Rupp / Sparks and the Luton blueprint.

If it was a genuinely inspiring positive results I’d say the crowds are great but it’s impacting the players. Home form shows this. Cheap strategy is there for one thing and one thing only mitigate Rupp putting more in. What we charge now and the numbers we get unfortunately get us what we have a few good players and the rest utter shite. That cycle will continue until someone comes in and invests in a proper plan. At the mo it’s cheap tickets high attendances, which budget wise equates to small scatters of quality but not enough and fans on the players back with the inevitable poor home record.

 

And you know what really, really helped them?

They brought in Nathan Jones, who took over from John Still, and he made a bunch of changes to a poor squad, got his side to the play off semis, they lost, but they still backed him.

So far, we're following the blueprint exactly: hire a much better manager than your last, and leave him alone.

We're actually doing all of that.

Next season, we're coming for the League Two championship!

 

We're definitely in a financial position to do what Luton Town did during the Summer that they went up.

The advantage they had was they sold Isaac Vassel for about a million, and sold a young lad called Bakinson.

We're probably not selling anyone for good money this Summer, but there's no reason we can't add some young talent. They bagged Jack Stacey, Elliot Lee, and a couple of decent midfielders that Summer in Luke Berry and winger Harry Cornick, but they didn't exactly buy second place - they just sharpened up their recruitment.

Last Summer we were bringing in a bunch of 23/24 year olds, which is exactly what Luton did - we just didn't quite get recruitment spot on. Maybe we will this Summer, in which case we're in prime position to 'do a Luton' without breaking the bank.

Hughes absolutely needs to bring in quality over quantity, you're spot on, but we only need 4 or 5 or 6 signings - they should all be as good as possible without worrying about squad filler. We have the numbers, now we just need the improved quality.

It's all there to be achieved.

 

I agree actually there is an opportunity but I don't think Rupp will spend in the way he would need to. Those players were significantly better than the players we signed up. Lewis has been a success, Platt has been solid but realistically is at the right level for where hes at now, Young has been a flop, East can't get in the team and Tim Odusina would have gone on loan like Young if he hadn't have said he didn't want to go. We couldn't compete to keep Wright.

If we're going down that road you need to be looking to sign the likes of Cullen, Burke, Reach, Wright, Banks or O'brien as examples. We do go after younger talent but we are signing them more out of hope than expectation because they are cheaper.

 

Good shout, a bit like Norwich? They have sustained themselves as a Sky parachute funded club for years. It works until the yo-yo string snaps. Stoke?

 

Have you been to their place. Went with City a couple of times. I have never ever seen a ground like it. It’s like a rabbit Warren . A new ground in it’s entirety is needed just to double it’s capacity to about the same asVP.

 

Yes fully agree. They can’t do both.

 

On that squad showing! Bang on.

 

Yeah its definitely unique. They've had a new ground planned for years but from what i read a while back it was all dependant on a retail park being built first. That ground capacity will cost them millions next season.

 

So up the price, reduce the crowd, alienate our future fan base, reduce corporate income.

Absolute genuis, well done Gerald Ratner.

 

The plans changed I think Roger. They were building out by the M1 with a retail park, but now the site is an old power station that's even nearer the Town Centre than Kenilworth Road.

 

Cheap season tickets is not only right for the present but hopefully it will give this club a brilliant future especially if we eventually get it right on the pitch.
Families are coming of which the children are fans of the future because often love+of a club comes in childhood it did for me many year ago. We are growing the fan base for the future

 

The rent situation is so over played, if it is a burden its because we're in league two, as we climb the leagues the rent becomes less of a burden. we knew that when the original deal was offered to Julian, but as a Championship club it wasn't a problem, it only became a problem as we dropped down the leagues.

 

Our home crowds weren't a problem under Phil Parkinson or Stuart McCall, I wonder why.

 

Shame the powers that be didn't do the same when McCall got us to Wembley, Millwall backed Harris when he took Millwall to wembley the previous season getting beat by Barnsley, not out two clowns they thought running a football club was easy Rupp actually believing Rahic was the main reason we got to wembley not McCall hence why they asked Stuart to resign.

 

Millwall's owner puts in approx. £8m a season. We've never had that, ever.

 

What would be the motive for Rupp to put that sort of money in certainly at this level. Not only him I just can’t see any prospective new owners doing it either.

 

Then more credit to them for backing Harris, if we did get there would Rupp be more likely to put his hand in his pocket if it takes £8m per season to establish your club in the Championship or would Rupp realising that ,make him more likely to sell the club and let others who have a better knowledge of what is required to take the reins, obviously we have to get there first but at least the people in control at Millwall gave Neil Harris that chance by providing him with a better team the following season, unlike Rupp & Rahic.