Keith wrote:But it is frustrating to see us bow out of League One without a fight. I very much doubt we'll ever return.
Dave (Barra) wrote:Keith wrote:But it is frustrating to see us bow out of League One without a fight. I very much doubt we'll ever return.
What makes you say that, out of interest? The standard isn’t amazing and Carlisle & Stevenage have shown you just need a half decent manager and you can turn around a poor team into a promotion contender in short order.
Gone_Shrimping wrote:Dave (Barra) wrote:Keith wrote:But it is frustrating to see us bow out of League One without a fight. I very much doubt we'll ever return.
What makes you say that, out of interest? The standard isn’t amazing and Carlisle & Stevenage have shown you just need a half decent manager and you can turn around a poor team into a promotion contender in short order.
It may hinge on someone buying the club that will increase the budget although we got promotion in 2021 with either the lowest or 2nd lowest budget in EFL2 that season. We have that manager again but unfortunately the natives are restless wanting a different manager who will have us scoring 4 or 5 a game
Dave (Barra) wrote:Keith wrote:But it is frustrating to see us bow out of League One without a fight. I very much doubt we'll ever return.
What makes you say that, out of interest? The standard isn’t amazing and Carlisle & Stevenage have shown you just need a half decent manager and you can turn around a poor team into a promotion contender in short order.
Keith wrote:I think the style and approach to football that saw us promoted, did so, in a large part, due to empty stadia during COVID-19.
Little Shrimp wrote:Get a good manager in, back them, give them the freedom to recruit who they need to in order to implement their style, and you'll generally see some decent results.
KenH wrote:Little Shrimp wrote:Get a good manager in, back them, give them the freedom to recruit who they need to in order to implement their style, and you'll generally see some decent results.
We've got a good manager. Trouble is that the club havn't backed him. All the monies raised from covid grants, increased attendances, increased sponsorship etc has been used to pay off the club's debts (over £2m as per latest published accounts as per Graham saying we were now debt free). I'm sure the wages budget is a bit higher than it was 2/3 years ago, but nowhere near enough to compete at this league and nowhere near enough of the clubs increased income has been given to Derek!
Yes, it's good the club is now debt free, but that's not much good when we're about to get relegated due to lack of wages for decent players! There's nothing wrong with having a bit of debt, the key is that it's controlled and repayments affordable. I just wish that we'd say, paid off half the debt and kept some money back to fund Derek to get some better players.
Little Shrimp wrote:It's frustrating but the club has, long term, done absolutely the right thing in making sure that debts are paid off as a priority. It's all fun and games having a blitzing few seasons, like Bury absolutely battering L2 a few years back, but we need to be working from solid foundations if we want to build something good and sustainable long term. Also means that we won't be tied in with Colin and Jason's nonsense once this sale eventually gets sorted.
Also a couple of different meanings we can take regarding the club 'backing' Derek. The board (Rod, Graham, Charlie, James etc) unequivocally back him, and regardless of what league we're in I imagine they'll probably be doing what they can to persuade him to sign a new contract. Just because they don't have the resources to pour into the club doesn't mean they don't back him. Backing isn't just about finance, it's about sticking with a manager and giving them the freedom to use the budget how they see fit.
However, it can't be denied that the financial situation makes things very hard for Derek. The budget is the same as last season's, but funds have been tied up in overhanging contracts from Robinson which has made manoeuvrability in the transfer market hard (partly Derek's fault in fairness, if he'd stayed initially he'd have had first dibs on it). On top of that, there isn't much wiggle room financially given the ongoing sale of the club. That's not the board's fault - that issue lies with Colin and Jason and their insistence on pursuing the Sarbjot route despite it looking unlikely he'll be able to get the sale through the EFL.
Users browsing this forum: Bing [Bot], Google [Bot], Naylz and 23 guests