1. Log in now to remove adverts - no adverts at all to registered members!

Simon Hallett comes clean on his intentions for PAFC

Discussion in 'Plymouth' started by notDistantGreen, Feb 26, 2020.

  1. notDistantGreen

    notDistantGreen Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 7, 2011
    Messages:
    9,163
    Likes Received:
    177
  2. sensiblegreeny

    sensiblegreeny Well-Known Member
    Forum Moderator

    Joined:
    May 23, 2011
    Messages:
    15,903
    Likes Received:
    2,501
    Sounds good. Hopefully it will also be achieved. This club has the potential to achieve it but a history where it hasn't. That would fall under the same old Argyle category. Perhaps the goal posts have moved this time. Will be interesting to see where we get with it all. Good start, work in progress.
     
    #2
  3. Plymborn

    Plymborn Well-Known Member
    Forum Moderator

    Joined:
    May 3, 2011
    Messages:
    15,485
    Likes Received:
    208
    That five year plan will need more than just Simon Hallett's financial input.....with just one source of income besides what the club can generate from their revenue streams things can only be iffy.....without sounding too down beat Hallett must not fall under a bus or a yellow cab possibly before the income base is spread wider.....pessimistic view I admit.....Hallett makes Brent look a pauper I know but his wealth is not from a bottomless pit (or oil well) so he needs eventually to find other money sources....I expect there is always sensible's pension pot to consider....he'll help with the pasties and tea urn.
     
    #3
  4. sensiblegreeny

    sensiblegreeny Well-Known Member
    Forum Moderator

    Joined:
    May 23, 2011
    Messages:
    15,903
    Likes Received:
    2,501
    But he says that from the outset plym. Self sustaining is exactly that and without input from any one individual to prop it up. What he wants is for Argyle as a club to generate more and more income on it's own so it doesn't rely on him personally shoving pennies through the letterbox. Conference facilities, weddings, concerts, player sales having home produced them and revenue through gates and larger FA payouts as we go through the leagues. I don't think that is unrealistic as an aim. He doesn't intend to go down the route of throwing all of his money at the club and that is fair enough. He has given them a good footing to start them off and the rest as they say is up to them. I think the worry might come if and when we achieve the Championship. As long as we don't go down the same route as last time we would be alright but the temptation is always there isn't it.
     
    #4
  5. Plymborn

    Plymborn Well-Known Member
    Forum Moderator

    Joined:
    May 3, 2011
    Messages:
    15,485
    Likes Received:
    208
    Those values are great to aim for.....but how do we attract the better players whilst competing in the lower leagues (1 & 2).....we will not be over generous with wages because that will defeat the model that Hallett is trying to achieve to make the club self-sufficient and not dependent on him alone.

    I will mention that old cherry that good players who have married or have a partner plus young children will only move away from their "homes" if the dosh is tempting enough.....having family roots is important especially when schooling starts.....this is where clubs in the midlands/north have an advantage over Argyle who are in the far west of the country.

    Road,rail and air connections to Plymouth, a city of over a quarter on million are poor......and with all this talk of a "northern power house" plus the governments requirement to "service" their thanks to an electorate that help give them an 80 seat majority it will only get worse......the west country will get more forgotten than it is at the moment.....no airport...no motorways and a fragile railway link (especially at this time of year with stormy weather and climate change)....it all makes it harder for a quality player to build on his family relationships to risk coming to the far west....remember with a one or two year contract the upheaval of moving home is not attractive or financially viable.

    Only when in the Championship (or above ?) will Argyle become more attractive and the wages will grow accordingly and quality players take the risk of signing a contract......what has worked in the past has been players from abroad.....I don't need to remind everyone of our successful times less than 20 years back with our Hungarians and others who came to us to ply their wares.

    At the moment we are just getting by with the players that we have....only just ...and we can't be sure of promotion yet......it is so important to get out of this basement league at our first attempt....it would get the wheels and the momentum moving in the right direction.
     
