Hiwula & Fejiri INJURED

[silent majority]

I can't believe that we are here again, discussing the budget and ownership with a set of WUM's who have no idea how any of this works.

1) The budget doesn't fluctuate depending on how many season tickets are being sold.
2) The budget was set months ago, is higher than it was 2 seasons ago, and considerably higher than last season for obvious reasons.
3) The total club budget was set on a very low expectation for ST sales, which was surpassed weeks ago and continues to delight the club with the level of sales achieved
4) Club Doncaster is not a charity, and the owners don't reclaim any money, either from the club or from the taxman
5) The Foundation, which sits inside Club Doncaster, is a charity, as is every Foundation at every league club up and down the country
6) The budget has not been used up yet, as with all budgets allowing players to leave changes the ratio, but its far too early to be writing the rebuild off
7) Its been made clear by the club that the rebuild will not be done in one transfer window, so we need patience


The VSC, a supporters trust, is here for one major reason, to keep tabs on the ownership and financial health of the club, and as such we know more about the ongoing situation than anyone. We are perfectly happy at this current stage and believe the club has managed throughout the pandemic better than most.

If there's anything specific you need me to cover please ask, I'm meeting Gavin later today and can always ask.

Thanks SM, just one from me. With point 3, with these higher than expected sales does (or rather will) that additional revenue get spent somewhere or just reduce the additional funding needed to plug the shortfall?

I wouldn't say that the ST sales are higher than expected, more a case of higher than the budget. The club, at the time of budget setting, had no idea how many tickets would be sold so worked on a figure that they felt they would achieve if everything covid wise was stacked against them.

But to answer your question, I think that it will be a case of wait and see. The club still have massive debts to deal with, and the budget is set so as to see them paid off at the end of this season and into next summer. I think the budgeted figures will remain the same for the time being and the additional revenue will be a nice cushion.

Was the option of owners paying off the debt and being paid back over a longer period never an option to minimise the short term impact of the pandemic?

I'm sure it would have been considered, but the accountants on here will know the advantages of opting for one over the other.

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

You would think that there's no benefit in doing so. Ultimately as a loss making club the owners pay it whenever it's paid. Thus it's their choice to determine how, when and what level of funds they input.

I would question if they could have just paid it off. But that's then me asking someone else to give even more money away, something I'm not keen on doing as it is their choice.  You'd typically of course maximise the options HMRC give in terms of timing but it still boils down to a debt the owners will cover. It's about how much they input after that which drives the budget really.

Frankly until someone with looser strings comes along we have to accept that it's the choice of those funding the club.

[danumdon]

I can't believe that we are here again, discussing the budget and ownership with a set of WUM's who have no idea how any of this works.

1) The budget doesn't fluctuate depending on how many season tickets are being sold.
2) The budget was set months ago, is higher than it was 2 seasons ago, and considerably higher than last season for obvious reasons.
3) The total club budget was set on a very low expectation for ST sales, which was surpassed weeks ago and continues to delight the club with the level of sales achieved
4) Club Doncaster is not a charity, and the owners don't reclaim any money, either from the club or from the taxman
5) The Foundation, which sits inside Club Doncaster, is a charity, as is every Foundation at every league club up and down the country
6) The budget has not been used up yet, as with all budgets allowing players to leave changes the ratio, but its far too early to be writing the rebuild off
7) Its been made clear by the club that the rebuild will not be done in one transfer window, so we need patience


The VSC, a supporters trust, is here for one major reason, to keep tabs on the ownership and financial health of the club, and as such we know more about the ongoing situation than anyone. We are perfectly happy at this current stage and believe the club has managed throughout the pandemic better than most.

If there's anything specific you need me to cover please ask, I'm meeting Gavin later today and can always ask.

Thanks for your comprehensive reply to these same issues again SM,

With this being the case and certain posters shouting for individuals to be allowed their say and opinion would it be a good time to call their bluff and ask them to repeat the same accusations in person and see where that left them.

[roversdude]

Oh dear. Jordy Hiwula out for "several months" and Okenabirhie at least eight weeks, according to Wellens.

Leaves us with a forward line of only Bogle, Cukur, Barlow and Taylor to choose from. What do we do now?

