Is David Burke now under extreme pressure

[Gullflyinghigh]

It seems unlikely.
He has the backing of Barber and Bloom. He has a budget which he is sticking to. He is doing his job properly. If players are going elsewhere due to being offered greater wages there is little Burke can do about that. Like it or lump it we are going to stick to FFP and therefore the wage structure won't be broken and we won't be forced into making signings for inflated prices.
End of really.

That's pretty much how I see it as well.

Whether we like it or not (and it's easy to see that some dont) we're clearly not setting ourselves up to be a high-spending club, nor are we looking like signing players for the sake of it.

Those two things combined are always going to result in a low number of new signings, if anything, it says a lot for Burke that there hasn't been any panic signings made for the sake of placating those who are getting a bit fraught.

 

[supaseagull]

This is what I find a bit of a puzzle, how can Tony Bloom tell the fans we will bring in many players in before the start of the season (as he stated in his video interview) if he knows we can't compete on fee's and wages?
If he said we will struglle to compete, then fans would accept this better. Has he not got his finger on the pulse or is he not getting the true picture from his staff?

He said exactly the same last season and people were gullible enough to believe him.

 

[Grombleton]

This is what I find a bit of a puzzle, how can Tony Bloom tell the fans we will bring in many players in before the start of the season (as he stated in his video interview) if he knows we can't compete on fee's and wages?
If he said we will struglle to compete, then fans would accept this better. Has he not got his finger on the pulse or is he not getting the true picture from his staff?

The other angle is this: If he said that we will struggle to compete for players, then that gives the selling club an advantage - we bid for the player, they up his valuation and we're out of the race. I fully expect that other clubs watch each others interviews and read their press releases to get a clearer understanding of the club they're doing business with, and how much money they can extort out of them.
Also, I doubt Bloom has explicitly said that we will have players in - I think he worded it differently, I remember the word "confident" being used. I'm confident that we'll sign players, i'm confident that we'll not be relegated this year...it doesn't mean that it will or won't happen.

 

[Billy the Fish]

So for Tony Bloom to make the statement at the forum, that players would be brought in to strengthen the squad he must feel that Burke, with the budget available, is capable of getting those players and has backed him to do so. I make that in my mind, that the pressure is on Burke to live up to his bosses expectations.

You're being selective with what you believe. Tony has to say that to keep the fans happy, we don't know how true it actually is.

Take this scenario: They've identified with the manager where we need to strengthen and have a list of targets. They know what the budget is and have to work within it, but the money will need to be weighted towards the more important targets. Assuming the budget is 5m they could just blow all of that on 2 £2.5m players, or get 5 £1m players. Strikers always cost more and they might have to make a decision at some point to ditch one target in order to get a more important one. The target list is likely to be very transient, other players will become available or unavailable as a result of different transfers and injuries.

That's obviously a simplistic example, but the point I'm making is that it surely has to be a team effort to make those decisions. I'm sure some of you imagine Burke locked in a dark basement office with a pile of cash in the corner looking at football manager stats to decide who he makes derisory offers for just because he gets a kick out of it!

 

[blue'n'white]

We may have given him the financial backing, but as i mentioned in another thread there's far more to signing a player than the financial side - take Clayton, for example. We can clearly afford him, but Huddersfield want to replace him before losing him - if they can't do that then they won't sell. The reason he's going to 'Boro is that Huddersfield can get a player (Butterfield) to replace them. We're in a lose-lose situation.
Another example (and this is only an example) - Steve Harper. He was happy to come to us on a short term loan but wouldn't have ever been a permanent signing because he was settled in a different part of the country and didn't want to uproot, or be away from his family. In instances like that, there's absolutely nothing we can do about that. Another example is Ward - apparently he wants to be here, we can afford his wages but Wolves are being stubborn over a fee. We could throw them a few quid but it is harming them financially to keep him on their books, therefore making our bargaining position that much stronger.

If we are being priced out of the market for realistic targets then i can accept that is the clubs fault. Unfortunately we don't know the full details of every enquiry/transfer. It'd be awesome to know as then the fans can understand what goes into signing a player but the club will (rightly) not have that level of transparency.

Oh dear - you know you won't get very far on here talking sense !

 

[Bold Seagull]

He said exactly the same last season and people were gullible enough to believe him.

