So nobody wanted Holden start of the season i doubt that very much
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He calls it as he sees it from his side as fans see it from thereās. Wheres the problem with that?
If those players turn out to be world beaters and we win every game from now on 5 - 0, will you say you got it wrong and LP etc al were spot on?
Probably not. You will say they were dead lucky and ask wheres the money gone?
I would like to believe that LP will update us once the income streams are back up & running again.
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Would much rather us be in a healthier position financially now to put us in a stronger position to recruit in the summer when it is cheaper to recruit players - than not taking the money and being weaker both footballing wise and financially when these players leave in the summer. COVID struggles is a very scary reality and whilst it is disappointing as a football fan, as a supporter of the club I get it 100%.
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Positive that he has at least got the guts to front up and explain the reasons why things are done after decades of no direct communication with fans, so fair play to him for that. There has clearly been a huge improvement with direct communication with fans under LP. In this video he has cleared up some issues and I have huge sympathy for him in relation to the challenges of operating the club without commercial or football income from fans going through the turnstiles. I also applaud his commitment to ensuring the survival of the club in the longer term as one which we would all applaud and appreciate. He is completely correct when he says that unpopular decisions are not necessarily wrong decisions and some of the more hysterical posters on here should remember that, the survival of WFC is the main / only option that we should be trying to achieve.
As fans we always want more information than we are actually given. I believe him when he says how much he regrets having had to make people redundant and sellin g 2 of our better players. Players hold all of the aces today thanks to that dipshit Bosman and the players wanted to go and play in a higher league with no doubt a significantly increased salary. Both players were amongst the better players in our squad and it is obviously gutting to lose them, but it has always been thus at WFC going back to David Kelly and beyond. Time will tell how good the loanees are, they are young and (hopefully) hungry and eager to prove themselves. It is a gamble, but we always have had to gamble on younger unproven talent. Some might come off, others no doubt wonāt. Either way LP is caught between a rock and a hard place.
The root of the problem has always been the ownership of the ground and the rent after our ānumber one fanā took advantage of a situation when we left FP in a way that has hugely reduced our chances of being competitive. I will forever despise him for that, particularly as it was done in such a way as to make it virtually impossible for WFC to get out of with the regulations relating to pension funds. The bog brush salesman who has made himself a millionaire to the detriment of the club makes me sick. But it is hardly surprising that little progress can currently be made in terms of buying the freehold back from the leach when the club has so little money coming in.
More clarity about that situation and whether we have had any reduction in the rent would be appreciated. I would also like more clarity about why we donāt seem to be able to compete with teams in league 1 and league 2 that are traditionally āsmallerā clubs than us. Apart from that I thank LP for the update and am sure he has the best interests of the club at heart and is doing his utmost to ensure we have a WFC to go back to once we are allowed to. UTS
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Do you have any idea of what that could look like?
I donāt think heās coming out saying heās doing a smashing job, I think its more explaining the decision to sell players who could leave in 3 months time and weād get nothing. If getting that money in means that weāre financially secure for a little longer then so be it. No one liked the lack of communication under the last owner so at least Pomlett has come out and explained his decision with logical reasoning.
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Nope!
You and me both. I think that re-establishing ourselves as a L1 club would be a good outcome from where we are now.
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I agree 100%
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Id force jbs hand, close bescot and move to key parks in the short terms with the longer term view community ownership like afc wimbledon
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Found this a bit worrying are we in real trouble here and if so why other clubs are managing and we were told this would be a leveller by the club not make us even less competitive which it appears has happened.Something just seems wrong here for me and yes we pay rent but so do other clubs itās not uncommon
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I went to bed last night dejected at our transfer dealings and especially our having to sell players to MK Dons and Luton Town, but also having to loan players from Oxford and Lincoln City. All of these clubs looked up to us (in league status) in the not to recent past.
This morning I reflected. How much worse, from a football view point, can it get?
Well, we only need ask Luton, Oxford, and Lincoln. All have spent considerable time outside the EFL, but have come back stronger and all have a much larger fan base.
There are a number of reasons we are struggling and if we had a multi-millionaire owner, then he could wave his magic wand and weād have better players, own our stadium and be competing higher up the league pyramid. But we donāt and we arenāt.
Sometimes clubs have to sink to the depths and hit rock bottom before they can rebuild, but hopefully not us. LP has at least steadied this sinking ship. Yes we all want to rise up quickly, but in this COVID environment we have to live with where we are and what we have.
If we werenāt in this pandemic, then I would be despondent at the way the club is headed, but we are in unchartered waters and I believe LP is doing his best.
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LP didnāt actually tell us anything we didnāt know, apart from saying that supportersā views on here and on other platforms were ānonsenseā. He said this a number of times.
So not much has changed over the years except that now we have a chairman who comes on YouTube to tell us - however nicely - that WFC doesnāt really give a damn about its customers.
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We donāt know that other clubs are managing though. No one has match or commercial income , but some will presumably have owners that are subsidising the losses.
Some could have lower fixed costs (no ground rent for example), some could be borrowing to stay afloat and some could be on the verge of going tits up.
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If all clubs are losing so much money why havenāt clubs nearer the top of our league been forced to sell their better players?Carlisle/ Cambridge/ Cheltenham etc looked to have some decent players when they played us and their league positions suggest they must be half decent.
Also players like Conlon at Vale?
Got to say Iām quite surprised by some of the āthank you Mr Chairmanā responses to that. If Bonser had said some of the stuff he said in that video youād already see the glow of the torches gathering on their way to the stadium.
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Assuming Hednesford are happy to share Keys Park how many Walsall fan do you think will migrate there?
Bearing in mind there will be no other streams of income other than gate receipts how do you see the club progressing on that basis?
Are you banking on Walsall council being part of the community ownership? If you are then good luck with that!
To be honest mate I think under your stewardship we would end up at the same level as Hednesford so for that reason Iām out.
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I think it was commendable for Leigh to be so open with the fans about the financial state of the football club. Weāre in serious trouble obviously. I suspect there are other owners in this league saying the same thing to their fanbase.
I really feel for the man. One could see on his face how painful it was to deliver the news, and how difficult itās been to sustain the club and keep it afloat.
He had a difficult job when he bought the club, throw in the virus, makes the task of achieving his goals virtually impossible.
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Also whatās transparent about not discussing the transfer fees. Nothing. I find his ānonsenseā comments totally disrespectful. If heās looking for praise and an easy ride from the social media platforms. Weāll he isnāt going to get it