Punching above your weight

Is a million pounds enough these days to buy a quality Championship striker? You wonder how much value you get from signings that break the club record because they immediately are expected to be top dollar performers. In AFCB's case, reading between the lines, it seems not the original fee that prevents us from landing some players but more their wage demands.

When you look at some of the signings other teams have made this time around at our level you have to say we are not big spenders. The big money signings have cost significantly more than AFCB can splash out on a player. Grant Holt was £2m and Charlie Austin was undisclosed but must have been for a few million and, oh yes Scott Parker, sorry QPR he isn't coming now! Still, you can imagine how much it would cost to bring such a player to a Championship team.

All our players who were at Dean Court last season are probably already on increased wages from what they had before the summer and, while our attendances will have gone up, our prices have not altered much and the Cherries will no doubt be after more investment in the club to keep ahead of wage demands. The trick is to not let the wages spiral out of control and when I look at our players I don't see any that demand a wage far in excess of any one else.

Eddie Mitchell already pointed to the fact that our expenses will be more in this division and it is important that we can hit the right balance at the end of the day. If a player simply costs more than we can afford and is priced higher than our valuers rate him then we should move on and look elsewhere. 

While it is probably cheaper to buy now than in January, if nothing at the right price is available now the club will have to do the best it can with who we have available. I don't see Doncaster or Yeovil spending heavily, while Barnsley, Millwall, Burnley, Huddersfield and Charlton to name a few others will not push the boat out too far in attracting high-earning new personnel.

There is certainly a massive difference in financial clout in the Championship. Wigan are now said to be looking to bolster their squad as well as QPR. AFCB are one of the small fry but it is possible to punch above your weight as we have already seen with Wigan coming unstuck at Dean Court.