I don't know enough about this, but I suppose when a club considers moving for capacity reasons, they have to be consistently over-subscribed at their current ground. A small expansion of AP would probably be enough, but we can't do that without an extra road - and that's a non-starter fantasy as far as I'm concerned.
Did Rob say he hoped to make a start on the road by the beginning of this year or am I imagining that? His outlandish ambitions all sort of merge into one eventually.
I think you’re spot on there Andy, it’s both disrespectful and incorrect anyway. Obviously Evatt wasn’t at the club when Big Sam was manager but knowing that we could never compete with the big clubs by playing tippy tappy, the only solution was to outmuscle them, which we did and they hated it. You’d listen to the likes of Wenger and Fergie saying exactly what managers do coming here but they never like to give you credit for the excellence of what you do. It was always ridiculous anyway because we didn’t just rough teams up. We had the likes of Okocha, Djorkaev, Campo and Hierro, not exactly ruffians are they? Like we did just ignore the comments, you’re a really good strong team and that goal of Wings yesterday was a goal of the season contender for me. You won fair and square yesterday and whilst we should have a pen which might have changed things it just makes the play off race more interesting. Anyway good luck for the rest of the season and let’s hope we can both meet again in the play offs, which I’m sure would please Ian Evatt no end!! 😉
You do start wondering if it's worth messing with an extra road, increasing the terrace end and whatever other bits and pieces he's mentioned, instead of just moving ground.
If Booker was supposedly this magical idea when Wasps were involved, then surely the council couldn't veto it if we came back in with the same idea just for ourselves?
Not that anyone really wants to move anytime soon.
I've just finished reading Martin O'Neill's book (a signed copy, may I add) and a couple of times he highlights the manager's need for player recruitment versus the push for more meals in the restaurants. He argued the extra "covers" were directly linked to performances on the pitch and, thus, a subsequent increase in attendance. Is it a chicken and egg scenario?
A very magnanimous post @FarmerCee, I think most football fans enjoyed watching that Bolton side putting the big boys noses out of joint! They only say nice things about small clubs when they roll on their belly and let their betters tickle their bellies, not so keen on them when they're not afraid to show they've got a potent bite.
All the best for the rest of the season, still a lot of football to play and I reckon you could well pounce if either of the top two slip up.
Having a family friend who works for the council's planning application, I will know first hand if or when an application comes in for the road and ground.
At the moment, nothing has been submitted so I'm starting to believe that this is all wishful thinking on Rob's part until some movement starts!
Has for the terrace, I think this is an urgent matter that the club need to address. I think we'll be lucky to use it next season and it'll end being like Hereford's ground where they can't use a quarter of their ground.
Makes you think, where will the Terrace regulars go if this happens? Frank Adams stand?
I think this ground talk reveals a problem for the Trust. There is no way we trust members can contribute 25%. (Or now 10%) of the necessary funds for ground improvements.
Possibly also struggle to pay for our share of necessary ground repairs?
Don't forget the Mehmeti money. That should cover the Trust's contributions for at least a year - and might even give some indication of how much we received upfront.
@Malone this has always been my preferred theory for the Couhig exit plan. Try to bamboozle the council into giving outline planning permission, then sell the club for a far higher amount than otherwise as it will be 'expansion ready' for those with deep pockets to invest.
Please explain @aloysius how any transfer fee received by the football club, for the sale of Mehmeti, in any way mitigates the need for the Trust to match 25% or even 10% of any future investment by the Couhigs?
To be fair Malone, Kevin Davies was always the most fouled against due to his superb body strength and Nolan was the best box to box midfielder in the PL for me and had he been at a “bigger” club would have been an England regular. He also unfortunately had Gerrard and Lampard in front of him. We had some big defenders though who could rough forwards up but when it comes to “dirt bags” you forgot El Haj Diouf? 🤗 Now there was a player who wound up the opposition and especially their fans but great to have in your team though. All teams are a mix and you need a manager who can find a way to win within his budget and for me you’ve got one of the best in Ainsworth and despite obvious interest from elsewhere from time to time you need to keep hold of him as long as you can.
Not trying to open old wounds or reignite the debate but...
I was under the impression, reinforced by the recent discussions around the reduction in the Trust's stake, that the club leased the ground on a "full repairing" basis, therefore it is for the club to fund the repairs to the terrace, toilets, FA roof etc. The club has the money from the Mehmeti transfer & given the minimal investment in the squad since, plus managing to shift Horgan & Kaikai off the wage bill should be in a position to fund said repairs.
