Transfer Shouts (4 Viewers)

Sick Boy

Well-Known Member
How has is all gone bad so quickly? So frustrating.
Last season papered over the cracks and made people forget the reality of our situation.

Under the current owners we don’t have the spending power to progress in this league, it’ll become more acute once spending picks up again. We’ll always rely on selling players to cover costs with minimal investment in the hope of picking up a ‘gem’, while some delude themselves that we’re following some kind of ‘model’ to progress.
 

SeaSeeEffCee

Well-Known Member
Last season papered over the cracks and made people forget the reality of our situation.

Under the current owners we don’t have the spending power to progress in this league, it’ll become more acute once spending picks up again. We’ll always rely on selling players to cover costs with minimal investment in the hope of picking up a ‘gem’, while some delude themselves that we’re following some kind of ‘model’ to progress.
It’s like supporting fucking Yeovil or MK Dons when they fluked a promotion to this league.
 

KenilworthSkyBlue

Well-Known Member
Think you can understand the last one especially Pete. The infrastructure of the club has very much lagged behind league position and spending power is weak.

The club's infrastructure and staff base isn't all that dissimilar in terms of size and quality as it was in L2. The number of permanent staff appointed has increased marginally but comparative to other Championship clubs we're streets behind.

The notion that's at all sustainable even in the short term is sheer delusion. I've spoken about this on numerous occasions and it's unsurprisingly fallen on deaf ears.

As others have suggested last season massively papered over the cracks, well it did at least for some.
 

Brighton Sky Blue

Well-Known Member
The club's infrastructure and staff base isn't all that dissimilar in terms of size and quality as it was in L2. The number of permanent staff appointed has increased marginally but comparative to other Championship clubs we're streets behind.

The notion that's at all sustainable even in the short term is sheer delusion. I've spoken about this on numerous occasions and it's unsurprisingly fallen on deaf ears.

As others have suggested last season massively papered over the cracks, well it did at least for some.

Well look at the farce with season tickets last year, or just tickets in general. Still treating it like the grim days where away numbers were low so it was fine to dish out some to supporters' clubs without others missing out. Or in the case of season tickets taking so long to send we ended up with paper ones for the first few games.

It did stand out to me especially at Bristol how far behind our setup is-and they share with a rugby club too.
 

covmark

Well-Known Member
Why can’t we, as a club who averaged the 7th highest crowds in the division last season, compete financially and constantly plead poverty?

Because we have lower league owners and are run like a lower league club behind the scenes.
I don't deny we have absolutely shite owners, but comparing us to Yeovil is a massive stretch.
So considering, according to you, we managed to fluke a promotion, we haven't done too badly comfortably staying up in our first season, and finishing top half last season.

Sent from my SM-G780F using Tapatalk
 

SeaSeeEffCee

Well-Known Member
I don't deny we have absolutely shite owners, but comparing us to Yeovil is a massive stretch.
So considering, according to you, we managed to fluke a promotion, we haven't done too badly comfortably staying up in our first season, and finishing top half last season.

Sent from my SM-G780F using Tapatalk
I didn’t say we fluked a promotion, just that off the pitch we’re ran as if we did. Talk of having to sell players just to be able to stay afloat at Championship level in our third season is ridiculous, and the kind of thing you’d expect from one of those small lower league clubs who manage to fluke their way up here.
 

KenilworthSkyBlue

Well-Known Member
Well look at the farce with season tickets last year, or just tickets in general. Still treating it like the grim days where away numbers were low so it was fine to dish out some to supporters' clubs without others missing out. Or in the case of season tickets taking so long to send we ended up with paper ones for the first few games.

It did stand out to me especially at Bristol how far behind our setup is-and they share with a rugby club too.

Yet the issue always seems to boil down to one excuse: "we're understaffed." Frankly it's laughable that a club, which openly admits to being hugely reliant on commercial and ticketing revenue is still so far behind operationally in pretty much every department - especially when compared to other Championship clubs of a similar stature. As bad as the ticketing issues are, they're only the tip of the iceberg.

The quality of commercial staff by large certainly doesn't really help either.

Sadly it's never going to change under the current operation - and those words aren't even mine, they've come from a former Commercial Director at the club.
 

Nick

Administrator
Yet the issue always seems to boil down to one excuse: "we're understaffed." Frankly it's laughable that a club, which openly admits to being hugely reliant on commercial and ticketing revenue is still so far behind operationally in pretty much every department - especially when compared to other Championship clubs of a similar stature. As bad as the ticketing issues are, they're only the tip of the iceberg.

