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Post by jdl on Apr 25, 2018 9:17:12 GMT
You have to have ambition to attract good players and more supporters. You can be happy with staying where you are but you cannot then moan when we lose games if the ultimate aim appears to be to stay in the division you are in. Do we get to mid-table safety in February and then do what some clubs do and let all your best players go and save wages to create a war chest for the next season or do you push on? The owners want to be in the EFL so if you get an opportunity for promotion you take it because you never know when that opportunity will come again. That is Sutton's approach. Maidstone United is a bigger club than Dover, Bromley and arguably Sutton so we should be aiming at EFL sooner rather than later but in a sensible way. I see Burton Albion and Yeovil etc as clubs we should be emulating in the medium-term. Perhaps we need more investment into the club so that it does not just fall on Terry and Oliver to finance the ambition. But without ambition what's the point? We used to play Bournemouth and Burnley in Division Four now they are in the Premier League. I agree. But it's a very difficult balance - unfocussed/un-thought-through ambition got us to where we are this season. We need a more realistic long-term focus, which drives short-term strategy. The long-term targets should obviously be EFL, completed stadium and crowds to justify both, but how do we get there? Sugar daddies and selling your ground doesn't work. As you say, we need to look at the ex-non-league clubs who have established themselves as solid, successful EFL clubs and see what lessons we can learn from them. In the meantime, we enjoy the NL, gradually build a squad than can take us further - and play some decent, enjoyable football! And I still think Jay is the man to do all this, He may not have got things right this season, but I think he wasn't the only one. Hopefully T&O have also learnt a lot from our two seasons in the NL.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2018 9:31:59 GMT
We used to play Bournemouth and Burnley in Division Four now they are in the Premier League. Yes, those Bournemouth games were crackers weren't they...
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Post by jdl on Apr 25, 2018 9:34:20 GMT
We used to play Bournemouth and Burnley in Division Four now they are in the Premier League. Yes, those Bournemouth games were crackers weren't they... Strangely, I don't remember them...
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Post by nws on Apr 25, 2018 9:46:24 GMT
Oh come on boys...that was when thingummy bob and whatshisname where playing for us
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Post by southwick1 on Apr 25, 2018 10:17:35 GMT
Yes, those Bournemouth games were crackers weren't they... Strangely, I don't remember them... Certainly the 3-1 victory over Bournemouth in 1990 was a decent game.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2018 10:20:45 GMT
Ah, the Leyland Daf Cup - before the wheels came off...
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Post by philosopherstone on Apr 25, 2018 11:37:41 GMT
Ah, the Leyland Daf Cup - before the wheels came off... For both Maidstone United AND Leyland Daf!
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Post by spurstone on Apr 25, 2018 12:19:27 GMT
Strangely, I don't remember them... Certainly the 3-1 victory over Bournemouth in 1990 was a decent game. Didn't we play Bournemouth Poppies in a vase/trophy early round tie not so many years back too? Or maybe preseason friendly come to think of it? I'll have to look it up now lol. Think we won though. So we have a total Bournemouth hold at the moment!!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2018 12:23:15 GMT
Certainly the 3-1 victory over Bournemouth in 1990 was a decent game. Didn't we play Bournemouth Poppies in a vase/trophy early round tie not so many years back too? Or maybe preseason friendly come to think of it? I'll have to look it up now lol. Think we won though. So we have a total Bournemouth hold at the moment!! A couple of PSFs down that way - one (or two?) v Poppies, one v Bashley.
