Stan,
I read that about the £7m+ put in, but we're talking about investment into the team on the field. Not trying to shoot you down , just pointing out that you are correct (behind the scenes, I'm sure that money has been put in to keep the club solvent), but this doesn't extend to the team.
Surely though CapnBob the biggest expense in any football club has got to be the player's wages and fees.
Yes, but it's well documented that we have reduced our budget. Yes, there are players on good wages (Keogh, £12k), but I think they are the exception rather than the rule. Look at Buxton & Theo Robinson. I doubt either would be in the team if the manager had the luxury of choice.
We've got two or three Academy players as regulars, I doubt they are on big wages.
You can look at figures, but the general consensus, from people in the game like Garry Birtles, is that Clough himself operates under financial restrictions.
If our owners put cash into the club, it is probably like Doughty, covering shortfalls, especially since our gates seem to have dropped steadily from 30k to 20k in four years. That is down by a third & surely impacts on a club. It becomes a vicious circle. Less income, less spent on the team; some fans respond by staying away due to a perceived lack of investment etc.
It costs to run a club, not just the team, like the Academy. It wouldn't surprise me if Clough has committed part of his transfer budget there rather than spending it, as he views it as important to his long-term plans.
There are some managers/clubs who will dispense with that side of things (Davies) & rather spend it on players.
Just had a quick look at the accounts. The biggest problem was the drop in revenue, due to loss of parachute payments, from £29.8 million to £18.1 million whilst operating costs only dropped from £21 million to 17 million. Will be interesting to see both sets of accounts for 2012 for differing reasons.
Stan
I agree that the playing staff wage bill is probably the biggest commitment, but we're talking about the bare minimum. I'd assume our wage bill is around the £10m now.
That may cover present staff, but it could also include historic payments, as we had to pay off a number of players to leave (Claude Davis, Carroll, Albrechtsen, even the obscure signings like Sterjovski & Zadkovich). I remember we had to pay John Gregory £1m in compensation years ago. I doubt clubs of Derby's ilk can afford to pay lump sums so they negotiate a settlement/instalments over a period of time. It is shocking to think that we had to pay Claude Davis a year's salary (£15k pw) & Gerald Mortimer came out with the memorable statement that we paid more out in contract settlements than transfer fees one summer.
I actually like Nigel Clough's dry sense of humour. Asked about Will Hughes, he said that it was nice to have a player for once worth something as we had spent the last few years paying people to leave.
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Nigel Clough...
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posted on 8/12/12
Stan,
I read that about the £7m+ put in, but we're talking about investment into the team on the field. Not trying to shoot you down , just pointing out that you are correct (behind the scenes, I'm sure that money has been put in to keep the club solvent), but this doesn't extend to the team.
posted on 8/12/12
Surely though CapnBob the biggest expense in any football club has got to be the player's wages and fees.
posted on 8/12/12
Yes, but it's well documented that we have reduced our budget. Yes, there are players on good wages (Keogh, £12k), but I think they are the exception rather than the rule. Look at Buxton & Theo Robinson. I doubt either would be in the team if the manager had the luxury of choice.
We've got two or three Academy players as regulars, I doubt they are on big wages.
You can look at figures, but the general consensus, from people in the game like Garry Birtles, is that Clough himself operates under financial restrictions.
If our owners put cash into the club, it is probably like Doughty, covering shortfalls, especially since our gates seem to have dropped steadily from 30k to 20k in four years. That is down by a third & surely impacts on a club. It becomes a vicious circle. Less income, less spent on the team; some fans respond by staying away due to a perceived lack of investment etc.
It costs to run a club, not just the team, like the Academy. It wouldn't surprise me if Clough has committed part of his transfer budget there rather than spending it, as he views it as important to his long-term plans.
There are some managers/clubs who will dispense with that side of things (Davies) & rather spend it on players.
posted on 8/12/12
Just had a quick look at the accounts. The biggest problem was the drop in revenue, due to loss of parachute payments, from £29.8 million to £18.1 million whilst operating costs only dropped from £21 million to 17 million. Will be interesting to see both sets of accounts for 2012 for differing reasons.
posted on 8/12/12
Stan
I agree that the playing staff wage bill is probably the biggest commitment, but we're talking about the bare minimum. I'd assume our wage bill is around the £10m now.
That may cover present staff, but it could also include historic payments, as we had to pay off a number of players to leave (Claude Davis, Carroll, Albrechtsen, even the obscure signings like Sterjovski & Zadkovich). I remember we had to pay John Gregory £1m in compensation years ago. I doubt clubs of Derby's ilk can afford to pay lump sums so they negotiate a settlement/instalments over a period of time. It is shocking to think that we had to pay Claude Davis a year's salary (£15k pw) & Gerald Mortimer came out with the memorable statement that we paid more out in contract settlements than transfer fees one summer.
I actually like Nigel Clough's dry sense of humour. Asked about Will Hughes, he said that it was nice to have a player for once worth something as we had spent the last few years paying people to leave.
Page 2 of 2