keeping a lid on costs? | PASOTI
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keeping a lid on costs?

Sep 22, 2020
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whilst on the announcements do seem good news for the club i wonder if the club should not have just one eye on the future.

The Hallett era aspiration is to be a sustainable championship club. I am not sure there are any of those at present so a stiff target to meet.

Of more concern is the rising level of costs at the club. Yes the cash put in by Mr Hallett and the new US investment firm is great but these fund the capital cost of the facilities being created. In order to be viable in league one, let alone sustainable in the championship the rising level of operational costs have to be met from operational income such as gate receipts, hospitality, sponsorships, TV monies etc.

I wonder how far apart these costs and incomes are currently let alone in the future? We all recall what happened last time we tried to 'keep up' in the championship and i suspect we should keep reminding ourselves of this as a warning not to over stretch the club which time has shown has limited capacity which is unlikely to grow by much, irrespective of any on the field success.

Staff, directors and chairmen come and go on a regular basis. I just hope when the current crop move on they leave behind them a club which is viable and not saddled with crippling debt by chasing the dream unrealistically.
 
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MGM

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Dec 7, 2021
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whilst on the announcements do seem good news for the club i wonder if the club should not have just one eye on the future.

The Hallett era aspiration is to be a sustainable championship club. I am not sure there are any of those at present so a stiff target to meet.

Of more concern is the rising level of costs at the club. Yes the cash put in by Mr Hallett and the new US investment firm is great but these fund the capital cost of the facilities being created. In order to be viable in league one, let alone sustainable in the championship the rising level of operational costs have to be met from operational income such as gate receipts, hospitality, sponsorships, TV monies etc.

I wonder how far apart these costs and incomes are currently let alone in the future? We all recall what happened last time we tried to 'keep up' in the championship and i suspect we should keep reminding ourselves of this as a warning not to over stretch the club which time has shown has limited capacity which is unlikely to grow by much, irrespective of any on the field success.

Staff, directors and chairmen come and go on a regular basis. I just hope when the current crop move on they leave behind them a club which is viable and not saddled with crippling debt by chasing the dream unrealistically.

You are right.

Yet what do we do. We could do what the club has always done before. Sit still. Focus solely on the first team. And hope we hit jackpot status like we did in the Sturrock era mark 1. Only then to have no plan in place and watch us being dismantled.

Simon Hallett seems to do his due diligence to me. Like he said himself, he has had many offers for the club where they wanted sole control and he could of walked off into the sunset.

Instead, he waited for what he seemed was right investment on his terms.

Unfortunately, everything comes with risk. But ld rather we are spending money on infrastructure than players. lm sure as details get released there will be more substantial facts that will help us as fans see how we can sustain our growth off the pitch.
 

Biggs

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We all recall what happened last time we tried to 'keep up' in the championship and i suspect we should keep reminding ourselves of this as a warning not to over stretch the club which time has shown has limited capacity which is unlikely to grow by much, irrespective of any on the field success.

I don't agree with this bit. Do you mean there would only be a maximum of around 20k supporters even if we got to the Premier League? Our fanbase seems to be growing substantially in League One, let alone at much higher levels, in part because they can see it's becoming a totally different club to the 'same old Argyle' past.

And on the wider point, the investments being made are all with the view of making the club sustainable. Though it's an interesting point about the higher operational costs, clearly more people and resources are required to run bigger and more facilities. Though the costs of that would possibly amount to a couple of star forwards that we might employ last time in the Champ or under more short term ownership.
 
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An unduly negative and speculative OP in my view. Nothing the current regime has done so far would lead me to believe they haven't taken future operational costs into account and balanced it with projected future income (e.g., the big screen, which will pay for itself in a few years).

The real killer at Championship level would be player wages, and I'm certain that under this leadership it won't be somewhere where we live beyond our means.
 

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'Other operating costs' was our downfall in 2009/2010 and we as fans should always have one eye on the club finances but under the current board of directors the club is very financially safe. The club is transparent and one of the few to publish full accounts, there's also the opportunity to ask questions such as this Saturday at the Fans' Forum.
 
Jul 12, 2016
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I don't agree with this bit. Do you mean there would only be a maximum of around 20k supporters even if we got to the Premier League? Our fanbase seems to be growing substantially in League One, let alone at much higher levels, in part because they can see it's becoming a totally different club to the 'same old Argyle' past.

And on the wider point, the investments being made are all with the view of making the club sustainable. Though it's an interesting point about the higher operational costs, clearly more people and resources are required to run bigger and more facilities. Though the costs of that would possibly amount to a couple of star forwards that we might employ last time in the Champ or under more short term ownership.
We don’t stand a chance of making the Premiership and would he highly unlikely to get many 20k gates in the Championship. We have been relatively successful in division one but if we struggle this season it will be interesting to see how many of the 9,000 renew their ST’s.
 

Lancastergreen

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We don’t stand a chance of making the Premiership and would he highly unlikely to get many 20k gates in the Championship. We have been relatively successful in division one but if we struggle this season it will be interesting to see how many of the 9,000 renew their ST’s.
Blimey did you have a bad nights sleep last night Oldage?
 

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I think the one thing we as supporters have fundamentally forgotten is the price of the pound in its current climate.

Materials and transportation has gone up circa 160% in some areas. This has to have an impact on construction and labour.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the key infrastructure we are being linked to is earmarked but not started for another 12-18 months.

The world is on its knees right now. Maybe delaying things for a period of time will allow us to spend less on more?
 

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No just not pipe dreams like some.

I was replying to BH stating (if I read him right) that we have a low glass ceiling in terms of fanbase, irrespective of on pitch success.

Was just saying I don’t think that’s true in League One, let alone the Championship, and definitely not if we did get into the Premier League. Whether those things are likely, is irrelevant.
 
Jul 12, 2016
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The topic has been discussed many times but the two main things which make “fans” turn up is a successful Argyle team or attractive opposition.
 

JannerinCardiff

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The topic has been discussed many times but the two main things which make “fans” turn up is a successful Argyle team or attractive opposition.

To be honest I can only speak for myself here, but I’ve never once thought ‘… that Barry Bannan is a good looking chap!’ when I decide whether or not to watch my team ..
 

JannerinCardiff

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There’s a surprise.

not sure what you mean there Oldage, ??

I was merely trying to bring a little bit of hearted humour to the thread.
 

oddball

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The chairman said in a recent interview that the club may still make a loss in this current year....I find this worrying when you consider the record number of season tickets sold, the hospitality areas sold out,and the best match day attendances for years...even more so when you look at the teams yet to visit HP this season when there will be many sell outs...