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Post by Benny on Mar 16, 2023 20:17:22 GMT
All grounds need constant upkeep and investment. Southend have not spent on Roots Hall and it’s now in an appalling condition. Same with parts of Priestfield. There is a downside to doing stuff second hand and on the cheap; I’m taking bets on when the control box falls through into the toilets below.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2023 7:08:49 GMT
Oliver mentioned in the summer that the security portacabin floor was collapsing and that needed replacing there was also the facilities improvements they wanted to do under the genco and the underfloor heating in the Spitfire had failed, cost of pitch replacement on the horizon and an increase in the playing budget as were running about half of the average National League player budget which was 1 million. So the clu increased the budget for this year to about £750,000
The Portacabin, pitch under Genco improvements all still waiting.
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Post by jackster on Mar 17, 2023 8:08:11 GMT
At least the accounts have now been explained. Another operating profit last season (£99,000) to add to every other season since the club has been at the Gallagher. It comes with a health warning as with decreasing income and increasing costs for the current season, we inevitably move into a loss territory for the first time. No need to panic, Terry and Oliver will cover the losses with 'loans' to the club. Loans total will then be some way north of £2.5million. It seems that relegation will be our saviour and the club can potentially look forward again to increased income and declining costs. Funny old World !
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Post by 61666 on Mar 17, 2023 8:36:12 GMT
Simply goes to show that the NL is probably the worst league in England to be promoted to. Increased costs everywhere, but little in the way of extra income, especially with bar sales falling. No Sky/BT money either and certainly no parachute payments. Until we get major new investors, we are indeed no more than an NLS club, which really isn't so bad, is it?
By the by, if the club really want to make a bit of money to the end of the season, maybe they should consider giving the whole of the Genco to away support for both the Barnet and Notts County games. Chances are they could easily fill it, which is certainly not the case for home support.🤫😇🤫😇🤫🥴😭☹️☹️
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Post by pwoodstone on Mar 17, 2023 9:40:04 GMT
If people say it enough, everyone seems to believe it.
We do have the capabilities (or did this season) to become a solid mid to bottom half NL side. We just didn't this season due to poor spending of the budget, poor luck with key injuries and a dose of poor management and poor play.
Lets not be lazy and just slip into the "we need a new investor" argument s the reason for everything.
We just need to do all aspects of being professional club, well. Start with recruitment of management and then get a team in charge to do some proper scouting.
As for the owners "failing the club" - really? It's one very very bad season. I've supported this club since 1986 and we have had worse times. People need to get a grip.
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Post by butlerisalegend on Mar 17, 2023 10:39:52 GMT
If people say it enough, everyone seems to believe it. We do have the capabilities (or did this season) to become a solid mid to bottom half NL side. We just didn't this season due to poor spending of the budget, poor luck with key injuries and a dose of poor management and poor play. Lets not be lazy and just slip into the "we need a new investor" argument s the reason for everything. We just need to do all aspects of being professional club, well. Start with recruitment of management and then get a team in charge to do some proper scouting. As for the owners "failing the club" - really? It's one very very bad season. I've supported this club since 1986 and we have had worse times. People need to get a grip. Exactly! Well said 👏🏻
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Post by sword65 on Mar 17, 2023 12:27:12 GMT
Let's sell the club for housing and move back to Ashford perhaps then 80% of our fans will know what desperation truly feels like.
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Post by nigelgm on Mar 17, 2023 13:35:07 GMT
Spot on Swordy Great Shout ! Nothing left to say on that matter !!!!!
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Post by Better things to do in life on Mar 17, 2023 19:19:00 GMT
If people say it enough, everyone seems to believe it. We do have the capabilities (or did this season) to become a solid mid to bottom half NL side. We just didn't this season due to poor spending of the budget, poor luck with key injuries and a dose of poor management and poor play. Lets not be lazy and just slip into the "we need a new investor" argument s the reason for everything. We just need to do all aspects of being professional club, well. Start with recruitment of management and then get a team in charge to do some proper scouting. As for the owners "failing the club" - really? It's one very very bad season. I've supported this club since 1986 and we have had worse times. People need to get a grip. Exactly! Well said 👏🏻 Of course we have been in much much worse situations in the past ...........but do we REALLY want to go back to them? Of course not. Also, its the owners themselves who admitted they had taken the club as far as it could go - i.e. NS. No one is saying they are "failing" the club, just that with them NS is our home. Of course we'd rather be in NS than Kent League. But surely we should be wanting to be better, like NL? Stating the bleeding obvious about dark days of the past does, indeed, make us glad to not be back there but looking backwards doesn't make us feel any less frustrated that the current club has far more potential than just being in NS, surely ( ), and to say so is just an honest opinion based on what we have NOW. If we insist on looking backwards, then what about when we were in EFL with players like Beeney, Barton, Gall and Butler? We have fallen a long way from those days! That's why we need to look FORWARD. We cannot settle for being an NS yo-yo side and for that - by ourowners own admission - we need new investment, of course we do. However thats the last time I will say this as although its a fair and honest reflection it seems to wind people up who think Im just an ungrateful sod - which Im not. I just want more for my club thats all!
