Could we be heading for another Mark Robins situation with Flitcroft?

After listening to Flickers interviews it seems like he wants to make sure the clubs ambitions match his.

As we know ambition costs money - do you think there's a chance he could walk off knowing his stock will be high with what he's achieved with us?

I know we're all on a high after yesterday and I don't want to bring anyone down, but I just hope the board put across the right attitude to Flitcroft during these contract negotiations. He will be well aware that we have one of the lowest incomes in the Championship, probably around the level of the teams promoted from League One, but if the board say "we just want you to avoid relegation again and anything else is a bonus so you'll be able to spend X" do you not think he might just walk away and see what else comes up?

It sounds like this is exactly the scenario that saw Mark Robins leave when he had been doing a fairly decent job so it does happen, it wasn't like he had lined another job up.

 

I can see your point but I cannot see any managers in this division being fired this summer. As the division was so tight, no one really stands out as needing to be fired. Blackburn have a vacancy but I cannot see them pursuing him. Any other team would be a step down into a lower division. I think he is trying to get assurances and funds that he and Hill were promised but did not really materialise. Davies and Stones have been sold for 3.3 million so he knows there is cash available.

 

Ahhh, but Donny have no manager...

 

If he doesn't like what he hears then I'd hope his relationship with the players would be a factor in letting him see past that, at the end of the day he can't take them all with him if he gets an opportunity elsewhere.

I don't think Donny will make an approach though, I can see O'Driscoll going back there.

With the finances though it does make me wonder how a few years ago we seemed to be a lot more competitive in the transfer market - back when we signed Ian Hume (£1.3m-ish), Jason Shackell (best part of a million) and many others in the £0.5m+ range. Surely this wasn't all just coming out of Cryne's pocket?

I can't imagine us spending £500,000 on a player these days never mind anything like a million.

Balancing the books has been their favourite excuse over the last couple of years but surely we should be a few million up this year from player sales, mainly Stones. I'm hoping they didn't jizz all this money in January simply because they thought going down was inevitable, which was a fair assumption to make at the time.

We haven't done that bad on free transfers/cheap players over the last couple of years but there is a reason they are free or cheap generally.

 

Forgot about Donny (easily done) - they are a definite possibility - come on Mr. Rowing, have a sit down this week and sort out the terms.

 

Gi or wit barm

 

Your best post yet.

 

Can't compete with Donny? No chance. Their average attendance is 7500, held up by the fact that they were doing well in League One - it'll rise a bit in the Championship but when they are inevitably struggling after the first few months it'll go right down. Donny's 2012 accounts showed zero cash in the bank, I'm not an accountant but that's not the sign of someone doing well financially?

Massive difference between League One and The Championship, they'd need to spend several million just to catch up to our current squad and we'll no doubt be the favourites to be relegated....again. Donny will go straight back down with Bournemouth.

 

I agree Fired and not only will we deserve to sink if we balls this up that is exactly what will happen in my opinion. PC needs to match Flickers ambition and if he can't then we may as well pack it in and stop wasting our time, money and effort. Like you say his requests will be modest.

 

Two of the Donny Directors are in the Sunday Times Rich List every year but they don't spend any of their money on players.

 

Don't be so bloody daft!

 

Look, if rumours are to be believed that butcher was offered the best deal of any previous reds manager, this must ave included transfer funds, then the club must have sufficient funds to compete better next season and be in a position to offer flicker funds to match his ambition. Or am I missing something? :-/

 

It is not really the same though is it. When Robins left, he had overspent his budget, and was asking for even more. Flitcroft knows that since the last accounts were published, the club has sold Butterfield (£1m), Davies (£300k) and Stones (£3m) and have banked £800k from the cup run. The club finances must have improved. I do not think that it is an issue regarding transfer fees, other than the obvious one, it is more a question of not losing out on as many players because we cannot match wages with anyone else in the division.

 

Was he? He didn't overspend on his budget, every signing was sanctioned by the owner and the owner knew EXACTLY what was what.

Robins wanted what Flicker says he wants, to stop aiming for 4th bottom.

The manager and players have done their bit, its down to Cryne to decide if he can muster any interest again.