Priority - Training Ground

[Blade56]

Finally fix that roof.

 

[robbiez666]

Be great if we could use this upcoming stint in the Prem to build a legacy and get this sorted for years to come.

The infrastructure is the priority for me. If we ignore it and spend all our money on players, we're mugs. We need to update everything and build a solid base for the next decade.

We could spend £100 million on players/wages and still come down and unless we get a rich benefactor, updating and upgrading our facilities is not going to happen if we're not in the top flight.

We need state of the art training, conditioning and medical facilities
A top rated academy
An update to the ground and other infrastructure

Lots of talk of signing the best young European talent but we need to compete on facilities as well as wages.

 

[Weasel]

If we do t use this golden opportunity to pay off our bills and get out finances in order, and upgrade the training ground then the board really is fuckin stupid.

Clubs don't like doing business with clubs who have defaulted on owed debts so we should clean up the finances. Potential signings also want to see what the training ground and player facilities are like and these also sell the club to the potential signing. So imperative that these the training facilities are upgraded. If that means we can't sign a player then so be it.

 

[Yogi]

Can’t see us making any major upgrades now we’re up for sale which is a shame

 

[Flatulent_Bob]

Be great if we could use this upcoming stint in the Prem to build a legacy and get this sorted for years to come.

Genuine question to those proposing this. Would you honestly support no signings this summer whatsoever and we upgrade the academy to CatA to produce players in 5-6 years time?
It’s crazy talk, there’s not enough money to do it. Which is why everyone has said you need to pull the money from somewhere so what is it you aren’t funding? Fees? Wages? Infrastructure upgrades? Development investment?

 

[Original United]

Genuine question to those proposing this. Would you honestly support no signings this summer whatsoever and we upgrade the academy to CatA to produce players in 5-6 years time?

I would support whatever is the best for the long term future of the blades, but my balls are made of gristle not crystal so I cannot answer this question

 

[Flatulent_Bob]

I would support whatever is the best for the long term future of the blades, but my balls are made of gristle not crystal so I cannot answer this question

You can say which you’d want us to do. Do you write off this season, and possibly to put the money into the academy for potential future benefit?
I wouldn’t as if you aren’t in the PL you can’t really find a CatA academy so we may as well keep doing what we’ve been doing.
Same as I wouldn’t upgrade the stadia with PL money at the moment because again we wouldn’t get a return on it quick enough to make it worth the while unfortunately.
Hopefully someone comes in who has money to spend without return and is happy to do the lot but I doubt it.

 

[Russtheblade]

If we do t use this golden opportunity to pay off our bills and get out finances in order, and upgrade the training ground then the board really is fuckin stupid.

Clubs don't like doing business with clubs who have defaulted on owed debts so we should clean up the finances. Potential signings also want to see what the training ground and player facilities are like and these also sell the club to the potential signing. So imperative that these the training facilities are upgraded. If that means we can't sign a player then so be it.

Difficult to impress potential signings driving them up Spital Hill or Rutland Rd/ Parkwood Springs..unless they're forced to wear a blindfold

 

[robbiez666]

Genuine question to those proposing this. Would you honestly support no signings this summer whatsoever and we upgrade the academy to CatA to produce players in 5-6 years time?
It’s crazy talk, there’s not enough money to do it. Which is why everyone has said you need to pull the money from somewhere so what is it you aren’t funding? Fees? Wages? Infrastructure upgrades? Development investment?

Priorities for me

Tying down contracts of existing players
Training ground
signings with an eye on the future
infrastructure upgrades
loans to cover this season

In a perfect world you'd go for CAT A, but at least we need to ensure that the facilities are spot on. I genuinely don't think playing against the best youth players is as important as getting experience of men's football.

 

[YES Blade]

If we do t use this golden opportunity to pay off our bills and get out finances in order, and upgrade the training ground then the board really is fuckin stupid.

Clubs don't like doing business with clubs who have defaulted on owed debts so we should clean up the finances. Potential signings also want to see what the training ground and player facilities are like and these also sell the club to the potential signing. So imperative that these the training facilities are upgraded. If that means we can't sign a player then so be it.

