New beginnings - 25% Truth, 80% Bollocks

[Bennett]

So you have an issue with ambition?

Did you stop reading before "and the fact that it is unchallenged by our Supporters Trust"?

[Nemo]

So you have an issue with ambition?

I mean, you have to align ambition with having a realistic plan of achieving it no?

If it's just "what would you like to happen?" with no requirement for it being achievable, then I'm furious they don't want win the CL!

[Bob1978]

How about £5 on all tickets? Programmes £5. All drinks an extra £0.50-1.00 all food an extra £1 and £10.00 on hospitality? Seriously. I’m not naming people but we collectively have to get over the fact that Clem or anyone within his sphere of financial standing hasn’t got the £m’s to throw at our club save for an oligarch, Sheikh or minted megalomaniac. So the money comes from where?

I’ve been having this discussion with my DNA Sat on our £500m yacht in the Cayman Islands whilst booking our private jet and helicopter transfers to tomorrow’s game. A tough conundrum to which we have no answer. Hang a sec just moving a loose £5b around. Ah lunch has arrived. Down to our last ten cases of Crystal Champers don’t you know.

Agreed. But Constanza’s sources tell him it’s a v.good time to invest in an EFL club and prospective buyers are reviewing the books all the time. Clem must be having to fight these billionaires off our club.

[Bennett]

Costanza could be reporting what he's told.
Not all investors are billionaires, not all investors will individually be worth millions, but a consortium or VC fund could be. It doesn't mean all that dosh has STFC printed on it

[The Artist Formerly Known as Audrey]

Taylor Swift wants to buy Notts County - turned down.

How about us!

[Costanza]

Agreed. But Constanza’s sources tell him it’s a v.good time to invest in an EFL club and prospective buyers are reviewing the books all the time. Clem must be having to fight these billionaires off our club.

My pals are industry people, not Swindon fans.

[Mooneyraker]

So you have an issue with ambition?

I think you've rather missed the point here Bob. If the new Chairman of Kintbury Rangers said he wanted to win the Premier League with the club, would people think "there's a man of ambition!" or "there's a Walter Mitty fool"?

[Mooneyraker]

And that's before the debate of whether Clem is ambitious, as you put it, or mendacious. Your reading of it is at the more generous end of the supporter spectrum I would suggest.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Audrey]

Just what level of transparency is acceptable? Do we need to know transfer fees, compo for Lindsey etc.  The moans are always, or nearly always, about where’s the money gone. I’m no financial wizard but do our level of annual accounts go into such details.

[Mooneyraker]

Taylor Swift wants to buy Notts County - turned down.

How about us!

Change our name to Swifton Town. I'm down with that. TAKE THE MONEY!

[RobertT]

Just what level of transparency is acceptable? Do we need to know transfer fees, compo for Lindsey etc.  The moans are always, or nearly always, about where’s the money gone. I’m no financial wizard but do our level of annual accounts go into such details.

I don't need per deal info (although I have shared the Carlisle annual report for reference to show what a club COULD share, if it so desired).  I don't think hoards of cash have been stashed beyond prying eyes either.

I think there is a distinct mismatch between the PR provided and the actual plans to deliver it, let alone the actual delivery.

I have no problem with ambition.

I even think a club down here, without a rich benefactor, can deliver some of the vague stated aims.  We have a very good example in our league - Crewe.  They maintain a Category 2 level Academy, consistently ranked better than some Elite ones as well.  It required significant investment and requires annual operating expenses well over 7 figures.  It, generally, pays for itself - but to start it, you need to a) take a gamble and b) have a plan to finance it to start with.  Exeter have also shown a way a smaller income club can generate higher Revenue through player investment and trading, without reaching the likes of Peterborough.

So, even if Clem is skint, it's possible, with the right planning and preparation before pulling the trigger.

What we have is not that though.  We have some vague aim of getting a Level 2 Academy by way of asking for local fans to help put up some metal bars so someone with a mobile phone can film the kids at play and a rented field that hosts Palates for the locals while we re trying to do press briefings (I'm being disingenuous).

It's as if everyone was surprised that it all takes a bit of effort once we got the reigns.  The fact our transfer policy and wage budgets have been all over the shop for three seasons running shows nothing is well planned.  We are doing a very good job of bringing to life the saying of throwing spaghetti at a wall and seeing what sticks.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Audrey]

That’s all true but both Crewe and Exeter are perennial yo-yo clubs - do well when the academies produce, sell then fall back. Rinse and repeat. That’s fine if fans buy into that way if operating but barring a miracle it confines you to forever floundering around the bottom 2 leagues. They only have 4000 or so fans to convince.

I might be a bit happy clappy here, but I think most of our fans at least expect to be capable of challenging for Championship football.

[RobertT]

That’s all true but both Crewe and Exeter are perennial yo-yo clubs - do well when the academies produce, sell then fall back. Rinse and repeat. That’s fine if fans buy into that way if operating but barring a miracle it confines you to forever floundering around the bottom 2 leagues. They only have 4000 or so fans to convince.

I might be a bit happy clappy here, but I think most of our fans at least expect to be capable of challenging for Championship football.

I agree with you, our starting base should be higher than them.  If we did it properly, using them as examples, but with a higher revenue base to begin with, we should be able to support a L1 club with ambitions of at least going between that and the Championship.

I'm just saying even a small income club can do these things - I do not buy the defence of Clem that he is out of cash, has paid down debt, it's all too much to expect etc.  Plus, he's the fucker that put the Goal out there - I'm saying his plans t deliver it need scrutiny, and he sure as hell is not delivering it right now.  This is just one area, I haven't even got onto the Ground.

[ChalkyWhiteIsGod]

Taylor Swift wants to buy Notts County - turned down.

How about us!

The amount of shirts we'd sell to her fans would fund us getting to the championship at least on its own.

[RobertT]

To ensure people don't think I am just some anti-Clem, negative whining idiot, I will counter balance with something.

I think Clem did an amazing job in the first 6 months, and that set us up for short term success/benefits.  Namely he tapped into two things - the impact of Covid on the fanbase (a pent up demand to see games lives) and the growing anger towards the existing owner.  Once he found the crafty way to get the club, he used these two to huge effect, building immediate momentum in positive vibes amongst the fanbase, which led to a surge in Season Ticket holder numbers.  Only twice in my time has another owner/CEO achieved such an uptake - once in the Premier League and once when the prices were slashed by Fitton.  A time of unprecedented positivity and a time when big pockets could underwrite the loss.

That is no mean feat.

I think he was utterly bemused by the amount of risk/exposure he then found financially and it has stopped everything else in it's tracks.  It now looks like an attempt to hang on for the Ground to get moving so an exit plan can be formed.