We have to be creative?

If we had lots of confirmed signings at this point in the summer, it would either mean that we'd paid well over the odds for them, or that no other teams in the division rated them whatsoever, and we were completely unchallenged for the signature.

By 'getting business done early', I believe he means we're not likely to be doing any significant scouting or shortlisting of players. KR has probably put the feelers out on all the players he'd like in this window.

We know we need a lot of players incoming this window, and what a L1 budget usually is, so spending 500k on one player is probably not the right shout, and not good financial sense for a club that sustains itself on making profits on prospects.

The wheels will be churning. It's been proven that we're testing players to make sure they're up to standard, so we aren't sitting on our hands.

Most of the confidence held by the positive posters on this forum stems from the feeling that, in contrast to last year, when new faces do come in, they're much more likely to be the right fit for us.

We'll all breathe a sign of relief when incoming transfers are announced. Because action can be judged, and inaction can only be speculated upon.
 
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Now I am worried, KR made a great impression on what he was going to do with transfers, he had given Tiger a list of signing he wanted to make, I seem to remember a comment like the chairman was wowed by the list, so far we have been wowed by several key players leaving and a non league full back signing for free. Wow big spender, I will be holding onto my season ticket money until I see something close to the implied impressive signings promised. If Tiger does not back KR, will he stay, his track record suggests not.
Blimmin hell. We are at the start of jUNE and a supporter wont get their ST as like most clubs we have ONLY resigned Eastwood.
Most supporters i reckon will buy their ST as it is their club.
 
Promised under 23 team, promised wow manager, promised significant players with promotion experience, no mention of big money signings, but expectations have been raised, a non league signing so far, and a guy who would not run. Not a lot of wow so far Tiger.

U23 squad - More evidence to suggest this is happening than now

Wow manager - when was the last time we signed a manager with no previous links to the club who is highly rated at the level we are playing and left/was fired from a *"bigger" club higher than us in the league to take up the role at Oxford? In the context of Oxford United and certainly in my 28 years of supporting Oxford I would say that's fairly wow. All about context and probably poor wording from Tiger at the time. Lampard and Gerrard linked, gone to Derby and Rangers, realistically if that's the calibre of job they can get would they ever sign for us? Look at it in context not through media spin

Signings - It's June. Chill. It's not how League 1 football works. It's not how any football really works... It's a world cup year (which will have a knock on effect to this level) and the first year of new transfer deadlines. How it will work - nobody knows! But I would say Eastwood is probably signing of the window so far at this level. Unbelievable business. It seems to me like he wanted out in January but he's just committed to Oxford. Unbelievable work. Players are also on holiday and all over the place making life a bit more difficult. Come back with your gripes in August if we still haven't signed anyone. As for the jibe at Cameron Norman as a 'non league signing', factually correct but a bit disrespectful. He is highly rated and a number of clubs at this level were after him.

Would not run - good. Don't want him at Oxford. Rather tell him to look elsewhere than sign him and then this forum goes mental 10 game sin when he has a stinker and a bad attitude.

Not a lot of wow from Tiger so far. I'm going to list some things, remember this is in the context of Oxford United, we are not a Manchester club, Chelsea or even a Blackburn. Let's be realistic about what is wow for us.

Addition to the coaching team of a highly rated coach to join the 1st XI with no one leaving, Allen moving to U23. But don't be mistaken Allen won't be confined to U23 squad, he will continue to work with the 1st team as well. So we've added a coach. For me, wow (again remember the context, a league 1 club but only for the last two seasons with an average gate of around 7,000 in a concrete jungle of a stadium that only has three sides that we don't even own)

Looks like we are going to be sponsored by an internationally renowned brand - again remember the context, wow

Our kit is going to be Puma - I'd file this under wow given the context

We have appointed a new Marketing Director with a pretty tidy CV - wow

Recruiting a 'Performance Chef' - I literally have no idea if we have had one before but again I'm filing this under wow.

