New owners' top 5 priorities

[WestYorksRoyal]

I probably should wait until a takeover is confirmed, but hopefully Dai is on his way out. In terms of how I'd like to see incoming owners go about business, I think there are several priorities to focus on:

1) Communicate with the fans
Oh how we have missed communication. What is your vision and ambition for the club? What is your strategy? How do you plan to make us more sustainable? If we don't hear directly from the moneymen, we should at least have a CEO and Chairman who can articulate these points. There are so many channels now; social media, podcasts etc., on top or the more traditional channels like radio and the website. They should go on an early charm offensive with a fanbase who have been starved.

2) Bring back professionalism and normal
Not much to say here. Let all staff and players know they'll be paid, remove uncertainty, bring back away day hotels. Tim Kilpatrick revealed to TTE this week that members of HR are getting in at 6am to cook players' breakfast in the absence of caterers. Good to hear everyone is mucking in, but things like this simply shouldn't be happening.

3) Trust the footballing side
Bowen and Carey did a good job recruiting in the summer, Selles is popular, the academy continues to churn out talent. We don't need a revolution on the sporting side, and replacing Selles would not help with priority 1) of bringing the fanbase on side. Just give our footballing staff backing and watch them take us back up in the next few years. Note I haven't gone to detail on this point, as I'm sure there will be plenty of threads discussing the summer's recruitment and next season's team.

4) Improve matchday experience
Bring back programmes, involve local suppliers, get rid of Compass and their appalling food. Think of initiatives to make matchday more enjoyable and bring fans back.

5) Back the women's team
If the men have had it bad, the women's team has been ruined. Back to back relegations is very possible, and we're miles away from the team that produced Fran Kirby or the underdogs who held our own in the WSL for years. It's not as simple as going back to full time - the women's Championship doesn't bring in anything like enough revenue to be full time, so we'd need the owner to underwrite guaranteed losses. But we can bring in better planning, strategic thinking, staff structure etc., to at the very least get them to hold their own at the upper end of the Championship.

[Armadillo Roadkill]

I probably should wait until a takeover is confirmed, but hopefully Dai is on his way out. In terms of how I'd like to see incoming owners go about business, I think there are several priorities to focus on:

1) Communicate with the fans
Oh how we have missed communication. What is your vision and ambition for the club? What is your strategy? How do you plan to make us more sustainable? If we don't hear directly from the moneymen, we should at least have a CEO and Chairman who can articulate these points. There are so many channels now; social media, podcasts etc., on top or the more traditional channels like radio and the website. They should go on an early charm offensive with a fanbase who have been starved.

2) Bring back professionalism and normal
Not much to say here. Let all staff and players know they'll be paid, remove uncertainty, bring back away day hotels. Tim Kilpatrick revealed to TTE this week that members of HR are getting in at 6am to cook players' breakfast in the absence of caterers. Good to hear everyone is mucking in, but things like this simply shouldn't be happening.

3) Trust the footballing side
Bowen and Carey did a good job recruiting in the summer, Selles is popular, the academy continues to churn out talent. We don't need a revolution on the sporting side, and replacing Selles would not help with priority 1) of bringing the fanbase on side. Just give our footballing staff backing and watch them take us back up in the next few years. Note I haven't gone to detail on this point, as I'm sure there will be plenty of threads discussing the summer's recruitment and next season's team.

4) Improve matchday experience
Bring back programmes, involve local suppliers, get rid of Compass and their appalling food. Think of initiatives to make matchday more enjoyable and bring fans back.

5) Back the women's team
If the men have had it bad, the women's team has been ruined. Back to back relegations is very possible, and we're miles away from the team that produced Fran Kirby or the underdogs who held our own in the WSL for years. It's not as simple as going back to full time - the women's Championship doesn't bring in anything like enough revenue to be full time, so we'd need the owner to underwrite guaranteed losses. But we can bring in better planning, strategic thinking, staff structure etc., to at the very least get them to hold their own at the upper end of the Championship.

Agree with all of this - pretty much what I've been thinking over the past month.

All of these points would build the feel good factor that we see the first signs of.

No marquee signings (albeit they would have to be free or out of contract), but instead young, hungry, under rated players. Hopefully we can unearth another Bindon and pick up players like Wing and Knibbs who want to join the football project.

And keep the academy producing by making it the place parents want their kids to come to.