Notwithstanding that improvements to the ground are the Trust's responsibility as freeholders, though again from the same discussions, I believe part of the argument used by the Couhigs & Trust Board to justify the reduction in the our shareholding was that the Couhigs would fund any improvements WITHOUT a cash call on the Trust.
If this is not the case then we really should have stuck two fingers up to them.
Because the Trust will have received 25% (or 10%... It really is very strange why they're not being transparent about what level they're at now) of the Mehmeti transfer fee, which should hopefully cover the 25% (or 10%...) of the club's annual running costs which they need to spend to keep their shareholding.
It appears that there has been great 'glitzy' visual improvements such as the wifi, advertising LED display, hospitality areas etc but have the important basic essentials been left behind? (toilets, general cleanliness etc). Hard working ground volunteers can't work miracles!
Actually that's just not true. Mehmeti's contract was with the club - in which the trust has a stake - and his transfer fee goes into club income. I fully accept that it may reduce the level of any future necessary investment but to suggest that the trust received a percentage of his transfer fee is wrong.
The trust's income is via member subscriptions, rental income from the club, gifts & donations.
Ok sorry, I worded it badly. But as you're gracious enough to say @Twizz, my substantial point remains. The profit generated from Mehmeti will keep the Trust's shareholding alive for at least a year and may still provide a clue as to how much he was sold for.
I understand what you are saying @Malone and you are spot on but for me, putting in a new road doesn’t mean we are magically going to attract another couple of thousand supporters.
We all know our fan base hasn’t increased much over the last four/five years. Yes there are some big teams in League one who bring quite a few away fans with them but when we are playing one of the lesser teams at home our gate drops to circa 5,000.
We are what we are and I have no complaints at all👍
Comments
Well, actually, that's not the only option...
Staying up in the championship for a season and establishing ourselves there, then a move might actually be considered.
Unfortunately we didn't get to find out what crowds a championship season would produce. Maybe it would have been 9,000 +
I don't know enough about this, but I suppose when a club considers moving for capacity reasons, they have to be consistently over-subscribed at their current ground. A small expansion of AP would probably be enough, but we can't do that without an extra road - and that's a non-starter fantasy as far as I'm concerned.
Did Rob say he hoped to make a start on the road by the beginning of this year or am I imagining that? His outlandish ambitions all sort of merge into one eventually.
I think you’re spot on there Andy, it’s both disrespectful and incorrect anyway. Obviously Evatt wasn’t at the club when Big Sam was manager but knowing that we could never compete with the big clubs by playing tippy tappy, the only solution was to outmuscle them, which we did and they hated it. You’d listen to the likes of Wenger and Fergie saying exactly what managers do coming here but they never like to give you credit for the excellence of what you do. It was always ridiculous anyway because we didn’t just rough teams up. We had the likes of Okocha, Djorkaev, Campo and Hierro, not exactly ruffians are they? Like we did just ignore the comments, you’re a really good strong team and that goal of Wings yesterday was a goal of the season contender for me. You won fair and square yesterday and whilst we should have a pen which might have changed things it just makes the play off race more interesting. Anyway good luck for the rest of the season and let’s hope we can both meet again in the play offs, which I’m sure would please Ian Evatt no end!! 😉
You do start wondering if it's worth messing with an extra road, increasing the terrace end and whatever other bits and pieces he's mentioned, instead of just moving ground.
If Booker was supposedly this magical idea when Wasps were involved, then surely the council couldn't veto it if we came back in with the same idea just for ourselves?
Not that anyone really wants to move anytime soon.
It's hard to understand how the road and stand increase fit in with the clear drop in interest he's put across.
Though maybe some would say it helps the price in selling?
I've just finished reading Martin O'Neill's book (a signed copy, may I add) and a couple of times he highlights the manager's need for player recruitment versus the push for more meals in the restaurants. He argued the extra "covers" were directly linked to performances on the pitch and, thus, a subsequent increase in attendance. Is it a chicken and egg scenario?
@Blue_since_1990 for one thing, this mythical "new road" means we wouldn't actually need to increase the ground to increase the capacity.
You look at what Wasps had at times, and what we're limited to, there's scope to increase what we have already a bit.
However, any further development here would rely on the road.
A very magnanimous post @FarmerCee, I think most football fans enjoyed watching that Bolton side putting the big boys noses out of joint! They only say nice things about small clubs when they roll on their belly and let their betters tickle their bellies, not so keen on them when they're not afraid to show they've got a potent bite.
All the best for the rest of the season, still a lot of football to play and I reckon you could well pounce if either of the top two slip up.
In fairness you did also have the likes of Kevin Davies and Kevin Nolan, two absolute dirt bags.
Having a family friend who works for the council's planning application, I will know first hand if or when an application comes in for the road and ground.
At the moment, nothing has been submitted so I'm starting to believe that this is all wishful thinking on Rob's part until some movement starts!
Has for the terrace, I think this is an urgent matter that the club need to address. I think we'll be lucky to use it next season and it'll end being like Hereford's ground where they can't use a quarter of their ground.
Makes you think, where will the Terrace regulars go if this happens? Frank Adams stand?
He's said a lot of things, doesn't mean they have actually happened
It's not literally crumbling is it?!
The steps at the terrace end of family stand along side the ‘standing seating’ (up to the boxes concourse) are literally crumbling.
I think this ground talk reveals a problem for the Trust. There is no way we trust members can contribute 25%. (Or now 10%) of the necessary funds for ground improvements.
Possibly also struggle to pay for our share of necessary ground repairs?
Don't forget the Mehmeti money. That should cover the Trust's contributions for at least a year - and might even give some indication of how much we received upfront.
@Malone this has always been my preferred theory for the Couhig exit plan. Try to bamboozle the council into giving outline planning permission, then sell the club for a far higher amount than otherwise as it will be 'expansion ready' for those with deep pockets to invest.
Please explain @aloysius how any transfer fee received by the football club, for the sale of Mehmeti, in any way mitigates the need for the Trust to match 25% or even 10% of any future investment by the Couhigs?
To be fair Malone, Kevin Davies was always the most fouled against due to his superb body strength and Nolan was the best box to box midfielder in the PL for me and had he been at a “bigger” club would have been an England regular. He also unfortunately had Gerrard and Lampard in front of him. We had some big defenders though who could rough forwards up but when it comes to “dirt bags” you forgot El Haj Diouf? 🤗 Now there was a player who wound up the opposition and especially their fans but great to have in your team though. All teams are a mix and you need a manager who can find a way to win within his budget and for me you’ve got one of the best in Ainsworth and despite obvious interest from elsewhere from time to time you need to keep hold of him as long as you can.
Not trying to open old wounds or reignite the debate but...
I was under the impression, reinforced by the recent discussions around the reduction in the Trust's stake, that the club leased the ground on a "full repairing" basis, therefore it is for the club to fund the repairs to the terrace, toilets, FA roof etc. The club has the money from the Mehmeti transfer & given the minimal investment in the squad since, plus managing to shift Horgan & Kaikai off the wage bill should be in a position to fund said repairs.
Notwithstanding that improvements to the ground are the Trust's responsibility as freeholders, though again from the same discussions, I believe part of the argument used by the Couhigs & Trust Board to justify the reduction in the our shareholding was that the Couhigs would fund any improvements WITHOUT a cash call on the Trust.
If this is not the case then we really should have stuck two fingers up to them.
Exactly, we didn't give up another 15% for nothing. (I hope)
Because the Trust will have received 25% (or 10%... It really is very strange why they're not being transparent about what level they're at now) of the Mehmeti transfer fee, which should hopefully cover the 25% (or 10%...) of the club's annual running costs which they need to spend to keep their shareholding.
It appears that there has been great 'glitzy' visual improvements such as the wifi, advertising LED display, hospitality areas etc but have the important basic essentials been left behind? (toilets, general cleanliness etc). Hard working ground volunteers can't work miracles!
Actually that's just not true. Mehmeti's contract was with the club - in which the trust has a stake - and his transfer fee goes into club income. I fully accept that it may reduce the level of any future necessary investment but to suggest that the trust received a percentage of his transfer fee is wrong.
The trust's income is via member subscriptions, rental income from the club, gifts & donations.
Wouldn't it break the old joint ownership rule a la Tevez / Mascherano if the trust received a chunk of the profit from the sale of Mehmeti?
Given how much I've ponied up to the Trust over the years I'm claiming his left foot
Ok sorry, I worded it badly. But as you're gracious enough to say @Twizz, my substantial point remains. The profit generated from Mehmeti will keep the Trust's shareholding alive for at least a year and may still provide a clue as to how much he was sold for.
I understand what you are saying @Malone and you are spot on but for me, putting in a new road doesn’t mean we are magically going to attract another couple of thousand supporters.
We all know our fan base hasn’t increased much over the last four/five years. Yes there are some big teams in League one who bring quite a few away fans with them but when we are playing one of the lesser teams at home our gate drops to circa 5,000.
We are what we are and I have no complaints at all👍