The quality of commercial staff by large certainly doesn't really help either.

Sadly it's never going to change under the current operation - and those words aren't even mine, they've come from a former Commercial Director at the club.
Oh which director do you know?
 

Samo

Well-Known Member
I’d take him in a heartbeat but his wages are out of our range. To be honest even my shit wages are out of our range!

His wages at present are zero.
 
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larry_david

Well-Known Member
I thought last summer we made a few strides to improve ourselves off the pitch in terms of infrastructure, few more appointments, new club shop at the cbs etc but it was needed.

This summer we've re done the training pitch and added a new club shop in cov but more needs to be done to capitalise on last seasons rise on the pitch.
 

JonesBob

Well-Known Member
What a depressing load of tripe. Two games and everyone has gone from pre-season worldbeaters to doomsdayers. I think some of you are mistaking your own sad existences for our current footballing situations, that's not a criticism only an observation.
You moan that players may be sold and then when they are injured you moan about the situation but the good thing is they won't be sold while injured. Sometime I actual doubt whether some people on here actually support the team and only come on here to blame everyone from ticket sales and season ticket problems, to bad loan players, to sell this star or that, to blame the owners, CEO, Directors Manager, ground staff, players. Problem happen get over it.
 

Matt smith

Well-Known Member
What a depressing load of tripe. Two games and everyone has gone from pre-season worldbeaters to doomsdayers. I think some of you are mistaking your own sad existences for our current footballing situations, that's not a criticism only an observation.
You moan that players may be sold and then when they are injured you moan about the situation but the good thing is they won't be sold while injured. Sometime I actual doubt whether some people on here actually support the team and only come on here to blame everyone from ticket sales and season ticket problems, to bad loan players, to sell this star or that, to blame the owners, CEO, Directors Manager, ground staff, players. Problem happen get over it.
I don’t think we’ll sell any of our big Names

think we’ll let a couple go
 

Sky Blue Pete

Well-Known Member
I thought last summer we made a few strides to improve ourselves off the pitch in terms of infrastructure, few more appointments, new club shop at the cbs etc but it was needed.

This summer we've re done the training pitch and added a new club shop in cov but more needs to be done to capitalise on last seasons rise on the pitch.
The argument is well made. Fundamentally tim fisher was right the model doesn’t work in the championship. Robins and vivash have done and will continue to do wonders
 

djr8369

Well-Known Member
As a counterpoint to some of the previous posts investment is lower, in part, because of the effects of the pandemic. That’s true of almost every business currently.
 

shmmeee

Well-Known Member
The argument is well made. Fundamentally tim fisher was right the model doesn’t work in the championship. Robins and vivash have done and will continue to do wonders

That’s because “the model” is keep a bigger club below its level so it can compete without extra money. I made better models aged 8 during my Warhammer days. Eventually under that model we’d no longer be a bigger club and would have to drop again to maintain the finances.
 

Samo

Well-Known Member
The argument is well made. Fundamentally tim fisher was right the model doesn’t work in the championship. Robins and vivash have done and will continue to do wonders

So if the model doesn't work at this level, there are only two options right?
  1. Sell the club at the 'top of the cycle', which is now.
  2. Keep the club and await the inevitable relegation.
We can only hope they don't price themselves out of a sale.
 

shmmeee

Well-Known Member
What’s frustrating is there is a workable model at this level. Other clubs have done it. Tight wage budgets but investment in potential that leads to big sales to plug the holes. But you can’t do that if you can neither buy nor sell players. What happened with O’Hare was unlucky but realistically we should have had Hamer out the door as well and brought in 3/4 of the next batch so we could afford to extend Sheaf and Györkeres this season under the wage budget.

This summer was key for any sustainable model and with Hamer not getting interest and O’Hare getting injured they either throw their hands up in the air and say we’re fucked, or they take this season as a risk to be mitigated, plug the gaps, and keep investing in potential sales because the more you have the better your chances and you only need a 1 in 3/4 to come off to pay for the whole scheme.

What you can’t do is run on such fine margins that of the three prospects signed (Walker, Hamer, O’Hare) we are relying on more than half to come off or all to stay injury free. We need to either be ready to bridge seasons like this or invest more to spread the risk.
 

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