Fulham and craven cottage V wolves and Molineux

[arctic rime]

Just on train passing through Wilmslow and I'm furious , my mrs has just said why are wolves spending all of there money on the ground And not on the team ? Fulhams ground is a dump but they have a better team than you , they are faster , fitter , have a plan and don't make silly mistakes like wolves . They look more comfortable with the ball than your team .

Al Fayeds got it right. Spend on the team not on white elephants .

We spent a few of our hard earned in his shop yesterday , he's done me over twice .

She's got an effin point !

Naffed off , cold and damp and 600 sovs down the suff .

Roll on next Saturday .

 

[It's Mixu Paatelainen]

White elephants? Al-Fayed is the bloke who put a statue of Michael Jackson outside one of the home ends...

I agree that he's got the team-stadium balance right though.

 

[Tring Wolf]

Just had a very similar conversation with my Dad on the train back. However, long term the only way we could compete is with the extra revenue streams that the new ground would bring. Bit of a Catch 22 situation.

Was I the only one who was upset that Al Fayed didn't do his usual comedy walk and wave on the pitch before the game? Would have been a rare ray of sunlight on an otherwise horrible day.

 

[SmokeyGB]

And when the great football crash comes, we shall have an airbag to protect us.
Fine line I'm afraid between spending what we don't have and being like the other 90% of the PL...
I'm afraid it means we just have to play Russian roulette ....
5 teams loaded into chamber and 2 will survive

 

[UEAwolf]

Fulham have a billionnaire who can bankroll the club.

Wolves do not and are investing in bricks and morter to remain profitable. Whether more investment should have gone in the team is another matter, but I think an expanded and profitable Molineux and investment in a youth academy are important things which will pay dividends in the long term.

 

[Burton Wolf]

Fulham have a billionnaire who can bankroll the club.

Wolves do not and are investing in bricks and morter to remain profitable. Whether more investment should have gone in the team is another matter, but I think an expanded and profitable Molineux and investment in a youth academy are important things which will pay dividends in the long term.

Laughable, you know damn well more should have been spent on the team. Why not admit it, people would have a little more respect for your posts. Instead of falling over yourself trying to defend the club.

 

[Tring Wolf]

Fulham have a billionnaire who can bankroll the club.

Wolves do not and are investing in bricks and morter to remain profitable. Whether more investment should have gone in the team is another matter, but I think an expanded and profitable Molineux and investment in a youth academy are important things which will pay dividends in the long term.

+1. As much as we are all hurting tonight, our strategy is the correct one in the long-term.

 

[Trotter]

Morgan is well off and could invest more in the team, but chose not to, because he thought we could get away with it this year.

With hindsight I'm sure he wished we'd brought in a proven £30,000 - £40,000 a week central midfielder. Relegation will cost him much more than that.
We're not down yet but I think his failure not to back the team with another £5-£10 million has hurt us either way now.

The new North Bank is a red herring. Long term investment in infrastructure can only be a positive thing - don't understand how people can think otherwise.

 

[Burton Wolf]

+1. As much as we are all hurting tonight, our strategy is the correct one in the long-term.

See above ^^^^^^ let's all have a fantastic empty ground in the chump shall we!!!!

 

[Edgmond Wolf]

See above ^^^^^^ let's all have a fantastic empty ground in the chump shall we!!!!

To be honest we had great crowds home and away in the Championship

 

[UEAwolf]

Why would I want to defend the club? It's my opinion. I would rather we pushed the boat out a bit more and bought in more players - but equally I don't want to spend over and above what we can afford.

I'd rather investment in the stadium and the youth team instead of potentially wasting millions on the likes of Halford and Maierhoffer mark II.

 

[Monkey Man]

Fulham have a billionnaire who can bankroll the club.

Wolves do not and are investing in bricks and morter to remain profitable. Whether more investment should have gone in the team is another matter, but I think an expanded and profitable Molineux and investment in a youth academy are important things which will pay dividends in the long term.

We are investing in the ground for two reasons, it makes us more attractive to sell in the long term and it means the club can make more money from fans. The trouble with a strategy like this is it's been tried by quite a few clubs recently, Southampton, Coventry etc all with disastrous results. Both these clubs moved to new grounds with weak teams due to ground funding, we look identical except were are modernising our ground instead of moving. It's a strategy employed by people who don't understand football and think that you can apply normal business rules of more room for gullible fans equals more money. It doesn't.

I'd rather a 25,000 cowshed full every week with a quality team in the top flight than a 35,000 shiny elephant that is full every now and then with a team of average players in the league below.

 

[arctic rime]

I'm not saying be stupid with money just a tad wiser !

