Matt Taylor - 2 Years As ECFC Manager...

[DB9]

Football is for better or worse a results business and we are no different, despite our tendency to think we are some superior beast because of our ownership model and Academy.

Promotion to L1 has to be the goal for most L2 teams including ECFC. Being top half is not enough. If you wanted to be negative you could point out that 12 teams have been promoted in those three years but we are not one of them.

I like MT as a manager but he has one more year IMO. After that, if we are still in L2 we should probably see if someone else can deliver.

Looking at the improvements off the pitch like the proposed C&F developments, The fantastic Social Media platform we have and the all round positivity around the club it is IMHO ready to get to L1, Not just to struggle but really consolidate, It is now the time for the on field to improve, I know 23 other teams are thinking the same but I don't care about them, Its like when you have to rely on other results, You just think of yourselves, Let them worry about their team. I don't want us to be the "Nearly team" of L2.

This is not about going for bust, It wont happen because we have people in charge who are sensible, Its taken them this long to get the off field in the brilliant state its in now, They won't blow all that!

 

[chunkymorrinmunter]

A decent FA cup run would make a nice change. Help the coffers to.

 

[Bittners a Legend]

Football is for better or worse a results business and we are no different, despite our tendency to think we are some superior beast because of our ownership model and Academy.

I'm not saying I disagree but is it truly a results business for us? Obviously in the context of not getting relegated or being really rubbish I accept that it is but would being a middling or struggling League One club be that much different for us than being a top end League Two club? I'm obviously not saying that I don't want promotion because presumably every City fan does but I'm not sure football at L2 level is a "results business" in the same way that it is in the Premier League where the difference between relegation and survival, or between 4th and 5th, is many millions of pounds.

Others will disagree but I see little evidence that Matt Taylor isn't capable of delivering promotion - it is just a fact of life that only 4 of 24 clubs can actually get promoted. That doesn't make the other 20 managers rubbish and in need of losing their jobs because of this perception of a "results business". I accept I am almost certainly in a minority but "results business" I think is fairly meaningless at our level and while finishing 8th or 9th is very disappointing I don't believe it actually makes Taylor a failure or makes a huge difference to the club.

 

[LDNGrecian]

Happy with where we have finished in the league but am worried by the culture and feel of the club at the moment. The way MT treated Sweeney at the beginning of the season last year was naive and daft. He’ll probably be out the door. Can we really say there is a cohesive and together attitude when Law left mid season and our captain joins a team that finished below us in the league? His public comments about Sparkes and Seymour also seem to be unnecessary.

The signing of Stubbs as well is one that I cannot help but see negatively. Spending budget in January on a player who was crocked for the season and potentially longer term is incredibly wasteful, especially when we were crying out for some more cover up front. Taylor seems to be following Mourinho’s style of fitness by saying players need to ‘make’ themselves fit. I feel like things could fall apart this year unless Taylor addresses some of these man management tendencies.

 

[John William]

I'm not saying I disagree but is it truly a results business for us? Obviously in the context of not getting relegated or being really rubbish I accept that it is but would being a middling or struggling League One club be that much different for us than being a top end League Two club?

Yes. Undoubtedly.

League 1 clubs get 50% more from the FA, PL and TV deal than L2 clubs. This makes a significant difference to turnover.

Playing "better" or more strongly supported teams also increases attendances - who wouldn't want to watch us play Sunderland or Oxford rather than Colchester or Walsall?

So being a middling L1 club would definitely be better financially and in terms of the fan "experience" than always the bridesmaids in L2.

 

[DB9]

I'm not saying I disagree but is it truly a results business for us? Obviously in the context of not getting relegated or being really rubbish I accept that it is but would being a middling or struggling League One club be that much different for us than being a top end League Two club? I'm obviously not saying that I don't want promotion because presumably every City fan does but I'm not sure football at L2 level is a "results business" in the same way that it is in the Premier League where the difference between relegation and survival, or between 4th and 5th, is many millions of pounds.

Others will disagree but I see little evidence that Matt Taylor isn't capable of delivering promotion - it is just a fact of life that only 4 of 24 clubs can actually get promoted. That doesn't make the other 20 managers rubbish and in need of losing their jobs because of this perception of a "results business". I accept I am almost certainly in a minority but "results business" I think is fairly meaningless at our level and while finishing 8th or 9th is very disappointing I don't believe it actually makes Taylor a failure or makes a huge difference to the club.

