Why didn't we invest in Colney?

[hogesar 10,762]

Watching and listening to the Webber and Steve Weaver interviews, particularly the Webber one which comes across impressive as always, there seems to be a bit of disbelief from them looking from the outside in as to why we didn''t spend the money on developing Colney during our premier league years.

I can''t help but agree it''s a little pathetic that we''re still using temporary buildings and as Russ Martin said, it''s a bit shocking that all that work getting from League One to the Prem and the facilities are pretty much the same!

The obvious argument is how would it have gone down had we spent that money on Colney rather than on players trying to keep us in the league? I suppose it''s down to proportional spending etc but it''s pleasing to hear we''re looking to keep category one, get a bit more out of it and invest into Colney.

Oh, just for reference

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEjzYt11EM8 - Weaver

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evzcbuXR76k - Webber

[Bill 1,788]

[quote user="hogesar"]Watching and listening to the Webber and Steve Weaver interviews, particularly the Webber one which comes across impressive as always, there seems to be a bit of disbelief from them looking from the outside in as to why we didn''t spend the money on developing Colney during our premier league years.

I can''t help but agree it''s a little pathetic that we''re still using temporary buildings and as Russ Martin said, it''s a bit shocking that all that work getting from League One to the Prem and the facilities are pretty much the same!

The obvious argument is how would it have gone down had we spent that money on Colney rather than on players trying to keep us in the league? I suppose it''s down to proportional spending etc but it''s pleasing to hear we''re looking to keep category one, get a bit more out of it and invest into Colney.

Oh, just for reference

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEjzYt11EM8 - Weaver

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evzcbuXR76k - Webber

[/quote]exactly

[hogesar 10,762]

Though in hindsight, 8 million on Naismith or 8 million on Colney? [:)]

[king canary 8,755]

Well if he isn''t playing could we get him to do some odd jobs around the place? Lick of paint, put down a new carpet etc...

[hogesar 10,762]

Naismiths Handyman Services!

[king canary 8,755]

Him, Jarvis, Franke. Get them all on the DIY.

[TCCANARY 263]

[quote user="king canary"]Him, Jarvis, Franke. Get them all on the DIY.[/quote]Before we had acadamies the apprentices would do these jobs now you want the senior pros to do it whilst the younguns practise their football?Madness, sheer madness.

[Mike 68]

[quote user="hogesar"]Watching and listening to the Webber and Steve Weaver interviews, particularly the Webber one which comes across impressive as always, there seems to be a bit of disbelief from them looking from the outside in as to why we didn''t spend the money on developing Colney during our premier league years.

I can''t help but agree it''s a little pathetic that we''re still using temporary buildings and as Russ Martin said, it''s a bit shocking that all that work getting from League One to the Prem and the facilities are pretty much the same!

The obvious argument is how would it have gone down had we spent that money on Colney rather than on players trying to keep us in the league? I suppose it''s down to proportional spending etc but it''s pleasing to hear we''re looking to keep category one, get a bit more out of it and invest into Colney.

Oh, just for reference

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEjzYt11EM8 - Weaver

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evzcbuXR76k - Webber

[/quote]

NO NO NO!!! We are a well run club who''s owner goes in the same pub us fans.... outrageous post... Mick Dennis will be fuming

[Lessingham Canary 108]

@MikeNO NO NO!!! We are a well run club who''s owner goes in the same pub us fans.... outrageous post... Mick Dennis will be fumingMike is Mick Dennis and i claim my £20 [:D]

[Capt. Pants 5,008]

Only watched the Webber interview and I agree he''s impressive. A good strategic mind and clearly thinking medium/lomg term.

[Nuff Said 5,960]

But the medium/long term is of no interest to Mike and the rest. They''re panicking NOW!!!

[Mike 68]

Isn''t it a pity that the owners did not care about our medium to long term prospects when they took over.... panic now is a great description of their policy in the last 12 months.

Laughable how they are praised by some for the amazing foresight when its clear they have had none for years... scouting, Colney lack of investment, hanging on to lame duck managers, losing their Sean Dyce to Villa, most expensive seats in the Championship.

Cue the "find another club b*llocks" by the Delia nutters that won''t have any criticism of anything do to with the current owners.

[Bill 1,788]

[quote user="Mike "]Isn''t it a pity that the owners did not care about our medium to long term prospects when they took over.... panic now is a great description of their policy in the last 12 months.

Laughable how they are praised by some for the amazing foresight when its clear they have had none for years... scouting, Colney lack of investment, hanging on to lame duck managers, losing their Sean Dyce to Villa, most expensive seats in the Championship.

