joe soap wrote:royc wrote:Oy, the cogniscenti who said that was one R Cockerill, the rest of us are just taking his statement at face value. And at the risk of being as repetitive as you on this point, he actually said 'AROUND 40', so 42 or 43 would fit fine with that, no?
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not at all sure he said that. In the article this came from the only actual quote (as opposed to attributed view by the journo) was that the squad would be smaller. If you can provide a direct quote it might help.
anyway, one might say 38-42 is around 40. At a stretch, fair enough 43. We now have 44 and Cockerill mentioned 45 on Saturday. Should I take him at face value now or back in a non-quote in Feb?
I had very similar recollection to RoyC, Cockers definitely talked in terms of a squad size of around 40. Can't find the quote, but I was thinking the same before I read Roy's post. Maybe it was a TV or radio interview, who knows. Anyway, if I did find the quote Joe would just reply that it was Rob Robertson talking nonsense again, so what's the point?
Since Cockers talked about a smaller squad size, several things have changed that may or may not have affected his budget. A higher league placing than expected (presumably league 'prize money' varies depending on where you finish); the new TV deal has been announced with a significant uplift in cash per club; a share of the Munster play-off gate (whether or not less than it might have been, definitely more than budget); Champions Cup forward revenues (previously not budgeted, not sure how / when that comes into the mix). All of these factors have the potential to impact on the playing budget, so not unrealistic to think he could be looking at a larger squad than envisaged in Feb, or earlier.
As mentioned, none of us know whether Dickinson maybe about to retire. Nor has anything been announced around Freuan officially. We don't have to pay for Myreside, temp stands etc - and we don't know what is / isn't committed in terms of alternative pitch spend next season. To pick Joe's point about Scotland squad, maybe he now has more cash based on an expectation that he will need to have more backup for international call-ups than was expected earlier in the season.
There are multiple variables to consider, and with the best will in the world none of us can do any more than speculate as to their impact. In the meantime, maybe Cockers was looking at a squad of 40ish in Feb. Maybe now he's looking at 45, as a result of a number of developments affecting club finances. It doesn't mean that some Joe condescendingly calls 'cognoscenti' were wrong.