Finances Announcement 13-14

With any other 'business', if people don't like the product they don't buy it. Pretty soon that business begins to suffer unless the product improves. Football should never be viewed as a business. Football clubs were originally established to benefit the local community from which they came from. Most lower league clubs still operate with that ethos. The top clubs however abandoned that principle a long time ago in the name of profit. Mike Ashley is never going to spend money on the club other than to maintain. Trying to get rid is the only option. The Sky TV money has made that harder, but ultimately, the club still largely depends on ticket and merchandise sales. Stop buying those and the business will begin to suffer. Ashley will then either be forced to invest his own money or get rid. It may take a while, but the ultimate sacrifice is worth the wait.

 

Making profits makes the club sustainable in the long-term and we all want that. All we are asking is that there is a better balance between reasonable investment in players and quality management to provide quality entertainment to us stakeholders, and making money. This season has really highlighted where profit has taken precedence over investment, a decision presumably made because we were in an okay position at Christmas. This lack of investment has then been compounded by sending out players on loan who could actually strengthen a threadbare first team squad, numerous injuries and stupid suspensions.

I think the reason people want to see the financial figures is so that they can confirm to themselves we have got the balance wrong and moan about it. I know the majority of people will not give up their season tickets as they want to be there and I would never criticise people for renewing etc. However I think what might really panic the club is if a large number of people who have season tickets did not renew by the normal deadline and emailed the club saying they did not intend to renew until they had seen an indication from the club during the close season that they intend to reinvest these profits in playing staff so that the quality of the entertainment provided improves from the rather poor quality seen since early December 2014. They wouldn't be risking their seats as we are very rarely selling out and its the one time they can actually have an effect.

I think this Summer will be a bit of a watershed in the Ashley era as it is clear that the club needs to have a significant clear out on the playing side (the likes of Coloccini, Williamson, Guttierez, , maybe Anita, Riviere, Ferreyra if he is actually a real person as if he is not good enough to play at the moment then he must be crap) and then start trying to build a team around Krul, Colback, Abeid, Aarons, Perez, Cabella and hopefully Sissoko and Janmaat with players like Sammy, Haidara, Gouffran etc filling a squad role rather than an automatic first choice. This will mean we may need to sign at least 5 automatic first team with a similar number of squad type players plus a manager. The clubs approach to the next transfer window will be critical to the long term future as it will make a statement of if the club intends to move forward which in turn dictates who will be interested in managing the team, who will be willing to join the playing staff and who will stay.

 

I was hoping we'd sacrifice them out the back to be honest. It really is crazy as you note.

However in Mikes mind:

Krul, Darlow, Elliot, Woodman, Janmaat, Satka, Saylor, Colo, Good, Lascelles, Willo, Dummett, Haidara, Tiote, Kemen, Anita, Abeid, Colback, Sissoko, SDJ, Aarons, Perez, Cabella, Obertan, Sammy, Cisse, Riviere, Armstrong, Roberts, Gouffran

We have 30 so we actually need to offload 5 (25 man squad). Looking at that Krul, Colo, Tiote, Perez and Sissoko probably aren't required. That should help the balance sheet.

We'll have also offloaded Streete, Vuckic, Ferrerya, Alnwick, Ferguson, Raylor, Jonas, Marveaux.

 

There's no way that squad will survive another PL season. If that's what Ashley believes then he's in for a very rude awakening. To be honest, a lot of fans also won't put up with having to watch a squad like that next season.

 

That is indeed a terrible situation. As if not having a manager wasn't bad enough, like JakartaToon and TGE have put it, players like Sammy, Gouffran, Obertan are well-entrenched as first team starters when they wouldn't even make the bench on 10-15 other PL teams! Let's just hope the board won't pull a fast one on us by bringing up the manager situation till the end of the transfer window and claim that because of that they couldn't get players in.

 

Gouffran, Sammy and Obertan aren't PL players. Gouffran would struggle in League 2 with the way he's been playing. Ashley better not appoint Carver.

 

If we still have carver in charge, AND we don't bring any significant players i'm just going to start watching the bundisliga. Maybe that league will start to get some praise. Gouffran, Sameobi, Obertan. Those are players for cup games, subs, and maybe when starting caliber players need a rest. The problem is were doing just enough to finish lower mid table. We could have bought a whole team of sissokos, other teams do (Atletico, Sevilla, Leverkusen, Dortmund..). Look at the money league, we should at least be challenging for the europa league. That could be our way into the champions league that fat mike wants. We need to bring in some hungry blood, some competition.

 

Ashley see's going for the Champions League as a gamble. You can spend a fortune and not achieve it. Trouble is, we are so far off challenging for the top 6 that we would literally need to spend a fortune to be competitive. That is how far we have slipped. Clubs around us spend money just to survive. We penny pinch and looks where it's getting us. Mike Ashley needs to realise that you cannot run a football club as a business and hope to remain competitive in the market. Eventually [possibly next season] it will catch up with us and we will go down. Our 'squad' is simply not good enough. We play horrible football. The players we have are largely second rate. We don't even have a manager and don't have a hope in hell of attracting anyone decent. I never thought I would see the game, but I absolutely hope that we get trounced 10-0 on Saturday and absolutely embarrassed. Why? Because then it might finally wake people from their slumber. We are going in one direction only and are going there very very fast.

 

I can see value in keeping Obertan as back up. He has shown earlier this season if you can get his massive heed right, he can useful. However Gouf and Sammy? I think the kindest thing to do would be the "cat,bag,river" situ.

 

Todays the day, expect a 16:00-17:00 announcement

 

Where did you hear this?
Hope so, looking forward to it like a kid at Christmas but anticipating a feeling of "I'm getting a puppy for xmas" but then its dead in the box...a bit like Rivierre

 

Or there's nothing in the box ... like Ferreyra

 

When do they have to release the figures by?

 

They have to be filed with Companies House by March 31st I believe. So that means Tuesday.

 

They really took this to the fcking limit. So they must KNOW the derision they're going to get, which gives me the semblance of hope that they have some morals, buried deep down somewhere.

 

They know there are going to be massive questions asked, i.e. why we didn't buy in January when sitting on a massive profit. They always time these things for international breaks.

 

Think you're reading things into it that aren't there.

Most companies publish their accounts on or about the last date permitted.

The concept that the club or Ashley care what the fans think is contradicted by the whole of the club's recent history.

The accounts will reveal a very healthy financial position which MA isn't prepared to allow to be prejudiced by irrelevant considerations like on field success. He knows most of us won't like it. He doesn't care.

 

Agree with Freddd. we regularly publish our accounts as late as possible. Mike will be indifferent to fans reaction.

 

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