What would YOU have done?

[The L J Monk]

What was Blackpool's secret for getting into the Premiership? They had low crowds and at least I don't think they broke the bank to get there. Could we have done something similar?

They did in fact almost break the bank. Their wages as a porportion of turnover went through the roof over the course of that promotion season. They gambled and won. If they hadn't they'd have been in a spot of bother.

[Pintolager]

Fair enough if that was the case. I thought they were more prudent.

[Wellred]

What was Blackpool's secret for getting into the Premiership? They had low crowds and at least I don't think they broke the bank to get there. Could we have done something similar?

They did in fact almost break the bank. Their wages as a porportion of turnover went through the roof over the course of that promotion season. They gambled and won. If they hadn't they'd have been in a spot of bother.

They also used a good number of loan players unless I am mistaken. Which if I am i'm sure you will be the first to let me know.

[The L J Monk]

Bit of info on it here

Their wages were 144% of turnover. Basically, they went from a £1m loss in the season prior to promotion, to a £7m loss in thier promotion season. It certainly wasn't a sustainable approach for them.

[Wild Rover]

The fact he ran the Youth team at Bournemouth that produced amongst others Brian Stock, James Hayter, Eddie Howe at Burnley surely tells you the value he places on Youth development??

I think you will find only James Hayter came through youth system. Howe and Stock were both playing for local sides when they signed for Bournemouth. How long was SOD there?. Many years to produce 1 footballer. 5 years at DRFC to produce 0.

[eastender]

What was Blackpool's secret for getting into the Premiership? They had low crowds and at least I don't think they broke the bank to get there. Could we have done something similar?

They brought in a midfield Talisman called Charlie Adam for £500K simple as.B)

[SiBo]

Wild Rover - I think you will find not, ask Brian Stock!!!

[Bristol Red Rover]

What to do?

Our attendances have been going backwards since we first got promoted to the Championship.

Our attendances have been going backwards but if you look at the 50% increase we had on being promoted which was the biggest increase over the preceeding 8 years of any club by 10%, we haven't done that bad at all. Despite consistently being near the bottom of the Championship, Barnsley sustained their crowds on being promoted where we didn't, though we still have done better than nearly every team that got promoted. Its a myth that crowds at Donny have been that bad. A reasonable prediction based on other teams attendances would leave us even now as doing better than expected.

For JR to throw decreasing attendances into the faces of the Donny public is a strategy, but as has been said, not a wise or productive one.

Building our fanbase has not been a failure by any means, but has to be a massive focus of the club. Having some high profile players drop in on short loans can do nothing but help, as can having successful players that give some consistency to the squad - Billy, Stock, Copps, Sulli, JOC, Hayter. I see the McKay experiment as a positive move.

Just raising the profile and pride in the club in the town is key too - news, promoting games (posters, offers, anything thats quality and emphasises pride), players at schools, and especially bigging up the value of pride in our town in general.

[The L J Monk]

What was Blackpool's secret for getting into the Premiership? They had low crowds and at least I don't think they broke the bank to get there. Could we have done something similar?

They brought in a midfield Talisman called Charlie Adam for £500K simple as.B)

Not quite so simple.

Adam was actually there from February 2009 on loan until the end of the season. When he joined they were 15th. At the end of the season they were 16th. They certainly weren't a one man team.

[graingrover]

I would try to merge with Retford  FC and get some values back into our Football.....not to mention the shortbreads! Cheers Paul ... I still remember when you used to send me programmes to Brussels ..

[CusworthRovers]

Agreed, I think Blackpool made some signings that were prudent in the end and if stories are right, players we were in for but wouldn't pay that bit extra ie Adam and Vaughan (once he came back from Spain).....

Some excellent loan signings in the class act of Coleman and Dobbie. Some hard seasoned decent pro's in Crainey, Evatt, Southern and Taylor-Fletcher and the talented Eardley (whom I thought we should sign when he was allowed to leave Oldham).

[The L J Monk]

An interesting alternative to Blackpool is Preston. Their Championships crowds were around 13,000 but in 2009/10 they operated with a wage bill of close to £12m, around 108% of turnover.

After their takeover Maurice Lindsay was tasked with getting that wage bill down to £6.5 million. He has so far declined to bring in the services of Willie McKay.

[The Red Baron]

An interesting alternative to Blackpool is Preston. Their Championships crowds were around 13,000 but in 2009/10 they operated with a wage bill of close to £12m, around 108% of turnover.

After their takeover Maurice Lindsay was tasked with getting that wage bill down to £6.5 million. He has so far declined to bring in the services of Willie McKay.