[Clyde1998]

4) Improve matchday experience
Bring back programmes, involve local suppliers, get rid of Compass and their appalling food. Think of initiatives to make matchday more enjoyable and bring fans back.

In addition to this point, I'd say basic stadium maintenance should be included in that list.

Things like the hand driers, the taps, the soap dispensers, etc. in the toilets need to be fixed or replaced; re-painting of certain concourse areas; general cleaning of the stadium; etc. Possibly thinking about the 'flow' of the concourse: an example would be where put down drinks to add milk and sugar to tea and coffee - currently it's between the toilets and vomitoria which blocks people easily moving between both.

It's not something that will cost a huge amount, but will have a massive impact on fan experience in and around the ground.

[Linden Jones' Tash]

If the new owners are the rumoured investment group, then their #1 priority will be to push for promotion out of this league - sustaining losses at this level will not be acceptable beyond a season or two if the strategy is to promote and flip the club.

Whilst the wish list is commendable, I can't see how anything that won't generate a return would be a priority.

These new owners appear to be investors rather than sugar daddies...

[WestYorksRoyal]

If the new owners are the rumoured investment group, then their #1 priority will be to push for promotion out of this league - sustaining losses at this level will not be acceptable beyond a season or two if the strategy is to promote and flip the club.

Whilst the wish list is commendable, I can't see how anything that won't generate a return would be a priority.

These new owners appear to be investors rather than sugar daddies...

I respectfully disagree. The actions I've outlined are not just things we would like as fans, they are actions necessary to get us reliably competing at a higher level and generating more revenue.

[Sutekh]

Pretty much, except I'd replace 5 with "assurance that Cat 1 Academy status will be supported for the forseeable".

BTW I thought Compass had already quit this "appalling" club themselves.

[tidus_mi2]

Pretty much, except I'd replace 5 with "assurance that Cat 1 Academy status will be supported for the forseeable".

BTW I thought Compass had already quit this "appalling" club themselves.

I'm not as committed to a cat 1 academy personally, it's a big investment, especially in League One but would make sense if the new owner is remaining commited to the upkeep of the Bearwood training facilities and we have shown a lot of success with the academy in recent seasons.

[Snowflake Royal]

Not really interested in communication, especially on any sort of ongoing basis, other than a very basic intro to who they are and what their priorities are, how they intend to achieve them in broad terms and on what timescale. Talk is cheap, words are easy. Actions matter. No one will give two shits whether they communicate if we're averaging 1.5 ppg and in the top half.

1) Sustainable approach - Manage costs, boost income.

2) Medium term realistic plan - Not promotion or bust. Sign players with potential to develop and sell at a profit. About a three year plan to get back to the Championship. Beat that timescale, great, but no pressure to do so.

3) Continue to develop our own players - May not be able to keep Cat 1, we almost certainly should downgrade to Cat 2 immediately, but with a plan to build back up as soon as we go up, and try to give a strong clear pathway to first team football to keep as much of the talent that are within a couple of years of being ready as possible.

[Linden Jones' Tash]

If the new owners are the rumoured investment group, then their #1 priority will be to push for promotion out of this league - sustaining losses at this level will not be acceptable beyond a season or two if the strategy is to promote and flip the club.

Whilst the wish list is commendable, I can't see how anything that won't generate a return would be a priority.

These new owners appear to be investors rather than sugar daddies...

I respectfully disagree. The actions I've outlined are not just things we would like as fans, they are actions necessary to get us reliably competing at a higher level and generating more revenue.

Okay then, other than getting promotion, how do each of the priorities listed generate more revenue?

Given where we are, and the limited price increases for ST, I don't see any that will not involve investment rather than boosting revenue...

Bringing back the matchday programme, for example...

And the more "investment", the bigger the gamble as it's all debt nowadays....

Be careful what you wish for

[Snowflake Royal]

I probably should wait until a takeover is confirmed, but hopefully Dai is on his way out. In terms of how I'd like to see incoming owners go about business, I think there are several priorities to focus on:

1) Communicate with the fans
Oh how we have missed communication. What is your vision and ambition for the club? What is your strategy? How do you plan to make us more sustainable? If we don't hear directly from the moneymen, we should at least have a CEO and Chairman who can articulate these points. There are so many channels now; social media, podcasts etc., on top or the more traditional channels like radio and the website. They should go on an early charm offensive with a fanbase who have been starved.
Does nothing to increase revenue or improve performance and success of club

