Jump to content
IGNORED

Ashton confirms that we are not chasing promotion


Major Isewater

Recommended Posts

The club don't expect promotion and aren't chasing it . Which probably means that a half hearted attempt won't succeed .

At least we know where we stand.

One quote from our friends the Post 

Ashton went on to confirm that the club are set up for the long term and are not specifically targeting promotion this season."

Reading between the lines of the interview in full it is clear that we are not prepared to jeopardise the long term future of the club but equally that we do not think that we will get promoted this season and therefore haven't taken the necessary action to really push for it . 

I applaud the stance but still feel that this is an opportunity we look like missing . 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Seems to me Ashton, talking about transfers, has made it crystal clear that the club isn't aiming for promotion this season. If it happens it happens approach, but club is firmly basing its summer planning on remaining in this league next season 

This sets out clearly, what many of us assumed, and explains January transfer window 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, BRISTOL86 said:

I think the point to take away is that the philosophy doesn’t change just because of our league position - i.e whether we were 2nd or 22nd the approach would be the same. 

 

1 hour ago, JonDolman said:

We're trying to get promoted though. Just not spending stupid money to do so. 

All of which you have to respect, although it will undoubtedly piss off some people. It is, after all, how we’ve managed to get to the top six so far, and nobody’s moaning about that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, Ivorguy said:

In my opinion this current policy is just as risky as the alternate of spending money when we are nearly there.

I keep coming back to the typical City approach to spending big, in our terms, i.e. Spending big when on the down and not when on the up.

Bringing in hard working, success hungry players with a strong team mentality is equally as risky as signing ‘been there done that’ types on enormous wages? Really?

The latter is a massive gamble and a potentially very serious problem down the line if the immediate outcome (promotion) isn’t achieved, which is nowhere near guaranteed. 

People need a reality check if they think we’re going to beat teams like Derby and Villa to that sort of player. We’re making good progress as a club but we’re not there yet. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When people talk about 'Spending big' in January, with the aim of getting promoted, has it ever crossed their minds as to what budget we have, how much money is tied up in contracts, wages etc. Take FFP into account. None of us know what's in the budget, what's released at the end of the season, and what we have to play with next season.

It's not like going food shopping and buying up what you want regardless of budget.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's a sensible philosophy to have and to reach the PL without buying promotion would be a huge achievement.

That said.......if/when City do get there the financial rewards are huge and even more so should you stay there for more than one season and to do that would mean strengthening the squad and to me that would mean spending serious money on better quality players.

Itll be interesting to see to the current philosophy should City reach the promised land.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Phileas Fogg said:

Exactly how I interpreted it.

Also posting just an extract doesn’t show the full context. 

I honestly don’t know how else it could be interpreted. It probably shouldn’ ( as it’s OTIB ), but I’m sometimes baffled by people’s conclusions after these video interviews. COYR 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, Ivorguy said:

In my opinion this current policy is just as risky as the alternate of spending money when we are nearly there.

I keep coming back to the typical City approach to spending big, in our terms, i.e. Spending big when on the down and not when on the up.

That is a fair point I think. In the January window when we were top of L1 I was very frustrated that we didn't take the opportunity to bring in more quality. Ok so we still walked the league however we found ourselves short the following season in the Championship (not helped by a disastrous summer window) and I don't know why we didn't take the opportunity to sign some more quality when our stock was high. Same could be said about this January window; we've spent next to nothing and have barely improved the squad despite being in a great league position and being an attractive proposition for players. The two previous January windows I think we signed lots more players and spent a fair bit. Doesn't make a lot of sense.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Simon79 said:

I honestly don’t know how else it could be interpreted. It probably shouldn’ ( as it’s OTIB ), but I’m sometimes baffled by people’s conclusions after these video interviews. COYR 

I think in this instance people are searching for a meaning that isn’t there.

He’s hardly going to say “no, if we don’t go up this season it’s a disaster. Flint, Bryan and Reid will all go. This season or nothing!”

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Kid in the Riot said:

That is a fair point I think. In the January window when we were top of L1 I was very frustrated that we didn't take the opportunity to bring in more quality. Ok so we still walked the league however we found ourselves short the following season in the Championship (not helped by a disastrous summer window) and I don't know why we didn't take the opportunity to sign some more quality when our stock was high. Same could be said about this January window; we've spent next to nothing and have barely improved the squad despite being in a great league position and being an attractive proposition for players. The two previous January windows I think we signed lots more players and spent a fair bit. Doesn't make a lot of sense.

As a general rule, you don’t do much of your summer business in January. Why would you bring in any more than you need to in Jan when prices are inflated? 

The lack of quality when we stepped up from L1 was due to failings in the summer not the prior Jan. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, Andy082005 said:

It wont be next season either when we lose the likes of Bryan and Flint

Not to mention the ones who only have 12 months left on their contract to

Who only has 12 months left? As for Dlint and Bryan, we’re always going to be a selling club if bigger come in. Just like about 88 other clubs in the league. Even the likes of Arsenal don’t keep their best players. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, spudski said:

When people talk about 'Spending big' in January, with the aim of getting promoted, has it ever crossed their minds as to what budget we have, how much money is tied up in contracts, wages etc. Take FFP into account. None of us know what's in the budget, what's released at the end of the season, and what we have to play with next season.

