What does Sadler want now?

What does Sadler want? Himself, now.

  • Straight back to Championship, whatever Critch needs within reason.

  • Aim for top 6, mix of low cost signings and loans

  • Stabilise and rebuild in L1 with new board. For now.

  • Stabilise in L1 with a view to sell at the right time

  • Sell the club asap and get his life back to normal

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voyeur

voyeur

Well-known member
We thought we knew what Sadler wants. Has it changed? If so, how much has it changed? Or is he still in it for the long haul and to get the club as high up the leagues as possible? He said when he arrived he saw us as a mid table Championship club, but does he still? Soon, or when weve got other stuff in place? Or has the fun drained out of it for him? Would he like to get out? Will he follow through on East stand commitments with the council and keep the football steady, first?

We don't know but i wonder what people think?
 
His model is based on being a stable Championship side and hopefully get that one season that gives us a golden ticket to the Prem. He won't be throwing money at automatic promotion but I do think he'll want to build a side capable of challenging. Morgan is a decent enough signing but doesn't shout of massive ambition, I think the inevitable sale of Yates and use of those funds will show us how serious he is about really going for it.
 
It's an interesting question that only he can answer. It seems to me that on the pitch, he's starting again near enough. He now knows what's needs to be spent and in what way, but will he? Personally I don't expect him to 'dip in his pockets' just use football created income wisely and see where that takes us.
 
He says we are a mid table Championship club but the reality of it is judging by investment so far we are a fair way off it.
The aim is back to the Championship ASAP but it will always be on a realistic budget so as to not put Simon or BFC in jeopardy and I totally agree.
Everything seems very take it or leave it at the moment, we need that momentum back.
 
Alfie Conn said:
He says we are a mid table Championship club but the reality of it is judging by investment so far we are a fair way off it.
The aim is back to the Championship ASAP but it will always be on a realistic budget so as to not put Simon or BFC in jeopardy and I totally agree.
Everything seems very take it or leave it at the moment, we need that momentum back.
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He said mid table Championship ckub 4 years ago. Does he still feel able to deliver that? Or want the cost, grief and hassle of doing so? Just asking, i dont know.
 
Yes it is a good question, 6/12 months ago it may not have been considered. Like many I have backed him since day one, but there does seem a reluctance to inform the fanbase or maybe just on here. Apathy does creep in and questions are raised. At the end of the day you support your
local team etc and hope progress is being made.
 
voyeur said:
We thought we knew what Sadler wants. Has it changed? If so, how much has it changed? Or is he still in it for the long haul and to get the club as high up the leagues as possible? He said when he arrived he saw us as a mid table Championship club, but does he still? Soon, or when weve got other stuff in place? Or has the fun drained out of it for him? Would he like to get out? Will he follow through on East stand commitments with the council and keep the football steady, first?

We don't know but i wonder what people think?
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If you listened to what Simon Sadler has had to say, very recently there would be no need for the question. You must sleep through his interview.
 
I’ve no idea, how would anyone know what he wants. I want back to the championship straight away whatever it takes
 
voyeur said:
He said mid table Championship ckub 4 years ago. Does he still feel able to deliver that? Or want the cost, grief and hassle of doing so? Just asking, i dont know.
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I don’t know either, but I suspect his ambition has been lowered somewhat. After finding out how much investment is needed to maintain a Championship club, I think it’s a little too much for his taste and he would be satisfied with a full ground and upper league one finishes.
 
Albert Ross said:
I don’t know either, but I suspect his ambition has been lowered somewhat. After finding out how much investment is needed to maintain a Championship club, I think it’s a little too much for his taste and he would be satisfied with a full ground and upper league one finishes.
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Yes something like that. I reckon after 4 years he has a good idea of how the financing works at L1 and Championship levels and is focused mainly on keeping the finances on an even keel. Whichever league we are in, preferably at the higher level but leaving it to Critch, Downes and co to determine that. Not prepared to step outside his financing comfort zone. Will top up the club's income a bit each season, 2m ish.
 
