Tonight's game

[super_les_mcjannet]

Jordan Richards, who played for us last night, is playing for Spennymoor today.

does he play right back?

RB and Midfield.

[Darlogramps]

Thanks Vic, that's exactly what I meant that huge sum from renewing could put a dent in it. Gramps.... denigrate, honestly!?

Yep, denigrate (to criticise unfairly). It was a tad unfair to say I was being gloomy for stating that we're currently ineligible for promotion.

Putting a dent in the £80k isn't really enough. We've got 8 months to get it sorted, or we'll be embarrassed once again, with players and management leaving.

Right now fundraising has stalled and not many people seem that bothered. To me, getting the ground sorted is the most important issue this season.

And Vic is basically backing up my point - that there's a significant shortfall in the fundraising and we're running out of momentum.

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[Spyman]

This is the ex-'Artlepools Jordan Richards is it?

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[Darlo_Rob]

On the fundraising front I do think it'll depend if we're up near the top of the table. If we are then I would hope there would be a clamour to get the fundraising started again so we don't go through what we did last season, if we're not I think we'll struggle to make it.

[don'tbuythesun]

I just thought it was a tad gloomy. I'm interested to see what our CEO has to say about his ongoing discussions and I'm feeling positive so maybe I'm just a glass half full bloke. However I do think the ground issue needs sorting first.

[HarrytheQuaker]

Jordan Richards, who played for us last night, is playing for Spennymoor today.

does he play right back?

RB and Midfield.

He played the 1st half at Tad didn't do much wrong but nothing outstanding and was replaced by Mitchell at HT , God he has beefed up a bit played quite well... But MOTM for spendmore were Ramshaw by a mile and shouldn't be playing in our league, MY opinion!!!! Spenny should of scored a few more than they did looked good in the 2nd half my only concern is the are quite a small side but should finish top 12 I'd say...

[Darlogramps]

I just thought it was a tad gloomy. I'm interested to see what our CEO has to say about his ongoing discussions and I'm feeling positive so maybe I'm just a glass half full bloke. However I do think the ground issue needs sorting first.

There's no question about that, although some on here seem more bothered about the unnecessary trialists we've got.

Unless there are departures in the offing, there's no justification for making any more signings.

And I really don't see how I'm being gloomy by saying we're ineligible for promotion. It's a fact. I'm not being unnecessarily negative because it's true - we're currently unable to go up and until the ground is sorted, that'll remain the case.

[Spyman]

On the fundraising front I do think it'll depend if we're up near the top of the table. If we are then I would hope there would be a clamour to get the fundraising started again so we don't go through what we did last season, if we're not I think we'll struggle to make it.

And if we are not up near the top? What then? Delay fundraising another season and end up in the same predicament a year later? Release half the squad to get the funding done so we can have a fresh crack the following year?

Remember the work needs to be complete by March so would need to start I guess in January. So we'd need funds in place in the next 5 months.

Of course, we could be sitting in 8th or 9th with a decent squad and if the ground is funded by January then we can divert funds to bringing in a couple of players who would have 5 months to make an impact on our league position.

Face it - the sooner we get the ground up to scratch the sooner we can stop wondering whether the money spent of players is just money down the drain, season after season, because some people can't seem to cope with the idea of us maybe not spending our way to a top 5 finish.

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[super_les_mcjannet]

I just thought it was a tad gloomy. I'm interested to see what our CEO has to say about his ongoing discussions and I'm feeling positive so maybe I'm just a glass half full bloke. However I do think the ground issue needs sorting first.

There's no question about that, although some on here seem more bothered about the unnecessary trialists we've got.

Unless there are departures in the offing, there's no justification for making any more signings.

And I really don't see how I'm being gloomy by saying we're ineligible for promotion. It's a fact. I'm not being unnecessarily negative because it's true - we're currently unable to go up and until the ground is sorted, that'll remain the case.

I assume Gray is working within the budget allowed and if at the limit he needs to move one out to move one in, that's the main reason I would be interested in the trialists. I don't think we can stand still and if Gray can improve the squad then that's his job as long as he does it within budget.

I agree though a focus needs to be placed on the fund raising with probably about 65k to go before the end of the year. I do think we will make it but it needs some attention.

Would like to think a cup run could cut what we need down but to be honest our form in cup games means no point expecting this, would rather Gray prioritised a cup game over the league game prior though.

