Kompany quote

[Carlos the Great]

I’m baffled when posters suggest we sell players we don’t want ?? Other teams don’t want them either and normally pick off the players we really wanted to stay ,, Its going ti be very interesting watching what happens here with this squad in the championship

[CoolClaret]

I’m baffled when posters suggest we sell players we don’t want ?? Other teams don’t want them either and normally pick off the players we really wanted to stay ,, Its going ti be very interesting watching what happens here with this squad in the championship

I think there's definitely some delusion that has crept in - possibly to mask what has been as a disastrous season.
I'm perhaps guilty of being overtly negative this year but I still find it a bit strange that those that seemed to think our approach to the season was the right one and things are going to magically turn out all splendid.

There's a lot of work to be done and our approach definitely needs tweaking; it's going to have to take some strong characters at BFC and some big decisions to keep us on the right path.

I think if we somehow ended up next year in the Champ with more or less 20 young lads under 24 from Europe + Josh Cullen say, then it's going to be a huge struggle.

[TsarBomba]

I think there's definitely some delusion that has crept in - possibly to mask what has been as a disastrous season.
I'm perhaps guilty of being overtly negative this year but I still find it a bit strange that those that seemed to think our approach to the season was the right one and things are going to magically turn out all splendid.

There's a lot of work to be done and our approach definitely needs tweaking; it's going to have to take some strong characters at BFC and some big decisions to keep us on the right path.

I think if we somehow ended up next year in the Champ with more or less 20 young lads under 24 from Europe + Josh Cullen say, then it's going to be a huge struggle.

Agree.

And not to take anything away from Kompany in what he achieved last year, but he walked into a club that despite having suffered a relegation still had a culture embedded into the club, and a core of professional, hard working players.

We need a few James Milners’ brought into the club.

[CoolClaret]

I'm perhaps guilty of being overtly negative this year but

I find it stange that those who initially supported our season's approach still believe persisting with this strategy to this degree will lead to success****

Agree.

And not to take anything away from Kompany in what he achieved last year, but he walked into a club that despite having suffered a relegation still had a culture embedded into the club, and a core of professional, hard working players.

We need a few James Milners’ brought into the club.

Absolutely.

Hoping this has been some of the thing that he referred to when he referred to ' learning more than ever this season', the last thing we need is doubling down and more dumbfounded belief.

It's a fine line between madness and genius - it's super important to have courage in your convictions and belief in your philosophy but sometimes it's wise to take a step back and adapt.

[Carlos the Great]

I think there's definitely some delusion that has crept in - possibly to mask what has been as a disastrous season.
I'm perhaps guilty of being overtly negative this year but I still find it a bit strange that those that seemed to think our approach to the season was the right one and things are going to magically turn out all splendid.

There's a lot of work to be done and our approach definitely needs tweaking; it's going to have to take some strong characters at BFC and some big decisions to keep us on the right path.

I think if we somehow ended up next year in the Champ with more or less 20 young lads under 24 from Europe + Josh Cullen say, then it's going to be a huge struggle.

I’d love to hear what VK says to players like Muric who were excellent for us last season in the championship but never got a look in to test themselves in the premier league ?? .:: Hi guys .. Benson .. Zaroury gather round lads .. Muric over here please .. now what I want is more of the same from last time you played in the championship

[CoolClaret]

I’d love to hear what VK says to players like Muric who were excellent for us last season in the championship but never got a look in to test themselves in the premier league ?? .:: Hi guys .. Benson .. Zaroury gather round lads .. Muric over here please .. now what I want is more of the same from last time you played in the championship

Yeah I mean, to make them calls and not really have the replacements do much more than I'd have expected the existing players to have done (in some instances done worse) usually turns a dressing room on it's head.. Despite what comes out and what some posters say I think the performances are archetypical of what you'd expect a team lacking cohesion to produce.

Fortunately for VK (and hopefully in the long run us) he has been afforded the opportunity to make these mistakes and possibly rectify them - that certainly wouldn't be afforded to managers of many other teams.

I just think we will be in a very strange position next season in the Champ if we are notably worse than we were in 22/23 after spending a significant chunk and turning the squad over; that would indicate that we've gone backwards.

[Carlos the Great]

Yeah I mean, to make them calls and not really have the replacements do much more than I'd have expected the existing players to have done (in some instances done worse) usually turns a dressing room on it's head.. Despite what comes out and what some posters say I think the performances are almost an archetype of what you'd expect a team lacking cohesion to produce.

Fortunately for VK (and hopefully in the long run us) he has been afforded the opportunity to make these mistakes and possibly rectify them - that certainly wouldn't be afforded to managers of many other teams.

I just think we will be in a very strange position next season in the Champ if we are notably worse than we were in 22/23 after spending a significant chunk and turning the squad over; that would indicate that we've gone backwards.

I’m also unsure whether players will buy into the VK project when history is telling them he quickly drops them like a stone even if they over achieve … We are clearly worse than last time we were in the championship and be interesting to see what VK says to the media at Xmas if we are mid table ….,,, Vk … it’s a very difficult league the championship but we are learning every day ! ..

