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Swindon: Chairman says there is no money for 'big signings'
     

Swindon chairman Sir William Patey reveals there is no money for Paolo di Canio to strengthen his squad in January.
     

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20889465
     

I didnt hear this interview on the BEEB ..... So whats this business ....

"The dream scenario is we'd be in the Championship with new investors and new owners"

Have they picked out a line in a interview?

Queue wild rumours of us going into administration by the yellow filth

There isnt any money as we are at the wage cap limit, or just under. We knew that.

They are way way way ahead of you, there has been thread of Admin on the yellows forum for a couple of days now. Wankers.

Two days ago, we put 5 goals past another side without reply in front of 10,000 of our own fans...something that lot could only dream about.  Ill-founded message board speculation is about all they have at the moment.  Don't begrudge them their small pleasures.

Other fans will read that and think we're skint but the fact is we do have the money, they just don't want to spend it.

The owners have money, not sure the club itself has bags of it.

Yes, although everyone seems to have taken it different to me. Lets be honest here - apart from a select few clubs who are massive globally or have stupidly wealthy foreign owners...

...how many clubs ARENT looking for new investment or new owners?

I dont think ours want out or anything as over the top as that - but lets be honest, as fantastic as the current lot have been for our football club, we'd all like (and need...)richer people with more money because thats whats needed in football these days

Of course - I expect if we do sell Caddis for a decent fee then that would give us some room for maneuver.

I'm ok with austerity as long as it's only for this transfer window.. Our squad is strong enough as it is, I don't think we need any additions apart from the loanees hopefully re-signing.

I think tommorows board meeting will be very significant in the push for promotion and the future of Paolo and mr black at this club.

 I dont know what it is but realy dont like this patey he reminds me of the old regime who used to be here with holt and the greek its not sounding very promiseing at the club at the moment i fear his comments could well spell the end of our season and the end of the di canio era.

Have a word with yourselves.

Yeah, on the back of two 5-0 wins, with the best attack and best defence in the division - after one interview with the Chairman where he says there won't be money to add to our already large squad I agree we're fucked.

I think we'll be fine. If we can keep our loan players here and get rid of the deadwood (by trying not to pay them off) then I really think we'll go close to winning the league!

you can tell me won our last game cant you!

Could be a blessing in disguise for us if Austin is sold. We might net a small fortune from that.

I'm not overly worried about this. We have a decent squad as it is and we're already well up there so why do we need to make any big signings? As long as we can keep Ward and 1 or 2 of the other loanees i'll be happy.

My only concern RE the owners is that the CG re-development is dead in the water. If they can't invest in the squad how can they afford to invest in a new stadium? This clearly highlights where the need for new investment is. On the off chance of it happening and someone actually taking over where does that leave any current stadium plans?

I hope we don't sign any players in January, I really don't think we need any. You can have too many players and the current squad is easily, easily good enough to finish top two.

Oh yes....sorry I forgot......







FACT! 8)

Not as much as people may think though. NW said so.

Yeah I don't think it'll be a huge amount but any money we can get is decent.

There seems to be a growing dislike of SWP in some quarters (mainly thisis) just because he won't pander to PDC.

JW got the boot because he couldn't standup to PDC so SWP is hardly going to do the same.

This is surely a bit of non-news.
I don't think anyone ever suggested that we were going to splash out lots of cash in the transfer window and wasn't it said that we lifted the um-bongo by putting in any money that might have otherwise been earmarked for that purpose.
The Board are supporting what must be one of the strongest and costly squads in the division and results are coming good - why the crazy panic?
SWP is the messenger from the owner who is not going to put in endless cash - he never said he would!  I think he communicates clearly and honestly.
As Abrahammer suggested, I think JWs failure to stand up to PdC has given false expectations in some circles.
I even think that Paolo is getting the message, though this won't stop him from asking!

How many days after an interview conducted by another media outlet, and broadcast live at the time, can a newspaper continue to use it as "news"?

Basically, we have spent/are spending our wage budget and the guys in charge have dipped as far as they feel comfrtable into their own pockets to add in sufficient equity to allow that.  Having now put around £10-£15m into the club over the past 4 or so years (clearing existing loans to external parties, paying the CVA and ensuring a push for back to back promotions) I don't doubt that they want to start seeking others to support it beyond that.

edit:ooops, I've fallen into the trap of believing every story put out days later comes from the adver, seems even the BBC are at it now, with their own interviews.