 

[Burton Wolf]

Why would I want to defend the club? It's my opinion. I would rather we pushed the boat out a bit more and bought in more players - but equally I don't want to spend over and above what we can afford.

I'd rather investment in the stadium and the youth team instead of potentially wasting millions on the likes of Halford and Maierhoffer mark II.

That's the ticket. The fence is collapsing with your weight sitting on it.

 

[Burton Wolf]

To be honest we had great crowds home and away in the Championship

Only when at the top remember. Plus we'll have more seats to fill.

 

[306NOTOUT]

To be honest we had great crowds home and away in the Championship

We were not bang in the middle of a recession the majority of e time we were down there. Football was also at its very height. We hadn't been in the premier league and we all hoped we would get there.

Go down now and it will be very different.

Would we really look forward to coming back up watching us win 1 in 23?

 

[UEAwolf]

That's the ticket. The fence is collapsing with your weight sitting on it.

I'll get to work on a banner then...

 

[tatlor]

Morgan is well off and could invest more in the team, but chose not to, because he thought we could get away with it this year.

With hindsight I'm sure he wished we'd brought in a proven £30,000 - £40,000 a week central midfielder. Relegation will cost him much more than that.
We're not down yet but I think his failure not to back the team with another £5-£10 million has hurt us either way now.

The new North Bank is a red herring. Long term investment in infrastructure can only be a positive thing - don't understand how people can think otherwise.

His mistake was not getting rid of mick earlier but if mick was telling him that he was satisfied with the squad then you can't blame morgan

 

[arctic rime]

12 goals in 3 games = farcical , bassong and johnson will start next week .

 

[Trotter]

His mistake was not getting rid of mick earlier but if mick was telling him that he was satisfied with the squad then you can't blame morgan

True, but we'll have to wait for Mick's autobiography before we know what really went on. There was some complacency at all levels I think.

My point was the club's overall strategy is sound, but for 1 more solid central midfielder. When either Henry or Ohara are out we're left with very little in the middle. Huge risk taken and it's backfired.

 

[UEAwolf]

I would be pretty sure that the terms agreed between Morgan and SJH included clauses in the contract operating as a safety net preventing Morgan from making a quick buck.

Too many conspiracy theorists doing the rounds at the moment.

 

[306NOTOUT]

I would be pretty sure that the terms agreed between Morgan and SJH included clauses in the contract operating as a safety net preventing Morgan from making a quick buck.

Too many conspiracy theorists doing the rounds at the moment.

Yeah maybe he is only allowed to sell the club for £10, but what about all the money he will make from planning permission

 

[Tring Wolf]

Hi Burton. I completely agree that we should have invested more in the Summer but our recent finances show that we are barely profitable on our current revenue streams, even with one of the lowest wage bills in the division. The reality is that in the absence of someone like an Al-Fayed to bankroll the club's debt, investing in the stadium is the only way for us to progress and compete in the top division.

With hindsight, it may well have been better to invest in another couple of proven Premier League performers in the Summer instead of the North Bank but there is no guarantee that we wouldn't still be struggling even with those additions. After all, the two big signings we did make in the Summer haven't exactly set the world on fire. Personally, I would have waited another couple of seasons before the rebuild but I fully agree with the long-term strategy...

...with the exception of the recent manager hunt

 

[johnybig32]

How big has our fan base ever been? Is it big enough to attract new fans in this era?

 

[JakeWolves]

I'd love for Wolves to be over 100 million in debt chasing mid table mediocrity, with a sinister statue of a pop singer outside the ground.

I'd also love to see the release of merchandise with little MJ hats on the club emblem. Some people might say it lacks class and makes a mockery of the club's traditions, but I think it's cute.

 

[JOSWolf]

More should and could have been done on team strengthening. If we sign the likes of Eggert Jonnsson what hope have we got?

 

[Edgmond Wolf]

We were not bang in the middle of a recession the majority of e time we were down there. Football was also at its very height. We hadn't been in the premier league and we all hoped we would get there.

Go down now and it will be very different.

Would we really look forward to coming back up watching us win 1 in 23?

We might if it takes as long as last time

 

[hindheadwolves]

+1. As much as we are all hurting tonight, our strategy is the correct one in the long-term.

+2

 

[yateleywolf]

Al-Fayed has spent money on Craven Cottage as well.They were based at QPR while it was developed so they could go back.I bet that cost quite alot.

He has spent a fortune on Fulham but has not thrown money at it as much recently now they are established in the Prem.

I suppose it comes down to choosing the right manager/buying good players and most importantly having a good scouting network.

In regards re-developing the ground.In hind-sight they should of held back on this for another couple of seasons as we definitely did not spend enough in the summer.Without Prem football the ground is never going to be full anyway.

