General The Board & Senior Management

[Northstandboy]

 

[Oxford84]

Raise money through transfer fees, bring costs down through wage budget cuts, bring cost of proof of funding down, get embargo lifted by providing proof of funding and apologise to the fans about the whole sorry episode while going out and signing players affordable for our current revenue. Now it doesn’t solve the stadium issue, but it does help us back towards to some kind of sustainable future.

Yes and to do that you need to raise enough money through selling to make it work, just selling anyone for anything doesnt make it work.

If we needed to raise 10 million but could only raise 7 million by selling 5 players wed be even more fucked, as we still wouldnt be out of the embargo and wed have less players and less good players.

After we get out of this s**t then we should definitely only sign affordable players.

 

[The Mighty Aldo]

If wages are delayed this Friday then we will finally know that we are in proper s**t, if not then in a weird way I will feel more comfortable and put it down to the JR hearing.

We wait, like everything else going on at the moment

 

[Bicester Yellow]

Yes and to do that you need to raise enough money through selling to make it work, just selling anyone for anything doesnt make it work.

If we needed to raise 10 million but could only raise 7 million by selling 5 players wed be even more fucked, as we still wouldnt be out of the embargo and wed have less players and less good players.

After we get out of this s**t then we should definitely only sign affordable players.

On the other side of the coin, being in an embargo because we are running at unsustainable levels of investment is no good either, I’d rather run the club at sustainable levels until we are in the new stadium if that comes to fruition. If that means we struggle until then, so be it.

Let’s hope Erick invests the necessary funds once the stadium gets signed off, because that’s what he’s going to have to do by January.

Maybe selling our assets, and getting ourselves on a an even keel might be the best idea.

 

[Billyox]

Interesting to see all the figures laid out in the Swiss Ramble article and the comparison to other Championship teams, assuming they're right.

Essentially our finances are both 1) Horrifically unsustainable from a business point of view; and 2) Pretty normal for the league.

The £21.7m that is quoted is very misleading
That figure is the wage bill for the entire football club all 282 members of staff
149 players coaching and management staff
73 admin, commercial and ground staff
60 casual staff

Also at the same time as this the woman team were transitioning to a more full time role so the wages for the woman team increased across the whole team

The first team wage was much lower on the face of this

 

[Oxford84]

On the other side of the coin, being in an embargo because we are running at unsustainable levels of investment is no good either, I’d rather run the club at sustainable levels until we are in the new stadium if that comes to fruition. If that means we struggle until then, so be it.

Let’s hope Erick invests the necessary funds once the stadium gets signed off, because that’s what he’s going to have to do by January.

Maybe selling our assets, and getting ourselves on a an even keel might be the best idea.

Yes if you make enough from selling!

 

[Bicester Yellow]

Yes if you make enough from selling!

Assets wise we could probably make £8-10m, while saving a fortune on wages as well.

Erick or someone else either way is going to have to put:

1. Investment in the stadium personally to a certain degree.
2. He will then also have to invest money into the playing squad & the club itself to get us out of the embargo.

Either way it’s a multimillions investment & himself or someone else is going to have to put money on both sides of the coin to get us out of this situation.

Just getting planning permission isn’t going to do that.

 

[tatabanya]

Yes and to do that you need to raise enough money through selling to make it work, just selling anyone for anything doesnt make it work.

If we needed to raise 10 million but could only raise 7 million by selling 5 players wed be even more fucked, as we still wouldnt be out of the embargo and wed have less players and less good players.

After we get out of this s**t then we should definitely only sign affordable players.

And this is only really an issue if Thohir doesn’t want to put any more of his own money in. If we raised £7m through fees and slashed the wage bill and he still couldn’t provide the EFL with evidence that he can afford it then we really are in trouble

 

[greatunclekip]

And this is only really an issue if Thohir doesn’t want to put any more of his own money in. If we raised £7m through fees and slashed the wage bill and he still couldn’t provide the EFL with evidence that he can afford it then we really are in trouble

And yet all signs are that is what he’s doing?

 

[tatabanya]

And yet all signs are that is what he’s doing?

Not really as at the moment there doesn’t seem to be any evidence that we are actively cutting costs, which means Thohir is going to have to keep paying the bills.

 

[Oxford84]

Assets wise we could probably make £8-10m, while saving a fortune on wages as well.

Erick or someone else either way is going to have to put:

1. Investment in the stadium personally to a certain degree.
2. He will then also have to invest money into the playing squad & the club itself to get us out of the embargo.

Either way it’s a multimillions investment & himself or someone else is going to have to put money on both sides of the coin to get us out of this situation.

Just getting planning permission isn’t going to do that.

How do you think wed get 8 to 10 million?

 

[PottersRightBoot]

Just to play devils advocate

Perhaps they are saying nothing because a takeover maybe imminent, or somebody else is putting in money or we are waiting for more funds from Mr Thohir
.
If it’s the first two ,of course there is not going to be a statement saying
XYZ are in final negotiations to take over the club or XYZ are investing extra money until those deals are done.

I’m aftraid we are in a waiting game because until Mr Thohir decides what is happening there is nothing to

The £21.7m that is quoted is very misleading
That figure is the wage bill for the entire football club all 282 members of staff
149 players coaching and management staff
73 admin, commercial and ground staff
60 casual staff

Also at the same time as this the woman team were transitioning to a more full time role so the wages for the woman team increased across the whole team

The first team wage was much lower on the face of this

282 staff!

 

[Finlandia]

How do you think wed get 8 to 10 million?

