[Archived] Summer Spending

[CrazyIvan]

Excellent post den. Couldn't agree more.

Seconded

[jim mk2]

So, to sum up we have to sell our best players to break even and unless we do so each season the club will quickly be deep in debt and likely to follow Southampton, Charlton, Leeds and the rest into the lower divisions.

Apart from that brief golden period under Jack Walker nothing has changed in the 50-odd years I have been following Rovers.

The worry is that assuming Samba is the next to go, who else at the club is a saleable asset ?

It also strikes me that with his ability to produce (relatively) successful teams on very limited resources Allardyce is the perfect man to manage Rovers at the present time.

[Amo]

It also strikes me that with his ability to produce (relatively) successful teams on very limited resources Allardyce is the perfect man to manage Rovers at the present time.

What about Sven?

[imy9]

It is a sobering thought that even though we sold in excess of £32 million worth of talent we have not budged our overdraft.

Maybe next season will require us to cut our cloth accordingly and cut this wage bill, we have at least 28 players in the first team squad and we should have a maximum of 18/19 with 3 youth team players, it is the wage bill that is killing us.

[American]

It also strikes me that with his ability to produce (relatively) successful teams on very limited resources Allardyce is the perfect man to manage Rovers at the present time.

In a way I agree, in a way I don't. His inability to keep the wage bill down here and at Bolton is going to cause us to have to sell all of our best players.

Between a bloated coaching/training/video/nutrition/psychic/dowsing staff and older, expensive players, he's making his own mess, and when he buggers off at the first opportunity, we'll be the ones screwed.

So much for the leaner squad. We might have gotten rid of more numbers, but if you look at regular contributors, we got rid of 6 and brought in 8 (7 if you don't count Givet, as he was here last year, but it would bring the numbers to 6 out and 9 in since Sam took over - not really making us leaner as he said he would).

And this is only the increase in number of players. Would be interested to know how many more staff, if any, we have now.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

There's no hiding from the facts and its frightening stuff.The Rovers and the Walker family are now at point where they need part asap for the long term good of the club.

That's said with great gratitude and respect for what Jack did in the past.

[joey_big_nose]

Well it looks like we are going to have to try and sustain ourselves on less money in future. I imagine this has already been noted, and Pedersen, Dunn and whoever else is finishing conract realise there will be no wage increases and potentially decreases next year.

We will lose players to the likes of Stoke and Hull. Sad.

Whoever is our manager over the coming years they are going to have to be outstanding in the transfer market to find not only cheap transfer targets, but players who are also willing to play for us at 20 or 30% below the going rate. And we need some great kids to come through.

Another point worth raising is if Sam knew we had no money why did he bring in Salgado? We already had Jackobsen, admittedly with a poor recent injury record, and Emerton coming back, and Andrews and Reid who could cover.

Very strange decision unless he has some different vision for how we would use him. I will be interested to see.

ps. If Kalinic, DI Santo and Hoilett are not the business we are absolutely screwed. No money for more strikers if they can't do it.

pps. This is all the result of that huge cash splurge on wages in summer 2007 by Pompey, Man City and West Ham.

ppps. Read the whole artice - John Williams comes across in an almost ideal way considering the circumstances. Very impressed.

[allanncd]

Everything has a price. The Trustees are sinking the club by asking too much. If a business cannot make a profit - as Rovers self-evidently cannot - it has no value other than asset-stripping. The size of the wage bill is due to paying too much for mediocrity such as Zurab and Andrews with whom we are lumbered for 4 more years. Presumably the land purchase is the old St Barts school site.

[Al]

I do not doubt what JW says, but the sad fact that comes out from all of this is that we can expect zero backing from the trust. Without that we are in trouble as a Premiership club and will not survive in that division whilst they hold the purse strings.

Please either back us or sell/give the club to someone who will. We must have zero value on the balance sheet.

[malk]

As a few have mentioned above our absolute pressing need is to reduce the wage bill. I found it quite interesting that we're assuming that 41 million pounds would be the 13th highest wage bill in the Premier League. Furthermore we'll be running a wage bill of 46 million pounds for this season.

