It is clear that unless the club is able to stand on its own two feet financially, there is no future for us at a high level. The gates that we are currentlye getting are not enough to sustain top 40 football. If we cannot secure promotion the funding will dry up and we will lose players and management. Not though the reluctance of the owners to invest but simply down to rule changes. The "gamble" is clear to see - promotion or languishing in the lower end of the division. Or is it? The objective of the rule change was to stop the bankrolling of promotion bids, something that the owners are doing to a certian extent but not to the same levels as some other clubs in the same position as us. We needed large amounts of cash simply to keep the club from administation and a relatively small amount of investment in players (again compared to some clubs spending). We still pay too much in player wages and some call for an increase in the spend. Bringing in more players may solve the goal scoring problem, but will it be a worth while investment? Could we still get promotion with what we have? There are comments made about how the club has cut back in the administation staff levels. This is seen by some as stepping in the wrong direction. But in my view it is needed. The losses incured by matchdays have to be turned around. It is a difficult balance. Have enough staff to get the job done and at the same time increase the supporter spending. Now is the time that some groups of supporters need to increase their spending in the club. If you can afford to go to matches, go. If you dont want a replica shirt buy a polo top or a jacket. Buy the pie and pint on offer and not the burger from outside. Encourage your mates and family along. By increasing the supporter spend, we have a better club. Continue as we are and the investment needed in the future will not be there. Clubs with a bigger fan base will be able to afford the better players.
STEVE Bruce has been given the green light to strengthen his Hull City squad next month, with vice chairman Ehab Allam vowing to provide his "full support" during the January transfer window. As the halfway mark of the season approaches with the Tigers fourth in the Championship, Bruce has quickly justified his summer appointment by laying the foundations for a promotion push back to the Premier League. Despite a fruitful run of eight wins from the last 12 league games, the City boss remains keen to inject fresh impetus into his high-flying squad when the transfer window opens in 20 days' time. And after staging preliminary discussions with the Tigers' board in recent weeks, Bruce has been told he can look forward to bolstering his ranks in the new year. "We've had discussions with Steve with a view to January and we have an idea of what our requirements are," Ehab Allam told the Mail. "We will be looking to give Steve our full support in the transfer window to give us that final push. "We have every confidence in Steve. He's proved himself as a top quality manager and we'll be supporting him the way he sees fit. "I've never divulged specific figures during our time here, but you have to give yourself every opportunity. If you're sitting 10th or 12th then you may just sit tight but when you're in this position, however difficult the finances may be, you have to give yourself every chance of success. It would be a wasted opportunity not to." A lack of activity during the January window saw City pay a heavy price last season, when only Vito Mannone and Josh King, signed on loan from Arsenal and Manchester United respectively, arrived at the KC Stadium. City's caution was eventually undermined when injuries and fatigue took their toll in the final quarter of the campaign and famously engendered a fractious relationship between former boss Nick Barmby and the club's owners. Following on from Barmby's acrimonious sacking in May, when the fans' favourite was deemed to have questioned the club's approach, the City board insisted significant funds had been available to recruit a Premier League striker on loan in January. Allam says the same financial support will be afforded to Bruce and believes City must look to capitalise on their golden opportunities this time around. "I don't see January being any different to us being in a similar position last year," he explained. "When you're in a strong position and contenders for the top six, you'd be crazy not to try to capitalise on that for a short period of time. "When you look at it being a window of opportunity, why wouldn't you want to capitalise? There's no difference to last year in that respect." City's anticipated show of ambition in the new year will also be extended to the retention of their prized assets. James Chester has been linked with a £1.5m move to Aston Villa in January, but Allam is determined not to alter the Tigers' policy of rebuffing all advances. "Out stance of holding on to our best players has not changed," he added. "Our intention has always been to retain our best players." http://www.thisishullandeastriding....upport-boost/story-17565506-detail/story.html EHAB Allam admits restoring Hull City to the Premier League is the only short-term way to relieve the financial burden shouldered by the club's owners. The Allam family will celebrate their second anniversary at the Tigers' helm this weekend after saving the club from the threat of liquidation when seizing control from Russell Bartlett back in 2010. A total investment in excess of £60m has since transformed City from a financial basket case into a genuine promotion contender in the Championship, but Allam accepts their supporting role has grown increasingly difficult in a testing economic climate. The Tigers' current standing of fourth, three points adrift of the Championship's automatic promotion places, has raised hopes of a return to the top flight this season and Allam says on-field success could finally ease their commitments. Asked about the significance of promotion to the club, Allam said: "It would mean a few things and the most obvious would be to reduce the financial burden that's been placed on the family. "Getting in the Premier League would help the club to become self-sufficient. At present, the club is not able to stand on its own two feet and relies on our support. "The investment we have made in the last two years has far exceeded all our expectations. "The investment from ourselves this season will be north of £15m and that takes our total investment to over £60m. "Our commitment is the same but in a difficult economic climate, it has been a difficult year to support to club to this level. But at the same time it would be fantastic for the city to have the football club back in the Premier League. It's what everyone is striving for." Despite the Allam family's wealth standing at a reported £417m, the Tigers' dependency on its owners cannot continue. Financial Fair Play regulations, voted in by Championship clubs in April, will impose strict limits on the losses incurred by its members from December 2014, meaning this season marks the final opportunity for the Allams to bankroll a promotion. The Mail understands City's wage bill currently stands at around the £18m mark but that would have to be slashed dramatically to comply with new regulations. Long-term sustainability is ultimately dependent on the club's ability to increase its own profit margins and a focus will be placed on addressing falling crowds at the KC. After averaging 18,790 in 2011-12, City's crowds have fallen to 15,683. An eight-year low of 14,756 was attracted to the 4-1 win over Millwall in September but City's average should be boosted by bumper crowds at the festive home games against Leicester City and Leeds United. A 16 percent fall in gates has coincided with a marked price rise on season tickets this term but Allam hopes lost supporters can be attracted back for a promotion push. "When we first bought the club we were averaging over 20,000 and now it's down to 14 or 15,000," he added. "Of course that's disappointing but we appreciate it's a difficult financial climate in this region, especially with the employment issues we have in Hull. In that sense it's not surprising to see attendances fall. "I understand a few supporters perhaps grew disillusioned in the summer as well. "It was a difficult decision that we had to make to replace Nick Barmby, but I would hope supporters can see that it has been a good decision. "It would be great to see some of those supporters come back on board and enjoy the rest of the season." http://www.thisishullandeastriding....y-way-Allams/story-17565488-detail/story.html
As I said in a post a couple of weeks ago, it is VITAL that we get promoted this season. With the gap between Premiership and Championship widening MASSIVELY at the end of the season and with FFP coming in there will be a two tier Championship from this Summer; those with parachute income and those without it and those with will be the only ones likely to get promoted from then on. It will be Catch 22.
