Clem- Bouncebackability

[Ardiles]

I imagine every football fan of every football club in the world would like this. But have you ever known a period in Swindon Town's history where it has not been the (necessary) case that we sell our best players and buy cheaper replacements?

I was too concise.  It's flogging our better players to smaller clubs in our own division that grates just now.  We'll always be a selling club.  It's who we're selling to that marks a new low in terms of ambition.

[Exiled Bob]

And yet allegedly still lose 1M+ a season.

I think the quality of replacements has dramatically declined. I don't recall such a punty mcpuntfface approach.

Not disputing this, but in the bottom division most signings are going to be hit and miss. The point is that we have, out of necessity and like almost every other club, always been and always will be a selling club. Even when we were on the up and up, heading towards the Premier League, we had to sell players to survive. We sold Kerslake a few months before we won promotion.

Overspending can be fun and can lead to short-term success - as we saw during the Ardiles and Hoddle era and, more recently, with Di Canio. But when the funding dries up it tends to be catastrophic.

[Exiled Bob]

I was too concise.  It's flogging our better players to smaller clubs in our own division that grates just now.  We'll always be a selling club.  It's who we're selling to that marks a new low in terms of ambition.

Yes, I agree. It makes us look pretty tinpot.

[doversparkred]

It’s interesting that we don’t believe that the club can be run sustainably, but (some) want the club to be fan owned.  I’m not sure where we think the funds will come from if we were fan owned, or is there an assumption that everyone would be happy to stump up extra cash each season

You’d be surprised at what can be achieved with an actively involved fanbase. During Covid Bath City raised 50k just to host the end of season playoffs, when the grounds were shut and there were no gate receipts.

The Swindon fanbase has become quite fragmented and passive over the years, so rallying them around a common cause won’t be easy. But you have to aim high!

[ChalkyWhiteIsGod]

And yet allegedly still lose 1M+ a season.

I think the quality of replacements has dramatically declined. I don't recall such a punty mcpuntfface approach.

Wasn't we supposedly only losing something like 250k to 300k a year under Andrew Black when Di Canio was overspending?

Seeing as we don't spend money on anything right now....I'd say that is horse shit that we lose anything lik £1m.

[Posh Red]

You’d be surprised at what can be achieved with an actively involved fanbase. During Covid Bath City raised 50k just to host the end of season playoffs, when the grounds were shut and there were no gate receipts.

The Swindon fanbase has become quite fragmented and passive over the years, so rallying them around a common cause won’t be easy. But you have to aim high!

I’ve no doubt we could raise £50k (and probably more) for a one off. Not sure how we would do if we needed to fund a large loss every year

[The Artist Formerly Known as Audrey]

People need to believe in where their money is actually going.

[ChalkyWhiteIsGod]

The club not being sustainable right now on those gates is pure gaslighting bullshit. We're spending the square root of fuck all.

Cut the hangers on and we might even have a little left over for some staff to answer the phones.

[hefty toe]

I'd really like some detail on how the club is losing £1m per season. The current playing budget seems low and not much seems to be spent on infrastructure.

[Robinz]

Yesterday I met up with a chap who I worked with years ago. James was an account manager with Sony.. full of hot air and hype. Fortunately Sony had a strong ethical management structure to overcome this b... s..t.
Yesterday's meeting showed he was still the same person full of crap.
Could easily be CM s brother by a different mother !!!

[RobertT]

I’ve no doubt we could raise £50k (and probably more) for a one off. Not sure how we would do if we needed to fund a large loss every year

Exeter, who are smaller, have shown it is possible to build a club with fan ownership and retain profits.  Their revenue is about the same as ours right now, so we might expect to exceed them.

Clem already showed what some positivity can do to engage fans and get people to the ground - imagine that if the club was actually owned by the fans?

Also, if the fans owned the club and the financials were fully transparent, then I imagine you could increase revenue through either more expensive season tickets (people willing to add a little extra), donations etc.  Goodwill can go a long way, Clem banked on it for two years.

As a fan owned club, you'd also be able to apply for charity type status and get some benefits that way, plus volunteering is far less of a worry when you are all shared owners in the first place.  Ultimately, the aim should be to get to a position where competent people are employed of course, certainly in key areas, but there are many ways a fan owned STFC could operate more efficiently and bring in more revenue than the current regime.  Rob Angus was willing to give up a decent corporate job to get involved, imagine the people and skills available if we were all proper shareholders and had a controlling interest.

[ChalkyWhiteIsGod]

Yeah Clem drummed up a lot of good will. Gates were 10k just on home fans some games against very non attractive sides.

I was holding back to see how things played out and didn't get a season ticket but was going semi regularly. I'd definitely get a season ticket immediately if we were fan owned. No questions asked.

[Ardiles]

I'd really like some detail on how the club is losing £1m per season. The current playing budget seems low and not much seems to be spent on infrastructure.

There's been a clamour for this simple financial info for some time.  This is macro level info that should be simple to provide.  An exec summary showing in round numbers how we're losing ££ while also continuing to attract decent crowds and benefitting from lower ground rental charges.  It's infuriating.  And all from an owner who promised transparency.

[RobertT]

There's been a clamour for this simple financial info for some time.  This is macro level info that should be simple to provide.  An exec summary showing in round numbers how we're losing ££ while also continuing to attract decent crowds and benefitting from lower ground rental charges.  It's infuriating.  And all from an owner who promised transparency.

His deflection on this point was annoying as well.  He moved quickly from talking about the costs breakdown to suggesting it would tell people our playing budget.  Plenty of clubs, even those with limited accounts, are able to provide a total salaries number, which covers all staff, as a way around this.  Then you can breakdown all the other cost items.

[Whingy the poo]

Sorry not Read back!

Just watched Clems interview and want to raise a point he mentioned about pre turnstile checks.

"Fans seeking in using child tickets". this has really got my goat  
Ill call these people out now "YOU ARE NOT SWINDON FANS & CAN FUCK OFF".  

These people are probably the same hypocritical cunts that moan that Clem puts no money in!
Ahhhh yeah, the club will never get any money while we have dishonest wankers like this!

I pay the full whack adult price, I look forward to paying for an OAP ticket when I get there.
Rant over!