Preparation for league 2

This whole sh*tshow started with the McCall sacking.

We haven’t recovered as a club from that.

 

Yet there were some who supported the sacking at the time. In reality what McCall achieved given what he had to contend with behind the scenes was nothing short of a miracle.

We absolutely need a long term plan now whoever is in charge as there is one mammoth rebuild required here. I stated at this time last year when we were meandering towards the end of the season under Grayson that our next managerial appointment was critical to our short-medium term future. Well we got that hopelessly wrong and the result is inevitable relegation.

Im not writing Bowyer off by any means but as things stand hes only here for a few more weeks. We absolutely need to get the next appointment right and quickly at the seasons end, as continuing to lurch from one manager to another will see this getting a whole lot worse before it gets better, which does not bear thinking about.

 

Who do we owe the money to, to go into admin?

 

the whole shitshow started 20 years ago - we've never recovered from having to spent £350k(?)/year on stadium rent + upkeep. too easy to blame the mccall sacking and the last 18 months.. blackpool, charlton, coventry are example of clubs in these league doing well with boardroom upheaval. yes, there are other examples such as notts county that are struggling but problems run deeper than what's happened in the last few years. the parkinson era just masked them.

 

Do you actually think the club will consider anybody else but Bowyer? I can't see it myself. Current trend has seen us going for the easy option. Bowyer obviously ticks the box in terms of wages, and has a promotion on his CV. I think the only way we won't have him in charge next season, is if he walks away at the end of his contract.

 

I agree. I think it's highly likely that the job is Bowyers IF he wants it. To be honest I wouldn't have an issue with that. My point is that whoever we have at the helm must be given the time to rebuild and do whatever is necessary to clear out the dross we have acquired.
What we do not need is for Bowyer to walk and to have a repeat of last summer's farcical search for a successor to Grayson.

 

Well fortunately one of the reasons we had a farcical search last summer, has now left the club. IF Bowyer doesn't take the role on, then that is going to raise alarming questions as to why. Could only be lack of funds.

 

Looks like he cant win it in a Mercedes from pole position .

 

If you have any knowledge of the whereabouts of where Rahic is in the world I'm sure Rupp would like a chin wag over a cup of tea.

 

***WINNER***

 

This season we are quoted as being in the region of £2m short, in terms of income v expenditure.

That is based on us being in league one, with the slightly higher away attendances.

I don't know what extraordinary items we will have for this year, that won't be necessary next year e.g. Agent fees, transfer fees as well as not paying for Mr and Mrs Rahic's salary.

Move forward to next season, in all probability in league two. Our income is going to be reduced significantly: season ticket income in particular.

We won't have the loan players at the cost of this year, but we will have the majority of this squad as it stands. I would suspect that our liabilities for this will exceed our income, certainly by the time all other costs of running the club are accounted for. As long as Mr Rupp continues dipping in his pocket we are fine, when he doesn't then I believe we will have a problem.

Of course this is conjecture, but I doubt it is far wide of the mark.

 

He's got a hit man looking for him, 1 million per knee-cap.

 

Time to press the reset button. Rid the squad of the dead wood, lazy and spineless we have playing for us now. To keep costs down and an attempt to develop our own I want to see us using youth instead of loans. If it takes 2 years to come back then so be it.

KEEP
O'Donnel - a capable keeper
Caddis - has done enough to extend his stay
Wood - should have enough to be our first choice LB in L2
Devine - think he is out of contract. Not pushed on but not seen him really put a foot wrong.
Colville - injuries a worry but again has shown glimpses of a decent player
Robinson - hopefully charges dropped and available
Gibson - has shown glimpses at times. Would like to see him get regular game time
McCartan - proven at L2.
Ball - try and get on a permanent. One of the better players this term.
Doyle - will never fault his effort, should score a few in L2 and hard to get off books anyway BUT IF WE CAN...

My wildcard - keep Mellor, was a top L2 player a few years ago. yes, a disaster for us but only last season Wigan and Blackburn wanted him. Id give him another season if he wants to stay.

Rest can all go for me apart from a few of the kids.

 

None of them

 

Lets hope we can do a 'Bury'

I believe they threw a load of money at trying to buy their way out of league 1, but ended up buying individuals who they couldnt gel into ateam, and ended up buying their way out of league 1 at the wrong end.

Don't know what they did last summer in terms of spending and recruitment, but they seem likely to be heading back to league 1 after a very good season so far.

 

1) Get rid of this whole squad and board to start with.
2) Someone who knows league two and knows what it takes to win games at VP, perhaps Parky.
3) 4500

 

We shouldn't underestimate the size of the squad rebuild needed. I posted this back in November but was derided - the squad that Parky only just kept in League 2 back in 2011/12 had more about it than this one.

McLaughlin or O'Donnell? Not much in that.
Would you rather have Davies and Oliver at the back or NKP and O'Connor? No contest
Seip at left back was better defensively than Chicksen
Ramsden had injury problems but there's very little in it between him and Caddis.
I'd rather have Syers, Ravenhill and Bullock to choose from in Central Midfield than Akpan, Wright and LoB.
Reid would give better balance than Payne.
Hanson, Wells, Fagan, Dagnall, Or Doyle, Ball, Clarke, Miller and Patrick...?

We need major surgery.

O'Donnell is ok. Caddis has the experience and nous for League 2. Wood has some potential so he's worth keeping. Ball, I'd keep if we can. Colville could be a prospect.

But the rest, can all go. We need 10-12 solid pro's to change this club around.

 

money wise Payne won't stay, there will probably be takers for Scannel and Doyle based upon reputation, I expect Butterfield is on a bit, Reeves should finally be gone. I'd say that lot is over £20k comfortably so that's £1M back in the pot - we'd probably get a fee for Doyle too.

The issue is getting rid of the other crap - Wright, Riley that's what another £7k plus? I know Hoppy couldn't get rid but expect there'll be more joy in the summer.

I don't think from a financial POV we're as screwed as people think - I'd expect a loss next season but not a huge one and a cup run could easily change that.

The big thing is having someone with a plan who can build a strong core squad with the right characters - Mr Parkinson please leave the fire you are in and come to this nice cool frying pan