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What Should Fulham's 10 Year Plan Be?

Started by White Noise, April 16, 2010, 09:35:39 AM

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White Noise

If you were in MAF's position right now and sitting down with Alistair Macintosh with another season of top flight football secured what would you see as the priorities to secure a successful next 10 years for the club?

Is it in the clubs best interest to start paying the debt to the Chairman down bit by bit or do you keep it as is for now in the knowledge that increasing TV revenues and inflation will improve the picture?

What should the plans be for Craven Cottage across the next 10 years and what should be the strategy for ticket pricing and retention of loyal fans?

What should be the objectives on the field in terms of achievement levels and league standing?

What should be the strategy for managerial succession and development of the coaching staff?

What should be the transfer policy going forward and what size of squad would be desirable?

What other changes would you make at the club to improve and strengthen it across that period?

AlFayedsChequebook

1) Payment to MAF: should start bit by bit
2) Craven Cottage: Start to look at cost effective ways of increasing the stadiu  up to 30,000 over the period, perhaps adding an initial 2,000 and seeing how that works
3) Team Achievements: Keep expectations realistic, look to build into a solid mid-table team that in the section below those chasing for top 4 and aim for top half finishes.
4) Managerial Succession: Start to sound out things with Roy, and look for a successor either a manager in the lower leagues or abroad (possilby a Roy recommendation). Definitely look for someone who plays with a team-based ethic like Roy.
5) Transfer Policy: Keep wages tightly controlled as they are now and make a fewsizeable purchases a year. We are at the point where there is a good base squad in place that we can build on for the future. Also invest in the youngsters and keep hold of our scouting/youth team who seem to be making the club go in the right direction.
6) Heavily invest in the youth system. Bring in the best youth scouts/coaches and get a 'conveyor belt' style system with the ultimate aim of selling on the youngsters for a vastly inflated price. Basically YOUTH YOUTH YOUTH, it is the only way a club the size of Fulham can get anywhere near self-sustainable.

Jimpav


Don't get relegated, keep Mom alive, reduce ST allowance to 2 tickets for big matches.


SuffolkWhite

Q1, Is it in the clubs best interest to start paying the debt to the Chairman down bit by bit or do you keep it as is for now in the knowledge that increasing TV revenues and inflation will improve the picture?

A1, Some of the debt should be paid back but quite how that can be done if we wanted to expand the ground or invest in players I don't know. The choice has to be, invest more money or take the profits if any back gradually.

Q2,What should the plans be for Craven Cottage across the next 10 years and what should be the strategy for ticket pricing and retention of loyal fans?

A2,To add to the capacity of the ground will cost, and is that such a viable idea if we don't sell it out that often. Build the loyalty with the fans by bringing in the loyalty scheme. Once the crowds are averaging 24,000 then expand to 27000 if that is possible.

Q3,What should be the objectives on the field in terms of achievement levels and league standing?

A3, Consistent top 10 finish aiming for Europa Cup places and/or a crack at the cups.

Q4,What should be the strategy for managerial succession and development of the coaching staff?

A4, It has to be worth investing in experience if you can get it ( Roy has proved that) but we would not want a Arry Redknapp would we because we would go bust! Sign managers that have good records for buying and selling players and that play the Fulham way.

Q5,What should be the transfer policy going forward and what size of squad would be desirable?

A5,Develop young players and buy experienced players that will do a job, we will have to sell the youngsters at some point! Squad should be 25 but with reliable subs for the first team.

Q6,What other changes would you make at the club to improve and strengthen it across that period?

A6, Slow development of the ground, maybe fill in the corners of the ground with seats but do it a season at a time unless it is more cost effective to do it all at once.

Try to build better and stronger links with the fan base, develop the USA  and Asian markets possibly.

Will come back with more when I think of some, I hasten to add I am not a business type.

Cheers.
Guy goes into the doctor's.
"Doc, I've got a cricket ball stuck up my backside
"How's that?"
"Don't you start"

ron

Chipping away at the local Nimby's and Nautical Toffs in order to improve the Riverside and update the (updatable bits of the) Johnny Haynes Stand. The listed facades at, say, Villa Park and Ibrox retain all the character of the original. Cantilevered roof for improved view and 21st century toilet and bar facilities in the JH would make the Cottage a showpiece of tradition and continuity.

The old Ranelagh toffs must be thinning out now.....get the younger ones on board a little more to ....er...take the wind out of the sails of the club.

Perhaps the new neighbours  need to be worked on in the next ten years. Of course those who moved into the houses in the adjoining roads pre 1896 would have their grievances about a slightly raised JH roof taken very seriously.......

The Equalizer

Suffolk White, it's already time to expand.

Here are the average attendances for the last 3 seasons:

2007/08 - 23,774
2008/09 - 24,343
2009/10 - 24,345 (after 19 games)
"We won't look back on this season with regret, but with pride. Because we won what many teams fail to win in a lifetime – an unprecedented degree of respect and support that saw British football fans unite and cheer on Fulham with heart." Mohammed Al Fayed, May 2010

Twitter: @equalizerffc


TonyGilroy

Debt

This is the money MAF has introduced into the club in the way in which it is most tax efficient for him. If he wants money from the club he'll decide how best to take it.

