Just heard from a Wrexham mate he’s signing for them today.
Says there’s a fee but not sure how much.
Just what we didn’t need tomorrow.

And there you have it we sign a lad thats scored about 10 goals in his career, they sign a proven goalscorer, the players are out there but we just wont spend the money and thats why we wont be getting promoted any time soon  :o

Quoted from Madeleymariner

And there you have it we sign a lad thats scored about 10 goals in his career, they sign a proven goalscorer, the players are out there but we just wont spend the money and thats why we wont be getting promoted any time soon  :o

300K he's gone for. god knows on what wages, what planet are you on if you think we can afford or compete with that

Quoted from Madeleymariner

And there you have it we sign a lad thats scored about 10 goals in his career, they sign a proven goalscorer, the players are out there but we just wont spend the money and thats why we wont be getting promoted any time soon  :o

And was Wrexham splashing that kind of cash about when they were in our financial position, before Statler & Waldorf got involved

Quoted from Hagrid

300K he's gone for. god knows on what wages, what planet are you on if you think we can afford or compete with that

I think it is more the principle.

We could pay a reasonable transfer fee for a goalscorer, perhaps from a lower league or a league 1 squad player or whatever is available, but we don't want to.

Quoted from tashee69

And was Wrexham splashing that kind of cash about when they were in our financial position, before Statler & Waldorf got involved

Was hoping for more Laurel & Hardy.   ;D ;D ;D

Quoted from Hagrid

300K he's gone for. god knows on what wages, what planet are you on if you think we can afford or compete with that

Its as I said, we wont spend the money whatever it is. Thats the only way we will get promotion while Wrexham/Stockport/Chesterfield and whoever it is next season are flashing the cash.
PS where do you get the £300k number from

Quoted from Madeleymariner

Its as I said, we wont spend the money whatever it is. Thats the only way we will get promotion while Wrexham/Stockport/Chesterfield and whoever it is next season are flashing the cash.
PS where do you get the £300k number from

various twitter sources

its obvious- and yes- frustrating that we dont seem to have a budget to go splash out on a stiker, but i cant see anyway we can compete with what stockport/Chesterfield/Wrexham are offering these players

Quoted from Madeleymariner

Its as I said, we wont spend the money whatever it is. Thats the only way we will get promotion while Wrexham/Stockport/Chesterfield and whoever it is next season are flashing the cash.
PS where do you get the £300k number from

Maybe we don’t have the money in the budget, just get Waterfall and Shaun to kick him about in the first 10 mins it might break his habit of scoring against us.

The question is, after we have paid off Mr Fenty, assume it will be in the summer, then will our board feel that proper investment can take place, instead of taking freebies and loans to build that project.

If I had £300,000 to sign a player I wouldn't waste on Ollie Palmer.

Forget about Palmers wages, JS & AP say we have the cash, but we couldn't afford Hunts wages. Cash, WHAT CASH. It's getting to sound like a Fenty ploy to keep the fans quiet.

couldn't agree more 300k for him is actually laughable & wrexham fans will be saying same in a few weeks

There are better strikers for 300k.

We just can’t compete with the big spenders in this league. Neither can the vast majority of clubs in the 2 leagues above.

Our best chance of getting out of this division is building a strong side over a couple of seasons.

This board would be unreal if we spunked £300k on Ollie Palmer.

Quoted from DB

Forget about Palmers wages, JS & AP say we have the cash, but we couldn't afford Hunts wages. Cash, WHAT CASH. It's getting to sound like a Fenty ploy to keep the fans quiet.

Nobody at the club said we couldn't afford Hunt. Maybe it was more a principle thing - almost being held to ransom by Sheffield Wed by increasing his wage from one third to the full wack and he still remained a Sheffield player with a subsequent contract extension.

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

I think it is more the principle.

We could pay a reasonable transfer fee for a goalscorer, perhaps from a lower league or a league 1 squad player or whatever is available, but we don't want to.

How could you possibly know that?

Quoted from ska face

This board would be unreal if we spunked £300k on Ollie Palmer.

Exactly. That would be utter lunacy.

Quoted from chaos33

How could you possibly know that?

If two multi millionaire owners with extra revenues from increased attendances cannot afford a reasonable transfer fee then what is the point?

The owners have in fact said many times that money is available and would listen to Hurst if he wanted a particular player.

So far at least it is just words.

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

If two multi millionaire owners with extra revenues from increased attendances cannot afford a reasonable transfer fee then what is the point?

The owners have in fact said many times that money is available and would listen to Hurst if he wanted a particular player.

So far at least it is just words.

What does them being millionaires have anything to do with anything?

If town spunked £300k on someone like Palmer this board would blow up…

But you said ‘they don’t want to’. That’s just silly. They may be willing to pay for the right player. Just because they haven’t thus far doesn’t make your point valid. It’s just supposition. ‘They don’t want to’ you said. You couldn’t possibly know that and actually, this is contrary to what they said they’ll do. Would you pay £300K for Ollie Palmer and then a wage that is doubtless bigger than anyone in our squad?!? !I’ll take a punt and say the answer is ‘no’.

