Summer transfer rumours

[Millfield Maestro 1879]

We need to remember SAFC is operating under a tight and sustainable budget. Supporter expectations need to be checked.

The owners are not going to throw lots of money at this. Previous, financial decisions and disasters are still very much in play and hurting the club tremendously.

We will lose a lot of money this year and going forward.

We've not signed a lot of our top targets and are working away down the list. As a supporters group, we need to recognise this is a journey and try to be as competitive as we can

Worrying if our top targets are going to league one clubs but I can live with it if they are going to other leagues. Still though, whilst this was expected it is very disheartening. Unfortunately I dont think most fans are willing to settle for anything less than promotion this year so there will be a great deal of grief heading in the ownerships direction soon.

On the flip side teams rarely buy there way out of this division so with the right characters and quality we can still be hopeful

 

[Oliver's Army]

We've been financially strict/prudent on our packages we offer players..while other clubs have offered big wages to attract the players

Cheers for the info. Hopefully moving Grigg and Wright on would free up some wages to get the top targets (provided they are still available)

 

[Wheatsheaf]

We need to get out this league ffs not become the level we want to remain at. We are desperately short on players and it needs sorting

We have a new data driven approach to get the right players to get us out of the league..we need to trust the process. We have a plan.

 

[sad-eyed prophet]

We need to remember SAFC is operating under a tight and sustainable budget. Supporter expectations need to be checked.

The owners are not going to throw lots of money at this. Previous, financial decisions and disasters are still very much in play and hurting the club tremendously.

We will lose a lot of money this year and going forward.

We've not signed a lot of our top targets and are working away down the list. As a supporters group, we need to recognise this is a journey and try to be as competitive as we can

As long as this journey arrives at its’ ultimate destination mate, I’m happy to join the transport! I think we all are!

 

[Southern A]

We have a new data driven approach to get the right players to get us out of the league..we need to trust the process. We have a plan.

The data driven approach only works if you're then able to afford the players it identifies.

If we are moving on from all of our top targets and moving down the list, then that means that whilst they might be good signings from a data perspective, they're not the ones we wanted.

 

[LD19SAFC]

We need to get out this league ffs not become the level we want to remain at. We are desperately short on players and it needs sorting

Correct ^

A real shame what some SAFC fans accept these days.

 

[Southern A]

I stil have a nagging feeling that one of the major issues here is the lack of 100% ownership. As @Wheatsheaf says we are going to make a loss of £8-10m this year and KLD is probably thinking why should he plug that gap if the others don't contribute their section.

Perhaps there's an element of gamesmanship to show the others that he's not going to be their lottery ticket.

Which is counter productive. And entirely hypothetical.

I just think a "long term" plan that accepts short term struggles when you're not publicly admitting it will be a struggle is going to cause problems.

 

[sad-eyed prophet]

The data driven approach only works if you're then able to afford the players it identifies.

If we are moving on from all of our top targets and moving down the list, then that means that whilst they might be good signings from a data perspective, they're not the ones we wanted.

Players offer different qualities though….one may be better at something than another, who in turn may offer a different quality. It often isn’t a binary decision….. eg this player is better than the other in every way.

 

[Wheatsheaf]

Correct ^

A real shame what some SAFC fans accept these days.

We need to get out of this division ASAP..the owners have a plan to do that. The management, culture and direction has changed at SAFC. We have a sustainable plan and a recruitment team..we need to trust the process. We can't throw millions and millions at the project at this time when the club is losing 8/10 million this financial year.

 

[Confucius]

We will lose more than 8m if we are stuck in this league again. Not to mention even more fans

 

[Southern A]

Players offer different qualities though….one may be better at something than another, who in turn may offer a different quality. It often isn’t a binary decision….. eg this player is better than the other in every way.

I agree with you.

I'm just saying that if your data parameters are yielding a list of 20 targets and the first 10 don't accept your offer as you're not bidding high enough, then your parameters might be wrong. If we need to be realistic about where we are, then we need to be realistic about where we are.

Rather than working down a list of unattainable players, we should have had a list that was at the right level.

Maybe I'm over-reacting.

But like I say I was feeling strangely optimistic until that statement, which I think was intended to calm people down, has definitely done the opposite for me. I had bought into the "be patient and we will get better players" argument. When in reality it seems like its "be patient and we will get players slightly cheaper"

 

[sad-eyed prophet]

Correct ^

A real shame what some SAFC fans accept these days.

Just because some understand the situation we’re in, doesn’t mean they accept it,and are resigned to it in the way you suggest.

 

[Southern A]

We need to get out of this division ASAP..the owners have a plan to do that. The management, culture and direction has changed at SAFC. We have a sustainable plan and a recruitment team..we need to trust the process. We can't throw millions and millions at the project at this time when the club is losing 8/10 million this financial year.

I'm not sure that the ownership group seem to have the same definition of ASAP as everyone else though. I don't think the club expect promotion this year. Which is a massive shame.

