Tonights meeting report - Part 2

[steve@dcfd]

Another question for Martin if the Chairman is non involvement with football matters when it comes to setting the budget for next season as of next season when we are going to be more competitive.
Does the CEO and manager present their requirements for players already contracted and new players we require and the cost in wages and maybe transfers to cover that. Then Chairman considers that with no football knowledge just based on figures.
Or is the budgetary figure given to the CEO and manager and they have to get players in with in that budget.

[steve@dcfd]

Quote
Those players he is recruiting for the long term are beginning to be assembled and we already have 12 players contracted beyond next season.

Question for Martin could someone explain where the 12players come from unless contracts have been extended.
As I see it
Knoyle, Williams, Rowe, Close, Hiwula and Ravenhill
Which other players have contracts pasted the end of this season.

Taylor as well.

Yes he hadn’t played for that long I missed him

[Bentley Bullet]

Wellens has said he is looking at the longer-term success of the team and admitted he may be cutting off his nose to spite his face. Maybe it is with that in mind why he is playing Cukur instead of Bogle, preferring the former to gain experience rather than the latter who is not part of his plans?

[Glyn_Wigley]

Sounds like a great success off the field, but not on.

For me nothing new have come out of the meeting only soundbites.

Perhaps you should have been bothered enough to ask a question yourself.

They were put forward by others. What did you ask, something positive no doubt.

I didn't need to, but then I'm not the one whinging about the answers am I?

[StocksArmy]

So how far down the line are we with these free agents we are speaking to? Can we expect anything before the Papa Johns game?

[RugbyRover]

I thought it was a good idea to ask what questions we wanted to put forward. Disappointed that it didn't happen. Not sure I learnt to much. It comes across as the hard questions all melted away and they talked about what THEY wanted to talk about.

Anyhow "a man we never made a mistake never made anything". So hopefully lessons are learnt.

But it did happen, I had all the questions written down.

Give me an example?

Ok I'm glad you did, but did you ask them all?

Your very first sentence says something like "from the questions listed it was obvious that I wouldn't get chance to ask them all"

An example would be about where we stand with Bogle now. Whats RW's plans for him?

Also why was the DFP briefed about our apparent targets Hylton & Eaves and the others? Normally things are kept 100% watertight but for some reason we wanted to let the world know our business. Must have been a reason?

Also what do we actually get from the Talent ID man? Those name could have been put forward by anyone with an interest in football let alone someone making an actual living out of it. Is RW happy with the names put forward to him?

Thanks SM


 

[PDX_Rover]

I’d play Bogle… let the fans judge him.

Also, Dave Morris… 

[silent majority]

I thought it was a good idea to ask what questions we wanted to put forward. Disappointed that it didn't happen. Not sure I learnt to much. It comes across as the hard questions all melted away and they talked about what THEY wanted to talk about.

Anyhow "a man we never made a mistake never made anything". So hopefully lessons are learnt.

But it did happen, I had all the questions written down.

Give me an example?

Ok I'm glad you did, but did you ask them all?

Your very first sentence says something like "from the questions listed it was obvious that I wouldn't get chance to ask them all"

An example would be about where we stand with Bogle now. Whats RW's plans for him?

Also why was the DFP briefed about our apparent targets Hylton & Eaves and the others? Normally things are kept 100% watertight but for some reason we wanted to let the world know our business. Must have been a reason?

Also what do we actually get from the Talent ID man? Those name could have been put forward by anyone with an interest in football let alone someone making an actual living out of it. Is RW happy with the names put forward to him?

Thanks SM


 

OK, but I have mentioned somewhere that RW is letting him train but he won't be playing. RW wants to look after the contracted players that he has in his squad, he wants to keep them happy rather than one individual.

I didn't ask the DFP question last night because the DFP guy was in the room and I felt it would have been rude.

We chatted about the Talent ID guy, Graham Younger, and I reported that Gavin said that they get much more out of him than just identifying talent. If you read back you'll see that.

[silent majority]

Thanks S_M for part 2. Very good reading.

I know you've got further meetings set up but I can see there are still some issues that still could do with being squared off, and that's around communication and how things play out in the press and social media.

I'm sure you've probably read Liam Hoden's take on events, which leaves bags of room for speculation and conspiracy to linger.

Now,, appreciate Liam is supposed to be doing his own Q&A session and will publish that at some point. We all look out for updates in the DFP and there' s many out there that take that info as gospel as their only source of info, plus others who then dissect the info on FB and Twitter etc.

I just wonder whether, it's worth the club publishing an article, or Gavin doing a piece to counter Liams take on events with a view to reflecting better the events that unfolded?

Alot comes down to managing fans expectations as we know and we are fortunate to have you reporting back to us  here but it may not be seen by the wider audience.

I did suggest the extra article etc last night Baz. I thought coming from Richie himself rather than anywhere else would be good.

[silent majority]

Having spoken to Shaun we've got clarification on the £10m figure.

Shaun mentioned it last night but he was talking about projected losses for the end of season 12/13. It was those projections that led to the change of CEO as Dave Morris was in charge at that point, he stepped down and Gavin took on the role. It was work then done by TB, DB and GB that reduced the losses which were obviously necessary.

