The first break in the season has arrived and it seems like a good time to revue the progress or otherwise of the club and our owner in particular. Have we seen progress at the stadium? Any sign of work on the SW corner? Has the sound system been improved? Is the pitch any better for having our own groundsmen? Is the big screen better? Have we made the expected signings or have we just gone for the cheap option? Mr.B was reported as having made a pitch walk Sunday to a good round of applause. Was it justified or has he taken a few thousand in? Just a few questions that you might like to have a view on, or add questions of your own.
I would have to say he is doing alright. The true test of the pitch will be winter, but it looks nice now and is not cutting up at all. He has apparently ordered a new screen to put up somewhere, and has replaced the old screen. He has apparently got a new PA system, but i dont think its in. With regards to the signings, only time will tell!
We cannot ignore his bad handling of events before Malky Mackay left. Whether the fees were decent amounts or not, Graham and Buckley would have both fetched more money if he had kept his damn mouth shut, and I daresay we could have sold more season tickets if he had given us cause for optimism earlier on. What has happened since Malky left does give good reason for fans to be cautiously optimistic. Hosting internationals should go some way towards covering the cost of the additional pitch maintenance. While we have made a large profit in the transfer market, the proportion that has been reinvested is pretty much right, provided that money will be available in January for one more striker if Weimann goes. Perhaps his biggest success has been forming a working relationship with the majority of the board that served us well through rocky times. We all know about Sir Graham Taylor, but let's not forget that board also includes a man who has seen everything in the boardroom over a period stretching back to when Kenny Jackett was manager, as well as a man who could be a viable future owner if Bassini fails. I guess the verdict is wait and see. While Bassini has a vision for the club, it is abundantly clear from the early days that he is not capable of achieving it alone. I'd even say that his success will be directly related to how democratic the long-term decision making process is. That may sound like scathing criticism, but in any field it takes a big man to accept that others are capable of doing a job better than you, and resist the temptation to stamp your own footprint for its own sake. If he continues to outline his vision and otherwise let the experts get on with things, he's got half a chance of succeeding.
Selling a player for £1million above his release fee is great business no matter the players value. Imagine Wenger he had £24m escape clause but we got £35M!!!!! Mr B was advised to sell buckley by gt and mm so direct critism where it is due. Plus we have a club this weekend- we wouldnt if bonds expired
I'd say he is consistently improving... but only time will tell on his promises! The sales were out of his hands, in my opinion, and did well to reject early offers and get as much as they could! DG we got more than his clause in his contract, so well done for still rejecting, and thank you to Dan for not pushing for the move! Bucko I thought was similar to the Phillips situation where we realistically couldn't demand any more just because they haven't proved their worth yet! I think £1m was very good for someone who was just a bit-part player - someone who can be unplayable on their day... but their day wasn't often enough, who struggled to finish a game! For Malky.... Again, not a lot they could do! We rejected their advance, and it was obvious as soon MM pushed for the move. Once a manager wants to go, you have to let him - you just have to milk as much money out of them as possible. malky has kind of shown his true colours since.... For the signings.... we have been very active in the market, and have spent a reasonable amount so far considering what debts we have, and hopefully a decent sriker will come in to finish off the squad. At least we have competition for places who aren't just 18/19 years old. Time will tell how good they are... but players do take time to settle, let's just hope they can settle quickly! As for the future.... if Bas sticks with his promises - ie SW corner, new pitch, and new stand, I think the future does look good. A decent stadium, one of the best academies, and hopefully still a Championship side... I seriously think we can push on and further establish ourselves as a top 30 side!
I think Bas has done well so far, £4.5m for Graham and Buckley combined is not bad in my opinion, for those wondering about the Graham fee, i think its fair considering Morison went for £3m and Baldock for £2m. Buckley was inconsistent and a £1m was good for him. Not too sad to see the back of Cowie, he was solid but not spectacular. The replacements look good. We've signed experience and got players in positions to give our squad a lot more balanced feel. Yes we have had a poor start but with this squad I can't see us falling away in the second half of the season as we did in the two seasons under Mackay. I agree with the others in terms of time telling before we know whether work on the pitch/big screen is successful.
For me, it's OK so far. He has not done anything to hurt the club and not filled the board with liggers and cronies, so I am cautiously optimistic at the moment about Baz. Just need to improve on the pitch and I will be a happier bunny
I did fear the worst , but he does seem to have done okay , so credit where its due! Keep it going Baz
Well he said signings will be made which have happened and only really Graham went of his own accord as Malky wanted to sell Buckley whilst the Cowie situation was a cock-up by Winter and co it seems. Lets hoope his promises come true as we have heard such stuff before from previous chairmen with big ideas.
Hasn't broken any promises on the number of signings and his ground improvements are in the pipeline. With the surplus made in sales this year he has covered his working capital investment and the first year payment to the bond holders. If we have assets to sell for 2-3 million every year for the next four years he will have total control of a club that has no debt and could be very attractive for an investor and that could be very good for him and good for us.
Gone about his business fairly well so far but the test will come if the going gets tough! So far the results have been poor but if that continues into Novemebr he could be in for some pressure to deal with it and then we will see how he handles that... I hope there are no knee jerk reactions because we could find ourselves in free fall. However I feel that we are going to turn it round and finish a farell reasonable mid table position and then kick on again come next season ...
Roo, there are some sewers in Sirte that could do with cleaning. Mods, it was fair comment. As Kev says, it's wait and see. The only things he has gotten wrong are things that he has done unilaterally. If Winter or Taylor had handled the Graham and Buckley transfers independently we would have gotten more money, of that there is no doubt. And it's not beyond the realms of possibility that Malky might have stayed if Bassini had better communicated what was going to happen. All that said, Bassini has a good vision. If he continues to set out his vision, and lets the specialists worry about micromanaging specific areas, there is every reason to be positive.
Hi NNW I have no intention in removing anything at all! secondly I disagree with you about MM , he is earning far more now than he was with us! Thats just the way it is ! Might even have has SEJ back and I still think he would have walked! Shown his true colours though, signing and not honouring a new contract! I do agree with you about Winter getting more money for DG though!
I agree it was unlikely Norway. But if he believed that he was going to get the money he needed to build the squad, and that Fergie, Wenger etc would give him the players he needed to put the icing on the cake, he might have looked at this season as promotion or bust. No one could accuse him of failing if he narrowly missed out with us.
Instead he chased the money and has high pressure and high expectation , should be ok though as he has half of wd18 with him ,bastard!
I'm happy with Bas for all the positives mentioned above. As for the negatives if everyone was perfect we'd end up with 92 clubs tied for top spot. We all make honest errors of judgment but I think it is the intention that is important and so far I have no complaints. As for MM that's life. I personally wish him well. I'm with Elton'sTaylor on the success on the pitch. And it should all start with 3 pts at Reading next week. [ I guess I can't expect our away support to be as good as when I last went to Reading _ Brendon's farewell. What an atmosphere that was ]