Gullible enough to believe him into the play-offs!?

 

[martin tyler]

This is what I find a bit of a puzzle, how can Tony Bloom tell the fans we will bring in many players in before the start of the season (as he stated in his video interview) if he knows we can't compete on fee's and wages?
If he said we will struglle to compete, then fans would accept this better. Has he not got his finger on the pulse or is he not getting the true picture from his staff?

Because the past 2 seasons we have managed it. We won't beheld to ransom though by anyone. We have a strict wage structure and we will stick to it. If players are getting better offers then yes they may go elsewhere. These clubs if they do not make the premier league won't be sustainable and i would not be surprised to see a few big clubs feel the financial pinch. I personally believe the club also want to see if FFP penalties are enforced onto other clubs.

 

[Justice]

Gullible enough to believe him into the play-offs!?

Lets be honest the teams defenders somehow managed to get us into the play offs, we hardly scored any goals deep down everybody knew we would struggle against a decent Derby side.

 

[martin tyler]

He said exactly the same last season and people were gullible enough to believe him.

We finished 6th in a pretty competitive league. I do not think we can complain about that. We were unfortunate enough to come up against a very very good Derby team in the playoffs. The team may not have been the most exciting but it was competitive

 

[Bold Seagull]

Lets be honest the teams defenders somehow managed to get us into the play offs, we hardly scored any goals deep down everybody knew we would struggle against a decent Derby side.

The point being does that make the fans gullible for believing what TB says, which in turn would suggest he's consistently lying. Is that a view you are also endorsing?

 

[Prettyboyshaw]

We finished 6th in a pretty competitive league. I do not think we can complain about that. We were unfortunate enough to come up against a very very good Derby team in the playoffs. The team may not have been the most exciting but it was competitive

Bit like Palace came up against a very very good team in us and managed to get up and they there. We ****ed up both times are are going backwards at a rapid rate.

 

[Doc Lynam]

Tony Bloom stated we would have a competative squad in by the end of the tranfer window. For him to say this, he must feel that he has supplied David Burke with a budget that would fullfil that promise. Sami has stated that he has given the club his targets and we know now that money has been added to that original budget with sales. So will he now be under pressure to back up Tony Blooms statement and bring the quality in enough numbers to the club?

 

[martin tyler]

Bit like Palace came up against a very very good team in us and managed to get up and they there. We ****ed up both times are are going backwards at a rapid rate.

Palace won and deservedly so on the night. We did not take our chances they did. Likewise Derby were the better side over the 2 legs. The point i am making is you can not say the last 2 squads we have had have not been competitive when we finished 4th and 6th.

 

[Dan The Man]

TB has defended him so far, as you would expect, and to be fair he has done some great progressive things for the club. But, if I was his boss, I would be asking questions about how and why this transfer window has been so poor. Of course, it might not all be down to him, but there are definitely question marks over this. I still think there is more than meets the eye here - Hypia and Garcia both seem powerless to influence signings - did Hypia really want O'Grady? leave it out....

 

[KZNSeagull]

He will be under pressure, certainly. But I doubt that he has the final say in wage negotiations, so TB and the others will be under pressure as well. I am sure it will all work out....Anyway, we are on a winning streak, so don't panic chaps

 

[Marshy]

He is under no pressure from Tony that is clear.

 

[rippleman]

When the head of an organisation has given unqualified support and backing to a subordinate over a long period of time, it becomes increasingly difficult to remove said subordinate when it eventually becomes apparent that the subordinate really isn't up to the job. Initially the subordinate looks good, "talks a good game", has a bit of luck, until serious shortcomings are eventually exposed.

How does the head of the organisation remove the subordinate? It isn't easy. It requires the b*lls to admit that he was wrong. Could potentially damage their business reputation...and, of course, there is always the "ego factor" to take into account.

 

[Trigger]

Deliver or **** off.

 

[spring hall convert]

He's got to be. Let's see if he can deliver.

 

[y2dave]

"My job is to ensure that the Head Coach and his staff can concentrate on coaching and working with the players on a day-to-day basis. Any other distractions around that, I take on.”

"We want to have support systems in place that ensure players we bring in for the future are part of that long-term plan.

"I will bring that sort of strategy."