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

If two multi millionaire owners with extra revenues from increased attendances cannot afford a reasonable transfer fee then what is the point?

The owners have in fact said many times that money is available and would listen to Hurst if he wanted a particular player.

So far at least it is just words.

It implies that Hurst didn't want to pay £300,000 for Palmer, not that the money wasn't available.

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

If two multi millionaire owners with extra revenues from increased attendances cannot afford a reasonable transfer fee then what is the point?

The owners have in fact said many times that money is available and would listen to Hurst if he wanted a particular player.

So far at least it is just words.

Or so far at least Hurst hasn't asked for the money...... maybe doesn't want an ego in the building.......maybe he knows a striker would command a wage that would upset the structure and disgruntle other players.....
I was and am pretty peed off that we didn't bag Tshimanga when all signs pre season were that I think we felt we maybe had him, but when it didn't come off it was Hurst who made comments regards £250k being ridiculous or similar at this level. Whether he felt he couldn't pay that or the board said we are not paying that we don't know.
Chesterfield have so far have shown that maybe it was a shrewd investment..both League position for now or with any potential profit if they decide to sell on in January.

Halifax got Quigley from Yeovil too. That would’ve been a good signing for us.

His desire to open bottles with his teeth would probably require a Club Dentist on top of his salary and transfer fee!

Quoted from aldi_01

What does them being millionaires have anything to do with anything?

If town spunked £300k on someone like Palmer this board would blow up…

My initial post was not about Palmer. It was a suggestion that we could pay a reasonable fee for a player.

Nobody would agree paying 300k for Palmer seems like good business.  Mind you, if he fires them to promotion it would be money well spent.

Quoted from chaos33

Halifax got Quigley from Yeovil too. That would’ve been a good signing for us.

Chesterfield*


Halifax have signed Aaron Martin from
harrogate

300k for Ollie Palmer is top of the list for the most insane transfer I’ve ever seen at this level.

It’s flipping eye watering for a striker who was no better than okay here

One of Chesterfield, Stockport or Wrexham won’t be going up this year and the charity buckets will almost certainly start rattling as a result

Quoted from Hagrid

Chesterfield*


Halifax have signed Aaron Martin from
harrogate

Today I learned that as well as Aaron Martin, a striker recently of Harrogate fame, Port Vale also have a centre-half named Aaron Martin.

They played against each other when the two sides met in September, which must have been interesting for the radio commentators.

Maybe some players just don’t want to play for us as they get that we’re not as big as some people on here think we are.

The fact that strikers are going for this sort of money in non league suggests there is a paucity of decent strikers out there, which is probably why we are struggling to get one, and ones that are available can have their pick of teams in an inflated market.

Seems to be a sellers market at the moment.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Maybe some players just don’t want to play for us as they get that we’re not as big as some people on here think we are.

Let’s face it, these players aren’t interested in the size of the club, it’s the size of the bank balance that they’re interested in. For all I’m not happy with what’s going on here at the minute, I’m glad we’re not selling our souls.

With our owners we’ll still have a club to moan about for many years.

Quoted from Hagrid

various twitter sources

its obvious- and yes- frustrating that we dont seem to have a budget to go splash out on a stiker, but i cant see anyway we can compete with what stockport/Chesterfield/Wrexham are offering these players

No because we’ve spent a couple of hundred thousand on a window to see the linesman’s kneecaps. Not to mention the window cleaning bill now ongoing👎

Additionally £40k on irrigation so it can be turned on from the telephone. Staff were doing this with the semiautomatic system within their job so no saving there or benefits.  

So called infrastructure expenditure.

But hay ho we can still concentrate on the chairman’s social experiment as someone pointed out, and see how far that gets us👎👎👎

Quoted from Southwark Mariner

His desire to open bottles with his teeth would probably require a Club Dentist on top of his salary and transfer fee!

I'll do it for a free ticket each game and a fancy scotch egg.

Quoted from GibMariner

No because we’ve spent a couple of hundred thousand on a window to see the linesman’s kneecaps. Not to mention the window cleaning bill now ongoing👎

Additionally £40k on irrigation so it can be turned on from the telephone. Staff were doing this with the semiautomatic system within their job so no saving there or benefits.  

So called infrastructure expenditure.

But hay ho we can still concentrate on the chairman’s social experiment as someone pointed out, and see how far that gets us👎👎👎

No wonder the officiating in this league is so shite if the buggers aren't even facing the right way.

Quoted from pontoonlew

Let’s face it, these players aren’t interested in the size of the club, it’s the size of the bank balance that they’re interested in. For all I’m not happy with what’s going on here at the minute, I’m glad we’re not selling our souls.

With our owners we’ll still have a club to moan about for many years.

If we give them a chance, they may just give us something to cheer about.