I thought football debts are protected should a club going into administration? So it’s the local businesses that only get a fraction of what they are owed whereas the football clubs owed millions in transfer fees are guaranteed to get 100% of money owed.

So why would any club care about the finances of the club who they are selling a player to?

 

[Original United]

Bob, we would have to invest in the squad this season as we have proved.efore that you develop England internationals and have to sell them at knock down prices to survive, .

 

[ormester]

I expect next season to be one where we sort things out off-field and largely make do on the pitch. I suspect this won't be enough for most of our fans who demand promotion regardless of how much or little money there is to spend on players.

Of course it won't it is not good enough to make the numbers to be fair

 

[Teddy]

Given the current ownership uncertainty I wonder whether it is likely there will be any infrastructure improvements right now (unless there are some light touch/high impact instant improvements that can be made).

1 - the Prince wants out, therefore longer term projects are unlikely to interest him at this point. Why kick off a project that a new owner might want done differently; and

2 - in the even of a takeover we may suddenly have the funds to make such improvements without compromising as much on transfer/wage budgets.

It’s like when you’re selling your house… why get bogged down in issues that soon won’t be yours.

 

[Greg.]

Meanwhile this could be in the Championship next season!

 

[mancunianblade]

Meanwhile this could be in the Championship next season!

Just shows what a sugar daddy can get you, 20 years ago exactly these lot dodged a bullet at our expense

 

[Weasel]

I thought football debts are protected should a club going into administration? So it’s the local businesses that only get a fraction of what they are owed whereas the football clubs owed millions in transfer fees are guaranteed to get 100% of money owed.

So why would any club care about the finances of the club who they are selling a player to?

They are. But I just supposed that a club would rather be paid on time and under the terms of the agreement rather than fucking about trying to get the monies from a third party and all the extra processes that go with securing those funds.

 

[Weasel]

Difficult to impress potential signings driving them up Spital Hill or Rutland Rd/ Parkwood Springs..unless they're forced to wear a blindfold

Very true. Im more in the thought of updating the training facilities rather than getting CAT A status or buying a new training ground to move away from the surrounding area though.

 

[SuperBobbyHatton]

Genuine question to those proposing this. Would you honestly support no signings this summer whatsoever and we upgrade the academy to CatA to produce players in 5-6 years time?
It’s crazy talk, there’s not enough money to do it. Which is why everyone has said you need to pull the money from somewhere so what is it you aren’t funding? Fees? Wages? Infrastructure upgrades? Development investment?

I think we need to stay up at least 2 seasons before even thinking about upgrades to the academy and substantial investment in the infrastructure. it makes very little sense otherwise. Players first and if that goes well and we stay up then infrastructure improvements might be necessary.

 

[YES Blade]

They are. But I just supposed that a club would rather be paid on time and under the terms of the agreement rather than fucking about trying to get the monies from a third party and all the extra processes that go with securing those funds.

I doubt we’re much worse financially that majority of the football league, so it’s not something we should be worrying about.

 

[YES Blade]

I think we need to stay up at least 2 seasons before even thinking about upgrades to the academy and substantial investment in the infrastructure. it makes very little sense otherwise. Players first and if that goes well and we stay up then infrastructure improvements might be necessary.

If we wait until we’re established in the Premier League then it’s unlikely we’ll ever invest in the infrastructure.

The new owner should make improvements to the stadium, training ground and academy a big priority. The plans should be in place and should go ahead regardless of which division we are in.

 

[Nightsweats]

Priorities.

Staying up and consolidating in the top flight.

2 or 3 years down the line if that's achieved then update facillities. Pretty dim having state of the art facillities in the champ or lower.

 

[Flatulent_Bob]

If we wait until we’re established in the Premier League then it’s unlikely we’ll ever invest in the infrastructure.

The new owner should make improvements to the stadium, training ground and academy a big priority. The plans should be in place and should go ahead regardless of which division we are in.

