Budget

I wonder how competitive our budget really is? Yes the club say we are competitive but we hardly seem to be signing big earners unless I have totally misjudged?

Players out since last season (in no particular order)

Disley
Gowling
Pearson
Andrew
Gunning
Jones Dan
Chambers
Brown
Youssef
Wright
Venney

New players
Dixon
Osbourne K
Clarke
Kelly
Cardwell
Rose
Sawyer
Keeble
Dembele


May have missed players off either list but in general we certainly don't look to have increased the playing budget. I guess Clarke plus maybe Dixon, will be on decent money but the rest look distinctly bargain basement.

The budget seems to be nowhere near the amount required for the players Slade wanted , the way we are still gambling on trialists shows that.

Unless somebody has the facts whats the point in speculating about budget size?

Leicester demonstrated the power of teamwork over individual ability and I think we need to focus on GTFC as a team not a collection of 11 individual players and their respective merits. I accept when new players come in we will debate opinion on whether we think it is a good or bad signing but in pre-season we have played three league sides; beat Barnsley from the Championship, lost 1-0 to Blackburn and drew 1-1 with Wigan both from league one.

This suggests we will be competitive in League 2 with, hopefully, a mean defence. As for goals we did ok in the 3 home games we played under RS last season and I still expect new forwards to join but maybe a bit later then we hoped.

I think the above results show there is no need to be too downhearted whatever our budget is or is not.

The budget probably has increased, but slade may have chosen to invest it in other areas such as staff and sports science. It also seems that this question is mainly arising due to our current failure to sign a striker. But which clubs in this league really have the fbudget to sign a proven goalscorer. Most of the time clubs top scorers will come from rejuvenated strikers like amond was with us in the conference (gooden being a good example last season), or through taking a chance on a non league player such as bogle. No clubs at our level have the ability to go out and get a striker who has consistently been banging in goals within the football league over the last few seasons.

Can't believe we've been outbid for Neymar ffs Town sort it!

I think the question is a valid one, how competitive are we this year?

Yeah sure there's always one club every year that goes against the grain but generally your budget reflects your league position by the end of the season.

We had a lot of 'footballing fortune' last season with higher than anticipated gates, compensation for Hurst  and then the Bogle sale. Granted, we reinvested some of that in Clements, Jones and Osborne and then had less success with Yussuf, Gunning etc.  We've also stepped up our sports science which won't come cheap.  I suppose we could add the ever increasing costs to maintain Blundell Park to the list of costs too.

But I would still like to know how competitive we are and if we are actually competitive, whatever that means, why we appear to be rooting the bargain bin at this stage of pre-season and getting knocked back by player after player.

We're less than 72 hours from kick off and we have some big holes in the team.  Our left back, who I'm pleased we got, arrived at the weekend and I'm not sure what pre-season he's had. We have no real cover for him. Up front we've got a guy in Vernon who has never been prolific and for large parts of last season was forgotten about by many.  The only other striker we have has never kicked the ball in the top four divisions.

I think Vernon has a role to play (not as the main man) and I think Cardwell is very promising. But the situation is not good enough and questions should be asked. If that's to Fenty and the board for signing off a weak budget or Slade and his team for building a squad that is lopsided in balance, we're entitled to raise concerns and question.

For the record I think we're a good striker away from an excellent season.  Defence looks solid, midfield full of creativity but it all comes down to someone to lead the line.  

Quoted from diehardmariner

I think the question is a valid one, how competitive are we this year?

Yeah sure there's always one club every year that goes against the grain but generally your budget reflects your league position by the end of the season.

We had a lot of 'footballing fortune' last season with higher than anticipated gates, compensation for Hurst  and then the Bogle sale. Granted, we reinvested some of that in Clements, Jones and Osborne and then had less success with Yussuf, Gunning etc.  We've also stepped up our sports science which won't come cheap.  I suppose we could add the ever increasing costs to maintain Blundell Park to the list of costs too.

But I would still like to know how competitive we are and if we are actually competitive, whatever that means, why we appear to be rooting the bargain bin at this stage of pre-season and getting knocked back by player after player.

