David

So, two games this weekend then. Anyone heard anything about what kind of lineups we can expect over the two days?

Not quite the tooth fairy, but we're going to see a bit more money from the end of next season I think from a new TV deal. The shortfall was always going to be from now until that point, and any money we bring in from the Pearson move, possibly the Leitch move and the Ben Hall move will help to bridge that gap and will allow us to extend the contracts we've extended, as well as bring back McDonald (surprised he would want to come back right enough, considering we "reneged" on his contract) and sign the players we've signed. Everything seems to be ticking along reasonably well though from what I've seen, so I'm not sure why you're losing your shit on a regular basis.

He'll make more money in India most likely, and we're getting a fee for him. Given how the coming years finances have been described we're probably just happy to get something in the bank.

This the same Ben Heneghan who was supposedly drawing interest from the likes of Blackburn, Hull, Burnley & Brighton earlier this year? Not too shabby a piece of business.

So, after all the retweets and suchlike did any of our out of contract players actually attend that out of contract players thing in Airdrie or wherever it was?

We can only really go on our own experiences, and as someone who's experienced how fans are treated in US sports stadiums and also in Scottish football stadiums, I know where I feel I was treated better.

I'm not talking about the pricing, i'm talking about the general experience. I've also been on holiday in the US and been to sporting events. The way you're treated is miles apart from how you're treated at a Scottish football game. In fact, the way you're treated at a football game in Spain, for example, is miles apart from how you're treated here. Sometimes I actually wonder if the people running our game are deliberately trying to turn fans off to it.

Yeah, but the US sports teams treat their fans as paying customers, not over-loyal mugs.

Until then we'll continue pouring money into getting all of the season books printed and assembled every year. Makes sense.

Lasley.

It'll also help that we're supposed to have one of the best summers in 30 odd years this year, so even if the weather was an argument, it shouldn't be this year.

If you've been following the various Society threads you'll know that we're in a position now where we really need to keep an eye on our outgoings. The days of budgeting for top six & a decent cup run are well & truly over. We're budgeting for 10th and no cup run, which is how it should be.

The new guy who's running the comms side of things now, Craig? He's very receptive to anyone who wants to get involved I think.

I think it's pretty obvious that we should be looking to sell someone this summer, especially with how McMahon was talking at that AGM. If we get offered six figures for Ainsworth we need to take it, and to be honest I'd rather we sold him than Moult.

Well, I still think that it feels as though they're pushing against each other in certain ways to a degree, and that's not good.

Fuck me, that's a cracking price!

I could be very wrong of course, but I get the feeling that the club itself and the society aren't always on the same page a lot of the time. I'd even go as far as saying that I don't think they work all that well together. For example, the businesses that the Society are looking to recruit and get on board are also being coveted by the club for possible sponsorship and suchlike, so you basically have two different sections of the same football club angling for a businesses money. The entire concept seems to be at odds with the club in many ways from what I've seen.

I'd say that we sell around 90% of our players for less than they're actually worth. Obviously I'm not privvy to actual transfer fees, but when the actual Chairman and other members of the club admit that we haven't been operating properly in that regard I'm going to believe them.

No, you're right. Our transfer record has exemplary up to this point.

It doesn't matter if other clubs were represented at the meeting or not, he made it pretty clear from where I was sitting that we're going to be facing a tough year financially. That Q&A last night wasn't "private", it's been widely discussed on this forum and there's even a video of it available online for anyone who wants to watch. In the past we've always accepted lowball offers for players because we needed the money, and by openly admitting that we're facing problems this coming season we're basically telling other clubs that we're not really in a position to knock back any half decent offers we get. Business as usual in that regard.

Have you listened to his interview from last week on the podcast?

Circumstances dictate what we are offered for players. When our Chairman is sitting at a Q&A telling everyone that we'll be finding it tough financially this year he's basically telling other clubs to lowball us.

The gist I got from McMahon last night at that AGM is that we're going to be stretched financially this year, and that we're hoping that the increase in TV money the season after next will see us okay. I wouldn't be at all surprised if we see either one of or both Moult and Johnson go this season if halfway decent offers come in.

I'm only telling you what I've heard, there's no need to be a snarky cunt.

That's what we should be budgeting for every season in my opinion, and I've made that point before. If we attain a higher level of success or sell on a player for a decent wedge then we can look at how best to invest the profit as & when, but 10th and no cup run is how we should be budgeting. I also had a feeling that the glut of signings under Baraclough would come back to bite us on the arse. A few disagreed with me at the time, but I was confused that Les was preaching about staying within budget and cutting our cloth only to go out and sign a shitload of players, especially when we should have been drafting from our youth team.