John Marquis - Portsmouth
I am reliably informed that Marquis was signed by Pompey over the summer from Donny for just under 2 million pounds. If that is true, and I’ve no reason to disbelieve my source, it shows you what we are up against financially in this league. Marquis, who scored a hatful of goals last season was a sought after signing by quite a few clubs.
It also shows what a fantastic job Gareth Ainsworth and Dobbo have been doing and continue to do so.
Imagine what he could come up with being given that sort of cash to spend. He has obviously had a bit more to spend this season and has made some remarkable signings, albeit with far less available than a lot of other clubs in this league.
We are truly lucky to have him, and for me he sits firmly in second place, behind Sir Martin, in Wycombe’s all time best managers list.
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An exceedingly close second and quite likely to pull alongside or even overtake.
He'd need another promotion to achieve that I think. Then we'd have a real debate
That’s exactly what I had in mind @Malone .
Sorry, but I may have to be a touch "avantgarde" on this one, GA has, for me taken over the mantle as the best yet.
How do you argue that out of interest?
O Neill took us up 2 divisions, into unchartered territory, smashing opposition along the way with some sumptious wing play. The journey only stopped when we missed the play offs due to league re-structuring. Cups thrown in along the way.
Gareth has done a terrific job, but even he couldn't say he'd matched that..."Yet" being the hopefully key word.
I think it might be reasonably argued that Ainsworth has achieved what's he's done with far more challenging financial constraints.
But on balance, St. Martin is still ahead... for now.
And he's tactically naive!
I think due to the finanical constraints GA has operated under during the majority of his tenure compared to Martin they are currently level pegging.
A top 10 finish this season and GA pulls ahead by a nose
A play-off position finish then that lead turns into a short head
Top 3 and its a lenght
@Guppys_Left_Leg
Top 3 and he’ll be a legend
We are in league 1 now. Top 2 would be amazing. 3rd on Guppy's scale warrants only a short head.
Even with some of the teams that are in our league?
I still suspect that we are in the bottom third of the players wage bill despite the recent increases
I think he already is. Just as Martin is
How lucky are those of us blessed enough to have witnessed both eras?
Everyone loves their club of course but we've easily had way more than our fair share of wonderful memories supporting ours.
Agreed
In my time there have been Wembley trips (both old and new) and semi finals of both cup competetions.
There are fans of Premier League teams that would happily have those memories
O Neill was a "big fish"budget at the time. GA has effectively been "National league", indeed many teams in that league have had a bigger budget than Gareth. The whole nature of football finance has changed in the last 10 years. GA has dragged this club through some very dark times almost single handily, on that basis, for me, he has taken the number one spot.
Yet again, @EwanHoosaami, I'm in agreement with you.
Wycombe were a tidy financial fish in the conference, but was that the case in the basement tier? In those days I didn't give it as much thought as now.
Jim kelman was the first manager to be given a large budget for Transfer fees and wages. Large fees were paid for Nicky Evan's,Glyn Creaser and Martin Lambert. Martin O'Neil spent very little in the early days, just a few additions and a settled formula unlike his predecessor. The increased gates, and then the money spinning Trophy win in 91, helped the to slowly increase the playing budget. As the gates continued to rise,Martin slowly managed to increase the quality of the squad.
The misconception that Martin was given a chest full of dosh to bring in whoever he liked, is a great discredit to the man.
Sorry @ChasHarps But my memory had us as a larger fish in the pond because of the larger crowds than other conference sides, as such we could pay more wages and attract a better player. The fact that Kelman had spent a wad on transfers surely meant that Martin had a beneficial start. Compare that to the squad that GA inherited at the level we were playing, I personally think that GA has worked miracles.
@ChasHarps As you know a lot more about this than me - can i ask you, how did Brian Lee manage to attract so many top amateur players to Wycombe in the early 70s? I was too young to really understand it at the time, just enjoyed us winning every week and getting my half time sweets from the top tea bar. Nothing else really mattered. I know as an amateur club it wasn't supposed to be about money, but let's face it, John Delaney, Ted Powell, Larry Pritchard, Keith Searle, et al signed for us rather than the romantic lure of, say, Corinthian Casuals... Why?
@LeedsBlue I think it’s fair to say that there was a generous expense account and an unusually high expenditure on brown paper envelopes.
(Somewhere in a box in my loft I’ve got copies of the accounts for a couple of years in the early 70s. My father was the main contact at Lloyd’s bank for the treasurer at the time - Roger Lee I think; no relation to Brian. Vague recollections of taking the cash with my dad an hour or so after the games and posting it in the night safe in the High Street)
I used to work with an ex player from the 60's and he used to tell me about the 'boot money' he received in the so called 'Shamateur days', but Wanderers were by no means anywhere near the higher end of this practice.
During Brian Lee's era, he seemed to have a very good connection with Loughborough and other colleges, hence why we had so many teachers from all over the UK on our books. The fact that we lost player's such as Searle,Pritchard,Gary Hand as the game moved from Amateur to Semi Pro may explain this previous practice ??
You only have to research about how the small colliery town of Bishop Auckland attracted and retained such quality players, and dominated Amateur football for such a long time, that it wasnt just the honour of wearing the Bishop's light and dark blue that those high class players were there for.
Interesting stuff. Explains why we often had friendlies against Loughborough College.
I only had the pleasure of seeing us ‘bash the Bishops’ once - and as a club they were well past their heyday by then.
Borough Road College was another one we sourced players from.
When we bashed the Bishops in 82 at Loakes Park in the Trophy, the club video'd the game. You could hire the video out for a week, I duly did this.
I would love to see this game again, I wonder if a copy still exists ?
I remember borrowing videos from John Goldsworthy and, I’m now embarrassed to recall, regularly rang him at Westminster City Hall (where he worked as a planning officer) just for a chat about the Wanderers. He used to call me “boy” so that must have been a long time ago.
I’m pretty sure I may have a copy of this somewhere. I think they sold them? I also think I have copies of the Col U FA cup game around this era and 1 other (Chelmsford?).
When/if I get up in the loft and find them i’m happy to bring them down if anyone has the technology to do anything about converting them
You should definitely digitise them and put them on youtube, if the club permits.