Manager For The Championship Season 22/23

That’s a totally irrelevant comparison though, championship TV money is £5m, that’s it, no more. Derby and Reading probably make between £10-£15m in match day revenue, so we’re talking about their wage bills being 150-200% of £20m. (I’m also very dubious it was that high, pretty sure without checking Reading was about 110-120%).

We’ve been in receipt of at peak £140m+ of revenue over the past few years, and even last season would’ve been around £60m (plus all the player sales, Doucoure etc) So 60% of that is still massively higher. The question is what happens if we don’t bounce back within two seasons and our income becomes £20m and we have significant debt that Reading and Derby never actually had at all? They just had owners who didn’t want to carry on bankrolling them. We’re not just talking about being equipped to handle relegation, we’re talking about being equipped to have our revenue reduce to about £15-£20m per year. All we really are is just 3 years behind Derby and Reading if we don’t bounce back, but with significant debt rather than the owner paying it out of his own pocket.

 

Van Bronckhorst left Feyenoord of his own volition to take the big bucks in China. He's also a former Rangers player so it would be much more tempting and sensible for him.

 

I'm not "certain" we could tempt Ange, I just think it's possible.

But I am certain that Slot would be impossible.

Slot will be less able and willing to move, and be much more in demand from bigger clubs.

 

Reading were at 194% in 18/19.

Reading’s match day revenue was £5m and Derby’s £9m per that same thread.

Parachute payments are designed to smooth that transition and will. We can (and I suspect will) also clear half or 2/3 of the debt with player sales this summer.

 

None of us know what debt we’ve really got, but all our major assets will go in the summer. Whatever we’ve got left won’t raise barely anything to cover the next drop down, then it’s nothing. If we keep yo-yoing then we’ll be ok, it’s when the plates stop spinning we’ll have issues. We aren’t Norwich who generally profit from being in the PL, we borrow against and spend every penny, so there isn’t much wiggle room.

 

Quite. We have Sarr, Dennis (whose value is reverting to £10m by the game), JP, Kamara and maybe Louza/new keeper. The rest of the squad are negligible value.

Given the level of external debt, the contracts outstanding on old dross/Bayat churn and the unknown new debt taken on; its incredible people aren’t worried about where we land if we don’t come back up next year. I think we could be in a disastrous position.

 

Never heard of Diego Sanchez or whoever but I know he would be AWFUL.

Slav would be the man to make us enjoy our club again.

 

How about Parslow and Pardew?

Sounds like an ineffectual local firm of solicitors. Or a crap ITV detective duo. Both appropriate analogies.

 

I don’t think there is anything in our latest accounts to indicate that we are en route to financial oblivion. Most football finance experts agree. Now of course those who have lost all faith with the Pozzos believe that the Macquarie secured loan against the stadium is evidence of the Pozzos mortgaging away our future although it seems more likely (as has been reported) that this was a consolidation of various loans with one lender providing a more favourable rate than XXIII Capital. But neither of us have much evidence for each hypothesis it must be said.

What seems clear is that our wage bill is both lower and more shiftable than it was 2 years ago when we were spending £150k+/week on Deeney and Gray. We handled getting relegated with our highest ever wage bill in the middle of a pandemic so it seems likely we can handle this one too. Now it could be that we would have faced oblivion had we stayed down but I don’t think the Pozzos acted with the desperation that might have indicated that.

I don’t know why you’ve mentioned Bayat. He is a nasty man but two of the assets he has been involved with this season (Louza, Dennis) are among the ones you’ve mentioned in your list of saleable assets and I am certain we’ll make a profit on Kayembe at some point too.

 

Good call actually. Slav is available but doubt he’d trust Pozzo after last time and would want a 3 year deal with promotion clauses.

 

The analysis you linked to was laughable to be honest. Took 2020 accounts and extrapolated and guessed over 2 years and threw in Udinese. And then said we were in position to get top dollar for our assets (wtf?). That said the rest of us only have the same info but the analysis was very weak as expected from Daily Mail.

Last time we sold Doucs, Delefeou, Estupinan, Suarez and Pereyra. While still being able to keep Sarr. This time we have had a year in championship without gates to rack up losses plus far less in the locker to sell. And we will be left with a pretty average championship team. I have no idea why you would think we are in a better spot now.

If we get top prices maybe not “oblivion”. But certainly bottom half championship finances if we don’t go up next year.

 

Anyway - realised this is manager thread so suggest we move to finance thread if we want to keep discussing!

