[Severnside]

I did post on Alex's Instagram about Soldi sponsoring Plymouth shirt sleeve a month or so back,i asked AP why when even then he was critical of budget overspend and MMC being sold,he said he'd been following them for 20 odd years and didnt see any issues?, all reference to that has been removed now, so it was naive of AP to think it wouldn't get a reaction, it's his business and money so hey ho.
Time to prepare for next season, I don't for a minute Kingy will be here next season and more than likely not after this week and I wouldn't blame him.
Time will tell.

[lovejoy]

I doubt the Plymouth sponsorship amounted to very much in the overall context of things. Also if we got promoted could we really afford a competitive squad in the league above?
Overall though we need an owner who are prepared to be here for the long term and base expectations on sensible budgets, attendence forecasts etc.

[Kengreen]

Well that's a fair statement, so the budget hasn't been cut. nice to know. Any extras we want to the end of the season will be on the fans. Could get the Playing BudgetFund up and running again with a few more donaters this time or even get a few more through the gates as we are getting better results now.

[Tigermatty 2.0]

I doubt the Plymouth sponsorship amounted to very much in the overall context of things. Also if we got promoted could we really afford a competitive squad in the league above?
Overall though we need an owner who are prepared to be here for the long term and base expectations on sensible budgets, attendence forecasts etc.

I really don’t understand this whole attitude of not wanting to get promoted, it just sums up the fear of success we have at this club. We could be running like clockwork off the field and still wait forever and never get promoted, you take your chances when you are given them in life and worry about the consequences afterwards. For goodness sake life is short, have some ambition folks.

[RJS]

I sort of get his point.  If we are overbudget, and his finances can no longer support the money being put in, then I'd rather he didn't saddle the club with debt chasing a dream.  Plus as others have said its his money at the end of the day.

However, its another PR nightmare from him.  To bicker about the 'entitlement' of fans, and references to 'taking his ball back', just doesn't come across as professional.  It's the statement of someone who just doesn't like to be questioned, and frankly that is never going to happen at a football club, there will always be people critical of X,Y,Z. 

Also if the club had got out in front of this and explained the financial outlook, rather than allowing the rumour mill to kick the fan reaction might have been entirely different.  A statement earlier in the week saying "We have been running over budget for X number of weeks, the economic climate has meant the Directors can no longer fund this, and therefore tough decisions regarding playing staff will now need to be made.  We had decided to support this for as long as we thought possible a) to ensure the clubs place in the division and b) in the hope attendances and income streams would improve given our league position and this might eventually cover the shortfall.  As safety looks to have been secured, and b has not transpired it regretfully looks like these tough decisions will now need to be made etc etc" Not all fans would have been placated by that, but I bet a far larger amount than currently are would have been.

If this is the way he chooses to communicate these things then ultimately he has to accept the sort of criticism has come his way, regardless of how noble his intentions are (which is obviously a subject up for debate among fans).

[Severnside]

I think it started to go wrong with the over ambitious Gloucester Sport nonsense, AP wasn't ever going to create a Bristol City/Rugby empire, the Basketball thing never took off,  the gamble under Rowe signing players on long full time contracts just didn't have the type of long term financial support or pockets needed for it to happen with covid etc. Wrexhams Hollywood owners have baulked at what's its cost them to date, football isn't cheap, success in the main isn't cheap or usually sustainable, Alex and Eamon got us home, the pipe dream offered has fizzled away back to normal Glos City life.

[Neil]

It's a fair comment isn't it. At the end of the day this boils down to the fact that Gloucester people haven't supported the club, AP has so if they won't why should he? Imagine if we got 2000 every week, this club would support itself.

[RJS]

Well that's a fair statement, so the budget hasn't been cut. nice to know. Any extras we want to the end of the season will be on the fans. Could get the Playing BudgetFund up and running again with a few more donaters this time or even get a few more through the gates as we are getting better results now.

In effect it is a cut though, as we are currently overbudget, and we need to trim back to get back to budget.  The way I read it, it may also be a cut in the general weekly budget originally agreed as he intimates trying to get overall spending for the year within the overall agreed budget.  People have been asking why academy players don't get a chance, I think that is about to change, trying (and largely failing) to grasp hold of a positive lets hope we discover a few uncut gems.

[Neil]

I really don’t understand this whole attitude of not wanting to get promoted, it just sums up the fear of success we have at this club. We could be running like clockwork off the field and still wait forever and never get promoted, you take your chances when you are given them in life and worry about the consequences afterwards. For goodness sake life is short, have some ambition folks.

That's the right attitude but didn't Bath incur a shitload of debt from their two seasons in the Conference?

[Paul]

I really don’t understand this whole attitude of not wanting to get promoted, it just sums up the fear of success we have at this club. We could be running like clockwork off the field and still wait forever and never get promoted, you take your chances when you are given them in life and worry about the consequences afterwards. For goodness sake life is short, have some ambition folks.

I wouldn't say you're wrong Matt. I think a fear is that we'd go up and then be the NL whipping boys for a season before plummeting back down.

Then again, looking at yo-yo club Altrincham in the NL, they joined us from the NL in 2010/11, got promoted back to the NL in 2014/15, relegated to NLN in 2015/16, then a further relegation in 2015/16 to the Northern Premier League, then promotion back to the NLN in 2017/18, and promotion to the NL in 2019/20. Meanwhile, we've been treading water at the same level in NLN & NLS since 2009/10...perhaps a bit of excitement is long overdue. We wouldn't know until we get there.

Hopefully, the new owners will have the ambition to push on. We can improve ground facilities, hospitality etc, but realistically the only way we're ever going to increase crowds is success on the pitch, and that does mean promotion.