Promotion Thread

[Indian Dan]

I reckon ours was about £2m at the start of the season. Probably chucked another £200-300,000 at it in January. Got to bear in mind, though, that attendances are a good bit higher than budgeted for, binned off a couple of high earners and flogged a young ‘un to Brighton for £275,000.

 

[Rob_of_the_green]

So that's the Crewe, Cheltenham and now Plymouth managers who have come out into the public and given themselves massive pats on the back for performing miracles with buttons.

I smell shite a mile away with Lowe. Crewe and Cheltenham probably less so.

I genuinely don’t think he’s lying we’ve played with very conservative budgets since running into financial difficulties, Derek Adams also used to constantly bemoan the lack of funds available.

 

[F!RTHY]

Bowyer said Bradford’s budget was £2.5m but he could only use 40% of it due to their existing players contracts. It’s a big problem for lower league clubs. Attract good players, pay good wages on a good contract and if you fail you’re right in the shit for a while.

For a club like Crewe, who have previous for producing good, young, saleable players, it all becomes cyclical. Produce, do well, sell, fall back.

It’s a fine balancing act.

Ours is just over £2.7m - the third highest in the league.

Of course we could spend more, but FFP dictates - as mentioned.

 

[Si Robin]

So that's the Crewe, Cheltenham and now Plymouth managers who have come out into the public and given themselves massive pats on the back for performing miracles with buttons.

I smell shite a mile away with Lowe. Crewe and Cheltenham probably less so.

I was surprised Duff said we were in the bottom 5, I imagined us somewhere around mid-table. Looking at our players as though, I can only imagine Luke Varney and Reuben Reid to be potentially higher earners - Reid mostly performance based though.

 

[Indian Dan]

Ours is just over £2.7m - the third highest in the league.

Of course we could spend more, but FFP dictates - as mentioned.

Who’s above you? Mansfield, probably. Can’t think who else would have a bigger budgie

 

[EricSabin]

Who’s above you? Mansfield, probably. Can’t think who else would have a bigger budgie

Us? Just trying to think of some of the potential high earners we may have; Andy Williams, Chris Lines, Nicky Adams, Alan McCormack probably the only ones on a decent wedge so probably not

 

[Boletus Edulis]

Who’s above you? Mansfield, probably. Can’t think who else would have a bigger budgie

Surely Salford must be coming into the frame?

 

[Indian Dan]

I’d forgotten about Salford - what with them being mediocre.

 

[F!RTHY]

Who’s above you? Mansfield, probably. Can’t think who else would have a bigger budgie

Salford and Mansfield. Cobblers sixth!

 

[valefan16]

Salford’s must have rocketed with Occy, Andrade and now James Wilson to add to the ranks. Crazy money. Probably bigger than most L1 budgets.

Imagine we will be about 12th as we trimmed the budget slightly down on last year with the huge outlay to get rid of Smurf (£5 million) but should increase next year with the cup money and general expected budget increase as that outlay is paid out.

 

[Pennywise]

Salford’s must have rocketed with Occy, Andrade and now James Wilson to add to the ranks. Crazy money. Probably bigger than most L1 budgets.

Imagine we will be about 12th as we trimmed the budget slightly down on last year with the huge outlay to get rid of Smurf (£5 million) but should increase next year with the cup money and general expected budget increase as that outlay is paid out.

Add Tom Elliott and Ashley Hunter to that list too.

 

[valefan16]

Add Tom Elliott and Ashley Hunter to that list too.

Dread to imagine where the summer will take them in terms of signings.

They were fairly meh on Saturday mind. Wouldn’t of been able to tell which side had splashed the cash.

Assume they will build a new ground next and try and become the English Hoffenheim.

 

[TrinidadsNumberOne]

According to Artell we have the third lowest budget in the league this season. We are abit of an anomaly though as the vast majority of our squad are academy graduates who tend to paid alot less than the non academy players, the likes of Porter and Lancashire are on the most I believe.

There is no way on this Earth our budget is 22nd in this division. But I'm more than happy to go along with what Artell says. It's just a deterrent to stop agents from demanding stupid fees for players. I'm pretty convinced we'll spend a bit more next season if the player sales do eventually happen but it won't be daft levels of spending at all.

