The 5 year plan (5 Viewers)

[Perennial Lurker]

As it currently stands we are starting the second year of the much lauded 5 year plan .
Was going to post a similar thread last week before the transfer deadline closed but after Saturday I thought now would be the best time .
So how do we think it's going ?

Off the field we are starting to catch up with where we should be in relation to other top clubs in the division but there are still issues .

Training facilities constantly being improved
Stadium looks incredible
Club shop still has issues but is a far cry from 2-3 years ago
Sponsorship and shirts still seem to be having issues which causes frustration amongst the fan base
Seems to be a huge turnover of staff and indeed a development of many new roles . Some have caused consternation among some of us but we need to be on a level footing with other clubs .

Playing side again there is a big staff turnover off the pitch ,including Adi Viveash and Dennis Lawrence . Dennis went on to bigger and better things but we have no real clarity about what happened to Adi and rightly the fan base still feels a very close allegiance to him .
We have recruited a lot of coaches for it seems not many real roles but that is the modern way the further up the ladder we go . Again this seems to be causing fans a worry especially after Saturday
On the pitch the squad seems more robust in terms of numbers but on the flip side still short in key areas

 

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[Perennial Lurker]

From my point of view as a club we are in the healthiest position we have been for decades .
Expectations are going to be the big issue moving forward and a pragmatic view with regards to recruitment.
If you listen to Jimmy we have tried to make exciting signings but things that none of us know have scuppered them .
I think it's another season of being around the top 8-10 and then see if we can strengthen in January or next summer .

 

[JulianDarbyFTW]

I think this is classed as year 3. MR previously made reference to us already making the play-offs once out of the three expected times. I suspect the time ticking away is adding to the pressure.

 

[Perennial Lurker]

I think this is classed as year 3. MR previously made reference to us already making the play-offs once out of the three expected times. I suspect the time ticking away is adding to the pressure.

Ah didn't realise they included the first half season under DK.Does this give Robins a bit more money in the bank or add to the pressure of the plan?

 

[Flying Fokker]

Ah didn't realise they included the first half season under DK.Does this give Robins a bit more money in the bank or add to the pressure of the plan?

Well, those with Premier Cards are in the second season. So this is year 2 for me.

 

[The watchmaker]

I think King rowed back a bit on this recently noting that the championship is actually quite tough. End of the day 5 year plan or no, he/we just want the team to go for it every season.

 

[Perennial Lurker]

I think King rowed back a bit on this recently noting that the championship is actually quite tough. End of the day 5 year plan or no, he/we just want the team to go for it every season.

I get that and I'm equally frustrated after Friday and Saturday. However I feel when and if we do go up I think we will be in a very strong position to stay up . Becoming a yo-yo club can't be the vision of DK or anyone connected to the club

 

[SlowerThanPlatt]

I get that and I'm equally frustrated after Friday and Saturday. However I feel when and if we do go up I think we will be in a very strong position to stay up . Becoming a yo-yo club can't be the vision of DK or anyone connected to the club

I doubt King stay would stay at the club for long if we got promoted

 

[Perennial Lurker]

I doubt King stay would stay at the club for long if we got promoted

Maybe ,.maybe not . Seems to like the limelight so who knows

 

[quinn1971]

Realistically we’re not going up this season, not with that current squad,worrying thing is we’ll prob lose some of our best players next summer aswell, don’t mind being a selling club but we can’t keep doing it and not replacing them with similar, rudoni / ohare nowhere near good enough, hopefully we get somebody in January

 

[Perennial Lurker]

Realistically we’re not going up this season, not with that current squad,worrying thing is we’ll prob lose some of our best players next summer aswell, don’t mind being a selling club but we can’t keep doing it and not replacing them with similar, rudoni / ohare nowhere near good enough, hopefully we get somebody in January

If Jimmy is to believed we were looking at some exciting additions but that just adds to the feelings of frustration given " what could have been"

 

[SlowerThanPlatt]

Maybe ,.maybe not . Seems to like the limelight so who knows

The whole purpose is a quick flip

 

[quinn1971]

If Jimmy is to believed we were looking at some exciting additions but that just adds to the feelings of frustration given " what could have been"

Be good to know why we didn’t get them ? Especially a midfielder we were desperate for, and if we couldnt afford to keep hamer ohare and Palmer not sure what quality of signings they were, if we’re not going to budge on wages might be difficult to get who we want in

 

[The watchmaker]

Realistically we’re not going up this season, not with that current squad,worrying thing is we’ll prob lose some of our best players next summer aswell, don’t mind being a selling club but we can’t keep doing it and not replacing them with similar, rudoni / ohare nowhere near good enough, hopefully we get somebody in January

Come on Quinn - let's not throw in the towel after 4 games!

