Keep, Get Rid or Undecided?

[Mr Scooty]

Good choice Shrewd Blue. Durrell is a decent footballer, but hasn't really got gong this season. I'd absolutely keep him. He could be a star under a new manager that shows belief in him. Clarke and Jennings are the other two I'd like to see staying with us from Padge's list. Agree with the others though.

 

[Eastleigh Fan]

Fleets is quality, for me he's definitely at his best through the middle rather then out wide, where he was primarily used at both Luton and Eastleigh, and he seems to be relishing playing there for us.[/QUOTE]


In almost 2 seasons, Fleets only ever played down the middle once for us. He was given a free role when he first came to Eastleigh, but did very little with it and ended being used in the wide left midfield role. But his work rate in games was appalling and in the end he just wasn't getting a game & clearly wanted out. Skillfull player though if you can get him interested & involved in games.
As for Eastleigh being naive for sending him and Yemi to rivals clubs on loan, yeh i get why people would think that, but you have to consider that we needed to move them out (get rid of their wages) to bring in fresh faces to make our own play off challenge. We got 4 players in for the same money as we were paying for the 3 we let go (Fleets & Yemi with Jamie Collins transferred to Sutton) and 3 of the 4 we brought in, were from FL clubs, so we did ok. Truth is, there wont have been many lower Conf Prem clubs who could have taken on Fleets & Yemi's wages, so the choices of clubs to loan them to, was limited to those in the top half of this league. Then once you factor in the geography of clubs, basically other than Brizzle Rovers, Woking & FGR are about the only clubs they would have realistically be able to be loaned out to..

Say what you want about Richard Hill. Facts are, is his 2.5 seasons with us, he will have got us into play offs twice (if we make it this year) and won the league outright once in those 3 seasons....Not bad eh.

 

[ShrewdBlue]

I could see that as well. Maybe Anthony Stephens too, i think you guys were in for him last year.

We're desperate for a striker as well so would be happy to see Jennings move here even though he hasn't been great for you. One issue could be his wages though, is he on good money with you?

 

[Southern Shayman]

Fleets is quality, for me he's definitely at his best through the middle rather then out wide, where he was primarily used at both Luton and Eastleigh, and he seems to be relishing playing there for us.

Say what you want about Richard Hill. Facts are, is his 2.5 seasons with us, he will have got us into play offs twice (if we make it this year) and won the league outright once in those 3 seasons....Not bad eh.[/QUOTE]

I'd say only this year counts as an actual achievement though. With your budget in the South it should have been a breeze.

Even this season isn't that miraculous an achievement, although FGR have been plugging away for years on a huge budget so some credit is due there.

 

[The_Boss]

Say what you want about Richard Hill. Facts are, is his 2.5 seasons with us, he will have got us into play offs twice (if we make it this year) and won the league outright once in those 3 seasons....Not bad eh.

I could have done that with the money you have!!!!!

 

[Eastleigh Fan]

Having a big budget (and believe it or not - ours is reportedly only 8th highest in this league) doesn't guarantee you anything as many clubs who have chucked money at it will show. You still need a very good manager, who gets in good players and gets them to gell into a team. In Hillys first season with us (he took over in the November) we were 2nd from bottom when he took over, and from there he got us to the play offs. That's some run to get us there, with an inherited squad who were completely out of sorts and were like strangers to each other. Hilly got them going and turned them into a very decent side. A side that then won the league (with only a few player comings and goings) the following season.

 

[rudebwoyben]

8th highest in the League?!!
So who are the other 7 clubs who reputedly have a bigger budget than Eastleigh? The only ones who I can see having a bigger budget than Eastleigh are FGR and Bristol Rovers.

 

[Gashead]

8th highest in the League?!!
So who are the other 7 clubs who reputedly have a bigger budget than Eastleigh? The only ones who I can see having a bigger budget than Eastleigh are FGR and Bristol Rovers.

I wouldn't even be so sure about that. We have one permanently signed 'big name player' for this level in Easter plus two or three from last season on high wages, where as the others have either been re-signed on contracts with much reduced terms or signed this season. Eastleigh have Constable, Midson, Fleetwood, Howard, Burton on the wage bill and even the likes of Pell and Strevens won't be cheap. FGR have two or three of these types of players, but they're not on the same level as Eastleigh. Not quite anyway.