We desperately need to reduce the numbers of mid priced players in our squad that hardly play. Many have called for the heads of Dunn, Reid et al but at least they'd be first teamers when fit. It's the likes of Zurab that really drain us. Always looked a decent player but he played in five league games last year, thirteen the year before and eighteen the year before that. Surely one of the academy lads can fill that amount of games without killing our season or even sticking in a Reid or an Emerton would be preferable to having an effective dead wage for the last two years. For a 4-4-2 side I can't see why we don't concentrate on eleven first team players, two quality substitutes at each of defence and midfield and one up front. Add in a cheap back up 'keeper and make up the rest with cheaper players be they young or old or whatever. Further factor in versatile players like Emerton and formation change and you still have a decent amount of flexibility.

Obviously this is extreme but until we get close to it the problem just will not go away.

[Silencio]

Very good interview from Williams but also quite depressing reading.

It's clear that wages are a massive problem and it's something we need to address. Williams clearly knows this but I would like to know why, with this in mind, do we continue to extend the contracts of poor players like Roberts and Andrews. I think we have got to start looking to let some contracts run down whilst looking to sell at the same time. Players like MGP, Benni, Roberts, Andrews, Diouf, Grella, Reid, Nelsen, Zurab and Brown are all either past it or injury prone andon high wages.

It's clear that Paul Ince set us back a long way. Not only did we lose Bentley but we also ended up having to pay out for Grella and Andrews. I'm sure Williams regrets the decision to appoint him more than any other he has made at the club.

It's also clear that the appointment of the Academy manager may be just as important as that of the first team. I hope there is a little bit of money available to push the boat out here. Brian Kidd has just moved to Man City and I imagine that will have pushed Jim Cassell's nose out of joint. We should move for someone of his calibre. We must start bringing kids through to the first team in the next two or three years so while we get rid of the deadwood from the first team.

[Paul]

The arguement will be these players "can play" across the back four thus giving us more cover and options. Personally I think that's an excuse and JW and the board have lost it. We are selling our assets to pay the wage bill and running costs. It's a bloody joke.

When I posted this a couple of weeks back the context was different but it seems my suggestion "we are selling our assets to pay the wage bill and running costs" was spot on. JW has stated as much himself. I was wrong to say the board have "lost it," Williams has clearly bitten the bullet and taken some very tough decisions. Selling a player of Warnock's calibre to pay the wages is a very, very tough decision and a truely shocking one. It's still a bloody joke.

There are many different suggestions on here as to whose "fault" this is. The trust, renewed calls for new owners, Paul Ince and co, mediocre players who are paid too much for bit part contributions (remember we just bought one of those from Real Madrid, 17 games in two years), the wage bill in general etc. etc.

I'd suggest none of these is really the reason and it is the Premier League model itself which is wrong, the chairmen and boards collectively have screwed this up. There has never been so much money available to football clubs, and it is likely to increase, yet Rovers, a club often refered to as a model of good management has to sell players to cover losses, operating costs and wages. This is what Williams has said, we are living beyond our means. If it's happening at Ewood Park, it will be happening at several other clubs.

Ask yourself who is paying for the demise of our club? We blithely talk about TV money, shirt sponsorship etc as the sources of income. Where does this come from? OUT OF OUR POCKETS. Every day the supporters pay through their Sky subscriptions, retail prices including advertising, mobile phone deals etc etc. Ultimately every penny of this money comes from the consumer, it does not come from any of the companies "supporting" football.

The Premier League slaps itself on the back, tells us we are watching the "best league in the world." A league which has reduced former champions to selling it's players to pay the wages, a league which has reduced recent cup winners and semi-finalists to having no more ambition than survival. A non-competitive league. A league for rich Arabs, wealthy Americans and Russian billionaires. Much has changed, nothing has changed?

I doubt fans have ever known more about football finances, JW's honesty in the interview is refreshing and puts us all in the picture. No one can complain at that. Despite this money we don't have ambition above survival. So I'd ask supporters to really think about this, indirectly though TV packages, sponsorship etc we are paying more than ever before to watch football and still there is not enough money to make the game viable. TV money has ruined the game, I said it years ago, selling our best players to pay the wages of the average ones proves it. We have the biggest turnover in our history and we still cannot make money? The Premier League despite its posturing and trumpet blowing is basically a failure. If Sky pull out the game would collapse. Sky know this, they'll provide enough to support the game for as long as it makes financial sense. But don't be fooled this won't last forever. You want / need someone to blame for our situation? Look to the PL, the opportunities were there to ensure the financial security of English football, the PL blew it.