We are the Swindon we spend when we want.

So, because Patey isn't as matey (see what I did there? ) with PdC and comes out in an interview stating what most of us already knew (we'd spent the money allocated for this transfer window already, to get out of the embargo), it's doom & gloom? As for stating his dream scenario (Championship football and further investment) what's not to like?
Wray was a nice bloke, but a sustainable club can't be run by someone who wants to give everything to the manager all the time. Sometimes even di Canio has to be told no.

Not got a problem with curtailing spending myself. I hope we'd keep the likes of Ward and shed some surpless to compensate.

It was the comments about money being "extremely tight", that we needed a good Christmas financially, and about the dream being new owners and new investment that set the spider sense tingling. Impossible to know what that means, if anything, for sure. Could be a simple warning that the reckless spending is over, could be more serious. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

I've criticised Patey's apparent lack of diplomacy myself.

But I doubt very, very much he would come out and say, not in so many words: "Guess what, it's all gone to shit"

As a former professional diplomat in one of the most high profile territories I'd imagine he chooses his words very carefully and deliberately.

This is getting ridiculous!

All Patey was saying was in a dream scenario we would have a different set of owners who had millions and millions to pump into the club. However, in the real world, we have owners who have already invested all that they can for the time being and need the club to be run on a firm footing and as self sustaining as possible. He then went on to say that there was no chance of a nightmare scenario where we would be plunged into administration again. (The bit where he said 'the club has been there before' referred to relegation to L2 and NOT poor fiscal management and financial difficulties)

All the rest of the shit that is being posted is a Tans-esque (no offence Tans) wind up!

Fucking hell, who pissed on your bonfire?!

Spot on!

 :nod:

Oi!

If i'd have said that. I'd be accused of being belligerent.

No accusation necessary!

This is true

All it says is no money for "big" signings.  So That would rule out resigning Austin, but doesnt mean much else.

Tomorrows adver back page:

[url width=640 height=960]http://i48.tinypic.com/25yuq8l.jpg[/url]

Better be true about Ward, the man had been faultless recently

With the greatest of respect you know as much as the rest of us as to what he meant. Nothing.

There is no panic, but if it makes everyone feel better:

[url width=287 height=143]http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff148/Quatsch1/FuckingMeltdown.gif[/url]

Great news about Ward if that's true. Must be rubbish though, somebody wants to buy Risser. Yeah, right.

Clearly a wind up about Ward. Why the fuck is he wearing a watch in that picture?

[url width=287 height=143]http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff148/Quatsch1/FuckingMeltdown.gif[/url]

 :blowup:

True. But I've very carefully listened to the interview several times. It would appear that the 'meltdown' has been created by people reacting to what has been written, rather than listening to Patey's words and the questions asked of him.

I might be wrong. Patey may turn out to be an al Qaeda operative sent to radicalise the Town End. Andrew Black may not be loyal to Spectrum nor Swindon and may well turn out to be a Mysteron double agent. But I somewhat doubt it. :-)

I would be happier, if in future you do a transcription of Patey's interviews along the lines of Paolo's stuff. I like the captain Black analogy...amazingly the recent death of the towering genius that was Gerry Anderson passed off without comment on the TEF.

Page 9 of the Portsmouth match day thread:

Patey interview:
- 12 months ago he was in Afghanistan
- Great atmosphere at Tranmere game. Were hoping for 10-11k there today
- Football is an expensive business. Needed a good Christmas to help make ends meet
- Have done well in 2012. PDC done a great job. Would be amazing if we went up, but there are a lot of people in the mix
- No news on investment. Don't have money to spend on players. Dont expect big name signings
- We have a good squad. Investment in Hollands and Martin paying off
- We'll either get promotion with this squad or not
- Financial reality kicks in now. Owner doesnt have unlimited funds. There are no new investors
- Martin, Hollands and Ward to stay? We'll have to see. Board meeting next week. Manager wants to keep them. May be that we have to move people out to keep them
- Bostock loan up soon. Haven't talked to PDC about this
- New ground. No news on that
- The money situation is extremely tight. No nightmare scenario. Think we'll stay up. Swindon has been through the nightmare before and we need to make sure that the club is sustainable
- Felt we should win against Portsmouth.
- On PDC and hostility & isolation: Had good meeting before Christmas and telecon since. No personal issues between them both. Just a different views and objectives when it comes to money. PDC is a person who needs clarity, but he does understand the situation.

