Budget

[ncRover]

He can't moan one bit about the budget with contract renewals he gave out. Close and Westbrook ridiculous for starters.

It’s a bit deeper than them two.

The list of players given contracts by McCann in order to extend their stay here during his time is as follows:

Lawlor
Close
Westbrooke
Hurst
Senior
Sharp
McGrath
Maxwell
Molyneux
Sterry

Many here could have been let go to allow for better replacements. How many is up for debate. The first six on this list should (at the time) have been let go.

Our budget is not high but this highlights that the use of it is the bigger issue.

[oggycompton]

If the budget is so bad why did he waste it on extending contracts of players he had no intentions of using?

Thi is his team make no mistake and he isn't getting a tune out of it. Random selection generator today.

Pick your best 11 and stick to it, nowheere near good enough to chop and change based on opponenets. Find a style and stick to it.

[Ryaldinhio]

So people think we only have 2 or 3 players suitable to this level, half a dozen of maybes

What are people expecting GM and the management team to do? Release 20 and sign 20 top L1 players? Or even 10 L1 players?

People who think budget dont matter need to have a re-think.

[GazLaz]

So people think we only have 2 or 3 players suitable to this level, half a dozen of maybes

What are people expecting GM and the management team to do? Release 20 and sign 20 top L1 players? Or even 10 L1 players?

People who think budget dont matter need to have a re-think.

We’ve signed 5 loans that have all been substandard. That doesn’t help when it’s a quarter of your squad. That’s not particularly budget related.

[Canadian Rover]

He can't moan one bit about the budget with contract renewals he gave out. Close and Westbrook ridiculous for starters.

It’s a bit deeper than them two.

The list of players given contracts by McCann in order to extend their stay here during his time is as follows:

Lawlor - good value 2nd string keeper
Close - I guess he's done better?
Westbrooke - fools gold
Hurst - could easily make our first XI currently
Senior - SOLID
Sharp - Good bench option (value depends on wage)
McGrath - poor season, good extension
Maxwell  - good player, despite recent form
Molyneux - Legend of the club
Sterry - Amazing player

Many here could have been let go to allow for better replacements. How many is up for debate. The first six on this list should (at the time) have been let go.

Our budget is not high but this highlights that the use of it is the bigger issue.

[sedwardsdrfc]

Imo squad depth is more important for promotion than staying in a division and consolidation. We never rebalanced the squad so have a large but weak group. We got L2 quality loans, I expected we would get better as in L1 the better prospects come available, which means we don’t have any star quality those spots normally provide.

Get 4/5 decent loan players in this Jan window and we can have a good finish imo. It’ll be expensive as we can’t just get 5 untested youngsters who have only ever played U21s. Terry has back Grant and I’m sure he will again. I want a bit more accountability on how the money is spent but in fairness it’s not my cash and I don’t know what’s said behind closed doors so maybe that’s happening.

[Ryaldinhio]

15-20 years ago we were spending money and regular 6 figure fees on players.
Justin Jackson
Sean Thornton
Paul Heffernan
Matt Mills
Billy
James O'Connor
Brooker
Tommy spur

We don't spend ANY money now.....and we are not going to remain in league one without spending money.

All of the above were over a decade ago!!!!!!!

[vaya]

15-20 years ago we were spending money and regular 6 figure fees on players.
Justin Jackson
Sean Thornton
Paul Heffernan
Matt Mills
Billy
James O'Connor
Brooker
Tommy spur

We don't spend ANY money now.....and we are not going to remain in league one without spending money.

All of the above were over a decade ago!!!!!!!

Strictly speaking we were wasting six figure fees on some of those.

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

15-20 years ago we were spending money and regular 6 figure fees on players.
Justin Jackson
Sean Thornton
Paul Heffernan
Matt Mills
Billy
James O'Connor
Brooker
Tommy spur

We don't spend ANY money now.....and we are not going to remain in league one without spending money.

All of the above were over a decade ago!!!!!!!

And I'd wager ( actually it's fact) that our budget knows is bigger than back then too.

[ncRover]

He can't moan one bit about the budget with contract renewals he gave out. Close and Westbrook ridiculous for starters.

It’s a bit deeper than them two.

The list of players given contracts by McCann in order to extend their stay here during his time is as follows:

Lawlor - good value 2nd string keeper
Close - I guess he's done better?
Westbrooke - fools gold
Hurst - could easily make our first XI currently
Senior - SOLID
Sharp - Good bench option (value depends on wage)
McGrath - poor season, good extension
Maxwell  - good player, despite recent form
Molyneux - Legend of the club
Sterry - Amazing player

Many here could have been let go to allow for better replacements. How many is up for debate. The first six on this list should (at the time) have been let go.

Our budget is not high but this highlights that the use of it is the bigger issue.