He ll want us to go up and stay up won’t he ?

Don’t the accounts suggest that championship status paying players league 1 /lower championship money whilst selling the odd player who has shone in the championship for a few mil is the way forward ?
 
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AngelBFC said:
He ll want us to go up and stay up won’t he ?

Don’t the accounts suggest that championship status paying players league 1 /lower championship money whilst selling the odd player who has shone in thhe championship for a few mil the way forward ?
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Probably.
 
I think he wants the same as he always wanted. He wants a club that holds its own, buys young players in develop and sells for profit and eventually have a production line of talent, seems to be bringing in kids with supposedly good promise, we will need a few years before we hopefully reap the rewards, in the mean time it’s a trade off getting the quality required without the cost of such being outside of the budget. He doesn’t want to put the club in danger paying big transfer fees etc which he said from the start. Whether he can afford to pay big fees or lose multiple millions a year is up for debate but is irrelevant as he came in and said this was not going to be the case.

An established Championship club he wants to be, preferably top half was and still is the plan
 
DJ Dudley said:
I think he wants the same as he always wanted. He wants a club that holds its own, buys young players in develop and sells for profit and eventually have a production line of talent, seems to be bringing in kids with supposedly good promise, we will need a few years before we hopefully reap the rewards, in the mean time it’s a trade off getting the quality required without the cost of such being outside of the budget. He doesn’t want to put the club in danger paying big transfer fees etc which he said from the start. Whether he can afford to pay big fees or lose multiple millions a year is up for debate but is irrelevant as he came in and said this was not going to be the case.

An established Championship club he wants to be, preferably top half was and still is the plan
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Can't argue with that. 👍
 
I've no idea what he wants, but I don't think it is what he expected and wouldn't be surprised to see him selling it off so he can get his life back to normal and who would blame him. He was mad to buy it in the first place.
 
He’s an ambitious person who has clearly been successful in business. I’m sure he will be driven to gain promotion back to the Championship as soon as possible.

That said, I also think he has his head screwed on where the football club is concerned and unlike so many of our fans, who have the typical veruca salt “I want it all and I want it now” mindset, he is in this with a long-term vision.
 
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My impression of Sadler is that he is ultra cautious and conservative, wants to provide a legacy of a stable sustainable club, is 'realistic' about the club's position the league pyramid, cant or won't put large amounts into the club's annual operating budget. He's had his fingers burnt with Nuttall and Lubala, after all. Our turnover trebled in the Championship following promotion but we got relegated. If you spend millions and fail its not an incentive to keep spending, unless you are in a money-no-object position.

So our turnover will shrink significantly following relegation and the squad budget is much smaller. Critch talked on his re-arrival of being comfortable working in a tight budget, that he spent years at Crewe in that situation Where money is tight and you develop players and run a tight ship. Buy cheap.and polish. Going for Critch over Dobbie was safe. Not the work of a dreamer or an enthusiast.

My expectations at the minute are not for us to storm to automatic promotion. In 20/21 we had Yates Anderson Ballard Simms and Embleton. And Kevin Stewart. We probably need to add 4 or 5 of those types to be able to push for automatic.
 
I think he’s been too distracted by the TG and East stand and neglected the actual team.
It would solve a lot of problems to just buy Poolfoot and start using it asap. Appoint a proper project manager for the East and focus on getting us ready for a promotion push.
 
Sadler shelled out biggish money on Nuttall, Lubala, Wright and Gabriel. Over 2m on those 4. They won't have inspired him to do more spending. We don't seem geared up for recruiting players in a smart manner. Nuttall and Lubala were like muggings.

He'll be more inspired by the likes of Bowler free Anderson free Yates 250k Lyons 350k Marv free. Anderson and Yates were tip offs from Wellens. Critch knew some Academy players. How do we identify players? Will Downes improve this?

