280k - DK Confirms none on players

[Lord Bracknell]

Lord B,
You post very good stuff,but I have to take issue with you on this.We brought in 2 new players in close season last year Revall 8k and Santos free and a whole load of cheap loans.Gillingham this week have spent 200k on 1 player.Other teams are getting in proven players at this level.My thoughts are not antichairman but maybe if Mr Knight stopped all this spin then the fans might just have a bit more understanding on this money.

The Chairman's statements about the playing budget probably come across as "spin" because people don't listen to what he said.

The "playing budget" includes wages as well as money available for transfer fees.

It's no surprise that the budget has gone down between what it was when we were playing in the Championship and what it is now that we are in League One. It would be scandalous if it hadn't - the difference is that players are getting lower wages in a lower division.

The main reason that all we brought in during the close season last year were Santos and Revell might be simply that McGhee was useless at using the transfer budget that he had.

Whether Wilkins proves any better is something we can judge once the close season is over.

 

[NMH]

So ... which players SHOULD be sold to pay for the Falmer legal costs?

Or would people prefer the debts to mount to the point at which the Club has to go into administration?

This too is questionable Lordi. Why is the concept of 'investment' not an issue all of a sudden? Putting something on the playing field department would normally be considered worthy for getting a return on the gates, on our league position, on the present playing and managing staff, and on our future place in football.

That is what people on here are unhappy about. Whichever way you spin it, the bottom line is that fans want to see something on the pitch, on the day they pay to see a game. It certainly doesn't bode well for any future projects or ambitions if we don't show some ambition in the present day.

It makes me recall the days when we did have a stadium (The Goldstone) but only modest aspirations for bouncing around the old 2nd and 3rd divisions. Yes, we had a steady local team for 'trainspotter' type football fans, and the occasional 'picnic' types with a passing interest and not much else to do. But - the crowds were in keeping with that level of ambition, and a 32+ thousand capacity saw 4 thou coming through the gates. Around 12.5% of the capacity! Now, I realise those maths won't necessarily apply percentage-wise, as we have a cosier little ground, and there will still be more who will want to be accomodated for home games regardless.
That doesn't speak well for us as a League competitor though mate, and if any previous promises or statements have been reneged upon, anything else that is said is going to be regarded with doubt, a lack of faith, and ....a lack of investment from weary fans.

 

[sir albion]

Not to mention that previous player sales have basicly paid for many of things i,e falmer costs and much more.

 

[NMH]

Whether Wilkins proves any better is something we can judge once the close season is over.

What's he going to 'prove' with?
Imho, he really did well to get anything out of what Mark McGhee had left - and that was purely because his own youth development players were somewhat better suited and spirited than the remaining Mcghee squad.

DW might try convincing some bright prospect somewhere, that playing well for us will be a springboard for success - but those days have gone where a Ward or a Zamora is languishing in a little team of cloggers somewhere. Now, Chelsea and ManU etc grab anyone with a little perceived talent, own and loan them out to the rest of the league. If we DID happen to find a Ward or Zamora, they'd be bought - by these Prem sides - and probably loaned to us or our rivals... aka farm-teams for Prem clubs!

Okay, so in other words, Wilkins has to do well enough with players who aren't good enough for bigger clubs, like it or lump it.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

This too is questionable Lordi. Why is the concept of 'investment' not an issue all of a sudden? Putting something on the playing field department would normally be considered worthy for getting a return on the gates, on our league position, on the present playing and managing staff, and on our future place in football.

That is what people on here are unhappy about. Whichever way you spin it, the bottom line is that fans want to see something on the pitch, on the day they pay to see a game. It certainly doesn't bode well for any future projects or ambitions if we don't show some ambition in the present day.

I don't disagree with that.

One thing that I am certain that the Club failed to foresee was the decline in gate receipts last season (which, of course, wasn't the first experience we'd had of relegation from the Championship).

Not only did attendances drop, but quite a lot of the people who did come had bought tickets at knock-down prices in the family stand. That will have bitten into the cash flow something rotten.

This thread is an argument about £280,000. Translate it into bums on seats and (at full adult prices) it turns out that the CKR "windfall" is no more valuable than about 550 people turning up to every Withdean league game next season.

That's hardly enough income to turn the playing fortunes around with a 'big' signing.

The truth is ... we're skint.

 

[Beach Hut]

The truth is ... we're skint.

Exactly and the sooner people accept this the better.

