Let's see, when Trollope was manager in the old Div. III, the club slashed the playing budget and we sank into the basement only for Ken Beamish to take the helm. The then board said something in the Adver to the effect that even if they had a larger budget, the gates wouldn't improve. The smaller budget meant relegation, smaller gates, financial ruin, and "Holiday Camp" graffiti at the CG.
Years later, Andy King on a smaller budget than the rest of League I, bet the house on Cureton and Thorpe, and while for a time Iffy had them working their socks off, when contracts reared their ugly head the Town hit the iceberg, and sunk without a band playing. According to Iffy, Brown was one of the better players, possibly true but so was the goalkeeper who couldn't kick.
Fifty thousand quid is only a few thousand on the gate, even after VAT. If there are 4,000 faithful showing up to watch an Aaron Brown, then the finances are untenable, even in the event of the Sheik of Aribi funding the club. To fill the ground, there has to be investment in quality, to provide excitement, ........cup runs, something to in the words of Macca, put bums on seats. The only way Swindon will have a new ground is when the whole town jumps on the bandwagon of success, and that some politicians determine that in the interests of their slimy self-preservation that they strongly believe in it, and in their speeches always have done.
Somebody should point out that a new ground with a class team will bring millions into the businesses in Swindon, rather than those in Reading, Southampton and London. More taxes for the council, they would have to love that.
With Sturrock as manager, there is the opportunity to progress. Cloughie re-signed his players, Shankley defined a Liverpool player. There appears to be a Sturrock player, which doesn't include historically injury prone players like Monkhouse or Brown, or those that apparently don't follow instructions.
Finally, on this rant, the four clubs relegated to Div II last season, took the top four places. That goes to show that there is a gulf between Div I and II, and if some "Steady Eddies" aren't signed, especially in defense, we will be up and down "quicker than a whore's drawers on Saturday night".
That, my friend, is a cracking post! Could not agree more. :goodpost:
