Time to keep proven younger players at the club with decent contracts
Barrett
Williams
Allen
Dave
L Gordon
Jellis
Stirk
McEntee
Lakin
Keep Lowe and Simkin for another season if possible
Add Draper
Keep Matt for 1 more year
Clearly, Hall, Daniels, Earring & Dj can leave and be replaced with fresh talent
Should be enough for a solid league 1 season
Barrett still has two and a half years left on his contract
If we get promoted then I can see max another 1k on the gates.
Where do people think the money is going to come from to pay big wages to these players while keeping the admission prices at there current levels?
Good question. A thousand extra on the attendance would bring in around 3-400 grand a year depending on the mix. I would imagine that the away support would increase by a few hundred which is a good earner.
Bottom line is though, if we want to compete in the 3rd division then we have to pay 3rd division wages, or continue to include more unproven gems in the squad, who are willing to play for less money.
I’m sure that we would get a higher percentage of TV revenue due to the new Sky deal. If I remember correctly, League One teams get 18% of the pot, rather then 12% for League Two teams, which will be another healthy increase. I’m not sure how much that increase would actually amount to though?
If we want incremental improvement…we will need to find a way to improve budget to pay league 1 wages
But every team in League 1 gets the money so there is no advantage. In fact, the only effect of any TV money is to allow all clubs to pay higher wages probably to the same players. At PL level, the money allowed the better-funded English teams to bring in better players from abroad and raise the standard but that argument does not work in the lower divisions because there is nowhere else to get the players from.
If we are promoted, the best approach would be to keep the emphasis on teamwork and a good system of playing which everyone understands. That is how Graydon did it.
Re Pascal’s list, I might add Browne and possibly Comley. And who knows about DJT? But it is clearly up front where most input will be required.
PS Champions and promoted teams receive no financial award, which seems very unfair to me.
I think folks are hopeful on the attendances going up by 1k with promotion. Apart from the obvious bump from larger clubs bringing bigger followings I think the “Bescot era” of attendances paints its own picture. Peaks and troughs. The casual fan will go a bit more if they like the football / results / match day experience
Whether it’s Wycombe and Charlton as opposed to Bromley or Barrow won’t necessarily increase the Walsall gate.
I think the lack of a pay packet for winning the league / getting promotion is balanced off by the things that come with it. Big games. Big gates. Merchandise etc
Agree - unless we were up there challenging i can’t see us seeing gates rise like that. If we were struggling gates might be lower
Bigger away support in league one
True
Probably one big departure a season from now on.
I think Taylor Allen will be playing championship football for someone in two years time. Important to keep him for next season but if he then hits the ground running at league one level it’s obvious someone will want him.
However all is not lost as Evan Weir is of a similar profile and was excellent the other day by all accounts so you give him starts here and there to keep developing him.
If Draper can be signed at some point in the next six months and he then hits 10-15 at league one level in next two years again you’re going to have championship interest.
This is what Brentford have been doing. Selling a key player for good money but already having replacements inhouse and trained in the system ready to come in.
It’s a funny position the club is in now. Normally with a promotion you’d want to keep most of the senior players just to add experience but of them Farq is constantly injured so easy one to release and feels like Daniels time is up now. If this season had happened a year back he’d have been a must keep.
Perhaps one of Matt or Adomah is kept but big ask with both well into their 30s and wages could block the path of another signing upfront, DJ will also be released so it’s going to be a very young side coming back up into league one fingers crossed which will be very exciting.
It will be tough no doubt, but it’s not mission impossible I don’t think.
There are several teams that have been promoted in recent times that have done fine on 6 -6500, which is probably more than we will get but not a million miles away.
Stevenage seem to be doing fine on 4000 ish, and Wycombe don’t seem to have any problems with around 5000.
A lot is to do with how you spend the money you do have. The recruitment is so important, as this season has shown actually. I reckon we will end up selling one or two in the summer, so using any money we do get well is very important.
Even if we do go down, it is important to stick to the plan and have a team that is capable of bouncing right back. I feel like we are on the right track.
Let’s just get up first and enjoy that.