I concur with a lot what you have said, as it is vital the revenue of the club is increased. I am not sure who does the marketing for the football league, but it strikes me that the Championship as it is at the moment is a very marketable item. The nature of the league is extremely competitive, and having watch the games that have been on SKY etc, I have enjoyed many of the games to a large degree more than watching one sided EPL game. Is it time that either BBC or ITV put up a good package for Championship games, or that SKY spread the money wider than just the EPL?
It looks like its now or never then, do or die. If we don't get back to where we belong in the PL, we could spiral downwards til we end up back where we belong in the third tier. The thing is, FFP won't punish clubs who buy promotion, it will punish those who fail after 3 years, and it will punish those who come down from the EPL. The premiership needs to incorporate similar rules or it will just become an exclusive league with 3 different visitors every season. Seems the only way to safely invest in a proper premier league solidation campaign would be to yo-yo for a few years and spend **** all, just enough to ensure promotion each time you dropped down. As good an idea as the FFP is, it needs every level to take part or it could just ruin English football.
Seems to have worked quite well for WBA. I think the EPL and NPC is next season, but it's not coming in for leagues 1 & 2 (who I think have their own rules)?
I think that the UEFA FFP come in force next season, which I think relates to EPL clubs in European competition. The EPL will be bringing in its own version of the FFP. The clubs seem to be agreed that it will be a break even rule, but there has been a little disagreement as to what will be classed as break even. I don't know if banking a load of cash and yoyoing would help comply with any break even rule. It is likely that your income would have to be equal your outgoings irrespective of how much you have in the bank. Unless I've got it wrong? Knobrash
Well getting back to the theme of the thread for the Pissflaps and Knobrash's of this world, yes I agree that the Allams should be shown that the fans are grateful for support of our beloved team, because without them God know where we would be now.
Ah yes old chap, uefa will be denying entry to their competitions to anyone who doesn't break even. Again all that will do is make the top end of the premier league exclusive to the big clubs who can afford the players. That wouldn't affect the other 10 or 11 clubs below who would be able to spend willy nilly without facing punishment, still keeping the gap between them and the championship a bloody big jump. One thing all these rules will hopefully do though is lower the ridiculous 20/30 million price tags hanging round some players necks. Obviously there will still be a few 'unbuyable' players such as Messi, ronaldo, Rooney etc but hopefully we won't see 30 odd million squidlings deals for the likes of berbastrop, which will hopefully transcend down the table and leagues an bring a sense of 'normality' back to player values. Like I say *deep heavy breathing noise* these rules are essential to bring football back into check, but they need to be implemented very carefully to give everyone a fair chance and not favour the big boys who attract all the glory glory bandwagoners, giving then reign to have a huge financial advantage over all the others, as that too will destroy the game removing the unpredictability we all know and love. It would be rare to see the likes of Blackpool firing themselves into the PL and giving it a ****ing good go, as they just wouldn't have ye fanbase and infrastructure to be able to afford to do anything half decent. And this is the first I've heard about the whole premier league bringing in a break even scheme, I'll have to look into it. Arsebandits
You cannot ask has a manager than to have the support of your chairman, there has been many good managers who have not had the chairman's full backing and have ended up getting the sack and not really having a real chance of showing how good they are, lets hope SB gets the full support spends wisely and brings in the right players we need to finish the job off
A cheer not even a round of applause? JUST a cheer? Why not his own song? We've got a chairman, his name's Assam Allam and not Ron.... [video=youtube;KStsPPgeka4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&hl=en-GB&v=KStsPPgeka4[/video]
Is it just me who thinks the interview is nothing special then? Ehab basically says he wants us to get promoted - and doesn't even pretend that it's for football reasons, he just wants to make his money back. Not saying that's a bad thing, it's quite within their rights of course after what they've put in, but it's not praiseworthy is it? They want promotion, we want promotion, but they hold the key to getting us there. I just hope they really go for it this time.
HDM article confirms what many of us already know and what has to be done in January. Hardly a ground breaking exclusive like. But nice to know that the Allams know whats needed, see whats happening on the pitch and know the full value of spending to gain a bigger kudos as well as money. This is indeed the last season a championship club can be bankrolled before FFP kicks in next season. 150m reasons why promotion in May 2013 is so important to everyone @ Hull City AFC.
I got the feeling reading it, that they just want the club to be self sufficient, and not so much their money back, but they don't have to continue bank rolling it in the future.
