There's a few things we need to do which will take some time.
- We need to pay off the mortgage on the ground etc. I believe the parachute payments are reserved for this, which means we'll need to do some good wheeler-dealing in the recruitment department after we're relegated to remain competitive/push for promotion. Once that's paid off we'll be somewhat less shackled financially
- Speaking of wheeler-dealing, Wilder will have some big decisions to make regarding some of the lads who have now been here a while and have been found wanting at the top level this year. Decisions on the likes of Stevens, Sharp, Basham and Fleck. I loathe to mention Bash because he's been one of the few who will come out of this season with some credibility, but he's not getting any younger and we don't have anyone pushing for his place at present. If his legs start to go midway through the season, we need to be prepared for it.
- We need to get a good understanding of the lay of the land regarding player recruitment in a post-Brexit landscape. We will obviously want to recruit from abroad at times as we have done already, but this is about to become a lot more difficult if you're not signing big names and top talents. This will be where 'United World' comes in, as I believe it'll be easier to shift players between sister clubs than to sign them outright from the continent. Beerschot are well-placed in this regard, but what are the plans for Al-Hilal United and Kerala United?
- We need to work towards a Cat. 1 academy, as Wilder has pointed out before. Again, takes time and a lot of investment. There might be a decision to be made as to whether we push for this and spend less on player recruitment, or focus on improving the first team whilst putting the academy on the back-burner. Fully depends on what sort of budget we're looking at.
- GET FANS BACK IN. It can't be overstated how badly we've suffered from not having us lot in the ground. In a way, I sort of hope we're not allowed back in for the remainder of this season as it could well be a very toxic atmosphere and it won't stand us in good stead for next season Accept what's happened, move on, start the next season with a clean slate and some new faces. It's mental to think that there'll be players who will have been here a year who we've never seen play in the flesh. This is obviously more short-term in the sense that it'll happen within the next year, but the boost to the coffers will be needed over time.
- We need to accept that the Kop pillars are likely to be there for quite a while longer
In fact, considering all the challenges outlined above, I think all stadium improvements need fucking off for the foreseeable. They're not important for now.
- After a few years, wherever we find ourselves, the Prince needs to have a hard look at whether he's got the dosh to seriously take us forward. We've spent a fair bit of money
for us, but we don't have the deep pockets required to build some proper squad depth. Jack O'Connell is a prime example here. The drop in quality between him and Jack Robinson is huge. You need that backing to build a squad where if someone ends up injured, you've got at least one decent replacement in each department. Keeping good players happy is a very hard thing to do, but I'm sure being well-paid helps a bit (the 'wage structure' may also need looking at).