Cue the "find another club b*llocks" by the Delia nutters that won''t have any criticism of anything do to with the current owners.[/quote]Yes, building a new stand and paying for it (unlike some)Getting lucky with the Youth set (FA Youth cup winners) and then flogging on of them for £12m or soGetting their ticketing right so they have 12,000 at their games than ''another club''Wasting five seasons in the PL, who wants that ?Maddison, Pritchard, Trybull... totally worthless..............rather like yourself some might think

[Guest]

Are the facilities at Colney that bad or are they appropriate for a team in our position?

I don''t quite understand what is required.

Are the buildings ropey?

Are the pitches no good for practising on?

Please don''t tell me the meals are ropey.

And maybe RM should realise that maybe the facilities are appropriate to his form.

Would players take a wage cut to improve the training facilities which are there for their benefit.

[Lessingham Canary 108]

Good post KG, Colney is better than the majority outside the PL, the only critisicm you can level at the place is the use of the portakabins which works but does look like a bit of a bodge (IMO) which tells us that the main building is no longer big enough, i''m sure with someone who wants to drive change, such as Stuart Webber putting weight behind it, things will happen.I did get to see Burnleys recently opened new training ground and it is superb, which shows what a sustained run in the PL can bring.

[Mike 68]

[quote user="Rhubarb"][quote user="Mike "]Isn''t it a pity that the owners did not care about our medium to long term prospects when they took over.... panic now is a great description of their policy in the last 12 months.

Laughable how they are praised by some for the amazing foresight when its clear they have had none for years... scouting, Colney lack of investment, hanging on to lame duck managers, losing their Sean Dyce to Villa, most expensive seats in the Championship.

Cue the "find another club b*llocks" by the Delia nutters that won''t have any criticism of anything do to with the current owners.[/quote]Yes, building a new stand and paying for it (unlike some)Getting lucky with the Youth set (FA Youth cup winners) and then flogging on of them for £12m or soGetting their ticketing right so they have 12,000 at their games than ''another club''Wasting five seasons in the PL, who wants that ?Maddison, Pritchard, Trybull... totally worthless..............rather like yourself some might think[/quote]

Whoa... building a new stand! They had to the other one was not fit for purpose. You failed to mention the mistake of the hotel but hey ho

That Youth winning side has one player in our first team at the moment and flogging the best of them is not something I want for my first team

Andy Cullen got the ticketing right and introduced the monthly pay scheme. It has not changed since he left and as the Arsenal debacle shows it is at time shoddy. Who cares about "another club". All I care about is NCFC.

The money we got from the 5 years has been wasted away to the point were we are relying on 4th Division German defenders whilst Bournemouth, Burnley etc. I am sure you get the point

Maddison & Pritchard are great players we paid money for which under our new fan funded model will see us sell them next summer to get in players of lesser quality. Love Trybull... but our scouting under this regime has been appalling (Naismith, sicknote etc etc)

Nice touch getting personal. As a City fan I wish you well...

[Declan 24]

[quote user="Lessingham Canary"]I did get to see Burnleys recently opened new training ground and it is superb, which shows what a sustained run in the PL can bring.[/quote]

Burnley, a club having just started their second consecutive campaign in the Premier League (and their fourth season in total in the last nine), compared to our...oh yes, four years in the top flight in the last seven including three consecutive campaigns.

To have it insinuated that our training ground probably isn''t really Championship standard is a total farce given the riches afforded to us in the time we have spent at the top table in recent years - absolute negligence from someone for us to be in a position where we''re seemingly going to be asking fans to subsidise improvements!

They got my rebate back to sign Holt in 2010, but there''s no chance I''m part-funding infrastructure improvements that should have been flagged as necessary and funds assigned accordingly during our time in the top flight.

[Mike 68]

Spot on Declan.

A club sending round letters begging for money to do up the training ground is hardly being well run!

And I notice we are now being told that we can not compete with the likes of Wolves, a few months after our beloved owner slagged them off for selling to those "nasty foreigners".... time for a change at the top just as everything else seems to be changing.

[king canary 8,755]

Asking the fans to fund upgrades at Colney is pretty poor in my opinion. If, as an owner, you can''t keep the facilities up to a decent standard then maybe it is time to accept you don''t have the wealth to run a football club.

[Bill 1,788]

[quote user="Mike "][quote user="Rhubarb"][quote user="Mike "]Isn''t it a pity that the owners did not care about our medium to long term prospects when they took over.... panic now is a great description of their policy in the last 12 months.

Laughable how they are praised by some for the amazing foresight when its clear they have had none for years... scouting, Colney lack of investment, hanging on to lame duck managers, losing their Sean Dyce to Villa, most expensive seats in the Championship.

