Playing Budget

[Ace Face]

I know I am going to get abuse for this but, I don`t understand where all this funds floating around BFC has come from?

What is the playing budget now £18k a week?

Burton, Rankine, Talbot & Salako must be on an average of £1850 a week.

Lets hope we get 6000+ every week.

If MA has been able to save masses and turn the club finances around, maybe we should promote him to Chairman of BU & BFC and BFC General Manager.

Being a BEES fan for 27yrs I just expect some bad news around the corner.

If with all the current spending we operate at break even, very well done to BFC.

 

[Les Beeavinu]

Too right. All very mysterious, isn't it? I'm just glad we didn't speculate with our previous manager 'cos we would be in sh*tstreet big time by now. Let's all keep our fingers crossed ...

 

[Wee Dave]

I'm very very very glad someone's asked this.

Don't get me wrong - yay to new players and everything - but are we letting MA spend more than we have?

 

[The H]

well he's got an extra £2k for the season tix, record new shirt sales.... Sonko's gone.., squad is much smaller...

why are they on at least £1850... why not £1900 or £2000... i'm sure it's nearer £1786.67p

 

[Edmundo]

I know I am going to get abuse for this but, I don`t understand where all this funds floating around BFC has come from?

What is the playing budget now £18k a week?

Burton, Rankine, Talbot & Salako must be on an average of £1850 a week.

Must they? Who says? And where did you get your £18k a week figure from? I heard that the playing budget was almost exactly the same as last year, only it's being spent on far fewer players. Remember that Sonko's off the payroll and Hunt is soon to follow.

In that dreadful season last year we still managed to average over 5,500 at the gate - I would be surprised if we don't increase that by 10% or more this coming season. If you want reassurance about the club's finances, ask Stephen Callen - not the GPG. Unless your aim is to spread panic without evidence, of course.

 

[Muswell Hill-bee-lly]

I know you don't necessarily believe what the papers say but that article comparing us to Chelski in the People stated that Deon was our top earner on £1,500 a week.

 

[Wee Dave]

Must they? Who says? And where did you get your £18k a week figure from? I heard that the playing budget was almost exactly the same as last year, only it's being spent on far fewer players. Remember that Sonko's off the payroll and Hunt is soon to follow.

In that dreadful season last year we still managed to average over 5,500 at the gate - I would be surprised if we don't increase that by 10% or more this coming season. If you want reassurance about the club's finances, ask Stephen Callen - not the GPG. Unless your aim is to spread panic without evidence, of course.

I think it was a perfectly legitimate question actually Ed - Bish was guessing at the £18k but I do think questions about our financial situation should be raised.

 

[Deleted member 2202]

I estimate the playing budget to be around £14-15k per week. Obviously this is only an estimate though. This is only £2k more than under Wally, and this can be accounted for by the extra season ticket sales and higher attendances.

 

[Lokster]

I think there is no 'extra' money just reallocation into player resources, i.e. no player lunches, no thrice weekly visits from the Doctor, no Sonko, a severe reduction in squad numbers (are we ten less than last year?) and that there are still a significant number of players on 'smaller' wages, i.e. Josh Lennie's alledged £90/week! accounts for most of it.

There may have been additional allocation because the roof monies came in, shirt sales and season ticket sales have been higher than usual.

Perhaps I'll find out. lol

 

[Banana]

There may have been additional allocation because the roof monies came in, shirt sales and season ticket sales have been higher than usual.

Certainly nothing to do with roof monies as that was in the budget this year and last.

 

[Lokster]

Were they now.

I love an optimistic accountant!!

 

[JBN]

I know you don't necessarily believe what the papers say but that article comparing us to Chelski in the People stated that Deon was our top earner on £1,500 a week.

I have heard that as well, also heard that John Solako was only on £2k at Reading.

I cannot imagine that the board are throwing money at MA. I belive it is a bit of shrewdness on the part of MA. He appears to have an infectious enthusiasm and if he can charm some experienced players to Brentford without breaking the budget, then let him get on it with it.

 

[Banana]

I cannot imagine that the board are throwing money at MA. I belive it is a bit of shrewdness on the part of MA. He appears to have an infectious enthusiasm and if he can charm some experienced players to Brentford without breaking the budget, then let him get on it with it.

Turn this around a bit and it could read "he can charm some experienced board members to increase his budget".

