Rebuilding in the summer - let's be positive!!

The answer is there. You just need to ask the right question.

I am not sure what the question was, to be honest with you, but if it was, is this time different... well, no. Why do you think that it was different?

 

That is the question (with apologies to Shakespeare). I think that the economics of our club are exactly as you describe them. It is how it must be. The owner can not subsidise the club indefinitely - only in the short term.

However: on this particular occasion, £12M has flowed back to the club in the calendar year already, eliminating the need for subsidy for a limited time. That is what is different. The remaining life of the three players' contracts meant that we did not receive a sum that truly represented their value. So in that scenario, on the fringe of the playoffs, retain the players until the end of the season and see what that brings. That would have represented what may well be a once-in-a-decade possibility to take the club to a different level. And as an aside, even if we didn't make the playoffs it would almost certainly have ensured that we ended the current season on a more positive note (provided the players did not take their bat home) than the relegation form we are currently seeing - and will carry into next season.

For the avoidance of doubt: I know the players would not have signed a new contract. That's not the point. We could have insisted on them staying. See Luis Suarez, summer 2013. If they didn't perform, at least we would have tried. We would have demonstrated ambition to the fan base.

I also firmly believe the club did nothing wrong prior to this season regarding the contracts the players were on. It is quite clear from Patrick Cryne's remarks last August that the club tried to get them to sign new deals but the players backed themselves to get better deals at the end of this season. Rightly, as it turned out. But PC also stated that the contracts would be allowed to run down and see where it takes us. Instead we cashed in our chips.

 

I'm sorry, but I do not think there is any new ground here. That is why I listed all the facts that I could think of at the start of my last piece. I know that you think that the fact that we already had cash in the bank makes a difference. I do not agree. The right decision is the right decision, and throwing away say £7m will always be a bad decision, in my view. In my new board members piece, I tried to get posters to pretend to act like people who had the future of the club in their hands. No-one wanted to play, because taking responsibility means that you have to set aside disappointment, set aside childish things, and act responsibly. Therein lies my frustration with this debate. I see that the board acted responsibly, which they are bound to do. The fans act like fans and take out their disappointment on those who acted properly. There is no chance of a result in this debate because there is no reconciling the two positions. All that happens is the children resort to name calling (not you I hasten to add). So I am done with it.

 

When we are 0-2 down on Saturday I promise to turn to Grandfathertyke and say "Yes! But look how solvent we are!"

Just joking RR - I agree that we shall have to agree to disagree!

I don't think that we got 7M though.

(And I shall be backing Wednesday at anything above Evens!)