grecian-near-hell
Well-known Exeweb poster
Now that all the excitement of promotion is dying down, and the doubters have been proved wrong in that we do want to progress in the EFL reality is starting to kick in.
Firstly the reality of being a supporter owned club in League one (division 3 old money) in 2022. Whilst you expect the big boys to outgun us for players, however we are seeing the "minnows" with purportedly wealthy backers to attract "star names" or quality players who we may or may not have been interested in, despite record season ticket sales and the attraction of playing in a higher division and again the opportunity to live in God's own County. I know this has always been the case but this season it is more apparent with the likes of Crawley signing Telford, and when we were in the fourth division we could get by with what we had and functioned as a team. However up a league we will need more quality in the squad, and I am sure that there are a number of players whose agents are overpricing their talents (similar to the current housing market) and their demands will reduce as the season encroaches. But it is a problem
Secondly, the initial talk is retaining and consolidating our position in League one, I feel that our current squad with a couple of additions should hold their own in the division, however over time what is the future? We have relied on a mix of seasoned pros, mixed with perceived average signings and academy players to form a cohesive successful squad, which again has worked well over the years, the future will be different. Will we be getting the number of academy products through the system, with the increase in quality in the division, as we are finding will we be able to attract the seasoned pros that can also help support our system. How imperative to our survival is project 6000 (or whatever it's called), do we need this many supporters for every game to balance the books.
Thirdly what are our ambitions now that we have left the fourth division behind us, do we want to progress to the second division, and all the extra cost that that would bring, or is it just a case of consolidating in league one until the time comes for us to return to the fourth division. If we stagnate in division three, then will supporter interest wane as this could be perceived as no ambition, therefore causing more pressure on the budget. How much longer have we got of the Ollie monies to support the club infrastructure, as Matt has said if we had all our academy products in the one team it would be one helluva team, but there would be no club so we will still need to sell
It is a fine balancing act and I would like to think that we could dip our toes in the waters of the championship just once in my life time but not at all costs, as with everything in this world money seems to be the major problem to progress so what are the ways forward?
Where will we be in 2027
Firstly the reality of being a supporter owned club in League one (division 3 old money) in 2022. Whilst you expect the big boys to outgun us for players, however we are seeing the "minnows" with purportedly wealthy backers to attract "star names" or quality players who we may or may not have been interested in, despite record season ticket sales and the attraction of playing in a higher division and again the opportunity to live in God's own County. I know this has always been the case but this season it is more apparent with the likes of Crawley signing Telford, and when we were in the fourth division we could get by with what we had and functioned as a team. However up a league we will need more quality in the squad, and I am sure that there are a number of players whose agents are overpricing their talents (similar to the current housing market) and their demands will reduce as the season encroaches. But it is a problem
Secondly, the initial talk is retaining and consolidating our position in League one, I feel that our current squad with a couple of additions should hold their own in the division, however over time what is the future? We have relied on a mix of seasoned pros, mixed with perceived average signings and academy players to form a cohesive successful squad, which again has worked well over the years, the future will be different. Will we be getting the number of academy products through the system, with the increase in quality in the division, as we are finding will we be able to attract the seasoned pros that can also help support our system. How imperative to our survival is project 6000 (or whatever it's called), do we need this many supporters for every game to balance the books.
Thirdly what are our ambitions now that we have left the fourth division behind us, do we want to progress to the second division, and all the extra cost that that would bring, or is it just a case of consolidating in league one until the time comes for us to return to the fourth division. If we stagnate in division three, then will supporter interest wane as this could be perceived as no ambition, therefore causing more pressure on the budget. How much longer have we got of the Ollie monies to support the club infrastructure, as Matt has said if we had all our academy products in the one team it would be one helluva team, but there would be no club so we will still need to sell
It is a fine balancing act and I would like to think that we could dip our toes in the waters of the championship just once in my life time but not at all costs, as with everything in this world money seems to be the major problem to progress so what are the ways forward?
Where will we be in 2027