Bellends !! Has spent his way into corner and with trailists still being trooped out ,  injuries now piled up and several players not off the books yet and his first game only six days away  , so he will be on his knees on Monday morning trying to justify how he has done this ..you couldn’t make this up !!

So you slag Richie on this thread and hail him as a saviour on another ?????

I don’t remember anyone slagging him off to be honest

Has spent his way into corner and with trailists still being trooped out ,  injuries now piled up and several players not off the books yet and his first game only six days away  , so he will be on his knees on Monday morning trying to justify how he has done this ..you couldn’t make this up !

[DRNaith]

You would think that there's no benefit in doing so. Ultimately as a loss making club the owners pay it whenever it's paid. Thus it's their choice to determine how, when and what level of funds they input.

I would question if they could have just paid it off. But that's then me asking someone else to give even more money away, something I'm not keen on doing as it is their choice.  You'd typically of course maximise the options HMRC give in terms of timing but it still boils down to a debt the owners will cover. It's about how much they input after that which drives the budget really.

Frankly until someone with looser strings comes along we have to accept that it's the choice of those funding the club.

Looser strings will never be loose enough for some people. Just enjoy the ride.

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

You would think that there's no benefit in doing so. Ultimately as a loss making club the owners pay it whenever it's paid. Thus it's their choice to determine how, when and what level of funds they input.

I would question if they could have just paid it off. But that's then me asking someone else to give even more money away, something I'm not keen on doing as it is their choice.  You'd typically of course maximise the options HMRC give in terms of timing but it still boils down to a debt the owners will cover. It's about how much they input after that which drives the budget really.

Frankly until someone with looser strings comes along we have to accept that it's the choice of those funding the club.

Looser strings will never be loose enough for some people. Just enjoy the ride.

Agree 100 percent. Be thankful for what you have not what you don't.

[tyke1962]

Let me enlighten you how a sustainable championship club actually works in reality because I'm a fan of one .

Our wage bill is £13m and rising every season at an alarming rate , it was £9m in league one two seasons ago and ours is amongst the smallest at this level .

What comes in doesn't meet what goes out so to balance the books we have to sell our better players .

The club have sold almost 12k season tickets this summer and we get £8m from Sky and it still doesn't balance the books .

That is an excellent post, Tyke, and it highlights exactly where we are and what we are up against to get anywhere near the Championship.

I might be wrong here, as our wage bill is never openly put out there for scrutiny, but I don’t think we are anywhere near £9M (and we’re a few years on from that quoted figure).

It speaks volumes about expectation and where it should be!

Alan , Rovers are more than capable of reaching the championship again .

The lad Michael Gibson mentioned sustainable championship football which is a different matter altogether .

It's possible Rovers could build a good young side and get promoted to the championship and keep the nucleus of them together in the championship and kick on further .

Possibly more realistically is that Rovers get promoted to the championship but then need to add some quality and bridge the gap between league one and the championship .

This is precisely why Rotherham go straight back down as an example and why it's extremely difficult for ourselves although to be fair I'm hopeful we've at long last gained a foothold in the championship but as I've pointed out our wage bill is rising at an alarming rate .

The lad Josh Benson who we signed last week from Burnley and its reasonable to say he won't have signed for  £5k a week here and it's nearer £12k possibly .

With the arrival of the two Belgium strikers this window you can bet your last penny at least one of our top young players will be sold this month to balance the books .

It's a very difficult balancing act to say the least .

Too much talent leaving and some suspect recruitment in and we are done for .

[Alan Southstand]

I agree that, as a Club, we are capable, as we were close to achieving that just a few short years ago. However, what has happened since has taken us back almost to square one again. We didn’t have that many saleable assets, but what we had have gone and not adequately replaced.

I think/hope there’s been a realisation (at Board level) that we were getting nowhere fast and have drawn a line in the sand, so to speak. There’s no doubt that Covid has affected things massively and the hmrc isn’t helping this year’s progression! It will take us, at least, 3 transfer windows (in my opinion) before we get back to worrying the top end of the division again. And that assumes we can hold our collective nerve when things don’t quite go to plan.

Here’s hoping you have another good season and we manage to stay in L1.

[the vicar]

I am a bit surprised by all the negativity on here. Anyone would think we are the only club in league one that has suffered a loss of income due to covid.

you should take the negatives with the positives