Simon Cox

[Simon Pieman]

If thats the case then we are self sustaining. We paid for cox and any profit will go back into the club and hopefully get a few players who are hopefully going to improve us and in the long run make us some cash.

But people are saying we are keeping Cox. If we've sold him and spending the money elsewhere then that's great.

If we're keeping him on higher wages and doing all this extra stuff then brilliant. I just think it contradicts Fitton's thinking on how the club should be run so I can't see it.

[Don Rogers Shop]

I suppose if he stays then it will be on a longer deal meaning we still have a asset on our books. Fitton and co have to outlay some cash at the begining to get what they want in the end. Realistically with cox and morrison here we have a potential 2.5m at least if we sell. Fwiw i think this lad is a replacement for cox.

[jonny72]

I just think it contradicts Fitton's thinking on how the club should be run so I can't see it.

There is a contradiction in Fitton's approach anyway - the club has to be self sufficient but they keep putting more money in. I'd imagine the club is still losing £1m or so a year, they'd have come up with the cash (albeit temporarily) for the court case and other bits and pieces.

But lets remember that they're not pissing their money away. Spending say £200k on Theo Robinson is a pretty safe investment in football terms, buy 10 players like that and you only need to find one Cox to get your money back. Same with investing in youth development, that has already turned a good profit recently and if they invest more sensibly it should do even better.

[Phil_S]

I really don't see how we can lose by keeping Cox. The worst case senario is a career ending injury which will be insured against. (I would hope so any way). He could lose form, but not the Cox I've seen playing in a relegation threatened team.
No if I were Fitton, I'd not let him go for a penny less than 2.5 million. I'm confident if he stays we will be pushing for the playoffs at least which will increase the gate & cover his wages easily. PLUS if we were to be promoted we have a striker who is ready for the championship. If we don't go up, then another season of 20-25 goals will only increase his value, assuming that he signs an extention to the contract.

[herthab]

If Cox is here for the first game of next season I will eat my left bollock (That was the one I was going to eat if Lukas ever started a Premiership game for Everton)

[Samdy Gray]

If Cox is here for the first game of next season I will eat my left bollock

Just for posterity, like. You never know...

[herthab]

Just for posterity, like. You never know...

Reply to your texts!!

[Simon Pieman]

If you add those player salaries into the equation then we'd be talking 5 players. Given the fact we've spent money on McNamee, Casal and McGovern (I know these weren't all under Fitton's reign) then the scenario is far riskier than we think. Sell on clauses will take a fair chunk of the money too. Also, Cox isn't going to be worth £2m+ unless he sings a new deal and we haven't heard anything yet.

I agree with the logic completely I just think we've been very very lucky with Cox and the fans may be getting carried away. Don't get me wrong, if Fitton is going to me risk taking I'd love it from a footballing aspect, so no complaints there. I'd just be very surprised if there is a change of policy.

I guess the one hope is that Wilson and Fitton have both said playoffs at least so may spend more cash but you've only got to look at our playoff season to see these gambles don't pay off a lot of the time. If you look at teams like Leeds and Forest (I know they got out eventually but it could have been very different) then even more so. We don't have the fan base to even contemplate Championship sustainability at the moment and Fitton doesn't want a yo yo team.

I await to be pleasantly surprised but I think I'd be less surprised with a promotion and pay rise at work in the summer than Cox staying. I'm not going to put any of my bollocks on the line though

[Riddick]

See in todays Adver Fitton reckons it was between us and Norwich for OTJ, so that would have been another 250k we were shelling out! Has the cox deal been done, or should we have real cause to be optimistic for this season, now that we are spending a bit of cash.

[RobertT]

Umm, he's always said he would spend money on players who could realise a future return.  We dabble in the free's for the other types of player.  Spending £200k a time on young talent that is already sought after isn't as risky as spending 200k on league 1 perrenials.  it's why we spent money on Casal, it was a calculated risk.  If 1 out of 5 lets say come off, then you'll make a profit.

[jonny72]

The fact that we'd offered £250k for OTJ puts an extra spin on things, that's £500k or so they're willing to spend (OTJ and Robinson) without a deal for Cox in place (as far as we're aware). Provided Fitton was being honest when he said they want to keep Cox and that he doesn't have to be sold to raise funds, then surely it is a promising sign as it sounds like they have other signings lined up as well.

[Simon Pieman]

We'll have to wait and see, I think Cox is deciding on at least one deal at the moment but that's just a hunch and could be massively wrong. My only other point would be that if we can't realise a suitable return for Cox who finished top goalscorer and had a brilliant season, then hoping for a suitable return on other players is unrealistic.

One thing is for certain, if we're spending money on players (even if it is from funds raised by the sale of Cox) then we need to back manager and chairman 100%. A lot of people have doubted Fitton's unwillingness to spend i.e. with cutting the squad size down; but player purchases would mean investment or reinvestment which we have not seen since our playoff season.

I'm more excited about who we're going to bring in rather than preying Cox will stay, probably because I'm so sure he'll be gone, but nevertheless it's exciting for a change!

[jonny72]

One thing is for certain, if we're spending money on players (even if it is from funds raised by the sale of Cox) then we need to back manager and chairman 100%. A lot of people have doubted Fitton's unwillingness to spend i.e. with cutting the squad size down; but player purchases would mean investment or reinvestment which we have not seen since our playoff season.

Has Fitton ever said he won't spend? He always seems to come up with the money if he thinks its worth it. Sure, they're cutting the size of the squad but that's pretty much just a case of getting rid of the shit we didn't want and didn't play. Which comes back again to Fitton being sensible with the money.

[Simon Pieman]

I'm just reiterating some of the general comments fans have made about his prudent approach.

I think Fitton has his financial policies spot on.

[Peter Venkman]

I'm just reiterating some of the general comments fans have made about his prudent approach.

I think Fitton has his financial policies spot on.

I agree Si.