The worst thing you can do as a football club is announce that you have a huge budget or money to spend to great fanfare because agents will be looking to rip you off left, right and centre and players will get a couple of hundred quid a week more out of you. It's clever of Artell to play down the budget but I honestly will never believe we have the 22nd highest in this division given our facilities, Academy and the certain calibre of players in our squad.

 

[valefan16]

There is no way on this Earth our budget is 22nd in this division. But I'm more than happy to go along with what Artell says. It's just a deterrent to stop agents from demanding stupid fees for players. I'm pretty convinced we'll spend a bit more next season if the player sales do eventually happen but it won't be daft levels of spending at all.

The worst thing you can do as a football club is announce that you have a huge budget or money to spend to great fanfare because agents will be looking to rip you off left, right and centre and players will get a couple of hundred quid a week more out of you. It's clever of Artell to play down the budget but I honestly will never believe we have the 22nd highest in this division given our facilities, Academy and the certain calibre of players in our squad.

I was surprised but then thinking about it Artell may be correct, there is only really Morecambe and Macc you'd likely say are definitely less the rest is much of a muchness below the big spenders (Mansfield, Salford, Plymouth).

You'd assume Southern sides have to pay higher wages due to cost of living which may account for the likes of Cheltenham, Stevenage and Crawley. Crewe is built on a youth policy so many are in the first couple of years of their career so probably on a lower wage than average... (even if at the end of contracts clubs offer a higher wage they will still be under 24 so require a big fee)

We are though assuming this is just a wage budget and doesn't factor in Crewe will be spending much higher than most if not all on their youth set up itself.

 

[Agombar stool]

Salford and Mansfield. Cobblers sixth!

Do you have a full list or is that your guess?

 

[JJ1532]

Hey, I'm bored, so why not speculate. My order, based only on what kind of players each team has are:

1. Mansfield - Yeah, you can't convince me they aren't top are at least in the top 2.
2. Scunthorpe - Got a massive squad of players probably on L1 salaries. Definitely in the top top 5 and probably close to the top.
3. Bradford - For their size, it's probably fair, but the likes of Devitt and Donaldson will be big wages I'd say.
4. Northampton - Big proven squad, big wages for sure.
5. Salford - We know they are throwing the cash around, Rooney is probably on loads. Probably spent a bit in the window as well.
6. Swindon - Signing Grant and Doyle, getting Yates back, plus bringing in Hope. They'll have a big budget.
7. Plymouth - I could maybe see them being lower than you'd think, reckon he got the Bury lot to take a discount to come and play for him. Mayor probably not though. Doubt the likes of Canavan, Wootton and Taylor are on peanuts either.
8. Oldham - Maybe a surprise and I'm sure their fans will disagree. But how else do you attract players from France, Portugal and Slovakia in recent years? I think they are higher than you'd imagine in terms of spending.
9. Grimsby - We know how much Fenty spends a year. Think a few of those players are on good money.
10. Leyton Orient - Probably higher to account for London prices more than them throwing around money.
11. Exeter - This is probably from player sales more than anything, but Law, Sweeney, Ajose, Bowman, Holmes. Got a few who should be earning L2 average or above.
12. Newport - Probably spending in line with their cup runs, but they have a fair few established players like Amond and Labadie. Got to be around the middle of the pack.
13. Walsall - They always seem to turn a small profit, but they are carrying a few L1 wages and signed a lot of players in the summer. Reckon they are in the top half.
14. Forest Green - Most of their squad are young, so I doubt they are paying big wages.
15. Colchester - They don't get good crowds, yet still have players like Norris, Nouble, Pell(who they paid a few for). I think they'll be comfortably in mid-table.
16. Port Vale - Pope, Brown, Worrall, Amoo, Legge. They'll have a few high earners, but I doubt the rest are on that much.
17. Crawley - Won't be chucking money around, but they are in an expensive area of the county. Won't be bottom 5-8.
18. Cambridge - They seem to be scaling things back after a few years of spending. Can't blame them. Not got a modern stadium, off field revenue can't be sustantial. Probably towards the lower end of league budgets.
19. Cheltenham - I can believe Duff, they don't get great crowds or seem to have rich owners. Varney and Reid will be paid fairly, but the rest can't be on more than league average.
20. Carlisle - They have been cutting back spending for the last 2 years now. It must have pushed them from the middle of the pack towards the bottom.
21. Stevenage - They are very well run. They don't make splashy signings and always seem to turn a profit. I think they have one of the lower budgets.
22. Crewe - Ok, taking Artell at his word here. Yes, we probably should be higher when you consider he's probably separating his yearly spending budget with what gets set aside for the academy, plus we pay our first year pros peanuts. But hey ho.
23. Morecambe - Another with a small squad and tiny attendances, I doubt they are paying much for even their top earners.
24. Macclesfield - Tiny squad, probably not paying much for what they do have given their lack of money. They have got to be bottom.

