Matt Richie

[london_red]

Think we've all missed that. It's yet to be demonstrated that anyone has the cash

True. But amid the speculation and rumour, the one concrete line we got on the subject from the club themselves is good enough for me until proven otherwise.

with the current owners writing off most of their debts and the new consortium’s funding, the Club has a strong financial base to continue the battle for Championship football

[ahounsell]

Clubs with a "strong financial base" do not panic sell players to pay bills.

It may be that the club will have a strong financial base once the takeover is formally completed but the sale of Ritchie is a very clear indication that either the sale is going to take a while yet to be completed, or the new owners are not prepared to inject as much cash as the previous ones.

[ahounsell]

if we have a wage bill of 250k per month, the Ritchie sale will surely only cover us for a month

If we have a wage bill of £250k per month we should be able to pay at least most of it from the clubs own income. The clubs turnover should be well over £250k.

Going by the most recent accounts I have seen we are probably losing a fair bit per month but Id be shocked if it was anywhere near £250k. £100k I could believe, in which case the sale would cover the shortfall for the remainder of the season without needing any more cash from the owners.

[jonny72]

If we have a wage bill of £250k per month we should be able to pay at least most of it from the clubs own income. The clubs turnover should be well over £250k.

Going by the most recent accounts I have seen we are probably losing a fair bit per month but Id be shocked if it was anywhere near £250k. £100k I could believe, in which case the sale would cover the shortfall for the remainder of the season without needing any more cash from the owners.

The £250k wage bill only refers to the playing staff, the total wage bill (ie all staffing costs) is around £400k a month (well it was in the 10/11 accounts). Think the monthly loses are more likely around £150k a month, again based on recent accounts.

[Peter Venkman]

I think we will be able to buy him for next to nothing when Boremuff eventually go bust sooner rather than later.

[DiV]

I bet promotion to the Championship is worth more than 400k

[london_red]

The £250k wage bill only refers to the playing staff, the total wage bill (ie all staffing costs) is around £400k a month (well it was in the 10/11 accounts). Think the monthly loses are more likely around £150k a month, again based on recent accounts.

Black was putting £250k a month in to keep the books balanced this season.

[Paolo69]

Black was putting £250k a month in to keep the books balanced this season.

Really? That sounds high. So that's a £3 million pound loss for the year. Where did that figure get reported?

[jimmy_onions]

Black was putting £250k a month in to keep the books balanced this season.

^madness

A general comment on the state of football finances...I dont know why anyone bothers, when and how are they aver going to see a return on their investment?

[jonny72]

Black was putting £250k a month in to keep the books balanced this season.

Where did that figure come from? It would mean we're losing £3m a season, don't think we've gone much above £2m before. It also doesn't stack up with the last few years, based on the increased owings we've been losing on average £1.5m a season.

[TheMajorSTFC]

The £250k a week comment has been around for weeks, I think SWP said it at the time AB wanted to sell up. That was our wagebill, so that may only cover players, management and staff...who knows about simple things like electricity and gas bills...could be more/could be less

[Paolo69]

The £250k a week comment has been around for weeks, I think SWP said it at the time AB wanted to sell up. That was our wagebill, so that may only cover players, management and staff...who knows about simple things like electricity and gas bills...could be more/could be less

It's only been around "for weeks" in reference to the wage bill as you say. There's a massive difference between a wage bill and a shortfall.

[Power to people]

Dont forget we will have to pay SWP bonus for selling the club, loyalty bonus to Ritchie, agent fee's for Ritchie, auditors fee's inc late night working ot be able to fax clubs with available players so out of the 400,000 we will get we will probably have around 50,000 to keep us afloat

[DiV]

Dont forget we will have to pay SWP bonus for selling the club, loyalty bonus to Ritchie, agent fee's for Ritchie, auditors fee's inc late night working ot be able to fax clubs with available players so out of the 400,000 we will get we will probably have around 50,000 to keep us afloat

Not forgetting Portsmouths cut

[london_red]

It's only been around "for weeks" in reference to the wage bill as you say. There's a massive difference between a wage bill and a shortfall.

It kind of doesn't matter though does it? The new owners will have seen the books before agreeing to exchange contracts (presumably!). So they will know how much it will cost to fund the club to the end of the season.

Ritchie, unfortunately, had to be sold to fund the small gap between Black pulling the financial plug and the new ownership structure being in place.

The fact that we're then signing players today would indicate that they aren't just looking to slash the wage bill to minimise that shortfall.

Not in dreamland, and more details are certainly needed about the club's financial position post-takeover, but may as well look forward rather than back.