Just had a quick look at other social media and worry about the mental wellbeing of some of our supporters. They're kicking lumps out of each other, and the club, over Ross Stewart. Some are demanding we pay him what he's asking, despite having no idea what that is, or that the club spell out exactly what their plans are. Others are asking why Boro or Stoke are being linked despite there being no proof they are or that the club can't control lazy journalists. You can't believe how short term memory loss can affect so many people ... ... it's like the enormous debt, Moyes or the club being given away to two useless chancers never happened.
Some people will look for a problem wherever they can, it’s just in their nature. Either that or inflate any minor issue to distract them from their own problems. Love that the discussions on here stay sensible and don’t spiral out of control.
Sadly my Dad is in that group. When I mention the model, he says ‘the whole fan base will turn if they sell Stewart “. My retort “not if they sign quality to replace him” and my dad shouts at me. I think Stewart is as good as there is in this division. As good as some in the one above too. But not irreplaceable. We scouted him in the first place, so we’re out looking will be my guess. He should be the highest paid at the club. But we shouldn’t bend over and say “ok then” if it will put the club under financial stress. We have some truly bewildering fans
No one will/would be more gutted than me is we lose Ross in the next two transfer windows. However I fully understand the position the club are in and as Smug says when you think back to where we were under dumb and dummer we are a completely different club. No one, not even Ross is irreplacable, we've lost hero players in the past and as a club we're still here and we're not going anywhere any time soon, except perhaps to the Premiership. If I can get my head round this situation then others have no excuse. OaU.
I'm the same, players come and go.....its the way football is. I have more faith in our recruitment team now than for many many years, so if he or anyone else leaves, good luck and thanks for the memories....we will replace them
Of course I agree no player is irreplaceable, we easily replaced Kevin Phillips did we not? Also why would we expect our owner to provide extra funds to keep a key player, that's just silly?
Pointless talking to them as they are just not seeing the club as any different from the past. WE have to give the club the space and time to show what they are about.The old way of never planning and very poor recruitment off the hoof ,constantly failed us . Every manager wanted new players and left early leaving us with sub standard squads.
Had similar arguments with my Dad. He can’t understand why the owner can’t just “spend a few million and buy a load of experienced Championship players”. When I attempted to explain the model he just shook his head and repeated the question
The ‘we’re skint’ talk has started again from what I’ve seen despite signing several players for fees in the summer
Some fans will never be happy. Even after winning 2 out of 3 and sitting 6th i was getting told how “minging” the bench was yesterday and a “patched up defence only gets you so far”. This was at 0-1 and the comments went quiet after we scored
I read something yesterday that Grumpy posted about FFP, the wages etc and as usual it is dismissed by a fair few as unimportant, but it's actually very important and makes perfect sense. Our turnover isn't amazing and a good guess at the wage bill (based on accounts etc) is that we are running at around 70/80% wages to turnover. Spreading it out over the squad, it would put our upper limit at 20k per week down to the average of £7k per week. To me that is very sensible financial planning, we don't get into situations like West Brom who have had to take out loans for running costs, we don't run the risk of breaking FFP and the small amount the owners can put in can be used for new signings or improvements.
As I have said many times in the past , the club is now being managed properly from top to bottom . KLD and the management team that he has put in place I believe have to be trusted and supported - I think they have transformed the club in a short time and will continue the development in the future .
Always worth remembering that if the "process" we are undertaking was simple and painless, everyone would do it. The reason they don't is because human nature is to want success now. It's to want the best NOW. We need to resist those urges. As thats when it all falls down. By the very nature of the above, this process WILL at times be painful and frustrating. What the club need to decide is if retaining Stewart is one of those urges or part of the long term plan. And MOST of our fans who want to "pay him what he wants" are falling into the urge category rather than the long term thinking category. That said, and we've gone round it time and time on here, there is an argument to go slightly beyond what we normally would, to tie him down, and maximise the eventual benefit. But fans need to know that even that strategy means he likely gets sold in the next 18 months.
Spot on mate. Until we get more money in via either sponsorship, concerts or whatever, we're hamstrung to what we can pay players
Yes exactly mate. Its why we cant just say "well it looks like we may make the playoffs, so lets spend bit more money and risk getting there as the rewards of promotion are great". Its that attitude that has ****ed EVERYBODY. And its that attitude which is why this turnover-related version of FFP exists. Turnover is an actual real thing, not based on how performance trends are looking. So we can't just say we are doing better than expected so lets pay more. I think a lot of fans, including me, naturally look at the table and say "lets have a go". Its human nature. But its exactly why we can't.
Would like us to get a sponsor for the SoL to get a few quid in. It would have had big exposure this season so far via Sky.
