Period of uncertainty

red_house

UTC Legend
Is it 24 hours yet ?..sorry another thread but just thinking out loud.

Will Eddie stay and will Max and the Opalus Trust continue to bankroll the club ? These have to be the two biggest questions that will ultimately shape the future . Well as it stands Eddie is still employed so at least there's been no knee jerk from either party.

In the last set of accounts the board stated they were not ignoring the prospect of relegation and had made contingencies . This was in March and has to be seen as a positive.

If Max wants to get back to the top table and claw some PL money back then next season is the time to do it. The Championship wasn't brilliant anyway,the two strongest teams have gone up, plus many clubs will now be on the bones of their a_rse due to Covid and simply treading water. We could do with Fulham going up as well.

At the start of the season I felt this was actually the first time the club had real strength in depth, the sort £600 million gives, it always seemed we were slightly winging it previously. Unless we do a Hudds (who shipped out 23 players) hopefully Max will realise his best chance to recoup things will be to change...... not much.
 
100% agree. Encouraging to hear Rambos interview and Rico’s Instagram post saying they want to ‘put things right next season.’ Get Ake, King and Wilson our the door and keep the rest, we showed our potential yesterday and Eddie is the man to fulfil that potential under.
 
Given the time between now and the start of next season, I think if Howe was going to walk he would have got on with it... As others said, no news, IMO, is good news...

I've also just read a very good article on The Athletic, Re 'What next for Howe' and I must admit I had not heard the following statement in any other media exchanges on Sunday...

"...He was carted along for his media duties after the whistle, stopping for every broadcaster, whether television and radio, knowing he would be asked the same questions by each one. His feelings, his reflections, but crucially, his future. Will he stay? Does he want to stay? To them all, he gave a diplomatic response.

“I’m determined for Bournemouth to get back into the Premier League,” he said. “In terms of the future and what it looks like, that’s for another day.

“The next step for me is to speak to the owner and the board of directors and see where we go from here. We need to have a strong vision of the future. So I think that’s the next step....”


The more I read, the more I think he'll stay... It's just if Max wants him and his staff...
 
Given the time between now and the start of next season, I think if Howe was going to walk he would have got on with it... As others said, no news, IMO, is good news...

I've also just read a very good article on The Athletic, Re 'What next for Howe' and I must admit I had not heard the following statement in any other media exchanges on Sunday...

"...He was carted along for his media duties after the whistle, stopping for every broadcaster, whether television and radio, knowing he would be asked the same questions by each one. His feelings, his reflections, but crucially, his future. Will he stay? Does he want to stay? To them all, he gave a diplomatic response.

“I’m determined for Bournemouth to get back into the Premier League,” he said. “In terms of the future and what it looks like, that’s for another day.

“The next step for me is to speak to the owner and the board of directors and see where we go from here. We need to have a strong vision of the future. So I think that’s the next step....”

The more I read, the more I think he'll stay... It's just if Max wants him and his staff...
...this demonstrates Eddie's professionalism, the journalist/broadcaster walk couldn't have been easy after the game, all credit to him.

As for his quote about the future, that bodes well...fingers crossed.
 
The prime concern of this Uncertain Period remains ..Covid 19...whether or not it has a 2nd wave.... Or disappears then reappears in say January....if that negative scenario happens ; Will the Football Authorities carry on with this Closed Door routine or go for a more risky strategy ?..the Nation is in turmoil generally with fragmented messages to the public about all matter of things..I.e. Travel/Economy/Employment aspects.
Scotland and Wales with different agendas.
Certainly Uncertain.
 
"Bournemouth’s wage bill rose from £102m to £111m (9%) as the club continued to invest into the playing squad." [1]

"Normally, Premier League players have clauses with relegation cuts ranging between 25 per cent and 40 per cent." [2]

Unlesss you think we have a £66-85M to pay players off our own back you're essentially asking the owners to put a gun to the clubs head and pull the trigger.

[1] https://financialfootballnews.com/afc-bournemouth-2019-finances-costly-survival/

[2] https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/12049267/norwich-relegation-pay-cut/
 
"Bournemouth’s wage bill rose from £102m to £111m (9%) as the club continued to invest into the playing squad." [1]

"Normally, Premier League players have clauses with relegation cuts ranging between 25 per cent and 40 per cent." [2]

Unlesss you think we have a £66-85M to pay players off our own back you're essentially asking the owners to put a gun to the clubs head and pull the trigger.

[1] https://financialfootballnews.com/afc-bournemouth-2019-finances-costly-survival/

[2] https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/12049267/norwich-relegation-pay-cut/

That Financial Football News report makes for pretty worrying reading
 
All players will face a reality check following the Covid-19 crisis. Ake, King and Wilson might move on but they are very unlikely to command the same level of salary they might have expected this time last year. Players who are happy to stay may have to accept a similar reduction or be shipped out, although again they may not get a better deal elsewhere. The world has changed. Ironically our gate receipts form such a small % of our income the lack of crowd makes relatively little difference. What does make a huge difference is the parachute payment, without which we would be in serious trouble. Equally it gives us the best chance of getting promoted again quickly - as it falls away our chances will diminish rapidly.
 