 

[UEAwolf]

+2

Yes.

Factor in that the cost of rebuilding the stand is presumably lower in this economic climate than in any other. The decision to rebuild is not so much to do with capacity (the increase is minimal in the grand scheme of things) but to improve the corporate facilities - which whether we like it or not is something every top flight club is doing and which we have to match.

 

[BlahBlah]

. The trouble with a strategy like this is it's been tried by quite a few clubs recently, Southampton, Coventry etc all with disastrous results. Both these clubs moved to new grounds with weak teams due to ground funding, we look identical except were are modernising our ground instead of moving. It's a strategy employed by people who don't understand football and think that you can apply normal business rules of more room for gullible fans equals more money. It doesn't.

.

Didn't think Coventry owned their stadium, they're tenants and earn nothing from the surroundings except for their own direct sales.
They sold their own ground to pay off previous debt and that's why they were rubbish teamwise?

Southampton you may have a good point, but then I could raise you a Wigan and a Bolton where it's worked amazingly well.

 

[JOSWolf]

It will be great watching us play Barnsley and Doncaster next season in our nice stadium whilst the likes of Fulham have yet another season in the premiership watching their team play good football.

 

[Monkey Man]

Didn't think Coventry owned their stadium, they're tenants and earn nothing from the surroundings except for their own direct sales.
They sold their own ground to pay off previous debt and that's why they were rubbish teamwise?

Southampton you may have a good point, but then I could raise you a Wigan and a Bolton where it's worked amazingly well.

Have you been to Wigan? 100 home fans is a stadium they certainly don't need.

Bolton is interesting, not helped them with money though, see the £100m debt.

 

[arctic rime]

sensible spending and investing in the team WITH THE RIGHT PLAYERS AND COACHES, home now very very disappointed .

 

[Space Wolf]

I'm interested to see how much extra revenue these new corprate areas will bring in. Every bit helps but I struggle to see it being a lot in the grand scheme of things.

Same with any museum. Wolves fans might pay to get in once and have a look, same with any away fans that are here but you're not going to get tourists from abroad coming to have a look, like you see with Barcelona, Man Utd etc.

 

[Englishwolfinwales]

Fulham are in the process of redeveloping their ground, plans are in to develop the stand along the river. The difference is the money they spend on wages for players and location hence who they can attract to the club

 

[Big Saft Kid]

+1. As much as we are all hurting tonight, our strategy is the correct one in the long-term.

But in the long term we are all dead. The balance in my view is not right, in particular the redevelopment of a ground that was only finished in 1994. Morgan is concentrating on what he knows best -- building stuff. Not very interesting for the average fan.

 

[Tring Wolf]

But in the long term we are all dead. The balance in my view is not right, in particular the redevelopment of a ground that was only finished in 1994. Morgan is concentrating on what he knows best -- building stuff. Not very interesting for the average fan.

I can't argue with that. I think the long-term strategy is sound but with the benefit of hindsight, perhaps the timing of its execution wasn't (same with the Mick sacking).

 

[OCD Wolf]

For me it's all about the coaching / manager. A good coach can make a decent side out of 'low-cost' players (Hodgson, Rodgers, Lambert etc.) I think the Wolves Board thought we had a manager of that ilk, they didn't and we had papered over the cracks for too long insisting that MM was a 'quality manager'. We were lucky to stay up for two seasons, make no mistake but the 2Ms didn't heed the signs and kept sticking with the manager that was taking us nowhere.

Three years in we should have been comfortable, instead our gamble of the newly promoted teams being unable to compete backfired, spectacularly.

I think the investment in the infrastructure, academy, stadium etc. was the right was to go and indeed Morgan has outlayed sufficient funds on players to at least get us into a comfortable position.
Problem is, MM blew it on squad players and grafters, two or three class players a season would have seen us right instead of endless dross.
They backed MM for too long, simple as that and now all we have is MM lite.

Morgan was fooled by Moxey insisting we had enough to stay up and a good enough manager. Moxey is the CEO he advises Morgan and should be the one who asks for budgets, tells Morgan what he needs to supply and should be the conduit 'in the know' as to what we need as a club.

He has let us down, implying to Morgan that we didn't need to do anything. Has Moxey said 'Steve we need to spend £20M to stay up' I'm confident it would have been forthcoming; however I think Moxey said 'we'll be ok' so the funds were 'not needed'

 

[luckyjim]

Fulham have a billionnaire who can bankroll the club.

Wolves do not and are investing in bricks and morter to remain profitable. Whether more investment should have gone in the team is another matter, but I think an expanded and profitable Molineux and investment in a youth academy are important things which will pay dividends in the long term.

Hmmmmm, just like the billionaires in charge of norwich, swansea and albion......