Our aspirations (being an established L1 club) are now at a point where someone being an ok, hard-working player isn’t enough to be getting a new contract. (Lawlor, Senior, Close, Westbrooke).

Hurst can’t even easily make Gateshead’s first XI in the National League relegation zone, so I’m not sure how he’d walk in to ours. Sharp isn’t a good bench option because nothing happens when he comes on.

Some of this business could have been used to make current players in our first XI rotation options instead. If the consensus is that our squad isn’t good enough and needs to improve, then that is what needs to happen. The above examples were missed opportunities to enable that down the line.

[Ryaldinhio]

15-20 years ago we were spending money and regular 6 figure fees on players.
Justin Jackson
Sean Thornton
Paul Heffernan
Matt Mills
Billy
James O'Connor
Brooker
Tommy spur

We don't spend ANY money now.....and we are not going to remain in league one without spending money.

All of the above were over a decade ago!!!!!!!

Strictly speaking we were wasting six figure fees on some of those.

Show me a club where every signing works????? Even the big ones.

Manu - Veron, Antony, Di Maria, Sanchez
Chelsea - Crespo, Shevchenko, Mutu
Liverpool - Wirtz, Issak, balotelli

The fact is we were trying

[Ryaldinhio]

15-20 years ago we were spending money and regular 6 figure fees on players.
Justin Jackson
Sean Thornton
Paul Heffernan
Matt Mills
Billy
James O'Connor
Brooker
Tommy spur

We don't spend ANY money now.....and we are not going to remain in league one without spending money.

All of the above were over a decade ago!!!!!!!

And I'd wager ( actually it's fact) that our budget knows is bigger than back then too.

That doesn't mean much, a litre of diesel is more than it was then.

Proportionally how can it be more if we can't muster more than a few grand for lads from Irish league and hoping a young loanee first time in mens football comes off?

[Chris Black come back]

Wages a lot less. We pay fewer fees but higher wages. Our successes eg Molyneux, Bailey, Sterry all came at end of their deals. No fees but decent wages.

[vaya]

15-20 years ago we were spending money and regular 6 figure fees on players.
Justin Jackson
Sean Thornton
Paul Heffernan
Matt Mills
Billy
James O'Connor
Brooker
Tommy spur

We don't spend ANY money now.....and we are not going to remain in league one without spending money.

All of the above were over a decade ago!!!!!!!

Strictly speaking we were wasting six figure fees on some of those.

Show me a club where every signing works????? Even the big ones.

Manu - Veron, Antony, Di Maria, Sanchez
Chelsea - Crespo, Shevchenko, Mutu
Liverpool - Wirtz, Issak, balotelli

The fact is we were trying

Not sure throwing money about on the offchance it works is the arguement you want to be making. Potentially it's how we've got to where we are now.

[ForsolongaRover]

15-20 years ago we were spending money and regular 6 figure fees on players.
Justin Jackson
Sean Thornton
Paul Heffernan
Matt Mills
Billy
James O'Connor
Brooker
Tommy spur

We don't spend ANY money now.....and we are not going to remain in league one without spending money.

All of the above were over a decade ago!!!!!!!

And I'd wager ( actually it's fact) that our budget knows is bigger than back then too.

If the policy is that we pay no fees, then we exclude from consideration the very many players who have time to run on their contracts… so that immediately reduces the field of options. There may be some, like Olowu, who decline to re-sign, but the overwhelming majority will not be considered worth keeping by their current clubs. We are thus largely dependant on improving those whose potential is not rated by their previous employers. So, whilst we may have occasionally been successful in this, the wastage has been unsustainably high and I don’t think you have to be a Management Consultant to perceive that the pre January policy has failed particularly badly this term.

Indeed recent history shows that grabbing some loanees who are in-contract elsewhere in January actually proves that those who other clubs have committed to employing, but are just missing out on regular selection, tend to provide better quality than hoping for a miracle amongst the summer cast-offs. We have been lucky two years running, but given the basic (lack of) quality of the present core, it’s a very big ask this time round.

[Ryaldinhio]

15-20 years ago we were spending money and regular 6 figure fees on players.
Justin Jackson
Sean Thornton
Paul Heffernan
Matt Mills
Billy
James O'Connor
Brooker
Tommy spur

We don't spend ANY money now.....and we are not going to remain in league one without spending money.

All of the above were over a decade ago!!!!!!!

Strictly speaking we were wasting six figure fees on some of those.

Show me a club where every signing works????? Even the big ones.

Manu - Veron, Antony, Di Maria, Sanchez
Chelsea - Crespo, Shevchenko, Mutu
Liverpool - Wirtz, Issak, balotelli

The fact is we were trying

Not sure throwing money about on the offchance it works is the arguement you want to be making. Potentially it's how we've got to where we are now.