We might not get much from the next 3 -Watford (A), Swansea (H), Leeds (A) but as seen in previous seasons of you are mid table at the turn of the year you can still make a bid for top 6.

 

[Perennial Lurker]

The whole purpose is a quick flip

With a 5 year plan?
Not being flippant but it doesn't make any sense for a quick flip if you're investing 5-6 years of your time in the process

 

[Perennial Lurker]

Be good to know why we didn’t get them ? Especially a midfielder we were desperate for, and if we couldnt afford to keep hamer ohare and Palmer not sure what quality of signings they were, if we’re not going to budge on wages might be difficult to get who we want in

There is the one thing none of us are privvy to .

 

[quinn1971]

Come on Quinn - let's not throw in the towel after 4 games!

We might not get much from the next 3 -Watford (A), Swansea (H), Leeds (A) but as seen in previous seasons of you are mid table at the turn of the year you can still make a bid for top 6.

I’m not, I’ve said it from the start,just being realistic, didn’t go down well Saturday either, maybe if we were a bit more honest about the squad we wouldn’t be getting this over reaction after 4 games, ok we’re missing sheaf massively but we can’t keep depending on one player, sorry to say but the players we’ve brought in, exception of Bassette maybe? aren’t good enough, rudoni, Asante and Clarke won’t get us a top 6, same defence that leaked goals last season, sometimes you have to take the sky blue glasses off and have a look and be honest, maybe add a couple in January and it’ll be different, I’ll still be there every week and wont be calling for robins out,he’s got plenty in the bank for me,

 

[Evo1883]

 

[Evo1883]

It's not how much you spend , it's how you spend it

 

[fernandopartridge]

4 games lads, 4 games.

 

[BlueSkiesForever]

I think if we just take this year out of it in terms of promotion (not that I’ve given up all hope yet) then realistically we’re doing well. Take the disappointing results out of it, as a club we’re doing really well, much improved in nearly all areas of the club.

I’m looking forward to next season when we hopefully have the Gyokeres + Hamer money, plus money from Van Ewijk/Simms/Wright/Sheaf sales, have another rebuild with upwards of £30m-40m, then it’ll be crunch time for Robins and the recruitment.

 

[Grendel]

From my point of view as a club we are in the healthiest position we have been for decades .
Expectations are going to be the big issue moving forward and a pragmatic view with regards to recruitment.
If you listen to Jimmy we have tried to make exciting signings but things that none of us know have scuppered them .
I think it's another season of being around the top 8-10 and then see if we can strengthen in January or next summer .

You say we are healthy but the licence is short term with no sign of any longer term arrangement.

Also operational losses are significant and will increase. We will then be under pressure to sell assets at the end of this season to ensure a transfer kitty and absorb an ever increasing wage bill.

I don't see King as in for the long term but to sell a fully structures and working club within that timescale which will include a consistent push for the Premier League.

 

[Perennial Lurker]

You say we are healthy but the licence is short term with no sign of any longer term arrangement.

Also operational losses are significant and will increase. We will then be under pressure to sell assets at the end of this season to ensure a transfer kitty and absorb an ever increasing wage bill.

I don't see King as in for the long term but to sell a fully structures and working club within that timescale which will include a consistent push for the Premier League.

Yes all very salient points

Will be interesting to see if the plan adapts to filter in all this added expense

 

[Cally Fedora]

King has a quandary. If he wants the tools to get promoted he needs to break the wage structure. You need a miracle to get promoted with a £20k salary per player cap. That’s the tension. Do we go for it and overstretch the finances and all that brings or do we hope for that miracle season where things click and a relatively lowly paid squad get us promoted.

 

[pusbccfc]

I love how deep our fans look into every comment made by Doug and Robins.

If Doug hadn't said he wanted to make the Play Offs 3x out of 5, people would be slating him for not being ambitious. Now people are losing their heads after 4 games because they think we have no hope of achieving it.

Robins is getting slammed because he dared to say the fans need to calm the expectations. He's not saying as aren't going for the Play Offs, he's asking fans not to boo the players and abuse them on social media after 4 games.

Has it been good so far? Not really.

Has it been as bad as people are making out? Absolutely not.

I love the idea that we wouldn't have played that bad if Adi was here or if we had Kelly and McFadzean forgetting that last season we lost to Rotherham and Cardiff away with all three of those.

 

[COVKIDSNEVERQUIT]

I doubt King stay would stay at the club for long if we got promoted

Maybe ,.maybe not . Seems to like the limelight so who knows

What odd things to say, you can't get Bigger Limelight than being in the Premier League, which is Shown All Over the World

 

[lord_garrincha]

4 games lads, 4 games.

