"Promotion is not our aim this year"
In a nice report in the Mail today, GA makes two particularly interesting points.
Firstly he says that we're not aiming for promotion this season, merely to get to 61 points.
Secondly, that we can't even afford to sign players on £200 a week. Given that works out as £2000 a year less than minimum wage, I'm quite pleased we're not in the market for players prepared to work part time at the very basic salary. But it's a bit worrying if we're really unable to dip into the loan market unless the parent club pays all the wages.
Now, I'm prepared to take both comments with a pinch of salt - I don't think Ainsworth would ever put out a team not looking to win; nor do I think the situation with wages can be quite that perilous - partly because of the £350k we're getting from this cup run; partly because if Banton goes that must free up some significant cash. Even if most of the windfall goes to pay down debts, I'd like to hope Ainsworth will be given £75-100k to pay the wages of a quality creative midfielder and a proven goalscorer up until May.
I also understand the idea of painting us as plucky underdogs ahead of a big cup replay. But in the longer term - as we've previously discussed on here - the deliberate campaign to market us as a gritty club overachieving on a tiny budget can be counter-productive, especially at a time where there's heightened interest in the team.
Anyway, here's the article:
Comments
Not aiming for promotion!
Its a prudent line to follow as everyone will know we have a bit of cash coming from the FA cup run. Therefore when he goes to a higher club for a loan he can continue the party line of sack cloth and ashes.
I don't understand for a minute Exeter claiming they are going to get £1million from their games v Liverpool as a) that is almost certainly bull and b) just put the cost of every player they want to sign up considerably in terms of wages and any fee.
Of course we want to maximise points from every game, and Ainsworth isn't saying he doesn't want us to get promoted; merely that his target is 61 points and to have achieved that by the end of the season means we've done OK.
Although from the position that we are currently in, only getting 61 points would be disappointing!
I do get the feeling that GA was very scarred by the vindictiveness of the personal abuse he received in those awful days that now seem so long ago but in reality were less than two years ago. Many managers in that situation would have been fired, perhaps we would have had we been able to afford to do so, but even at the time it was clear that he was doing his level best in extremely difficult circumstances - fine at the time to call for his removal but he didn't deserve the personal abuse and ridicule he received from too many.
No doubt at some stage in his managerial career he will encounter tough times again so I guess it will be useful experience. I rather regret though that GA is noticeably a little more distant from the supporters than in his very early days. Anyway classy guy oozing integrity. Whatever he does in the future, I wish him well.
Most interesting snippet for me? There were heavy rumours that the very existence of the club was at stake that wonderful day at Torquay. Think this is the first time I have heard an insider put risk of extinction had Bristol scored at as high as 90% though.
If you remember this time last year he and the board were saying much the same thing, but talking about 55 points. Clearly it's wise to keep expectations in check, at least publicly. Given the dramatic improvement in the financial propsects of life in League 1 next year as opposed to this (I'm told) I have absolutely no doubt that if we're in with a shout three quarters of the way through the season they will give it a real go.
I'm sure we will try to win every game on the field but not sure we will throw speculative money at it.
Interested in the "dramatic" improvement in finances in Lg1 compared to Lg2 - really?
Cant see it making a difference to home support. Away support maybe a bit but offset by fact that this year at least Lg1 is Northern dominated, Lg2 southern with consequent impact on away gates. Is there much difference in TV revenues. Then comes the problem of likely higher playing budget required to try to compete. Could you illuminate please.
It's not so much that they are dramatic compared to League 2 but that they are dramatically improved compared to League 1 this year as a result of the absurdly grandiose TV fees payableto the Premiership which are "trickling down" to the paupers beneath. At least so I've been told.
It's certainly true that life in League 1 this year would have been a financial nightmare given the northern bias, though (with apologies to M3G and the rest of our northern based brethren!).
Ah I see. Couldn't find online anywhere a comparison this year to next or Lg1 and Lg2. You don't happen to have the figures do you.