I was right about one thing - it is a bloody joke.

[Mr. E]

This is why the only way out is Champions League qualification. You may call it unrealistic but I don't see how else we'll ever get out of this situation. A billionaire isn't coming with big money bags anytime soon.

Which, hopefully, would explain to some why no win after 3 games really is not a good thing at all.

[tonyoz]

John Williams always makes perfect sense to me. We are lucky to have him at the helm I reckon. He has injected a dose of realism into the discussion and it has had a sobering effect on a number of posters. This is a good thing in my opinion because we now know exactly where we are and what we have to do to be successful. I don’t see this as a depressing prospect as some seem to do; rather I see it as a challenge worthy of a great club. We are no nearer acquiring a super-rich, new owner so we are back to searching for flawed or overlooked players in the hope of turning their careers around. This hasn’t been too bad has it? Friedel, Bellamy, Samba, Nelsen, Bentley, Givet, Robinson, Warnock, Santa Cruz and even McCarthy all fall into this category. Some of them we sold (reluctantly in the main) but the sale tended to hurt the player more than the club.

And this season we have a fresh inflow to begin the process anew. Hoillet, Kalinic, N’Zonzi, Van Heerden and Jacobsen. Maybe one of the youngsters will come through too? Throw a couple of golden oldies into the mix with Chimbonda and Salgado and it doesn’t look too bad to me. We just need the strikers to fire and it could be an exciting year.

Roll on Saturday!

[bubblerrovers]

I hope people will stop moaning after this, All the questions have been answered now please can everyone focus on supporting the team this weekend, As it's a MASSIVE game,

[Bob the Builder]

It does seam a shame that we have had to sell our first choice left back to balance the books, when we have the following dead weight in the squad who are all unlikely to get a game this year.

Admittedly only one of them is a Sam signing, and I am sure that they will have been trying to offload some or all of those players before Warnock was allowed to go.

13 Zurab Khizanishvili Defender

19 Aaron Doran Striker

20 Elrio Van Heerden Midfielder

21 Martin Olsson Defender

28 Phil Jones Defender

34 Frank Fielding Goalkeeper

Maceo Rigters Striker

I suppose that the other option is that the club increases it’s income by 20 Million a year, any bright sparks got any ideas on how we can do that without qualifying for the champions league.

The only things I ever though the club could do to increase income are.

1, Two big beer tents (One for home fans, one for away fans) open before and after games, Blues bar is just two small. I know from speaking to the old landlord in the Fernhurst that they took over 70k over the bar from the Celtic game, why should that money not go to the club.

2, Given how bad parking in Blackburn town centre is at the moment, use some of the car parking at Ewood as a park and ride for the town centre.

Neither of these ideas is going to generate 20 million a year, so does any one else have any suggestions, maybe we might come up with one that John Williams hasn’t thought of.

[Gav]

John Williams always makes perfect sense to me.

Yes I agree fully with that, he talks allot of sense and tries to be open with the supporters, which is a rarity in modern day football. I guess we’re all thinking who is the next star to be sold to balance the books?

Simple fact is we don’t have one, which is a real worry……

[thenodrog]

"I suppose the most sobering thing about this is that even if we stretch ourselves to achieve break-even at operating level, that still leaves nothing for player acquisition. So trading is the name of the game"

Hence the massive damage caused by the relatively easy (at least on the face of it) exit of Mark Hughes. He and his team were virtually self funding.

btw My favourite part was his reference to the Walker trust ...........

JW: ".......In fairness to them and contrary to some uninformed opinion, they are not taking money out either."

Now unless his nose has grown an inch overnight I think some members may need to rethink their stance a little.

[MCMC1875]

The hole from last year?

When we sold -

Bentley

Brad

Hughes and Team comp.

and bought -

Grella

Robbo

Andrews

Diouf

Bloody 'ell! I know it's bin said umpteen times but how about that fer progress???

