Agree. The thing is - with ffp and its equivalents the only way to generate the revenue and new fans needed to support a champions league club is to get into the champions league in the first place.
So, over to you Kyril and team...
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Agree. The thing is - with ffp and its equivalents the only way to generate the revenue and new fans needed to support a champions league club is to get into the champions league in the first place.
So, over to you Kyril and team...
Five years ago when KLD got involved we were in the circles of the Scunthorpe's, Rochdale's, Milton Keynes etc. Obviously through his leadership we have moved on from that and I get your point about the Brighton's, Brentford's and Bournemouth's but I think KLD is looking beyond that and seeing Real Madrid's, Barcelona's etc in the next five years.
He's a money man, so is his family, the circles he operates in......he's looking to make us elite because if he didn't have that goal I don't think he would have touched us. Our stadium alone can hold nearly 50,000 at the moment and we are led to believe that this will be increased in the not too distant future. Brighton, Bournemouth and Brentford average gates combined is around 58,000 average this season so he can see what an asset he has.
He is going to take us all the way in my opinion....next five years in we are not in Champions League I would be shocked.
We just played a Champions League team last Sunday with not a full strength team out....we didn't do too bad in that fixture.
Yes, it takes a lot of of money but again in my opinion he will know where to get that from in a responsible way.
The likes of Xhaka haven't come so we can compete comfortably mid table.....onward and upwards....HTL!!!
Never thought I'd see that for real on a Sunderland message board. I agree with you, but that would be quite an adjustment mentally.
It's not that big a gap to the top 6 or so, but only also only a couple of bad transfer windows from a wolves or a forest. That's why this next year is so important. Plus I still think there's an issue with sustainability. I think there will have to be a lot of money put in upfront to get champions league, done it a way that it can be paid for by the increased revenues when once achieved. Similar to how we handled the championship I suppose.
All about getting better and growing revenue. Without that you can have Creosus owning us and it won't matter. That's the rules now.
Pretty sure myself that we'll never see a better owner than KLD. We can be what we can be with him. Not what some other club is, or was or is going to be. What we can be.
Personally don't think ghisolfis comments about winning the league was a tongue in cheek comment. I honestly think these having higher targets for us than we could ever have imagined. How we do it or if we ever do it I dont know but i dont think these are here for mediocre.
Disappointed about Bruce going after the work he has put in and being a Sunderland fan but maybe it was his choice and this is his notice period, maybe seen as the best for all involved
Like the song says - "How do we get there? I don't know. How do we get there? I don't care! All I know is that Sunderland's on their way!"
I hope your right mate but the financial gulf is to great in my opinion.How exactly like many other clubs in the top ten do we go about bridging that gap?The only way i can see it is to be taken over by a very wealthy person who is willing to spend half a billion and even then it would still be a long uncertain road.I dont often agree with Simenon Jordan but hes right when he said Newcastle cannot financially compete with the likes of arsenal,man city Chelsea and Man United because of the fiscal rules and we (it pains me to say it) are miles behind all of them!
I could see us recruiting and buying well and making a push for the champions league,but it wont be sustainable as the gulf will always be there, our best players will be poached and we will have to rely on every part of the club being in the zone just to keep up.
By the way KLD isnt a money man, but he hires folk to do that task for him!
To be fair it made and still makes total sense to me, and I have mentioned this conversation a few times on here over the last 3 or 4 years!
At that time KLD had just taken over and was a young man just starting his journey with us, he was from a wealthy well connected family, but still had Stewart Donald hanging around. The club were in league 1 and had been in and around play offs.
I was told by a friend (a fairly reliable source) that significant investment would be put into the project by the Dreyfus family to steady the ship and to start and move the club forward. Then he said that there was considerable financial backers ready to invest in the club when we were showing sustained improvements.
Maybe that investment has already happened. Or maybe it did not materialise or maybe it is happening now, I do not know but there seems to be a fair bit changing this season which suggests that there has been some movements by the board of directors and the upper echelons at the club.