 

[Edmundo]

Look, if you are seriously worried that we are overspending, why not ask Stephen Callen to put your mind at rest. Yes, it's a legitimate question, but it seems to me that some people just want to stir up a panic on the GPG and hope that someone will magically reassure them. Why not send a question to Bees United?

 

[Ace Face]

Ed having a discussion is not spreading panic.

(1) Extra season ticket sales is not guaranteed extra income if the crowd levels stay at 5500.
(2) BFC Admin changes at least £30k - don`t really know as no one will say.
(3) I was told by an inside source that Talbot is on £1850 a week.
(4) I would be interested to see how anybody expects the current squad to fit into £12k:
Complete finger in the air stuff:
Nelson £700
Dobbo £1000
Myers £1200
Hunt £1000
Fitz £1000
Rhodes £500
Harrold £600
Hutch £600
O`Connor £600
Frampton £600
Somner £450
Smith £450
Talbot £1850
Burton £1850
Salako £1850
Rankine £1850
Hargreaves £1000
Sodje £600
Lennie & Peters & Youth total £1000

+ win bonuses.

Listen if all thits fits into £12k or £13k, then all credit to BFC.

As for spreading panic, I leave BU to do that.

 

[Wee Dave]

Turn this around a bit and it could read "he can charm some experienced board members to increase his budget".

It's obviously far too early to say this - but I'm going to say it anyway :blush - but I have this niggling fear which I know others on this board share that MA will increasingly be allowed to get away with whatever he wants, no matter what the cost.

 

[Lokster]

Thing is though we're all guessing aren't we - apart from the Sacred Band who have 'inside sources'.

Does a football clubs budget really need to be such a secret?? Could the club not reveal to the public the budget? And then explain the changes. I don't particular care if Talbot's on £1850 if that is affordable.

There's no point jumping out of a Noades frying pan is there...?

 

[AB]

I have heard that as well, also heard that John Solako was only on £2k at Reading.

I cannot imagine that the board are throwing money at MA. I belive it is a bit of shrewdness on the part of MA. He appears to have an infectious enthusiasm and if he can charm some experienced players to Brentford without breaking the budget, then let him get on it with it.

Agree, but we (and players) should remember that only £2k a week turns out at a very healthy £104k a year.

 

[Braemar Bloke]

It's obviously far too early to say this - but I'm going to say it anyway :blush - but I have this niggling fear which I know others on this board share that MA will increasingly be allowed to get away with whatever he wants, no matter what the cost.

b***ocks :no:

 

[Edmundo]

Bell Boy - OK, let's discuss it. I've looked at your figures and suspect that many of them are considerably on the generous side. Furthermore, I suspect that the figures you hear bandied about assume that various bonuses (such as for being picked) are paid - and not every player gets a full bonus each week. Hunt is soon to depart, knock about 25% off your figures, add in what we're being paid for San Lee and we're probably in the same ball park.

As for Allen getting whatever he asks for, my impression from the outside is that he's being held to the budget, but he is quite good at finding ways to make the best use of the money available.

I had a beer with Stephen Callen before the game last night and I felt pretty happy that things are not getting out of control.

 

[Hamburger Hill]

Furthermore, I suspect that the figures you hear bandied about assume that various bonuses (such as for being picked) are paid - and not every player gets a full bonus each week.

Indeed Ed, and am I right in remembering at the sponsors evening when MA said everyone would be on a basic wage with a bonus for achieving play-offs/promotion at the end of the season?

 

[Aussie Bee]

"It's obviously far too early to say this - but I'm going to say it anyway - but I have this niggling fear which I know others on this board share that MA will increasingly be allowed to get away with whatever he wants, no matter what the cost."

Care to expand Wee Dave?

What's this "no matter what the cost" crap? Di Caneo never came mate - we are signing CHEAP players in my opinion.

When we are looking for 7,000,000 next May I don't think 200 quid a week more for such and such isn't going to make things worse.

The teams wages may cost slightly more but if we are playing attractive footy the fans will pay the extra and more via the gate numbers

 

[Silly Chip]

Ed having a discussion is not spreading panic.


(3) I was told by an inside source that Talbot is on £1850 a week.

I'd like our club to be more openly run but revealing confidential information like this is out of order. If a member of staff at BFC is giving out confidential information then surely for the good of our club you should reveal that source as he is obviously undermining MA! It's about time employees and supporters got 110% behind the club: let's kick the so called 'inside sources' out!