None of us are close to understanding the intricacies of this so best to leave it to MAF and his advisers. Of course it has the potential to implode massively if any harm were to come to MAF but there it is.


Managerial Succession

I'm guessing the last thing Roy wants is a deputy impatient for the succession and the record of assistants stepping up is not good.

By the time they retire players have had 20 years of working under managers of all sorts. If they're minded to go into management they'll have taken coaching badges and thought long and hard about what works and what doesn't but still 90% of those who go into management fail.

They only learn to be managers by doing the job and succeeding and when we need a new manager we'll need to see who's available.

Nothing to do till then.

finnster01

1) It would be good for the club to pay down debt over time, but I don't think MAF wants to. He uses it as a tax write-off and knows very well he will get everything back in droves should he sell the club. He knows what he is doing. As Mr Tony points out, I would get nervous should anything happen to MAF and fighting breaking out over his estate.

2)Expand the Cottage to perhaps 30K, if we can

3)Consistent upper mid table, good cup runs, and win an away game once in a while

4)I would worry about that when it happens.

5)Buy relatively cheap talent and sell high. Team is getting old though so youf needs to come in and given a run-out.

6)Shut down the offal.

If you wake up in the morning and nothing hurts, you are most likely dead

BestOfBrede

Expanding the current site is good but unfortunately will not see us step up enough if we want constant success.
It's difficult because like most, I want to stay at the cottage but at the same time can see that really we should be aiming for a new stadia with 40+ thousand every week if we want to have any chance of consistently performing to this years standard and progressing to get even better.
Sorry but that's business.

eeek - here comes the abuse.... :002:


ron

#9
I honestly think that a 40k stadium would be the death knell here. Arsenal were at a stage where huge crowds were guaranteed before moving. Other similar experiences in London have been non starters. Those who remember QPR's attempts to use the White City stadium
will remember a vast mausoleum with a small crowd lost in it.

The Cottage is a "Twelfth Man" because of its close atmosphere. This has been well seen in the current Europa run.

Besides, where would another 50% regular attendance on top of our current gate come from in a ten year period? Increases of that size are feasible on the rise through the divisions, but not so easy now.

BestOfBrede

As I said Ron, I want to stay at the Cottage like most.
All I'm saying is, if we want to get better we need more money to spend. This we will only get if more comes through the gates (in the long term, I mean. Obviously a run like we have had this year will help).
Also, if we are to attract 'bigger' players and keep our best players, we will have to increase the wages, again this can only be sustained through the gates.
 

TonyGilroy

It's a non argument really.

MAF wanted a move to a bigger stadium but it made no economic sense even if it could be filled. There's no available land near enough at anything like an affordable price.

Even expanding Craven Cottage isn't really that sensible an option. Filling in corners as we have is fine but serious expansion would be costly and every extra 1,000 in capacity only earns the club a maximum of about £600,000 a season. Factor in the cost of larger stands and it becomes a very iffy proposition.


RidgeRider

Quote from: AlFayedsChequebook on April 16, 2010, 10:46:57 AM
1) Payment to MAF: should start bit by bit
2) Craven Cottage: Start to look at cost effective ways of increasing the stadiu  up to 30,000 over the period, perhaps adding an initial 2,000 and seeing how that works
3) Team Achievements: Keep expectations realistic, look to build into a solid mid-table team that in the section below those chasing for top 4 and aim for top half finishes.
4) Managerial Succession: Start to sound out things with Roy, and look for a successor either a manager in the lower leagues or abroad (possilby a Roy recommendation). Definitely look for someone who plays with a team-based ethic like Roy.
5) Transfer Policy: Keep wages tightly controlled as they are now and make a fewsizeable purchases a year. We are at the point where there is a good base squad in place that we can build on for the future. Also invest in the youngsters and keep hold of our scouting/youth team who seem to be making the club go in the right direction.
6) Heavily invest in the youth system. Bring in the best youth scouts/coaches and get a 'conveyor belt' style system with the ultimate aim of selling on the youngsters for a vastly inflated price. Basically YOUTH YOUTH YOUTH, it is the only way a club the size of Fulham can get anywhere near self-sustainable.

:045: Good comments. Agree with all of it.

ScalleysDad

Quote from: BestOfBrede on April 16, 2010, 01:18:48 PM
Expanding the current site is good but unfortunately will not see us step up enough if we want constant success.
It's difficult because like most, I want to stay at the cottage but at the same time can see that really we should be aiming for a new stadia with 40+ thousand every week if we want to have any chance of consistently performing to this years standard and progressing to get even better.
Sorry but that's business.