[thenodrog]

I do not doubt what JW says, but the sad fact that comes out from all of this is that we can expect zero backing from the trust. Without that we are in trouble as a Premiership club and will not survive in that division whilst they hold the purse strings.

Please either back us or sell/give the club to someone who will. We must have zero value on the balance sheet.

Indeed I believe the Gaydemaks and one or two in Icelend are between clubs right now. Maybe Dan the man has finished flogging his prefabs in West Africa even?

Fact is Al there are few who are interested and out of those there are none with a proper pot to #### in. Get used to it.

[AggyBlue]

I'd suggest none of these is really the reason and it is the Premier League model itself which is wrong, the chairmen and boards collectively have screwed this up. There has never been so much money available to football clubs, and it is likely to increase,

Good rant Paul.

However I don't agree with your opinion that the monies will increase. I think they will be slashed in the not too distant future upon the inception of a European 'Super' League.

[Balwer]

It does seam a shame that we have had to sell our first choice left back to balance the books, when we have the following dead weight in the squad who are all unlikely to get a game this year.

Admittedly only one of them is a Sam signing, and I am sure that they will have been trying to offload some or all of those players before Warnock was allowed to go.

13 Zurab Khizanishvili Defender

19 Aaron Doran Striker

20 Elrio Van Heerden Midfielder

21 Martin Olsson Defender

28 Phil Jones Defender

34 Frank Fielding Goalkeeper

Maceo Rigters Striker

I suppose that the other option is that the club increases it’s income by 20 Million a year, any bright sparks got any ideas on how we can do that without qualifying for the champions league.

The only things I ever though the club could do to increase income are.

1, Two big beer tents (One for home fans, one for away fans) open before and after games, Blues bar is just two small. I know from speaking to the old landlord in the Fernhurst that they took over 70k over the bar from the Celtic game, why should that money not go to the club.

2, Given how bad parking in Blackburn town centre is at the moment, use some of the car parking at Ewood as a park and ride for the town centre.

Neither of these ideas is going to generate 20 million a year, so does any one else have any suggestions, maybe we might come up with one that John Williams hasn’t thought of.

Doran, Jones and Fielding would be on a combined 7K a week I'd guess. Max.

They are three of our brightest reserves, which is why they've been given senior team numbers.

They are not senior team players who we need to get rid of as they take up 3/5ths of SFA on the wage bill.

By contrast apparently Rigters is on 15K-20K for the next two years....

[thenodrog]

By contrast apparently Rigters is on 15K-20K for the next two years....

A very bad piece of business by Hughes. His saving grace was that he did not make many and they wewre heavily outweighed by his successes.

[MCMC1875]

It does seam a shame that we have had to sell our first choice left back to balance the books, when we have the following dead weight in the squad who are all unlikely to get a game this year.

Admittedly only one of them is a Sam signing, and I am sure that they will have been trying to offload some or all of those players before Warnock was allowed to go.

13 Zurab Khizanishvili Defender

19 Aaron Doran Striker

20 Elrio Van Heerden Midfielder

21 Martin Olsson Defender

28 Phil Jones Defender

34 Frank Fielding Goalkeeper

Maceo Rigters Striker

I suppose that the other option is that the club increases it’s income by 20 Million a year, any bright sparks got any ideas on how we can do that without qualifying for the champions league.

The only things I ever though the club could do to increase income are.

1, Two big beer tents (One for home fans, one for away fans) open before and after games, Blues bar is just two small. I know from speaking to the old landlord in the Fernhurst that they took over 70k over the bar from the Celtic game, why should that money not go to the club.

2, Given how bad parking in Blackburn town centre is at the moment, use some of the car parking at Ewood as a park and ride for the town centre.

Neither of these ideas is going to generate 20 million a year, so does any one else have any suggestions, maybe we might come up with one that John Williams hasn’t thought of.

Re:

1 Fernhurst & others also raise prices and remove premium optics on match days.

2 I have suggested park and ride TO EWOOD on match days previously with no takers.

[thenodrog]

Neither of these ideas is going to generate 20 million a year, so does any one else have any suggestions, maybe we might come up with one that John Williams hasn’t thought of.

Stuff like that is good and focusses the club admin but real wedge is only really possible through buying, developing and selling players. A RSC and a Warnock every season and we are quids in.