Well, that's attempt at working out who ranks where. I think the middle 8 are very inter-changeable. Could make a case for most teams being a few spots higher or lower. I think you have a pack of 7 at the top that are far away from the rest. Then a group of maybe 10 teams in the middle. And finally a bottom 7-8.

 

[valefan16]

Salford would be top surely? Few players on a rumoured £6k a week!

 

[Indian Dan]

So how long will the vanity backers hang around if Salford just stagnate in L2?

 

[Chris FGR]

Hey, I'm bored, so why not speculate. My order, based only on what kind of players each team has are:

1. Mansfield - Yeah, you can't convince me they aren't top are at least in the top 2.
2. Scunthorpe - Got a massive squad of players probably on L1 salaries. Definitely in the top top 5 and probably close to the top.
3. Bradford - For their size, it's probably fair, but the likes of Devitt and Donaldson will be big wages I'd say.
4. Northampton - Big proven squad, big wages for sure.
5. Salford - We know they are throwing the cash around, Rooney is probably on loads. Probably spent a bit in the window as well.
6. Swindon - Signing Grant and Doyle, getting Yates back, plus bringing in Hope. They'll have a big budget.
7. Plymouth - I could maybe see them being lower than you'd think, reckon he got the Bury lot to take a discount to come and play for him. Mayor probably not though. Doubt the likes of Canavan, Wootton and Taylor are on peanuts either.
8. Oldham - Maybe a surprise and I'm sure their fans will disagree. But how else do you attract players from France, Portugal and Slovakia in recent years? I think they are higher than you'd imagine in terms of spending.
9. Grimsby - We know how much Fenty spends a year. Think a few of those players are on good money.
10. Leyton Orient - Probably higher to account for London prices more than them throwing around money.
11. Exeter - This is probably from player sales more than anything, but Law, Sweeney, Ajose, Bowman, Holmes. Got a few who should be earning L2 average or above.
12. Newport - Probably spending in line with their cup runs, but they have a fair few established players like Amond and Labadie. Got to be around the middle of the pack.
13. Walsall - They always seem to turn a small profit, but they are carrying a few L1 wages and signed a lot of players in the summer. Reckon they are in the top half.
14. Forest Green - Most of their squad are young, so I doubt they are paying big wages.
15. Colchester - They don't get good crowds, yet still have players like Norris, Nouble, Pell(who they paid a few for). I think they'll be comfortably in mid-table.
16. Port Vale - Pope, Brown, Worrall, Amoo, Legge. They'll have a few high earners, but I doubt the rest are on that much.
17. Crawley - Won't be chucking money around, but they are in an expensive area of the county. Won't be bottom 5-8.
18. Cambridge - They seem to be scaling things back after a few years of spending. Can't blame them. Not got a modern stadium, off field revenue can't be sustantial. Probably towards the lower end of league budgets.
19. Cheltenham - I can believe Duff, they don't get great crowds or seem to have rich owners. Varney and Reid will be paid fairly, but the rest can't be on more than league average.
20. Carlisle - They have been cutting back spending for the last 2 years now. It must have pushed them from the middle of the pack towards the bottom.
21. Stevenage - They are very well run. They don't make splashy signings and always seem to turn a profit. I think they have one of the lower budgets.
22. Crewe - Ok, taking Artell at his word here. Yes, we probably should be higher when you consider he's probably separating his yearly spending budget with what gets set aside for the academy, plus we pay our first year pros peanuts. But hey ho.
23. Morecambe - Another with a small squad and tiny attendances, I doubt they are paying much for even their top earners.
24. Macclesfield - Tiny squad, probably not paying much for what they do have given their lack of money. They have got to be bottom.