2) Bring back professionalism and normal
Not much to say here. Let all staff and players know they'll be paid, remove uncertainty, bring back away day hotels. Tim Kilpatrick revealed to TTE this week that members of HR are getting in at 6am to cook players' breakfast in the absence of caterers. Good to hear everyone is mucking in, but things like this simply shouldn't be happening.
Arguably, actually paying for everything doesn't increase revenue, it makes net spend worse. Although I can at least see this helping performances by keeping everyone happier. So possibly better performances, therefore better attendance and income

3) Trust the footballing side
Bowen and Carey did a good job recruiting in the summer, Selles is popular, the academy continues to churn out talent. We don't need a revolution on the sporting side, and replacing Selles would not help with priority 1) of bringing the fanbase on side. Just give our footballing staff backing and watch them take us back up in the next few years. Note I haven't gone to detail on this point, as I'm sure there will be plenty of threads discussing the summer's recruitment and next season's team.
Maybe increases attendance, but only in so far as better results will, which you can achieve as complete shithouse owners overspending too.

4) Improve matchday experience
Bring back programmes, involve local suppliers, get rid of Compass and their appalling food. Think of initiatives to make matchday more enjoyable and bring fans back.
Print media is dead, I doubt there's any real profit to be had from programmes. Not sure how much more the club are going to make with new catering contracts. Better food and drink = greater costs and thats probably more with the service suppliers

5) Back the women's team
If the men have had it bad, the women's team has been ruined. Back to back relegations is very possible, and we're miles away from the team that produced Fran Kirby or the underdogs who held our own in the WSL for years. It's not as simple as going back to full time - the women's Championship doesn't bring in anything like enough revenue to be full time, so we'd need the owner to underwrite guaranteed losses. But we can bring in better planning, strategic thinking, staff structure etc., to at the very least get them to hold their own at the upper end of the Championship.This is just net cost with no benefit to the performance of the men's team or the finances. This doesn't mean we shouldn't do it of course.

I'd argue virtually nothing in your post directly improves revenue. And between 1 and 2 fifths actually harms it.

[Crusader Royal]

Not really interested in communication, especially on any sort of ongoing basis, other than a very basic intro to who they are and what their priorities are, how they intend to achieve them in broad terms and on what timescale. Talk is cheap, words are easy. Actions matter. No one will give two shits whether they communicate if we're averaging 1.5 ppg and in the top half.

1) Sustainable approach - Manage costs, boost income.

2) Medium term realistic plan - Not promotion or bust. Sign players with potential to develop and sell at a profit. About a three year plan to get back to the Championship. Beat that timescale, great, but no pressure to do so.

3) Continue to develop our own players - May not be able to keep Cat 1, we almost certainly should downgrade to Cat 2 immediately, but with a plan to build back up as soon as we go up, and try to give a strong clear pathway to first team football to keep as much of the talent that are within a couple of years of being ready as possible.

Agree with much of this.
My ideal owner would be someone who stays out of the limelight, runs the club properly and lets his DofF and manager do their job.
If things are going well I don’t need to be told they are going well, if they aren’t then sort it so they are !

[WestYorksRoyal]

Fcuk me, you create threads to start debate but I didn't expect the idea that new owners should start paying bills and bringing normality back to be controversial.

[Linden Jones' Tash]

Here's where I'm at.

Football is broken - you have to pump in more money than you can make, unless you happen to be very lucky in the Premier league (over and over again)

But, the experiment of the last few years means that a sugar daddy who owns the club as a hobby, throws money at it and gambles isn't what people want.

They want a sustainable club

If that's the case, then priorities have to be increasing revenue and not costs - so the wish list is controversial - particularly if the rumours of new owners who are in it to flip the club once at a higher level are correct.

So it's worth a debate - but if the protest movement was just about getting a new sugar daddy in, then it's been a bit disingenuous...

[WestYorksRoyal]

Here's where I'm at.

Football is broken - you have to pump in more money than you can make, unless you happen to be very lucky in the Premier league (over and over again)

But, the experiment of the last few years means that a sugar daddy who owns the club as a hobby, throws money at it and gambles isn't what people want.

They want a sustainable club

If that's the case, then priorities have to be increasing revenue and not costs - so the wish list is controversial - particularly if the rumours of new owners who are in it to flip the club once at a higher level are correct.

So it's worth a debate - but if the protest movement was just about getting a new sugar daddy in, then it's been a bit disingenuous...

Thing is, getting us promoted and selling us for more is a meaningless vision without a strategy. How do you think the owners should achieve that?

