Everything Financial/Board related

All this speculation, tomorrow evening some people are going to sub committee meetings. I’m guessing the truth will out there with some sort of update on the finances.

Has anybody heard on the grapevine what we're doing about this 22%? There MUST be a legally binding contract which gives us legal recourse. I'm not expecting the club to give us the ins and out but a simple "we have started legal proceedings" will do. If we aren't having this money I can only assume there isn't a contract and that would be a huge f*ckup that I just can't imagine has happened.

I must admit, I don't see how we are in such a bad state, as LH has said. We've had the share money, Dupree sale, and an attendance increase, none of which should have factored into the budget for the passed 12 months or entering this off-season. Something just seems misaligned. Did we massively over budget this past year?

I'm just hoping things all work out and it's the playing squad that'll have to take a hit as I don't see us growing out commercial arm as quickly as we'd like. I know PK said we had 400k in unsold assets this year, that would be huge for us, but it'll be a slow process I'd imagine.

I wish people wouldn't keep saying "we've had the share money"! We've raised that money but the club cannot touch it until the application for the matched funding from the Government is completed. As that now also seems to be dependent on the sale of the stadium to the council, getting that matched funding is even further away. Even when we do get that matched funding, I would suspect that there are very specific uses defined for it e.g. youth development, player pathways, etc. It can't just be used to fill a gap in our funding.

The analogy I've used in a previous post is a deposit for a mortgage. Once you've raised a deposit and put an application in with your lender for a mortgage, do you then run down to B&Q to spend that deposit on decorating supplies before the application is even approved by the lender? I don't think so, because if your lender says no, you end up with no mortgage, no deposit and a shed load of decorating supplies and no new house to use them in.

The only plus side I can see is that whilst that funding is held awaiting the outcome of the application, hopefully the club have that share money held in an account where it is earning a fair bit of interest until the application for the matched funding is approved.

Even without the share money SH we should have made a surplus this year so that this 300k isn't so bad that it blows the team up before we have a change to see the stadium deal rectified and apply for matched funding.

Something just doesn't add up (I'm not throwing blame as I know that there is a limit to transparency and we don't know everything). This past season we've sold Tyler, reportedly for over 150k, and increased attendances which should have increased the coffers also, neither of these would (or should) have been in the budget. On that basis I would assume we can ride this 300k loss out for a while. I don't know what the clubs outgoings are on a monthly basis but I imagine that 300k could be moved to month 12 of the next 12 months, meaning we have time to not be as reactionary.

I do suspect the wider issue with the 300k is that not only will we not have that in 2024 but we also won't have it on 2025 which leaves a 600k gap, but again that extra 300k is a fair bit down the line. You'd imagine the stadium deal will be ratified within 12 months as Labour vastly control the seats in the area and I believe they have a good plan for regenerating Salford and investing in community assets and that allows us to apply for matched funding.

So again, do we have to blow things up or can we be a little patient? I can see the arguement either way. Hold on for a while and see how he stadium plays out. Or trim the budget by 300k for the next two seasons by making adjustments to the playing squad and if we manage to sell more of our commercial assets (400k per year unsold) we can add to the squad later. I don't think either is wrong, just different. I'm not going to pan the board over their choice as we don't have all the information and I know they'll do what they think is necessary for the club to survive, despite how depressing that may be, and they will likely go on the side with most caution.

One thing that really gets me though, is the matter of the 22% which is worth over 100k (22% of an average £7.50 spend is £1.65 per person per game) and we're not hearing anything about how we plan to recoup that, but surely we are? Anyone in the know? I'm no legal expert but I'd imagine if you have a contract to receive a commission from sales made at your events by the hospitality provider and they didn't pay you then you'd have a pretty iron clad case in court. I'm really pissed off at he catering company in this regard and if, somehow, they are still there next season, I hope the fans boycott food and drink.

We also all have our opinions on how to adjust the squad to lower the bill. I said on another thread I'd start with the players who are hitting 33 at the start of next year. I wouldn't have re-signed Sio, Ryan is a good replacement and I'd have gone after Walmsley from Halifax. Lafai would bring in a fee and could be replaced by a player like Nene on less money, Hodson has now signed for Cas, but there will be other players out there, especially with the quota available. We could look to move Sneyd on in a swap, maybe Richardson from Cas. Watkins would garner a fee and be on a very good wage and could be replaced in the starting lineup by Wright. I don't want to lose any of those guys and we'd be less competitive but I'd rather move on from ageing players than those who could still be with us in 3 to 5 years. But, I'm no manager or squad builder. Blease, King, and Rowley et al, have done a great job rebuilding the team and bringing in players so we have to trust in them to work through this situation. Remember we weren't far off last year and had an awful season with injuries. I think Rowley will have us competitive.

One thing is for sure though, we need this stadium deal to go through. The board can then apply for matched funding and have a real shot at turning the club's fortunes around. They'll be able to put some real long term planning in place, a full 5 years, instead of putting out fires month to month. We'll have a shot at building a playing squad we can keep together... but it really is last chance saloon I feel. If we can't get crowds to 6k (payingk and sell our unsold commercial assest within that 5-ywar period, we'll be looking at the Championship. I think the club can do it. If we have 5 years of known spend, we can build on the pitch (we've been to two finals and a whisker away from a other), which should also reflect off it.

Don’t be silly Russ…It’s Salford, the Roller Coaster…coming next season again…..inshallah

Blease and Rowley will get the players in……assuming the accountants can get the budget right @nd we can positively negotiate open and honestly with the Council to secure the right deal

Wow JJR your positive. You going to tonight's Owners meeting to get on a sub committee. I think the speculation is best left, someone is telling Matt Shaw a story it is bullshit. 

The thing is that Matt Shaw might be stirring the pot which sadly is the only kind of journalism available at present. But as i said earlier the Board's statement announced a come and get them so we shouldn't be shocked that clubs may be lining up.

This has come at a time when many of us were feeling that SRD could not only compete but might even go on to bigger and better things so the disappointment is a bit greater than what used to be the normal "Oh no! We're selling our best players again!"

People keep on refering to all the speculation but this was brought on by that very statement. It's not simply upset fans it's a series of events that don't leave alot of room for hope.