We're less than 72 hours from kick off and we have some big holes in the team.  Our left back, who I'm pleased we got, arrived at the weekend and I'm not sure what pre-season he's had. We have no real cover for him. Up front we've got a guy in Vernon who has never been prolific and for large parts of last season was forgotten about by many.  The only other striker we have has never kicked the ball in the top four divisions.

I think Vernon has a role to play (not as the main man) and I think Cardwell is very promising. But the situation is not good enough and questions should be asked. If that's to Fenty and the board for signing off a weak budget or Slade and his team for building a squad that is lopsided in balance, we're entitled to raise concerns and question.

For the record I think we're a good striker away from an excellent season.  Defence looks solid, midfield full of creativity but it all comes down to someone to lead the line.  

All valid points but the main reason we're struggling with recruitment is location, both in terms of facilities and geography. I'm sure that the budget will be questioned and I'm sure Slade has used some up on support staff but after 6 years of non-league, the club's infrastructure had fallen miles behind other clubs and that certainly needed to be addressed and Paul Hurst and Marcus Bignot said much the same.

I have no idea what out budget is, or what wages our players are on. Equally, I don't know how the club would know what another team's budget is, or how competitive they are.

We have been one striker away from an excellent season for several years.

There could be 6, 7, 8 clubs with a bigger budget than us in the coming season:

Coventry, Luton, Lincoln, Forest Green, Mansfield, Swindon, Chesterfield, Notts County.

Quoted from friskneymariner

We have been one striker away from an excellent season for several years.

Like two years ago when we signed that useless git who scored 37 goals. Or last year when we had a player up front so bad we sold him for nearly a million quid.

Why do people keep forgetting Asante? We could potentially have the striker we need already. He looked promising when half fit and a lot of the Solihull fans rated him higher than Bogle.

Im not sure what town fans think our level should realistically be,

4 teams that came down will have parachute payments so will have larger budgets than ours,
Lincoln had a good FA cup run and 3k more season tickets than us so i expect them to have more money than us.
Village Green throw money at it every season so I expect their budget will be larger than ours.
Mansfield seem to have found cash down the back of the sofa and again will be larger than ours
Luton has nearly double the Gates we do so again a better Budget,

Most of the players we let go will have been on conference wages and all the ones we brought in will be on league 2 wages,
At least 2 extra back room staff in a sports scientist and a health and nutrition chap.

Some of Bogles money went on the Jan transfer window and all the midfielders we got plus I would suspect a cut went to the agent and Solihull so I cant see there being that much left.

I would have thought we will have a top 10 budget maybe but that's about all

Quoted from mariner91

Why do people keep forgetting Asante? We could potentially have the striker we need already. He looked promising when half fit and a lot of the Solihull fans rated him higher than Bogle.

I don't think anyone's forgetting Asante. By the same token, I'm not pinning my hopes on a player with such an appalling injury record who's scored 3 goals in 21 league appearances.

Quoted from Rob_in_Grimsby

Im not sure what town fans think our level should realistically be,

4 teams that came down will have parachute payments so will have larger budgets than ours,
Lincoln had a good FA cup run and 3k more season tickets than us so i expect them to have more money than us.
Village Green throw money at it every season so I expect their budget will be larger than ours.
Mansfield seem to have found cash down the back of the sofa and again will be larger than ours
Luton has nearly double the Gates we do so again a better Budget,

Most of the players we let go will have been on conference wages and all the ones we brought in will be on league 2 wages,
At least 2 extra back room staff in a sports scientist and a health and nutrition chap.

Some of Bogles money went on the Jan transfer window and all the midfielders we got plus I would suspect a cut went to the agent and Solihull so I cant see there being that much left.

I would have thought we will have a top 10 budget maybe but that's about all

Exactly!

Lots of speculation, supposition and a bit too much pessimism in this thread I'd say.

My semi educated guess is that our budget is pretty 'middling' for this division. Maybe about average or just below. If DHM
's theory is right, we can expect to finish 14th or thereabouts on that basis.