If I was SS I'd want to see us recruiting more effectively before i started investing more in players. Weve done much better with free players than 500k players.
 
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I think he may have been surprised at what it takes to run a football club cost wise, especially because of covid and losing the matchday income so credit to him. I think he'll probably be happy with establishing us as a top league 1 team, build some confidence and back to winning ways and if the chance arises to get promoted, happily take it. I think the last promotion was a bit unexpected and a season earlier than expected. Like others have said, get the youth coming through and selling the odd player is probably the key to us moving up and maintaining a sustainable model without accumulating too much debt.
 
voyeur said:
We should be play off contenders when our recruitment is done i reckon.
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Hope you are right ...not sure there is enough quality though and the manager has a lot to prove(they do say never go back)...When we got Appleton I felt obliged to give him a chance but I thought he was an awful ill thought out choice and I thought the writing was on the wall a long time before the Wigan game (losing to Barrow at home was simply unacceptable albeit on pens)
 
TANGERINETOWERPOWER said:
Hope you are right ...not sure there is enough quality though and the manager has a lot to prove(they do say never go back)...When we got Appleton I felt obliged to give him a chance but I thought he was an awful ill thought out choice and I thought the writing was on the wall a long time before the Wigan game (losing to Barrow at home was simply unacceptable albeit on pens)
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Critch has proved himself with us and with quite a few of the players he'll be using. We need more quality but hopefully that will come. We will be bringing more players in and we are in L1, not the Championship. It was a big step up when we were promoted.
 
voyeur said:
Critch has proved himself with us and with quite a few of the players he'll be using. We need more quality but hopefully that will come. We will be bringing more players in and we are in L1, not the Championship. It was a big step up when we were promoted.
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I think that is fair comment but he did massively blot his copybook towards the end of his tenure..if you had polled the fans I think more would have voted for him Not to come back..a lot more in fact so once again it isn’t a massively popular decision. I would have preferred somebody new tbh and I have serious doubts it will end well.
 
TANGERINETOWERPOWER said:
I think that is fair comment but he did massively blot his copybook towards the end of his tenure..if you had polled the fans I think more would have voted for him Not to come back..a lot more in fact so once again it isn’t a massively popular decision. I would have preferred somebody new tbh and I have serious doubts it will end well.
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He didn't blot his copybook with me. I would have preferred somebody new too. But we've had three new people since him and two were dreadful. I dont think Sadler knows what to look for in a new coach so opts for safe options from history. But he bought the club and got it through Covid etc. We can have our opinions but they are never tested. He has to take the risks.
 
I think he wants a quiet life and for other people to run the club for him. I also think he has love for the town but not the people…if that makes sense? Like he’s taken it on as a civic duty almost but under sufferance
 
clappers said:
I think he wants a quiet life and for other people to run the club for him. I also think he has love for the town but not the people…if that makes sense? Like he’s taken it on as a civic duty almost but under sufferance
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If you get a load of grief for taking in the responsibility you're likely to become dusillusioned. He maybe thought he could handle it. Or that people would be appreciative after the Oystons.
 
He told us he wanted a training ground #longGrass

He told us we were wrong to criticise the appointment of Appleton #custardpie

He told us there was a constantly updated and monitored list of options for players and head coaches that would allow the process to continue irrespective of personnel #bollocks
 
clappers said:
He told us he wanted a training ground #longGrass

He told us we were wrong to criticise the appointment of Appleton #custardpie

He told us there was a constantly updated and monitored list of options for players and head coaches that would allow the process to continue irrespective of personnel #bollocks
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would you like some Cheese with that Whine?
 
We’ll have a top 4 budget for league 1 (from a reliable source), with this in mind the aim would be top 4. Anything else is underperforming.

Trouble is we’ll also have a bottom 4 budget for championship if we go up, so we’ll probably be a yo-yo side for a few years until the infrastructure catches up
 
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