Mine is set out and not the slightest bit costly, apart from arguably point 5.

Communication costs nothing.

Paying bills for caterers, hotels, wages on time etc., cost money but are essential. You will lose players to your competitors if you decide not to do these basics.

Trusting the existing footballing staff and letting them develop is cheaper than changing staff and doing your own recruitment drive. If they find efficiency opportunities within our current operations that's fine, but my key point is evolution over revolution which is obviously cheaper. And I didn't expand in my original post, but this area is obviously where you can sell players to make revenue.

Improving the matchday experience will cost money, but if it helps bring fans back it pays for itself. It's hard to prove the relationship; arguably Selles and the team can do more to improve attendances than cleaner toilets, new decor, better food, programmes etc., will do, but you want the game to be an enjoyable day out. Better experience will help attendances.

As for the 5th, this is the most controversial but I wasn't suggesting they bankroll them to go full time. Just a bit more strategy and vision to use our resources better. And when it comes to selling us on, a club with a strong men and women's team will be more marketable.

So I have not in any way suggested a sugar daddy approach.

[blythspartan]

1. I want any new potential owners to give Ruben their 100% backing next season.
2. I want them to ensure all of our good youngsters are put on long term contracts.
3. I’d like more communication from them, but it’s not crucial.
4. Sensible player recruitment.
5. Provide more support for the women’s team.
6. Keep SCL as the stadium sponsors.
7. Pay the bills on time.
8. Pass the club onto good owners when the time comes to sale.

[Stranded]

Let the recruitment side recruit - they seem to know what they are doing - let the football side focus on that and do all they can to increase income i.e. more bums on seats, sensible sales and most likely more sponsorship deals.

If it is a US based investor, hope they are a more hands off one like the Wrexham pair and not one who chases "celebrity" appointments etc like the Brum lot.

[Linden Jones' Tash]

Here's where I'm at.

Football is broken - you have to pump in more money than you can make, unless you happen to be very lucky in the Premier league (over and over again)

But, the experiment of the last few years means that a sugar daddy who owns the club as a hobby, throws money at it and gambles isn't what people want.

They want a sustainable club

If that's the case, then priorities have to be increasing revenue and not costs - so the wish list is controversial - particularly if the rumours of new owners who are in it to flip the club once at a higher level are correct.

So it's worth a debate - but if the protest movement was just about getting a new sugar daddy in, then it's been a bit disingenuous...

Thing is, getting us promoted and selling us for more is a meaningless vision without a strategy. How do you think the owners should achieve that?

Mine is set out and not the slightest bit costly, apart from arguably point 5.

Communication costs nothing.

Paying bills for caterers, hotels, wages on time etc., cost money but are essential. You will lose players to your competitors if you decide not to do these basics.

Trusting the existing footballing staff and letting them develop is cheaper than changing staff and doing your own recruitment drive. If they find efficiency opportunities within our current operations that's fine, but my key point is evolution over revolution which is obviously cheaper. And I didn't expand in my original post, but this area is obviously where you can sell players to make revenue.

Improving the matchday experience will cost money, but if it helps bring fans back it pays for itself. It's hard to prove the relationship; arguably Selles and the team can do more to improve attendances than cleaner toilets, new decor, better food, programmes etc., will do, but you want the game to be an enjoyable day out. Better experience will help attendances.

As for the 5th, this is the most controversial but I wasn't suggesting they bankroll them to go full time. Just a bit more strategy and vision to use our resources better. And when it comes to selling us on, a club with a strong men and women's team will be more marketable.

So I have not in any way suggested a sugar daddy approach.

It might not feel like it - but in the EFL it sort of is...

We don't know our finances, but we know they outstrip income to the point where we have had to beg steal and borrow to make monthly commitments...

so lets use a League 1 proxy as an illustration - and because we are probably in a similar position - Charlton's latest published accounts show - for the last two years fairly similar numbers - before player trading:

Turnover of just under: £10M
Wages of around: £10M
Other running costs of around £10M
Operating loss of around £10M

I would wager that we are in a similar position - with a net £10M funding requirement - so any incoming owner needs to have that as a baseline before doing anything else - which means that whatever is done is a gamble.

that's all I am saying.