Quoted from Rob_in_Grimsby

Im not sure what town fans think our level should realistically be,

4 teams that came down will have parachute payments so will have larger budgets than ours,
Lincoln had a good FA cup run and 3k more season tickets than us so i expect them to have more money than us.
Village Green throw money at it every season so I expect their budget will be larger than ours.
Mansfield seem to have found cash down the back of the sofa and again will be larger than ours
Luton has nearly double the Gates we do so again a better Budget,

Most of the players we let go will have been on conference wages and all the ones we brought in will be on league 2 wages,
At least 2 extra back room staff in a sports scientist and a health and nutrition chap.

Some of Bogles money went on the Jan transfer window and all the midfielders we got plus I would suspect a cut went to the agent and Solihull so I cant see there being that much left.

I would have thought we will have a top 10 budget maybe but that's about all

I largely agree but didn't your pal say there was little difference between conference wages and Lge 2 other than 52 weeks against 40 ish?

I just feel the claims made by the club of 'competitive' and aiming for playoffs are misleading despite the fans getting behind the club with excellent season tkt sales

Current squad has mid table at best written all over it IMO. I appreciate the club talk about stabilising after 6 years outside the FL but I can't help thinking our perceived lack of ambition could come back to bite us on the bottom

How can the club say the budget is competitive unless they know everyone elses?

Quoted from chaos33

Lots of speculation, supposition and a bit too much pessimism in this thread I'd say.

My semi educated guess is that our budget is pretty 'middling' for this division. Maybe about average or just below. If DHM
's theory is right, we can expect to finish 14th or thereabouts on that basis.

Agree - there's some ambitious clubs in our league and the two that have come up will have good funding (for different reasons). I don't see enough quality in our squad or enough ambition in our boardroom and I fear we'll struggle.

Quoted from Cloudy

I largely agree but didn't your pal say there was little difference between conference wages and Lge 2 other than 52 weeks against 40 ish?

I just feel the claims made by the club of 'competitive' and aiming for playoffs are misleading despite the fans getting behind the club with excellent season tkt sales

Current squad has mid table at best written all over it IMO. I appreciate the club talk about stabilising after 6 years outside the FL but I can't help thinking our perceived lack of ambition could come back to bite us on the bottom

My thoughts exactly sometimes I don't think this club deserves the loyalty of the fans it gets and certainly take us for granted.

Quoted from Cloudy

I largely agree but didn't your pal say there was little difference between conference wages and Lge 2 other than 52 weeks against 40 ish?

I just feel the claims made by the club of 'competitive' and aiming for playoffs are misleading despite the fans getting behind the club with excellent season tkt sales

Current squad has mid table at best written all over it IMO. I appreciate the club talk about stabilising after 6 years outside the FL but I can't help thinking our perceived lack of ambition could come back to bite us on the bottom

Just the extra 12 weeks wages per player could take the budget up by over 200k a season so not a small difference in my book.
Making possibly a small loss instead of risking everything by blowing the budget and some in my book is not lack of ambition more cautious management,  As we don't know the actual budget of our club or at that matter every other club this is all speculation, Players don't come here for lots of reasons and I would think wages is not always the main factor.

Quoted from friskneymariner

My thoughts exactly sometimes I don't think this club deserves the loyalty of the fans it gets and certainly take us for granted.

I'm sorry, but what has the funding got to do with fans loyalty. You can be as loyal as you like, but money doesn't grow on trees, and we have to operate within our means. Its worth noting, also, that the loyalty often goes into other clubs funds through away days.

Slade does his best work on a budget. He's got a real talent for getting unwanted players and making them into a decent side.

Christ, when does the season start again?

We're a league two team, with average to good home attendances. We've been in the conference for 6 years.

Our budget will be what it will be. And we will always struggle to attract some players because of location, and because we are not a name club. A lot of players playing today were toddlers the last time we were in the championship, so don't think of us as a bigger club like we do. We've signed players from the leagues above us, I would imagine they will be on more than most of the players that left.

