Good 2-0 win for them this evening against the third bottom team before kick-off. From being in an even worse position than us at the start of the transfer window they are now just 5 points off survival. They are unbeaten in three games since they've been able to field their January signings. Interestingly and annoyingly in relation to ourselves they were 'allowed' by the owners to appoint a very experienced French manager in January and bring in three very experienced players (a defender, 30, a forward 30 and a midfielder, 26) from two Ligue 1 clubs and Panathinaikos. My contact over there says the defender and midfielder have stabilised things enormously and are helping the youngsters no end, whilst the manager has instilled passion. Even Thiam's got two in two!
Their fans protests seem very well organised. Maybe that has played a part in the boards change of tact over there. I honestly think that rather than a change of ownership, we just need them to alter their approach to on field matters, in a similar way to how they have at Nancy. I think that needs to be the focus, rather than spray painting Conway out in the Ponte End toilets.
There are other matters that persuade me that we need these owners gone, from their whole ethos, their inability/unwillingness to complete the purchase transaction, the legal machinations, the lack of vision for the team and ground and last but not least the £750k debacle but a changed approach to on-field matters would definitely be a start. Albeit the last chance to do this may now have gone by them using the January window - the self-sustainability model only works on Championship incomes and we are going to find ourselves hemmed in financially in L1 this time, I fear. Last time we were in L1 we went down with a much more-suited squad and didn't have to sell. We made a £5m operating loss before sales in L1 last time and were able to cope because we had equivalent cash on the balance sheet. That cash isn't there now. We also had £3.1m of ticket sales and I reckon a good £1m is going to come off that. I do not believe we have a squad of players capable of competing at the right end of L1 now, let alone after the c. £6m of sales needed to balance the budget. Others may believe differently but there is no evidence to base that on imho. Unless there is a change of ownership I can only see us going one way on the pitch and off it I can only see one of three things happening at some point in either the 22/23 or 23/24 season, namely the owners will have to pump cash in to enable day to day bills to be met (unlikely given their ethos unless it's a Nice style loan with punitive interest rate), or, sell the club at a loss to their initial investment, or, put us into administration. Totally agree that the way the 'Conway Out' thing have approached matters is wrong but the seeming lack of any meaningful activity from other quarters is also damaging long term. As you say, a well organised, noisy, colourful but seemingly peaceful rally by Nancy supporters groups in alliance seems to have at least prompted some attention.
https://www.francebleu.fr/sports/fo...n-s-inquiete-pour-l-avenir-du-club-1652845955 Interesting read. The local mayor had a meeting yesterday with Conman but Ganaye didn't turn up for it again.
Ganaye is a paid employee of the club. Not sure what he could contribute given Conway, spokesman for the ownership, is in the same room. Definitely understand the strength of feeling. From what I can see it's the first time Nancy have been relegated to the third tier in their entire history.
