Just how much is riding on this Saturday? Off field rather a lot I think and on field just as much. For several months we have been told that contracts are about to be signed to finish off the SW Corner, without dressing rooms now. The whole area will be given over to hospitality and it seems as if the deal is for a company to pay for the work so that they can operate the area. Why has it taken so long to complete the deal? Maybe the club believe that it is worth a lot more to them if we are in the EPL. Then there is the prospect of the East stand being built if we are promoted, or we have average attendance of 15,000. It is being reported that there will be 16,500 approximately at the game, with Leeds bringing about 2,000. That shows that the average attendance figure is almost impossible to achieve, so promotion seems to be the only route to getting our ground sorted out. It was reported this week that players contracts would not be talked about until the season finishes. To assemble a squad for the Championship is likely to be different to one required for the higher league, with some of the out of contract players getting a new deal for the Championship, but not offered one for the EPL. With the playoff final not until 27th May, there will be a very short space of time before the players are back for pre-season, not ideal as we noted at the beginning of this season. Clearly some of our team have felt the pressure of a longer season than they are used to, and could do with an extended break. Should we fail to get promotion Saturday, will some of our squad still have the legs for another three games? For these reasons I believe that our game against Leeds takes on huge importance, but if Hull should win then there is little we can do about it.
Spot on OFH - one other factor on the players side is the embargo, which I believe is not lifted until the end of June(?). Of course "deals can be done" behind the scenes before then but it does add another complication. Promotion on Saturday is vital for our short term as it helps to support the long term - just imagine getting 4K away fans almost every home game?
There is another reason of course, which is personal. I will be on holiday 27th May and I doubt that Mme would think a trip to Wembley would be enough to drag her off the beach.
OFH - Actually me too OFH. It's Mrs W_Y's birthday on the 25th and we were planned to fly to Abu Dhabi on the 24th to see my nephew and his new addition to the family. A couple of months ago, I was just about to push the button to book the flights, Little Miss W_Y came rushing in to stop me with the news the play off final was on the 27th...so we can still make the 25th in the sun and the flights will be booked on Saturday night
Yes..... IF we win this and get automatic promotion..... we are in the driving seat for a lot of positive changes very quickly. I however do have 27th May cleared in my diary for Justin Case
Us too ! We travel out to Portugal on 26th May to see new grandson - Mme wouldn't countenance 28th or later.Anyway, don't worry - the odds & the gods are with us! Even if we 'fail', and in the play-offs (only Brighton carry a genuine threat) the evidence from the Pozzo's is 'in it for the long haul'. How good is that compared with previous. I for one was horrified when Ashcroft was mentioned, let alone on board. Thank goodness it is all behind us. And, whatever happens, what football we've seen!
Well said Mr Frenchie. There are so many advantages to automatic promotion (though i don't have a holiday booked for 27 May! lol). Bodbo said it well..one way or another, the future is yellow
This was from the Supporters Trust regarding the potential re-development of the East stand. Four members of the board had a very productive meeting with two senior executives of the club in which a number of issues were discussed, including points raised by Trust members. The Premier League have changed the stadium criteria in response to the higher requirements from Sky as new and more advanced television broadcasts are introduced over the period of the next season and thereafter. This means that no current PL stadium can meet lighting and other requirement at present. The club have ambitions to reach the Premier League sooner rather than later and, therefore, have adjusted the plans for stadium redevelopment accordingly. This means that the changing rooms will not be located in the SW corner because there will be insufficient space. There are other significant requirements in terms of floodlighting and cabling for cameras plus the introduction of Hawkeye goal line technology will add to these requirements. As a consequence the completion of the SW corner has been delayed with the intention of doing this over the summer if possible. The catering partner has also recently been acquired by an American Company. This should make little difference but is an additional delaying factor. These changes that the Club needs to accommodate also mean that the proposed East Stand redevelopment will require to be redesigned and steps towards this end are in progress. The Club are approaching these developments cautiously and investigating all possibilities to make sure no money is wasted and that all investment is fully justified. We were shown the budgets in confidence but we can say that the Club’s stated aim to be a sustainable championship club is on track and in most respects further on than we expected. This is very reassuring for the future and the Club continue to