Have we ever been a club to splash the cash? I'd argue that Buckley's MK1 successful side was based on what people on here would claim to be 'bargain basement' transfer activity. Didn't stop us from being successful, did it?

I don't really care what our budget is-I trust we're spending what we can afford to spend and the management and players in the building will do as best as they can. And I'll be behind them 100%. UTM.

Quoted from Rob_in_Grimsby

Just the extra 12 weeks wages per player could take the budget up by over 200k a season so not a small difference in my book.
Making possibly a small loss instead of risking everything by blowing the budget and some in my book is not lack of ambition more cautious management,  As we don't know the actual budget of our club or at that matter every other club this is all speculation, Players don't come here for lots of reasons and I would think wages is not always the main factor.

Don't think the handful of players who possibly were on conference contracts ( Pearson Gowling) would have cost us  an extra circa £200 k in additional payments tbh.

We don't know budgets but I would suggest it doesn't take a genius to believe that Cardwell, Dembele, Rose are not on top dollar for league two!

Off topic but more positive vibe and better marketing could bring in more cash which in turn could give better budget which possibly produces better results which usually brings higher gates. See where a positive outlook could potentially take us with little risk? Got to be better than cost cutting so staff sit in the cold and are demotivated

Instead we are doing well with season tickets despite PR gaffs and negativity, I just wonder what we could do with focussed positivity, imagination and drive.

Quoted from Mariner93er

I'm sorry, but what has the funding got to do with fans loyalty. You can be as loyal as you like, but money doesn't grow on trees, and we have to operate within our means. Its worth noting, also, that the loyalty often goes into other clubs funds through away days.

If you had taken the effort to read Cloudy's comments you would understand the context of my comment.

Somehow I expect Rose, Dembele, Cardwell and K. Osborne are on less than Dis, Chambers, Yussuf and Pearson were. I suspect Clarke, DC, Clements and Davies are our highest earners.

Quoted from Mariner_09

Somehow I expect Rose, Dembele, Cardwell and K. Osborne are on less than Dis, Chambers, Yussuf and Pearson were. I suspect Clarke, DC, Clements and Davies are our highest earners.

Are you Psychic Sally?

Does it really matter, or are some just finding reasons to beat the club with? Most league 2 signings are not very exciting, it's the nature of the beast. I don't know how people can come to the conclusion that the squad we have is mid table at best as we have no idea how they will perform over the season and no idea if and when we will add to the squad.

There was a time the season would end, we would forget about football for a couple of months, then see 2 or 3 signings announced in the Telegraph. Now it seems people want constant turnover of players and to be informed in all aspects of the running of the club. Just go down to BP and get behind the team. Most seasons are much of a muchness, with a good season every now and again, possibly a promotion. That's the reality of supporting a smallish league club, albeit one with a proud history of punching above it's weight.

I'm totally with Ginny on this.

We also haven't played anyone close to league 2 standard this preseason so who knows how we are going to do.

Let's reserve judgement on this squad until a dozen or so games, if we're miles away by then I guess we can say we were bargin bucket shopping. If we're close to the top then we can say we found some gems.

I haven't got a clue what the budget is, how a football club's budget works or what players take home every month (do footballers actually get paid weekly?). But I'm going to guess that the whole thing smacks of typical Fentys cheap option.

I share ginnywings' realism. I try to enjoy the 'spectacle' of watching Town for what it is and have no illusions about what we might or might not achieve. All supporters, I imagine, travel hopefully-happy when our team wins, 'devastated' what we lose-but hope always returns for the next game or the next season. I buy my season ticket to support the club (without revenues they'll achieve nothing) and hope to survive long enough to see at least some of the home games. And yes, I'll be at Chesterfield on Saturday, up for the Coventry game on the 12th and at Stevenage (close to home) the following week. I hope we win them all, but probably we won't.

The closed season. RIP

At the end of last season our squad was too big and thus probably with a big wage bill.

It was always going to be a case of us letting more out than we brought in this summer.