So given our financial state we do the first two and come down rather than invest in players?
It’s obvious that we’d like to do it all but this is a simple case of infinite wants with limited resources. There has to be a pragmatic approach no matter what you think is the priority and the infrastructure work takes so much of our funding it really would be that or nothing unless significant additional investment comes in.

 

[Snowflake]

If we do t use this golden opportunity to pay off our bills and get out finances in order, and upgrade the training ground then the board really is fuckin stupid.

Clubs don't like doing business with clubs who have defaulted on owed debts so we should clean up the finances. Potential signings also want to see what the training ground and player facilities are like and these also sell the club to the potential signing. So imperative that these the training facilities are upgraded. If that means we can't sign a player then so be it.

Whilst I agree with the sentiment I don’t think there is enough spare money to do all these things.
A top class set of training facilities will cost many millions.
Doesn’t always work either: just ask Leicester City

 

[robbiez666]

So given our financial state we do the first two and come down rather than invest in players?
It’s obvious that we’d like to do it all but this is a simple case of infinite wants with limited resources. There has to be a pragmatic approach no matter what you think is the priority and the infrastructure work takes so much of our funding it really would be that or nothing unless significant additional investment comes in.

We've been under a transfer embargo after being relegated 2 seasons ago. We invested quite heavily in players and that is where it got us. We need to invest significantly less is players and still get results. One way to improve development is to improve the training facilities. Get the most out of what we have and can afford. The only chance to improve our infrastructure is while we're up. You can keep kicking the can down the road but you end up like our neighbours, with a rustbucket they don't own and a training ground which probably needs comdemning.

 

[Flatulent_Bob]

We've been under a transfer embargo after being relegated 2 seasons ago. We invested quite heavily in players and that is where it got us. We need to invest significantly less is players and still get results. One way to improve development is to improve the training facilities. Get the most out of what we have and can afford. The only chance to improve our infrastructure is while we're up. You can keep kicking the can down the road but you end up like our neighbours, with a rustbucket they don't own and a training ground which probably needs comdemning.

Which is why I genuinely think for any significant infrastructural upgrades you’re looking at needing external investment.
Training ground I think could be down over multiple seasons because is less but a move to a new training complex, and stadium upgrade is for the birds. Cat A is a complete waste of money given the kids we’re currently getting through without it, and how long it would take to give a return. Although we’d all love our u23s to play Wednesday it just isn’t worth the investment.

 

[robbiez666]

Which is why I genuinely think for any significant infrastructural upgrades you’re looking at needing external investment.
Training ground I think could be down over multiple seasons because is less but a move to a new training complex, and stadium upgrade is for the birds. Cat A is a complete waste of money given the kids we’re currently getting through without it, and how long it would take to give a return. Although we’d all love our u23s to play Wednesday it just isn’t worth the investment.

I'm wondering where this external investment is coming from?

 

[Flatulent_Bob]

I'm wondering where this external investment is coming from?

If it exists at all. Which is why the stadia upgrades and academy stuff are pure vanity projects and I just can’t see happening without someone coming in wanting to make a statement to the fans.

 

[robbiez666]

If it exists at all. Which is why the stadia upgrades and academy stuff are pure vanity projects and I just can’t see happening without someone coming in wanting to make a statement to the fans.

but they need updating. The stadium, less so, but the training facilities do. It's not a luxury. We saw the injury toll.

 

[Weasel]

I doubt we’re much worse financially that majority of the football league, so it’s not something we should be worrying about.

So we shouldn't be putting our house in order financially and instead we should be blowing money all our available money on players (because the other clubs will get their money anyway). Righto.

I disagree by the way.

 

[Flatulent_Bob]

but they need updating. The stadium, less so, but the training facilities do. It's not a luxury. We saw the injury toll.

I’m not fully onboard with the Shirecliffe sniper nonsense but I agree they need some updating but it can be done more gradually over multiple seasons by taking some of the PL funds. As we did with the new pitches. It’s not critical that we move to the new site for next season which is a tens of millions type investment.
Rebuilding the squad with younger talent with much smaller fees is critical this close season season, regardless of the league we’re in next season.