Cue the "find another club b*llocks" by the Delia nutters that won''t have any criticism of anything do to with the current owners.[/quote]Yes, building a new stand and paying for it (unlike some)Getting lucky with the Youth set (FA Youth cup winners) and then flogging on of them for £12m or soGetting their ticketing right so they have 12,000 at their games than ''another club''Wasting five seasons in the PL, who wants that ?Maddison, Pritchard, Trybull... totally worthless..............rather like yourself some might think[/quote]

Whoa... building a new stand! They had to the other one was not fit for purpose. You failed to mention the mistake of the hotel but hey ho

That Youth winning side has one player in our first team at the moment and flogging the best of them is not something I want for my first team

Andy Cullen got the ticketing right and introduced the monthly pay scheme. It has not changed since he left and as the Arsenal debacle shows it is at time shoddy. Who cares about "another club". All I care about is NCFC.

The money we got from the 5 years has been wasted away to the point were we are relying on 4th Division German defenders whilst Bournemouth, Burnley etc. I am sure you get the point

Maddison & Pritchard are great players we paid money for which under our new fan funded model will see us sell them next summer to get in players of lesser quality. Love Trybull... but our scouting under this regime has been appalling (Naismith, sicknote etc etc)

Nice touch getting personal. As a City fan I wish you well...[/quote]

whooo-ooosh

[nutty nigel 7,902]

This is no surprise to anyone who has taken any notice of statements of policy from Bowkett and McNally during those PL years. They were quite clear at consecutive AGMs and forums that every possible penny would be given to the manager to be spent on the team. Apart from some suggestions for building a new stand this was widely accepted. In fact many suggested we should go into debt to put even more money into player''s pockets.

Most of the money in football now goes straight out of the game.

[Mello Yello 2,572]

Excellent grub and superb staff.......but the tables in ''Yellows'' are now looking a bit tired.....Can the club prioritise the tables before Colney please?.......

[Capt. Pants 5,008]

Meanwhile at the other end of the spectrum Chelsea''s new stadium is now estimated to cost £1bn!Anyway, Webber does sound slightly incredulous at the lack of investment at Colney. To be honest I''m not sure this is necessarily shared by fans, who would have always backed shelling out on the better players option. It will be interesting to see what happens if his vision isn''t backed by the board/owners, as if he thinks it will be funded by the charity of fans he''ll be sadly disappointed.

[TIL 1010 5,246]

Looks like the £19 Academy donation tagged onto season ticket prices will rise then ?

[Horse Renoir 1]

How much would a revamp cost? Does anyone know? It''s fair enough not asking our owners to dip into their pockets for the ludicrous price of players/staff but surely they could spare a few 100k to get their investment up to scratch.

I wouldn''t even mind us taking out a small amount of debt to get it done if it''s holding us back, without investment we need to maximise our chances any other way we can.

Asking fans is absolutely not the way to go through, when our owners have wealth, let''s say a low estimate of 10 million, they shouldn''t be asking people earning 10-30k pa for help funding a football club. It''s a bit of a cheek really, especially given the substantial investment most of us already put in.

[Guest]

I just wish Webber would stop banging on about how few games the likes of James Husband and Harrison Reed played last year. As if it''s mitigating circumstances for how ordinary they are. It was his choice to bring them in. Take responsibility for it. If he wants to say it''s all we can afford, then say it. But don''t pretend they''re going to magically become great players with a few more games under their belt.

[hogesar 10,762]

They''re both good enough players at this level in my opinion.

[......and Smith must score. 1,596]

[quote user="king canary"]Asking the fans to fund upgrades at Colney is pretty poor in my opinion. If, as an owner, you can''t keep the facilities up to a decent standard then maybe it is time to accept you don''t have the wealth to run a football club.[/quote]This sums it up nicely.After four years in the last seven on the gravy train and now their asking fans who already pay hefty prices for match tickets to directly contribute to infrastructure improvements is pretty embarrassing.

[City 2nd 193]

Rhubarb wrote the following post at 2017-11-17 2:32 PM:

Mike wrote:

Isn''t it a pity that the owners did not care about our medium to long term prospects when they took over.... panic now is a great description of their policy in the last 12 months. Laughable how they are praised by some for the amazing foresight when its clear they have had none for years... scouting, Colney lack of investment, hanging on to lame duck managers, losing their Sean Dyce to Villa, most expensive seats in the Championship. Cue the "find another club b*llocks" by the Delia nutters that won''t have any criticism of anything do to with the current owners.

Yes, building a new stand and paying for it (unlike some)

Really. You think they paid for a new stand. Unbelievable!

[City 2nd 193]

Horse Renoir wrote the following post at 2017-11-17 11:21 PM:

How much would a revamp cost? Does anyone know? It''s fair enough not asking our owners to dip into their pockets for the ludicrous price of players/staff but surely they could spare a few 100k to get their investment up to scratch.

I wouldn''t even mind us taking out a small amount of debt to get it done if it''s holding us back, without investment we need to maximise our chances any other way we can.

We already have a debt. 2.7m, and increasing. Watch this space!