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Gary's January Transfer Window

Snoop Fog

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Snoop according to Wiki I think it was wider than that.
Interesting that Wiki note that "It is also intended to reduce the increasing gap between the big and small football clubs. " - now what would us Grecians like ?
UTC

The Premier League has never had a max number of foreigners allowed. Back in the Wenger managerial days Arsenal named a matchday squad of all foreigners.
 

Red Devon

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Maybe GC is lining up a two or three Marquee signings for us 😀
 

Grecian in Guzz

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The Premier League has never had a max number of foreigners allowed. Back in the Wenger managerial days Arsenal named a matchday squad of all foreigners.
From Wiki Legal position in the European Union section it looks like the European parliament rejected the 6+5 rule as "illegal" - now we are out of Europe I guess there is nothing to stop the FA adopting idea.
 

Rosencrantz

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From Wiki Legal position in the European Union section it looks like the European parliament rejected the 6+5 rule as "illegal" - now we are out of Europe I guess there is nothing to stop the FA adopting idea.
Nothing except the big six not wanting to be put at a "disadvantage" in European games.
 

Grecian in Guzz

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Nothing except the big six not wanting to be put at a "disadvantage" in European games.
Which brings us around neatly to the reason why the Government got involved when the "Big 6" tried to set up a Euro League !
 

Colesman Ballz

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What has happened to the Government's old stance on work permits, only issuing them to players from countries that were ranked high enough internationally and then only if they played certain percentage of games. Being a member of the EU buggered that up with freedom of movement, but surely post Brexit that could be implemented ?
 

Snoop Fog

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It would be nice to somehow maintain the momentum gained from one of our promotions. The size of the city is growing and there seems more of an appetite to watch professional sport. Nobody is knocking trust ownership just a sense of frustration that we're never seemingly going to be able to make that next step of being a top 10 side in this division.
I agree and it's not unrealistic for a city like Exeter to have Championship football. As you say its a growing city and there's certainly worse areas to live. The excuse of our geographical location doesn't help to attract players doesn't wash with me, its purely about money. If we could match other L1 clubs wages we'd attract the players we wanted no problem. We're a stable, well respected club, and if the money was there the players would be as well.

I, and many others, have said it time and time again, to the point where its getting boring, but the current model is unlikely to allow us to improve our league status beyond what it currently is. In fact, our current league status is pretty incredible considering the lack of financial backing, which just goes to show how we'll run and organised the club is. The truth is, as a trust owned club, L2/conference is our level and in time if nothing changes we'll find ourselves back there.

So, we need more money, and this has to come from private investment. It doesn't mean selling our soul or having unscrupulous owners robbing us like we've had in the past, and it surely doesn't have to mean the end of the trust. There must be a hybrid model of trust ownership with external investment that can work and we should do all we can to explore this. We were the first club to properly be successful with a trust ownership so we shouldn't be scared of looking at new and innovative ways to progress, even if other clubs don't currently follow suit.
 

Grecian Max

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Even ignoring whether we want to ever be privately owned again - in view of the fact that it was a total disaster before, that was within a couple of days of us ceasing to exist…
I don't think being fan-owned defines Exeter City, it wasn't always the case through my time supporting. We've got ourselves into a position now whereby there is an element of politics at play - it has both it's positives and negatives. Comparing to the "total disaster", well you go on to mention 119 years, the majority of which was privately owned. Only once we get to the 90s and the absolute shitshow that followed do we see us twice have issues. However that has been and gone - remember those lot down the road also came very, very close to oblivion but have now found a solid way forward. What came before doesn't have to define the future.

Why do you think ‘the right persons are out there’? They haven’t been in 119 years! And football club ownership has got much more venal in recent years. We have always hoped for a fairy godmother/father - but they don’t exist for a club like us. It’s all about potential (for making money), and we have no great untapped potential.
You're making a claim that cannot be verified. Football has changed (and will continue to) enormously since the Trust took over in 2003. Bear in mind the Premier League was a mere 11 years old at that point. Potential investors/owners no longer have to come from the surrounding region, no longer have to be from some local haulage company. The English league, it's system and high levels of support at all level means we now have people from outside the UK looking in and wanting to do something interesting. 7 clubs in League One are now owned by US based investors. You might mock me and say why would anyone be interested - we have no idea as we have the shutters down.

I also take issue with the no untapped potential - the Chiefs have shown with the right growth that sport is of interest to the SW public, and yes that includes football. The City is one of the more affluent in the country and is growing. To be a top half League One club should absolutely within reach. Project 6,000 was considered pie in the sky just a couple of years ago and yet here we are with better gates than we got with Tis which included a double promotion.

we are self sufficient. Why would anyone risk that?
I take issue with this - we are currently "self sufficient" if you want to call it that - our model heavily relies on producing players and selling them on. There are no guarantees with that, yes we make our odds better than other clubs but it's still a gamble. 2014 and PFA loan and subsequent "play through Grimes at all costs" and nearly dropping to non league again highlights this. When it goes right, we are a standard bearer of "how its done" but when it goes wrong, there's just as much of steep hill to fall down as a dodgy owner.

The model is clearly creaking at this level, you don't need to be an expert to make that assessment. We have some of our best every attendances, off the back of promotion and have sold 2 players for decent money (more may follow) yet still no movement in the transfer window for the 3rd time in a row. This time with a new team too. Only loans look likely and we have made one permanent signing in 18 months. Is this self sufficient? Really?
 

grecIAN Harris

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I agree and it's not unrealistic for a city like Exeter to have Championship football. As you say its a growing city and there's certainly worse areas to live. The excuse of our geographical location doesn't help to attract players doesn't wash with me, its purely about money. If we could match other L1 clubs wages we'd attract the players we wanted no problem. We're a stable, well respected club, and if the money was there the players would be as well.

I, and many others, have said it time and time again, to the point where its getting boring, but the current model is unlikely to allow us to improve our league status beyond what it currently is. In fact, our current league status is pretty incredible considering the lack of financial backing, which just goes to show how we'll run and organised the club is. The truth is, as a trust owned club, L2/conference is our level and in time if nothing changes we'll find ourselves back there.

So, we need more money, and this has to come from private investment. It doesn't mean selling our soul or having unscrupulous owners robbing us like we've had in the past, and it surely doesn't have to mean the end of the trust. There must be a hybrid model of trust ownership with external investment that can work and we should do all we can to explore this. We were the first club to properly be successful with a trust ownership so we shouldn't be scared of looking at new and innovative ways to progress, even if other clubs don't currently follow suit.
Either that or The Trust has to be extremely creative in raising funds. The trouble with being extremely creative is that it usually means a lot of outlay in the first place. For example, putting solar panels on the roofs of the stands may pull in some decent revenue (I don't that will but just using it to highlight a point) but the initial outlay to set it up is going to be a fair wedge.
 

Benjisheps14

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GC needs to hurry up and make a signing ASAP if nothing else just to get this thread back on track!! 😂😂
 
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