The scale of the mess

It does not look great, does it!

 

My fear is that Paul Conway will do as he did last summer and want unrealistic amounts for players, which clubs post Covid can't and won't pay. Mucking up any plans for sorting the squad in plenty of time.
It could take us a few seasons to recover from his incompetence last summer.

 

I’m sure you are right, but you appeared to be stating that Oxford doing marginally less well than in previous seasons was down to Kane.

 

Aitchison comes back in the final year of his contract. Do you see a problem?

 

That wasn't my intention, I just think it's a lot to fork out for a player off the back of a season where they finished lower than the previous two. But it depends how much they want him. I've nothing against Kane, and I think he could be a real asset for us next season.

 

That's always a risk while our Paulie is in power, unfortunately.

 

That's how I see things too mate, as I alluded to earlier with regards to Kane. I think him and Aitchinson could be real assets next season for us, and I'm excited by both. And I don't think we've 'mistreated' or mishandled their situations at all. I would've liked to have seen Kane come back in January, but then again we can't be blamed as a club for not dragging him back into a dog fight - if anything, we extended his happy spell in Oxfordshire and I'm sure he was grateful for it.

 

The club are on record as saying they will sell a player in the summer when that player only has a year of their contract left to run, if the player won't sign a new contract.
If a player has been with us two years, not made an appearance for us and barely even been in the town, what is their motivation to sign a new contract? Particularly as we're now in a division below where we were when they signed and, as has been outlined pretty extensively elsewhere, now have significantly less money and need to dramatically cut our wage bill.

 

It is generally accepted that we will be selling a number of our players in an attempt to plug the gap in our finances plus some will be moved on that we don’t want to resign and the loans will go back. That means we will need to bring players in to replace them so we have a workable squad. Before we get into signing new players or bringing in new loans we surely need to look at the likes of Aitchison even if they are reluctant to sign a new contracts. I happen to think that he and Kane would be great for us and I also would like us to look at Luke Thomas again

 

They don't have a choice. We need money ASAP and they can't hold out for unrealistic transfer fees. Looking at the possible figures we are in real trouble. The backers behind the HK investment vehicle are not going to put any of their own money in so we need to sell fast!

 

The problem is see is the usual one relating to players in their final year. If they turn out to be any good that is. Particularly when the priority is player trading.

 

Who knows, but I’m of the opinion that any offer may end up being too good to refuse. In the circumstances.

 

I agree with everything you said in your comment apart from the last 5 words, I have still got a mental picture of Thomas holding aloft an Ipswich shirt & making it clear that he hoped it would turn into a long term deal , basically he could not get away from us fast enough , well its not gone well since has it & he has failed to hold down a place in a team in the bottom division which is not great & also he was signed for a lot of money which will be reflected in his wage packet & we all know about the purse strings will need tightening , its a get rid from me.

 

The clubs put itself in a really crap position with Aitchison. They've farmed him out on loan for two years of a three year contract and now they have to sell him or risk losing him for nowt next summer. If you were Aitchison baring in mind you've no affinity to the club because you've never been here. Are you going to sign a new deal? I very much doubt it. Especially as Forest Green will want to sign him and they're in the same division.

 

Yeah you’re probably right but I know Thomas has had his personal issues so perhaps I’m in danger of being a bit soft with him.
But I do think there’s a tendency to write off young players too soon on this forum. Patrick Schmidt being another one who I think we should at least have another look at during preseason rather rather than just chuck him on the scrap heap. Yes I know he has had little game time whilst out on loan but equally the same could be said of Toby Sibbick when he was at Ostend, but he came back and was excellent under Val.
Incidentally I do wonder whether there is a general reluctance within the PMG group to have players foisted up them just for development purposes. After all I don’t think I’d be at all happy if if happened to us.

 

Christ not even I thought it was quite this bad- we will run out of cash then. Even if we don't any optimistic suggestions of a squad rebuild are probably false optimism. I think an early clue to the cashflow issues would be an internal managerial appointment- although I'm torn by this becuase I think Disco could be the man for the job.

 

As it stands we're speculating about nothing. There's every chance that might be proven correct. Likewise there's a chance they'll protect their investment from going tits up or sell us.

As for the playing squad. It looks pretty decent for next season with the players that will be returning bolstering the midfield. It's just the defence that looks a bit shaky. Will Sraha and Helliwell plug the gaps?

 

My post is not fact. It is my best guess based upon what happen in the Accounts last year, and what I think has happened this year. I think that we already made cuts in our wages bill, and I think the very poor summer transfer dealings under Conway were an attempt to control spending. However, I do think that we will find that we lost money again this season, which means that we have nothing to cushion our fall into League 1, unlike last time.

I believe that we will run short of cash next season. Does that mean Administration? Personally, I doubt it. Administration means a 12 point deduction and a certain drop into League 2. It would also mean that the owners have lost their £8m initial investment. I doubt that they would want that, and I expect them to put money into the club to stave off that possibility. Nevertheless, we will see our best players leave as we cut back on pay costs, and they will be replaced by loans, free transfers and promotions from the U23 team. There are also going to be redundancies. Cutting back is not pleasant for anyone.

 

It's where our glorious owners will source that money from that worries me... I think we may end up saddled with some bizarre loan, as Nice did.