Quoted from mariner91

I'll do it for a free ticket each game and a fancy scotch egg.

I’m surprised you’ve got the time these days 👶

Quoted from pontoonlew

Let’s face it, these players aren’t interested in the size of the club, it’s the size of the bank balance that they’re interested in. For all I’m not happy with what’s going on here at the minute, I’m glad we’re not selling our souls.

With our owners we’ll still have a club to moan about for many years.

Completely agree!

Surely there is a better striker out there for £300k than Ollie Palmer?

In our last spell in non-league, we were being greatly outspent by several sides each season. Par for the course these days, I'm afraid. It makes it all the more likely that play-offs are likely to be the only way out so we just need to make sure that we've got a ticket in the lottery come the end of the season. Lots of points to play for yet and it won't take more than a small improvement to start to pick up the points we require. Hopefully, the new signings will be able to improve us enough to get them.

People point to Harrogate and Sutton that went up without spending money. They built promotion sides slowly, giving the manager time to build their squads. Their teams were put together when the right players became available instead of spending a fortune in one or two transfer windows. Halifax would appear to be doing the same this year, biding their time and picking up players when they are available to them.

Quoted from jamesgtfc

Surely there is a better striker out there for £300k than Ollie Palmer?

Shush! Despite me undoubtedly wanting Palmer back here every season since he was, I think we currently have a player  who’s better…..

Quoted from chaos33

But you said ‘they don’t want to’. That’s just silly. They may be willing to pay for the right player. Just because they haven’t thus far doesn’t make your point valid. It’s just supposition. ‘They don’t want to’ you said. You couldn’t possibly know that and actually, this is contrary to what they said they’ll do. Would you pay £300K for Ollie Palmer and then a wage that is doubtless bigger than anyone in our squad?!? !I’ll take a punt and say the answer is ‘no’.

I’m glad someone has the same mindset as me, so many idiots complaining about the board. It seems people have poor memories in regards to our previous custodian.

https://www.wrexhamafc.co.uk/news/2022/january/signed--wrexham-sign-striker-ollie-palmer-from-afc-wimbledon/

A 3 and a half year deal too!!  ??)

Between Mullen and him, strikeforce of 15K A Week. Its insane

I have some magic beans for sale I may give Wrexham a call to see if they’re interested.

Is £300k too much for Ollie Palmer at his age? I'd say yes.

But, will he do a very good job at National League level? I'd say yes to that too.

It’s gonna be Michael-Jackson-popcorn-gif-inducing stuff at the end of the season watching which of these lot stay down after the money they’ve spent.

Palmer is a heck of a signing but that is absurd money.

Quoted from Hagrid

Between Mullen and him, strikeforce of 15K A Week. Its insane

I’m not sure how that’s sustainable even if they go up.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

I’m not sure how that’s sustainable even if they go up.

What is promotion worth? Wasn't it estimated that relegation last time cost us £500k per year so you can assume promotion is worth at least that.

If they go up Mullen alone has cost them at least half of that (£5k per week is the "sensible" estimate of his wages) then £300k for Palmer plus £100k in wages and any signing on fee either of them have.

Not even mentioned goal bonuses or promotion bonuses but them 2 alone are probably setting them back close to £1m this season.

I would not have paid 300k for Palmer, but I would have paid £250k for Tshimanga - a red hot striker in demand, a good age with bags of sell-on potential, but as I said before we didn't want to pay the going rate for an in-demand player. £250k is not a lot in the great scheme of things. Yes he would have demanded better wages because he was in demand, but that is always going to be the case if we want to progress.

I bet they are regretting it now. He must be worth a lot more than Chesterfield paid.    

Quoted from mimma

People point to Harrogate and Sutton that went up without spending money. They built promotion sides slowly, giving the manager time to build their squads. Their teams were put together when the right players became available instead of spending a fortune in one or two transfer windows. Halifax would appear to be doing the same this year, biding their time and picking up players when they are available to them.

Not entirely true. Harrogate had a benefactor ploughing in money to boost their playing budget way beyond their income level and Sutton had a massive FA Cup windfall to boost their coffers.

With the amount of loans and short term deals and huge numbers of senior players out of contract in the summer, we aren't even squad building never mind finding out ways to compete with the biggest spenders in the division who have all got around the same matchday income as us.

We've got to find a way to properly squad build and also compete wages wise or else this club is going to die on its arsse, new owners or not..

We gonna sit down here season after season pointing at (insert here four or five different club names) every season who we can't compete with wages wise while we pootle about with the likes of Solihull, Bromley, Woking etc? We need to approach getting out of this league in a different way like bringing in new investors through fresh additional share issues specifically to boost the playing budget as getting out of non-league asap has got to be priority number one by a very long way. We can still improve our infrastructure at the same time as planned as the fresh investment will be unplanned new money. It would be up to the board to work out ways for the new ownership dynamic to work..

Whatever we are doing is not working and it didn't last time. We were a Monkhouse injury away from being still down here imho..

