SJM interview with BBC

[Royal Rother]

£12m on player wages in Div 3? Crazy.

It is, but worth remembering that they do have a higher average gate than us, by some 5,000.

[Drew_3]

I never said anything about spending money, or indeed money you don't have. I simply said I hate and disagree with the statement regarding overachieving.

We are at best an average club for this division, with average support and a reputation for at least making some effort to balance the books.

On that basis, anything above mid-table is over-achieving.

Since 2002 we've not finished lower than 9th, been in the top 6 four times, and had two years in the premier league.


If you'd like to state why such achievement is no more that we should expect, then be my guest.

I know what your saying and I agree that if you achieve more than is expected of you then you have "over achieved"

I guess its that terminology that I have a problem with, it suggests to me that you somehow got lucky, that you are sone how somewhere you didn't ought to be, when we all know that after 46 games you have earned your league position.

[Svlad Cjelli]

You don't over-achieve by getting lucky - you do it by finding the the best value resources that you can, and making better use of them than your competitors do.

It's good management and good strategy, rather than good luck!

[PEARCEY]

I'm surprised at the negativity on this thread. Our 8 match winning run started at a time of chronic injuries. We have a depth in the squad and whilst individuals will be missed if they move on we will remain competitive at this level. If we win promotion I doubt these players would want to leave anyway.
Most clubs at Championship eventually lose their better players. We have to be realistic if we don't go up.

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

http://www.football-lineups.com/tourn/The_Championship_2010-2011/Stats/Home_Avg_Atte/ shows that we are 10th in attendance levels in the Championship so to that extent we are overachieving although not by a massive amount. Go back to where we were when SJM took us over and its a massive achievement for him.

With all due respect and with out wanting to offend, what the hell does attendance have to do with achievement?

Surely achievement is not tied into attendance? Otherwise no one other than utd would be able to win the premier league!?

Attendance if a pretty consistent indicator of fan base, and money coming into the club, and therefore the relative spending power of the club.

Given that Man Utd would win the premier league pretty much ever single year if it wasn't for Abramovich pumping millions in every year, it kind of shows the advantage they have.

Can you really not see a correlation, at all levels, between the kind of team a club can afford to put out, and their crowds?

[Svlad Cjelli]

http://www.football-lineups.com/tourn/The_Championship_2010-2011/Stats/Home_Avg_Atte/ shows that we are 10th in attendance levels in the Championship so to that extent we are overachieving although not by a massive amount. Go back to where we were when SJM took us over and its a massive achievement for him.

With all due respect and with out wanting to offend, what the hell does attendance have to do with achievement?

Surely achievement is not tied into attendance? Otherwise no one other than utd would be able to win the premier league!?

Attendance if a pretty consistent indicator of fan base, and money coming into the club, and therefore the relative spending power of the club.

Given that Man Utd would win the premier league pretty much ever single year if it wasn't for Abramovich pumping millions in every year, it kind of shows the advantage they have.

Can you really not see a correlation, at all levels, between the kind of team a club can afford to put out, and their crowds?

Hmmm, how much they can afford isn't really the valid indicator - because some clubs spend way more than they can afford to, and TV money distorts the relationship between crowds and income (Who has the greater spending power - Wigan in the PL or Leeds in tier 3?)

The best indicator isn't what they can spend but what they do spend on total salary bill - and research has shown there is a 93% correlation between money spent on salaries and league position.

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

Hmmm, how much they can afford isn't really the valid indicator - because some clubs spend way more than they can afford to, and TV money distorts the relationship between crowds and income (Who has the greater spending power - Wigan in the PL or Leeds in tier 3?)

The best indicator isn't what they can spend but what they do spend on total salary bill - and research has shown there is a 93% correlation between money spent on salaries and league position.

Yes, but the number of clubs who pay way more than they can afford is still pretty small - and many of those are being bankrolled, which is slightly different as that's extra income.

There is still a very strong correlation between what a club pays in salaries and its income, it's just that pretty much everyone - even us - pays a little more.

TV money distorts things, but not within an individual division (parachute money aside). Wigan may have more to spend than Sheffield Wednesday, but Wednesday would have more than Wigan if they were in the premiership - probably about £15 million more dure to much higher crowds.

Fan base, and your relative income is crucial to a club's "natural" position in the league. It's not as if the reason Leeds have historically been better than Doncaster is because they are better run, nor are their larger crowds just down to being more successful.


This sort of thinking is fairly common. A mate of mine supports Tranmere, and his says their message board is full of people who say that it's unacceptable for Tranmere to be in the bottom half of League 1. They grew up in the "glory years" of a decade or so ago, and believe Tranmere should be challenging for the play-offs in the championship. The fact that Tranmere's crowds put them as a smallish club by League 1 standards doesn't bother them a jot. They insist anything less shows a lack of ambition.

[SpaceCruiser]

I'm surprised at the negativity on this thread.

It's Hob Nob! What do you expect?

[Red]

Hi CayeneMatt - welcome to the board.