Losses eventually amounted to the £4.4m figure quoted above.

Wow, just how much was we paying Dean Saunders???

I find it hard to believe a season in league one we projected to lose £10 million. How by changing the CEO did we save £5.5 million?

I remember discussing this with Gavin at the time, in fact it was one of our very first discussions. And those with good memories will remember some of it.

Essentially we cancelled all the contracts that had been set up when we used Willy McKay. We had to do it legally of course. Who was the player who flew in from Paris to play? Was it Habib Beye? How much did that cost?

[drfchound]

If Richie does put Bogle in the team you just know that sections of the crowd will boo and jeer him, sing stuff like “get out of our club” etc.
I can’t see how that will get the best out of him, or not effect the team.
It is a tricky situation.
I would think that if RW intends to play him there will be a team meeting and the air cleared but fan reaction won’t help at all.

[sedwardsdrfc]

Wellens has said he is looking at the longer-term success of the team and admitted he may be cutting off his nose to spite his face. Maybe it is with that in mind why he is playing Cukur instead of Bogle, preferring the former to gain experience rather than the latter who is not part of his plans?

But now there’s no chance to sell Bogle that argument doesn’t stand up. Long term Cukur is a Watford player not DRFC. We gain nothing from his work experience here in the long term. Play the best players we have to win a game. Maybe that means Bogle still doesn’t play.

This is why I hate loans sometimes. We get landed with some kid who our recruitment guy watched a few YouTube videos of with no idea how it’s going to go. Now he’ll play almost every game despite because we pay more if he doesn’t!

Wellens needs to cancel the loan in Jan assuming we can get someone else in. Again, we gain nothing from the work experience only Watford benefit

[NickDRFC]

Having spoken to Shaun we've got clarification on the £10m figure.

Shaun mentioned it last night but he was talking about projected losses for the end of season 12/13. It was those projections that led to the change of CEO as Dave Morris was in charge at that point, he stepped down and Gavin took on the role. It was work then done by TB, DB and GB that reduced the losses which were obviously necessary.

Losses eventually amounted to the £4.4m figure quoted above.

Wow, just how much was we paying Dean Saunders???

I find it hard to believe a season in league one we projected to lose £10 million. How by changing the CEO did we save £5.5 million?

I remember discussing this with Gavin at the time, in fact it was one of our very first discussions. And those with good memories will remember some of it.

Essentially we cancelled all the contracts that had been set up when we used Willy McKay. We had to do it legally of course. Who was the player who flew in from Paris to play? Was it Habib Beye? How much did that cost?

Don’t want to digress too much but those figures make no sense. Our total costs in 2012 were £12m and in 2013 £10m so that’s only a £2m saving…

[Metalmicky]

This is why I hate loans sometimes. We get landed with some kid who our recruitment guy watched a few YouTube videos of with no idea how it’s going to go. Now he’ll play almost every game despite because we pay more if he doesn’t!

That's kind of disrespectful.... you don't know the 'recruitment guy' or the jobs he does.....

[no eyed deer]

Sounds like a great success off the field, but not on.

For me nothing new have come out of the meeting only soundbites.

Perhaps you should have been bothered enough to ask a question yourself.

They were put forward by others. What did you ask, something positive no doubt.

I didn't need to, but then I'm not the one whinging about the answers am I?

Whinging ?

Just said they are saying what people like you want to hear .

Lets see what the attendance is next home game, wait they are not true supports.

[silent majority]

Having spoken to Shaun we've got clarification on the £10m figure.

Shaun mentioned it last night but he was talking about projected losses for the end of season 12/13. It was those projections that led to the change of CEO as Dave Morris was in charge at that point, he stepped down and Gavin took on the role. It was work then done by TB, DB and GB that reduced the losses which were obviously necessary.

Losses eventually amounted to the £4.4m figure quoted above.

Wow, just how much was we paying Dean Saunders???

I find it hard to believe a season in league one we projected to lose £10 million. How by changing the CEO did we save £5.5 million?

I remember discussing this with Gavin at the time, in fact it was one of our very first discussions. And those with good memories will remember some of it.

Essentially we cancelled all the contracts that had been set up when we used Willy McKay. We had to do it legally of course. Who was the player who flew in from Paris to play? Was it Habib Beye? How much did that cost?

Don’t want to digress too much but those figures make no sense. Our total costs in 2012 were £12m and in 2013 £10m so that’s only a £2m saving…

Unless you know what was in the contracts and the extent of the cost base you can't say that. The projected losses for the end of 2012/13 were £10m so the actual costs are irrelevant.

[BillyStubbsTears]

So, given that our gross income was about £6.4m in 12/13, that means our costs were projected to be about £16m, but actually only came in at £10m.

That's phenomenal cost cutting.

[NickDRFC]

Having spoken to Shaun we've got clarification on the £10m figure.

Shaun mentioned it last night but he was talking about projected losses for the end of season 12/13. It was those projections that led to the change of CEO as Dave Morris was in charge at that point, he stepped down and Gavin took on the role. It was work then done by TB, DB and GB that reduced the losses which were obviously necessary.