I think you'd have to ask MT about whether its a "Results Business" but as a fan L2 is not where i want to be, I accept it because its where we are but i want to see City go up, The good feeling that will bring to Exeter as a whole, There is far more media attention to a club that gets promoted than in the past and it does bring its own financial rewards (Even though that reward is not huge). One thing I'll agree with is that we don't go up and just struggle and its down to those that work at the club to make sure that doesn't happen. We will be though in that position like this seasons promoted clubs, their best players will be "Cherry Picked" by other, bigger clubs then it comes down to recruitment, Those that leave are not replaced by cheaper options if we are really serious about consolidating. Also going up, Some of the teams that come down to SJP have huge followings and are big clubs, Wil make a cracking atmosphere at SJP.

 

[SEA Grecian]

Football is for better or worse a results business and we are no different, despite our tendency to think we are some superior beast because of our ownership model and Academy.

Promotion to L1 has to be the goal for most L2 teams including ECFC. Being top half is not enough. If you wanted to be negative you could point out that 12 teams have been promoted in those three years but we are not one of them.

I like MT as a manager but he has one more year IMO. After that, if we are still in L2 we should probably see if someone else can deliver.

Of course, football is a results business but it's a result business that not only takes place on a playing field that is not level but where we have no idea what our competitors are spending. People will point to Ajose and Stubbs but overall I think given the way we cut our budget we significantly over-performed to finish 9th.

And while I agree that next season is clearly a big one for Matt Taylor I think the person who realises that most is Matt Taylor himself. If we do under-perform next season it wouldn't surprise me if he chose to leave before he was pushed.

 

[Bittners a Legend]

Yes. Undoubtedly.

League 1 clubs get 50% more from the FA, PL and TV deal than L2 clubs. This makes a significant difference to turnover.

Playing "better" or more strongly supported teams also increases attendances - who wouldn't want to watch us play Sunderland or Oxford rather than Colchester or Walsall?

So being a middling L1 club would definitely be better financially and in terms of the fan "experience" than always the bridesmaids in L2.

I don't doubt our income would increase but I suspect so too would our expenditure to fund trying to stay in the division.

A middling L1 club might be better for fan experience and income (or certainly for the first couple of seasons, after that people might get bored - look what happened to Plymouth's attendances in the Championship) but would a struggling L1 club provide a better one?

Just to be clear - I'm not suggesting we are better off as a club in L2 than L1 but simply that I'm not convinced it actually makes much business difference to us so as to make it worth replacing a manager because we finished 8th and not 7th.

I think you'd have to ask MT about whether its a "Results Business" but as a fan L2 is not where i want to be, I accept it because its where we are but i want to see City go up, The good feeling that will bring to Exeter as a whole, There is far more media attention to a club that gets promoted than in the past and it does bring its own financial rewards (Even though that reward is not huge). One thing I'll agree with is that we don't go up and just struggle and its down to those that work at the club to make sure that doesn't happen. We will be though in that position like this seasons promoted clubs, their best players will be "Cherry Picked" by other, bigger clubs then it comes down to recruitment, Those that leave are not replaced by cheaper options if we are really serious about consolidating. Also going up, Some of the teams that come down to SJP have huge followings and are big clubs, Wil make a cracking atmosphere at SJP.

As a fan I too want to see us experience the euphoria of promotion but that's not my argument. My question is whether a manager who finished 5th, 8th and 9th is really a failure and should lose his job as a result because he didn't achieve promotion. I do accept, equally, that you wouldn't keep a manager forever and that expectation this season is rightly going to be higher with a bigger budget but what he has done so far has in my opinion been reasonably decent and that's why I'm querying the results business thing in that context.

 

[C j phill]

Perhaps it's time for a Fans Forum with the Club and Trust Chairs, plus first team manager to attend, with them each giving a 15 minute "state of the nation" presentation, followed by a Question and Answer session. It could either be held soon after the final lockdown relaxation takes place, whenever that might be, or via Zoom.

 

[John William]

I don't doubt our income would increase but I suspect so too would our expenditure to fund trying to stay in the division.

True but the critical thing is we would have more freedom - Under the SCMP half "qualifying turnover" can be spent on P1 players wages budget. Extra cascade funding and gate money would all increase turnover, even if it also led to increased expenditure. "Bigger pot, more p*ss".

Also it would mean us less dependent on the phasing of transfer windfall income, which can only be used in the FY it is received.