My info comes from someone who knows exactly what our budget is. PB also confirmed it in an interview with an up and coming journo who is a shrimper.....As is his dad. :winking:
We have gone down this road before about wages. The Brown out boys refuse to accept the facts because it leaves them with no argument.
PS had a budget which was about 9th in L2. PB's was about 7th when we won in the Play off final. About £1.4m, with a maximum wage of £1500 per week. Which as you would know from your football connections doesn't buy you a decent forward. For example Danny Kedwell was on £2000 per week at Ebbsfleet in the Conference South last season. The biggest moan when we were in L2 was always "why don't we sign a striker".....The reason was wages, nothing else.
Up to date.... We have sold Bentley and Payne for decent money with more to come. The academy has a growing reputation. Obviously we lose our best prospects before they ever get to play for us, 6 of last seasons under 18's had already moved on before we lost to Orient in the Youth cup. Since Ricky Duncan arrived over 20 lads have gone on to play first team football at various clubs.
Now before you all scream about the big boys stealing our future, it actually helps us sign players if they and their parents see a pathway to success. Some have chose us over clubs with a grade 2 academy. We have more to come from Dru and Elvis and although Kyp signed when he was 18 its great to see a young lad progressing nicely with us. He was playing better every match and was our best player on the day up until he was injured at Doncaster. Lets hope he recovers soon.
When PB arrived he talked Ron into spending £150,000 on the training ground as he believed that was more important than anything else. Forget about what we might have earned in a cup run with 3rd round tie against Stoke reserves. Our best place to earn money is from the academy and that will happen long after PB has gone.
In the meantime lets enjoy where we are and enjoy the journey to wherever we might be heading. I'm off to Pompey on Saturday and part of the fun is the train ride down, not just the game itself.....Who cares about "why aren't we there yet" because the Championship whilst still at RH would be like turning up at a shoot out with a snubnosed pistol.
Best post I've seen in a long long time. I totally agree with everything you say.