AND SUNDERLAND ARE ALREADY PROMOTED!!!

 

[blunted]

As it currently stands we are starting the second year of the much lauded 5 year plan .
Was going to post a similar thread last week before the transfer deadline closed but after Saturday I thought now would be the best time .
So how do we think it's going ?

Off the field we are starting to catch up with where we should be in relation to other top clubs in the division but there are still issues .

Training facilities constantly being improved
Stadium looks incredible
Club shop still has issues but is a far cry from 2-3 years ago
Sponsorship and shirts still seem to be having issues which causes frustration amongst the fan base
Seems to be a huge turnover of staff and indeed a development of many new roles . Some have caused consternation among some of us but we need to be on a level footing with other clubs .

Playing side again there is a big staff turnover off the pitch ,including Adi Viveash and Dennis Lawrence . Dennis went on to bigger and better things but we have no real clarity about what happened to Adi and rightly the fan base still feels a very close allegiance to him .
We have recruited a lot of coaches for it seems not many real roles but that is the modern way the further up the ladder we go . Again this seems to be causing fans a worry especially after Saturday
On the pitch the squad seems more robust in terms of numbers but on the flip side still short in key areas

On the pitch has not been great so far. We have played Stoke who had seven players injured, had not finished their recruitment and no recognised striker (loss). Oxford who are tipped for relegation but are getting home results. We smashed them but in the end were lucky to (win). Bristol are good at home and I thought we were lucky to get a point (draw). Norwich had not won all season and have been poor away for some time. After an OK first half, we unluckily lost a goal to a deflection but were dreadful in midfield in the second half (loss). Second team, two cup matches we have just about done enough (2 wins).
The big worry has been the lack of any coherent football strategy in the league matches apart from Oxford.
We will be playing much better teams soon and we need to get going all over the pitch.
Off the pitch has improved regarding the organisational arrangements and facilities etc.
Too early to know if the new coaching set up will be an improvement or if we will slip back from an upward trajectory of continuous success.
People are beginning to question the recruitment policy that seems to be focused solely on improvement and profit. Very few promoted teams don't have a loan to fill out a short term weakness. Thought Doyle was the best player for Norwich. Not signing some experience or a player with leadership qualities looks a mistake.

 

[SkyBlue_Bear83]

My over riding concern is that if we are poor this season, then season ticket sales will significantly drop next season. Which in turn may lead to Doug getting cold feet on the 5 year plan and start tightening the budgets and cashing in on top players without significant reinvestment.

 

[wingy]

What odd things to say, you can't get Bigger Limelight than being in the Premier League, which is Shown All Over the World

Yes but Domestically it's this league that is the exciting one, isn't it?

 

[AFCCOVENTRY]

My over riding concern is that if we are poor this season, then season ticket sales will significantly drop next season. Which in turn may lead to Doug getting cold feet on the 5 year plan and start tightening the budgets and cashing in on top players without significant reinvestment.

If we’re not promoted then MVE, Wright, Sheaf, Simms will potentially be gone. Conservative £50m there. Big issue will be I think Robins won’t be trusted with the money and will likely be sacked.

Judging by our recruitment these days it seems more set for a dynamic up and coming foreign manager who is tactically astute, plays a good brand of football and is just a different breed of manager now.

I really hope Robins turns it around and we finish in the play offs this season. But we’ve made critical errors in recruitment in CM and of experienced leaders which is likely to hurt us.

 

[Evo1883]

If we’re not promoted then MVE, Wright, Sheaf, Simms will potentially be gone. Conservative £50m there. Big issue will be I think Robins won’t be trusted with the money and will likely be sacked.

Judging by our recruitment these days it seems more set for a dynamic up and coming foreign manager who is tactically astute, plays a good brand of football and is just a different breed of manager now.

I really hope Robins turns it around and we finish in the play offs this season. But we’ve made critical errors in recruitment in CM and of experienced leaders which is likely to hurt us.

You'd surely look to sack the people recommending the players first ?

We know Robins can do well with the right players

 

[wingy]

You'd surely look to sack the people recommending the players first ?

We know Robins can do well with the right players

Have they done a poor job?
Aside from the lack of a hamer being prioritised?

 

[Evo1883]

Have they done a poor job?
Aside from the lack of a hamer being prioritised?

I think the squad is slightly unbalanced and lacking some experience.. we know that the club doesn't want to loan players in or sign players that we would deem experienced

 

[wingy]

I think the squad is slightly unbalanced and lacking some experience.. we know that the club doesn't want to loan players in or sign players that we would deem experienced

Or retain players who demand higher salaries!