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

I would not have paid 300k for Palmer, but I would have paid £250k for Tshimanga - a red hot striker in demand, a good age with bags of sell-on potential, but as I said before we didn't want to pay the going rate for an in-demand player. £250k is not a lot in the great scheme of things. Yes he would have demanded better wages because he was in demand, but that is always going to be the case if we want to progress.

I bet they are regretting it now. He must be worth a lot more than Chesterfield paid.    

Boreham Wood played a blinder with Tshimanga, didn’t they? I’m really concerned that we will find ourselves in this league for a long time as I don’t see us being able to compete financially with more ambitious clubs and teams coming down.

I’m all for improving the club, the facilities, the infrastructure, the ethos and whatever else needs to happen but the one thing we can’t do is make ourselves geographically more attractive. Amazing, in retrospect, to think we could attract the likes of Birtles and Whymark in years gone by.

Quoted from Bigdog

Not entirely true. Harrogate had a benefactor ploughing in money to boost their playing budget way beyond their income level and Sutton had a massive FA Cup windfall to boost their coffers.

With the amount of loans and short term deals and huge numbers of senior players out of contract in the summer, we aren't even squad building never mind finding out ways to compete with the biggest spenders in the division who have all got around the same matchday income as us.

We've got to find a way to properly squad build and also compete wages wise or else this club is going to die on its arsse, new owners or not..

We gonna sit down here season after season pointing at (insert here four or five different club names) every season who we can't compete with wages wise while we pootle about with the likes of Solihull, Bromley, Woking etc season after season? We need to approach getting out of this league in a different way like bringing in new investors to boost the playing budget as getting out of non-league asap has got to be priority number one by a very long way. We can still improve our infrastructure at the same time as planned as the fresh investment will be unplanned new money. It would be up to the board to work out ways for the new ownership dynamic to work..

Whatever we are doing is not working and it didn't last time. We were a Monkhouse injury away from being still down here imho..

I agree that there will always be another club with a windfall, a benefactor, new investment that will want to spend big, so it is no use at all gleefully predicting that next season will be more equal. With our crowds, and seemingly ideal owners in terms of their wealth accrued through genuine business acumen, we should be able to compete in this division. Not talking about silly money, but certainly investing to accumulate.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

Boreham Wood played a blinder with Tshimanga, didn’t they? I’m really concerned that we will find ourselves in this league for a long time as I don’t see us being able to compete financially with more ambitious clubs and teams coming down.

I’m all for improving the club, the facilities, the infrastructure, the ethos and whatever else needs to happen but the one thing we can’t do is make ourselves geographically more attractive. Amazing, in retrospect, to think we could attract the likes of Birtles and Whymark in years gone by.

I agree with a lot of what you say, but I think the geography thing is a red herring. Good players have come here all the time over all the decades I have been watching as long as it is a manager they believe in and the wages are right. Even in our darkest hour, we have had some good players come from all over the country. Connell Hearn Bogle Disley Amond etc. etc. The list is endless.

Lots of talk on here about we should have paid this 6 figure sum or that 6 figure sum and pay sill wages for a striker, can anyone tell me the last time we actually did that?

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

I agree with a lot of what you say, but I think the geography thing is a red herring. Good players have come here all the time over all the decades I have been watching as long as it is a manager they believe in and the wages are right. Even in our darkest hour, we have had some good players come from all over the country. Connell Hearn Bogle Disley Amond etc. etc. The list is endless.

Even the players you list were either hungry and on the way up (Hearn and Bogle) or were older and had been replaced.

Connell and Amond had decent track records before they came to us but probably still had a point to prove. However long the list of players is, the list of players committed to the club for next season is remarkably short for a club that said it was aiming for continuity.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Lots of talk on here about we should have paid this 6 figure sum or that 6 figure sum and pay sill wages for a striker, can anyone tell me the last time we actually did that?

No but that is one of many reasons we find ourselves mid table in tier 5.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

I’m not sure how that’s sustainable even if they go up.

It's the Amazon deal which makes it at least vaguely sustainable. Whilst ordinarily a documentary about Wrexham AFC would generate very little interest outside of hardcore football fans in the UK, the variable of being owned by to world famous Hollywood stars massively increases the scope for interest on a global scale.

It has other knock-on effects, too. The TikTok shirt deal, compounded by the fact that they're on FIFA 22 and have become a novelty club for millions of players around the world. There's the 8,000 season ticket holders too, though that probably pales into insignificance in reality. It all stems from the who their owners are.

Whether they're having to go a little overboard now in order to try and guarantee a successful ending to the first season, I don't know. But long-term, Reynolds and McElhenney will make plenty of money on from this project (which I think, in this case, is a reasonable thing to call it).

It's a very clever model. Do I like it? Not particularly, though at least it's a concept which has short-to-medium sustainability at the very least. But the reality is, they can probably justify spending £300k on a player probably worth a third of that at best, because they're simply not operating within football and financial norms. They are a very different beast.