[Darlo_Rob]

I meant I think we'll find it harder to meet the fundraising total if we aren't pushing for promotion. I don't think we should bring any of the trialists in without moving other players on and it'll be upto Gray to decide if they are any better than we have. I thought Fenwick was a beck type player before I saw him on Friday, but from what I've seen of him for 45 minutes which granted isn't a lot, he's not. He works very hard and is intelligent with his running off the ball. The only way he could possibley come in is if we moved Cartman on, or possibley Gillies as I'm assuming he would be on a big wage. I'm not advocating doing any of this, I'll leave that upto Gray.

[Darlogramps]

I just thought it was a tad gloomy. I'm interested to see what our CEO has to say about his ongoing discussions and I'm feeling positive so maybe I'm just a glass half full bloke. However I do think the ground issue needs sorting first.

There's no question about that, although some on here seem more bothered about the unnecessary trialists we've got.

Unless there are departures in the offing, there's no justification for making any more signings.

And I really don't see how I'm being gloomy by saying we're ineligible for promotion. It's a fact. I'm not being unnecessarily negative because it's true - we're currently unable to go up and until the ground is sorted, that'll remain the case.

I assume Gray is working within the budget allowed and if at the limit he needs to move one out to move one in, that's the main reason I would be interested in the trialists. I don't think we can stand still and if Gray can improve the squad then that's his job as long as he does it within budget.

I agree though a focus needs to be placed on the fund raising with probably about 65k to go before the end of the year. I do think we will make it but it needs some attention.

Would like to think a cup run could cut what we need down but to be honest our form in cup games means no point expecting this, would rather Gray prioritised a cup game over the league game prior though.

How are we standing still? We've signed two players for the areas we were lightest in the squad. And since summer 2016, we've brought in Bartlett and Ferguson, who've improved the squad. And Portas + Wearmouth returning strengthens us still further.

The only justification for any more signings is if players leave. Other than that, we don't need anyone and it would be a waste of money that can be better spent on the ground.

Darlo Rob - it's a weak, reductionist argument to say that we need to be challenging for promotion to get good gates. Last season we were in and around the top 5 for the majority of the campaign, but attendances at BM were by general consensus disappointing.

There are many more factors involved, particularly given our damaged reputation in the town over our administrations.

[Vodka_Vic]

Ironically Gramps I think another reason which people quote is poor facilities, visibility, not many seats at BM, which is, of course, a vicious circle, as if more people attended, we'd have more money to purchase seats, but we won't see that until we have the seats.

[don'tbuythesun]

I know you love an argument gramps but I didn't realise I was arguing with UFQ champion of 2011!!!! A grand title indeed. I once came second in the Coventry and district Cub Scout sports three legged race but that's nowhere near your achievement. I'm impressed.

[Darlo_Rob]

I never made any comparison about where we were in the league and our gates next season. What I meant was that if we weren't challenging for promotion and the fundraising on the stands was still stalled, I think it would be harder for the club to get people to part with their hard earned cash to fund stands when there's little chance of us getting promoted. If however we were challenging for promotion it should make it easier as there's an incentive for us all to dig that little bit deeper.

Just to confirm again though I'm firmly in the camp that we should stick within our playing budget and not bring anyone in unless they are better than what we already have.

[DarloDave40]

Current seats are being raised so better viewing and the 70 seats which were for corporates I believe has been reduced to 24, personally I d like to see the new seated stand been built initially sold to families with young kids. Dugouts are being realigned so viewing also better from the club house side. So hopefully some decent improvements to keep the moaners happy.

[theoriginalfatcat]

I once came second in the Coventry and district Cub Scout sports three legged race

That won't impress Darlogramps. Unless you can provide the evidence to back it up

[don'tbuythesun]

My greatest sporting achievement, about 49 years ago so I doubt it!!!

[Darlogramps]

I know you love an argument gramps but I didn't realise I was arguing with UFQ champion of 2011!!!! A grand title indeed. I once came second in the Coventry and district Cub Scout sports three legged race but that's nowhere near your achievement. I'm impressed.

Given I've debated the point on this thread, I'm a little disappointed you've resorted to having a dig at me personally.

All I did was state the fact we're not eligible for promotion. That's not being negative, it's true but it's something a lot of people are overlooking in their clamour to see new signings.

Happy to debate this point with you but I'm not sure why you've decided to have a personal dig at me. Seems a little unnecessary to be honest.