I'm not denying that we're up there re: budgets, which is justifiable given the revenue we get from attendances etc. but I'm not convinced our budget is higher than Eastleigh's. Maybe on terms with FGR or a bit higher due to the players from last season, but I reckon we're below Eastleigh.

 

[DarkSithLord]

8th highest in the league?!

Come of it. Your defo top 3.

 

[Eastleigh Fan]

I got the 8th highest budget from a thread on our forum, where our owner stepped into a budget/club spending thread to put a few minds at rest.
He stated that he has spoken to most other owners/chairmen and budgets and player wages are always on the lips of all of them....Of course in every group of owners/chairmen, you will have those that brag or big up their budgets, whilst others will play it down, but his general understanding was that we are around 8th highest budget. I've no reason to disbelieve him.
Remember that for every James Constable in our squad, we have a young lad making up the numbers that is on £100 a week. We also have one of the smallest squads in this league, so can pay slightly higher for 15 players, versus paying lower wages and having a 20 man squad. TBF, it amazes me how little some of these supposed big earners earn in what is effectively a full time job, when we all think they must be on thousands, truth is, they very rarely are.

 

[rudebwoyben]

I wouldn't even be so sure about that. We have one permanently signed 'big name player' for this level in Easter plus two or three from last season on high wages, where as the others have either been re-signed on contracts with much reduced terms or signed this season. Eastleigh have Constable, Midson, Fleetwood, Howard, Burton on the wage bill and even the likes of Pell and Strevens won't be cheap. FGR have two or three of these types of players, but they're not on the same level as Eastleigh. Not quite anyway.

I'm not denying that we're up there re: budgets, which is justifiable given the revenue we get from attendances etc. but I'm not convinced our budget is higher than Eastleigh's. Maybe on terms with FGR or a bit higher due to the players from last season, but I reckon we're below Eastleigh.

That sounds reasonable. I just wonder which other clubs supposedly have a bigger budget than Eastleigh? - Grimsby, Wrexham and us are the only even vaguely plausible shouts. However, we've a pretty small squad and Wrexham are fan-owned. Grimsby is a possibility but I bet they're not paying anyone nearly as much as James Constable is being paid.

 

[Gashead]

That sounds reasonable. I just wonder which other clubs supposedly have a bigger budget than Eastleigh? - Grimsby, Wrexham and us are the only even vaguely plausible shouts. However, we've a pretty small squad and Wrexham are fan-owned. Grimsby is a possibility but I bet they're not paying anyone nearly as much as James Constable is being paid.

God knows who the Eastleigh owner has in mind, even if the five we've already mentioned (us two, Grimsby, Wrexham, FGR) are above Eastleigh, I have no idea who would be in 6th and 7th. The likes of Woking, Torquay, Halifax and Gateshead I guess would follow that group.

All sounds like BS to me anyway, the only clubs I could logically see above Eastleigh are us and FGR, and as I've said I don't think even that's the case.

 

[Padge]

We're desperate for a striker as well so would be happy to see Jennings move here even though he hasn't been great for you. One issue could be his wages though, is he on good money with you?

Jennings is another one that i could see doing incredibly well if he moves. He may even click for us if he stays on and plays in his favored position. I wouldn't be surprised if he was in our top 7/8 earners. Having said that, at this level he might be tempted by a comparable offer on a longer deal? I wouldn't completely rule him out of your price range. Its that old chestnut though isnt it, there doesnt seem to be a great deal of movement between our clubs these days. Perhaps the rivalry has become too heated?

 

[Gladders]

Chairman in plays down his budget shocker. Come on he's not kidding anyone Eastleigh are in the top 4 for certain if not top 2.

 

[Eastleigh Fan]

Personally, I would have agreed that we were top 3 budget, but have been told otherwise and i've no reason to disbelieve him. After all, everything he has told us he was going to spend, he has, and he's very open & extremely honest about everything. Perhaps he's actually too open and honest, if the truth be told. We'll never really know, so i guess it doesn't really matter who has the biggest budgets, its all about how well your team performs on the pitch. The moneymen can all brag or play down & spend what they like as far as i'm concerned, as long as all bills are paid and the club are kept in good financial shape.