    #5
  6. notDistantGreen

    notDistantGreen Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 7, 2011
    Messages:
    9,163
    Likes Received:
    177
    Well it appears that we are now paying the going rate for the top half (at least) of League 2's playing budgets. That plus the Lowe Factor seem to have been enough to put together a Top 6 squad. The only obvious one we missed out on was Jay O'Shea and staying close to home obviously wasn't an issue there as he's nor playing in Australia!

    We did struggle to compete financially under James Brent but don't forget the club was trying to pay off it's historic debts then. Simon Hallett has effectively wiped the debts out with his own money: all his cash has gone in by way of shares not loans and so he has no way of getting his money back out again unless he sells the shares to someone else. Don't forget that option is open: if he can find a like minded individual or individuals to invest in a Championship club, then that could provide the funds to make the step up. A man like him doesn't need to mess around with very high risk investments like football clubs to make money, so I think we can rest assured he isn't after a quick buck.

    He also mentions three "pillars":
    • playing attractive football and gaining promotion to boost match day income
    • hospitality on match days and all the rest of the week
    • the Academy producing players for the 1st team and to sell on
    The third is probably the hardest to do but don't underestimate the benefits. He's invested in the team and in the stadium but has also recruited a team to make that academy work.
     
    #6
  7. sensiblegreeny

    sensiblegreeny Well-Known Member
    Forum Moderator

    Joined:
    May 23, 2011
    Messages:
    15,903
    Likes Received:
    2,501
    Let me say that your response plym is typical of Argyle supporters forever in the future or past. The inclination is to immediately dismiss any good news and pour cold water on an ideal. Can't possibly happen here can it it's Plymouth Argyle. Can happen everywhere else but definitely not here. I don't ware that anymore. Maybe once it was harder to get people here but for those who want a career in football and with all the foreign players now in the top divisions there is bound to be a knock on effect downwards. There are more players chasing fewer places overall. The "Northern" clubs cannot just employ loads and loads more. Also when clubs are failing to pay their employees then a club that is stable and financially not a risk is far more attractive no matter where it is. Like me you have no idea what wages Argyle offer. It certainly isn't far less than the majority that's for sure. Was it 6 players that came from Bury? Didn't seem that hard did it. Time for a bit more enthusiasm me thinks.
     
    #7
  8. notDistantGreen

    notDistantGreen Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 7, 2011
    Messages:
    9,163
    Likes Received:
    177
    Hallett's been very open, shockingly so really:

    “We were able to do some work on the finances of clubs in the Championship,” explained Simon. “One of the assumptions is that financial resource is a key determinant of on-pitch success.

    “It was a pleasant surprise to me. We know that the headline figures in the Championship are dreadful. On average, the clubs are losing £500,000 a week – but the range was much greater than we thought.

    “If you ranked them by their financial resources, Argyle, even today, would have resources similar to that of a couple of Championship clubs, even in League Two.

    “If we assume that as we move up the leagues, our revenues increase, and we assume that we get better at generating revenues, our resources put us somewhere around 15th, 16th, or 17th. That gives you a very good chance of staying in the Championship. It doesn’t make it 100% certain, of course, but if the club can deliver, we have a very good chance of staying there."

    This is really nailing your colours to the mast.

    It's a huge task to ensure financial resources are translated into success on the pitch: it isn't a foregone conclusion otherwise we wouldn't have Sunderland, Portsmouth and Bolton languishing in League 2. Brentford are mentioned today in the WMN as being a model for Argyle: currently 5th in the Championship, battling it out with Leeds, West Brom, Nottingham Forest and Blackburn. They are as the report puts it "data driven" - selecting players carefully based on the very detailed stats from the likes of OptaSports.

    https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/sp...lymouth-argyle-way-pilgrims-implement-3894672

    Who knows if this will succeed? What it is though is a rational plan, for the longer term.
     
    #8

Share This Page