[BaggieSteve]

Quantum, I think your "rant" is spot on. Transfer prices + players wages have become so grotesque, driven by the ludicrous amount of money pushed into the Premier League by Sky and others. Until the recent allure of playing in China, it's not surprising that continental players wanted to play in England; this had nothing to do with our culture, climate or quality of football and everything to do with the inflated salaries being offered. The EPL is so often referred to as "the greatest league in the world", particularly by the pundits and Richard Scudamore; I guess if you're judging it by the number of over priced and over hyped players, that's probably correct but, I'd suggest, if it's judged by the quality of football, it's a long way behind. End to end football and high speed games shouldn't mask a lack of quality but I guess it all comes down to your criteria for determining "greatest". The issue for teams like the Albion is that this continual feeding of the financial beast that is the EPL means that, as Quantum, says, average players are being sold for stupid amounts of money because the better players are being sold for, and being paid, obscene amounts. However, because no chairman wants to see his club relegated- even though three teams have to be every year, that's how the league works - there is crushing pressure to pay what it takes to stay up, thus worsening the spiral of transfer fees and salaries. It would take a very brave Chairman to say "enough is enough" although I notice that Daniel Levy has said something like this recently (probably easier to do if you're Tottenham than, say, Albion). I can't see how this spiral will end; nearly every year, some pundit says that, sooner or later, a big club will go into administration and thus go under, but it never happens. Over the years, Jeremy Peace, love him or loathe him, ran our club prudently and without incurring any meaningful or crippling debt. As we sit here today, it's hard not to say "fat lot of good it's done us". Here's to the coming season