The stuff going on away from the pitch looks good to me! It's the start of June. The signings will happen (I hope)


*What others outside the club may say. We all obviously, and rightly, know Oxfor dis the biggest club in the world ;)
 
U23 squad - More evidence to suggest this is happening than now

Wow manager - when was the last time we signed a manager with no previous links to the club who is highly rated at the level we are playing and left/was fired from a *"bigger" club higher than us in the league to take up the role at Oxford? In the context of Oxford United and certainly in my 28 years of supporting Oxford I would say that's fairly wow. All about context and probably poor wording from Tiger at the time. Lampard and Gerrard linked, gone to Derby and Rangers, realistically if that's the calibre of job they can get would they ever sign for us? Look at it in context not through media spin

Signings - It's June. Chill. It's not how League 1 football works. It's not how any football really works... It's a world cup year (which will have a knock on effect to this level) and the first year of new transfer deadlines. How it will work - nobody knows! But I would say Eastwood is probably signing of the window so far at this level. Unbelievable business. It seems to me like he wanted out in January but he's just committed to Oxford. Unbelievable work. Players are also on holiday and all over the place making life a bit more difficult. Come back with your gripes in August if we still haven't signed anyone. As for the jibe at Cameron Norman as a 'non league signing', factually correct but a bit disrespectful. He is highly rated and a number of clubs at this level were after him.

Would not run - good. Don't want him at Oxford. Rather tell him to look elsewhere than sign him and then this forum goes mental 10 game sin when he has a stinker and a bad attitude.

Not a lot of wow from Tiger so far. I'm going to list some things, remember this is in the context of Oxford United, we are not a Manchester club, Chelsea or even a Blackburn. Let's be realistic about what is wow for us.

Addition to the coaching team of a highly rated coach to join the 1st XI with no one leaving, Allen moving to U23. But don't be mistaken Allen won't be confined to U23 squad, he will continue to work with the 1st team as well. So we've added a coach. For me, wow (again remember the context, a league 1 club but only for the last two seasons with an average gate of around 7,000 in a concrete jungle of a stadium that only has three sides that we don't even own)

Looks like we are going to be sponsored by an internationally renowned brand - again remember the context, wow

Our kit is going to be Puma - I'd file this under wow given the context

We have appointed a new Marketing Director with a pretty tidy CV - wow

Recruiting a 'Performance Chef' - I literally have no idea if we have had one before but again I'm filing this under wow.

The stuff going on away from the pitch looks good to me! It's the start of June. The signings will happen (I hope)


*What others outside the club may say. We all obviously, and rightly, know Oxfor dis the biggest club in the world ;)

Share your optimism, but only Easty signing and Singha (and, name notwithstanding, we aren't sure about the amount of money being put in) are "wow" for me. The others are positive signs (and you can add the training ground to that as well), but not earth shattering.
 
U23 squad - More evidence to suggest this is happening than now

Wow manager - when was the last time we signed a manager with no previous links to the club who is highly rated at the level we are playing and left/was fired from a *"bigger" club higher than us in the league to take up the role at Oxford? In the context of Oxford United and certainly in my 28 years of supporting Oxford I would say that's fairly wow. All about context and probably poor wording from Tiger at the time. Lampard and Gerrard linked, gone to Derby and Rangers, realistically if that's the calibre of job they can get would they ever sign for us? Look at it in context not through media spin

Signings - It's June. Chill. It's not how League 1 football works. It's not how any football really works... It's a world cup year (which will have a knock on effect to this level) and the first year of new transfer deadlines. How it will work - nobody knows! But I would say Eastwood is probably signing of the window so far at this level. Unbelievable business. It seems to me like he wanted out in January but he's just committed to Oxford. Unbelievable work. Players are also on holiday and all over the place making life a bit more difficult. Come back with your gripes in August if we still haven't signed anyone. As for the jibe at Cameron Norman as a 'non league signing', factually correct but a bit disrespectful. He is highly rated and a number of clubs at this level were after him.

Would not run - good. Don't want him at Oxford. Rather tell him to look elsewhere than sign him and then this forum goes mental 10 game sin when he has a stinker and a bad attitude.

Not a lot of wow from Tiger so far. I'm going to list some things, remember this is in the context of Oxford United, we are not a Manchester club, Chelsea or even a Blackburn. Let's be realistic about what is wow for us.

Addition to the coaching team of a highly rated coach to join the 1st XI with no one leaving, Allen moving to U23. But don't be mistaken Allen won't be confined to U23 squad, he will continue to work with the 1st team as well. So we've added a coach. For me, wow (again remember the context, a league 1 club but only for the last two seasons with an average gate of around 7,000 in a concrete jungle of a stadium that only has three sides that we don't even own)

Looks like we are going to be sponsored by an internationally renowned brand - again remember the context, wow

Our kit is going to be Puma - I'd file this under wow given the context

We have appointed a new Marketing Director with a pretty tidy CV - wow

Recruiting a 'Performance Chef' - I literally have no idea if we have had one before but again I'm filing this under wow.

