Retention of our Championship status is vitally important — a rallying call

[Ball on Fire]

BFC’s strategic planning assumptions in the latest BFC annual accounts (2021/22) assume some seasons in the Championship and some seasons in Div 1. Whilst these are realistic assumptions for a Club our size they do confirm that at best we will be a Championship club and at worst a Div 1 club and probably a yo yo Club between Div 1 and the Championship. It has already been previously acknowledged by the BFC board that Critch got us promotion to the Championship quicker than expected and Critch also delivered a mid table finish in the Championship, 60 points achieved in total and 23 points above the final relegation place.

Simon Sadler confirmed the following at the recent Structured Dialogue meeting which underpins these strategic planning assumptions:-

The wage budget in the Championship will be in the bottom 4 of all Championship clubs. The planning assumption is to avoid relegation from the Championship by 1 place.

The wage budget in Div 1 will be in the Top 8 of all Div 1 clubs. The planning assumption is to challenge for the Div 1 play offs.

When we are in the Championship the annual turnover is much higher than when we are in Div 1 mainly due to the TV money paid to Championship clubs, The amount Simon Sadier is forecasting to put into our Club each year, just to cover annual operating losses, is £2.5M for every season we are in the Championship and £5M for every season we are in Div 1. Sadler’s investment regarding the new East Stand, the new and existing Training Ground any Capital expenditure is all additional to these amounts,

N.B. All of the information above is already in the public domain and completely accessible to everybody.

We currently have almost 100 people employed at the Club as Players, Managers, coaches and support staff, the wage budget for 2022/23 is at least £12M. There seems little doubt based on what Simon Sadler said at the recent Structured Dialogue meeting that the wage budget in Div 1 next season, if we were to be relegated, we will have to be cut from what it is this season. A relegation to Div 1 will therefore impact on the number of people the Club can employ and the players out of contract in June 2023 that we want to retain and the quality of the new players we can sign. We will also be appointing a new Manager and support staff and our divisional status should be a key factor in that decision making process.

It is therefore in everybody’s interests that we retain our Championship status this season and continue to grow and improve the squad as a Championship club, we can never do this as Yo Yo club due to the fluctuations in the wage budgets As we move between the Championship and Div 1.

After last night’s excellent performance and result can we fill the Stadium for all future home games starting with Coventry on Saturday and make Bloomfield Road a fortress and become the 12th man with our best in class support which I heard very loudly from the stands last night?

Lets have no regrets, we need to leave everything out there, after last night I think we can do this.

 

[Cable Cat]

The interesting thing is that some of our best players who we are desperately relying on aren't ours. It's been my bugbear all season but hopefully the likes of Patino, Fiorini and Rodgers will have got a taste of victory last night and give everything to the cause.

 

[Matesrates]

That’s great- balls of fire, good analysis, there’s no doubt everyone, fans, players, management and owner will want us to stay in the championship. We all need to play our part.

 

[Ball on Fire]

The interesting thing is that some of our best players who we are desperately relying on aren't ours. It's been my bugbear all season but hopefully the likes of Patino, Fiorini and Rodgers will have got a taste of victory last night and give everything to the cause.

Well they certainly gave everything on Tuesday night, I am sure Poveda and Bowler will be very eager to join the party.

 

[Critchknows]

I agree we need to retain the championship status. Given the above words though from SS, I would like him to try to find another investor as tbh a yo yo lg1 play off challenger or aim for 4th bottom championship is really pretty depressing and not something that makes me in the least excited about supporting them.

 

[Meliora]

I agree we need to retain the championship status. Given the above words though from SS, I would like him to try to find another investor as tbh a yo yo lg1 play off challenger or aim for 4th bottom championship is really pretty depressing and not something that makes me in the least excited about supporting them.

A strategic plan is a realistic document, primarily for investment decisions, never a best possible scenario. Just because ours makes an assumption of periods in League 1 doesn't mean that's the aim or intention. The plan will avoid us overspending.

 

[Ball on Fire]

The wage budget can often dictate where you finish in the League as in theory the higher the wage budget the better the players in the Squad but it does not always turn out that way e.g. under Critch we finished 16th in the Championship with 60 points and we had a bottom 4 wage budget. I was hoping to see a Top 4 wage budget in League 1 not Top 8 as I think with a Top 8 wage budget we will spend a lot more time in Div 1 than we will spend in the Championship, which is why maintaining our Championship status this season is so important. If we become a Yo Yo club the high turnover of players in the summer will be difficult to manage, ideally we remain as a Championship club and improve the Squad every season. Just shows how important the Blackpool Manager is going to be in our future.

 

[Critchknows]

A strategic plan is a realistic document, primarily for investment decisions, never a best possible scenario. Just because ours makes an assumption of periods in League 1 doesn't mean that's the aim or intention. The plan will avoid us overspending.

