Current Predicament...

[Ells]

I have a very simplistic view of the situation.

- Power buys the club to make money.
- Has his own ideas about how to achieve success on the field and still cut costs
- This plan doesn't work all the time

Anything above that is rumour and gossip.

Is he running the club into the ground to line his own pocket ? Dunno. But there's little evidence for that, other than the fact people are upset - Sherwood was a genius appointment when we beat Charlton, the next dismal loss it was just a smokescreen and a lie to appease the fans apparently.

I often replay that turn NT made/failed to make to let Beckford score the first at Wembley and wonder if people would be saying the same things had the game turned out differently. I suspect they would not.

Basically, the "facts" change according to what happens on the pitch, and the actual facts get lost somewhere in between.

TL;DR I'm Power's wife.

[Batch]

agree with most of that Mrs Power, other than Sherwood. didn't think he was a smokescreen. just a shit appointment.

I've stated to come round to the smokescreen idea mind

[garethgillman]

haha pretty much spot on, what's going on in the club depends on who you ask and who they asked....

You know what they say about opinions, they are like assholes, everyone has one 

[ChalkyWhiteIsGod]

I said:

If the club can make enough to pay him 300k a year then fair play to him

If we can afford is totally different to saying, he can take whatever he likes...... If your business makes £2m profit a year, how much would you value your work in getting the business to that stage? Look at the top pay for the top businessmen, they earn millions for what they do, Power is in business to make money just like everyone else so if he can build a business that can afford to pay him 300k a year then he must have done something right

Considering we were losing £4m a year when he came in, it would have to be a massive swing of a minimum £5m for him to realistically take out 300k a year.

But why could the club potentially make enough money to make him that figure? It's clearly not because he has used his great business mind to increase revenues so drastically he deserves to take a bit off the top, is it? The answer is because we have a budget that is so wafer thin that gives us essentially fuck all chance of doing anything in this league without tactics Tim gifting him players at Spurs since he has lost his contacts and burned his bridges. So on that basis, no, it wouldn't be a situation of 'fair play' for me at all.

[Ells]

But why could the club potentially make enough money to make him that figure? It's clearly not because he has used his great business mind to increase revenues so drastically he deserves to take a bit off the top, is it? The answer is because we have a budget that is so wafer thin that gives us essentially fuck all chance of doing anything in this league without tactics Tim gifting him players at Spurs since he has lost his contacts and burned his bridges. So on that basis, no, it wouldn't be a situation of 'fair play' for me at all.

Surely part of the 'plan' as it is (whatever you think about it) is to exploit Power's connections as a former player?
It's not a fact that we haven't succeeded just because we haven't got Spurs boys being thrown at us anymore - we've just had 3 Chelsea players come to us who look very capable.

[ChalkyWhiteIsGod]

Surely part of the 'plan' as it is (whatever you think about it) is to exploit Power's connections as a former player?
It's not a fact that we haven't succeeded just because we haven't got Spurs boys being thrown at us anymore - we've just had 3 Chelsea players come to us who look very capable.

We'll see how they turn out, but the connections were clearly missing over the summer and that seems to be the first decent sign of any again since Sherwood left Spurs. Hopefully the Chelsea three will be of Mason, Luongo quality and we will live to fight another season in League One and see what his contacts can drum up in the summer.

[garethgillman]

But why could the club potentially make enough money to make him that figure? It's clearly not because he has used his great business mind to increase revenues so drastically he deserves to take a bit off the top, is it? The answer is because we have a budget that is so wafer thin that gives us essentially fuck all chance of doing anything in this league without tactics Tim gifting him players at Spurs since he has lost his contacts and burned his bridges. So on that basis, no, it wouldn't be a situation of 'fair play' for me at all.

We are never going to be able to increase revenue in the "club" to a level that was sustainable (another £4m a year) so costs had to be cut. As an example, Zurich yesterday announced job cuts to cust costs....... and they are billions, we are small millions. Every business big or small has to cut costs accordingly when times are tough and times were awful for us going from an owner with an open cheque book to having to count the pennies.

As far as budgets go, we are supposedly in the top half of wage budgets and was increased by 500k this summer (Power's words, take from that what you will), you can say what we have on display is poor but it's always going to be against what we had. He could have easily increased prices of tickets as soon as we got to Wembley! Did he? No, he kept prices the same, would you want to pay MORE to keep the old bunch? If we have 6k a gate, 23 home games a season and 4m overspend, it works out at an extra £290 per person to make up that £4m, you up for that?

We are a L1 team of an average 6k gate in a stadium we rent at high cost, stuck in a large £1m a year catering deal (thanks Jed) so increasing revenue isn't easy, I would say we make as much as we can from the resources we have without increasing capacity or selling the ground name (the Power stadium anyone?) (joke at Oxford).

If someone can save a business from going bust and being profitable then damn right they should be paid for it, they keep lets take a rough guess at 60 people employed, lets say 35 non players? (i am taking a guess here, no idea on numbers). The owner could easily shut the business down because revenue is poor compared to outgoings, or you cut the costs and save the business and then make money for that business. If the club is making a profit, then it has more funds to invest in assets / marketing and to pay wages.

The entertainment on the field HAS to improve or we will continue losing fans old and new BUT it has to be done sustainable so that the club is able to be here for the next 100 years.

[garethgillman]

We'll see how they turn out, but the connections were clearly missing over the summer and that seems to be the first decent sign of any again since Sherwood left Spurs. Hopefully the Chelsea three will be of Mason, Luongo quality and we will live to fight another season in League One and see what his contacts can drum up in the summer.

The recruitment in the summer was poor and the "experienced" players haven't performed...... it was a really poor summer and hopefully the deadwood are moved on quickly and can try and rebuild, we can't get it right everytime.