 

I would love to see this happen, but all the evidence shows that Pozzo doesn’t think that way. He always wants players who he thinks are immediately ready for the first team, certainly in the PL. It ought to be possible in the Championship but he will be so desperate to come straight back that it would probably only happen if finances were really tight.

 

Agreed - who would you have steward/manage us amid (what you perceive as) the gathering storm?

 

I think realistically next season is a short term promotion attempt. Wouldn’t be shocked to see 2 or 3 new managers if it doesn’t go smoothly due to the need to make most of parachute money.

If we don’t go back up, I’d then like to see a longer term plan under a young manager. Give him 3 years and not panic if it looks like we aren’t going up and accept that we are back in the championship midfield. I’m not sure if our model allows a more measured approach though as we don’t really develop or improve players.

 

If we’re in such good shape financially and the debt won’t cause us any problems, then all the while Udinese are a top flight club that should give us an automatic advantage over other clubs like it did the first time around, so Gino should have no issues showing patience with a manager and having some long term thinking….

 

One of my biggest concerns, is that whilst it’s fine naming these young EFL coaches we would not be adverse to, Gino has painted the Watford job into such a corner, that none of them think it’s worth risking their fledgling promising careers on such a risky hot seat. I honestly believe Liam Manning from MK Dons would probably turn the job down right now for instance.

There’s so much Gino has to change before the job becomes a realistic prospect for anyone other than obscure euro punts, or out-of-work guys looking for a last pay day.

I have no real doubts in my mind that if the job was more secure and stable, then Diego Martinez would’ve taken the job on either occasion he’s been offered it and abandoned his ‘year off’ stance.

 

Does it matter? Whoever it is will be sacked after 1o games when we're mid table playing Fletcher up front with Gosling and Kuca in midfield.

Yuck.

 

Whoever the manager is, they are destined to fail until we bring in a quality director of football, who defines how we play and creates a coherent strategy.

If we want to play attacking, high pressing football, we bring in a manager who understands that strategy and we buy players with high work rate, stamina and low proneness to injury.

The issue with our club is that the club can’t seem to make its mind up on the strategy and swings wildly between ideas. Are we a counter attacking team, or an experienced defensive set piece team, or an energetic side that tries to win the ball higher up the pitch, or a side which controls possession?

Instead of bringing in players and asking a new manager to form a tactic with the mismatch of players they’ve got, why don’t we save money and sign players who are used to playing with those of a similar style, i.e. those we actually need.

Strategy first. Manager later.

 

Silva, once he's been sacked by Fulham for 6 opening losses in the Prem next season

 

I wonder have we absolutely scraped the barrel of Udinese players? Surely after WTE, Sierralta and Perica last season they can't have any other rezzies to give?

 

We probably have but more because Udinese have gradually declined in the past 10 years. Imagine we were around 14th in the PL, if roles were reversed what sort of quality of player could we afford to give away to another club without putting ourselves in serious danger of relegation? I think they’ll always have players they can lend us, they just won’t be particularly good ones.

 

Serious question, does anybody really care anymore?

 

I'd be happy with Danny Cowley or maybe Russel Martin, both would be a good front for the club and connect with the fanbase.

 

The OP started this thread by qualifying that we may still stay up with an incredible turn of form, so where is the harm?

Perhaps he should have started a discussion about which players we should sign next window and then create a list of names that we’d have more chance of finishing in a European slot this season than signing.

Who’d do something that ******* stupid?

 

This is quite literally, the worst rallying call I’ve ever read.

 

Nope.

 

Crazy that >50% of clubs spent more than their entire turnover on just wages, before consideration of any other costs. Recipe for disaster without strong financial backing through capital injection.

 

Perfectly put and I couldn't agree more.
Now sensible posts of real quality have no place on this forum. So sort yourself out.

 

I think the tricky thing is as @Jumbolina has alluded to (though he feels it’s two years then bust and I feel it’s two years then mediocrity) is that while we would all like relegation to generate a structural reset, the presence/reliance on parachute payments mean that we will be financially competitive for the first two years and our chance of promotion will recede dramatically thereafter (look at Cardiff, Swansea, Huddersfield, Boro). So there is a divergence between the fact that we clearly need a reset and a clear direction and that that reset might cost us a medium-term shot a promotion. Ideally we’d find a way to do both simultaneously but that perhaps limits how drastic the new direction can be.

 

Two of those are currently in play-off positions...

 

We obviously did pretty well without parachute payments in the first 3 years of Pozzo tenure, though the issue now of course is whether we can expect to receive another batch of Abdi/Vydra/FFs or just a bunch of Pericas.