The stuff going on away from the pitch looks good to me! It's the start of June. The signings will happen (I hope)


*What others outside the club may say. We all obviously, and rightly, know Oxfor dis the biggest club in the world ;)

Share your optimism, but only Easty signing and Singha (and, name notwithstanding, we aren't sure about the amount of money being put in) are "wow" for me. The others are positive signs (and you can add the training ground to that as well), but not earth shattering.

Positive signs are what we build on. How many times in our history and you can name some if u like, have we made truly earth shattering announcements under any chairman. It’s when those little positive signs disappear like in the last 12 months under Darryl that there’s a worry
 
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This is aimed largely at those who aren't particularly positive about the changes we have seen. What would you consider wow?

Who would be a WOW manager?
Who would be a WOW signing?
What activity off the pitch would be WOW enough for you?
 
Stop pretending to be stupid, it embarrasses you more than when you pretend to be in the know.

The policies are relevant because the likes of you were suggesting that offsetting payments owed in line with future revenue was wrong when it involved Tiger, yet seem to have no issues with the exact same policy being employed by Sunderland.

In the context of this thread, a budget was agreed and was sufficient enough to for a manager who is no fool. It has also been used to encourage Eastwood to remain and Shaun Derry to come on board.

The only difference is that Robinson has been quoted as saying that we won't be spending silly sums on individuals and Tiger will rubber stamp all deals.

So here are a few questions for you.

How many clubs have chairmen who have no involvement at all with player purchases?

How many players at league 1 level were bought at or around the £500k mark in the last 3 years?

If, as I suspect, most chairman ratify deals and very few have come in for the money quoted, then what is the problem?

I have no interest in what Sunderland or any other club are doing. Only those who have some perverse obsession with Methven and Donald do. That is the only possible relevance Sunderland have. Might not be a bad idea if you and others cast the same quizzical eye over your own club rather than another.
 
The policies are relevant because the likes of you were suggesting that offsetting payments owed in line with future revenue was wrong when it involved Tiger, yet seem to have no issues with the exact same policy being employed by Sunderland.

On the face of it, the general principles are the same; future income is being mortgaged to enable current expenditure. There are, however, some pretty fundamental differences between the situations.

With the Sunderland deal, £15m has been paid up front, with a further £25m secured solely against parachute payments. These parachute payments are guaranteed income for the next two years and will be around £55m. Sunderland own their own stadium and training ground so benefit from the associated income. They also retain all transfer revenues. Also, Ellis Short has written off around £120m debt owed to him by the club.

At Oxford, Tiger has injected £2.4m equity into the club, and secured just under £4.3m against ALL of the club's future income. And, because of the current stadium situation, the club's ability to generate revenue is somewhat limited. We also don't have clarity as to what debt Ensco have actually written off.
 
On the face of it, the general principles are the same; future income is being mortgaged to enable current expenditure. There are, however, some pretty fundamental differences between the situations.

With the Sunderland deal, £15m has been paid up front, with a further £25m secured solely against parachute payments. These parachute payments are guaranteed income for the next two years and will be around £55m. Sunderland own their own stadium and training ground so benefit from the associated income. They also retain all transfer revenues. Also, Ellis Short has written off around £120m debt owed to him by the club.

At Oxford, Tiger has injected £2.4m equity into the club, and secured just under £4.3m against ALL of the club's future income. And, because of the current stadium situation, the club's ability to generate revenue is somewhat limited. We also don't have clarity as to what debt Ensco have actually written off.
Did the ground and training facilities come in the SFC package when they puchased the club?
 
I have no interest in what Sunderland or any other club are doing. Only those who have some perverse obsession with Methven and Donald do. That is the only possible relevance Sunderland have. Might not be a bad idea if you and others cast the same quizzical eye over your own club rather than another.
You are getting tiresome now. The link with Sunderland is relevant enough for a hundred threads and a million posts on the matter. If you have no interest then that is fine, but playing stupid by denying that Sunderland exist is below even you.