It makes you wonder how much of this is being pedalled by the impending salary cap at beginning of next season for the national league(s).

If you’ve got unlimited resources - on paper, this is your best chance to go up before the playing field is levelled out. It’s certainly a shít or bust approach but when has that ever stopped a football club before?

Lets not forget Stockwood and Petit are shrewd business people, if nothing else. Perhaps riding this COVID/salary cap enforced wave while investing heavily in infrastructure instead could be a clever move. Once things have calmed down, we “go for it” on the playing side. A walk before you run technique that would leave us in a much stronger position to return to the football league. It’s not necessarily what you want to hear as a supporter but you cannot deny it makes long term sense.

As for Palmer, a cracking signing for nothing short of crazy money!

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Lots of talk on here about we should have paid this 6 figure sum or that 6 figure sum and pay sill wages for a striker, can anyone tell me the last time we actually did that?

To answer your question, I would think Phil Jevons all the way back in 2001. He was a quarter of a mill, wasn't he? Of course, that was all based on ITV money which would never arrive, and that coupled with two decades of failing to deal with the fallout is probably why we've never done it since.

We'll have paid a fee for Sam Jones when we signed him from Gateshead the night Bogle left, but I'd be surprised if it was six figures.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Lots of talk on here about we should have paid this 6 figure sum or that 6 figure sum and pay sill wages for a striker, can anyone tell me the last time we actually did that?

Didn't Buckley spend £1m in the summer of 1997?

The £500k signing of Lee Ashcroft was one that didn't work out and the last time we spent big was at the beginning of the millennium under Lennie Lawrence; a contributing factor in our demise.

Quoted from jamesgtfc

Didn't Buckley spend £1m in the summer of 1997?

The £500k signing of Lee Ashcroft was one that didn't work out and the last time we spent big was at the beginning of the millennium under Lennie Lawrence; a contributing factor in our demise.

In 97 we sold Oster for £1.7m to Everton and Mendonca for £700k to Charlton. That allowed Buckley to then sign 4-5 players who were each between £100 and £300k. Nogan, Donovan, Groves, Smith, Burnett all come to mind.

McDermott’s book shows how much money Lawrence was throwing around, when players were offered renewed contracts on three times their previous deal.

Quoted from mimma

People point to Harrogate and Sutton that went up without spending money. They built promotion sides slowly, giving the manager time to build their squads. Their teams were put together when the right players became available instead of spending a fortune in one or two transfer windows. Halifax would appear to be doing the same this year, biding their time and picking up players when they are available to them.

It is not just about giving a manager time it is also about having the right manager.

There's not been that much building of a squad since Hurst came back, most contracts ending this season, sending loans back early, bringing in more loan players, getting rid of players recently signed.

Quoted from arryarryarry

It is not just about giving a manager time it is also about having the right manager.

There's not been that much building of a squad since Hurst came back, most contracts ending this season, sending loans back early, bringing in more loan players, getting rid of players recently signed.

But there’s literally plenty of reasons for that, and much like when we went down last time, it takes time to find the right players…signing lads on contracts for more than a year hasn’t gone well in the last 20 years in truth.

This is a long term plan and I stand by the comment that had town dropped £300k on Ollie Palmer people would’ve moaned. GTFC can’t win, even under Fenty, I never stick up for him but just spunking that sort of cash and then wages isn’t helpful or guarantees you anything. It can create sustainability issues and so forth. Under Fenty there was zero investment, but it went well beyond the playing budget, but still, caution was understandable to some extent, the same happening now. Just Becauee we have extremely wealthy folk in charge doesn’t mean we’re going to be moronic like Wrexham and drop that cash.

Our current owners have a long term plan and a lot of that focuses on ensuring the club remains for a very long time whilst also being competitive. At the minute we’re struggling, again for a catalogue of reasons…hence every man and his dog shitting their knickers. Things turn around though and if you compare this to the same season last time we went down, the club, the team, the ground (it is before anyone tries to be clever) and the relevance of the club is in much greater shape…

We were treading water for 17 years, we were the worst team in the football league…we weren’t going to become a top of the league team overnight…

Quoted from aldi_01

But there’s literally plenty of reasons for that, and much like when we went down last time, it takes time to find the right players…signing lads on contracts for more than a year hasn’t gone well in the last 20 years in truth.

This is a long term plan and I stand by the comment that had town dropped £300k on Ollie Palmer people would’ve moaned. GTFC can’t win, even under Fenty, I never stick up for him but just spunking that sort of cash and then wages isn’t helpful or guarantees you anything. It can create sustainability issues and so forth. Under Fenty there was zero investment, but it went well beyond the playing budget, but still, caution was understandable to some extent, the same happening now. Just Becauee we have extremely wealthy folk in charge doesn’t mean we’re going to be moronic like Wrexham and drop that cash.

