Possible Implosion

[georgebernardshaw]

£15m I reckon. He’s hardly set the world alight in a team with records for footballing shitness piling up behind them.

 

[ZLB]

After accepting that relegation is a virtual certainty, my anxiety is about the future of the club. The potential to go down with the lowest points total, lowest goals scored, fewest chances created, no clean sheets etc etc is more worrying. The long term consequences could be catastrophic.
Sponsors are hardly likely to be flooding in to be associated with us, I can see the M/Hall shop closing after less than 2 years as sales disappear, & youngsters are unlikely to be rushing to support us, which undermines our future fan base. Plus the much vaunted media dept are likely to be culled as cost are reduced.

Plus the stigma that will be attached to such a poor season for all involved with the club. I can see it now, 'XXXXX has been linked to XXFC, XXXX was part of the SUFC team that achieved the lowest points total in PL history, a total unlikely to ever be beaten'. Or,' CW the former manager of SUFC has been linked to XXFC, CW who managed SUFC when they achieved the lowest points total in PL history ....................'! And you can imagine the abuse coming our way from rival supporters.

I really think that if the season continues in the same way that the above really could happen, with confidence in the players & management/coaching staff being at rock bottom for the start of the 21-22 season, & we will hardly be a magnet for decent players to plug the obvious gaps in the team.

Its interesting to gauge the support CW has, its gone from 100% behind him, to pockets of discontent, to a growing {but still less than the majority] group that want a change of management.

Personally,
Do I want a change - No
Do I have confidence he can get us to 15 -20 points - No
Do I have confidence he can take us straight back up in 21-22 - No
Do I like him as a manger, a Blade & a down to earth man - Yes - Unequivocally
Am I frustrated by his unwillingness to try anything different - Yes
Am I frustrated by the constant team changes - Yes
Am I frustrated by the poor showing of his signings - Yes

But in the football world of managerial changes virtually every week, I still want him to stay, which in the light of the above might sound sentimental! It is not his fault that we cannot compete financially at the top level, & in all probability relegation would happen in the coming 1 or 2 seasons anyway.

There are too many good memories from the past few seasons that spring to mind to throw it all away.
March 2017 - Oxford away, winning 2-3 & a chest patting CW came across to us at the end.
December 2016 - Coventry away, winning after a pitch invasion by the CC fans. Terrible weather!
Northampton away, Sat on the bank as I could not get a ticket - Promotion assured!
September 2018 - Beating Villa 4-1 in the sunshine, 5 days before I had a major operation - one of the best performances I can remember in living memory.
Ipswich at home - JOC's header & the utter relief that we were going up.

Without CW these events would never have happened, & I think he deserves my loyalty. I am sure he is hurting & cares as I do, I just hope this season does not set us back too far.

I, like most on here, am a Blade & have been for years. Its nice to be successful, but is not the reason I am a supporter. So whether it is the PL or elsewhere I shall continue to cheer, moan, be frustrated, lose sleep & be miserable for the 2 hours after a defeat [which has been some time this season].

MTLBWY

Happy New Year

You’re over thinking it pal.

 

[Stretch]

I’m not sure about the last sentence, assuming our wage bill is around £50m-£60m now and we have revenue this year of somewhere between £90m-£100m (due to Covid reductions) with the amortisation of the £100m+ we’ve spent now sizeable (around £20m per year), we’ll not make a deal of profit on PL revenues this year.

Next year the wage bill should drop assuming sensible contract clauses and the loss of some deadwood on decent salaries to around £30m-£35m (best case but maybe higher). Revenue drops to around £65m-£75m and the amortisation stays at £20m. It doesn’t leave a lot of room for manoeuvre on other costs.

The only player we return anywhere near what we got is Berge and I reckon we stand to lose £8m-£10m on him. We might make a fair bit on the likes of Egan/JOC/Baldock if they leave.

We then have the problem of having to make sure we’re back in the PL sharpish or that the books are balanced for when the parachute money ends.

I don’t see PA throwing caution to the wind so if we go back up it won’t be through big spending.

I just mean that in comparison to most other clubs in the championship, and certainly many of those recently relegated from the PL, who largely have bigger wage bills. Of course there will be a limit to what we can do without selling some of the players you have mentioned.

 

[CornwallBlade]

I’m not sure about the last sentence, assuming our wage bill is around £50m-£60m now and we have revenue this year of somewhere between £90m-£100m (due to Covid reductions) with the amortisation of the £100m+ we’ve spent now sizeable (around £20m per year), we’ll not make a deal of profit on PL revenues this year.

Next year the wage bill should drop assuming sensible contract clauses and the loss of some deadwood on decent salaries to around £30m-£35m (best case but maybe higher). Revenue drops to around £65m-£75m and the amortisation stays at £20m. It doesn’t leave a lot of room for manoeuvre on other costs.

The only player we return anywhere near what we got is Berge and I reckon we stand to lose £8m-£10m on him. We might make a fair bit on the likes of Egan/JOC/Baldock if they leave.

We then have the problem of having to make sure we’re back in the PL sharpish or that the books are balanced for when the parachute money ends.

I don’t see PA throwing caution to the wind so if we go back up it won’t be through big spending.

Apologies if I got this wrong but I thought our wage bill last year was reported as c£13m - by far the lowest in the PL? If so, I can’t see it being £50-60m now?

PL wage bills reveal wonder of Wilder's work but also serve a warning

Blades boss Chris Wilder got more out of his budget last season than any other manager

www.examinerlive.co.uk

 

[S40BLADE]

Apologies if I got this wrong but I thought our wage bill last year was reported as c£13m - by far the lowest in the PL? If so, I can’t see it being £50-60m now?

PL wage bills reveal wonder of Wilder's work but also serve a warning

Blades boss Chris Wilder got more out of his budget last season than any other manager

www.examinerlive.co.uk

I could be wrong with this but the statistics this article refers to and has graphed from Forbes comes from the GSSS 2019 report when we were still in the championship. Football unlike many other sports is so non transparent with its wage numbers always makes it a fucking bugger to talk about.

 

[Houston_Blade]

Apologies if I got this wrong but I thought our wage bill last year was reported as c£13m - by far the lowest in the PL? If so, I can’t see it being £50-60m now?

PL wage bills reveal wonder of Wilder's work but also serve a warning

Blades boss Chris Wilder got more out of his budget last season than any other manager

www.examinerlive.co.uk

Those were based on information at least a year out of date and don’t reflect the PL wages that are now being paid. Most players and Wilder have had promotion raises and new contracts since. We’ve also made some expensive signings who won’t have come for peanuts.

Burnley’s wage bill is £87m so I’d say we’re in the £50m region comfortably.