But please feel free to discuss MY (our? your?!) club. As someone with an award winning quizzical eye, maybe you could point me in the direction of your concerns. Because of the surface of it all, I can see Karl Robinson and Shaun Derry coming in and being impressed with the set up, Simon Eastwood committing to his immediate future having been reassured of our plans, and many more positives behind the scenes.

That seems to be a pretty good indicator that things are ok? But then who am I (them) to be so positive when the Hawkster has all these concerns that he couldn't possibly share?

We had this 6 months ago, and I was hoping that Charlie would take his hangers on with him. Yet, here you are with the same questions and no answers. Sad really!
 
On the face of it, the general principles are the same; future income is being mortgaged to enable current expenditure. There are, however, some pretty fundamental differences between the situations.

With the Sunderland deal, £15m has been paid up front, with a further £25m secured solely against parachute payments. These parachute payments are guaranteed income for the next two years and will be around £55m. Sunderland own their own stadium and training ground so benefit from the associated income. They also retain all transfer revenues. Also, Ellis Short has written off around £120m debt owed to him by the club.

At Oxford, Tiger has injected £2.4m equity into the club, and secured just under £4.3m against ALL of the club's future income. And, because of the current stadium situation, the club's ability to generate revenue is somewhat limited. We also don't have clarity as to what debt Ensco have actually written off.


The expected revenue for Sunderland is huge, but so to is there expenditure. The current players contracts could wipe out a massive part of the parachute payments alone, and then comes the operating costs of such a large club. So whilst the parachute payments are guaranteed, SD and Chaz will not be sitting at their thrones counting money for the next 2 years.

Our situation is different, but only down to relivant costs. The £4.3m is payable from previous player sales are is linked to expected receipts. Leeds pay off the Roofe deal - DE gets paid. Any additional money received (Ledson) can either be used to pay DE earlier or can be used for player signings etc. And whilst we haven't the same opportunities for income, the weekly expenditure is significantly lower.
 
You are getting tiresome now. The link with Sunderland is relevant enough for a hundred threads and a million posts on the matter. If you have no interest then that is fine, but playing stupid by denying that Sunderland exist is below even you.

But please feel free to discuss MY (our? your?!) club. As someone with an award winning quizzical eye, maybe you could point me in the direction of your concerns. Because of the surface of it all, I can see Karl Robinson and Shaun Derry coming in and being impressed with the set up, Simon Eastwood committing to his immediate future having been reassured of our plans, and many more positives behind the scenes.

That seems to be a pretty good indicator that things are ok? But then who am I (them) to be so positive when the Hawkster has all these concerns that he couldn't possibly share?

We had this 6 months ago, and I was hoping that Charlie would take his hangers on with him. Yet, here you are with the same questions and no answers. Sad really!

You’re hilarious. Was it you who suggested this forum was not the place for concerns to be raised about Tiger? Maybe someone else. But keep the Sunderland threads coming.
 
So Sunderland's huge parachute payments advantage in this league of £35 million this coming season and potentially the Championship of a final £15 million is being snaffled away by £25 million owed to Ellis Short, which would leave them I think very disadvantaged compared to newly relegated EPL clubs and the other well funded clubs in the Championship. Also what I haven't seen clarified (may have been) is whether all the other debt that Sunderland owed has been paid off by Short - transfer fees due, bank loans, etc.
 
So Sunderland's huge parachute payments advantage in this league of £35 million this coming season and potentially the Championship of a final £15 million is being snaffled away by £25 million owed to Ellis Short, which would leave them I think very disadvantaged compared to newly relegated EPL clubs and the other well funded clubs in the Championship. Also what I haven't seen clarified (may have been) is whether all the other debt that Sunderland owed has been paid off by Short - transfer fees due, bank loans, etc.

I *think* the loans were wiped however the transfer fees contract commitments remain. Would need to double check but that is in my mind for some reason...not that I'm giving Sunderland much attention as I have more interest in my own club.
 
So Sunderland's huge parachute payments advantage in this league of £35 million this coming season and potentially the Championship of a final £15 million is being snaffled away by £25 million owed to Ellis Short, which would leave them I think very disadvantaged compared to newly relegated EPL clubs and the other well funded clubs in the Championship. Also what I haven't seen clarified (may have been) is whether all the other debt that Sunderland owed has been paid off by Short - transfer fees due, bank loans, etc.
I'm pretty sure that all transfer fees remain due, and I'm not sure if any bank loans remain. But still far from plain sailing.
 
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