Some of us need to refocus on the BIGGER picture

The PLAN has been much derided recently on here, but that is because we are doing less well and there is always a need to allocate blame when performances take a dip and results follow. The problem is that there is an absence of any alternative other than to spend money that we just do not have. That is not to say that the Oakwell bank accounts are empty. They are not. But paying out significant transfer fees on established talent commits the club to ongoing wages with no guarantee that future income streams can support them. Mr Cryne is a qualified accountant. He ran a successful business. He has a track record in business. How many of those who advise him to spend now and worry about tomorrow when it arrives can claim a better CV. He has spent an estimated £10m on keeping the love of his life afloat, in providing a safety net against a drift into obscurity. He has never asked for my gratitude, but I give it willingly and without reservation because Barnsley Football Club is the love of my life as well.

Mr Cryne does not have the money to provide anything but a safety net. He certainly does not have the money to see us into the Premier League. Personally, I do not see the logic or the return on investment of foreign investment. In that case, I see no alternative to the plan, because the club has to learn to live within its means. The plan represents the only currently viable alternative and will remain so unless Christmas delivers us the present of a fairy godmother bearing lots of cash. Under the circumstances, I continue to support the plan and I continue to call for PATIENCE. The plan may not save us this season, but the plan got us promoted, the plan put money in the bank and we currently have nothing else.

 

Again I ask the question about Dean Hoyle at Huddersfield.Even before the promotion to the premier league, they were a far better run club, engaging with local schools, networking with local businesses. Take a look at the clubs shop for example.3 years ago were mid table in league one. Is Dean Hoyle out of pocket, certainly not if he sells his stake now. Maybe they just got lucky, but it can be done.

 

I had forgotten that Bournemouth are known as AFC Bournemouth Ltd. The following web address reveals their 2016 accounts (their first year in the Premier League) in all their technicolor glory.

https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/...cgkIcb6R6RdjCXWpo6G97YxJQITN3ekhXMcso0sHC0QU=

There is lots of stuff in those accounts that I do not understand, but plenty that I do. Perhaps the best plan is for you to read them and try to understand as much as you can, and then ask me about stuff that you do not understand. I will not be able to help you with everything, but together we will be able to decipher the majority.

There are comparatives for the previous year, their promotion season and there are a couple of things that caught my eye. The first is that they lost almost £39m (2016 profit £3m). The second is that they were fined over £7m in 2015 (note 6) for breaching FFP rules. Loan interest (note 12) is partly on a share holder loan and partly interest on the outstanding balance of transfer fees payable. Anyway there is lots to interest the casual viewer on there. Good Luck.

 

The accounts for Huddersfield Town's promotion season have not been filed yet but they lost almost £7m in 2015 and £1.6m in 2016. I cannot be bothered to go through them to be honest, but if you are interested, they can be found here:-

https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/...EE+WEvu71la/2Dee0+zquk3YtdibavjIJV8gokoTD0QU=

 

Thank you RR.

 

It will only put more money in the bank when coupled with relative on the field success.

We go down this season, get promoted next and lose these players for next to nowt again in Jan 20 as they’d all be in final 6 months of their contracts.

You refuse to see that owners (from anywhere) don’t necessarily want a return, they just want their knobs to feel bigger by playing the football game.

Can you explain how it’s ok for Cryne to stuff money in to keep us within the rules but not for it to be a viable option for someone else?

 

The model to follow is Burnley. Develop a young team together with a couple of older heads (the bit we lack), try not to have lots of player turnover each window & overachieve.

They got into the premiership on one of the smaller budgets in the league.

Since then they’ve used the parachute payments to keep building the club much like West Brom did years earlier.

The £100m quoted that an owner needs to put in is nonsense. Burnley certainly didn’t have a benefactor that did that.

Even Burnley’s budget now isn’t a fraction of that. Robbie Brady’s the top earner on £35k a week.

Even if he’s on a 5 year deal that total’s £9.1m for the full five years and he’s the top earner.

Kevin Long’s the 3rd choice striker, Ashley Barnes the 3rd choice striker. This isn’t an expensive squad. There’s not many getting near Brady’s wages. Defour probably is but Arfield, Gudmunsson, Mee, Tarkowski, Heaton, Lowton, not likely.

Even if they go down this season, they’ve still got 3 seasons of massive income through the parachute payments.

It’s become a bit of a myth that you need to spend a fortune to establish yourself in the premiership. There’s really not a lot of quality outside of the top 6, granted Everton & Leicester should be 7th & 8th given the players they have but there’s not a lot in the rest of them after that.

If you look at Newcastle, Brighton & Huddersfield, all of their teams are similar to last season with only a few additions & they’re all a few points above the drop & none look out of their depth.

The hard bit is getting in the premiership but after that you’re in an incredible position with huge income guaranteed for at least 4 seasons. For winning that shootout in May Huddersfield are currently the biggest team in Yorkshire financially by a mile, they may not choose to but if they want they can offer huge wages compared to Wednesday, Leeds etc.

We wouldn’t need a complete overhaul. We’d need probably 4 or 5 first team additions bearing in mind that if we were good enough to get up to the prem then we would’ve improved the players we have currently.

You can get by on a smaller squad as well as you don’t play anywhere near as much.

 

Apparently Burnley's average first team wage is £18,000 per week. Even if they had a squad of 30 that would be comfortably under £30m.

 

To be fair that’s from the last time they were promoted & has gone up since but it won’t be drastically higher

 

Just checked - it's from 2016/17. Apparently they paid a further 8.5m in bonuses upon survival.

 

Pretty incredible really. Especially compared to what someone like West Ham will be throwing at Hart, Zabaleta, Hernandez etc

 

Which explains why I was saying to Red Rain that I couldn't give a figure for how much investment it would take for us to get promoted. I wonder how many teams Burnley will finish above who have a bigger wage bill this season? Could quite feasibly be more than ten.

 

So, to summarise your position, you do not know how much additional capital is required to get us to the Premier League, and you are not even prepared to guess. You just know that it is not £100m, but you are unwilling to explain why it is not £100m.

 

To summarise (and as I have said on numerous occasions) no I do not, and as equally important, neither do you.

No point even guessing.

 

So how do you know that Mr Cryne has not funded the club adequately if you do not know how much is necessary to fund the club in order to get it promoted. I only ask because you have been very critical of his tenure of ownership and have listed on many occasions the things he has fail to do, including making ground improvements and improving the team. Presumably you know what the shortfall in his fund iamounts to.

 

You've said it would require £100m to get promoted and Cryne has put in £10m.

By your reckoning the shortfall is £90m?

 

And what is your reckoning?