I would love to see the Ground revamped and the whole fan experience taken to a new level - but it would come at a cost

[BarryWhiteRFC]

I probably should wait until a takeover is confirmed, but hopefully Dai is on his way out. In terms of how I'd like to see incoming owners go about business, I think there are several priorities to focus on:

5) Back the women's team
If the men have had it bad, the women's team has been ruined. Back to back relegations is very possible, and we're miles away from the team that produced Fran Kirby or the underdogs who held our own in the WSL for years. It's not as simple as going back to full time - the women's Championship doesn't bring in anything like enough revenue to be full time, so we'd need the owner to underwrite guaranteed losses. But we can bring in better planning, strategic thinking, staff structure etc., to at the very least get them to hold their own at the upper end of the Championship.This is just net cost with no benefit to the performance of the men's team or the finances. This doesn't mean we shouldn't do it of course.

I'd argue virtually nothing in your post directly improves revenue. And between 1 and 2 fifths actually harms it.

On this point, I'd like to argue to the contrary. I took my two step children to their first Reading game yesterday (age 6 and 9). They have never shown an interest to watch a match with me at home or go to a game. I managed to talk them into going to this game away at Blackburn as an experiment to see if they preferred live football. They loved the experience, and why? Because the players came over to the stands, posed for photos with them, gave them high fives and chatted with them after the game. You don't get that kind of interaction at the men's game, but because of that, my two step children, who have no interest in sport at all (well until yesterday), now want to go to more games. Both men's and women's. Women's football is important, and I've always been proud of our club for championing it.

Also, I'd argue if you get 1-4 right, just see those flans flock back through the turnstiles.

[WestYorksRoyal]

Here's where I'm at.

Football is broken - you have to pump in more money than you can make, unless you happen to be very lucky in the Premier league (over and over again)

But, the experiment of the last few years means that a sugar daddy who owns the club as a hobby, throws money at it and gambles isn't what people want.

They want a sustainable club

If that's the case, then priorities have to be increasing revenue and not costs - so the wish list is controversial - particularly if the rumours of new owners who are in it to flip the club once at a higher level are correct.

So it's worth a debate - but if the protest movement was just about getting a new sugar daddy in, then it's been a bit disingenuous...

Thing is, getting us promoted and selling us for more is a meaningless vision without a strategy. How do you think the owners should achieve that?

Mine is set out and not the slightest bit costly, apart from arguably point 5.

Communication costs nothing.

Paying bills for caterers, hotels, wages on time etc., cost money but are essential. You will lose players to your competitors if you decide not to do these basics.

Trusting the existing footballing staff and letting them develop is cheaper than changing staff and doing your own recruitment drive. If they find efficiency opportunities within our current operations that's fine, but my key point is evolution over revolution which is obviously cheaper. And I didn't expand in my original post, but this area is obviously where you can sell players to make revenue.

Improving the matchday experience will cost money, but if it helps bring fans back it pays for itself. It's hard to prove the relationship; arguably Selles and the team can do more to improve attendances than cleaner toilets, new decor, better food, programmes etc., will do, but you want the game to be an enjoyable day out. Better experience will help attendances.

As for the 5th, this is the most controversial but I wasn't suggesting they bankroll them to go full time. Just a bit more strategy and vision to use our resources better. And when it comes to selling us on, a club with a strong men and women's team will be more marketable.

So I have not in any way suggested a sugar daddy approach.

It might not feel like it - but in the EFL it sort of is...

We don't know our finances, but we know they outstrip income to the point where we have had to beg steal and borrow to make monthly commitments...

so lets use a League 1 proxy as an illustration - and because we are probably in a similar position - Charlton's latest published accounts show - for the last two years fairly similar numbers - before player trading:

Turnover of just under: £10M
Wages of around: £10M
Other running costs of around £10M
Operating loss of around £10M

I would wager that we are in a similar position - with a net £10M funding requirement - so any incoming owner needs to have that as a baseline before doing anything else - which means that whatever is done is a gamble.

that's all I am saying.

I would love to see the Ground revamped and the whole fan experience taken to a new level - but it would come at a cost

Fair, I can agree that the EFL is so broken that any approach to running our club would be a "sugar daddy" approach. But they're interested in buying us. Howe has stated on interview that he has warned every buyer on this point. So they clearly are willing to invest, and the question is what sort of investment achieves the goal of increasing our value for them to sell on.

[Linden Jones' Tash]

" and the question is what sort of investment achieves the goal of increasing our value for them to sell on"

Agree 100% with this - wait and see and hope it involves positives for the fans on and off the field - its all gonna cost and that has risks and rewards