Well, that's attempt at working out who ranks where. I think the middle 8 are very inter-changeable. Could make a case for most teams being a few spots higher or lower. I think you have a pack of 7 at the top that are far away from the rest. Then a group of maybe 10 teams in the middle. And finally a bottom 7-8.

If that's fairly accurate then it means 3 of the top 5 budgets are in the bottom half, and 5 of the top 10 are in the bottom half budget-wise.

Don't see that happen in many leagues.

 

[valefan16]

Image we have a few higher earners than suggested too, Cullen won’t be on a small wage I doubt, Oyeleke was given a two year deal and Taylor has had a new contract with Forest which we’ve had to bid for to extend the loan so will be a lot more than the first half. Colchester would be higher IMO too due to location.

Assume FGR are higher payers too, they threw money at Mad Gav to take him off us!

 

[Chris FGR]

Image we have a few higher earners than suggested too, Cullen won’t be on a small wage I doubt, Oyeleke was given a two year deal and Taylor has had a new contract with Forest which we’ve had to bid for to extend the loan so will be a lot more than the first half. Colchester would be higher IMO too due to location.

Assume FGR are higher payers too, they threw money at Mad Gav to take him off us!

Mad Gav plus a lot of the other more experienced players, like Lee Collins, Scott Laird, Reuben Reid, Haydn Hollis and obviously Christian Doidge left last summer with only 2 experienced players coming in, Kevin Dawson (very injury prone) and Matt Mills (player/assistant manager).

The rest were all youngsters/out of non league/on loan. We still spend beyond our means (if we didn't we'd be down there with Macc and Morecambe) but we clearly aren't pushing the boat out that far anymore.

 

[LeonTheGreen]

I can’t imagine ours will be that big. Canavan was a squad player at Rochdale, and Wootton was relegated with MK before he joined us. I think Sarcevic and Ryan Taylor will be on a decent wage, both were offered new deals in L1 when they were playing well.

Mayor will definitely be on a good wage, he decided to join us over Ipswich, I know he’s Lowe’s love child but money will always play a factor.

Overall I think we are probably top 10, possibly top 7, but when you look at Mansfield’s squad, Salford’s squad and Bradfords lower league household names, I definitely think they are top 3.

 

[LS Bantam]

Ours is just so over inflated by deadwood on long contracts, I think our starting 11 would be comparable to most top end sides but by sheer numbers we’ll be near the top.

 

[Si Robin]

19. Cheltenham - I can believe Duff, they don't get great crowds or seem to have rich owners. Varney and Reid will be paid fairly, but the rest can't be on more than league average.

The more I think about it, and it isn't all that much, Varney probably isn't on that much. He chose us over Blackpool because we were closer to home for him and they were offering much more than we were.

 

[Son of Cod]

Hey, I'm bored, so why not speculate. My order, based only on what kind of players each team has are:

