Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
Salopian

Ultimately it all comes down to money...

Recommended Posts

and we have none. Bearing in mind that Clingan, Hoolahan and Bell cost us about £600, 000 and we then sold Shackell for a similar amount. Each year under Worthy, Grant and Roeder we have looked for some expression of financial provision, but even with the "umbrella" income, little has happened.Ultimately we lost our Premiership place because on entry we didn''t buy quality. OK, so we did buy Hucks and we made a real splash on Ashton/Earnshaw, but otherwise scraps ever since, and now loanees in place of signings.It really looks as if we are skint, and doomed.Some strange decisions by the last three managers, - tactics, team selection, sending some players to Siberia, and inability to produce consistent performance have not helped, but in the end the youth programme has not produced, and we have lacked finance to remedy the situation.I feel sorry for Delia, who has invested so much. If (when?) we are relegated, and support dwindles, the value of the club will fall as income falls.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Salopian,

Clingan was a free. Hoolihan cost £250K and I believe Bell cost at lot less than £650K. Roeder went on teh record about what we paid the week before last if I recall. Delia has pumped in remarkably less than most people undertsand and none of it has been gifted - unlike the late Geoffrey Watling. All her loans have been converted into equity which she is hoping to make a significant profit on.

Otherwise, I agree with the general sentiment of your post.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Erm, aren''t you actually agreeing with more than the general sentiment there, Desert Fox?It is indeed all about the benjamins in our case, although the extremely poor managerial choice of Grant and then Roeder - who I think simply lacks the tactical nous and coaching ability rather than the, well, everything that Grant lacked - hasn''t helped.  In short, our board is culpable.But what do we do about it?  At the end of the day we are staring relegation in the face and something needs to be done.Although I''ve given Roeder my support in his time here, I believe his position is now untenable and he seems to have lost the dressing room.  Someone else coming in might at least inspire our players enough to help us stay up, even if its by the skin of our teeth - I''m not expecting any 13 game unbeaten runs this year.  Yet again we find ourselves in a position where we''ll probably be happy just to make it through to the summer intact and hope we can move on from there.As for the board, there''s very little we can actually do at the moment.  Delia is looking to sell up but the current economic climate makes that extremely difficult - anyone denying that is living on another planet where there isn''t an impending recession.  If we do as Smudger suggests and protests until she decides to pack her bags and leave the club without a penny in return, what then? Who takes over the running of the club in the short term?  Neil Doncaster?? Mumbles?? Give me strength... We need a clean break - a new board, new manager and an influx of young fans untainted by the troubles.  None of this is going to happen quickly, however, and I''d be surprised if it had happened by the time 2010 comes around, and not because Delia is being ''stubborn'' but because of the harsh reality of football and the economy in this day and age.  Protesting for the board to step down will not change this.I will no doubt now be accused of being scared of taking a leap into

the unknown, but this is not the case and its quite simple - ''forcing''

the board to leave will not give us a sudden injection of cash to buy

new players and attract a shiny new manager, nor will it help service

our debts.  Unless there is someone else lined up to take over

immediately, debts included, forcing the board out would likely result

in administration.  Peter Cullum has been reported as saying that he won''t stand by and let

the club go under, but we cannot place our faith in a man who has

conducted his affairs through the media and has been rather vague about

the whole thing in doing so.Roeder is not the main problem with the club, he is simply a symptom.  Our board is the problem, shown by a lack of funds and support for the manager.  However anyone wishing to protest in an attempt to make Delia and Michael leave now and never come back need to understand what they''re asking and what will be achieved, and at present none of the protagonists involved do.So we sit and bide our time.  Roeder will likely not survive the season but hopefully we as a club will and that''s what matters most to me.  At present there are no answers to our predicament and anyone claiming that they have the key to is nothing short of a lunatic.....

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

×
×
  • Create New...