Our current owners have a long term plan and a lot of that focuses on ensuring the club remains for a very long time whilst also being competitive. At the minute we’re struggling, again for a catalogue of reasons…hence every man and his dog shitting their knickers. Things turn around though and if you compare this to the same season last time we went down, the club, the team, the ground (it is before anyone tries to be clever) and the relevance of the club is in much greater shape…

We were treading water for 17 years, we were the worst team in the football league…we weren’t going to become a top of the league team overnight…

We weren’t the worst team in the EFL when Hurst took over.

Am actually hoping that 2 of wrexham/Stockport/chesterfield (if not us of course) go up this season as it’s looking likely, at the moment, that it’s going to be scunts/Oldham that will be coming down and they Haven’t got a pot to pi55 in at the moment. It would certainly level the playing field somewhat.

Quoted from WOZOFGRIMSBY

Am actually hoping that 2 of wrexham/Stockport/chesterfield (if not us of course) go up this season as it’s looking likely, at the moment, that it’s going to be scunts/Oldham that will be coming down and they Haven’t got a pot to pi55 in at the moment. It would certainly level the playing field somewhat.

My sentiments too, with regards to if not us then definitely Stockport and Wrexham .... I feel due to Oldham’s size and history plus the fact that their owner is now willing to sell they might not remain brassic for long. Scunts on the other hand are doomed.

Quoted from Poojah

To answer your question, I would think Phil Jevons all the way back in 2001. He was a quarter of a mill, wasn't he? Of course, that was all based on ITV money which would never arrive, and that coupled with two decades of failing to deal with the fallout is probably why we've never done it since.

We'll have paid a fee for Sam Jones when we signed him from Gateshead the night Bogle left, but I'd be surprised if it was six figures.

There lies one of the big problems at the moment the expectation is stuck 20 years into history.

Quoted from mimma

If I had £300,000 to sign a player I wouldn't waste on Ollie Palmer.

Totally agree, and that's nothing against Ollie.., he must think it's Christmas!

Quoted from mimma

People point to Harrogate and Sutton that went up without spending money. They built promotion sides slowly, giving the manager time to build their squads. Their teams were put together when the right players became available instead of spending a fortune in one or two transfer windows. Halifax would appear to be doing the same this year, biding their time and picking up players when they are available to them.

This!

There's a lot of knee jerk going on. Yes, we're not doing very well right now, but the calls for Hurst's head are laughable. Building the squad over 12 months TWICE has got him to a starting point that he can build on over the next 12 months and have a promotion challenging side then. Nobody wants us to miss out on play offs or a chance of the title, of course not, but there's virtually no chance of immediate promotion with the carnage that he inherited. There's only ever been 4 bounces back to the football league the season after relegation? Brizzle Rovers a few years back and Lincoln in the 80's? Can't think of the others. "League 2 has finally shown a negative with only four clubs of the 35 relegated since 1992 gaining promotion back into the Football League at the first attempt." [url] https://www.thestatszone.com/archive/promotion-and-relegation-in-english-football-13946[/url]

He's got next year and probably the year after for me to build a squad without bankrupting the club, which he's shown in the past he can do.

Quoted from Biccys

This!

There's a lot of knee jerk going on. Yes, we're not doing very well right now, but the calls for Hurst's head are laughable. Building the squad over 12 months TWICE has got him to a starting point that he can build on over the next 12 months and have a promotion challenging side then. Nobody wants us to miss out on play offs or a chance of the title, of course not, but there's virtually no chance of immediate promotion with the carnage that he inherited. There's only ever been 4 bounces back to the football league the season after relegation? Brizzle Rovers a few years back and Lincoln in the 80's? Can't think of the others. "League 2 has finally shown a negative with only four clubs of the 35 relegated since 1992 gaining promotion back into the Football League at the first attempt." [url] https://www.thestatszone.com/archive/promotion-and-relegation-in-english-football-13946[/url]

He's got next year and probably the year after for me to build a squad without bankrupting the club, which he's shown in the past he can do.

You're havng a laugh, shirley?

Quoted from arryarryarry

You're havng a laugh, shirley?

No, and ... no, I won't do it.

Right, this is pissing me off now.

All these digs at the board for not splashing hundreds of thousands of pounds on strikers...what the intercourse are people expecting?  Where do you think this money magically appears from?

Unless you've lived under a rock for the last year, the shares of John Fenty were bought with personal cash.  That's money from the pockets of two individuals to get rid of Fenty from our club.  That isn't money that we've generated through sales or tickets, it's from their own pockets.

Investment in the ground, including the much derided Perspex screen in the Upper, from personal cash.  

Last summer we had a couple of windfalls from the sales of Ben Grist and Mattie Pollock, to the tune of just over half a million.  Unfortunately that has gone to paying off our good friend John's benign loans off.  Or did you expect the new owners to pay that from their personal cash too?   If we didn't have that bloody anchor weighing round our necks we may have been in a more comfortable position to splash cash on £250k strikers.  

