Swindon Town's Charlie Austin unsure over future

[stfc1969]

Good post arriba....i for one will be very unhappy if he is away.

We should get around the same for Austin as we did Cox......how about investing at least half of it on new players...it wont happen though.

but considering austin's younger and a better all round player might get us more money ?

[Iffy's Onion Bhaji]

fitton has a tough call now.our season has been a pile of shit so far with charlie being the only real thing of any quality to give fans hope.
every player has his price,but selling your star player with us where we are aint gonna do him any favours.
if charlie wants out then he has little choice anyway though.
i'm sure charlies laughs at the celtic rumours were nervous ones.he'll know full well they are after him.....

Agree with that Arriba. We don't reall know what's going on behind the scenes. Whether Austin wants to stay or go, whether the new contract talks have broken down for that reason or whether they are a smoke screen to try and put the price up, whether the board will want to sell regardless of Austin's thoughts or not. It's all anyone's guess at the moment.

[Nemo]

I know it sounds a bit of a daft question, but are football transfers subject to tax? If so, are the prices generally publically quoted before or after?

[leefer]

but considering austin's younger and a better all round player might get us more money ?

Nope...the same money isn't around now....Celtic wont have enough for him.
If we get a bid any ware 2 million the club will snatch there hands off...i accept we have to sell....but my desire to watch is waning fast.............that is rare for me.

[stfc1969]

then monthly installments and international appearance bonus ?

[Simon Pieman]

I know it sounds a bit of a daft question, but are football transfers subject to tax? If so, are the prices generally publically quoted before or after?

The company is charged tax on its total gains and profits, rather than on a per sale of player basis. So before any tax

[Nemo]

The company is charged tax on its total gains and profits, rather than on a per sale of player basis. So before any tax

So if we were to sell Austin in January, we'd be better off spending the money before the summer so we can write the transfer fees off against tax liabilities? Unless we're still losing masses of money every year, but I've a feeling it's down into six figures as an operating loss now.

[bigbobjoylove]

then monthly installments and international appearance bonus ?

Most transfer deals are typically all paid in monthly instalments. Selling clubs only usually demand money upfront if the club is financially unstable. 

[Don Rogers Shop]

Every single cotract has a international  clause inserted.

[jonny72]

So if we were to sell Austin in January, we'd be better off spending the money before the summer so we can write the transfer fees off against tax liabilities? Unless we're still losing masses of money every year, but I've a feeling it's down into six figures as an operating loss now.

We're still losing around £2m a season before transfer profits (unless things have changed substantially over the last 12 months) and we've got about $1 billion in losses from previous years they can write off any profit against.

[joteddyred]

If we get a bid any ware 2 million the club will snatch there hands off...i accept we have to sell....but my desire to watch is waning fast.............that is rare for me.

Sad to say I'm feeling pretty much the same as you.

We say that we accept we have to sell him, but do we really really need to?  To me all we ever seem to do is take one step forward and the two steps back.  We constantly talk about building for the future, but when does the future start?  How can we build when we sell 1 or 2 of our best players every season?  I know that's what happens when you're a club of our size, but to be honest I'm pissed off with it.

Arriba's post sums it up perfectly.  We've had a crap season so far with no real sign of it improving, the one player who's performed consistently throughout is probably going to leave and potentially we'll end up in a relegation dogfight.  The end result will be a lot of pissed off supporters, myself included left wondering where it's all gone wrong and a large number deciding not to renew their season tickets.

Also, when Charlie does go, does anyone have any advice on how to break it gently to a 7 year old that his absolute idol has gone to play for another team?  He's going to be completely devastated, but I suppose if he's going to follow Swindon Town he needs to get used to the heartache from a young age?   

[Simon Pieman]

So if we were to sell Austin in January, we'd be better off spending the money before the summer so we can write the transfer fees off against tax liabilities? Unless we're still losing masses of money every year, but I've a feeling it's down into six figures as an operating loss now.

My understanding is that current year trading losses (basically matchday & merchandise revenue) can be offset against the gain from the sale of a player in the same year. Trading losses from previous years cannot offset this (as they can only be used against trading profits).

There's a whole bunch of other complications such as rollover relief (which gives relief on any gains reinvested in other player purchase within x amount of time) and whether the club decides to write off the cost of a transfer fee (for a player purchased) over the length of his contract or take the hit on the profit all in the same year.

I won't pretend to know any more because I don't. I suspect, as mentioned in another post, we'll have a big enough loss in the year not to worry about any tax liability anyway.

[Nemo]

Interesting then even if it may be irrelevant. What's certainly relevant though is that Hull look like getting MacLean from Peterborough, so will probably cool their interest in Austin:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/p/peterborough_united/9312976.stm

[london_red]

To me all we ever seem to do is take one step forward and the two steps back.  We constantly talk about building for the future, but when does the future start?  How can we build when we sell 1 or 2 of our best players every season? 

Well put. I fully realise that the income from these player sales is necessary to keep the club afloat, and I guess sometimes it's easy to take for granted what good shape we're in compared to almost any other point in my lifetime.

However it is hugely frustrating that just as things were looking up on the pitch 6 months later it seems we may be in for another crucial player departing.

Would be nice to follow some of these players for more than a year or two.

[Power to people]

I think that if he is going to go then we should be looking to get a bigger fee than we did for Cox as Austin has more potential AND the key thing is to get a decent replacement as we know very well we cannot rely on what will be left for goals.

But equally if there is any ambition of reaching the play-off's this season then we should be looking to keep our best players and Charlie is obviously one of them, even if he does not sign a new deal then come the end of the season he will still have 1 year left on his contract and will still be a sellable asset, FWIW I suspect Charlie will sign a new contract with the agreement that he can leave when a suitable club / offer is made.