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[Quakerz]

Hate to be the party-pooper, but for all the talk about how competitive our squad is, and whether we'll drop a couple of places, it's all irrelevant because we're currently ineligible for promotion.

Bang on.

Utterly bang the fuck on.

[Quakerz]

Let's do this mathematically.
83k to raise. Let's say we can get the 15k from DFCSG renewals, that leaves 68k still to find.
Can we add a few K from the recent friendly? Let's suppose we can, that leaves 60k.
That's putting a lot of pressure on cup runs.

The problem here when people start suggesting stuff like "can we use the DFCSG renewals", "can we use the Arena friendly money", "can we use some money from this that or the other", is that they are wanting to take money which would otherwise be budgeted as part of the day to day running of the club.

One way or another it's going to leave a hole.

The reality of the situation is that we're going to have to try and raise the ground money independently without touching vital income streams.

We need to (again) collectively get our hands in our pockets to improve the ground and this is how it is always going to be for the forseeable future.

As soon as we start dipping into this money, or dipping into that money, it's going to leave another end of season cash call just to keep the club afloat, and we don't really want to be in that embarrassing situation again. Especially after reducing budgets and asking the fans to plug that budget gap before the season so we specifically don't end up in that situation again!

The only way that the club itself can put money into the ground is by reducing costs (ie the playing budget) or by syphoning unexpected profits into the ground, say from a good cup run, or if the first few gates are well up on expected.

[don'tbuythesun]

It was an attempt at humour, not "a dig" and I totally agree the ground should come first, if not then what's the point?

[Quakerz]

This is the ex-'Artlepools Jordan Richards is it?

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"Non league minnows Hartlepool", please get it correct in future

[bga]

I once came second in the Coventry and district Cub Scout sports three legged race

That won't impress Darlogramps. Unless you can provide the evidence to back it up

You could always try and get on "Who do you think you are" they should be able to provide the proof!

[bga]

Brackley are the dark horse for me this season, have a strong budget and will be pushing for an improvement on last season

Erm..... so which Teams will not be pushing for an improvement on last season?

[JamesDarlo]

Brackley are the dark horse for me this season, have a strong budget and will be pushing for an improvement on last season

Erm..... so which Teams will not be pushing for an improvement on last season?

Badly worded, but with their budget they will have expected to have done better last season and will be hoping to match their league position to that budget this season

[bga]

Brackley are the dark horse for me this season, have a strong budget and will be pushing for an improvement on last season

Erm..... so which Teams will not be pushing for an improvement on last season?

Badly worded, but with their budget they will have expected to have done better last season and will be hoping to match their league position to that budget this season

Ok understood!

[bga]

I know you love an argument gramps but I didn't realise I was arguing with UFQ champion of 2011!!!! A grand title indeed. I once came second in the Coventry and district Cub Scout sports three legged race but that's nowhere near your achievement. I'm impressed.

Given I've debated the point on this thread, I'm a little disappointed you've resorted to having a dig at me personally.

All I did was state the fact we're not eligible for promotion. That's not being negative, it's true but it's something a lot of people are overlooking in their clamour to see new signings.

Happy to debate this point with you but I'm not sure why you've decided to have a personal dig at me. Seems a little unnecessary to be honest.

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Gramps you really have lost your sense of humour if you couldn't see how this was intended!

[Darlogramps]

Gramps you really have lost your sense of humour if you couldn't see how this was intended!

Pretty sure it's down to me whether I find something funny or not. Thanks for your unwanted input though.

And to keep this thread on topic, send me a DM if you want to have a go in future.

[loan_star]

This is the ex-'Artlepools Jordan Richards is it?

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"Non league minnows Hartlepool", please get it correct in future

Seems to me the BBC Tees seem to have embraced the non league seen now that the chimps are down. Embraced as far as the conference national that is.

As for the main point in the thread, it's strange how the club haven't really been banging the drum on the fund raising lately. If it was looking desperate to get things moving again then we would be bombarded with reminders that this needs doing. Something in the pipeline maybe?

[Spyman]

Personally I think the playing budget has been set too high if it is allowing us to bring in reinforcements to a squad that finished 5th.

20k off the playing budget plus £15k from Supporters group renewals would cut the fundraising required in half and I'm sure we'd still be top 10 with most of the season to raise more for players if needed.

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