Quoted from ginnywings

Does it really matter, or are some just finding reasons to beat the club with? Most league 2 signings are not very exciting, it's the nature of the beast. I don't know how people can come to the conclusion that the squad we have is mid table at best as we have no idea how they will perform over the season and no idea if and when we will add to the squad.

There was a time the season would end, we would forget about football for a couple of months, then see 2 or 3 signings announced in the Telegraph. Now it seems people want constant turnover of players and to be informed in all aspects of the running of the club. Just go down to BP and get behind the team. Most seasons are much of a muchness, with a good season every now and again, possibly a promotion. That's the reality of supporting a smallish league club, albeit one with a proud history of punching above it's weight.

All good sense and reality Ginny but is it so wrong to dream of a situation where the club's finances allow us to attract better players in spite of our location rather than the current situation where players turn us down because of it.

Yes, we'll all get behind the team, moan when Berrett or Summerfield don't score four apiece and diss the referee but the unpalpable truth is that GTFC is a stagnant entity with a shitload of debt in an old stadium in a rundown area. That's why we go - it's in our DNA.

Quoted from ginnywings

Does it really matter, or are some just finding reasons to beat the club with? Most league 2 signings are not very exciting, it's the nature of the beast. I don't know how people can come to the conclusion that the squad we have is mid table at best as we have no idea how they will perform over the season and no idea if and when we will add to the squad.

There was a time the season would end, we would forget about football for a couple of months, then see 2 or 3 signings announced in the Telegraph. Now it seems people want constant turnover of players and to be informed in all aspects of the running of the club. Just go down to BP and get behind the team. Most seasons are much of a muchness, with a good season every now and again, possibly a promotion. That's the reality of supporting a smallish league club, albeit one with a proud history of punching above it's weight.

All good sense and reality Ginny but is it so wrong to dream of a situation where the club's finances allow us to attract better players in spite of our location rather than the current situation where players turn us down because of it.

Yes, we'll all get behind the team, moan when Berrett or Summerfield don't score four apiece and diss the referee but the unpalpable truth is that GTFC is a stagnant entity with a shitload of debt in an old stadium in a rundown area. That's why we go - it's in our DNA.

Quoted from Cloudy

Don't think the handful of players who possibly were on conference contracts ( Pearson Gowling) would have cost us  an extra circa £200 k in additional payments tbh.

We don't know budgets but I would suggest it doesn't take a genius to believe that Cardwell, Dembele, Rose are not on top dollar for league two!

Off topic but more positive vibe and better marketing could bring in more cash which in turn could give better budget which possibly produces better results which usually brings higher gates. See where a positive outlook could potentially take us with little risk? Got to be better than cost cutting so staff sit in the cold and are demotivated

Instead we are doing well with season tickets despite PR gaffs and negativity, I just wonder what we could do with focussed positivity, imagination and drive.

what I was greeting at is we now pay players for 52 weeks not 40 so the wage bill must be 200k more.
I would think the players are on £750 a week or possibly more, not a clue what league 2 wages are but  multiply that by a squad of 20 odd must be 200k more needed for the budget than we was in the conference.

Quoted from friskneymariner

If you had taken the effort to read Cloudy's comments you would understand the context of my comment.

Yes, he mentioned a lack of ambition compared to fans loyalty. And my point still remains, what link do they have. It's not a lack of ambition if we're operating within our capabilities. Just because we're not making big money signings, doesn't mean we can't still aim for promotion.

It is not about making big money signings, but some of the decisions made during the close season seem quite perverse,i.e. Letting Yussuf go without having a replacement in first.

Jesus Christ on a bike, anyone would think we ve lost our first 10 games going by some of the idiots commenting on here ,I'm just pleased I don't drink with some of you(and you know who you are)because damn you're boring and depressing, I ask this question why support town if your going to drag the team down before a ball has been kicked, sick and tired of hearing the words, scrapping the barrel, cheap option, bargain basement, GGRRRR

There are other options for people:

You could go support Man City?
Perhaps you'd like to win the lottery and put your money into Town?
Maybe stay at home and play Football Manager, whilst patting yourself on the back as you lead Town to successive promotions?

