The play-offs will elude us this season, but that's fine. The past year hasn't been about chasing promotion or anything like that, but moreso stabilising the club after the excesses of the Premier League.
The campaign got off to a poor start, but a lot of that was due to the problems at the club. Pearson's (Nigel) recruitment was hamstrung by the need to reduce a crippling wage bill and the lack of any transfer money. For an indication of the situation, the recently released financial figures paint a bleak picture. When Pearson (Adam) took over as chairman during the 2009/10 season our monthly wage bill alone was over £3m — and we had only £155,000 in the bank. Never mind administration, the figures point towards liquidation.
Luckily, Pearson was able to renegotiate the immediate debts, and these were finally resolved when the Allams bought the club. The new owners also provided transfer funds — not a lot, but enough to secure the signings of a proven Championship goalscorer in Matty Fryatt, and promising youngsters like Stewart and James Chester. Basically, he's rebuilt the squad under considerable financial constraints for less than the price of a Bullard.
You wouldn't recognise the team from that which appeared in the top flight — the only regular starter we have now from last season is Andy Dawson, with regular cameos from Nick Barmby. Since our final match of 2009/10 over 30 players have left the club, so it's a great testament to the manager that he's been able to build the team that he has done and get us so high in the league — and pleasingly it's a hungry, predominently young team with its best years ahead of it. We don't go in for footballing optimism much in these parts but – dare we whisper it – the future looks rather bright.
The campaign got off to a poor start, but a lot of that was due to the problems at the club. Pearson's (Nigel) recruitment was hamstrung by the need to reduce a crippling wage bill and the lack of any transfer money. For an indication of the situation, the recently released financial figures paint a bleak picture. When Pearson (Adam) took over as chairman during the 2009/10 season our monthly wage bill alone was over £3m — and we had only £155,000 in the bank. Never mind administration, the figures point towards liquidation.
Luckily, Pearson was able to renegotiate the immediate debts, and these were finally resolved when the Allams bought the club. The new owners also provided transfer funds — not a lot, but enough to secure the signings of a proven Championship goalscorer in Matty Fryatt, and promising youngsters like Stewart and James Chester. Basically, he's rebuilt the squad under considerable financial constraints for less than the price of a Bullard.
You wouldn't recognise the team from that which appeared in the top flight — the only regular starter we have now from last season is Andy Dawson, with regular cameos from Nick Barmby. Since our final match of 2009/10 over 30 players have left the club, so it's a great testament to the manager that he's been able to build the team that he has done and get us so high in the league — and pleasingly it's a hungry, predominently young team with its best years ahead of it. We don't go in for footballing optimism much in these parts but – dare we whisper it – the future looks rather bright.
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