 

[Banana]

When we are looking for 7,000,000 next May I don't think 200 quid a week more for such and such isn't going to make things worse.

Makes you wonder why we're getting kids to use those Bee's Collection Tins doesn't it

 

[Aussie Bee]

Makes me think of those war documentarys Banana when everyone was asked to donate their pots and pans for spitfires - complete b***ocks but it kept up morale and made everyone think they were doing there bit.

Worse thing about the buckets / walks etc is the fantastic fan response (money / effort) etc is always ****ed up the wall by the directors promoting noadesites on to higher wages when there was NO need to

 

[Carri Bee Un]

It's obviously far too early to say this - but I'm going to say it anyway :blush - but I have this niggling fear which I know others on this board share that MA will increasingly be allowed to get away with whatever he wants, no matter what the cost.

God is dead, long live Martin Allen.

My impression (from a distance admittedly) is that he's well aware of budgetary constraints. He's been quite canny with the big haired korean, knocked back anything too pricey etc. There's a lot of unemployed footballers around at the moment and less clubs willing to shell out stupid money for sh*te.

Frankly i'm surprised Thierry Henry isn't banging down the door for a chance of a grand a week at Brentford under the stewardship of Martin Allen and the possibility of some free sand. :crazy3:

 

[Nick Hester]

Ed having a discussion is not spreading panic.

(1) Extra season ticket sales is not guaranteed extra income if the crowd levels stay at 5500.
(2) BFC Admin changes at least £30k - don`t really know as no one will say.
(3) I was told by an inside source that Talbot is on £1850 a week.
(4) I would be interested to see how anybody expects the current squad to fit into £12k:
Complete finger in the air stuff:
Nelson £700
Dobbo £1000
Myers £1200
Hunt £1000
Fitz £1000
Rhodes £500
Harrold £600
Hutch £600
O`Connor £600
Frampton £600
Somner £450
Smith £450
Talbot £1850
Burton £1850
Salako £1850
Rankine £1850
Hargreaves £1000
Sodje £600
Lennie & Peters & Youth total £1000

+ win bonuses.

Listen if all thits fits into £12k or £13k, then all credit to BFC.

As for spreading panic, I leave BU to do that.

I would suggest this;

Nelson £500
Dobbo £750
Myers OK Possibly £1,200
Hunt £750
Fitzgerald £750
Rhodes £300
Harrold £300
Hutch £500
o'Connor £500
Frampton £300
Somner £350
Smith £300
Talbot £800
Burton £1,500
Salako £1,250
Rankin £1,000
Hargreaves £750
Sodje £500
Others £1000

That comes to £12,800 compared to Ace Face's £18,700 a week..

 

[Banana]

I would suggest this;
Talbot £800

Well you now from reading Ace Face's post above about "inside sources" that that one is wrong.

 

[bearbee]

I'm thinking that the budget's been increased, with the board expecting more money coming in this season. The 'feelgood factor' around the place at the moment surely means that gates will be higher (comparing the gates under Martin Allen to those under Wally last season), and if we get a decent start they might rise even more.

Also, signing 'names' like Salako and (maybe) Sinclair will show people that the club means business, and therefore floating fans might be more likely to turn up.

Ahh, pre-season optimism...of course, if we have a terrible start and end up going down, then my theory is buggered. But never mind.

 

[Stanley]

let's kick the so called 'inside sources' out!

When such things are quoted on this board they usually don't exist other than in the minds of those who like to give the impression that they know more than others!

I am not surprised if we are able to get these experienced pro's on more reasonable wages ( i.e sub £1500k per week), for many clubs the sh*te has hit the preverbial fan financial wise as it did with us a couple of years ago and the 10 point deduction for going into admin as focussed the mind no doubt.

 

[Deleted member 2202]

Ace Face/Bish/whatever, your estimation seems to be greatly exaggerated, almost as if you want the budget to be as high as possible in order to prove your point :strokeschinsmilie:

I would suggest:
Burton £1500
Dobson £750
Fitzgerald £650 - £1000 is a huge over-estimation
Frampton £500
Hargreaves £800
Harrold £550
Hillier £100
Hunt £900
Hutchinson £600
Julian £350
San Lee -£however much we are getting paid for him
Lennie £90
Myers £1200
Nelson £400 - he was signed from non-league, so he aint gonna be on mega-bucks
O'Connor £600
Peters £100
Rankin £800
Rhodes £300 - same as Nelson
Salako £1000
Smith £350
Sodje £450 - a bargain by the sounds of it
Somner £400
Tabb £600
Talbot £1200

That comes to £14,190, minus what we are getting for San Lee. Martin said he won't break the wage structure for anyone. I, for one, believe him.

