Question Lost players over the past few seasons.

[DTS]

Not wanting this to turn into a Ron bashing thread but I find it really alarming when you consider the players we have lost over the past seasons that have never really been even closed to replaced.

Hammell has only been part covered by some quality loaness, since JCR and Gowers departure we have failed to get a remotely dangerous winger, Freddy was never really replaced other than with a freebie in Charlie Mac, Bailey I guess was replaced with JFC, Even the ageing Prior and Sodje were never replaced other than with Zoltan who never got a whiff of the first team.

The entire backbone of the championship relegation / Donny Promotion game squad has now gone bar Barrett and personally I dont think any bar Darryl has been replaced with anywhere near adequate quality.

I keep telling myself Ron has a war chest and its coming out when we get to FF but today having now lost Clarkey I cant help but feel gloomy.

 

[The Flying Scotsman]

What I find worrying is that despite the number of quality players we lose, he still expects Tilly and Brushy to get promoted to the Championship with what we have!

 

[DTS]

What I find worrying is that despite the number of quality players we lose, he still expects Tilly and Brushy to get promoted to the Championship with what we have!

Sorry to be thick is "he" Ron? Or Me?

 

[MisterStubbs]

we have losy quite a few players ;)

 

[BLUEBLOOD]

we have losy quite a few players ;)

And a few lousy ones too :'(

 

[Clinton Baptiste]

I share your concerns Dave. Every season we lose 1 or 2 of our best players and replace them with inferior ones, or patch it up with loanees who we have no hope of signing. Tilly has worked wonders but if Ron wants us to be in the Championship, then sorry we aint gonna do it without some serious investment, especially in defence and up top.

 

[The Flying Scotsman]

Sorry to be thick is "he" Ron? Or Me?

Ron, but equally there are a number of fans who also expect the same.

 

[DTS]

Ron, but equally there are a number of fans who also expect the same.

Is it unreasonable to expect to try and build on the previous seasons success?

I dont buy my season ticket every seaosn hoping to come mid-table. I think when we went into the Championship we understood that we couldnt compete with the big boys and anything bar relegation was a massive victory. But a league one level bar the likes of Leeds, Norwich etc I was kind of hoping to be able to bring in a few full time decent signings.

 

[Sussex Shrimper]

The players we've lost have mostly been to clubs playing at a higher level. No big surprise there. We're now losing Clarke because Huddersfield are willing to offer him terms in keeping with those that we offered as a Championship club.

We're losing money, and obviously that's an unsustainable situation. The only way that we can offer higher wages and compete in that sense is to either attract new fans, which the club are trying to do and have done a fantastic job of over the past few years, or to ask existing fans for more money. So hands up who's willing to pay an extra £100 or whatever for their season ticket to fund some spending while we're operating at a loss?

Barbs at Ron aren't really called for, IMO. He has written off an enormous amount of money in rent that he was perfectly entitled to and has worked tirelessly to secure us a new home where we will be able to raise our expectations without gambling away our long-term viability as a business.

 

[DTS]

The players we've lost have mostly been to clubs playing at a higher level. No big surprise there. We're now losing Clarke because Huddersfield are willing to offer him terms in keeping with those that we offered as a Championship club.

We're losing money, and obviously that's an unsustainable situation. The only way that we can offer higher wages and compete in that sense is to either attract new fans, which the club are trying to do and have done a fantastic job of over the past few years, or to ask existing fans for more money. So hands up who's willing to pay an extra £100 or whatever for their season ticket to fund some spending while we're operating at a loss?

What I cant understand to a degree is....

Uncle Ron said that our break even was about six thousand as a gate. I admitt that was a while ago and I guess that will have increased with the signings we have made on championship wages but I am assuming its not too far from that.

However we have now achieved that for what two three years running. On top of this we have recieved probably the best part of two million pounds in transfers maybe even more, TV money for various apperances, cup runs etc.

And yet as an outgoing who have we actually brought for a remotely decent fee since we got relegated to league one. Walker we are told was £200k but sources close to the club say that is way over the top and maybe Revell for £100k plus. Other than that and a few nominal transfers we have only picked up freebies.

I can see if Ron is saving the cash for FF but then in reality how much difference is say £200k going to make to the project, compared to how much difference could the same £200k spent on the team make.

My real worry is not the players leaving and being hard to replace its the manager if he dosent start to get some form of backing.

 

[turkishm]

What I cant understand to a degree is....