However we aren't in administration, a new stadium is much closer and the future is bright

 

[sir albion]

Exactly and the sooner people accept this the better.

However we aren't in administration, a new stadium is much closer and the future is bright

Administration doesn't seem to be a bad thing but a good thing these days mmmmm

 

[bailey]

Exactly and the sooner people accept this the better.

However we aren't in administration, a new stadium is much closer and the future is bright

Good post.

 

[Scotty Mac]

they might as well rename it "coca cola buy a player, or if you are brighton and hove albion don't bother"

 

[Schrödinger's Toad]

he should be looking for someone else to take over.

Such as ... ?

There seems to be a glut of money bags people out there at the moment looking to buy clubs in desirable locations.

Such as ... ?

 

[Brighton Breezy]

Does not surprise me one bit.

Would have been nice if some had gone on the squad but why break the habit of a lifetime?

 

[sams dad]

NO, I'd like to see the Chairman put his hand in his bloody pocket.
If he can't afford to run this club (or won't spend the money) then he should be looking for someone else to take over.

There seems to be a glut of money bags people out there at the moment looking to buy clubs in desirable locations.
With the stadium yes decision (hopefully) about to be announced, maybe its time for a change at the top to see us into the next era of this club.

On the other hand, if he does have the money, its about time he proved it.

I seem to remember a "moneybags " buying the club a few years back ,when it was in a desirable location. Look where that got us.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Exactly and the sooner people accept this the better.

People are quite willing to accept that the club is Skint.

But people are Skint too, to varying degrees. And more and more people are starting to question whether twenty plus notes is a fair return for the level of entertainment on offer.

Or maybe it's just disillusionment with football as a whole. Just like TV and music are being displaced by tinternet, people are becoming increasingly fed up with being treated like shit and herded like sheep at football grounds. Hard to think of a single other business sector that would dare treat its paying customers in such a way.

 

[Les Biehn]

It's a odd one this, the money is more than likely going into the black hole that is Falmer and understandably. However I can also see the point that this money was put into the club for players and now it seems that circumstance has lead to it being used for the aforementioned black hole. Would the club have folded if the money had never been won? I doubt it.

 

[Yorkie]

and now it seems that circumstance has lead to it being used for the aforementioned black hole. Would the club have folded if the money had never been won? I doubt it.

Would we still be here now if the sales of Currie, Cullip, Harding and Virgo hadn't happened?

 

[Les Biehn]

Would we still be here now if the sales of Currie, Cullip, Harding and Virgo hadn't happened?

Put it in a context of the discussion Yorkie. I see where you are coming from but the money came in specifically to boost the playing side and that has now not happened. As I said it is understandable but does make me feel a little cheated.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

It's a odd one this, the money is more than likely going into the black hole that is Falmer and understandably. However I can also see the point that this money was put into the club for players and now it seems that circumstance has lead to it being used for the aforementioned black hole. Would the club have folded if the money had never been won? I doubt it.

Thats what I said on another thread, Whilst I agree not all of it should be used on players I cant help wonder if the club is in a worse state than it claims.
This is "bonus" money and I can understand why people are not too happy none of it is being used to bring in players.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

Would we still be here now if the sales of Currie, Cullip, Harding and Virgo hadn't happened?

Difference is the club had a say over that, they didnt over this - there is no way this money could have been forseen.

 

[The Large One]

Difference is the club had a say over that, they didnt over this - there is no way this money could have been forseen.

There is to a point - it was the club after all that negotiated the sell-on clause. So it was always possible we would have cashed in at some point. It's just that no-one was going to foresee when nor by how much. And don't forget, that £280k is isn't a nailed-on amount, it does appear to be by appearances etc, and with CKR's record for disruption, there is no guarantee of us getting that full amount.

Regarding your point about the club being in a worse state than is claimed, I would also be of the opinion that we are in a far more parlous state than is intimated (although I have no hard and fast evidence). It's just that sometimes it doesn't do well to broadcast it to all and sundry; there is a time for discretion and a time for candour.

 

[sir danny cullip]

Now Im not either way really on this argument, I can see the whole spend it on players thing as well as the be realistic argument BUT surely the budget was set out at the beginning of the season (before this money came in). Why not see it as an unexpected bonus and take a gamble with at least half of it? Sure keep some to fight the falmer battle which we all know is important but why not take 100 grand and put it as a bonus in the player pot? Then rather than seeing it all "disappear" into the black hole we may get a half decent signing out of it.