[ChalkyWhiteIsGod]

We are never going to be able to increase revenue in the "club" to a level that was sustainable (another £4m a year) so costs had to be cut. As an example, Zurich yesterday announced job cuts to cust costs....... and they are billions, we are small millions. Every business big or small has to cut costs accordingly when times are tough and times were awful for us going from an owner with an open cheque book to having to count the pennies.

As far as budgets go, we are supposedly in the top half of wage budgets and was increased by 500k this summer (Power's words, take from that what you will), you can say what we have on display is poor but it's always going to be against what we had. He could have easily increased prices of tickets as soon as we got to Wembley! Did he? No, he kept prices the same, would you want to pay MORE to keep the old bunch? If we have 6k a gate, 23 home games a season and 4m overspend, it works out at an extra £290 per person to make up that £4m, you up for that?

We are a L1 team of an average 6k gate in a stadium we rent at high cost, stuck in a large £1m a year catering deal (thanks Jed) so increasing revenue isn't easy, I would say we make as much as we can from the resources we have without increasing capacity or selling the ground name (the Power stadium anyone?) (joke at Oxford).

If someone can save a business from going bust and being profitable then damn right they should be paid for it, they keep lets take a rough guess at 60 people employed, lets say 35 non players? (i am taking a guess here, no idea on numbers). The owner could easily shut the business down because revenue is poor compared to outgoings, or you cut the costs and save the business and then make money for that business. If the club is making a profit, then it has more funds to invest in assets / marketing and to pay wages.

The entertainment on the field HAS to improve or we will continue losing fans old and new BUT it has to be done sustainable so that the club is able to be here for the next 100 years.

I understand the budget had to be cut, we were clearly spending too much under Di Canio....but you honestly think that £4.5m down to £500,000 adds up!? (ref http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/22454081) We might have been spending too much before, but we were really spending nine times as much!? Especially when we have received more in transfer fees under him than we have spent.

I know attendances are down from then, but not that drastically and ticket priced remain the same. You can defend Power until you're blue in the face, but you can't tell me that looks all above board because it clearly doesn't and you don't need the accounts to be audited to call bullshit on it.

I feel a lot of people are just unwilling to face up what they're seeing because it would be an uncomfortable truth, far easier to just burry your head in the sand and pretend it isn't happening instead.

[garethgillman]

I understand the budget had to be cut, we were clearly spending too much under Di Canio....but you honestly think that £4.5m down to £500,000 adds up!? (ref http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/22454081) We might have been spending too much before, but we were really spending nine times as much!? Especially when we have received more in transfer fees under him than we have spent.

Our budget isn't 500k a year, that's damn right stupid if it was true, 500k / 30 players / 52 = £320 a week per player.

Our budget is a lot higher, i may have misinterpreted it but the budget went UP by 500k in the summer. If I had to guess we are probably in the 2.5m-3m a year range. £3m a year wage gives us £2k a week for 30 players, the scholars and "kids" will be on less.

Ajose, williams and Fodders were supposedly on upto 7k a week here, which is £365k a year

Gates are down, that's easy to see but we reaslistically couldn't survive on £4.5m a year wage budget in L1, that doesn't include non-playing staff either. I may be in the minority but I can see the numbers didn't make sense and so did Power, either prices had to rise or costs had to be cut.......

[ChalkyWhiteIsGod]

Our budget isn't 500k a year, that's damn right stupid if it was true, 500k / 30 players / 52 = £320 a week per player.

Our budget is a lot higher, i may have misinterpreted it but the budget went UP by 500k in the summer. If I had to guess we are probably in the 2.5m-3m a year range. £3m a year wage gives us £2k a week for 30 players, the scholars and "kids" will be on less.

Ajose, williams and Fodders were supposedly on upto 7k a week here, which is £365k a year

Gates are down, that's easy to see but we reaslistically couldn't survive on £4.5m a year wage budget in L1, that doesn't include non-playing staff either. I may be in the minority but I can see the numbers didn't make sense and so did Power, either prices had to rise or costs had to be cut.......

Sorry I missread what you wrote as our budget being half a million a year. Does anyone know what it is currently? I definitely remember them saying it was reduced to £2m and then another report a year later that the budget would again be more than halved. So it must have been £1m a year or less at some point, although it may have risen since then.

[garethgillman]

Sorry I missread what you wrote as our budget being half a million a year. Does anyone know what it is currently? I definitely remember them saying it was reduced to £2m and then another report a year later that the budget would again be more than halved. So it must have been £1m a year or less at some point, although it may have risen since then.

£1m a year is £700 a week, no chance in hell in league 1...... £2m would be the least he could get away with to be fair

[Batch]

As far as budgets go, we are supposedly in the top half of wage budgets

What's your source on that? Did Power say it on the radio? The reason I ask is the only reference on relative budgets I can recall is that Terry Cooper (Mark's dad) mentioned that we'd have one of the smallest budgets in the league the year after the playofss - wait that was last season wasn't it?

Buggered if I can find that quote now mind. But this is from just after the PO final flop (1.5M):
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3098095/Swindon-manager-Mark-Cooper-having-sleepless-nights-League-One-play-defeat-expects-club-learn-lesson.html

I'd be amazed if last season was higher than that...

I'm with you in that costs had to be slashed to survive.

[garethgillman]

What's your source on that? Did Power say it on the radio?

Yep, start of season at one of the games

[ChalkyWhiteIsGod]

£1m a year is £700 a week, no chance in hell in league 1...... £2m would be the least he could get away with to be fair

The main problem is that we don't even know. There is no transparency there and it leads to even less trust and more questioning. A quick google search told me what it was under Di Canio as bad as that was.

We do have very little in the way of actual seasoned pros and thats the only way its possible to pay low wages.