1. Mansfield - Yeah, you can't convince me they aren't top are at least in the top 2.
2. Scunthorpe - Got a massive squad of players probably on L1 salaries. Definitely in the top top 5 and probably close to the top.
3. Bradford - For their size, it's probably fair, but the likes of Devitt and Donaldson will be big wages I'd say.
4. Northampton - Big proven squad, big wages for sure.
5. Salford - We know they are throwing the cash around, Rooney is probably on loads. Probably spent a bit in the window as well.
6. Swindon - Signing Grant and Doyle, getting Yates back, plus bringing in Hope. They'll have a big budget.
7. Plymouth - I could maybe see them being lower than you'd think, reckon he got the Bury lot to take a discount to come and play for him. Mayor probably not though. Doubt the likes of Canavan, Wootton and Taylor are on peanuts either.
8. Oldham - Maybe a surprise and I'm sure their fans will disagree. But how else do you attract players from France, Portugal and Slovakia in recent years? I think they are higher than you'd imagine in terms of spending.
9. Grimsby - We know how much Fenty spends a year. Think a few of those players are on good money.
10. Leyton Orient - Probably higher to account for London prices more than them throwing around money.
11. Exeter - This is probably from player sales more than anything, but Law, Sweeney, Ajose, Bowman, Holmes. Got a few who should be earning L2 average or above.
12. Newport - Probably spending in line with their cup runs, but they have a fair few established players like Amond and Labadie. Got to be around the middle of the pack.
13. Walsall - They always seem to turn a small profit, but they are carrying a few L1 wages and signed a lot of players in the summer. Reckon they are in the top half.
14. Forest Green - Most of their squad are young, so I doubt they are paying big wages.
15. Colchester - They don't get good crowds, yet still have players like Norris, Nouble, Pell(who they paid a few for). I think they'll be comfortably in mid-table.
16. Port Vale - Pope, Brown, Worrall, Amoo, Legge. They'll have a few high earners, but I doubt the rest are on that much.
17. Crawley - Won't be chucking money around, but they are in an expensive area of the county. Won't be bottom 5-8.
18. Cambridge - They seem to be scaling things back after a few years of spending. Can't blame them. Not got a modern stadium, off field revenue can't be sustantial. Probably towards the lower end of league budgets.
19. Cheltenham - I can believe Duff, they don't get great crowds or seem to have rich owners. Varney and Reid will be paid fairly, but the rest can't be on more than league average.
20. Carlisle - They have been cutting back spending for the last 2 years now. It must have pushed them from the middle of the pack towards the bottom.
21. Stevenage - They are very well run. They don't make splashy signings and always seem to turn a profit. I think they have one of the lower budgets.
22. Crewe - Ok, taking Artell at his word here. Yes, we probably should be higher when you consider he's probably separating his yearly spending budget with what gets set aside for the academy, plus we pay our first year pros peanuts. But hey ho.
23. Morecambe - Another with a small squad and tiny attendances, I doubt they are paying much for even their top earners.
24. Macclesfield - Tiny squad, probably not paying much for what they do have given their lack of money. They have got to be bottom.

Well, that's attempt at working out who ranks where. I think the middle 8 are very inter-changeable. Could make a case for most teams being a few spots higher or lower. I think you have a pack of 7 at the top that are far away from the rest. Then a group of maybe 10 teams in the middle. And finally a bottom 7-8.

Scunny are top. Swann has been on Radio Humberside saying so in the last few weeks. £3M+ their current budget.

Dunno what you're banging on about with "how much Fenty spends a year". He hasn't put a penny in since we got promoted back to L2. We had the 17th/18th highest budget last season and we've been pretty much sustainable for the last few seasons.

 

[JJ1532]

Scunny are top. Swann has been on Radio Humberside saying so in the last few weeks. £3M+ their current budget.

Dunno what you're banging on about with "how much Fenty spends a year". He hasn't put a penny in since we got promoted back to L2. We had the 17th/18th highest budget last season and we've been pretty much sustainable for the last few seasons.

Fair point. Like I said, it's only my speculation, not basing it with any facts. I pointed out you could make a case that several teams should be higher or lower. I was also basing it on the fact that he and the board felt you had a top half side this season, hence the dissatisfaction with Jolley. Does he say that if you're budget doesn't reflect that compared to the rest of the league?

 

[Son of Cod]

Fair point. Like I said, it's only my speculation, not basing it with any facts. I pointed out you could make a case that several teams should be higher or lower. I was also basing it on the fact that he and the board felt you had a top half side this season, hence the dissatisfaction with Jolley. Does he say that if you're budget doesn't reflect that compared to the rest of the league?

I think he was talking about quality of squad as opposed to budget, but I highly doubt Fenty knows what the quality of the opposition is like. I don't think I've ever heard him talk about other clubs in relation to anything other than new stadium plans or finances. What will be interesting to see is how much bringing Holloway in will be costing the club. Both in terms of his wage and the playing budget. I imagine next season, we'll be much closer to the position that you've got us in there. Grandin won't be cheap and he's released Ogbu. However, even in this window the other players we've signed probably aren't on a lot. I think we'll see a bit of a shake up in the summer.

 

[Deepcut Cobbler]

To be honest I wouldn't have had us as high as others have us, I haven't a Scoobie about our finances, but I assume that that is the general perception?
I would guesstimate us to be sort of 10-12th?

 

[GTFCfish]

Budget wise I’d guess we are closer to 19th than 9th.

 

[Sydney Posse]

Haven't got a clue where we are budget wise, but I do know by our standards it's big this year. Would love it if Morecambe ever got promoted, I dunno how they manage to do what they do every season