(09-02-2024, 05:33 AM)Mr.Magoo Wrote: To my thinking City were basically a "new" club four seasons ago when we came back home and the ground was constructed. At that point we would have those construction costs and anything owed whilst away on our travels for 14 years.So with AP coming in we were basically starting again. The COVID season was a tragedy and I'm sure cost AP and EM money in the end. I understand that. The issue I'd have is IF as rumoured there are debts amounted from the running costs over the past three seasons that could and should have been avoided. I know we went full time and AP dreamt big. That was an extra cost that you would hope was budgeted for and they were prepared to inject the extra cash to cover. If that wasn't the case then that was a gamble that should not have been taken if they really couldn't afford it.
If we'd remained part time for the past four seasons and only a proportion of the money AP and EM "blew" dreaming big had been trickled into a sustainable club I doubt we'd be top of the league, but we'd have been in a much healthier position than we are now. Again "if" there's all these other debts hanging around as rumoured, that's where bad business accusations can be made. As I said before I'd hope next year's season ticket will pay for next year's costs and not last year's electricity bill.
I'll shut up now but any clarification or obvious errors I've made in this thinking please point out.
A very good point. I've seen this same cycle since the 90s days of Keith Gardener chasing "the dream". Gamble on going up, miss out, club lumped with debts. You see clubs in the Championship doing this then dropping down the leagues, it's a numbers game with too many teams chasing too few promotion spots (before we even get to null and void...).
AP championed his "Don't go bust, don't go down" mantra yet here we are, and for me that deserves explanation and reassurance about what comes next. What we need is a long term, sustainable growth plan regardless of what league we are in. Relying on individuals putting their hands in their pockets has not worked in the past and we need to learn our lessons from that.
Look at the teams that are doing well throughout football. They have a plan, they have a style played from youth team to first team, they have a succession plan for players and managers. Let's learn from them and replicate that. Growth has to be sustainable, there needs to be a long term plan, and we all have to be involved and engaged with it. The current mess and silence is so far away from that, yet again.
Despite all this, I don't see relegation as all doom and gloom. I'll continue to come along, as will my mates, and it doesn't really matter who the opposition is. It's not like the teams we're playing at the moment are household names apart from the occasional Hereford or Chester. Focus on making a day at the footy a good day out, have some entertaining attacking football on display and win more than we lose and we'll get people through the gates.