 

[Ace Face]

Don`t any of the BU Board GPG posters know the playing budget figure to save sending an email and waiting for a few days?

As for being told Talbot was on £1850, only I know the reliableness of that source. Certainly won`t name my sources, as I don`t want to harm any chance of future snippets.

My thread was not about whether MA is in budget, because he surely can`t go over budget as he doesn`t control finances.

My discussion was how we found the extra say £150 - 200k.

I will email [email protected].

 

[Bee H]

If a member of staff at BFC is giving out confidential information then surely for the good of our club you should reveal that source as he is obviously undermining MA! It's about time employees and supporters got 110% behind the club: let's kick the so called 'inside sources' out!

what, you mean like ;

I can confirm that the new signing will be John Salako as I spoke to a lad today whose dad is best mates with John McGlashan. If this is wrong, I apologise but that's the info I've been given.

on https://griffinpark.org/forums/showthread.php?t=28038&page=2

lol rofl lol

 

[Silly Chip]

:no:

 

[Ace Face]

Stephen

Can you please tell me how much Martin Allens weekly playing budget is for this season? I believe Wally had a £13k budget last season.


If the figure is greater than last season can you tell me how this increase was funded?

Could you also tell me if this budget was based on a forecast of exiting both cup comps in the first round?

Regards

Bish

 

[banburybee]

It is typical that everyone wants to be in charge of the club finances and therefore decision making.
Truth is you cannot build a football team that will stay in the league without spending money. Following the years of constraint under Wally where were we - in the relegation zone facing dropping crowds and did anyone believe that if we did drop a division Wally would re-build the team to go back up? the truth is I actually feared for our league status throughout last season as I had this vision of us being an econolically viable club sharing a ground whilst playing in the Rymans league.
Like it or not some risks have to be run, I love the Bees but ultimately I will not travel and pay to watch rubbish - I want to be proud of my club as a football team not as a balance sheet achievement. As someone who has come to GP for 40 years I actually planned to give up if Wally stayed as I believed that we were doomed and I did not need to watch it happen . I speak as someone who has significant experience of business management and finances (but no knowledge of Bees finances) and I say give the public what they want and they wil buy it if we do this by the end of the year the chances of attracting external finances goes up. If he fails where will we end up ? just the same as under Wally but we will have gone down fighting.
Under MA I am proud to be a Bees fan again cheering the team not the annual report. If MA does not warrant our trust after what he achieved with a rubbish team with rock bottom morale in 8 or 9 games last season then who does?Go for it MA let balance commence and ignore these board wannabees.

 

[abee]

Stephen

Can you please tell me how much Martin Allens weekly playing budget is for this season? I believe Wally had a £13k budget last season.


If the figure is greater than last season can you tell me how this increase was funded?

Could you also tell me if this budget was based on a forecast of exiting both cup comps in the first round?

Regards

Bish

Virtually impossible to answer Bish.

First of all you need to be looking at the total wage bill through end of June 2005 (or when the annual contracts terminate) and just dividing that by the number of weeks doesn't do much for you other than to track the weekly cash flow forecasts. Also we have been told that the squad will be on low basic, high incentive contracts presumably weighted to win bonuses, league position, cup success, attendances etc and it would be a question of whether the incentive payments were budgeted to be self-financing or included as a worst case scenario in the total playing budget fixed by the BFC board.

For example if the basic wage bill is £600k but players can increase their basic by 50% through success on the field what number do you believe you should be given.........£600k or £900k. In this example a playing budget of £900k would normally make my eyes water but the BFC board could argue that a promotion challenging side could be expected to increase the average home gate by 1300 to say 6800 which gives you the £300k that you needed to pay the bonuses in the first place i.e. 1300 x £10 x 23.

You can make a case for just about anything in the budgeting game Bish.

 

[The H]

increased season ticket sales, boosted the budget by £2k per week did it not??

