by Vision »
21 Mar 2023 21:37
Snowflake Royal Clyde1998 Vision
My memory (dodgy as it is) reminds me that , with all the talk about relegation being a possible positive reset, that the last time we were in the 3rd tier (over 20 years ago) our wages to turnover ratio wasn't far that. The collapse of ITV digital was a factor in that but there's no doubt that even with "cut our cloth accordingly" owner Madejski to some extent we attempted to buy our way out of the division. Tommy Burns open cheque book - signed off by Nigel Howe and sanctioned by SJM whilst out of the country.
If the current rules were in place we'd have been in a bit of bother even back then.
ITV Digital collapsed around the time of our promotion from Division Two (2001-02). Our promotion that season means it doesn't show up in the accounts as a revenue drop, as being in Div 1 with Sky's reduced TV deal was still an improvement on being in Div 2 with ITV Digitial's TV deal.
Wages to turnover peaked under Madejski at 112% in the 1999-2000 season. In that period we had operating losses around 70% of turnover, largely due to keeping a Division One budget in Division Two - something Madejski could sustain through his own wealth - but even that is under half of the average for the past five seasons. Our wage bill in the 2018-19 season was approaching our 2012-13 Premier League wage bill with massively lower revenues.
Table: Season End, Turnover, Staff Costs, Operating Profit, Net Player Trading, Post-Tax Profit, Operating Profit/Turnover, Wages/Turnover since 1984-85
The promotion seasons in 2005-06 and 2011-12 feature promotion bonuses in the staff costs - in the 2011-12 season, especially, is a major factor as to why the loss for that season was so high. The seasons 2008-09, 2009-10, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17 all include parachute payments.
The table basically shows if we'd kept our average operating profit/turnover and wages/turnover between the 1984-85 season to 2016-17 season our operating losses would be around £4.6m and wages around £15m p/a with our 2021-22 revenue. If we had the average of the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 figures with our current revenue, it would be operating losses of £11.8m and wages of £18.5m.
In other words, we've been spending significantly more in the past few seasons, in relative terms, than the Burns era.
OMFG!! How unbelievably irresponsible to increase our staff costs from £28m to £37m and then £41m whilst we're in the Championship. And without parachute payments by that point as well. Both those seasons finishing 20th for oxf*rd sake. Not only is it massive cheating, it's unbelievably incompetent cheating.
It's stark that the Thais were gradually lowering our wage budget and then that absolute pcunting clown Dai came in and completely destroyed us. It's criminal how he's mismanaged us at every conceivable point. No wonder his clubs cease to exist.
Just oxf*rd off. Five years of absolute shit to get our wage bill back to where it started, when it should have been being brought down to about half.
I've bleated on about this for years but whilst the Thais were a little eccentric and I'm not sure how much their heart was really in it, they did set up a plan. Employing Tevreden as a DOF and subsequently Stam with the stated intention of being a mini Ajax of sorts. Most of the signings that summer made sense. Whatever our feelings about Moore now, he was a good signing at the time as were Swift, Meite and Beerens. There were a few pointless punts along the way of course but there was at least some semblance of a path forward.
The problem was that 1) many supporters were (understandably up to a point) angry at how McD was treated so were against the process from the start and 2) the playing style was so far removed from what we'd been accustomed to, that it was a hard watch for many.
I firmly believe that over time this could have been workable and relatively successful. Unfortunately we got good results very early and when you're that close to the Premier League Circus it attracts the clowns. From the moment Dai came sniffing around halfway through that season, the methodology shifted. Lewis Grabban, Jordan Mutch, Reece Oxford, Tiago Illori (I think Popa may have come during that January window) all added to a squad that was doing perfectly fine without them and added very little to.
The remit from there was promotion or bust and with Gourlay basically taking over from BT, the whole ethos of the club changed. There was a chance to reset when Gomes stated at the end of 18/19 season that he wanted a smaller , younger squad. I don't think for one minute he was good enough to deliver promotion however much time he was given but he was generally very good with the younger players so from the point of developing them it might have been worth it. But of course Dai finds some money "down the back of the sofa" with the selling of the ground and in come Joao, Puscas, Boye, Ejaria (on loan but with the 3.5m permanent fee committed to) This combined with the inability to move on the big earning senior players unwanted by Gomes (Gunter, McCleary, Baldock) as well as not maximising the potential fees for Moore and Loader, sees us where we are now.
Buying your way out of League 1 around 2000 is a whole different financial ball game to buying your way out of the championship 15-20 years later. To try it is dangerous enough but to fail so miserably is pretty damning.
) we’ve bought in 18 players over the last 12 months, whether they’re good or bad is irrelevant, at an average of £11,000 per transaction to agents, which is a pittance really and heavily, heavily reduced from what we have paid in the past. I don’t think this makes us mugs at all. 
