Stoke show RFC how to run a Real Football Club

[Ian Royal]

We've run at a profit for the last 3 or 4 years though....

Because of player sales. If we didn't sell the players, we wouldn't be able to run at a loss, but make a profit. So we'd have to either run at a loss like we did before promotion (with Madejski able to cover it if necessary), or get rid of all our best players and replace them with much worse cheaper options, then get relegated because we can't compete anymore.

At the moment we're keeping things ticking over with one or two sales a season. We can probably keep that up another season or so if necessary, maybe a lot longer depending on how the next wave of academy players come through.

[Royal Rother]

Stoke signed Sonko for £2m. He made 14 appearance in 2 and a half years. He left on a free.

Stoke are clearly in safe hands.

Let's not forget Dave Kitson, signed for £5.5m - 2 and a bit years, 40 appearances, 5 goals.

[Hoop Blah]

We've run at a profit for the last 3 or 4 years though....

You obviously haven't been reading the finance threads.

Feel free to correct me where I'm wrong then.

[Who Moved The Goalposts?]

The more you analyse it the more you see that the whole of football finance is an absolute crock of shit.

I think that's being too kind!!!!

[PieEater]

We've run at a profit for the last 3 or 4 years though....

You obviously haven't been reading the finance threads.

Feel free to correct me where I'm wrong then.

Run at a loss, and had to sell assets to cover the losses. Being run at a profit and making a profit aren't the same thing.

[Hoop Blah]

Seeing as part of our business model is to produce/nurture players so that we can sell them off at a profit I'd say we are running at a profit but that's more a matter of semantics I guess.

End result is that we've returned a profit for pretty much every financial year since we got promoted.

[Yorkshire Royal]

Stoke signed Sonko for £2m. He made 14 appearance in 2 and a half years. He left on a free.

Stoke are clearly in safe hands.

Let's not forget Dave Kitson, signed for £5.5m - 2 and a bit years, 40 appearances, 5 goals.

Sonko played. He was slow. Got sent off. Gave away 2 penalties. They loaned him to rivals Hull. "Agent Sonko" was sent to sabotage Hull. Stoke like big strong defenders who can't pass. Sonko wasn't good enough. Ever since his injury, he wasn't good enough. Good bit of business for us though

They never paid us the full 5.5m for Kitson. Was reliant on clauses that were never met. Kitson was also rumoured to have called Peter Reid a fat scouse c*nt though after he was given grief for being a posh boy on the training ground; knowing Kitson's background, he's not posh. He has a point about Peter Reid.

Kitson is very good at making everything out to be someone else's fault, or problem. Doesn't really take responsibility himself, or even try to get on with his team mates. He is, unfortunately, a bit of a bad apple and after falling out with just about everyone at Stoke, he was never going to get back in the team no matter what he did. Shame really as they had high hopes for him.

[Super Kevin Bremner!]

Nice bit of due dilligence from Stoke on the Kitson transfer then! Having heard the interview with the guys at West Brom who signed Shamus, they have gone in to the minute detail needed to ensure he wouldn't be a bad character to have around the place.

Stoke WILL be relegated within the next couple of seasons, their big-time charlies will want to leave, and the Stoke board WILL be praying that they go back up within two years.

OR, they WILL be proper fooked.

Reading approach>>>>>>>>>>Stoke everyday.

[who are ya?]

Stoke WILL be relegated within the next couple of seasons

+1

Very easy to look at them now with a hint of jealousy but you can't call them an established Prem side yet. They will come back down to earth soon enough.

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

If buying expensive players makes a loss, yet selling expensive players makes a profit, surely our way is better.

The running costs of the club are budgeted for , in order to meet the running costs we have to raise money through selling players, so what? Far better to be able to do that than have no one that is worth anything, holding on to those players is a risk too far, they can so easliy be injured that you need to sell at the best price when they are in demand, which Nicky Hammond has been managing so far.

[Bandini]

Stoke WILL be relegated within the next couple of seasons

+1

Very easy to look at them now with a hint of jealousy but you can't call them an established Prem side yet. They will come back down to earth soon enough.

Even "established" Premiership sides like Charlton can quickly disappear.

[Once were Biscuitmen]

I would take this analysis more seriously if Bristol City were indeed finally flyyyyyyyyyyyyyyying with Gary Alexander as their top scorer.

[Snowball]

Saw today that West Ham are losing 1.5 million A MONTH

[who are ya?]

Stoke WILL be relegated within the next couple of seasons

+1

Very easy to look at them now with a hint of jealousy but you can't call them an established Prem side yet. They will come back down to earth soon enough.

Even "established" Premiership sides like Charlton can quickly disappear.

They can indeed. It just seems to me people are looking at Stoke as a club who have finally gained Premiership status and shown the ambition to stay there and establish themselves, something that we couldn't. I can just see their bubble bursting in the next couple of seasons.

[rhroyal]

Saw today that West Ham are losing 1.5 million A MONTH

I saw that too. Gold is opposing the suggested laws which would give them 12 months to limit their losses to a maximum of £4mill or so a year (this figure is complicated and subject to injection of loans/equity etc., but it is going to limit losses)

[Svlad Cjelli]

Saw today that West Ham are losing 1.5 million A MONTH

I saw that too. Gold is opposing the suggested laws which would give them 12 months to limit their losses to a maximum of £4mill or so a year (this figure is complicated and subject to injection of loans/equity etc., but it is going to limit losses)

Let's not forget that there are other factors in play at West Ham - they get the Olympic Stadium for a song and no-one has yes answered the question of who get the money for the sale of the Boleyn. So that one's worth bankrolling for a while - but not in football terms, just as a property deal.

[Yorkshire Royal]

Nice bit of due dilligence from Stoke on the Kitson transfer then! Having heard the interview with the guys at West Brom who signed Shamus, they have gone in to the minute detail needed to ensure he wouldn't be a bad character to have around the place.

Stoke WILL be relegated within the next couple of seasons, their big-time charlies will want to leave, and the Stoke board WILL be praying that they go back up within two years.

OR, they WILL be proper fooked.

Reading approach>>>>>>>>>>Stoke everyday.

Fair point on the lack of due diligence!

Their plan to be self-sufficient is reliant on them being in the Premier League - that is true. But don't underestimate how much money the owners have, nor how big fans they are of the club. If they go down, which they won't, they will just spend more and delay the long term plan. In truth, Stoke fans are very, very lucky. They have owners who are passionate about the club and city, and also have loads of money!

[Ian Royal]

There are only 7(SEVEN) our of 20 clubs in the Premier League who have spent all of the last 11 years at that level. And several of those have had dodgy seasons towards the bottom end. They are the really obvious ones.

Pretty much everyone else gets relegated at some point eventually.

[Yorkshire Royal]

There are only 7(SEVEN) our of 20 clubs in the Premier League who have spent all of the last 11 years at that level. And several of those have had dodgy seasons towards the bottom end. They are the really obvious ones.

Pretty much everyone else gets relegated at some point eventually.

How cheerful.. Begs the questions... Really what's the point of getting promoted then?

[ZacNaloen]

Cos it's fun