Not a very good example to use, though. Relegated at the end of last season and currently in mid-table in League One and on a poor run.

Might be good if we can find a Championship club that has reduced their wage bill by half but still managed to stay competitive.

[CusworthRovers]

I've not got the business head of you chuffs, but what about Posh. They got rid of CMS and AM plus loaned out GB for a bit to Forest. Surely they must have halved (or shortened) their wages (albeit they went down to do it and came up again)

[The L J Monk]

An interesting alternative to Blackpool is Preston. Their Championships crowds were around 13,000 but in 2009/10 they operated with a wage bill of close to £12m, around 108% of turnover.

After their takeover Maurice Lindsay was tasked with getting that wage bill down to £6.5 million. He has so far declined to bring in the services of Willie McKay.

Not a very good example to use, though. Relegated at the end of last season and currently in mid-table in League One and on a poor run.

Might be good if we can find a Championship club that has reduced their wage bill by half but still managed to stay competitive.

Personally, maintaining Championship football isn't really that important to me, but to others it undoubetdly will be so I take your point.

focusing on clubs with similar gates, the Barnsley accounts might make interesting reading. Or Peterborough's. Watford's would not.

[graingrover]

This thread could only have been opened by someone 'off school for the day !... and bored !  
The tense is so loose  you wonder whether he wants you to talk about what you would have done 50 years ago or what you would have someone else do in the future if you could do eff all yourself . Well none of us can do owt so the question is hypothetical !
(  Not 50 ..but many years ago I bought shares in DRFC )

 Right now ... to answer the thread ,in it's supposed future tense intent , I would call in Max Griggs personally to give JR and DW a 'quick fix' ... buy Keepmoat then give the ground and the club to VSC like Max did with Rushden and Diamonds ! .. Same dream as JR .. same constraints ... same values  .. same delusions BUT .. then give it all back to the real fans who have been here forever!! Cynical ... well you could say that .. but I did buy £ 500 worth of shares when Rovers desperately called for Supportrs to buy shares  all those Third Division years ago!... then we got sold to Westferry ! We are DRFC we are DRFC !!
      At a time when fans are talking about getting back to basic values ... let's call a spade a spade eh? I hope JR will add that particular chapter of fans' contributions to the plight, when he  re- publishes the' Dare to  Dream' book.
Fans in English football have become bums on seats whereas we were once the heartbeat of football.
          Buy the Keepmoat JR and relinquish one stand to the Supporters Club or to VSC for a peppercorn rent and just watch your fan base grow! JR till we die!

[Wild Rover]

Wild Rover - I think you will find not, ask Brian Stock!!!

Well i dont know him personally so asking might prove difficult. But as he signed in August 1999 as a trainee, and made his debut 4 months later ( so he be 18 when he signed and 19 on debut ), doesnt sound like he came through youth set up. Eddie Howe certainly didnt, thats 100% nailed on.

[SiBo]

Again Wild Rover think you'll fidnd Eddie Howe captained the Bournemouth Youth team and played under Sean as a youngster. Not that it actually matters much in this debate but just hate to be told what I know to be fact isn't true!

[DonnyNoel]

Wild Rover - I think you will find not, ask Brian Stock!!!

Well i dont know him personally so asking might prove difficult. But as he signed in August 1999 as a trainee, and made his debut 4 months later ( so he be 18 when he signed and 19 on debut ), doesnt sound like he came through youth set up. Eddie Howe certainly didnt, thats 100% nailed on.

Depending on what site you are looking on \"signing dates\" are misleading as they only take into account the date that a player signs pro terms. For instance Paul Green's first season with DRFC is listed as 2001 but he came to the club before then.

Edit - not that I know who is right or wrong in this btw!

[SiBo]

Just had a Google, add Carl Fletcher (now Plymouth manager, ex West Ham and Wales midfielder) to list of Sean's Bournemouth Youth team graduates. BTW now I know I'm just being pedantic!

[Wild Rover]

Well, its fairly irrelevent but Eddie Howe joined B@mouth from Parsley Sports ( well some name like that ). I also take it that as SOD quit playing 1n 1995( then joined coaching staff ) and became manager 2000 ( leaving for DRFC 2006 ) that any player older than 31 could not have been influenced too much by SOD, which realistically leaves Stock and Hayter.

