DurhamFox said:
We need to start signing up and coming players, not 'has been' dross from the Premiership. These types of players generally cost less in wages so it's all OK.
Look at Sunderland for instance, not many over the hill former glory boys in their team, nor Wigan or Ipswich or Derby or Reading come to think of it.
The problem with young players is you have to pay a fee for them, even if you get them on a bosman you have to pay compensation - unless you can bring your own youth players through, which we haven't been good at for a long time.
So in the short term signing younger players could work out more expensive than an oldie from the Premiership.
For example Gareth Williams cost £500,000 plus his wages, we may have been able to get an experienced Premiership player for this season, for less money. But the oldie might have only lasted a year (or would cost us too much to pay high wages for more than a year), so it would be money down the drain, at least with Williams he's got a future and will have a value if we decide to sell him.
The tactic of signing old players on free transfers almost worked for MA in the Premiership (and has worked well at bolton in recent years), but it's not a good long term strategy in this division.
The way the compensation system works for out of contract young players, it's cheaper to get them from lower ranked countries, which is presumably why CL has been looking at places like Slovenia. A good young player from there will cost a lot less (in compensation and wages) than the same player would if he was British.