I'm pretty sure he'll stay. He feels responsible (feels .... but not wholly guilty) for the relegation and will see it as unfinished business to get us back up.

Also think his options to move are limited now his "worth" has diminished in bigger clubs eyes. Plus also he will be fully aware of the Burnley move that didn't work out for him and don't think for a minute he'd destabilise his loved and settled family here in Poole.
 
Eddie also said "everyone knows my connection to this club runs very deep” I took that as, he would like to stay if he is allowed to. I would be very disappointed if Max and Jeff would cast him adrift now. The managerial merry go round at all clubs, not just Watford, shows the risk in not going with what you know. I don't see many other good candidates.

In the end this is Eddie’s first managerial setback, and how he deals with it will define his future as a top manager as much as anything he has done before (and FWIW I have every confidence in him).

I also think Ake, King and Wilson may be irreplaceable at a Premier League level, but we already have younger squad players capable of replacing them in the Championship.
 
Unlesss you think we have a £66-85M to pay players off our own back you're essentially asking the owners to put a gun to the clubs head and pull the trigger.

Hopefully its firing blanks. That said parachute payments plus the possible sale of Ake / Wilson whatever might cover that shortfall for next season at least. I guess Eddie might be also looking at who's left on the playing side before committing himself.
 
Our Board certainly keep the lowest of profiles. I hope their honour matches Eddie's and that measured risks are taken to try and fulfil back up his vision. No one else seems to be taking the lead. Eddie appears to be the only senior stakeholder visible to us plebs.
 
Eddie realises above all that he will lose members of his playing staff. I'm convinced that it's the training pitches that will be the decision maker or breaker.
 
Hopefully its firing blanks. That said parachute payments plus the possible sale of Ake / Wilson whatever might cover that shortfall for next season at least. I guess Eddie might be also looking at who's left on the playing side before committing himself.

You and me both but I feel like we're on much rockier ground then many are willing to acknowledge. Parachute payments are about 55% first season 45% second and 20% third.

The best-case scenario is that we have the upper end of salary cuts so that salary are 100% covered by parachute payments. That still leaves us with over £100M debt and two seasons to either try to manage the debt or go gamble the existence of the club on bouncing back.

For me, next season can't be anything more than selling players to cover debt while trying to survive by bringing through youth.
 
How often do clubs go down with the calibre of players we have to sell? In fact when was the last time Man City bought a player from a relegated team for £35m+?

It’s going to be tough and sacrifices will have to be made, but we should be able to recoup £60m+ in transfer fees if we really want/need to, and we’d still have a half decent Championship squad left. How many other relegated clubs can say that?

The key for me is Howe staying, but if he does, I’m confident that we’re in for a good/fun season. In fact if he commits then I’d go as far as to say this is the most excited I’ve been for a season since the first season in the Prem.
 
Its disgusting that parachute payments exist....paid a bonus for failing as I see it.
Clubs relegated should be docked money if anything .
Promoted teams from L1 don't get paid anything to aid their step up.
Football is run by 3rd rate ' business' people.
Destroying the Sport.
 
I guess that all clubs who get relegated have to deal with the uncertainty of reduced income, loss of players,contracted liabilities, and many other aspects of the loss of being a global pull on sponsors etc...

The key thing will always be the commitment of the owner, and also in our case the willingness of our Manager to continue. Should Max decide that he has had a good ride and wants to cash in his stake then we will be in the lap of the gods financially and it would surely mean that Eddie would walk IMO...this is the worse case scenario as we probably then would not be able to keep hold of many of our squad? Of course a buyer may want to come in and bank on Howe getting us back up to the promised land of milk and honey.

We all (or most I hope) fans want continuity and a chance to carry on under Max and Eddie and give it another shot, but will there be an appetite for that ?

I do hope that the economics are in order and some forward planning for relegation was put in place over the Covid break...??
 
Its disgusting that parachute payments exist....paid a bonus for failing as I see it.
Clubs relegated should be docked money if anything .
Promoted teams from L1 don't get paid anything to aid their step up.
Football is run by 3rd rate ' business' people.
Destroying the Sport.

It's an interesting debate for sure. I guess they're there to enable clubs to fulfil their obligations to player wages etc. and prevent clubs from going bust. But they wouldn't be needed if there wasn't such a disparity between the leagues.

For me the aim should be to increase the revenue trickle down until parachute payments are not required.
 
I am quite naive on such things but surely.....Max will either want to keep backing us so he doesn't lose his investments....or he will sell up and then anyone incoming wouldn't want to lose investments....so surely either way, nobody would want us to drop like a stone.
 

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