[Chris Black come back]

This thread could only have been opened by someone 'off school for the day !... and bored !  
The tense is so loose  you wonder whether he wants you to talk about what you would have done 50 years ago or what you would have someone else do in the future if you could do eff all yourself . Well none of us can do owt so the question is hypothetical !
(  Not 50 ..but many years ago I bought shares in DRFC )

 Right now ... to answer the thread ,in it's supposed future tense intent , I would call in Max Griggs personally to give JR and DW a 'quick fix' ... buy Keepmoat then give the ground and the club to VSC like Max did with Rushden and Diamonds ! .. Same dream as JR .. same constraints ... same values  .. same delusions BUT .. then give it all back to the real fans who have been here forever!! Cynical ... well you could say that .. but I did buy £ 500 worth of shares when Rovers desperately called for Supportrs to buy shares  all those Third Division years ago!... then we got sold to Westferry ! We are DRFC we are DRFC !!
      At a time when fans are talking about getting back to basic values ... let's call a spade a spade eh? I hope JR will add that particular chapter of fans' contributions to the plight, when he  re- publishes the' Dare to  Dream' book.
Fans in English football have become bums on seats whereas we were once the heartbeat of football.
          Buy the Keepmoat JR and relinquish one stand to the Supporters Club or to VSC for a peppercorn rent and just watch your fan base grow! JR till we die!

It was to provoke debate (which it has done given I type this on the third page of comments which has appeared since I originally posted less than 24 hours ago) and since you ask, I left school (and university) many years ago.

As for your own contribution, this is either laughably naive or a joke. Which I am unsure.

[SiBo]

Cherries seek t bridge Youth gapHave a butchers at this - http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/archive/2002/02/20/Dorset+Archive/5390784.Cherries_seek_to_bridge_youth_gap/

Tells us everything we need to know about SOD's attitude to Youth development. Why he wasnt able to do the same here who knows, although as I pointed out previously he definitely worked on redeveloping the DRFC Centre of Excellence, but to use the phrases 'Not interested in youth' and 'Saw Youth as PR stunt' seem to do him a bit of a disservice.

Wouldn't mind betting the kids' Xmas presents there is a pretty hefty other side of story as far as the 'Turned down MacArthur/McCarthy cos didnt like WM' accusation is concerned too.

Semantics? Maybe, but for a month the club told us every reason under the sun why SOD was put on gardening leave then we find out about the existance WM's plan?

Last Thursday at the Alliance meeting some pretty strong allegations were made about SOD and yet a simple bit of Googling seemingly blows at least the Youth argument out of the water.

That is why I can't help but be reticent to believe every single word JR utters as indisputable fact at the moment.

[Snods Shinpad 2]

SO'D did a Radio Sheffield interview a while back where he absolutely panned the youth set up, and said he wasn't concerned about it, wasn't intending to try and improve it and basically said it was there as a token gesture to contribute something to the community.

[SiBo]

Difference between it not being a priority and not interested? If only limited amount of resource what gives? I'm happy to accept that as an argument but believe for a second SOD wasnt interested in Youth? Nah.

[Wild Rover]

Cherries seek t bridge Youth gapHave a butchers at this - http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/archive/2002/02/20/Dorset+Archive/5390784.Cherries_seek_to_bridge_youth_gap/

Tells us everything we need to know about SOD's attitude to Youth development. Why he wasnt able to do the same here who knows, although as I pointed out previously he definitely worked on redeveloping the DRFC Centre of Excellence, but to use the phrases 'Not interested in youth' and 'Saw Youth as PR stunt' seem to do him a bit of a disservice.

Wouldn't mind betting the kids' Xmas presents there is a pretty hefty other side of story as far as the 'Turned down MacArthur/McCarthy cos didnt like WM' accusation is concerned too.

Semantics? Maybe, but for a month the club told us every reason under the sun why SOD was put on gardening leave then we find out about the existance WM's plan?

Last Thursday at the Alliance meeting some pretty strong allegations were made about SOD and yet a simple bit of Googling seemingly blows at least the Youth argument out of the water.

That is why I can't help but be reticent to believe every single word JR utters as indisputable fact at the moment.

So to paraphrase that piece. 1999 when SOD youth manager( i assume ) BFC had no youth team, in 2002 with SOD as manager they re worked the system.

Hardly shows commitment to development of youngsters. How many came through, piece mentions 3 ( but there may have been more ),and they were already at the club.

How many progressed to first team when SOD was manager?, i assume the ones mentioned plus Hayter, most seem to have been recruited during Mel Machin stint as manager.

However, i guess as this all started because someone questioned ODriscoll commitment to youth and bringing players through, its not relevent.

One thing i do know is SOD rarely was at youth training or games.