Uncle Ron said that our break even was about six thousand as a gate. I admitt that was a while ago and I guess that will have increased with the signings we have made on championship wages but I am assuming its not too far from that.

However we have now achieved that for what two three years running. On top of this we have recieved probably the best part of two million pounds in transfers maybe even more, TV money for various apperances, cup runs etc.

And yet as an outgoing who have we actually brought for a remotely decent fee since we got relegated to league one. Walker we are told was £200k but sources close to the club say that is way over the top and maybe Revell for £100k plus. Other than that and a few nominal transfers we have only picked up freebies.

I can see if Ron is saving the cash for FF but then in reality how much difference is say £200k going to make to the project, compared to how much difference could the same £200k spent on the team make.

My real worry is not the players leaving and being hard to replace its the manager if he dosent start to get some form of backing.

Ok i think Dave has hit the nail on the head here, do we spend money we cant afford to get a winning team together,in the hope that promotion will balance the books, risky. Do we spend no money, get a few lonees in,and hope they will keep us up long enough for this bloody staduim to be built. Or third option maybe the lonees are good enough to get us promoted anyway, only we lose them because we cant afford to buy them or pay there wages.

 

[Sussex Shrimper]

What I cant understand to a degree is....

Uncle Ron said that our break even was about six thousand as a gate. I admitt that was a while ago and I guess that will have increased with the signings we have made on championship wages but I am assuming its not too far from that.

However we have now achieved that for what two three years running. On top of this we have recieved probably the best part of two million pounds in transfers maybe even more, TV money for various apperances, cup runs etc.

And yet as an outgoing who have we actually brought for a remotely decent fee since we got relegated to league one. Walker we are told was £200k but sources close to the club say that is way over the top and maybe Revell for £100k plus. Other than that and a few nominal transfers we have only picked up freebies.

I can see if Ron is saving the cash for FF but then in reality how much difference is say £200k going to make to the project, compared to how much difference could the same £200k spent on the team make.

My real worry is not the players leaving and being hard to replace its the manager if he dosent start to get some form of backing.

What bears remembering is that not only do transfer fees pale in comparison to the cost of a stadium development, but that they're pretty small beer compared to the wage bill of a club like ours. Our wage bill has increased substantially as a result of playing in the Championship, and a couple of players on £2k per week will cost over £200,000 within a single year - before bonuses and other associated costs have been factored in. If we want to get back to a stage where we can look at attendances of 6,000 as a break even point, then we must first reduce our expenditure to the level it was at when that calculation was made. Yet when we don't offer players like Clarke more than we can afford, or throw £300,000 at a bidding war for a moderately successful youngster people scream blue murder. The club can't win.

Call me old fashioned, boring and all the rest but my primary concern is with having a club to support for the rest of my life. It's fine with me if we stand still for a bit until FF puts us in a position to really push on again. As I understand it, Colchester have put themselves in a position where in order to be financially viable without support from their chairman, they absolutely have to be in the Championship. To my mind, putting yourselves in a position whereby you're teetering on this magic carpet that could be whisked from underneath your feet at any moment is sheer lunacy. The club's first priority has to be to put itself on a steady footing, and until we have means by which to increase our revenue that's going to have to be by cutting expenditure, whether we like it or not.

 

[markw]

i would love to see colchester turn out like bournmouth or luton and be absolutly skint
as long as we survive and dont end up like them all is good

 

[davewebbsbrain]

Not wanting this to turn into a Ron bashing thread but I find it really alarming when you consider the players we have lost over the past seasons that have never really been even closed to replaced.

Hammell has only been part covered by some quality loaness, since JCR and Gowers departure we have failed to get a remotely dangerous winger, Freddy was never really replaced other than with a freebie in Charlie Mac, Bailey I guess was replaced with JFC, Even the ageing Prior and Sodje were never replaced other than with Zoltan who never got a whiff of the first team.

The entire backbone of the championship relegation / Donny Promotion game squad has now gone bar Barrett and personally I dont think any bar Darryl has been replaced with anywhere near adequate quality.

I keep telling myself Ron has a war chest and its coming out when we get to FF but today having now lost Clarkey I cant help but feel gloomy.

