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Martin Ling alluded to 'other reasons' for his sacking in one of his last interviews. Could one of them have been the poor state of the club's finances?

It was hinted a while back that the reason Ling was denied any new signings in January may have been cash-flow problems at the club. And Alan Knill's work in the final months of the season was done for no payment of any salary; he received only expenses. Which presumably enabled the temporary loan signings he brought in; otherwise the club and the team could have been in real trouble.

At the club's AGM, the scheduled business of the meeting (approving the accounts etc.) was done and dusted in double-quick time, even though last season's balance-sheet reported a £111,000 loss on the 2011-2012 season. That news was already public knowledge, and the shareholders moved quickly on to other matters.

Almost certainly, the club will also make a substantial loss on the season just ended. We shall of course always be grateful to the Bristows for their financial support. But that doesn't alter the fact that the club has been bleeding money, and the transfusions in the form of gate receipts and transfer fees have been totally inadequate.

The board must be aware of the ongoing situation, and are presumably making appropriate plans. Obviously a good cup run and a successful 2013-2014 season ahead, with even small increases in gate receipts, will ease matters considerably. Otherwise, the likelihood of a gradual decline towards eventual administration must be a matter of great concern. Aldershot's situation is a salutary warning.

Or am I worrying unnecessarily...??

You're worrying unnecessarily. We made a shed load of wonga from the sale of Bobby and others and didn't spend any of it. We've invested heavily in very expensive 'one-off' projects over the last couple of years and that has coincided with a poor year in the cups (our first for ages). Given our spending, £111,000 loss probably represents a £189,000 profit with a freak £300,000 outlay on stuff which will last longer than the Third Reich.

Deutschland Deutschland über alles.

Matt.

Hmm, not entirely convinced..

Anyway, we're going to replace the Plainmoor pitch with a German one..??

Vorsprung Durch Technik...

I doubt the clubs finances are particlarly healthy at all - hence Thea taking the reigns to stop others spending her money, and dispensing with a manager who's football had resulted in a decrease in attendances.

Hopefully a bit of renewed optimism and more entertainment will bring the crowds back, and the financial concerns will ease a bit.

Got some bad news for you, Shane. Have a look at the attendances thread. We have hardly lost any numbers despite our playing style this term compared with last. The odd 100 people here or there aren't going to make any real difference. We need either to get an extra 2000 through the doors, or find alternative sources of funding. I'm working on odd things as best I can, but I think it's going to be the big screen which will start to make a difference.

Matt.

the screen is an insanely good form to make money!!

I think people dont realise how lucky we are to have it, and we got it for free!!!!

EddUK12 wrote:is the big screen really going to make that much money?

its not on the side to be seen on tv which would push the price up to advertise on it up.

in terms of not spending the transfer money received didnt that get spent on the training ground which still isnt totally finshed.

the gate numbers dont take account for the reduced capcity while the bench was being built maybe they should be looked at as a bit of a missed oppertunity

Do you sniff glue to pass the time before coming on here?

When was the last time you watched a football match where, instead of showing the game, they showed the big screen?
When was the last time you watched a football match on TV involving Torquay?

Do you honestly think that the people who will be advertising on the big screen will expect TV coverage as part of the deal?

So. Many. Questions.

That said, were it my choice, I'd probably find a way to house the TV camera in the Bench. The present angle is very low and suffers from being placed right above one touchline, meaning we get a very strange angle of any action on the touchline in the middle of the Pop side. This would be cured by moving the camera to the back of the Bench.

Matt.

I am not going into this to much , to be honest even if I had a copy of the clubs accounts could make head nor tail of it.

Just going to try to apply some common sense, if the clubs finances were that dire the very last thing they would have done was sacked Lingy and brought in Knill, it will have cost the club money to have done this, to save money the club would and could have kept Lingy.

Also the club would not have asked Alan Knill to come in as a manger with out wages I should imagine thats something he has done of his own back, the money for loan signings and for other things needed at the time came from a share issue around the time Alan Knill came in, if memory serves me right an extra £170k was raised most coming from the Bristows.

i understand that many of the board are regularly putting in funds through necessity. or have been asked to. The finances of the Club are definitely an issue, with or without the Bristows. Whatever is said please do not believe Knill was only getting expenses. Surely a more reasoned answer would have been perhaps £500 per week and PERHAPS £5000 if we stayed up.

That's daft. Why would the club have said he wasn't getting paid when he was?
Look at it from Knill's point of view. He can either sit at home and scratch his arse all day, hoping that a club want him so badly that they come to his home, beat down his door and drive a dump truck full of used notes up his driveway, or, he can come to Torquay, earn exactly the same amount of money (nothing) as in the other scenario, but he'll essentially be in a no lose situation. If he fails, oh well, it's cost him nothing and got his name in the press. If he succeeds, he either gets his name in the press and offers come in or, as has happened, he gets the Torquay job. It's a no lose situation for the bloke and he's seen that.

Matt.

Ferrari............Dont tell me its daft. Instead of you blowing shit in other peoples faces, accept that you arent always right. As if Simon Baker et al would approach him to save their team from relegation and offer him expenses only ...

I don't understand all this financial malarkey so i'll leave all the comments to you lot that do.

As long as we're solvent and aren't getting into debt then everything is fine by me ( i think )

MF68 wrote:Ferrari............Dont tell me its daft. Instead of you blowing sh*t in other peoples faces, accept that you arent always right. As if Simon Baker et al would approach him to save their team from relegation and offer him expenses only ...

So, what, the club invented a totally bizarre lie, for no apparent reason, to answer a question no one was asking? For what purpose exactly?

Matt.

EddUK12 wrote:matt i dont sniff glue before coming on here.

once again you missed the point that if the screen was visable to the cameras the club could charge extra for it. look at all the clubs that those small electronic ones around the pitch. A picture of a players celebrating would have the screen in the background which would be in a number of papers even national ones depending on the game. that is what you are missing the oppertunity to give the sponsor national exposure but they have to pay for it.

I haven't missed the point, I understood the point you were trying to make and I was telling you that it isn't a thing. We get 8 seconds, once a week on a show seen by about 15 people. We aren't going to be able to charge more based on that, it simply isn't enough coverage to justify a premium price.

Matt.

Ok, tell you what then, you suggest it to Deano Edwards, tell him that we should move the screen (the camera is a no no, heard from the Candyman earlier) on the basis that we'll be able to fleece the sponsors for tens of thousands of pounds for the once-in-a-decade that we get on the telly in the FA Cup.

You are silly.

Matt.