TopCat

I thought there would've been a bit more dissent from our regular "just get a filthy rich idiot to buy us!!!" contingent? Should this not be the point where it happens?

The fitness and organisation issues and Murray's finger pointing are laughable, especially as the the Championship's status as a competition for serious professional athletes gets flimsier with every passing year. Arbroath have had 2 recent impressive spells as a part time team and the likes of us, Stenny and Queens Park are a mile off the standard of this league 10 years ago. We're not fielding a plucky Junior squad in the Champions League qualifiers here: Murray should still be able to get this rabble playing like a team to at least give the impression of being competitive.

Would it, aye? Heard it, did ye?

Also worth noting that our last actual moneybags-funded season was 2012/13 (14 years ago), where we finished a glorious 2nd to Partick Thistle in the old First Division and got papped out all the cups at the earliest opportunity. Our Titan of Industry then took the huff, hacked the budget, signed a load of unknown regens and we got relegated the next season after the manager chucked in the towel. So, no real success on the park and a similar situation to the one we're in now.

Imrie having us punching above our weight and the club being outspent (even with the Dalrada money) by the competition isnt really in question. Fan ownership also isn't a perfect solution and I don't think any of the fanbase are really right-on evangelists for it either. MCT was a desperate necessity after the Raes cut us off and the benevolent soft loans started looking like they might turn into a pile of hard debt. If Greenock's answer to Roy McGregor existed, Crawford Rae or MCT would've sold the club to them already. My main issue with calls to bring in outside investors is that the folk asking for it never define what they would reasonably expect. Pushing for playoff places, stadium upgrades, no debt? That'll be a £5m-£10m investment over a 5 year period, based on what other clubs at this level are spending/hemorrhaging to remain "competitive".

The squad last season was full of duds but comparably-sized clubs still completely blow us out the water in terms of wages. It's not as if we signed a full squad of players on £1500 a week - Imrie went for some slightly better than usual bench options. I know Murray, Davies, Laird and Imrie have a lot to answer for and we didn't see the improvement many expected, but our budget put us where the 7th or 8th biggest budget in the league typically ends up. We're now in a similar position, except the gap to the pack of clubs ahead of us is even bigger and we have the huge uncertainty of whether Dalrada are actually going to pay the wages they promised.

The Dalrada sponsorship unfortunately seems to have done more harm than good overall. The rumours of very late sponsorship payments last season sound like they must've been true. There's a chance another major donor might fall out of the sky, but it looks like we'll need to take a horrible season on the chin and plan for a leaner, more organised setup in League 1.

How much more money do you think we need in order to be competitive in your opinion? Reference to the huge losses and director loans reported in recent seasons by Ayr, Raith, Partick, Queens Park, Dunfermline, Inverness and Hamilton would be appreciated.

Other clubs have in this division have far superior match day hospitality offerings, function suites and better community facilities for hire than we do. Using MCT and Estrella funds to do something about this, given the fact our main stand will inevitably keel over at some point, isn't a pipe dream.

Ok, i'll have one more go. What level of published detail do you think the club should go into to demonstrate an assumed lack of success in obtaining new sponsorship? And what value of new annual income do you think represents a decent proportion and would allow us to compete?

We'd need a ballpark £750k a season to draw level with other championship clubs on overall budget. This gap is made up of: 1) colossal, unsustainable annual losses being posted by a number of clubs; 2) wealthy individuals donating money (others have them, we currently don't); 3) others having bigger crowds, better matchday revenue streams and larger, more experienced admin teams and lower maintenance burdens than we have. The first point is broadly unacceptable to most, the second one is what you're fantasising about without basis (and wouldn't actually plug the gap to the extent you want unless we found someone really filthy rich) and the third is what's being addressed in the Estrella deal.

I think he's being a bit cute with his comments. There's a big difference between "I can only do what I can with what I have at the moment", i.e. its only July and we won't have a full squad until the end of the window, and there being no budget left.

It'll be 2036 and folk will still be droning on about the Easdales as if they're a white knight the club has scorned. This whole thread has been a moan about a lack of external investment, when the club are actively progressing a 35% sale of shares at a price massively above their actual value. The reason the playing budget looks so pathetic this season is because our last external investor, Dalrada, inflated it in an uncontrolled manner and then popped the balloon.

Panic button time. He needs to go.

I'd also argue that the standard of players in the bottom 6/championship/top half of league 1 has dropped dramatically in the last 10 years or so, partly due to the EPL talent drain. A hybrid model wouldn't be a big departure from where we currently stand. Racking up £500k+ annual losses under a sugar daddy chairman just to match Raith, Dunfermline, Partick and Ayr for spending isn't going to allow us to pull ahead of them on the park. Dalrada proved this very recently. The Estrella deal, break-even budgets and gradual stadium improvement is a sensible plan and we should stick to it.