DFCSG AGM

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JE93
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Re: DFCSG AGM

Post by JE93 » Fri Nov 17, 2017 8:22 am

Would anyone be able to share a summary of what David Johnston said during his short talk / Q&A?

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Re: DFCSG AGM

Post by Vodka_Vic » Fri Nov 17, 2017 8:35 am

JE93 wrote:Would anyone be able to share a summary of what David Johnston said during his short talk / Q&A?
Or indeed any other news that came up?

al_quaker
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Re: DFCSG AGM

Post by al_quaker » Fri Nov 17, 2017 12:23 pm

Congratulations to all - a very strong board. And some very strong candidates who weren't elected - hopefully they are still involved as our club would be a better place for it

Would be good to see a summary of what DJ said too - apparently he came across very well

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Re: DFCSG AGM

Post by Darlogramps » Fri Nov 17, 2017 12:57 pm

al_quaker wrote:Congratulations to all - a very strong board. And some very strong candidates who weren't elected - hopefully they are still involved as our club would be a better place for it

Would be good to see a summary of what DJ said too - apparently he came across very well
He may well come across positively but he came across well when he was appointed in May too.

But commercially we've barely done anything since his appointment. All well and good "working hard behind the scenes" but at some point he'll have to deliver tangible results commercially.

I know it's not an overnight job, but we need to judge success in terms of actions not words.
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Spyman
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Re: DFCSG AGM

Post by Spyman » Fri Nov 17, 2017 2:43 pm

Darlogramps wrote:
al_quaker wrote:Congratulations to all - a very strong board. And some very strong candidates who weren't elected - hopefully they are still involved as our club would be a better place for it

Would be good to see a summary of what DJ said too - apparently he came across very well
He may well come across positively but he came across well when he was appointed in May too.

But commercially we've barely done anything since his appointment. All well and good "working hard behind the scenes" but at some point he'll have to deliver tangible results commercially.

I know it's not an overnight job, but we need to judge success in terms of actions not words.
Well he's a quarter of the way through his 'tenure' now based on what he said back in the summer, so probably about time to start showing some return.

Of course, it may well be that some of these bigger pledges we've seen in the raise the roof pitch and previous fundraising pitches might be a result of his efforts. It would seem unusual they'd come in the form of anonymous donations if they were commercially motivated, but maybe there's a 'payment in kind' element to this - receive a cheaper rate for various marketing packages if you agree to make a voluntary donation.
On Sunday April 29, 2012 at 10:25 pm, Darlo Cockney wrote:Sadly some people have nothing better to do that invent rumours.

We will be playing at the arena again next season - fact.

Quakerz - if you actually attended games and spoke to people you might actually find our facts, rather than spreading s*** on this board.

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Re: DFCSG AGM

Post by super_les_mcjannet » Fri Nov 17, 2017 3:46 pm

I was there last night and listened to Johnston's overview and also his answers to questions, he was very understated and it came across as a very honest/genuine update.

I have not seen a lot of Johnston in the 6 months he has been involved but have spoken to a few who deal with him on one to one basis and from what I hear he is open, good to deal with and has thoughts on the future.

What he did say last night is that he believes the DFCSG should be more involved in understanding how the club runs including financially and be involved in setting budgets etc.

In terms of commercially then I agree he and the board have much to do on this, which I think he admitted but he also mentioned when he came in he didn't think he would be spending as much time as he is dealing with club stuff and fire fighting. He again mentioned that he was not advised of the 65k carry over debt when he agreed to come on board.

So yes I was fairly impressed, not because he was ultra confident etc. but more the simple honesty, had a handle on our situation and he was very understated. I can imagine if you could spend an hour with him he would be very open about our situation and the plan to put it right over time.

Other than that I guess we can only see how he and John run the ship currently.

Targets for season and end of season are

Get the seats & roof in.
Hopefully clear debt by the end of season
Mid-table position to maybe sneak in the play-offs if we had a good run
Reduce budget next season to alleviate some of the constant cash flow/each time a low attendance worries

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Re: DFCSG AGM

Post by super_les_mcjannet » Fri Nov 17, 2017 3:59 pm

He also said that he believes we will have a better team but spend less money than we were.

Read into that as you will but I basically thought it backed up that for what Gray spent he didn't really get value for money. Some would question more at the start of the season but I did believe the board would/should manage Gray's expectations but in reality GREXIT was the only way forward to find new better trading partners :)

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Re: DFCSG AGM

Post by don'tbuythesun » Fri Nov 17, 2017 4:11 pm

It's difficult to keep up sometimes but have we cleared that £65,000 debt or is it still hanging around in the background?

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Re: DFCSG AGM

Post by super_les_mcjannet » Fri Nov 17, 2017 4:26 pm

don'tbuythesun wrote:It's difficult to keep up sometimes but have we cleared that £65,000 debt or is it still hanging around in the background?
About 40k left but the plan is it will be gone by the end of the season. We need to average around 1500/1600 to clear this although some flex up and down in that figure as would depends on costs/income of other things being stable.

The big problem we have and always have had is that we have no buffer. We really need something like 50k/100k in the bank that is not expected to be spent but you dip into here and there during low cash flow and top it back up when you have a run of home games/big attendances etc.

Other clubs have chairman/owners who will dip in at quiet revenue times and take it back when revenue is busier sadly John/Dave do this or we go out to the owners to raise cash flow money.