Quoted from Rob_in_Grimsby

what I was greeting at is we now pay players for 52 weeks not 40 so the wage bill must be 200k more.
I would think the players are on £750 a week or possibly more, not a clue what league 2 wages are but  multiply that by a squad of 20 odd must be 200k more needed for the budget than we was in the conference.

We were comparing last season to this and we were definetly in League 2 last season with just a couple ( possibly) of players still on conference contracts I.e. 2 year deals from summer 2015.

Quoted from sam gy

There are other options for people:

You could go support Man City?
Perhaps you'd like to win the lottery and put your money into Town?
Maybe stay at home and play Football Manager, whilst patting yourself on the back as you lead Town to successive promotions?

It's a message board designed for people to exchange views and opinions isn't it?

Personally I aren't happy that the club I have supported for 50 years through thick and thin, season tickets for my family for virtually all of those years, and I don't agree that  fans of 50 years or 50 weeks should sit still, say nothing and not make any comment when the club, IMO, takes us for granted, lacks professional PR in an ever changing market, and could be so much better by engageing with more people, businesses etc rather than antagonising many.

To be told to go to support Man City is a cheap shot and does you little credit IMO

I love it how someone brings up a Grimsby town football related matter on a Grimsby town football related board about the current budget , Some valid points and not slagging anyone off in the slightest.

Then come the fishy police who say we can't be having any of these valid points on ere which might be looked at as being negative as we can only ever talk about ex players who were gods and bitter football managers from other clubs..

What is the point of even anyone putting owt on here anymore if them "certain" posters don't like the other side of a point of view or an opinion , God this place would be so boring if all we did was clap each other to death.

Sometimes someone won't agree and vice versa that's fine but come on just because someone posts something different to you on a matter they aren't necessarily a doom merchant maybe just concerned we are going into the league opener with Scott Vernon looking being our main man and whoever says they are happy with that well err ok that's your opinion .

So what you are saying is that if someone else on a GTFC message board disagrees with you about GTFC matters, then they are the fishy police?

You then go on to say that disagreements are fine.  

Quoted from Cloudy

It's a message board designed for people to exchange views and opinions isn't it?

Personally I aren't happy that the club I have supported for 50 years through thick and thin, season tickets for my family for virtually all of those years, and I don't agree that  fans of 50 years or 50 weeks should sit still, say nothing and not make any comment when the club, IMO, takes us for granted, lacks professional PR in an ever changing market, and could be so much better by engageing with more people, businesses etc rather than antagonising many.

To be told to go to support Man City is a cheap shot and does you little credit IMO

Ok, my post was tongue in cheek and not really helping the debate, fair enough. But going back to the original post (which is what I was basing my post on-apologies if we've moved on from there) it seems your issue is that we're apparently not spending enough cash.

And my point is that we're probably spending as much cash as we can afford to. I don't know what else the club can do? You've supported the club long enough to know that we've never been a club to splash the cash, because we've never been able to. The only time we did this, was the ITV Digital era, and we know what happened there.

Your basis of the argument is that we're apparently not using the wages freed up by the players we released, but how do you know? Disley, Pearson, Gowling et al are heroes to us, but have all been playing in the conference for 6 odd years. Disley in particular was getting on when given his last contract last season. How do we know these players were earning more than Osbourne (played most of his football at higher level), Kelly (played all his football at higher level), Rose (played all his career Lg 2 or higher). And we know we've still got budget left to bring the right players in. As people have rightly said, Clarke, Collins and Dixon will be on a fair bit, I imagine.

Yes, Dembele and Cardwell might not be high earners, but so what? If they come good, then we're on to an absolute winner.

There's more to a successful football team than spunking a load of cash. Forest Green have showed us that. Alternatively Accy Stanley got into the playoffs on a shoestring the season before last, and I dare say our budget is a lot healthier than theirs!

