liam82
Onwards and Upwards
So here we are at this point in time with an alarming increase in discontent, there is a certain amount of uncertainty in the air which is hanging around like a bad smell.
Are people worrying for nothing? only time will tell.
Now seems like a good time to to measure progress over the last few years and take a look at where we are and we we are heading.
The clubs recent slogan that arrived with the literally shiny new Nike kit was "one club, one ambition" but what exactly does that mean? I assume most people like myself believe that to be promotion to the Premier league, after all we hear the term "premier league ready" banded around here and there. Who know what this really means perhaps the ambition is to be solvent or FFP compliant? ect ect.
No one needs reminding of where we come from but where we are heading is not so clear, we hear rumors of financial instability, we know the club has made losses in recent years despite the upturn in gates and other commercial income. This had led me to ask where the training ground fits into the equation. The Amex to a degree is a commercial outlet and the aim would be for the stadium to cover it's own costs to some degree with the massive overheads it must produce. If we are indeed struggling in financial terms then is the long term benefit of the training ground a burden to far in the short term? the only way this will generate money is by producing players that can be sold for a profit. The club has existed pretty much it's whole history with poor training facilities, recent weeks have shown us that no matter how good the training ground or stadium it wages and signing on fees that do the talking, therefore in the short term would the money invested in the training ground have been better invested in a squad capable of promotion? Once in the premier league the revenues from that used towards a training ground further down the line once we were fully stable after the impact of moving to the Amex? To me it seems we have these excellent facilities which are a massive leap from the previous that can't be underestimated, yet to have top flight stadiums and training ground do you need top flight football to sustain them in the long run? probably yes but will you get to the top flight in the first place whilst managing both on a clearly restricted playing budget?
If we tun our attention to the quest for promotion then recent events seem like a massive step backwards, we can see over the last 2 seasons the quality of players we have had and how close to reaching the PL we came, this is a success that needed building on with consistency and consolidation. Cardiff for example came close a few times but their team was kept together, improved and they achieved promotion in the end all be it not for very long! if consistency is an important factor then we have been anything but and currently it feels as though we are back at square one. I'm less confident at this exact moment than I have been in a few years.
As we know the next few weeks will define the season, in my opinion if the required additions to the squad are not made then I think we will struggle to finish mid table, in fact if you offered me that now I would snap your hand off.
Preparation in any sport is key and through our own fault or not we are starting the season not fully prepared, added to that we have a manager with little experience in this type of situation, in fact little experience full stop. Was Sammi first choice to take over to begin with? this adds to a list of unanswered question on what exactly is the clubs plan and how with whatever restrictions in place will we achieve it?
The reality is without success the current attendance levels will not be sustained as people see rising costs and little or no return on their investment. What happens next in so many ways will show where we want to be and in reality at least for now what we can actually achieve, supporting the Albion is never less than a roller coaster ride!
Are people worrying for nothing? only time will tell.
Now seems like a good time to to measure progress over the last few years and take a look at where we are and we we are heading.
The clubs recent slogan that arrived with the literally shiny new Nike kit was "one club, one ambition" but what exactly does that mean? I assume most people like myself believe that to be promotion to the Premier league, after all we hear the term "premier league ready" banded around here and there. Who know what this really means perhaps the ambition is to be solvent or FFP compliant? ect ect.
No one needs reminding of where we come from but where we are heading is not so clear, we hear rumors of financial instability, we know the club has made losses in recent years despite the upturn in gates and other commercial income. This had led me to ask where the training ground fits into the equation. The Amex to a degree is a commercial outlet and the aim would be for the stadium to cover it's own costs to some degree with the massive overheads it must produce. If we are indeed struggling in financial terms then is the long term benefit of the training ground a burden to far in the short term? the only way this will generate money is by producing players that can be sold for a profit. The club has existed pretty much it's whole history with poor training facilities, recent weeks have shown us that no matter how good the training ground or stadium it wages and signing on fees that do the talking, therefore in the short term would the money invested in the training ground have been better invested in a squad capable of promotion? Once in the premier league the revenues from that used towards a training ground further down the line once we were fully stable after the impact of moving to the Amex? To me it seems we have these excellent facilities which are a massive leap from the previous that can't be underestimated, yet to have top flight stadiums and training ground do you need top flight football to sustain them in the long run? probably yes but will you get to the top flight in the first place whilst managing both on a clearly restricted playing budget?
If we tun our attention to the quest for promotion then recent events seem like a massive step backwards, we can see over the last 2 seasons the quality of players we have had and how close to reaching the PL we came, this is a success that needed building on with consistency and consolidation. Cardiff for example came close a few times but their team was kept together, improved and they achieved promotion in the end all be it not for very long! if consistency is an important factor then we have been anything but and currently it feels as though we are back at square one. I'm less confident at this exact moment than I have been in a few years.
As we know the next few weeks will define the season, in my opinion if the required additions to the squad are not made then I think we will struggle to finish mid table, in fact if you offered me that now I would snap your hand off.
Preparation in any sport is key and through our own fault or not we are starting the season not fully prepared, added to that we have a manager with little experience in this type of situation, in fact little experience full stop. Was Sammi first choice to take over to begin with? this adds to a list of unanswered question on what exactly is the clubs plan and how with whatever restrictions in place will we achieve it?
The reality is without success the current attendance levels will not be sustained as people see rising costs and little or no return on their investment. What happens next in so many ways will show where we want to be and in reality at least for now what we can actually achieve, supporting the Albion is never less than a roller coaster ride!
