Owner

[judge]

Have last years accounts been released ? Not heard anything v

 

[pommpey]

Makes perfect sense to me. Which responsible parent didn't turn to their mewling offspring and announce " No presents for you until you've passed all your GCSE's"?

This isn't in that context though, is it?

The investment isn't a 'reward' - it is a pledge of financial input to augment the playing staff. The reward comes for the investors when we get promoted.

pommpey

 

[Hague Blade]

I'm relieved to read this - I was starting to think I was the only one that could see it. Sure, Jim Phipps seems like a lovely chap, looks like your cuddly old grandad, uses Twitter a lot, makes a few people's day with some re-tweets, gives it the whole "We're all Blades, aren't we" schtick - but come on - are we really that easily satisfied?

He's a PR mouthpiece. I entirely accept that he's doing that job better than it has been done previously, but that's all he is. Read what he says - and I concede 140 characters don't give you much to work with, but it is almost always a variant on either 'Great result today, onward and upwards' or 'Bit of a setback today, but don't worry - plans are in place...'

 

[WF10BLADE]

I'm relieved to read this - I was starting to think I was the only one that could see it. Sure, Jim Phipps seems like a lovely chap, looks like your cuddly old grandad, uses Twitter a lot, makes a few people's day with some re-tweets, gives it the whole "We're all Blades, aren't we" schtick - but come on - are we really that easily satisfied?

He's a PR mouthpiece. I entirely accept that he's doing that job better than it has been done previously, but that's all he is. Read what he says - and I concede 140 characters don't give you much to work with, but it is almost always a variant on either 'Great result today, onward and upwards' or 'Bit of a setback today, but don't worry - plans are in place...'

A few years ago the Pigs used to have a board member/chairman that used to 'tweet' all the time (cant remember his name) - much derided by us Blades at the time it was as well.

Now we have Jim Phipps doing and saying the same stuff he was at the time.

 

[pommpey]

A few years ago the Pigs used to have a board member/chairman that used to 'tweet' all the time (cant remember his name) - much derided by us Blades at the time it was as well.

Now we have Jim Phipps doing and saying the same stuff he was at the time.

It's nice of Phipps to 'engage' with the supporters, but in honesty, all he is there for is as an emoilent - a salve for the itch that says 'we've been done - again'. Like the age-old, brown at the edges saga of Sam Hashemi, where we stupidly thought he was our saviour (and stood at the back of the room, leaning against a door jamb was the wonderfully unimpressed, underwhelmed Dave Bassett) we fell for the whole sad, sorry ruse about 'game changing investments'. In my mind, I was thinking Craig Bellamy, Brett Assemblonga, John Brayford, James McArthur, Conor Coady, Will Hughes even Tom Ince. Yup - you're all gonna cry - 'how much' but THIS is a game changing investment and yes, they'd be 'dropping down a league'. Big deal. Big deal if they are on big bucks. Pay peanuts, get monkeys. Can you honestly say that with that lot in your playing staff, you would be more confident of us stamping our authority on this league and sending the right message out next season that we will be just passing through? Look at Leicester City. A few seasons ago, they left the division we now find ourselves in and yesterday put the mighty, £150m-heavy Man Utd to the sword. It can be done, then. Wolves did it, Man City as well. This is done where the board backs the manager in his quest to achieve, and doesn't fob him and the supporters off with crap like 'not until the Championship', like its some carrot-in-stick affair for Cluff to work out with his team of unerperformers.

pommpey

 

[bladesadviser]

I agree with so much on here and don't have any new answers, but would like to make a point about attracting players

Its often stated on here that if you offer enough money players will come down to this division however are those "mercenary" players the type we want here? There are lot of people on here that have taken the piss out of Maguire for moving for the money to play in one Europa qualifying game yet then want the same player to come here

I think in the case of Coady the lad went to the championship for footballing reasons. He had played in League 1 and now wanted to see if he can make the step up to Championship level.

I could be wrong but it seems to be getting a happy medium. Someone like Davies springs to mind, clearly wants to play and arguably with been the most consistent signing

 

[1889]

Makes perfect sense to me. Which responsible parent didn't turn to their mewling offspring and announce " No presents for you until you've passed all your GCSE's"?

Surely a more comparative scenario would be the same parents saying " I'm not buying you any revision aids for your GCSE's, I'm saving the money for University"

 

[Swanseablade]

There's some naïve comments here about it not mattering if our owner turns up at games or not.
Course it does.
It's footy to us (the fans) only.
To him, NC & players it is business or work.
What must NC think if he never shows up? If NC is after dosh for a particular player how can he have that conversation with his boss & justify it in that position, etc. if NC knows he hasn't seen us perform recently? Above all it shows a general lack of interest on the Prince's part.
Successful teams wether in sport or business all have the same common goals, they all pull together & they are always a close unit.
Not sure that can happen from "afar."

UTB
FTO

 

[Cyprus Blade]

To him, NC & players it is business or work.

I read an interview with Sheik yer Money in the Daily Mail and it read almost like buying a club (he had looked at a number of them including West Spam and was on the verge of buying Cardiff until news of his interest leaked and the price went up) was an extension of his fantasy football hobby. He apparently even rang Liverpool up once to find out if Gerard was playing as he was in his fantasy football team.

Whether he has time for such "hobbies" now its hard to say now he has become a government minister. We know next to nothing about his son who has taken the reins along with JP.

And whilst I can recognise that there are certain commercial considerations which require some financial matters to be kept secret I do find it hard to understand why everything seems caught up within this blanket of secrecy ( e.g. the transfer window is closed - would there really be any commercial harm in disclosing whether or not the full transfer allocation had been spent/allocated for tribunal repayments - that would make it somewhat clearer where some of the responsibility for a truly abysmal performance in this summer's transfer market lies - ineptitude or lack of money).

Up to this point supporters are being told they must take the level of the sheik's investment in the club on trust. So the only thing we have to go on is really the eleven who walk out on the pitch and something is clearly missing there. NC seems to agree given his comments post the Swindon debacle. This isn't even to take into account the transfer money for HM1 and the cup run (as the sheik's "investment" is supposedly over and above anything the club garnered through its own performance and is to be spent on the first team according to statements made by the club in 2013).

The question in my mind is are we truly that bad at playing the transfer market or is the investment not really there?