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Post by butlerisalegend on Mar 17, 2023 19:30:47 GMT
Of course we have been in much much worse situations in the past ...........but do we REALLY want to go back to them? Of course not. Also, its the owners themselves who admitted they had taken the club as far as it could go - i.e. NS. No one is saying they are "failing" the club, just that with them NS is our home. Of course we'd rather be in NS than Kent League. But surely we should be wanting to be better, like NL? Stating the bleeding obvious about dark days of the past does, indeed, make us glad to not be back there but looking backwards doesn't make us feel any less frustrated that the current club has far more potential than just being in NS, surely ( ), and to say so is just an honest opinion based on what we have NOW. If we insist on looking backwards, then what about when we were in EFL with players like Beeney, Barton, Gall and Butler? We have fallen a long way from those days! That's why we need to look FORWARD. We cannot settle for being an NS yo-yo side and for that - by ourowners own admission - we need new investment, of course we do. However thats the last time I will say this as although its a fair and honest reflection it seems to wind people up who think Im just an ungrateful sod - which Im not. I just want more for my club thats all! A lot of the above just isn’t true though. No one is saying they are failing the club??? Are you living under a rock? We have survived in the NL a few years ago if you remember. Our budget was a lot smaller than current levels I am lead to believe so with good sound recruitment of course we could stay in NL difficult though it will be. I just want more for my club? Insinuating we don’t?? Do you think we don’t want the best for the club? We can want that and appreciate the owners. They aren’t mutually exclusive.
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Post by pwoodstone on Mar 17, 2023 21:31:24 GMT
Of course we have been in much much worse situations in the past ...........but do we REALLY want to go back to them? Of course not. Also, its the owners themselves who admitted they had taken the club as far as it could go - i.e. NS. No one is saying they are "failing" the club, just that with them NS is our home. Of course we'd rather be in NS than Kent League. But surely we should be wanting to be better, like NL? Stating the bleeding obvious about dark days of the past does, indeed, make us glad to not be back there but looking backwards doesn't make us feel any less frustrated that the current club has far more potential than just being in NS, surely ( ), and to say so is just an honest opinion based on what we have NOW. If we insist on looking backwards, then what about when we were in EFL with players like Beeney, Barton, Gall and Butler? We have fallen a long way from those days! That's why we need to look FORWARD. We cannot settle for being an NS yo-yo side and for that - by ourowners own admission - we need new investment, of course we do. However thats the last time I will say this as although its a fair and honest reflection it seems to wind people up who think Im just an ungrateful sod - which Im not. I just want more for my club thats all! Just to respond on a couple of points. The EFL days were unsustainable as they proved. We literally sold the clothes on our back for a quick 3 or 4 seasons of fun and paid the price ti the tune of 20 years. My point was originally intended to counter the lazy trope that we must have new investment to stay in this league. I don’t buy that as the sole option. We could manage like other smaller clubs in this league if we did it correctly. I believe this would require some structure at the top of the club to run the footballing side. I’m not going to disparage Bill Williams, but to replace Bill Williams. Another thing, “investment”. What does this involve? Are people who want more of it assuming that it is someone bankrolling the club to the tune of (guessing) £200k out of their own pocket each season that they’ll never see again? What happens when the money runs out? Do we think the EFL will be more sustainable for us as there is better money to be had there? My final point - where’s the bloody fire? Why are we in a rush? “We can’t be happy being a yo-yo side”. Well that’s a good point. Sport is Sport and you should want to progress. But where does it stop? Would we be happy struggling in L2 every year? We’d be the poor relations even more so. Do people think we’d suddenly get 4,5,6 thousand every week? Who’s gonna pay for the ground out of their own pocket? Look at Southend, Bury, Oldham, Scunthorpe. The same people hounding Oliver and Terry bow would be hounding the new owners to sell up.
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Post by sword65 on Mar 17, 2023 21:36:02 GMT
What this club needs now is consolidation, yes everyone wants us to bounce straight back up but let me play the Devil's advocate and point out there is nothing in the rules that says we cannot go down next year as well. I personally think that going all out for promotion back to this Godawful league could be another expensive mistake. We have proved this year that the club is not yet ready to have a sustained period of time in the NL and this year has proved that paying ridiculous wages does not guarantee success. We need a year of consolidation, build up some funds and see if new investment arrives then and only then should we even entertain the thought of stepping back up. I know the glory hunters will be pushing for the club to spend ,spend ,spend but they won't care if the club hoes bust whereas I do.
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Post by pwoodstone on Mar 17, 2023 21:57:55 GMT
What this club needs now is consolidation, yes everyone wants us to bounce straight back up but let me play the Devil's advocate and point out there is nothing in the rules that says we cannot go down next year as well. I personally think that going all out for promotion back to this Godawful league could be another expensive mistake. We have proved this year that the club is not yet ready to have a sustained period of time in the NL and this year has proved that paying ridiculous wages does not guarantee success. We need a year of consolidation, build up some funds and see if new investment arrives then and only then should we even entertain the thought of stepping back up. I know the glory hunters will be pushing for the club to spend ,spend ,spend but they won't care if the club hoes bust whereas I do. The glory hunters ( not do much on here but on FB) want Jim Thompson #2 to spend every penny he has
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Post by jdl on Mar 20, 2023 15:32:45 GMT
We don't neccessarily need new 'investment' to stay in this league, but we do need better management (club, not just team). From the moment we were promoted the first time, the board have made one bad decision after another.
I am in no way attacking Terry & Oliver, I will always be grateful for what they have done, and if it turns out the best that they can deliver is enjoyable football in NS, I will glady take that. Anyone who went through the club dying in the 90s will know exactly what I mean.
But just looking at the facts and recent history, there is no point in denying that the way the club has been run in our four NL seasons has been too poor to keep us there. So, it's not (just) more investment, it's having people at the top who know how to keep a club in the NL. Until that happens, we just have to accept NS football.
Personally, I'd like to see us back where we belong, at the top of the national non-league pyramid - the club I first supported in the 80s, but if it's 'just' NS for a few years, that's OK - certainly a lot better than what Thompson gave us.
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Post by daveu on Mar 20, 2023 17:17:21 GMT
To be honest, NS north and south now are a far better standard than the original alliance league or whatever it was called back in the day, so maybe that is our natural level.
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