 

[Ace Face]

Bish,

All will be revealed in the Wrexham programme

Regards

Stephen

 

[AB]

It is typical that everyone wants to be in charge of the club finances and therefore decision making.
Truth is you cannot build a football team that will stay in the league without spending money. Following the years of constraint under Wally where were we - in the relegation zone facing dropping crowds and did anyone believe that if we did drop a division Wally would re-build the team to go back up? the truth is I actually feared for our league status throughout last season as I had this vision of us being an econolically viable club sharing a ground whilst playing in the Rymans league.
Like it or not some risks have to be run, I love the Bees but ultimately I will not travel and pay to watch rubbish - I want to be proud of my club as a football team not as a balance sheet achievement. As someone who has come to GP for 40 years I actually planned to give up if Wally stayed as I believed that we were doomed and I did not need to watch it happen . I speak as someone who has significant experience of business management and finances (but no knowledge of Bees finances) and I say give the public what they want and they wil buy it if we do this by the end of the year the chances of attracting external finances goes up. If he fails where will we end up ? just the same as under Wally but we will have gone down fighting.
Under MA I am proud to be a Bees fan again cheering the team not the annual report. If MA does not warrant our trust after what he achieved with a rubbish team with rock bottom morale in 8 or 9 games last season then who does?Go for it MA let balance commence and ignore these board wannabees.

The flipside of this is that if after investing modestly in an excellent manager and giving him the freedom to build what looks to be a strong team which I am sure will at the very least provide us with more on-pitch entertainment than we have seen for several years, the fans don't come back in decent numbers, we probably don't really deserve to survive as anything other than bottom division strugglers.

 

[Bee H]

increased season ticket sales, boosted the budget by £2k per week did it not??

But people like abee, Greenholme, Banana and myself all bought season tickets for this season unlike last which means that our £18's won't be coming through the turnstiles as they did last year. Does the Budget allow for lesser matchday income because of this ?

As Bosh has posted, all will be revealed in the Wrexham programme so .....

 

[abee]

increased season ticket sales, boosted the budget by £2k per week did it not??

It boosted the cash to get us through the summer but not necessarily the overall income for the coming season.

If you assume that most season ticket holders are fans who would attend many matches anyway then it is just front-ending the total income i.e. you pay £300 now rather than £300 during the season (say 20 matches x £15) or whatever the numbers are. The outcome is generally less monies coming in through the gate on match days.

You will probably find that the cash situation at BFC is reasonable at the moment with a fair amount of slack in the overdraft as the season ticket monies have been banked but that slack is eaten away during the season because of the corresponding fall in match day income.

For example the Arsenal's, Man United's and Chelsea's of this world probably have zero gate income on match days and all their income is from programmes, catering etc.

 

[abee]

The flipside of this is that if after investing modestly in an excellent manager and giving him the freedom to build what looks to be a strong team which I am sure will at the very least provide us with more on-pitch entertainment than we have seen for several years, the fans don't come back in decent numbers, we probably don't really deserve to survive as anything other than bottom division strugglers.

This was Noades argument. He always claimed that Brentford supporters broke their covenant with him and that he provided a winning team which won the Third Division and went 26 matches unbeaten but that the crowds did not turn up in sufficient numbers for him to carry on. It's a point but it was his gamble and should have been with his own money not with Griffin Park.

 

[Rod Gowers]

Agree Abee. Noades spent heavily on players, went 26 matches unbeaten, and got us promoted back to Division 2. But the crowds didn't return in sufficient quantities.
In many ways Noades crime is not the money he spent or the overdraught he accumulated, it is the fact that at the end of it all he walked away accepting no responsibilty or liailty, so leaving us in the lurch.
Martin Allen has charisma and a sense of purpose which Noades never had, or never demonstrated, and Allen includes the fans in what he is trying to achieve, rather than alienating them. It is this that will bring fans back to GP just as much as any real or perceived success.

 

[Wee Dave]

This was Noades argument. He always claimed that Brentford supporters broke their covenant with him and that he provided a winning team which won the Third Division and went 26 matches unbeaten but that the crowds did not turn up in sufficient numbers for him to carry on. It's a point but it was his gamble and should have been with his own money not with Griffin Park.

A flawed argument, too: it's not Brentford fans that were the problem, it's all the drifters who MIGHT turn up for a big game, but not in numbers for the season.