A special episode of Total Sport from the AOL with interviews with RLB, Ghisolfi and O'Nien. About an hour and a half long before they start talking about that nice club which allowed us 6 easy points this season. Fast forward to the last 20 mins and they speak to Robin Nichols
www.bbc.co.uk
Total Sport - North East - 31/03/2026 - BBC Sounds
Join Simon Pryde and former players from Newcastle United and Sunderland for Total Sport.
www.bbc.co.uk
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A special episode of Total Sport from the AOL with interviews with RLB, Ghisolfi and O'Nien. About an hour and a half long before they start talking about that nice club which allowed us 6 easy points this season. Fast forward to the last 20 mins and they speak to Robin Nichols
Total Sport - North East - 31/03/2026 - BBC Sounds
Join Simon Pryde and former players from Newcastle United and Sunderland for Total Sport.
I think Marco has lost his bearings on where he trained back in the day.
Drove past the Charley Hurley centre and it's all overgrown. Surely that could have been put to better use.
I agree with you on KLD being very ambitious and is serious about getting us to compete at the top level. However as we all know there are many other clubs in the way and other barriers within what is an unfair arena. He comes from a background of winners and serious money with global connections and people with great Business experience ,so he has a better chance than most .
If you can get past Tom Burwells corporate BS his big idea is that they invested in us as they want a Busines that had an established fanatical tribal base. The challenge for me is how do they bring in more Corporate senior people to generate the revenue whilst keeping ticket prices at level that keeps that very tribal base engaged ,and not move to a tourist fanbase ..We are not a wealthy customer base and losing local people who understand that isn't a good start.
This departure seems to go against the core of why they invested in us. Im not saying its a disaster but they need to keep us on board ..
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He is too busy slagging off Japan , saying they are not even a decent international side.
That is the way football has been constructed. Specifically to keep about six clubs in a permanent state of ascendancy.
They are big city clubs, and were the biggest anyway. But, since the seventies, but by bit, year on year small changes were made to help them stay at the top. All the changes benefit them, (as does the shift now from PSR).
Then the "big five" as it was then, formulated the Premier League, expecting it to further ingrain that. Only Spurs now, and Everton at times have flirted with dropping out. Of course none have, but it's now a big six with Everton no longer in it, and Chelsea and Abhu City joining it.
They should all have been kicked out of the League when they signed up to the Super League abomination. It would have washed through by now and a more balanced game would have emerged.
As it is, we are a good, well run club, providing competitive football for it's supporters and holding its own in this toughest of all leagues. There really is a glass ceiling, but there is nothing stopping other clubs knocking against it.
A lot of money does not guarantee a good team. Spurs, Chelsea and Utd are dramatic proof of that, though their inherent strength should always keep them somewhere near the top.
Let's hope we can puncture the balloon a bit on the twelfth!
They should all have been kicked out of the League when they signed up to the Super League abomination. It would have washed through by now and a more balanced game would have emerged.
My thoughts from day 1.
My thoughts from day 1.
What’s clear is we have no reason whatsoever to doubt or question this ownership and leadership group.
The personal touch from Bruce was wonderful but that doesn’t impact the club on a commercial level.
League One with Winchester to PL with Xhaka and Mukiele is all we need to pint to as reference.
The personal touch from Bruce was wonderful but that doesn’t impact the club on a commercial level.
League One with Winchester to PL with Xhaka and Mukiele is all we need to pint to as reference.
I think we agree on most things but i think we differ on the clubs (and not just SAFC's)) ability to bridge the fiscal gap between the middle table clubs and the top six,I see it as a Sisyphean task and i think you may see it as a problem that Macgyver could solve provided we get the right people ,the right recruitment and sustained fiscal improvement in a incremental way!
I think we are at the beginning of our prem journey and we have a a mission statement/ethos to :identify young talent ,convince them to join the club with the promise of them moving on to a bigger club ,which will if done consistently well will keep us in the mid table sustainability zone for years to come .But until we massively increase our fiscal income and become a club that is not just a stepping stone where the finished article players want to come to play we will never bridge the gap.
In truth its going to be fun to see us try and given our recent history we are doing magnificently and i applaud all involved but i see a takeover (partial or otherwise )in the next five years and then we might just procure a winch for Sisyphus to get that boulder up that hill to see the sunshine and clear skies from the summit.!