At the moment we go full pelt spending everything that is expected to come in. If costs go up, revenues go down or we have games cancelled then we will have challenges.

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Re: DFCSG AGM

Post by theoriginalfatcat » Fri Nov 17, 2017 4:46 pm

super_les_mcjannet wrote:but in reality GREXIT was the only way forward to find new better trading partners
I'm pleased that GREXIT* happened.

There was always something a little Gray based about Gray. He did well and all that and we shouldn't forget his achievements but eventually we'll be better off without him.

* GREXIT or GRAXIT?
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Spyman
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Re: DFCSG AGM

Post by Spyman » Fri Nov 17, 2017 5:57 pm

theoriginalfatcat wrote:
super_les_mcjannet wrote:but in reality GREXIT was the only way forward to find new better trading partners
I'm pleased that GREXIT* happened.

There was always something a little Gray based about Gray. He did well and all that and we shouldn't forget his achievements but eventually we'll be better off without him.

* GREXIT or GRAXIT?
GREXIT

Otherwise we'd have BRIXIT.

Glad to hear Johnston is making the right noises and sounding like he has a handle on things. I have no doubt we can get better value for money than what Gray got and I fully agree with what DJ has set out as targets/expectations for the season.
On Sunday April 29, 2012 at 10:25 pm, Darlo Cockney wrote:Sadly some people have nothing better to do that invent rumours.

We will be playing at the arena again next season - fact.

Quakerz - if you actually attended games and spoke to people you might actually find our facts, rather than spreading s*** on this board.

DC

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Re: DFCSG AGM

Post by bga » Fri Nov 17, 2017 6:18 pm

super_les_mcjannet wrote:
don'tbuythesun wrote:It's difficult to keep up sometimes but have we cleared that £65,000 debt or is it still hanging around in the background?
About 40k left but the plan is it will be gone by the end of the season. We need to average around 1500/1600 to clear this although some flex up and down in that figure as would depends on costs/income of other things being stable.

The big problem we have and always have had is that we have no buffer. We really need something like 50k/100k in the bank that is not expected to be spent but you dip into here and there during low cash flow and top it back up when you have a run of home games/big attendances etc.

Other clubs have chairman/owners who will dip in at quiet revenue times and take it back when revenue is busier sadly John/Dave do this or we go out to the owners to raise cash flow money.

At the moment we go full pelt spending everything that is expected to come in. If costs go up, revenues go down or we have games cancelled then we will have challenges.
Good summary Les and your other post above. DJ also said we could not disclose amounts, but we had got a really good deal with regard to the recent transfers out, but that the money would come in over a period of time last instalment did he say June 2018? Also we had included a "sell on clause" but it was not clear if this applied to all 3 players.
Finally we should not underestimate how generous DJ & JT have been lending the Club their own money to avoid (another!) cash flow crisis, one amount mentioned I think was £10,000. Inevitably recent events have meant they have had to concentrate on "fire fighting" as opposed to generating revenue, as ever it is the classic chicken & egg situation!

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Re: DFCSG AGM

Post by e4sby » Fri Nov 17, 2017 6:28 pm

bga wrote:
super_les_mcjannet wrote:
don'tbuythesun wrote:It's difficult to keep up sometimes but have we cleared that £65,000 debt or is it still hanging around in the background?
About 40k left but the plan is it will be gone by the end of the season. We need to average around 1500/1600 to clear this although some flex up and down in that figure as would depends on costs/income of other things being stable.

The big problem we have and always have had is that we have no buffer. We really need something like 50k/100k in the bank that is not expected to be spent but you dip into here and there during low cash flow and top it back up when you have a run of home games/big attendances etc.

Other clubs have chairman/owners who will dip in at quiet revenue times and take it back when revenue is busier sadly John/Dave do this or we go out to the owners to raise cash flow money.

At the moment we go full pelt spending everything that is expected to come in. If costs go up, revenues go down or we have games cancelled then we will have challenges.
Good summary Les and your other post above. DJ also said we could not disclose amounts, but we had got a really good deal with regard to the recent transfers out, but that the money would come in over a period of time last instalment did he say June 2018? Also we had included a "sell on clause" but it was not clear if this applied to all 3 players.
Finally we should not underestimate how generous DJ & JT have been lending the Club their own money to avoid (another!) cash flow crisis, one amount mentioned I think was £10,000. Inevitably recent events have meant they have had to concentrate on "fire fighting" as opposed to generating revenue, as ever it is the classic chicken & egg situation!
It’s not just DJ and JT who have lent the club some cash....


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Re: DFCSG AGM

Post by bga » Fri Nov 17, 2017 6:32 pm

Agreed we should be grateful to all of them.

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Re: DFCSG AGM

Post by don'tbuythesun » Fri Nov 17, 2017 7:13 pm

Thanks Les, that's helpful.

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Re: DFCSG AGM

Post by super_les_mcjannet » Fri Nov 17, 2017 7:25 pm

Johnston did say a few other things also.

Just to be clear the 50k/100k buffer is more my suggestion but Johnston said cash flow is the club biggest problem, we have nothing at times to battle problems like a run of home games being cancelled etc.

As mentioned it's not just Tempest and Johnston who have put money at times, something we need to move away from to make our club stable and I like that that Johnston said Wright buys into fan owned/finance challenges.

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