20-06-2022, 01:07 PM
(20-06-2022, 11:19 AM)Lawrence Wrote:(20-06-2022, 09:37 AM)Pompeyg100 Wrote:(20-06-2022, 09:23 AM)Lawrence Wrote: I can't believe anybody thought we would actually make signings on 10th June. They say this every year, do nothing and then are on their back feet for most of the summer trying to stop season ticket sales collapsing. Deep down we all know it'll be a last minute thing with signings that nobody has heard of before. Take away Azeez and Hirst, I think Cowley has made some decent signings despite having limited funds.
I don't think we are frighteningly bad. We have a budget and a manager that is delivering what the owners want - a top 10 team that isn't in danger of going up or getting relegated. The L1 table last season showed the huge divide between the top half and the bottom. All the current building work is just protecting the owner's investment and ensuring the assets don't crumble away. It's all going to Eisner's plans really.
I understand our current position because at the end of the day clubs like Peterborough, Ipswich, Derby, Sheffield Wednesday etc will chuck the cash and we won't. I hope that there will be a day when better financially run clubs will benefit from this strategy but I can't see it happening anytime soon.
I just wish we didn't look so small time and amateurish. Watch the Aston Villa refurbishment plan link that follows our FP ground update on youtube and you'll find there's more to life than wood-effect concessionary stands....
Let’s not forget of course the Irish international goalkeeper.
If they didn’t protect their investment as you believe then much of the ground would have been closed and then you would complain you couldn’t go.
How did Ipswich get on last year splashing the cash? Derby can’t sign anyone and the reason they can’t is because of admin so I am not sure they are a good example.
Villa? What’s their income?
All I'm saying is that we cannot expect us to sign the best players for L1 when they will get better offers from Ipswich etc (and I mention Derby if they get a takeover done in time). Peterborough and Wycomble spunked it last time they went up and no doubt Sheff Weds, Bolton, Forest Green etc will do the same this season. It'll work for enough of them that's for sure. We can't do that so we get the drop outs, which I get. Personally, I think Cowley has done reasonably well considering (nobody could foresee just how krap Walker would end up being).
As for the ground, it works both ways and if the ground doesn't get fixed they lose all their money. Also, and most worrying, even with the north stand lower half closed, there wasn't a single game sold out last season so, no I don't think I'd be complaining. No point building concessionary stands when less and less people return to the ground. I don't even know who the ST holders next to me are from last season as they just didn't turn up!
I mentioned Villa as they have been in the same league as (both Prem and Championship) at the same time as us. I appreciate they are a bigger club than us from a much bigger city, but they were in a right mess. It is now FOUR months (more if you count the leaving notice) since our director of football guy left and still not been replaced. Every key step in this club is a constant struggle.
As a long-term season ticket holder, I'm actually looking forward to the new season. Three months is just enough to forget just how shet it is.
Joe Morrell chose us over more wages at Ipswich. Other players will too, these clubs aren’t just offering huge wages to everyone.
You wouldn’t complain if the capacity was down to 10k and the ground was allowed to crumble but you are concerned about the design of the food outlets?
When did a DoF become vital to running a football club? How many have we even had? A handful?
Villa have been in the Prem for a lot longer than us and probably have a turnover 10 times us, probably more than that in fact.
Let’s look at what the owners have done; bought the training ground (when was the last time we owned one?), done more work on the ground than any owner in decades, debt free and sustainable. Under KJ we had a team challenging at least also.