No, it was a throw away comment a few weeks ago by someone who generally knows what's what at the club, but no more than that I'm afraid.
Ainsworth said yesterday: "I’m 90 per cent sure the club would have seized to continue if we’d gone down as we were in a terrible state."
I'd have thought the biggest financial difference between League 1 and League 2 is that if you're in League 1 then you have no risk of being in the Conference the next season.
Looking at the financials at the trust meeting last year for the year before I'd agree with him, at least ceased to exist in its present form.
.....however that moment of scariness has gone and we are on course to reach the playoffs for the second year in a row and are playing Villa tonight in a FA cup replay.......COYB! Let's have a party tonight at Villa!,,,
clearly getting promoted to league 1 is year 6 of the 5 year plan
I'm sure Harriman didn't sign for £200 pw!
Sure you're right @FrijidPink but that will be why that's all we can pay anyone else...
Right @StrongestTeam. Some people seem to forget that we could've ceased to exist less than two years ago!
@Wig_and_Pen - don't be daft!
If we were really that close to going properly bust, it seems an even braver/nigh on suicidal decision to stick with a manager who won something like 1 in 15-20 games then doesn't it!
Mr Ainsworth still has that touch. Six goals this season for his Sunday team in the Bracknell league.
@Malone - did we have enough money to pay the contract up at that point?
Perhaps we should give credit to the WWFC board for seeing beyond the on pitch results that season and recognising that Gareth Ainsworth had the attributes required for managing WWFC and stopping the rot.
The real problem is we went from such a low to such a high in one season. Now everyone's expectations are raised. Probably stating the bleeding obvious but its the stark reality and Ainsworth's job is to keep everyone's feet firmly on the ground and manage expectations.
Absobloodylutely.
Spot on, M3G. its wonderful, but a little dangerous.
We do have to be realistic in our expectations. Right now if somehow you could guarantee that ten years from now the club would be around 10th in Lg2, I'd take that. It would still be serving its local community, providing entertainment for its people and raising the profile of the town.
It would of course nice to be in lg1 or higher and we should strive to be there, but for me the cost of failure and dropping out of the league is much higher than the benefits of reaching Lg1. If it was possible to choose, I'd stay where we were rather than take a chance on dropping down.
Pretty much agree with that @DevC but the problem with stability in League Two is you are one bad season away from being out of the league. Stability in League One give you more of a safety net and should be achievable over time.
Indeed that's true, Righty. I am sure we would all love to be in Lg1, in part for the reasons you state.
Not sure I would agree that stable midtable Lg1 is within the clubs grasp given the constraints on geography, potential fan base and ownership financial input that we live under. It would be nice if it was, but my take would be that while Lg1 is not outside the bounds of possibility, it would be very hard for this club to now stay there for an extended period. On that basis, I fear that If WW are not in Lg2 in 2025/26, it is more likely that we will be in a lower league than lg1. Avoiding that scenario should be our aim and our expectation IMHO.
A bit flawed DevC, especially when you look at the example Burton Albion are setting in Div 1 with average gates being lower then ours or thereabouts.
Agreed they are not fan owned and thus have a bigger budget with someone putting up the cash but as for catchment area and supporter base, I would argue that we are in a better position.
Indeed. it is possible to get flashes in the pan, and burton are on one now.
A couple of years ago, it was Yeovil in Burtons position. Have a look at the league table at where Yeovil are now, and where they may be next season.
I suspect ten years from now we will be on a par or ahead of Burton Albion. There will probably be a new "Burton Albion" doing well by then.
Time for a where will we be in 2025/26 league prediction table. Hopefully there will still be enough of us old codgers around on Gasroom mk6.5 to remember the good/bad old days.
I'll plump for 8th in the Southern Development Squad Premier League (similar to 3rd Division South).
Or in the unlikely event of the lunatics not taking over the asylum a yo-yo club currently struggling to avoid relegation to League 2 ((having enjoyed a Wembley PO victory in 2025)