Y'know, they're not getting everything right.  The poorer our form the more things become obvious.  Stuff that would be ignored when we're playing well is rankling everyone now.  Changing the crest, the CEO arguing on Twitter, the price of the food in the ground, it all chips away when the team are doing excrement.  Rightly or wrongly, they're in the position to be shot at.

But let's at least have some respect to not go down that route of demanding they spend their personal money on transfers and silly wages.   If that's the route people really want, the option is always there for them to make millions themselves and do that.

Quoted from diehardmariner

Right, this is pissing me off now.

All these digs at the board for not splashing hundreds of thousands of pounds on strikers...what the intercourse are people expecting?  Where do you think this money magically appears from?

Unless you've lived under a rock for the last year, the shares of John Fenty were bought with personal cash.  That's money from the pockets of two individuals to get rid of Fenty from our club.  That isn't money that we've generated through sales or tickets, it's from their own pockets.

Investment in the ground, including the much derided Perspex screen in the Upper, from personal cash.  

Last summer we had a couple of windfalls from the sales of Ben Grist and Mattie Pollock, to the tune of just over half a million.  Unfortunately that has gone to paying off our good friend John's benign loans off.  Or did you expect the new owners to pay that from their personal cash too?   If we didn't have that bloody anchor weighing round our necks we may have been in a more comfortable position to splash cash on £250k strikers.  

Y'know, they're not getting everything right.  The poorer our form the more things become obvious.  Stuff that would be ignored when we're playing well is rankling everyone now.  Changing the crest, the CEO arguing on Twitter, the price of the food in the ground, it all chips away when the team are doing excrement.  Rightly or wrongly, they're in the position to be shot at.

But let's at least have some respect to not go down that route of demanding they spend their personal money on transfers and silly wages.   If that's the route people really want, the option is always there for them to make millions themselves and do that.

Nice reality check , well said

Quoted from diehardmariner

Right, this is pissing me off now.

All these digs at the board for not splashing hundreds of thousands of pounds on strikers...what the intercourse are people expecting?  Where do you think this money magically appears from?

Unless you've lived under a rock for the last year, the shares of John Fenty were bought with personal cash.  That's money from the pockets of two individuals to get rid of Fenty from our club.  That isn't money that we've generated through sales or tickets, it's from their own pockets.

Investment in the ground, including the much derided Perspex screen in the Upper, from personal cash.  

Last summer we had a couple of windfalls from the sales of Ben Grist and Mattie Pollock, to the tune of just over half a million.  Unfortunately that has gone to paying off our good friend John's benign loans off.  Or did you expect the new owners to pay that from their personal cash too?   If we didn't have that bloody anchor weighing round our necks we may have been in a more comfortable position to splash cash on £250k strikers.  

Y'know, they're not getting everything right.  The poorer our form the more things become obvious.  Stuff that would be ignored when we're playing well is rankling everyone now.  Changing the crest, the CEO arguing on Twitter, the price of the food in the ground, it all chips away when the team are doing excrement.  Rightly or wrongly, they're in the position to be shot at.

But let's at least have some respect to not go down that route of demanding they spend their personal money on transfers and silly wages.   If that's the route people really want, the option is always there for them to make millions themselves and do that.

Excellent post….a rare dose of calm pragmatism and reason in a swirling pot of spiteful and unrealistic hyperbole.

Quoted from chaos33

Excellent post….a rare dose of calm pragmatism and reason in a swirling pot of spitefu and unrealistic hyperbole.

Spite-fu? I think my wife takes a class in that..

Any idea if he's had clearance to play tonight yet?

Quoted from Poojah

Spite-fu? I think my wife takes a class in that..

Hehe. Yeah just noted. Corrected now.

Did Wrexham pay anything to get Mullin in the summer?

He's got 11 in 20 this season, from what I can see. Can't remember what his wages were speculated to be, I imagine Palmer will probably demand something close to what he's on if they're willing to spend £300k on him.

Stockwood spoke a while back about the imbalance of finances in this division. I don't think he had a go at any club owners (if they want to pay that amount of money for a player then good luck to them) but more calling on the people who run this league to create a fairer system for everyone.

There will always be an element of competitive advantage, whether it's size of crowd, catchment area, parent clubs or finances itself. But it makes it hard to compete with the way Wrexham are doing things, especially if you're Wealdstone or Maidenhead, and it may cause other clubs to play with money they don't have, just to compete.

Long term it's dangerous. But who are we to tell someone how not to spend their money when they've earned it themselves? Just concerned about the wider situation, really.

Quoted from Biccys

There's only ever been 4 bounces back to the football league the season after relegation? Brizzle Rovers a few years back and Lincoln in the 80's? Can't think of the others.  

Carlisle mid-2000s and Cheltenham the season we went back up.

Quoted from chaos33

Excellent post….a rare dose of calm pragmatism and reason in a swirling pot of spiteful and unrealistic hyperbole.

I agree. So many posters on here who are experts on spending somebody else's money.