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Post by MadeofStone on Apr 25, 2018 12:36:55 GMT
Why couldn't we simply do what Sutton will/might? We should be talking to the council now about a site where we could install our current pitch/ a new one if need be, so the renting out of the pitch cash stream doesn't end should we go up. Maybe a training facility could accommodate this. Then put down a hybrid pitch at the Gallagher so we can also continue to rent that out as well. More money coming in and the EFL pitch issue solved. This is what we need to be saying as opposed to we dont want to go up or down. As I said back in Jan this attitude kills all upwards momentum. We went from a club on the up to a club stagnating slowly downwards after what was said and the failure to replace 2 key players in the Pig and Hines. So from last season we should know we need a far more positive approach regarding league objectives.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2018 13:05:45 GMT
Interesting idea - I know the club get the takings, but the pitch has become a resource for the town (whether or not MBC recognise that is a different matter). I wonder how many different people play on it in a given week?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2018 21:14:26 GMT
Any details of the new stand - number of rows, length, height, etc? After endless games of staring into the sun, I would jump (well, theoretically) at the chance to sit on the other side - but only if it's at least 3 rows high. I didn't think the season was that bad, no need for Oliver to feel miserable. This is football, some seasons are good, some are bad. We've only just started to experience that because we had such a rapid rise, but now we've (almost) found our level, this is what it's going to be like, until we can afford to spend more on players. I hate watching poor football, and losing, but it would have to be a lot worse than this season to keep me away from JWW. I suspect if its to be a 4 row seat then it will be something like this arenaseating.com/type/grandstand-seating-sales/product/arena-sports-stands/
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Post by jdl on Apr 25, 2018 21:26:08 GMT
Why couldn't we simply do what Sutton will/might? We should be talking to the council now about a site where we could install our current pitch/ a new one if need be, so the renting out of the pitch cash stream doesn't end should we go up. Maybe a training facility could accommodate this. Then put down a hybrid pitch at the Gallagher so we can also continue to rent that out as well. More money coming in and the EFL pitch issue solved. This is what we need to be saying as opposed to we dont want to go up or down. As I said back in Jan this attitude kills all upwards momentum. We went from a club on the up to a club stagnating slowly downwards after what was said and the failure to replace 2 key players in the Pig and Hines. So from last season we should know we need a far more positive approach regarding league objectives. Thought provoking post. How come no one's thought of this before?! Unfortunately, I think this would only work if the training/community pitch was on the same 'campus', so that all the club facilities could be shared. And given the tiny piece of land, hemmed in on three sides, that we are squeezed into, this is unlikely. It would require purchase of the 'newt' land next to us (paper mill, ex-paper mill?), which I suspect is probably intended for housing one day, so will be expensive. This idea does rather highlight the one big problem with JWW though - the limitations of the site. For an Isthmian League club, with gates of 1,000+, this was an ideal site, but if we ever do grow beyond L2, it is going to pose all sorts of problems - perhaps even at L2 level as well. What we've done at Maidstone is interesting historically, as we've effectively gone 'backwards' - done the reverse of just about every other club in the country. Most football clubs started with grounds in the centre of towns or urban areas, but have invariably moved out of town, as the value of their original homes have allowed them to cash in and build something bigger and better on an out of town site. Some newer clubs (FGR, Fylde) have even started their modern existence deliberately located out of town, where land is cheap, and the assumption is that fans will drive to see their football, not walk. We have done the exact opposite. I can't be arsed to check the facts, but I'm pretty sure that we are the only club which is now closer to the centre of town than we used to be! Personally, I think this was a masterstroke, in terms of gates and connection with the town, and will be the making of the club. But it also means we are stuck with a site that will restrict our development beyond non-league/lower League, and not allow us to expand our facilities and commercial opportunities in the way the OP suggested. Hence the critical importance of the 3G 'debate' to us. For Sutton, Bromley, etc, it's a pain to have to replace their 3G, for us it's effectively out of the question.
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Post by jdl on Apr 25, 2018 21:30:15 GMT
Any details of the new stand - number of rows, length, height, etc? After endless games of staring into the sun, I would jump (well, theoretically) at the chance to sit on the other side - but only if it's at least 3 rows high. I didn't think the season was that bad, no need for Oliver to feel miserable. This is football, some seasons are good, some are bad. We've only just started to experience that because we had such a rapid rise, but now we've (almost) found our level, this is what it's going to be like, until we can afford to spend more on players. I hate watching poor football, and losing, but it would have to be a lot worse than this season to keep me away from JWW. I suspect if its to be a 4 row seat then it will be something like this arenaseating.com/type/grandstand-seating-sales/product/arena-sports-stands/That's the TE with seats! Unfortunately, with that shallow rake (if that's the right word?) and starting at ground level, none of those seats are going to give much of a view, even the top row - the bottom rows will barely be able to see over the fence! Incidentally, the stand in that picture has (as far as I can count) just under 300 seats, so our planned River Side stand would be twice as long as that - something like twice the length of the old Elvis End shed. Should look quite impressive.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2018 21:47:10 GMT
There is a second picture which shows the stand on a raised platform possibly a metre which would achieve better sight lines and give space for advertising boards
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