m62exile wrote:You seem to have this strange idea that anyone who doesn't agree with you has to have an ulterior motive, assuming you have me down as the "club loyalist". It's really odd.
Eh?
That's unsubstantiated, bizarre, paranoid nonsense. And you know it. There are a number of loyalists on here who leap to the defence of the club every time a decision is questioned. I don't see what ulterior motive I'm suggesting by saying that - it is true after all. My criticism is that such loyalty is counter-productive.
m62exile wrote:Our average attendances did improve last season as you well know, increasing by over 500 over the previous season but I do agree with you and Spyman that it's not just success on the field that influences this and ironically the lack of facilities is a key factor in why they're stalling now. I fully support the notion that we should be doing everything we can to develop the facilities.
Where we probably do disagree is both of our viewpoints about what would happen if we made significant reductions to the playing staff or had done in the summer. I believe we would see more significant drops in interest, attendance, revenue, and general reputation if we did this than you do. I also don't believe we would be able to find equivalent players for the same wage in the future easily, bearing in mind one of the key factors people sign for us is the club's ambition and fan base.
And since this disagreement is based on our respective opinions on what the effect would be I can't see how we'll be able to agree on it either.
As for loaning out or releasing fringe players I'm not sure who we have that make much of a saving. We can barely get a team out at the minute.
A sensible, thought-through counter-argument, although I disagree with much of it.
Firstly, it's not so much that we disagree on the outcome of a summer budget reduction. It's that I was willing to accept several years of mid-table in this division. After all, what's the point of challenging for promotion if you can't get promoted? To me, it's madness.
The counter to this is along the lines of what you've suggested, that we need a significant playing budget to be in the promotion race, which in turn gets more fans attending to fund ground improvements. Given our disappointing attendances at BM last season, and the fact a big playing budget doesn't guarantee being in the play-offs (although it helps) this counter-argument falls apart pretty quickly.
And you talk of drops in interest - isn't that what is happening anyway, despite the Boost the Budget and whatever extra money from ticket price rises has been put into the playing budget?
You talk of reputation damage - wasn't our reputation damaged enough by the embarrassment of last season? Imagine the kicking it will get if we're still in the same position 12 months on.
Perhaps I'm being melodramatic, but I seriously think if the ground isn't sorted by next summer, it will be the biggest crisis for the club since 2012. Players, management, board members will leave, fans will be disillusioned and the club will be an utter laughing stock.
So to me it's foolish to risk all that by wasting any money whatsoever on players like Richards, Fenwick and Wheatley who've barely featured and then in Richards and Fenwick's cases, departed. Every spare penny should be thrown into ground development, not into the back pockets of players who barely feature.
Also, do me a favour and stop with the "you hate anyone who disagrees with you line." It's tedious, lazy and demonstrably untrue. I hate idiots who can't defend their opinions and think they have a right not to be criticised or challenged.
At least here you've defended your argument, and I can see your logic, albeit I disagree with the points you raise.