show prudence with the intention of reducing existing debt and avoiding the accumulation of future debt on the club. Debt is the biggest concern for many clubs in the Football League and also the Premier League. The Club are constantly looking for ways to improve the operation of the stadium, including seating and facilities. For example, currently the relatively poor facilities in the Vicarage Road Stand mean that it is not possible to maximise revenue from away fans. Home fans in that stand have access to the facilities in the Rous to mitigate the problem which is the historically inadequate design of the stand. The unreserved seating experiment for Cardiff is being evaluated. It is not straight forward because the Club have to make sure that the capacity requirements are not breached. The impact on the atmosphere was viewed differently depending where one was seated. Certainly those who wish for unreserved seating seem to have been very happy but of course this meant that others had to move and it will be important to strike a balance. Currently it is expected that the family area will remain where it is until such time as it can be moved without disrupting a large body of season ticket holders and this probably means not until the East stand is rebuilt. We discussed the issue of parachute payments that has been raised by a number of Football League clubs and the relation to the “solidarity payments”, which are essentially a gift to the League. The parachute payments relate to the “share” of relegated clubs in the Premier League. However, this is getting complicated with clubs relegated from the premier league not being promoted so that the number of clubs receiving payments is increased. This indicates that the parachute payments are not really distorting competition in Championship. The power is all with the Premier League but the goal of promotion to the Premier League has caused some clubs to over stretch themselves. However, the competition this year and others is between the relegation clubs and so a successful Championship is in their interests. The Club sees Swansea and West Brom as good examples of how to manage the financial challenges successfully. We had intended to discuss the transfer embargo that was applied as a sanction following the charges from the Football League and what that might mean. Unfortunately Scott Duxbury was called away to another meeting and this discussion will take place at another time. However, we reproduce regulation 19 from the Football League rules below. 19 Assignment of Central Distributions 19.1 Subject always to the provisions or Regulation 19.2 below, any Club that enters into an assignment of some or all of that Club's entitlement to distributions from the Pool Account (as defined in the Articles of Association) (or any other form of security or arrangement of similar effect) ('Assignment') shall notify The League in writing not later than 24 hours after the date of that Assignment. Any Club that enters into an Assignment shall be subject to a registration embargo for the Effective Period of any Assignment such that it shall not be permitted to register any Player with that Club without the prior written consent of the Executive. For the purposes of this Regulation, 'Effective Period' shall mean the period commencing with the date on which The League is notified (or otherwise becomes aware) of the Assignment, and ending on the date on which The League is notified that the Assignment has been finally released.
Luck? Whenever we've gone into the playoffs, we have either done so knowing that we didn't have a hope in hell (one win in sixteen leading up to our thrashing by you in 2008), or gone into them believing that we can do it, and succeeding two times out of three. Save the luck for a bad team that needs it. Oh, and good luck to L*t*n in their quest to qualify for the non-league playoffs next year.
I have heard (on this very forum as I recall) that the East Stand is not a simple task of putting up a new one. The foundations need a lot of costly work apparently. And development could take many months. It will be interesting to see if work actually begins IF we get promotion.
Thanks for that information from the Supporters Trust Mark. Interesting that no PL club actually meets the requirements of Sky. I suppose that having paid a load more for the rights to show games, the PL is in no position to stick two fingers up. The last time I remember seeing anything about the replacement stand, it was said that it would cost over £1m just to clear the ground. It has always been a difficult area to develop which is why it is still in it's current state. It is a very narrow site that limits the numbers it could accommodate, so cost per seat is very high.
Same to you - although tbh you'll probably need it more than us. Did you know that we've yet to concede a goal in a play-off final?
It's going to be a classic end to a strange but enthralling Season. We will need mountains of luck should be end up in the play-offs because we're in abysmal form at the moment. Injuries have cost us dear. The ball has been in our park for the last few weeks and we've failed to capitalise, do we deserve to go up with form like ours? Regardless of what happens though, thanks for genuine fans all Season, and best of luck to you. I'm having a moral battle in my head because I don't want to cheer Leeds on... But they need to win! It'd be much better if both Hull and Watford won the games, then it's all clear for me