It's not like going food shopping and buying up what you want regardless of budget.

No. Too many think real life is Championship Manager and we can just do what we want 100% of the time. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, BRISTOL86 said:

No. Too many think real life is Championship Manager and we can just do what we want 100% of the time. 

I'm confused as to how some people think mate...you can't buy your way to promotion in this league.

We are doing it totally right...buying to be competitive in this league.

If we were to go up, you then buy in the Summer...players that are Prem quality...not Championship. It's a totally different animal. Some are suited to Premiership others for the graft of the Championship.

Promotion to the Prem is like having a baby...there is never a right time, and you can plan as much as you want...it never works out or goes to how you imagine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, spudski said:

I'm confused as to how some people think mate...you can't buy your way to promotion in this league.

We are doing it totally right...buying to be competitive in this league.

If we were to go up, you then buy in the Summer...players that are Prem quality...not Championship. It's a totally different animal. Some are suited to Premiership others for the graft of the Championship.

Promotion to the Prem is like having a baby...there is never a right time, and you can plan as much as you want...it never works out or goes to how you imagine.

Exactly. Look at Derby! They’ve been throwing millions at it for years and bottle it every year. Last season everyone talks about how they’d like to see us grow and consolidate sustainably over day 5 years, and then that all goes it the window when we have a sniff of good form and they want to see us signing players on £40k a week :laugh: 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some would be happier had we "gone big" in the January window and signed proven Championship players. Not me. The prospect of seeing a Jordan Rhodes type wearing the shirt, kissing the badge and taking away their weekly salary in a wheelbarrow wouldn't have guaranteed anything and only given us problems in future seasons.

We're doing things the right way imo. These things take time. :noexp:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just as you have fast food and the polar opposite slow food movement, so you have clubs that are in a hurry to get to/back to the PL and the rarer, slightly cranky, organic clubs that believe in doing it gradually, sustainably. 

We are the slow food football club. Moving, slowly, towards a better future.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

29 minutes ago, Andy082005 said:

It wont be next season either when we lose the likes of Bryan and Flint

Not to mention the ones who only have 12 months left on their contract to

Didn't people on here say the same about Kodjia and Tammy, yet we're doing even better without them? It depends what the replacements are like, if those 2 go we'll have a shedload of money to spend.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thought going big in January was not selling any of our players. I was surprised by the midfield signings as it risked breaking up the very strong link the existing players had and spirit that they had developed, though it was also clear the high tempo game had taken its toll on them. Diony was a player we have scouted for a few years so you think we would know what we were getting. But then again, we did have Tomlin on loan too and look where that ended up. January is a poor time to buy, players available are either over priced or unfit as they have not played. s we saw in our last promotion, the spirit within the group is essential, we had that, (with a great many of them being part of that last promotion) and disrupting that in January was not ideal. More so when a player arrives with the suggestion he has to be played. I personally cannot think of one signing we could have afforded or who could have boosted the side instantly. In fact I wish we had just left the squad as it was and waited for the summer. Consider all the players we signed last January and where they are now. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, BRISTOL86 said:

Exactly. Look at Derby! They’ve been throwing millions at it for years and bottle it every year. Last season everyone talks about how they’d like to see us grow and consolidate sustainably over day 5 years, and then that all goes it the window when we have a sniff of good form and they want to see us signing players on £40k a week :laugh: 

My thoughts exactly. Ashton and the Club have their head screwed on now, thank god. Not getting carried away. Remember when SL went crazy buying the likes of David James the season after we lost in the play offs. Got totally carried away with the hype.

Some fans complained that we did this, and spent on the short term. Sighting SL as making huge mistakes. He's learnt from those mistakes.

Now, when he's set a plan for the long term, some fans are expecting him to revert back to an old practice.

The bloke and Club can't win...I despair sometimes.

Who'd be an owner or manager...you can't win. Some fans have memories as short as our past strategy it seems.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I posted my views on another thread, so some may have read them. 

Briefly, we don't have a squad depth to go up and would need to buy a lot in the summer; thus a new team to gel quickly at that level is difficult.

Buying potential has proved to be the right way over the last two years. It also allows those in the Academy a pathway to the first team. I reckon there are seven or eight in the Under 23's who have the ability to make it at Championship level within two seasons - Premiership impossible to gauge.

This season, we have regularly begun to pull in over 20,000, with cup income and a significantly increased revenue from hospitality. We are also probably only having to bear 50% of the stadium maintenance costs which adds more to the kitty. Another season or two of this income and support, will help us in our recruitment of players. We'll be seen as real potential for promotion, instead of hopefuls punching above their weight.

I don't have the time at my age to wait patiently but in the long term for the club,it's certainly better that spending multi millions on overpaid, nearly has beens, like we've done in the past.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Ivorguy said:

In this context, I mean adhering too rigidly to the five pillars when a little flexibility might pay dividends

As they say, even the best of plans in war don’t survive after first contact with the enemy 

I wouldn’t say we’re inflexible. Tomlin and O’Neil proved that (and look how that turned out). I think we’re just a lot more selective than we were about the sort of personality we want in the dressing room.

Even if we entertained their sort of wages, would the likes of Jerome and Grabban be coming here for the right reasons? (The same Grabban who fled from Sunderland on false pretences when the going got tough).

Not for me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...