New beginnings - 25% Truth, 80% Bollocks

[Legends-Lounge]

I have no issue with Flynn being away on holiday for the last few weeks.
Perhaps he has been glued to his phone throughout.
However… Sandro was sacked nearly 7 weeks ago. Who at the club has been dealing with recruitment over the summer?
Who at the club is even qualified to deal with recruitment?
Are we getting a DoF?

I can answer that.

No-one
No-one
No

There you go.

[Mooneyraker]

I can answer that.

No-one
No-one
No

There you go.

Thanks!

[Legends-Lounge]

Thanks!

No problem, relax. It’s all in hand. Think of them as a Swan. Quietly going about their business on the river and paddling like fuck under water to get the players we need.

[Jimmy HaveHave]

As long as we have a decent starting eleven when we play Accrington on August 5th I will be happy😆

[Bob's Orange]

As long as we have a decent staring eleven when we play Accrington on August 5th I will be happy😆

Blink and you'll miss it.

[Batch]

I had a similar conversation with someone recently.

we are certainly still one of the bigger teams in terms of support and history.

I kind of agree with Mooneyraker in terms of likely wealth. We now have Wrexham, Salford, Gills, Stockport, Franchise, FGR, Mansfield and Bradford who in all likelihood can outspend us.

I know it's not all about money of course. it just helps.

[Jimmy HaveHave]

And possibly Colchester!

[Peter Venkman]

I had a similar conversation with someone recently.

we are certainly still one of the bigger teams in terms of support and history.

I kind of agree with Mooneyraker in terms of likely wealth. We now have Wrexham, Salford, Gills, Stockport, Franchise, FGR, Mansfield and Bradford who in all likelihood can outspend us.

I know it's not all about money of course. it just helps.

Absolutely so.

When I look at that list of teams and barring Bradford we would probably consider ourselves as much bigger clubs historically it disappoints me that we cannot get close to matching the spending power of Salford and FGR who are 2 of the newest teams in the league with average home gates of sub 3k in this league.

I fear we will become a team who float between L1 and L2 regularly if we do not find extra investors.

Its been said hundreds of times before....I love Clem, hes a great face of the club, but some mistakes have been made, which he has acted upon, mostly, but...... does he have the financial grunt available to him to take us to the next level of being able to win promotion and then challenge for promotion in L1? personally I do not think he does....currently.

[Nemo]

I fear we will become a team who float between L1 and L2 regularly if we do not find extra investors.

That would be an improvement!

As much as there are L2 clubs with bigger budgets than us, there are also L1 teams with smaller or comparable budgets - just need to get some of the on and off field management right - I can't imagine we're significantly poorer than Cambridge, Port Vale, Burton, Fleetwood, Cheltenham, Exeter, Shrewsbury and Lincoln and they're all middle to bottom half of L1.

There is definitely a unique set of circumstances this year where there is more money in L2 than we would usually expect, but assuming that three or four of those clubs go up this year, I can't see them being replaced by teams of similar spending power.

It's a broken record at this point, but we missed a huge chance this season just finished - the top teams were Orient, Stevenage and Northampton, none of whom could hold a candle to the sides we're up against this year in budgetary terms.

[ThreeDrawsMentality]

The thing which makes me a bit sad of our situation Vs likes of the big investment at the likes of Salford, FGR and even Colchester is that if those types of investors were to invest here instead, it would require less from them due to the already good financial base we provide from tickets/season tickets. Or if they were willing to invest the same amounts, the ceiling then becomes even higher.

[DMC]

The thing which makes me a bit sad of our situation Vs likes of the big investment at the likes of Salford, FGR and even Colchester is that if those types of investors were to invest here instead, it would require less from them due to the already good financial base we provide from tickets/season tickets. Or if they were willing to invest the same amounts, the ceiling then becomes even higher.

Who knows, maybe that is the Plan. I know it's very knee jerk from us to always slate what is going on football wise and look at it as doom and gloom but the foundations are being set off the pitch for someone to come in one day and take over a very healthy club.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Audrey]

Or another Power-esque creature.

[Bob's Orange]

Work is quiet at the moment and so I had a bit of a peruse around the vocal minority on Twitter who are screaming out for the club to DO SOMETHING to peak fans interest. My initial thought could be summed up by suggesting they get a life, but I figured perhaps it might be beneficial to question what the club could actually do to be more pro-active at this time of the season.

Transfers news - Let's be honest, there has been barely a whisper of any incomings, or outgoings at SN1. Obviously there had been questions about leaks in the past but since Michael Flynn has come in, we've heard almost nothing. Clearly we are going to do business, and I suspect that from next week we are likely to ramp things up but should fans be angsty that we haven't done anything yet? I think if experience is anything to go by, Swindon tend to leave things pretty late, I think we all know more or less where we need to strengthen but does the club need to be more vocal on what it's looking to do in the transfer market? Barring an interview with Flynn, Clem, Rob Angus about plans, i'm not too sure what the club can do to whet the appetite. We'll announce transfers as and when they happen, it's still June to be fair.

Season Ticket marketing - It hasn't exactly been amazing but the numbers we've shifted even with minimal effort from the club shows the fans are still behind the team. Sacking Sandro and Jody Morris will have helped of course, but you can't help wondering if we might have been able to sell a few hundred more. Using a figure head like Charlie Austin could have been a great way to try and eek out those sales. It doesn't even need to be anything fancy, just a crap slogan like 'Charlie's in, are you'.

New Kit - As with transfers, the kits will be released when they are released, but why not try and create a bit of a buzz during the quiet time, maybe tease a launch date and create some kind of countdown.

Obviously players and fans are on holiday so I guess it's difficult to do but why not get the players to record a 10 second message to fans or something to create a bit of solidarity? Use the social media admin to create some sort of recurring theme on twitter whilst nothing is happening. There was that post a couple of weeks back where they asked the question 'which player comes to mind when you see this kit'. That created a bit of conversation amongst fans, why not make it a recurring theme?

I do think the Marcus Cassidy updates are very good and useful, I just wonder if the club could do a little bit more whilst not much is going on. Even if nothing else to try and negate the 'sign someone', 'release kit' type messages on Twitter whenever Admin post anything.

[Bogus Dave]

The club don’t believe in marketing and the social guy doing the comms is the part time photographer doing six other jobs. It is what it is

[Briggany]

The thing which makes me a bit sad of our situation Vs likes of the big investment at the likes of Salford, FGR and even Colchester is that if those types of investors were to invest here instead, it would require less from them due to the already good financial base we provide from tickets/season tickets. Or if they were willing to invest the same amounts, the ceiling then becomes even higher.

You will probably find they take one look at the fanbase and think "Nah Fuck That!".

Some of the fans we have, have the IQ of a kebab and just spout their emotional unfiltered vitriol on social media would be enough to put anyone off investing any money. It's like a Trump rally for Swindon town. Constantly moaning and whining about every little thing (good or bad) and pumping out more conspiracy theories than flat earthers around the globe.

Fair enough it's the very loud minority, but they are the only ones you hear and when sensible people try to counter it with logic or common sense you are smacked down as a "happy clapper" and suddenly what every say doesn't matter.