So the quote about Acun paying half what they paid for a second choice full back was a load of bollocks? Or did he just get City really cheap?
I might be wrong, but I doubt our conclusions are actually complete opposites. And to HT, it isn't really 'personal feelings towards individuals'. Yes, I despise them in relation to our football club, but it's more about seeing what they've done to our club, it's support, it's stakeholders, etc. Back to Asterix. Let's look at that 3rd bite. Our pre-season preparations were the worst any PL side had ever seen; we went into the season with barely a senior 11 to put on the field and an absolute mess off the field with the managerial / coaching set up. It was a result of spite, incompetence, arrogance, negligence etc from the Allams rather than there being no more money. Why do I say that? Because come January, when the Allams realised we were in serious trouble (as if that should have been any sort of surprise), significant funds suddenly became available to bring Marco Silva and his entourage, together with several non-too cheap additions to the squad. We nearly survived. If they'd handled that pre-season anything like sensibly, we would likely have stayed up again. That season was nothing short of a massive, unnecessary **** up. The fall out from the PL days, both on and off the field, were totally of their (the Allams) making, and totally avoidable.
Likely stayed up again? Yea, OK I will go along with that. For another season? A couple more? And be hostage to the ridiculous transfer fees and wages? This discussion, disagreement, whatever will probably run and run all the time there is a City. I suggest that by keeping the purse closed, we still have City, and of course can continue to discuss this. Off the field, the real reason for the mess, were the two interested parties, both vying to buy a prem club. One came and went in a by the way extra for the SMC fallout, never ever to resurface anywhere near another football club. And the other bought Reading, turned out well for them I think?? Bruce applies for the England job in the midst of all this, not sure if new owners would want him. Yes, the Allams ripped the soul out of the club. But, and I keep saying this, to get it takes a huge leap of lateral, call it what you will, thinking - they were never running a football club. It was just another business to them, football related. Got in for 40 mill, got out for 40 mill. Both figures ish.
What you do with the money when you're promoted is entirely up to each club, there is no rule that says you must spend it all on ridiculous fees and wages. You can do a Blackpool and spend none of it, just keep it all. Or do a Norwich/Burnley/West Brom and bounce up and down between the leagues while slowly improving the squad and also building state of the art training facilities (I'm aware that Burnley's new owner has well and truly ****ed that approach). The reality is, that we built a competitive squad without breaking the bank. A squad that was worth significantly more than it cost, a squad with so much value in fact, that the previous owners were allowed to trade off it for seven years without investing a single penny and paying themselves millions in interest. The Allams made more money out of Hull City when they invested and made the club successful, then they had any chance of doing while running it down.
Paying themselves interest??? As opposed to paying a bank interest? How very dare they. Anyway, are you looking forward to the new owner building a competitive squad, without breaking the bank? I am, I think this comes under, this should be interesting.
It might not have been Fulham. Does it matter ? My point was Acun paid for this club what clubs pay for an average player in the Premier League these days. And to throw another spanner in the he could possible recoup most of that initial outlay by selling KLP in the summer. I'm not knocking him for buying us either I'm just pointing out that we must be realistic about the size of club we are. OLM has already decided my view is 'total bollocks' which isn't surprising because he posts that about almost everything I post. This kicked off because I posted that even with the £2 ticket offer we still attracted the second worst crowd in the Championship on Saturday. That bit is true and testimony to the task we have to compete with clubs even in our own league for players. And who mentioned £60m ?
I wasn't trying to cause an argument or anything I was just genuinely intrigued who this full back was seen as price thrown about was 30 mill for the club and that would mean Fulham spent 60 mill on a sub player which makes no sense. i mentioned the 60 mill because didnt someone say the club was up/sold for 30 mill hence double that is 60.
It wasn't unavoidable. If you dig out the programme for our first game of that season v Leicester the Allams clearly bid their farewells in it. They thought they had sold the club in the summer. The timing was atrocious for us because it totally left us high and dry in our preparations for the new season. 11 players signed on wasn't it ? I don't think that was the fault of the Allams because they wanted to sell and thought they had. It was the PL who knocked back the consortium, not the Allams moving the goal posts. When the second window opened and we had Marco Silva at the club he was given an open cheque book by the same people who you labelled as 'incompetent and arrogant' in the summer.
I don't think everything you post is bollocks, just City being sold for the price of Fulham's second choice full back was. For anyone who's interested, the average fee for a Premier League player was up to £14m last year, which is fairly ridiculous.
No, not at all. Its been discussed on here many times but perhaps you've missed it. We've had 20,000+ crowds in the 4th tier when we've had decent owners and a feel good factor. The potential has always been there. However the damage done to the potential fan base by our previous owners should not be under estimated and it will not be repaired quickly - that was never going to happen. Some fans have returned but some have not. Again that was always going to happen as some have got out of the habit of attending matches and probably found other things to occupy their time. We have also lost a generation of new fans during the dark days of the Allam era and that will take some time to fix. Obviously a successful side will attract more support (doesn't that happen with all clubs?) but personally I think Acun has done an amazing job so far in trying to get fans back / onboard. Rebuilding the support will not happen overnight but the future looks brighter than it has done for many years.
Irrespective of what they hoped was happening, they were still the owners during the worst preparation ever for a PL season, and were still in charge when the season got underway. They've made a big play over the years of only selling us to good owners, leaving us in good hands, etc. All lies, they would sell to who ever had the money. Letting the club go through pre-season training and even into the actual season with barely a senior starting 11, when in the PL, was nothing short of gross negligence, incompetence and unforgivable. They take the responsibility. Negligence, arrogance, incompetence.
I think people have to forget about crowd numbers, football is changing and the majority of football fans support their team virtually either by watching on TV or following on social media. I have a feeling Acun is going to push this hard and try to bring the worldwide fans even closer somehow. Ticket prices will be lowered to a ridiculous price to try create a better atmosphere however I believe the majority of our fans going toward will be ‘Virtual’
Football admission prices have to come down across the board IMO, with the economic situation at present, people are just not going to be able to afford high prices. I can see Acun making next season's membership and or passes very affordable to get bums on seats. Great credit to him for doing these cheap offers at £2, just a pity so far City has not performed well in the games. Here's hoping for a good result and performance against Cardiff.
