First Post and to reiterate what Mex has said.

[herthab]

We haven't got a manager nor signed anyone. Furthermore, the new stadium hasn't materialised either! Fitton out!

NMH

  I think it needs to be said that Mr F isn't going to be throwing money at this project, but rather relying on running an efficient company.

  Although its the stated aim to get to the championship,  I'n not sure we're of sufficient status crowd wise to achieve this.

 Firoz Kassam was a good businessman, who ran an efficient club.

And so is John Madejski.....

Hopefully Fitton will be more in the mould of the latter............

[Simon Pieman]

Running the club in a sustainable way may not mean running at a profit.

At the moment we can only make assumptions. I don't think it's safe to say we will be getting millions, we haven't head anything regarding this (or a stadium for that matter).

Looks like a waiting game. I'm just pleased we have a club that isn't effectively managed by a greedy man who struggles to run any business at a profit

[Reg Smeeton]

At the moment we can only make assumptions. I don't think it's safe to say we will be getting millions, we haven't head anything regarding this (or a stadium for that matter).

 I have my sources.    Don't get me wrong, I'm all for Fitton taking over.  Its just I don't want our fans getting carried away thinking we're somehow going to be the QPR of L1....cos we ent.

[TheDukeOfBanbury]

We haven't got a manager nor signed anyone. Furthermore, the new stadium hasn't materialised either! Fitton out!

NMH

  I think it needs to be said that Mr F isn't going to be throwing money at this project, but rather relying on running an efficient company.

  Although its the stated aim to get to the championship,  I'n not sure we're of sufficient status crowd wise to achieve this.

 Firoz Kassam was a good businessman, who ran an efficient club.

And so is John Madejski.....

Hopefully Fitton will be more in the mould of the latter............

Madejski - Football Fan
Fitton - Football Fan.

Uncle Firoz Kassam - "How can you obtain a small football Club ?"
"Buy Oxford United and just watch."

Not interested in football.

[Reg Smeeton]

We haven't got a manager nor signed anyone. Furthermore, the new stadium hasn't materialised either! Fitton out!

NMH

  I think it needs to be said that Mr F isn't going to be throwing money at this project, but rather relying on running an efficient company.

  Although its the stated aim to get to the championship,  I'n not sure we're of sufficient status crowd wise to achieve this.

 Firoz Kassam was a good businessman, who ran an efficient club.

And so is John Madejski.....

Hopefully Fitton will be more in the mould of the latter............

Madejski - Football Fan
Fitton - Football Fan.

Uncle Firoz Kassam - "How can you obtain a small football Club ?"
"Buy Oxford United and just watch."

Not interested in football.

 Nah....wrong

  Madejski...interested in Reading as a whole.  So the FC an important element.  But an element he's been subbing to the tune of 2 mill a season.
 Which is why he's says he wants out.

[Spencer_White]

Agree with Reg. Madjeski hasnt run Reading on a business model for 10 years. He started off that way, but then they went really shit. He loosened the purse strings and they were still shit, and they stayed shit on an ever increasing budget until Pardew finnally got them promoted about 2002.

I think Fitton is gambling a bit that if you do lots of little things right, and work with the supporters then the crowds will go up. So long as its fair and the clubs future is secure then you cant complain that much. The crowds are rubbish and we dont automatically deserve championship football.

Who knows what is going to happen.

[Reg Smeeton]

The model for Fitton is MK Dongs.....they got 8.5 on Sat compared to our near 6000.

     Why?  They've no history and have more or less started from scratch.  They're also reviled by many other fans, which can't be much of an encouragement  

    Simple really, get yourself a bit of ambition, which includes a new stadium (or redeveloped), get a decent manager , and get top of a league.....the rest will follow.

[larwood]

I really don't think the majority of people in Swindon give a shit about the club anymore.Going to take a long time for a lot of them to return,takeover or not  

[Reg Smeeton]

I really don't think the majority of people in Swindon give a shit about the club anymore.Going to take a long time for a lot of them to return,takeover or not  

 Undoubtedly true, but my above point is that MKD can get the start of a decent crowd base working more or less from scratch.  Fan base isn't some stable entity which is always there.....people come into and out of support all the time.  

 Potentially there are a lot of people in Swindon and district, who could be encouraged along if the product is right.

[random_five]

creating your own sub-forum would be akin to putting you all into guantanamo bay.

You'll change your mind if KR or Leroy sign up!

Please don't say things like that.. There are a lot more ex MOS posters on here than you realise. Leroy and Riddel deliberatley set out to fuck that site up, pair ot twats.

If they start posting on here I'll be left with the Adver site, a prospect far to dark to think about on Christmas Eve..

[Boeta]

i always thought leroy and riddel were the best swindon forum posters going. they were in the onion jimbo class of off-topic posting

[Ardiles]

I really don't think the majority of people in Swindon give a shit about the club anymore.Going to take a long time for a lot of them to return,takeover or not  

 Undoubtedly true, but my above point is that MKD can get the start of a decent crowd base working more or less from scratch.  Fan base isn't some stable entity which is always there.....people come into and out of support all the time.  

 Potentially there are a lot of people in Swindon and district, who could be encouraged along if the product is right.

I can see your point, but I think you're over-simplifying.  Every club has a core support that is less fickle than the rest.  The difference is that the core support varies enormously from club to club.

Franchise FC are getting good crowds at the moment, largely for the reasons you suggest.  But if Ince was to leave and the team started to struggle, I think you'd see the support plummet.  For historical (or lack of historical) reasons, the Dong core is small.

Leeds, on the other hand, have a large core support.  If they dropped to the Conference, I would still expect to see them pulling in 15,000+ crowds.  Ipswich is another good example.  The town is smaller than Swindon, but the success they enjoyed 30 years ago created the foundations of a substantial core support that they enjoy to this day.

I agree with you that Fitton is not going to be a football philanthropist.  Infact, I'm pleased by that.  But he will stop the rot.  His 'low hanging fruit' quote was code for 'the previous owners couldn't organise the proverbial piss up, and there are going to be a number of things that I will be able to do quickly and at relatively low cost that will have an immediate, positive impact on the way this club is run'.

The mismanagement of the last decade means that STFC has been punching well below its weight.  With the right foundations, I think sustained Championship level football could be a possibility within a few years.

[Spencer_White]

i always thought leroy and riddel were the best swindon forum posters going. they were in the onion jimbo class of off-topic posting

For once I agree with you.

Their ramblings are absolute class. I think Riddel got banned about 2003 for 3 years. But have a look at their match reports on the fannyforum, absolute class.