I hope your right. I get we need a plan and it's good that its realistic as oppose to a pipe dream but still sounds on the depressing side none the less.

 

[tangysider]

The interesting thing is that some of our best players who we are desperately relying on aren't ours. It's been my bugbear all season but hopefully the likes of Patino, Fiorini and Rodgers will have got a taste of victory last night and give everything to the cause.

I don't think they will try any less than our own players. All seem blown away by the atmosphere our 12th man generates
Whatever happens I wish them all a long and successful career.

 

[tangysider]

The wage budget can often dictate where you finish in the League as in theory the higher the wage budget the better the players in the Squad but it does not always turn out that way e.g. under Critch we finished 16th in the Championship with 60 points and we had a bottom 4 wage budget. I was hoping to see a Top 4 wage budget in League 1 not Top 8 as I think with a Top 8 wage budget we will spend a lot more time in Div 1 than we will spend in the Championship, which is why maintaining our Championship status this season is so important. If we become a Yo Yo club the high turnover of players in the summer will be difficult to manage, ideally we remain as a Championship club and improve the Squad every season. Just shows how important the Blackpool Manager is going to be in our future.

I think whatever happens there needs to be a high turnover of players. Not one of them is guilty of not trying whilst on the pitch, but get rid of sicknotes and decide which average players we keep, we need possibly 4 quality players if we are to improve

 

[Ball on Fire]

A strategic plan is a realistic document, primarily for investment decisions, never a best possible scenario. Just because ours makes an assumption of periods in League 1 doesn't mean that's the aim or intention. The plan will avoid us overspending.

Even under this Strategic Plan, BFC will still be overspending and operating a loss every season no matter what League we are in. Sadler reckons he will have to invest £5M of his own money to help pay the wages etc for every season we are in Div 1 and will also have to invest £2.5M of his own money to help pay the wages etc for every season we are in the Championship. Staying in the Championship really helps Sadler as well. The wage budget is factual, I agree Div 1 is not our aim but when you have a Bottom 4 budget in the Championship and also appoint Appleton, a Manager who career wise has only averaged a point per game in the Championship, coupled with very poor player recruitment in the summer transfer window this would normally result in a fight against relegation in most circumstances.

 

[Ball on Fire]

I don't think they will try any less than our own players. All seem blown away by the atmosphere our 12th man generates
Whatever happens I wish them all a long and successful career.

I think whatever happens there needs to be a high turnover of players. Not one of them is guilty of not trying whilst on the pitch, but get rid of sicknotes and decide which average players we keep, we need possibly 4 quality players if we are to improve

unfortunately if we get relegated this season the turnover of players will be higher than if we remained in the Championship and as a Div 1 team we are more likely to lose more of our better players at the end of this season and retain even more of our average players because the wage budget for players will be lower in Div 1 than it is in the Championship.

 

[BFC_53]

People say they hope Sadler can find another 'investor', but that implies a return on the investment which is very unlikely in football unless you're at the very top. So what's really meant is can he find another person to put lots of money in and take very little out, so that we can see a winning team. I don't think that's likely in all honesty. I think it's worth remembering that just because the maximum we can look to at the moment is a bottom four championship budget, it doesn't necessarily mean that will always be the case. The new East stand should be revenue generating, and the new training ground should help us develop players in order to negate the smaller budget vs other clubs. There are different ways to make progress and different ways to compete, and it isn't necessarily by throwing money at it. Clubs like Brentford and Burnley have for years now outperformed other clubs with much bigger budgets precisely because they're well run and have found other ways to do better. They've just been much smarter than other clubs.
So I don't personally feel that just because we have a bottom four championship budget currently that it means we have to yo-yo between the leagues, or that we'll never be in a position to increase that budget.

 

[Ball on Fire]

People say they hope Sadler can find another 'investor', but that implies a return on the investment which is very unlikely in football unless you're at the very top. So what's really meant is can he find another person to put lots of money in and take very little out, so that we can see a winning team. I don't think that's likely in all honesty. I think it's worth remembering that just because the maximum we can look to at the moment is a bottom four championship budget, it doesn't necessarily mean that will always be the case. The new East stand should be revenue generating, and the new training ground should help us develop players in order to negate the smaller budget vs other clubs. There are different ways to make progress and different ways to compete, and it isn't necessarily by throwing money at it. Clubs like Brentford and Burnley have for years now outperformed other clubs with much bigger budgets precisely because they're well run and have found other ways to do better. They've just been much smarter than other clubs.
So I don't personally feel that just because we have a bottom four championship budget currently that it means we have to yo-yo between the leagues, or that we'll never be in a position to increase that budget.

Yes wage budgets are increased every year even if it is just for inflation. The strategic plan can be changed any year. Brentford are a very good and realistic model for Blackpool and their Owner is fan like Sadler and also has a Hedge Fund background. Burnley on the other hand have been US owned for 2 to 3 years and the Owners are pumping in £10s of millions every year.