Fitton: "15 clubs to go bust"

[Colin Todd]

He cleared loads of debt from the old regime and bought Cox, hardly someone who is reluctant to open his wallet. Also had £150,000 bid for Mulgrew accepted in the Summer... again hardly someone who is reluctant to open his wallet. Money will no doubt be available just not stupid amounts. Makes perfect sense really. AF has previously said though if we can get someone (like Cox) who would change the dimension of the team and sell on for a profit in the future we would do it.

We reportedly bid £150k ish for Joe anisyah(?) who chose to go to Carlisle (whre he had a loan spell) in jan as well.

Fitton will pay money for clearly talented young players who have a decent track record at our level and so do not represnt that much of a gamble.

I'm comfortable with that. I wouldnt want us spending that sort of money on 29 year olds.

[Barry Scott]

You have to speculate to accumulate though.

But there's reasoned speculation and mindless-gamblers speculation. Our level of Football is pretty much always going to be mindless speculation because there are few players, who we could sign, that could increase a gate/fanbase/sponsorship in any noticable way. In my opinion, it's just money down the drain.

[Spy]

My point is that we need to spend money in the summer to replace the shite we've got now. Be that £5 or £50k. Reading the above, I get the impression he won't do that.

I'll bet you £500 Fitton will spend at least £5 on players this summer.

[nevillew]

When we point out that Fitton has spent a lot of money, let's not forget that this was pretty much all pre financial meltdown, which didn't really impact until Q4 last year.

I agree with pauld , 'up to 15 clubs' is the key phrase. Many of us are facing unprecedented financial situations, personally and in business and it's reasonable to expect that the previous 'miracle escapes' for ailing football clubs are much less likely than before

[Berniman]

What this will mean is that we will be in a strong position moving forward with regards to signing players, and Fittons stance on agents and fees (though frustrating at the moment) will probably prove to be a masterstroke going forward.  As players come to realise that Swindon are now a stable well run club, and there aren't as many other stable options out there for them we will become a very tempting prospect, regardless of whether they have an agent or not.  If they want a job they will do whats necessary.

[nevillew]

What this will mean is that we will be in a strong position moving forward with regards to signing players, and Fittons stance on agents and fees (though frustrating at the moment) will probably prove to be a masterstroke going forward.  As players come to realise that Swindon are now a stable well run club, and there aren't as many other stable options out there for them we will become a very tempting prospect, regardless of whether they have an agent or not.  If they want a job they will do whats necessary.

Good point sir.

[Dazzza]

Andrew is becoming more and more of a doomsayer of late.

I can imagine 15 clubs will go out of business before next season only most of them will be pottering around the lower echelons of conference football as people no longer want to subsidise “the dream” as spare cash starts to dry up.

I can’t see there being any high profile league casualties.  Despite the doomsayers most clubs are now either well aware that they have to cut their cloth accordingly and anyone attempting to spend what they don’t have is found out fairly quickly and damage limited.

[STFC_Gazza]

Andrew is becoming more and more of a doomsayer of late.

I can imagine 15 clubs will go out of business before next season only most of them will be pottering around the lower echelons of conference football as people no longer want to subsidise “the dream” as spare cash starts to dry up.

I can’t see there being any high profile league casualties.  Despite the doomsayers most clubs are now either well aware that they have to cut their cloth accordingly and anyone attempting to spend what they don’t have is found out fairly quickly and damage limited.

I think Southampton (who have had troubles for years) and Charlton (who plummeted down the leagues since being relegated from the Prem (quicker than Leeds) could be the biggest name casualties. Charlton must still be paying decent wages. Whilst they didnt go stupid like Leeds they will still have silly wages in L1 next season unless they can sell players... Watford I think were in a bit of trouble?

[pauld]

I think Southampton (who have had troubles for years) and Charlton (who plummeted down the leagues since being relegated from the Prem (quicker than Leeds) could be the biggest name casualties. Charlton must still be paying decent wages. Whilst they didnt go stupid like Leeds they will still have silly wages in L1 next season unless they can sell players... Watford I think were in a bit of trouble?

West Ham are teetering on the brink as it stands, with their current owner about to go bust. He has to sell them by a June deadline set by the courts. But in that case, I think there'll be enough interest to find a buyer, just not at the price he needs to avoid going bust personally

[Berniman]

Good point sir.

Why thank you kind sir!

[Simon Pieman]

I think Gary's mention of Southampton is very apt and exactly what Fitton is trying to get at. Southampton have been affected on and off the pitch through instability.

Which is the major point of the article. I know the headline focuses on the clubs going bust, but essentially what Fitton is doing is answering the calls for Wilson to be sacked and for cash to be thrown around in the summer. Conservative ownership is mentioned, that doesn't suggest either way whether they'll spend money or not. I interpretted that as the owners will continue to run the club as they have been - spending money where it is considered to be a good overall investment and creating a stable management on and off the field.

The team as a whole has been bad this year. It seems some people think if Fitton had spent money on one or two more players we'd be a top 10 team. Unfortunately the facts suggest otherwise, as we've tried out our whole squad and we're still only just avoiding the drop zone. To clear out half the squad and replace them would have taken millions and the majority of the fans even thought we even had an outside chance of the playoffs before the start of the term.

Now contracts are up a clear out will be easier. Wilson seems to know what he wants in a player, more so than Malpas ever did.

[Anteater]

Have to agree with you Si. I don't think AF has done much wrong since saving the club with the exception of his maybe admirable but flawed loyalty to Malpas. Some shared responsibility for our current plight must come from the players and coaches too !

[Dazzza]

Having seen what Leeds managed to come through would the likes of Southampton or Charlton ever really go belly-up even in these hard times?

I would think that even in the current climate there would be people with sufficient clout to bail out clubs of that size and resource.  The first real casualties if any will be the smaller league one and two clubs who are still paying for the hangover of chasing success in the glory years and simply don’t have the infrastructure to re-structure and cut cloth accordingly.  Darlington springs to mind but even then these clubs all seem to come out through the other side when the financial grim reaper is reportedly at their door.

Fully agree with the comments on Fitton's prudence.  She's a lovely woman and it's the best way to run the club.

[flammableBen]

Whilst the league clubs seem to be scraping through difficulties at the moment, let's not forget the likes of Halifax and Scarborough, who've both dabbled in the league fairly recently, but have since gone under.

[RobertT]

I think the economic woes may be coming home to roost in football, that's the problem.  Once upon a time creditors feared trying to wind-up a football club and banks offered ever ongoing overdrafts.  The last 12 months has changed that completely.  Commercial credit is more expensive, oddly, if it's available at all.  Football clubs are bad payers, bad credit, so now will be finding it ever more difficult to tide themselves over.  Some owners will have seen their personal wealth shrivel (West Ham's for a start) and will beign questioning the constant drain on the available cash - most of their wealth normally being tied up in assets that are tumbling in value, so cash needs to be held onto.

It's not that football has changed so much, it's that the outside world is finally beginning to make football live in the real world.  We had 3 teams get points deductions start of this season, another 1 take one in the season and a couple making very public noises about problems.  We have clubs abandoning ground developments, others agreeing settlements to try and get the club sold.  Panic does seem to be gradually setting in.