Adver News: SWINDON TOWN: Portugal media ban does no one any favours

[Peter Venkman]

Am I over the moon about the fact our squad needs to be completely overhauled in one summer and we don't have a Manager - NO

Am I ready to begin a lynch mob at the magic roundabout because we have owners who cannot pump endless sums of money into the clubs coffers to afford and expensive squad - NO

The facts are:

Our annual spend on players wages had spiralled too high.  It was done so because we had someone who was willing to underwrite it.

The Chariman then agreed to an even bigger spend, which upset the owner who in turn replaced him sharpish and put the wheels in motion for a quick sale  He had already signalled he wanted to sell the club, but his commentary at the time suggests the decided at this time to draw a line in the sand with 31st Jan 2013 as the end date.

New eoners without much by way of funds behind them have purchased the club in the absence of any other offers, or for that matter, a ready and waiting fan ownership option.

The wage bill has to be brought down by a considerable amount.

Innovative ways of achieving that are being attempted (Spurs tie up)

We are not fully aware of how that relationship is designed - that is a concern, something the local press would do well to understand and report on.

By radically reducing wages, replacing players and getting a new manager, the season is shrouded in uncertainty.  It is risky, that is for sure.

As I mentioned elsewhere before, the approach the board have been taking is very similar to Fitton when he first arrived.  Keep costs under control, invest in youth, try building relationships with top clubs to get dibs on talent, seek out new ways of bringing in money beyond season ticket and match day sales.  Fitton got this pretty close to spot on, but got a bit caught up in principles when certain things were not working - agents for example.  As much as he had the best moral idea, by spiting agents when nobody else was joining in, we started to reduce our appeal and seemingly had to pay a little too much to people to get them in.  That lead to our season that ended in relegation.

So, I have no issue with the wage reductions, with the bringing in of youth and the attempts to find new revenue streams.  I am accepting of the fact the board have fuck all cash to thro away at this game, much as it would be if we the fans were in charge.  I am "ok" with the Spurs link, provided we retain autonomy in the deal.  I would like to know what caused KMac to leave so swiftly.

That is pretty much word for word exactly how I feel Rob.

[Batch]

The last two of Rob's sentences sum everything up in a nutshell for me.

[RobertT]

Also, assuming Collins and Caddis leave, I don't think our squad is good enough as it stands to hope for much more than mid table mediocrity.  A lot will depend on the quality of any Manager we bring in and the team around him.

[joteddyred]

Thanks Rob.  As usual a very well thought out post that makes a lot of sense.

It does seem that the uncertainty around the Spurs link is the one that is bothering just about everyone to differing levels.  The Board need to make it clear what the arrangement is and the longer they say nothing, the rumours and unsettlement will persist.

Obviously who is named as manager is pretty key as well!

[RobertT]

This is the problem with new boards at football clubs who don't have a big cash pile.  They probably don't even think it is something that needs addressing with the fanbase until they start to see such criticism.  That is part of this groups problem, they keep getting caught out because they do things they see as logical and making sense.  They forget/don't realise a fanbase is much more intertwined with the business than a basic customer is.  Outside of sport, Coca Cola is the closest example of this when they changed their taste to try and combat Pepsi in the 80's.  People actually set-up protest call centres, they completely under estimated the fanbase's interest in this.  All they saw was that Pepsi kept beating them on taste tests so it made logical sense to change it.  Nearly every other business doesn't get presented with this unique problem.

What could they have done? - somehow convince Watkins to stick around.

[tans]

Raphael Rossi Branco on trial.

Whitehawk defender.

Whatashitto

[Peter Venkman]

Raphael Rossi Branco on trial.

Whitehawk defender.

Whatashitto

Was on trial at Brighton last year, even has youtube footage

http://www.northstandchat.com/showthread.php?207175-Raphael-Rossi-Branco

[Weasel]

How did BBC Wiltshire avoid the 'media ban' and get into the hotel to interview Wes?

[horlock07]

Am I over the moon about the fact our squad needs to be completely overhauled in one summer and we don't have a Manager - NO

Am I ready to begin a lynch mob at the magic roundabout because we have owners who cannot pump endless sums of money into the clubs coffers to afford and expensive squad - NO

The facts are:

Our annual spend on players wages had spiralled too high.  It was done so because we had someone who was willing to underwrite it.

The Chariman then agreed to an even bigger spend, which upset the owner who in turn replaced him sharpish and put the wheels in motion for a quick sale  He had already signalled he wanted to sell the club, but his commentary at the time suggests the decided at this time to draw a line in the sand with 31st Jan 2013 as the end date.

New eoners without much by way of funds behind them have purchased the club in the absence of any other offers, or for that matter, a ready and waiting fan ownership option.

The wage bill has to be brought down by a considerable amount.

Innovative ways of achieving that are being attempted (Spurs tie up)

We are not fully aware of how that relationship is designed - that is a concern, something the local press would do well to understand and report on.

By radically reducing wages, replacing players and getting a new manager, the season is shrouded in uncertainty.  It is risky, that is for sure.

As I mentioned elsewhere before, the approach the board have been taking is very similar to Fitton when he first arrived.  Keep costs under control, invest in youth, try building relationships with top clubs to get dibs on talent, seek out new ways of bringing in money beyond season ticket and match day sales.  Fitton got this pretty close to spot on, but got a bit caught up in principles when certain things were not working - agents for example.  As much as he had the best moral idea, by spiting agents when nobody else was joining in, we started to reduce our appeal and seemingly had to pay a little too much to people to get them in.  That lead to our season that ended in relegation.

So, I have no issue with the wage reductions, with the bringing in of youth and the attempts to find new revenue streams.  I am accepting of the fact the board have fuck all cash to thro away at this game, much as it would be if we the fans were in charge.  I am "ok" with the Spurs link, provided we retain autonomy in the deal.  I would like to know what caused KMac to leave so swiftly.

Bloody happy clapper! 

[Bob's Orange]

Raphael Rossi Branco on trial.

Whitehawk defender.

Whatashitto

Sounds like they wanted to put him into their development squad -

http://www.theargus.co.uk/sport/9150858.Gus_waits_on_boy_from_Brazil/

Sounds like a nutter after reading about the aggressive part.

[Peter Venkman]

Sounds like they wanted to put him into their development squad -

http://www.theargus.co.uk/sport/9150858.Gus_waits_on_boy_from_Brazil/

Sounds like a nutter after reading about the aggressive part.

They recon he was a really skillful player but had problems with his passport/registration or something like that, nobody seems to know.



Looks handy on the ball in this youtube....but then they always do!

[fittons_coaching_badge]

Judging from Sam's latest tweet, sounds like the limited media access has been cut to the training camp.

[sonicyouth]

Judging from Sam's latest tweet, sounds like the limited media access has been cut to the training camp.

that's beyond ridiculous

[kaufman]

unless they've appointed a manager so don't want the players interviewed.

[Costanza]

that's beyond ridiculous

This is a very important week or so for the club. Seems like they're either being very petty or trying to keep some information away from the media.