We have replaced none of them..pi$$ poor

 

[BrettieAngell]

What bears remembering is that not only do transfer fees pale in comparison to the cost of a stadium development, but that they're pretty small beer compared to the wage bill of a club like ours. Our wage bill has increased substantially as a result of playing in the Championship, and a couple of players on £2k per week will cost over £200,000 within a single year - before bonuses and other associated costs have been factored in. If we want to get back to a stage where we can look at attendances of 6,000 as a break even point, then we must first reduce our expenditure to the level it was at when that calculation was made. Yet when we don't offer players like Clarke more than we can afford, or throw £300,000 at a bidding war for a moderately successful youngster people scream blue murder. The club can't win.

Call me old fashioned, boring and all the rest but my primary concern is with having a club to support for the rest of my life. It's fine with me if we stand still for a bit until FF puts us in a position to really push on again. As I understand it, Colchester have put themselves in a position where in order to be financially viable without support from their chairman, they absolutely have to be in the Championship. To my mind, putting yourselves in a position whereby you're teetering on this magic carpet that could be whisked from underneath your feet at any moment is sheer lunacy. The club's first priority has to be to put itself on a steady footing, and until we have means by which to increase our revenue that's going to have to be by cutting expenditure, whether we like it or not.

We got ourselves in that situation before and we were close to going under or disappearing into the abyss of the conference, people should bear that in mind but hey what can you do.

 

[The Flying Scotsman]

Is it unreasonable to expect to try and build on the previous seasons success?

I dont buy my season ticket every seaosn hoping to come mid-table. I think when we went into the Championship we understood that we couldnt compete with the big boys and anything bar relegation was a massive victory. But a league one level bar the likes of Leeds, Norwich etc I was kind of hoping to be able to bring in a few full time decent signings.

Thats my point. Ron expects Tilly and Brush to get promotion, and the fans expect to see improvements season by season and there is nothing wrong with this at all!!!

However, we have lost players, I believe, because we're not offering them enough, and we're not bringing in quality players because we're not willing to spend the cash.

Therefore this makes Tillys job even harder, as the expectations are still there but the players are not.

 

[shrimperjon]

Many players in recent times have gone to bigger clubs, not because we cant afford to pay them higher wages. Gower - Swansea, Bailey - Charlton, Eatswood - Wolves, Clarke - Huddersfield. The problem is that a team like Leeds for example will always attract players because of potential. we are not an attractive proposition. Unfortunately i cant see us finishing above half way next season and thereafter for some time unless we can buy in some decent replacements.

The problem is that in recent times we have signed the Harrolds, Paynters, Scannells, Betsy etc of this world who dont really class as replacements for those that have gone. Also, b4 people slag Martin off totally, remember he did give Tilson money to spend on some of these players and they didnt work out....so he isnt totally to blame.

 

[Moridin]

Not wanting this to turn into a Ron bashing thread but I find it really alarming when you consider the players we have lost over the past seasons that have never really been even closed to replaced.

Hammell has only been part covered by some quality loaness, since JCR and Gowers departure we have failed to get a remotely dangerous winger, Freddy was never really replaced other than with a freebie in Charlie Mac, Bailey I guess was replaced with JFC, Even the ageing Prior and Sodje were never replaced other than with Zoltan who never got a whiff of the first team.

The entire backbone of the championship relegation / Donny Promotion game squad has now gone bar Barrett and personally I dont think any bar Darryl has been replaced with anywhere near adequate quality.

I keep telling myself Ron has a war chest and its coming out when we get to FF but today having now lost Clarkey I cant help but feel gloomy.

I feel a bit gloomy too, but....

In recent years, the likes of JCR, Eastwood, Gower, Bailey, Prior and Edwards for the second time, Hammell, Flahavan, and Maher have left the club for whatever reason.

It's the cycle of Football. All of those are possible (with the exception of Flahavan) candidates for being the best this club has ever seen in their positions, however all were relatively unknown (with the exception of Hammell) and picked up for next to nothing.

As will the next lot.

I felt the same when Powell, Collymore, Otto, Edwards, Hunt, Keith Jones, and Angell left in a relativity short space of time all those years ago, wondering how our club will ever be the same again.

When we paid over the top wages and tried to attract 'names' such as Whelan and Marsh things began to go wrong, and threaten the very existence in a financial sense of our club.

Thinking about it, I'm quite excited who the next lot of unknowns that take our club forward are going to be.

Surely there must be another Bressington in League Two somewhere? :cool:

 

[Gt Yarmouth Shrimper]

We have replaced none of them..pi$$ poor
__________________

Maybe you need to invest all your cash into the club, you'de be in a better position to moan then.

 

[Gt Yarmouth Shrimper]

Bugger, why can't I highlight previous quotes properly.