The idea that we are going to "try to be competitive" is not a plan to get out of a league ASAP. It might be a plan to get out of the league in the medium term, but its not a plan to do it ASAP.

 

[Dave_39]

I'm not sure that the ownership group seem to have the same definition of ASAP as everyone else though. I don't think the club expect promotion this year. Which is a massive shame.

The idea that we are going to "try to be competitive" is not a plan to get out of a league ASAP. It might be a plan to get out of the league in the medium term, but its not a plan to do it ASAP.

can we really afford to stay down here for few more years big no for me

 

[Southern A]

can we really afford to stay down here for few more years big no for me

I think the fact is that yes we can afford it, if we reduce our playing bill as low as possible to be a league one club.

The question is whether the club can afford to test the patience of its fans for that long.

And whether the owners like it or not, getting sustainable and putting ourselves on a lower playing field than our rivals, is going to make it harder to get promoted. And the longer we are down here the harder it will get. There are already 8 teams who have more recently played championship football in this division.

 

[sad-eyed prophet]

I'm not sure that the ownership group seem to have the same definition of ASAP as everyone else though. I don't think the club expect promotion this year. Which is a massive shame.

The idea that we are going to "try to be competitive" is not a plan to get out of a league ASAP. It might be a plan to get out of the league in the medium term, but its not a plan to do it ASAP.

Mmm, not sure about that mate…. I would be very surprised if the owners aren’t lined up with the absolute need to escape this division this season, but to do it in a calm, structured and feasible way that doesn’t compromise the next step forwards.
It’s becoming increasingly evident to me that there is an astute, not short -term,and intelligent plan for the future being fashioned before our very eyes.
I hope I’m right!!

 

[Whiteleas Wanderer]

We need to get out of this division ASAP..the owners have a plan to do that. The management, culture and direction has changed at SAFC. We have a sustainable plan and a recruitment team..we need to trust the process. We can't throw millions and millions at the project at this time when the club is losing 8/10 million this financial year.

Don't think anyone is expecting millions and millions being spent but we should be able to offer the best wages and be willing to get the quality we need that the data has identified. Not haggling over a few quid and allowing our rivals to then sign them.

 

[Southern A]

Mmm, not sure about that mate…. I would be very surprised if the owners aren’t lined up with the absolute need to escape this division this season, but to do it in a calm, structured and feasible way that doesn’t compromise the next step forwards.
It’s becoming increasingly evident to me that there is an astute, not short -term,and intelligent plan for the future being fashioned before our very eyes.
I hope I’m right!!

I hope you're right too. And that's what I thought until Wheatsheaf posted what he posted. So I'm almost certainly over-reacting to it.

It's just the transition away from "be patient and we will sign the players we want" and "its easy to sign crap players" seems to have moved to "eventually we will get somebody on the list!"

I guess the "easy to sign crap players" was where my head is at. Wheatsheaf's comments are suggesting we aren't being patient, we are just missing out, and HAVING to be patient as a result.

There's a massive difference between choosing to be patient and having to be patient.

 

[Vore]

I hope you're right too. And that's what I thought until Wheatsheaf posted what he posted. So I'm almost certainly over-reacting to it.

It's just the transition away from "be patient and we will sign the players we want" and "its easy to sign crap players" seems to have moved to "eventually we will get somebody on the list!"

I guess the "easy to sign crap players" was where my head is at. Wheatsheaf's comments are suggesting we aren't being patient, we are just missing out, and HAVING to be patient as a result.

There's a massive difference between choosing to be patient and having to be patient.

Remember that you don't know who's being discussed. There are only a few that L1 clubs have brought in where I'm like 'oh wow we could never match that now'.

If we're being sensible with money, this outcome is inevitable. If we're not aiming out of our league, we're not doing it right.

This is a bit of a dumb example, but we all saw "Ibrahimavic - loan?" on STID. If we're aiming for your Jermaine Defoes etc first, we shouldn't expect to fill the squad that quickly.

 

[samwise_new]

Mmm, not sure about that mate…. I would be very surprised if the owners aren’t lined up with the absolute need to escape this division this season, but to do it in a calm, structured and feasible way that doesn’t compromise the next step forwards.
It’s becoming increasingly evident to me that there is an astute, not short -term,and intelligent plan for the future being fashioned before our very eyes.
I hope I’m right!!

i think the owners want out as much as the fans but no way are they going to keep throwing good money after bad, they appear to have valuations in mind and are not going to be held to ransom by agents/other clubs so are moving along the list.

money has been spent before and done us no good at all so i am happy to wait and see how this whole plan pans out, should it appear that little to no progress has been/is being made then i will be one of the first to shout about it...but for the time being we have to give them time and allow a little lee-way as plans fall into place.

too many are starting to jump in about the state of the club and the lack of signings and while we all have a slight worry (would not be supporters if we did not) we really need to allow a little time.