Perhaps they are preparing for a salary cap, just in case it is implemented next season.

Getting their spending done now while they can.

EGM on Thursday afternoon may level.the salary playing field??

A couple of months ago, fans on here were laughing at cash splashed by Stockport and Wrexham with their positions then.

They're not laughing now as we are back down in 10th and they have both shot past us !!

Quoted from diehardmariner

Right, this is pissing me off now.

All these digs at the board for not splashing hundreds of thousands of pounds on strikers...what the intercourse are people expecting? Where do you think this money magically appears from?

Unless you've lived under a rock for the last year, the shares of John Fenty were bought with personal cash.  That's money from the pockets of two individuals to get rid of Fenty from our club.  That isn't money that we've generated through sales or tickets, it's from their own pockets.

Investment in the ground, including the much derided Perspex screen in the Upper, from personal cash.  

Last summer we had a couple of windfalls from the sales of Ben Grist and Mattie Pollock, to the tune of just over half a million.  Unfortunately that has gone to paying off our good friend John's benign loans off.  Or did you expect the new owners to pay that from their personal cash too?   If we didn't have that bloody anchor weighing round our necks we may have been in a more comfortable position to splash cash on £250k strikers.  

Y'know, they're not getting everything right.  The poorer our form the more things become obvious.  Stuff that would be ignored when we're playing well is rankling everyone now.  Changing the crest, the CEO arguing on Twitter, the price of the food in the ground, it all chips away when the team are doing excrement.  Rightly or wrongly, they're in the position to be shot at.

But let's at least have some respect to not go down that route of demanding they spend their personal money on transfers and silly wages.   If that's the route people really want, the option is always there for them to make millions themselves and do that.

Why is the analysis of our predicament so binary? Spend within our current income or the current board spend personal money on transfers and silly wages? That's the only two choices? Really? All this tosh about squad building slowly to get promoted. At this level players are only signed for relatively short term deals, boosted by the loan market and any decent performers get handpicked by EFL clubs. These are the stark facts that are facing clubs like ours. to prevent our stay down here from being a long one, we need to find a hybrid solution whereby new share investment could be set aside for a playing budget fighting fund to get promoted. If we're struggling now to compete with the luxury of EFL solidarity parachute payments and 6k gates, how are we going to cope and compete without them along with falling attendances? There will always be other clubs giving it a real go season after season.

The solution isn't binary or black and white, a hybrid approach is needed. Wrexham apart, the difference between what the others are spending and us won't be as great as made out, but enough to create the current chasm in onfield performance. Grateful to the current owners for taking over but I still don't think there's enough cash invested to make a dent in this division, well not enough to make it a short term stay anyway. Do we want to hope that we can build a side on the cheap and all the aforementioned problems that come with it or could we hope that our current owners attract new investment on a non loan basis (share issue) in order for us to have our pick of players at this level? If we can't do that down here to get back in the EFL on 6k gates, then we're never going to get out of this hellhole..

Quoted from acko338

EGM on Thursday afternoon may level.the salary playing field??

A couple of months ago, fans on here were laughing at cash splashed by Stockport and Wrexham with their positions then.

They're not laughing now as we are back down in 10th and they have both shot past us !!

I always felt it was inevitable they would both get it together eventually. Less predictable at the time was Town’s fall from grace, but even when we were 10+ points ahead of Wrexham I always felt it would be difficult to keep ahead of them over the course of the season.

Quoted from ginnywings

Perhaps they are preparing for a salary cap, just in case it is implemented next season.

Getting their spending done now while they can.

Now they've done their spending, I guess they'll be at the front of the queue to vote for it..

Quoted from Les Brechin

Any idea if he's had clearance to play tonight yet?

He starts

Will he celebrate if he scores tonight? Almost certainly yes I think.

Quoted from chaos33

Will he celebrate if he scores tonight? Almost certainly yes I think.

Why wouldnt he?

I am quite sure he will celebrate, he celebrated when he scored against us for Orient.

Quoted from Hagrid

Why wouldnt he?

Out of class and respect. Like Amond. Don’t expect it.

Quoted from chaos33

Out of class and respect. Like Amond. Don’t expect it.

Maybe no celebration if your a stalwart over several seasons for a club, or a legend like Amond, but palmer played what, half a season for us? There is no reason for him to not be celebrating. Some players wouldn't be able to celebrate in half their games if they didn't celebrate against teams they had played for!

Just to be clear…..I wasn’t saying he should or that I expected that, I was just wondering out loud….

Quoted from male private Nale

Nice reality check , well said

Diehard's eloquent and passionate post was an accurate assessment of where we are..

It was a reality check, but I wouldn't call it a nice one. If a reality check identifies a situation destined for lack of success, then heaven and earth should be moved to change the harsh reality of present circumstances

Investment in the ground, including the much derided Perspex screen in the Upper, from personal cash.  

Do you have any evidence for that or is at an assumption . What about the £800k in the bank which they inherited?