 

[F Side Rat]

It's a pity that clubs don't publish their budgets or there is a budget limit........but then what would we talk about between games

 

[Eastleigh Fan]

The one other thing that came out of our owner's post on our forum, was that some clubs playing budget is purely just players wages, but other clubs include things like team travel/hotels etc as part of their playing budget. There are also a lot "other expenses" that some exclude from their budget, but some include, so these "costs" alone can increase a budget considerably if they were added in. So in reality a "playing budget" is not just player wages.
Our club includes "all first team associated spending" in the playing budget, so includes staff wages, travel/hotel, catering & a few other smaller things.

 

[ShrewdBlue]

Jennings is another one that i could see doing incredibly well if he moves. He may even click for us if he stays on and plays in his favored position. I wouldn't be surprised if he was in our top 7/8 earners. Having said that, at this level he might be tempted by a comparable offer on a longer deal? I wouldn't completely rule him out of your price range. Its that old chestnut though isnt it, there doesnt seem to be a great deal of movement between our clubs these days. Perhaps the rivalry has become too heated?

I'd say the lack of movement between clubs is more down to us having been in the Evo-Stik Eternally Damned Leagues for a few years. Now we're back at the same level as you, I'd imagine there will be quite a bit more movement of players up and down the A483.

 

[Gladders]

It's a pity that clubs don't publish their budgets or there is a budget limit........but then what would we talk about between games

We are a PLC so all our accounts going back 20+ years are available online, obviously they don't show just playing budgets in there, but they do show all staff (including non-playing) wages and salaries which for 2014 was 1.4m down from 1.5m the year before. (That was for 295 staff, 51 full time, 18 part-time and 226 match day staff).

I imagine this seasons will be a similar figure. Fenty is quoted as saying last seasons playing budget as about 900k but it probably went up as the season went on, and this season is probably similar again around a million.

 

[Eastleigh Fan]

Well there you go, thats higher than ours (850k)

 

[F Side Rat]

All clubs are likely to be ltd companies (I doubt Grimsby are a PLC) and as such are required to file accounts.
The problem with these is, as someone point out above, identifying what costs are player related and what are not.
From memory I believe Aldershot's first set of accounts for the season post relegation, showed costs of 1.3m of which 0.9m were staff costs.
There is also the issue that these accounts are normally filed way after the season has finished.

 

[Gladders]

All clubs are likely to be ltd companies (I doubt Grimsby are a PLC) and as such are required to file accounts.
The problem with these is, as someone point out above, identifying what costs are player related and what are not.
From memory I believe Aldershot's first set of accounts for the season post relegation, showed costs of 1.3m of which 0.9m were staff costs.
There is also the issue that these accounts are normally filed way after the season has finished.

Why do you doubt we are a plc? and when I said all our acounts are online I meant they are all freely available online to anyone who wishes to view them, shareholder or not.

 

[FishyMackem]

The official website's Contact Us page says 'Grimsby Town Football Club plc'...

http://www.grimsby-townfc.co.uk/club/contact_us/

 

[Pliny Harris]

Our goalkeeper turned up on a thread claiming we have the lowest paid squad in the league and he even has to buy his own Lucozade. I've no reason to disbelieve him.

 

[DarkSithLord]

Our goalkeeper turned up on a thread claiming we have the lowest paid squad in the league and he even has to buy his own Lucozade. I've no reason to disbelieve him.

Rubbish. We have the lowest paid squad.

 

[Pliny Harris]

Rubbish. We have the lowest paid squad.

He did say as much but it's piffle, compadre.

 

[B2TF]

Eastleigh will get eaten alive in a play off tie by either of Bristol Rovers or Grimsby . On Tuesdays viewing they are by some distance the poorest of all the teams still in with a shout of a top 5 finish.

 

[Davidimp]

Rubbish. We have the lowest paid squad.

Telford's would be similar to you guys I would guess.

 

[DarkSithLord]

Telford's would be similar to you guys I would guess.

Still think we are comfortably bottom. Braintree and Welling being the closest to us.

 

[Davidimp]

Our goalkeeper turned up on a thread claiming we have the lowest paid squad in the league and he even has to buy his own Lucozade. I've no reason to disbelieve him.

I think the thing about you guys is you have a lot of former FL players in your squad which probably makes people think you're paying out more than you are.