[CoolClaret]

I’m also unsure whether players will buy into the VK project when history is telling them he quickly drops them like a stone even if they over achieve … We are clearly worse than last time we were in the championship and be interesting to see what VK says to the media at Xmas if we are mid table ….,,, Vk … it’s a very difficult league the championship but we are learning every day ! ..

Ultimately it all points to this summer being (imo) massive for the short-medium term future of the club.

The club is in a pretty strange situation - as previously mentioned, lots of big decisions need to be made and lots of questions to be answered.

If we get it wrong I feel that it will really set us back for a significant amount of time.

[HahaYeah]

I’m also unsure whether players will buy into the VK project when history is telling them he quickly drops them like a stone even if they over achieve … We are clearly worse than last time we were in the championship and be interesting to see what VK says to the media at Xmas if we are mid table ….,,, Vk … it’s a very difficult league the championship but we are learning every day ! ..

[spt_claret]

Ultimately it all points to this summer being (imo) massive for the short-medium term future of the club.

The club is in a pretty strange situation - as previously mentioned, lots of big decisions need to be made and lots of questions to be answered.

If we get it wrong I feel that it will really set us back for a significant amount of time.

I think it's massive for the long term future of the club personally.

The debt, the extent of transfer spending which even spread over multi-year instalments still requires at least breakeven ROI, the fact that so much of those costs are currently reliant on future PL income to service. I'm expecting us to have high turnover and probably a high-for-the-Championship summer net spend. If we get that wrong we're in real trouble, becomes critical for the club's finances to go up the year after but also we have less cash coming in that year so will HAVE to cost-cut at least somewhat, which makes that 2nd year promotion harder. Every year you're down it's harder to do it again. It's very easy for things to spiral out of control once you miss the mark a couple times, I think people underestimate just how transformative Sean Dyche was to the future of the club because we had zero signs of repeating Coyle's promotion until he took over, we looked very much like Championship midtable for another 10+ years.

This is the core of my concern with the ALK model. It takes promotion as a given, nevermind a requirement. Not many clubs actually post repeat bouncebacks every time. We've been promoted in 3 of our last 3 Championship seasons, 2 yo-yo seasons as Champions. I'm struggling to think of many that have gone 4 for 4, 3 for 3 yo-yoing. I was worried last time we went down, which is why I still consider Kompany's title win an overachievement. A lot of people who are very complacent about next season were complacent last time too but now act like last time was an overachievement- they've moved their own goalposts. I hope they're right about how next season goes because we really do need an immediate return.

[CoolClaret]

I think it's massive for the long term future of the club personally

I think my medium term is probably the same time frame as your long term here in all honesty spt.

I think people underestimate just how transformative Sean Dyche was to the future of the club because we had zero signs of repeating Coyle's promotion until he took over, we looked very much like Championship midtable for another 10+ years.

I think people do yes - I certainly don't mind. I thought after that one season in the sun we'd never see the PL again - staggering achievement what Dyche did and it really cannot ever be understated or downplayed.

This is the core of my concern with the ALK model. It takes promotion as a given, nevermind a requirement. Not many clubs actually post repeat bouncebacks every time. We've been promoted in 3 of our last 3 Championship seasons, 2 yo-yo seasons as Champions. I'm struggling to think of many that have gone 4 for 4, 3 for 3 yo-yoing. I was worried last time we went down, which is why I still consider Kompany's title win an overachievement. A lot of people who are very complacent about next season were complacent last time too but now act like last time was an overachievement- they've moved their own goalposts. I hope they're right about how next season goes because we really do need an immediate return.

The yo-yo ultimately always bottoms out; has to be one time where you manage to stay up; the squad is in a strange position though right now and is approaching uncharted territory for BFC. I can't think of a time where we will have had this many players on the books at once and almost two full squads.

I don't care how well deals are structured - for a club of our size/natural resource with the sort of cash flow we will have it will be imperative that we get a return and hopefully consolidate or like you say we could struggle.

Really annoys me that we will probably never be debt free again or at least for the forseeable and will always be looking to push the finances as much as possible - will always be a cause for concern, especially when we struggle.

[spt_claret]

I think my medium term is probably the same time frame as your long term here in all honesty spt.

It's one where I think the short/medium sets the long term. It's not just 10 years here, the next year or two will shape things so much it can very realistically set the direction for the next 30-50 years, which is a long time in any business.

I can't think of a time where we will have had this many players on the books at once and almost two full squads.

It will have to change in the summer. We can't loan everybody out and even if the wages are lower per player than Dyche, have relegation reductions etc., it's going to be a tight squeeze in the Championship.

Really annoys me that we will probably never be debt free again or at least for the forseeable and will always be looking to push the finances as much as possible - will always be a cause for concern, especially when we struggle.

Agree completely and don't see how it ends well for us. Fine for as long as the debt is serviceable and being used to grow the business. Latter point is disputable at least for the bulk of the debt- it was to change owners not to grow the business- former point entirely dependent on being in the Prem, and to an extent selling players (But that's more profitable in the Prem or at the very least as a yo-yo club). But ALK won't be here forever, and football is such an unstable industry that it's very very easy to have a Black Swan Event- relegation is one, failure to gain promotion again an even bigger one. Too many clubs have gone south fast, I'll never be happy with the debt as it represents a massive danger for as long as it's there.