Happy Birthday to Flav…
I believe the current owners have just passed their one year anniversary of getting involved with the club. I say getting involved rather than bought, because the official announcement didn’t happen for another couple of weeks, but the £1m we paid for Legs just before last year’s transfer deadline had to come from somewhere, so lets not nit pick this time. So waddya think of it so far then?
Firstly let’s start with the positives.
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The main one is that we are still here, a definite big tick for the F1 boys and Mittal jnr there.
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On the subject of money, it is obvious that they have got their little black books out and got some seriously good money from their connections in the form of sponsorship deals, kit manufacturer and “financial partner” what ever that is.
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The £5m spent in January (on top of the £1m for Legs) turned our team from a bottom half team struggling to compete into a top half team with some style and flair.
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The ground improvements have generally been well received. Ok there have been some niggles like the removal of the bar in one part of the ground, and the betting shops from all of them. Also not everyone can see the telly, but I’m in the Upper Loft with a perfect view and I think it is great, although I do keep forgetting to check it after we have scored for the replay.
But there are some negatives:
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The away kits are pretty awful, of the shelf numbers with very little thought. However, the home kit looks great so maybe we shouldn’t complain too much.
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The season ticket price rises were spintastically bad. I expected a price rise, but not 50% of my ticket. Then they tell us sales are unprecedented, but attendances in the two league matches to date have been poor (both less than 14k).
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Some people will point to few signings in the off season. We have spent less money on transfers than last year (although I suspect we are paying a few bob for Parejo).
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The loss of LDC was regrettable, and Dowie isn’t everyone’s first choice as a replacement
Generally speaking, the positives have outweighed the negatives. Most of the negatives are either associated with “running the club as a business” rather than a toy thing like Chel$ki, one that I don’t mind as its keeps us as a real football club rather than a fantasy one. Some of the other things can be learnt from – more supporter input into kit designs would be a good start, and don’t put the season ticket prices up even mope next year, or at least cut the spin and treat us like adults, informing us of how things are going rather than presenting a fait accompli.
There is more positivity about HQ than for many a year – expectations are sky high, perhaps too high, but with these guys on board we have a potentially positive future, even if some of the “Champions League” statements are pretty crass. I’ld settle for promotion.
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