No it isnt the argument Im making, and no it isnt how we got here now.

[vaya]

15-20 years ago we were spending money and regular 6 figure fees on players.
Justin Jackson
Sean Thornton
Paul Heffernan
Matt Mills
Billy
James O'Connor
Brooker
Tommy spur

We don't spend ANY money now.....and we are not going to remain in league one without spending money.

All of the above were over a decade ago!!!!!!!

Strictly speaking we were wasting six figure fees on some of those.

Show me a club where every signing works????? Even the big ones.

Manu - Veron, Antony, Di Maria, Sanchez
Chelsea - Crespo, Shevchenko, Mutu
Liverpool - Wirtz, Issak, balotelli

The fact is we were trying

Not sure throwing money about on the offchance it works is the arguement you want to be making. Potentially it's how we've got to where we are now.

No it isnt the argument Im making, and no it isnt how we got here now.

That's matter of opinion.

[Ryaldinhio]

15-20 years ago we were spending money and regular 6 figure fees on players.
Justin Jackson
Sean Thornton
Paul Heffernan
Matt Mills
Billy
James O'Connor
Brooker
Tommy spur

We don't spend ANY money now.....and we are not going to remain in league one without spending money.

All of the above were over a decade ago!!!!!!!

Strictly speaking we were wasting six figure fees on some of those.

Show me a club where every signing works????? Even the big ones.

Manu - Veron, Antony, Di Maria, Sanchez
Chelsea - Crespo, Shevchenko, Mutu
Liverpool - Wirtz, Issak, balotelli

The fact is we were trying

Not sure throwing money about on the offchance it works is the arguement you want to be making. Potentially it's how we've got to where we are now.

No it isnt the argument Im making, and no it isnt how we got here now.

That's matter of opinion.

I agree it is.

My opinion is signings or descisions we made 10-15yrs ago are not affecting our current position.

Decisions made in the last 2-5yrs are.

[In the box]

15-20 years ago we were spending money and regular 6 figure fees on players.
Justin Jackson
Sean Thornton
Paul Heffernan
Matt Mills
Billy
James O'Connor
Brooker
Tommy spur

We don't spend ANY money now.....and we are not going to remain in league one without spending money.

All of the above were over a decade ago!!!!!!!

Strictly speaking we were wasting six figure fees on some of those.

Show me a club where every signing works????? Even the big ones.

Manu - Veron, Antony, Di Maria, Sanchez
Chelsea - Crespo, Shevchenko, Mutu
Liverpool - Wirtz, Issak, balotelli

The fact is we were trying

Not sure throwing money about on the offchance it works is the arguement you want to be making. Potentially it's how we've got to where we are now.

No it isnt the argument Im making, and no it isnt how we got here now.

That's matter of opinion.

I agree it is.

My opinion is signings or descisions we made 10-15yrs ago are not affecting our current position.

Decisions made in the last 2-5yrs are.

Not withstanding the £1m paid for Billy Sharp I very much doubt the club has ambitions to repeat . But if we don’t start building a club with player prospects in mind and that attracts up and coming young  talent , we will remain a third division club with championship facilities. The world of football is getting more competitive and complex , with its tv coverage players who have their own following generating social media creating  incomes beyond what some clubs pay in salaries.
 DRFC is still building from the ground up and until this project has achieved its potential, it will yo-yo up and down between  L1-L2 and we will all believe we know the answers to its ills but can do nothing it . IMO It’s about who ware's  the shirt and who makes the decisions, we pay watch that all and hope we see the positives out of the mistakes. I’ve been watching for over 50 years and I’m still fed up with poor results but it only takes one good one to remind me why I still bother . Rtid
 

[scawsby steve]

We're starting to feel like a League 2 club again, as it always felt during the Blunt years.

If we don't get it right in January, we'll soon be down to League 2 attendances.

[NickDRFC]

So much of fan opinion is results based. For the first couple of months of the season there were no complaints about what we’d spent, and loads of gratitude to Terry Bramall for providing a war chest to assemble a squad with plenty of cover whilst keeping our players that other clubs were after.

Fast forward a few months after a few defeats (OK, a lot of defeats) and suddenly it’s a lack of investment that’s the problem.

[Ryaldinhio]

So much of fan opinion is results based. For the first couple of months of the season there were no complaints about what we’d spent, and loads of gratitude to Terry Bramall for providing a war chest to assemble a squad with plenty of cover whilst keeping our players that other clubs were after.

Fast forward a few months after a few defeats (OK, a lot of defeats) and suddenly it’s a lack of investment that’s the problem.

The gratitude was a reaction to words in the media that funds had been made available.

The reaction now is following the realisation of what L1 is now and the level of players and resources other clubs have.