Losses eventually amounted to the £4.4m figure quoted above.

Wow, just how much was we paying Dean Saunders???

I find it hard to believe a season in league one we projected to lose £10 million. How by changing the CEO did we save £5.5 million?

I remember discussing this with Gavin at the time, in fact it was one of our very first discussions. And those with good memories will remember some of it.

Essentially we cancelled all the contracts that had been set up when we used Willy McKay. We had to do it legally of course. Who was the player who flew in from Paris to play? Was it Habib Beye? How much did that cost?

Don’t want to digress too much but those figures make no sense. Our total costs in 2012 were £12m and in 2013 £10m so that’s only a £2m saving…

Unless you know what was in the contracts and the extent of the cost base you can't say that. The projected losses for the end of 2012/13 were £10m so the actual costs are irrelevant.

Our cost base was £13m in 2011/12 (sorry, not £12m as I said above). That summer we had a mass exodus of players, the vast majority of whom were out of contract so wouldn’t have been included in any cost forecast. It’s just inconceivable to me that at any stage that season we had forecast an additional cost level anything like what you/Shaun are suggesting. It would have meant we were expecting a cost increase of £2m - £3m with a smaller squad of significantly less renowned players in the league below.

[normal rules]

This is why I hate loans sometimes. We get landed with some kid who our recruitment guy watched a few YouTube videos of with no idea how it’s going to go. Now he’ll play almost every game despite because we pay more if he doesn’t!

That's kind of disrespectful.... you don't know the 'recruitment guy' or the jobs he does.....

RW himself has admitted the Peruvian was recommended by someone at Newcastle and  staff at rovers have watched a few videos of him. Graham Younger recommended him. RW has not seen him play live.So that comment was not too far off the mark, disrespectful or not. I think he is on loan for 3 months initially.

[Pancho Regan]

A fascinating discussion about our costs and savings nearly 10 years ago with input from people who weren’t involved with the club’s finances at the time, or indeed ever.

FFS .... does it really matter?

[silent majority]

A fascinating discussion about our costs and savings nearly 10 years ago with input from people who weren’t involved with the club’s finances at the time, or indeed ever.

FFS .... does it really matter?

No it doesn't, and I'm pretty fed up of being constantly interrogated on every issue.

I shall enjoy my retirement Pancho!

[no eyed deer]

A fascinating discussion about our costs and savings nearly 10 years ago with input from people who weren’t involved with the club’s finances at the time, or indeed ever.

FFS .... does it really matter?

No it doesn't, and I'm pretty fed up of being constantly interrogated on every issue.

I shall enjoy my retirement Pancho!

So you put on here you are meeting the top men, but dont want questions about it ?

[normal rules]

A fascinating discussion about our costs and savings nearly 10 years ago with input from people who weren’t involved with the club’s finances at the time, or indeed ever.

FFS .... does it really matter?

No it doesn't, and I'm pretty fed up of being constantly interrogated on every issue.

I shall enjoy my retirement Pancho!

Retirement is over rated. Trust me.

[BobG]

You really are a shit No Eyed Dear aren't you? A blind shit too.

BobG

[ditch_drfc]

Any update from the board in the last 5 years basically boils down to "everything is okay, we have a plan, our manager is great, any deviation from previous plans isn't our fault, finances are good".

I've never been one of those who constantly moans about the board, but in our current situation there are some serious questions to answer. Namely what is the big plan with recruitment? Its a joke. As others have alluded to there's no big vision with the type of player we're trying to attract. The striker farce sums it up.

[BillyStubbsTears]

In those five years we steadily built a squad that was one goalkeeping slip from getting to Wembley, was fighting for a playoff place the year after before COVID hit, then was the best side in the division for the first half of last season before a series of bad decisions f**ked things up.

Whatever problems we have had, we haven't lacked the resources to put competitive sides together.

[DRFCTom]

Has anything been said about getting attendances up? Long term plan kinda thing?
And before anyone says, I’m aware attendances go up from good performances/results but even with that we still tend to struggle with getting fans in.

Apologies if I’ve missed anything

[aidanstu]

Thanks again SM

Gives a great insight into the real world that Rovers live in.
We are so lucky.

It also shows when TB does call it a day and that day will come sometime, that the club can sustain itself without his financial input.

I know the quote hasn’t come from you and I’m bot personally having a dig but given we have never had a season where TB hasn’t had to make up the shortfall I’m not convinced at all that we are sustainable without him just because the club say so. For one where is any of the clubs evidence. It’s PR rubbish as far as I’m concerned and possibly laying the ground for a future announcement.

[no eyed deer]

You really are a shit No Eyed Dear aren't you? A blind shit too.

BobG

Keep off the drink Bob.

[Pancho Regan]

A fascinating discussion about our costs and savings nearly 10 years ago with input from people who weren’t involved with the club’s finances at the time, or indeed ever.

FFS .... does it really matter?

No it doesn't, and I'm pretty fed up of being constantly interrogated on every issue.

I shall enjoy my retirement Pancho!

I don't blame you mate. I couldn't put up with half of what you have to deal with.