minsk (1)
Iceland: None
Small countries in Europe: None

In total, with all of these, we are at 192 clubs that are better than us.

There are some good German clubs in the second tier, such as Schalke, Kaiserslautern, Herta Berlin, Hamburger SV and Fortuna Dusseldorf. Likewise, there are also good teams in Italy's Serie B such as Sampdoria, Parma and Palermo. If we add these 8 tier two clubs we get to 200 teams that might be better than us.

This is far from any exact science, but I would say that we are around the 200th best club of Europe, based on our 18th finish in 23/24.

However, we are on the up. It will look better next season.

[QPROslo]

You can crunch data to produce what you want to get. Put our team nrxt season against the 7th placed teams in the Scandinavian, Central & Eastern European Leagues and we'd have a healthy points tally.

If we are the 200th best team in Europe, that does not mean that we are at par with the 7th best team in a lot of smaller leagues of Europe.

Take a look at my list of 200 clubs that I think might be better than us. This implies that clubs not on the list might be weaker than us. If you use my list, this is the league position we would end up in if we played in other leagues in Europe:

Sweden: We would end up as winners and go into qualification matches for Champions League
Portugal: We would end up 5th after Sporting, Benfica, Porto and Braga
Ukraine. We would end up as 3rd after Sjakthar Donetsk and Dynamo Kiev
The Netherlands: We would end up 7th after PSV, Feyenoord, Ajax, Twente, AZ Alkmaar and Sparta Rotterdam

This is what a team ranked 200th in Europe looks like.

I think it is a very bold statement that we are 100-120th in Europe. If we were, we would walk most leagues outside the four big ones. I don't think we would.

[SheepRanger]

If we are the 200th best team in Europe, that does not mean that we are at par with the 7th best team in a lot of smaller leagues of Europe.

Take a look at my list of 200 clubs that I think might be better than us. This implies that clubs not on the list might be weaker than us. If you use my list, this is the league position we would end up in if we played in other leagues in Europe:

Sweden: We would end up as winners and go into qualification matches for Champions League
Portugal: We would end up 5th after Sporting, Benfica, Porto and Braga
Ukraine. We would end up as 3rd after Sjakthar Donetsk and Dynamo Kiev
The Netherlands: We would end up 7th after PSV, Feyenoord, Ajax, Twente, AZ Alkmaar and Sparta Rotterdam

This is what a team ranked 200th in Europe looks like.

I think it is a very bold statement that we are 100-120th in Europe. If we were, we would walk most leagues outside the four big ones. I don't think we would.

I hear you.

But my statement was in the 180-200 range. It was Dave who thought we'd be inside the top 120.

[SheepRanger]

The Albanian keeper Thomas Strakosha looked decent tonight.

He signed for Brentford two years ago on a three year deal, but has only made two appearances. Previously played for Lazio.

We could do a lot worse than trying to get him on loan for the last year of his Brentford contract?

[Sleeping Giants]

Does our yearly accounting period end on 30 June? Are we now in the 2024/2025 period? If so, maybe some tranafer business can see a green light now?

[QPROslo]

I hear you.

But my statement was in the 180-200 range. It was Dave who thought we'd be inside the top 120.

Apology for my mix up Sheep - and I could have phrased myself much better. I think we are in the 200-220th bracket, so more or less same as you.

[QPROslo]

Does our yearly accounting period end on 30 June? Are we now in the 2024/2025 period? If so, maybe some transfer business can see a green light now?

The yearly account period ends 31 May at QPR, while it is 30 June for most other clubs. Any professional contracts by default have to run until 30 June. So from an accounting perspective we have been in the new financial year for 30 days already, but for any outgoing contracts, such as Begovic, Willock, Duke-McKenna, Adomah etc, these formally ended yesterday.

This does not prevent Willock from training with us until a new agreement has been reached, or the parties conclude that it wasn't to be, and he heads to another club.

[Sleeping Giants]

The yearly account period ends 31 May at QPR, while it is 30 June for most other clubs. Any professional contracts by default have to run until 30 June. So from an accounting perspective we have been in the new financial year for 30 days already, but for any outgoing contracts, such as Begovic, Willock, Duke-McKenna, Adomah etc, these formally ended yesterday.

This does not prevent Willock from training with us until a new agreement has been reached, or the parties conclude that it wasn't to be, and he heads to another club.

Thanks for explaining.