And let's not forget that Bignot spent a load of cash in Jan, so you'd have to factor them players into our budget. One of the players he bought, Sam Jones, will be one of our main goal threats, like he successfully was last season. Our own fans seem to be writing us off already before we've kicked a ball, on the basis that we haven't brought in another striker yet. But we've got goals in the team, and we WILL bring in another striker.

People can call me a happy clapper all they want, but I'm not against criticising the club at all. One things for sure though, I'll not criticise the club for spending money it hasn't got. And I'm not really into writing our team off before we've kicked a ball either.

We are still in transition from our NL squad. We need to offload players that will not take us forward.  We are then in a better place to have fewer players of higher quality.  Hopefully, with the same manager to provide stability.  

All this takes time unfortunately.

Jonny and cloudy are quiet right there is an element on here who feel they are holier than thou and have become  self appointed guardians as to what it is appropriate to discuss on here.
They are so thin skinned they cannot tolerate any valid criticism of the club and in my view have significantly devalued this board as a discussion forum.

But how is criticising the club for spending within it's means a valid criticism? Do we think John Fenty is sat on piles of cash which he has earned through the profit making machine that is Grimsby Town Football Club? Did he go and buy another mansion with the Bogle money instead of putting it back into the running of the club?

How is criticising not having brought in a decent striker saying we should splash out money the club has not got.
Slade himself says he is looking for a striker, and we are starting the season without a full squad,you tell me what about that is exorcising you so much, it is fact.

Quoted from friskneymariner

How is criticising not having brought in a decent striker saying we should splash out money the club has not got.
Slade himself says he is looking for a striker, and we are starting the season without a full squad,you tell me what about that is exorcising you so much, it is fact.

It isn't, and i haven't said that. If you read my second to last post you'll see i specifically mentioned that. Here are the quotes for you, just in case you can't be bothered to read it (it's a long post, i'll admit):

"And we know we've still got budget left to bring the right players in."

"Our own fans seem to be writing us off already before we've kicked a ball, on the basis that we haven't brought in another striker yet. But we've got goals in the team, and we WILL bring in another striker."

The fact that we've not brought another striker in yet points to two things:

1. the right player hasn't become available, or hasn't wanted to come to us.
2. The players we have wanted have been out of our budget.

Don't get me wrong, i want a new striker as much as the next fan, but I'd rather we waited for the right player, and one that we can actually afford. In the meantime, we've got Sam Jones who is capable of scoring goals, and we've got Cardwell who has looked good in pre-season.

Quoted from sam gy

But how is criticising the club for spending within it's means a valid criticism? Do we think John Fenty is sat on piles of cash which he has earned through the profit making machine that is Grimsby Town Football Club? Did he go and buy another mansion with the Bogle money instead of putting it back into the running of the club?

All businesses need new money from time to time. It is very unhealthy for any business to carry on doing what they're doing because you'll carry on getting what you've got. Whatever has happened financially at GTFC over the past decade or more is having a negative impact on further investment - that's not me having a go, it's a fact. Grimsby Town FC is in debt to the tune of a large sum of money, benign or otherwise, and I can't see it changing any time soon.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

All businesses need new money from time to time. It is very unhealthy for any business to carry on doing what they're doing because you'll carry on getting what you've got. Whatever has happened financially at GTFC over the past decade or more is having a negative impact on further investment - that's not me having a go, it's a fact. Grimsby Town FC is in debt to the tune of a large sum of money, benign or otherwise, and I can't see it changing any time soon.

I agree, and don't dispute that at all.

Quoted from Lincoln Mariner 56

Unless somebody has the facts whats the point in speculating about budget size?

Leicester demonstrated the power of teamwork over individual ability and I think we need to focus on GTFC as a team not a collection of 11 individual players and their respective merits. I accept when new players come in we will debate opinion on whether we think it is a good or bad signing but in pre-season we have played three league sides; beat Barnsley from the Championship, lost 1-0 to Blackburn and drew 1-1 with Wigan both from league one.

This suggests we will be competitive in League 2 with, hopefully, a mean defence. As for goals we did ok in the 3 home games we played under RS last season and I still expect new forwards to join but maybe a bit later then we hoped.