eeek - here comes the abuse.... :002:


abuse, abuse, abuse and even more abuse.......... Actually the health and safety man at the council can take the blame for negligible or even no expansion in the future. Getting in can be a pain in itself but getting out is sometimes a nonsense. Expansion = more people wanting to get = a whole raft of issues to resolve. More people wanting to get out full stop and more people wanting to get out quickly in case of an emergency. Safety regs and new building regs would require a wide open concourse on the park side with lots of exits, the Hammy End boundary would need to go right up to the flats and the Riverside concourse would need to outwards by quiet a bit. Thus building regs will scupper any real redevlopment plans at the Cottage and I doubt MAFF will waste money on increasing by 500 or so in each of the corners and besides that will see the pitch falling apart quite quickly. The new build plastic stadiums all have one thing in common, space in and around the main structure.
As an example of the new regs. We needed to prop up and expand some changing rooms to accomodate new guidelines for junior teams .... there is a specific space requirement for each team member don't cha know, and although there had never been a requirement for one, and not likely to be so as the rooms are on a slope, 45% of the budget had to be earmarked for access to and from a new disabled toilet. Add to a requirement for wider hard surfacing all around the buildings and a fire marshaling area and we were scuppered. To tick the boxes the 20 acres of playing field were not sufficient. The project was dropped. Goodness knows what the paperwork would be like for the Cottage bearing in mind all the restrictions we know about as well as those unique to to Stevenage Road.

Rambling_Syd_Rumpo

Every player we sign from now on should be under 25,then we can have the mix of experince and youth.The team at the moment is not getting any younger and we should be adding young players now to take over in the next 18 month-2 years.Play them in the cups and bring them in slowley.
Our beloved Crevan Cottage must be made up to atleast 30,000, if we don't bring that type of money in we will start slipping backwards and if they won't lets us extend we will have to move-we can take the Cottage with us if we have to,in the next 10 years the smallest ground for teams that are staying in the Premier League will be us at 30/35,000-everybody else we be at 40,000 or above-you will need that amount just to stand still, even teams in the championship will have big grounds-Derby/Leeds ect.It's an easy decision to make IF you can take the emotion out of it,to you want Fulham FC to be a relevent football team in the Prem,then extend/move.If we don't we will be a lovely place to vist in League 1(ooo remember when all football grounds where like this? well yeah they changed for a reason.........)
Get a number two in who can learn off the great one now-Uncle Woy will be the most wanted manager in the world in the next 3/4 years if we can make him stay that long so lets pick his brains why he's still here.
Get that youth policy sorted so we can grow our own-spend money now to save a few fortunes later-works for Barcelona ,why not us?


YankeeJim

Not trying to be negative but any major change would likely completely alter our quaint little club.  That, I'm afraid, will be the price of being in seasonal silverware competition. The successful clubs seem to lack soul. For Manure & the Scum the rewared is silver. For Fulham, the reward is being Fulham. Is it worth the price?

Well, I'm off to Mexico. I'll have a cervaza for the lot of you. I'm leaving Wolves & the Krauts in your hands. I expect positive results!!!  :003:
Its not that I could and others couldn't.
Its that I did and others didn't.

ron

I wonder what proportion of revenue for clubs arrives via the turnstiles anyway? In the economics of the madhouse that is professional football, spending seems to have only a passing relationship with gate receipts.

Sky TV etc have bought the game's soul and offer it back at a price. Those with Sky might consider that its grip on the game has made the average fan of secondary importance and therefore a commodity to be used rather than cherished.

Teams without soul can play far away from their roots in concrete bowls at odd times for the sake of TV coverage worldwide....

...Just so long as it ain't Fulham. 

PS. In terms of revenue, why is it still (and I've mentioned it before) the case that in any town in Britain you can go into a sports shop, either high end or budget, and find Chelsea, Arsenal, Newcastle and Spurs replica shirts, but never, never ours?

We're getting air time via the Europa League, but if our PR bods aren't competing for hearts and minds (and cash) in those sorts of areas, then it's a terrible wasted opportunity.



Tor

Ron re: your comment about the shirts - is that more to do with the sports shops themselves thinking they won't make any money out of stocking our kits, rather than the club? The club could maybe push it (I don't know if they do or not already) but ultimately it would be down to the shops or chains to decide.

Interestingly on this note, I did get all excited at Christmas when the Clintons Cards near work stocked our calendar. It actually stocked the calendars of all London clubs including QPR and Milwall which I thought was pretty good. The JD Sports across the way however is currently only advertising Ch****a's and Liverpool's new kits. I might go and ask when ours will be in there.

And in answer to the original questions, I'd like to see us clearing some of the debt down before laying out more money to increase the capacity of CC. We're not selling out all games (although that does seem to be getting better) so I'm not sure how worthwhile it would be to increase capacity only for those seats to be unused for half the season, maybe more. I think the club could do a bit more to entice people to home and away games, and much as this thought hurts given the type of club we've always been, I think we could be marketed as a brand better which would increase/improve our following.


finnster01

Even though bums in seats is not what runs clubs anymore, it still continues to be a factor in making the gap between the Big 4 and the rest of the league larger.

For example, it is worth pondering over the fact that Man U takes in more money on two games at Old Trafford than Wigan does an entire season of home games... :dft004:
If you wake up in the morning and nothing hurts, you are most likely dead

Tom

Quote from: finnster01 on April 17, 2010, 11:21:09 AM

For example, it is worth pondering over the fact that Man U takes in more money on two games at Old Trafford than Wigan does an entire season of home games... :dft004:

Is that true finnster?
Fulham for life!