As for Gerry Andersen: Surprised me too.

Its not that, I heard the interview on BBC. I ignore the Adver ineterviewthon, I've been in enough Trust meetings during the troubles to see the words said accurately quoted by the Adver but somewhat completely lose their context.

Its more that its impossible to say if he meant what you said, or whether he was hinting at a long term exit strategy for Black, no further investment, or something different altogether. Pessamists going to be pessamitic, optimists going to optimistic, but only Patey knows. I'm sure he'll clarify over time.

Just getting a bit tired of being accused of "in meltdown" for merely wondering what he meant by his comments. Particularly:

- Football is an expensive business. Needed a good Christmas to help make ends meet
- Financial reality kicks in now. Owner doesnt have unlimited funds. There are no new investors
- The money situation is extremely tight. No nightmare scenario. Think we'll stay up. Swindon has been through the nightmare before and we need to make sure that the club is sustainable. (Dream scenario new owners and investment).

None of the above means Black will walk away. But it would nice to know whether financial reality means self sufficiency, or make do with our current resources, or something inbetween, or something more..

There is of course the opinion fans should just come and watch and not worry about it all. Which is hard to do after being through the ringer with the previous regime. Not that I am suggesting the current setup is anything like that..

If it wasn't for the umbungo we would have money being released about now. However, that was bought forward which means it is no longer available now. That's all there is to it. Anybody is free to meltdown as much as they please, of course, so go ahead and meltdown to your heart's content.

Spot on.  Surely we haven't spent all of £500k on Martin and Hollands.  So there will be a bit left over plus what paolo gets rid off.

Where has all this 'meltdown' talk come from?  Am I missing something?

Some, albeit just a few, are in meltdow. Here's a prime example


Not exactly rational thoughts. I, and others, are just trying to say there is absolutely no reason to be worried.

So, just what did Black et al think they would get out of owning STFC that people now reckon they cant?

I'm sure getting to the Championship, in purely footballing terms, wasn't the aim - it must have been the opportunities that come with it.

So unless his personal financial circumstances have changed dramatically, I can't see how we, as a football club, can have done much more.

Maybe he now thinks that even if a new stadium was built we wouldn't fill it sufficiently. 2 years of success still hasn't increased attendances dramatically.

Andrew Black in 2009, net worth £185 million

http://www.moneyweek.com/news-and-charts/entrepreneurs-my-first-million-andrew-black-betfair-44933

Andrew Black in 2012, net worth £125 million

http://www.therichest.org/celebnetworth/business/gamblers/andrew-black-net-worth/

May have something to do with it.

Also he's always been a horse guy more than a football guy. In addition to the Training Stables he owns with Michael Owen he bought a stud farm which only opened a year or so ago. May be that these interests are taking more of his time/resources and so he would be keen to have someone come in to bear some of the load of owning and operating STFC.

That doesn't mean he's going to rush to sell or pull the plug - he has clearly thrown a significant chunk of cash at the club already and no one can question that Di Canio has been backed to the hilt financially up to this point.

It would however be understandable in the wake of Fitton and Wray's departures that he would look to have new investors and board members come in to aid in funding and running Swindon.

One or two people have interpreted Patey's words as being a bit worrying, so others have gone into meltdown, that all is in fact rosy in the garden...ground redevelopment is on track, Captain Black isn't looking to sell, and Paolo is all loved up by the Avebury vibes.

You need to play Chubby Checker in the background to twist like that ! :-)

Everything could always be worse, we could be long standing tenants of a ground where we negotiated terms that meant we can't keep any of the revenue and then find out some new joint tenants pop in a offer to the buy the ground withinna few months, prompting fears of a total rebranding to our nearest rivals colours and losing the opportunity to ever buy the thing!

Still, I suppose Oxford may play in a four sided stadium at some point the future if London Welsh do well.