[normal rules]

Providing rovers remain in tact as a football
Club, quite frankly I don’t care what league they play in. The next few years will see clubs going to the wall for sure. Players wages have been for some time and will continue to be the single biggest Achilles heel of football clubs.
It’s. The unprecedented move of GM to rid all of the loan players before their time os up is testament to that. Balancing the books best he can before the next tranche of hopefuls arrive.
As the simply red song goes: Money’s too tight to mention .

[StocksArmy]

You only have to look at where we’ve been shopping to see that the budget and, more importantly, the recruitment is the real issue. Almost every signing has either been surplus to requirements at their previous club or allowed to run their contract down. Some may have turned down extensions to join us, but it’s a far cry from the days of signing players like Wellens or JOC, when we knew we were getting proven League One players with Championship potential.

There is a big difference between genuine ambition, going out to dominate a league, and hoping you can polish average players into something better. Unfortunately, our recruitment feels far more like the latter. I honestly would not be surprised if the recruitment team looked at Pearson’s past appearances at a higher level rather than what he is actually producing now. Hanlan is another example. You do not suddenly go from those numbers at Wycombe to turning into a prime Billy Sharp. Gotts spending that long at Barrow was not some mystery either. There was a reason for it.

People can argue until they are blue in the face that this is a playoff level budget like we were told, but let’s be serious. We started the season with a veteran striker who struggled for minutes with us in the league below, alongside another striker with 13 goals in over 100 games. Then we act surprised when we can barely score more than one goal a match.

We used to be a club that should be operating at this level. Right now, we are very much a League Two club in how we are run. That’s not a stab at TB either, it’s just harsh reality that some need to get their head around.

[Chris Black come back]

If they are producing somewhere else potentially even at National League level, we aren't going to afford them. The role of the recruitment set up is to identify players that are either undervalued on current performances or have the potential to improve. These are the two areas where we seem to be falling down - identifying these types of players and then improving them when they are here.

[steve@dcfd]

He can't moan one bit about the budget with contract renewals he gave out. Close and Westbrook ridiculous for starters.

It’s a bit deeper than them two.

The list of players given contracts by McCann in order to extend their stay here during his time is as follows:

Lawlor
Close
Westbrooke
Hurst
Senior
Sharp
McGrath
Maxwell
Molyneux
Sterry

Many here could have been let go to allow for better replacements. How many is up for debate. The first six on this list should (at the time) have been let go.

Our budget is not high but this highlights that the use of it is the bigger issue.

The other side of the story is that the funds to replace players wages and transfer fees if required are not sufficient. I don't agree in signing a lot of those players again but if you cannot afford better permanent signings with the funds at your disposal then it's either loans or signing some players again.

[TonySoprano]

15-20 years ago we were spending money and regular 6 figure fees on players.
Justin Jackson
Sean Thornton
Paul Heffernan
Matt Mills
Billy
James O'Connor
Brooker
Tommy spur

We don't spend ANY money now.....and we are not going to remain in league one without spending money.

All of the above were over a decade ago!!!!!!!

The difference being we had john Ryan then, a man with huge ambition.
We simply dont have that now unfortunately

[Ryaldinhio]

15-20 years ago we were spending money and regular 6 figure fees on players.
Justin Jackson
Sean Thornton
Paul Heffernan
Matt Mills
Billy
James O'Connor
Brooker
Tommy spur

We don't spend ANY money now.....and we are not going to remain in league one without spending money.

All of the above were over a decade ago!!!!!!!

The difference being we had john Ryan then, a man with huge ambition.
We simply dont have that now unfortunately

Totally agree

[ncRover]

15-20 years ago we were spending money and regular 6 figure fees on players.
Justin Jackson
Sean Thornton
Paul Heffernan
Matt Mills
Billy
James O'Connor
Brooker
Tommy spur

We don't spend ANY money now.....and we are not going to remain in league one without spending money.

All of the above were over a decade ago!!!!!!!

The difference being we had john Ryan then, a man with huge ambition.
We simply dont have that now unfortunately

Totally agree

Do you think we have a lower budget than Wimbledon, Burton, Exeter and Northampton?

[StocksArmy]

15-20 years ago we were spending money and regular 6 figure fees on players.
Justin Jackson
Sean Thornton
Paul Heffernan
Matt Mills
Billy
James O'Connor
Brooker
Tommy spur

We don't spend ANY money now.....and we are not going to remain in league one without spending money.

All of the above were over a decade ago!!!!!!!

The difference being we had john Ryan then, a man with huge ambition.
We simply dont have that now unfortunately

Totally agree

Do you think we have a lower budget than Wimbledon, Burton, Exeter and Northampton?

Personally I would take Wimbledon out of that list. Being a London club they are quite attractive for loans from the big fish scattered around them. Good level for their players to move to, easy to keep an eye on etc. It astounds me that we don’t take more fringe players from Sheffield Utd or Leeds based on that.