I love my local chippy and would be very unhappy if it was to close or change owners. The quality of the cod is excellent and the ribs are the best in Southend.
I do not however go in asking them questions about their management of the fiancés and if they can afford that new fryer. I assume that as a business they are running it how they feel fit. As long as the chips/cod etc. doesn’t become too overpriced I will carry on using them. This particular chippy has been on that corner of southchurch for a good few years and I would be very surprised if it ever shut.
I believe SUFC has been around since 1906 and is still operating through thick and thin. We are currently buying/loaning players and in general everything looks ok. If we sold a lot of top players and had no investment I would start to worry, but that’s not the case.
I know I will be shot down in flames for this but honestly, just mind your own business and let them get on with it.
I am sure you all have other things in your own lives you can worry about and let business people run their own businesses as they see fit.
Shoot you down in flames I will! Without wishing to be rude, either you care about your football club at the same level as you care about your chippy, or you are being massively naive. If your attitude is to let them get on with it, you've clearly forgotten what they were up to less than 2 years ago.
The issue is that SUFC is on the one hand a football club, and on the other a business. The two don't sit well together. If your chippy closes, you'll find another one. If your football club closes, you can always pop up the road to Col U, but I'm guessing most of us would prefer not to. For that reason if your chippy starts doubling the wage bill and doing large cod and chips for a quid, you don't overly bother. However when your football club starts being run in a way that defies basic maths, it's understandable that a fan should ask why.
My questions would be:
1. what was the monthly wage bill in Oct 2010.
2. what was the monthly wage bill in Oct 2011.
3. what is the monthly wage bill as of Feb 2012.
4. (assuming the wage bill is on the up) what's changed at the club to make this possible?
If the answer is that Sainsbury's have given us money and we're slowly spunking it, this should be followed up with questions regarding whether this is a good idea, and what the masterplan is when the money runs out.
If they give the general impression that the new stadium will solve everything, I'd ask them to consider Darlington, Rushden, etc. Whilst I'm sure the new stadium will enable them and their co-directors to get their money back out, and get a return on their investment, how will it ensure our club can balance the books for the next 20 years? Or is the plan to get the stadium, get their money out, and leave someone else to pick up the pieces and balance the books?
I'm delighted with the signings, delighted with our position in the league, and think we have one of the best managers at this level of the game. I just don't understand how it's all possible given where we were at the end of the Tilson era.