Noades also picked a time when Fulham, Chelsea & Arsenal were all on the up.

 

[AB]

There are differences to Noades' gamble though in that he misjudged the situation completely if he thought that winning div 3 would be enough to get fans excited and back to following the Bees. Whereas challenging for promotion from "League 1" is our peak level for the vast majority of fans. Promotion from this division would be exciting and would be likely to draw the lapsed fans back, particularly as MA has created a much wider enthusiasm for the club generally (including in the playing community)- witness the 9,500 who turned up against Bournemouth.

The other major difference is that even if the playing budget has increased by a few thousand it is not breaking the bank in the same way as the couple of million spent on transfer fees in div 3 ultimately was. For those who abandoned the club due to the rapaciousness of W£bb and who were sceptical from day one of Noades it will be easier to return in conscience because anything that is being done is being done without making a gamble which we can't afford to lose nor would there be the lingering suspicion that even winning the bet would just line the pockets of an owner who couldn't care less otherwise.

Obviously, this does not detract from the immense work which still needs to be done off the field, of which I am aware and have certainly not been uncritical of efforts to date. But at least no-one on BU could claim to be distracted by unrest due to on pitch failure. Under WD, I and many others just did not want to watch and could not find it in us to donate more cash- because it was obvious that the only effect that it would have would be to put more cash in Noades' account. I'd love for RN to write off some or all of the debt, but if the club is prospering on the pitch and we can get him out anyway, I could stomach the bitter pill of letting him get away with his loot.

But if, even with a well-run, successful (for us), positive and exciting club we can't attract significant numbers back (or new fans) then it really does spell out that Lionel Road etc are fundamentally flawed because the club's nature is to be a L2/Conference club for the few hardcore fans.

 

[Lokster]

My understanding is, as indicated by Mr Callen's reply to 'Ace Face', there will be something in one of the early season programmes outlining a summary budget.

I don't think it will go into specific detail because they don't want to upset all our poorly paid players or attract any 'monster' agents. lol

It will be interesting to see.

I'm also keen to find out where the bounderies lie between 'commercial confidentiality' and needless secrecy.

 

[Les Beeavinu]

The reason Noades success didn't attract fans back to GP was mainly because the fans who had left felt resentment for being in Div 3 in the first place. When Webb decided to fleece the club, we had an average attandance of 6500-7000, with an expectation of challenging for Div 2 honours.

Noades, for all his "investment", didn't return us that level, only leaving us a mid to lower Div 2 position with a couple of poor cup showings to boot.

This was hardly going to entice those lapsed fans back whereas now it feels like we are where we should be, a progressive club looking to succeed at all levels, on and off the picth.

And I whole-heartedly agree with AB, if that doesn't attract the fans back, then the game will truly be up.

I think it will, though, and I confidently expect severe parking problems and annoyingly bad congestion at the turnstiles for all of next season.

 

[Gee Bee]

The reason Noades success didn't attract fans back to GP was mainly because the fans who had left felt resentment for being in Div 3 in the first place.

I believe the season we won promotion we averaged around 6,500? Noades had unrealistically budgeted for above that, but obviously that loss paid was paid for early the following season with the sale of Herman.
The big downtown was the 1st season back in div 2. When we increased a squad to about 40 players, 20 of whom hardly ever played before February. Then come February, Noades says our seasons over and for the next two and half months played all sorts of players and systems, lost loads of games and reduced crowds to 4,500 and below, but with an overpaid squad on lengthy contracts.
Why should supporters bother when the manager has given up trying to win? From there on we then went downwards until the Kinstonian defeat, when Noades threw a tantrum and quit and stopped his FUNDING!! (what funding, it meant stopped increasing the overdraft guarantee).

 

[Stanley]

The reason Noades success didn't attract fans back to GP was mainly because the fans who had left felt resentment for being in Div 3 in the first place. When Webb decided to fleece the club, we had an average attandance of 6500-7000, with an expectation of challenging for Div 2 honours.

Noades, for all his "investment", didn't return us that level, only leaving us a mid to lower Div 2 position with a couple of poor cup showings to boot.
.

True...and you also have to remember that the PR coming out of the club was totally negative as Noades launched into everybody and everyone and predicted the demise of the club, have to leave GP etc etc. I also think the floating fans thought it was a total joke having a property developer playing championship manager with a league club.