I think the above results show there is no need to be too downhearted whatever our budget is or is not.

Many suggested we shouldn't take much from thrashing the likes of Grimsby Borough, similarly we shouldn't think having beaten Barnsley we look like we will have a good season.

I will form a proper view after a few league games. However I do think we may be lacking up front and also I'm slightly worried about our two central defenders who have started most games as we have let in some really sloppy goals.

Quoted from sam gy

People can call me a happy clapper all they want, but I'm not against criticising the club at all. One things for sure though, I'll not criticise the club for spending money it hasn't got. And I'm not really into writing our team off before we've kicked a ball either.

Agree totally!

Just thought I'd point out .... Dembele wanted £4500 per week initially to join that's why it took a while to get something agreed.

Obviously Fenty didn't pay that but he will be towns top earner that's for sure. That's also why they only gave him a one year with a second year option

So before you all Red Cross this like most do, that is fact.

Quoted from Laddy89

Just thought I'd point out .... Dembele wanted £4500 per week initially to join that's why it took a while to get something agreed.

Obviously Fenty didn't pay that but he will be towns top earner that's for sure. That's also why they only gave him a one year with a second year option

So before you all Red Cross this like most do, that is fact.

Stating something is fact with no proof of evidence isn't going to get you very far?

Quoted from Laddy89

Just thought I'd point out .... Dembele wanted £4500 per week initially to join that's why it took a while to get something agreed.

Obviously Fenty didn't pay that but he will be towns top earner that's for sure. That's also why they only gave him a one year with a second year option

So before you all Red Cross this like most do, that is fact.

Must go with the day job!!

I want £4500 a week. I don't think I'll get it.  

If Lenny Lawrence was here we'd have got Neymar on loan.

I heard James 'Macca' McKeown is on £3000 a week and he gets Thursdays off to wash his car.

I heard Martin Butler was on big money and didn't have to train half the week because of his commute to get to Grimsby......

........oh.....wait a minute

Lol none of you have a clue what goes on and what players are actually on.

For example.. how much do you all think Rhys Browne was on a week when we signed him last summer?

Arnold a few years ago?

Anyone hazard a guess. Because some of us do know this information as fact .... not just what footy manager says

My guess is that Browne was on a pittance and Arnold was on a decent wage, maybe £1.5k a week.

not even close mate

Quoted from Laddy89

not even close mate

Are you going to tell us then?

I'll see if the know it all's can provide the answers

Quoted from Laddy89

I'll see if the know it all's can provide the answers

Well if I don't know how do I know you know, ?

AND

If you do know how do you know /?

AND

If you do know because someone in the know told you ,  you dont really know do you ?

If you know because you work in the wages dept, you should keep it private.

If you do know laddy, doesn't that make you one of the know it alls?

Quoted from StaffsMariner

If you do know laddy, doesn't that make you one of the know it alls?

Defeated by logic.

With regards to this seasons budget. We cannot complain whatever it is really can we?

Income comes in many forms.
Money from the football league
Money through supporters, i.e. Ticket sales and merchandise.
Sponsorship money
Money through competitions and possibly to rights.
This alone would not sustain our beloved club.

Without the board, benign loans and money that they continue to put into the club, we WOULD fold. I am just grateful they didn't walk away when we were non league or heaven forbid insisted we go part time.

We cannot compete with larger clubs budgets, that's just a fact due to fans money and more marketing appeal to sponsors.

Am just happy we are on an upward curve and can at least compete in this division with reasonably optimistic expectations.

Operation promotion showed what a huge difference a little bit extra in the kitty can do. Now sensibly we cannot do an operation promotion every year but it wouldn't take much. For e.g if just every other fan purchased a half time draw ticket, not expensive, a pound, less than the price of a cuppa, this would generate approx £2000 extra each home game, thats as good as £50000 if we get a couple of home draws in the cups. That could easily pay for another players wages or tempt the the next good non league player to give it a go in the league.

Our fans are fantastic, and really support the club. I think we do ok budget wise, I really do. No complaints from me.