Maybe £3m each for Mills and BDK, £500k each for Spencer, Currie and Cummings. Still short and no players left !!

 

[Bicester Yellow]

How do you think wed get 8 to 10 million?

£2-3m Mills.
£2-3m BDK.
£1-2m Currie
£1-2m Brown
£1-2m Cumming
£1-2m Spencer
£1-2m Goodrham

 

[Finlandia]

£3-4m Mills.
£3-4m BDK.
£3-4m Currie
£1-2m Brown
£1-2m Cumming
£1-2m Spencer
£2-3m Goodrham

Absolutely no chance we’d get anywhere near £2m for Goodrham or £2m for Brown

 

[Finlandia]

282 staff!

Saw that!! Ludicrous based on our turnover

 

[Bicester Yellow]

Absolutely no chance we’d get anywhere near £2m for Goodrham or £2m for Brown

Tbh working off the lower end of those estimates & probably went a bit high with them which is why I’ve now amended them.

We won’t sell that many players, I think that’s evident, but it comes down to the fact that if and when the stadium gets the go ahead then Erick or someone is going to have to put in a very big sum just to get us out of this embargo, is he prepared to do that as well as carry on with the day to day financing as he’s doing now plus whatever he may need to put in personally to build the stadium if at all.

 

[Oxford84]

£2-3m Mills.
£2-3m BDK.
£1-2m Currie
£1-2m Brown
£1-2m Cumming
£1-2m Spencer
£2-3m Goodrham

So if you did sell that lot for that amount what if the embargo was then not lifted until January?

 

[Chippy]

I would think that the lack of communication will be due to either a potential takeover/ investment, or waiting for the JR hearing.

So why not at least communicate the situation within reason, instead of letting the fans down with the deafening silence?

That’s what’s frustrating and annoying people the most.

The more silence there is and the longer we are left not knowing the reasons, the more people will suspect the worst, and the more the frustration and anger grows.

 

[Finlandia]

Tbh working off the lower end of those estimates & probably went a bit high with them which is why I’ve now amended them.

We won’t sell that many players, I think that’s evident, but it comes down to the fact that if and when the stadium gets the go ahead then Erick or someone is going to have to put in a very big sum just to get us out of this embargo, is he prepared to do that as well as carry on with the day to day financing as he’s doing now plus whatever he may need to put in personally to build the stadium if at all.

TBF if we weren’t in this situation, we’d get more, but clubs will be circling round us and a few players agents will have feelers out.

 

[Scotchegg]

Just to be clear, we don't know if the owners have failed to provide evidence that funds are available to cover the deficit, or whether the funds are freely available but the rules regarding any owner top ups with equal infrastructure investment, makes this impossible.

Of course, the best way to resolve the situation is to increase revenue (through transfer sales) and reduce costs (dropping the wage bill) in order to drop below the 65% limit.

However, doing so could be more damaging in the long term if there is a solution around the corner. This is likely to be additional investment linked to the JR. This could include money from new investors, but I would think that this will almost certainly be linked to the stadium rather than a change of ownership of the club.

 

[Bicester Yellow]

So if you did sell that lot for that amount what if the embargo was then not lifted until January?

What if it’s not lifted in January because Erik doesn’t want to put in a lump sum along with whatever it’s going to personally cost him for the stadium?

He should be able to offset it against the stadium build if we have the go ahead but is he going to want to do both? time will tell. It’s not sustainable either way.

 

[Bicester Yellow]

TBF if we weren’t in this situation, we’d get more, but clubs will be circling round us and a few players agents will have feelers out.

Yeah definitely agree with you on that.

Probably why I went higher at first and after some thought amended them.

Either way we are in a s**t situation because we either sell the assets or Thohir or somebody is probably going to have to invest £30m+ in January on stadium and the day to day running so we are out of this embargo.

 

[ECYellow]

Saw that!! Ludicrous based on our turnover

That includes the academy and women’s sections of the club.

It’s probably an unpopular decision, but you’d think the women’s team might be the first to go if we are cost saving and cutting back.

Perhaps the optics wouldn’t look great, but what revenue does that generate, versus the expenditure? Can’t believe it washes its own face, and so it should be scrutinised like everything else.

 

[Bicester Yellow]

That includes the academy and women’s sections of the club.

It’s probably an unpopular decision, but you’d think the women’s team might be the first to go if we are cost saving and cutting back.

Perhaps the optics wouldn’t look great, but what revenue does that generate, versus the expenditure? Can’t believe it washes its own face, and so it should be scrutinised like everything else.

Won’t be a popular thing to say but you are 100% right in what you just said, as much of a shame as it would be.

 

[Finlandia]

Unfortunately we are in the commercial world scenario of ‘well let’s get rid of marketing then. I agree there will have to be some cloth cutting and some very unpopular decisions.

Also maybe time to look at senior bonuses - I assume they were given out when we got into the championship and then subsequently survived relegation

 

[Billyox]

Saw that!! Ludicrous based on our turnover

Thats how football is run its not just 25 players a manager and a coach

 

[Jster]

I suspect the men's team loses a lot more money than the women's team...

 

[Finlandia]

Thats how football is run its not just 25 players a manager and a coach

Agree - but you need to be able to cover some of the outlay with revenue or you end up being in the s**t. Oh wait..

 

[PottersRightBoot]

Thats how football is run its not just 25 players a manager and a coach

Then football is run badly.

 

[Finlandia]

At a guess I’d assume the average number of employees for league one clubs is a lot lower. Probably between 120-150. We do seem very high in staff numbers