Mattyblue

We have ‘strict structures and wage ceilings’, ‘the days of paying big wages for established players are over’… until we don’t/they aren’t. This is VenkyWorld, we will always be at the whim of these owners, so it’s why I always take talk of new approaches from whoever the latest frontman is with a pinch of salt. They’ll do what they want to do and you might as well just go with the flow…

JDT the 8th longest serving manager in the Championship…

It won’t happen any time soon because the PL is a money making behemoth. However, if in 10/15 years that has changed and Premier League TV revenues have declined, then of course they’ll look at it again, and some ‘signed document’ from 2021 won’t matter one jot.

‘Stakeholder’, where you learnt this? New boss at work? 😁

Agree generally with a fixture like Blackpool, but much better if a Saturday afternoon.

‘But, but they signed a document!’

How passive aggressive 😁

Do non-Champions League Spanish clubs generally pay substantially more than £30k a week? (Maybe a top earner/marquee player, but a whole starting XI etc?)

A one off Saturday afternoon game at a tenner, no strings attached does work, all these daft bundles with caveats they do (or used to, judging by their absence this season) don’t. Generally, of course ‘big crowds’ aren’t coming back on a regular basis in this division. For any potential new/returning fan prices are now £430-£530. 30% up on 2019/2020. Most clubs have looked to re-engage post Covid and cost of living with frozen or reduced pricing, we’ve gone in a vastly different direction. A club with this fanbase and demographics aren’t flooding in at those price points for second tier football. On your first point, actually crowds are now 2k+ higher than the first part of last season, purely due to getting ST sales up from under 7k to over 9k… and that’s at these vastly increased prices. A side towards the top has driven that. To push that further, as Preston and Bolton have proven this season, cheaper (note, cheaper, not given away) STs are the way, as it’s ST holders that make up the vast bulk of bums on seats.

There would be an increase, always been the case here. Whenever home crowds increase or decrease from the previous season, that is down to an equivalent increase or decrease in purchased STs that summer. Always very noticeable in the early months of a season.

Which they won’t, as Swag is on record stating how delighted he is with present ticket policies. Another increase in price is more likely.

They’ve stopped bothering with ticket offers for league games by the looks of it. So they literally have now ‘done all they can’.

9,000 ST holders, so 3,000 walk ons. Pretty standard. If we had PNE, Bolton levels of ST holders yesterday would’ve been a significantly higher crowd. Increase ST holders, increase gates. Simple as that (not that I expect this style of football coupled with some of the most expensive ST in the league in the midst of a cost of living crisis to lead to that).

Still had parachute money, had plenty of quality players for this level… yet we handed it to a bloke that had never coached outside youth football. He did his best, but there was obviously a huge risk that he was going to make a load of mistakes and not fulfil the potential of that squad as he learnt his trade. 2013 to 2015 was a golden opportunity to turn the club around, alas like always those penny wise, pound foolish owners of ours put paid to that with a wholly inappropriate appointment, and here we are nearly a decade on…

Considering actually selling players for a fee, that’s novel…

Call it out? Go for it, I’m with you 100% But to be amazed by it? This is what all forums are like, far more reactionary than real life, so nowt I read on here amazes me…

You new here?

It’s always been this way. Just how forums are.

I agree, who wouldn’t, but what I would say there seems to be less pissing about with it then there was in November to January time. The fella needs time. Lower table budget, average players. He’s doing fine for me.

*Sigh* Right, I’ll try again. Do I think we are playing Souness 2001 football? Or Dalglish 1992 football? Of course not. Do we have those players or budgets? Also, of course not. This place is unhappy because it isn’t ‘good football’, so ergo it would be happy if we were sitting 18th, but playing said ‘good football’? Like I said it isn’t ‘simple as that’ at all. (There you go, debating for adults.)

This is the issue, several teenagers with promise are thrown in, and of course after a few games they get a little overwhelmed, as you would expect jumping from youth football to two games a week in the Championship. As you say at a normal club, after an initial taste they would be then be loaned out, here we have to watch their struggles in our first team, often to the detriment of results in the short term. But, ah well, you know, we are a ‘development club’ after all…

My point is it’s not a case of ‘we are unhappy because we want good football, simple as that’. If we were playing ‘good football’ but sitting 18th, you think BRFCS would be full of the joys with JDT lauded for his ‘entertainment’ and football philosophy? If you say so, TS. This is professional sport, not the Harlem Globetrotters. Winning football is good football as that’s what has you collecting the 3 points, and that leads to more confidence through the squad, more fans, more money, promotions, better players and better managers. If there’s someone out there than can get us promoted with this budget and this standard of player whilst playing ‘good football’, then get him in. Otherwise, results, results, results, however they come, especially when the bloke has only had seven months, and in that time has has this middling to lower end budget club up around the top 6 throughout and winning a fair few cup ties.

What’s ‘good’ football? And if we were playing this ‘good’ football, but losing plenty and sitting in the bottom half, wouldn’t JDT be getting even more stick? So not so simple…

I’m sure United fans will be up in arms against Qatar, ‘human rights’, ‘petro-clubs’, ‘sportwashing’ etc, just like they were for the City and Newcastle owners…

What manager have we had in twenty odd years of BRFCS who hasn’t copped a load of grief on here? Just how forums are, so not sure why some on here seem surprised by it.