Edon Pruti

[Sir Rebel1965]

30 minutes ago, GlenSTFC said:

You do realise the club doesn’t employ an experienced professional commercial person to sell the club to businesses? The current 4 team board have plenty to do running the club so to expect them to have the time and expertise to go and sell just wouldn’t happen.

Glen

And how many sponsors have you bought in, probably the same as 98 percent of fans, and yes I am in that 98 percent, it is not easy to get your employer interested when it is either not their team or they are not a local company.

There is a named Commercial Manager on the board, Craig Edwards, so there is someone with an eye on that side of the income streams.

 

[GlenSTFC]

13 minutes ago, Sir Rebel1965 said:

Glen

And how many sponsors have you bought in, probably the same as 98 percent of fans, and yes I am in that 98 percent, it is not easy to get your employer interested when it is either not their team or they are not a local company.

There is a named Commercial Manager on the board, Craig Edwards, so there is someone with an eye on that side of the income streams.

 

Yes but is Craig a professional in this field? Until we employ a professional you can’t expect businesses to be queuing up to be associated with the club! Let’s be fair what would Mars get out of any sponsorship or advertising with us? It’s more of a donation if they did. You appear to have a grudge with certain individuals but could you run the club better? Why you not make any mistakes? You obviously place Steve on the tallest pedestal going and yes he did wonders for our club but he was putting a lot of money in too. So once he left the club obviously had to cut its off cloth accordingly. 

[Agu the Rebel]

As you are not happy Rebel 1965, what is it you are doing to try and change/help where we are currently?

[Curtis]

Does anyone on here actually know all the details regarding Edon Pruti’s transfer to Brentford B? I definitely don’t.

But the assumption appears to be that:-

1. he was transferred with a NIL fee, and no sell on clause

2. after 4 months & 14 appearances for Brentford B he has been transferred to Hartlepool (& if there was a fee it is not known)

If those assumptions are correct then I would say some mistakes have been made & this should be reviewed to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

But I would have thought there were some other parts to Edon’s move to Brentford B that we are not aware of.

Edited January 14, 2023 by Curtis

[Kaiser Gibbs Batman (KGB)]

No wish to add to feelings which are already running high but with the (very) honourable exception of Mr Easterbrook, there seems to have been a paucity of local interest in assuming responsibility for the club in recent years. When the members club went into administration, the club was purchased (to the surprise of some/many) by Alan Thorne whose only previous involvement with the Rebels had, to say the least, been tendentious. When his "enterprise" collapsed, the late Alan Turvey of the isthmian League had, I believe, to play a significant role in securing Martyn Deaner's "support" and what a subsequent roller coaster ride ensued. Sir Rebel mentions Slough Estates (for whose own "park" football club my brother turned out a long way back in the day) and others have wondered why Mars couldn't have been persuaded to provide a bit of serious support. So it doesn't appear to be a new problem facing the current board, nor an easy one to resolve to a short timescale if the principal objective is to maintain the club's current position in NL(S). 

[Sir Rebel1965]

7 hours ago, Agu the Rebel said:

As you are not happy Rebel 1965, what is it you are doing to try and change/help where we are currently?

Two issues with what you ask:

Firstly, when suggestions have been put forward and ignored it gives one little motivation to offer up any more.

Secondly, as we have been kept in the dark through the extremely vague and infrequent statements from the board there is little clarity of what is needed, and as others on here say "trust the board, they know what they are doing".

So I will leave it to those who know best.

[Scott Davies]

I believe that there was a small sell on % that we would have been entitled to if Edon went from Brentford elsewhere for a fee. Sadly on this occasion, no fee was paid. Brentford have let Edon leave for free with a potential sell on yet again. I think we would be entitled to something if he went for money in the future from Hartlepool onwards.

[Curtis]

Thanks for clarifying that Scott.

After just 4 months he’s progressed to a League Two club, and hopefully his progress will continue and he can attract a transfer to a Championship club for a good fee in the next couple of seasons.

If so it would turn out to be a great piece of business for us.

If or when we have another four or five like Edon out there the Club may have a lucrative additional future income stream.

[Sir Rebel1965]

On 13/01/2023 at 17:57, GlenSTFC said:

You do realise the club doesn’t employ an experienced professional commercial person to sell the club to businesses? The current 4 team board have plenty to do running the club so to expect them to have the time and expertise to go and sell just wouldn’t happen.

Glen

On reflection have you hit the nail on the head?

The board and all involved in getting games on each match are volunteers and none of them are full time, so only have limited time to get things done.

This keeps ticket prices down.

There are other clubs who do have fulltime staff such as Dorking, and having full time staff must have contributed greatly to them getting promotion and a very large income from sponsorship.

It is a bit like comparing cars, if you compare two small family cars – a Dacia Sandero and an Audi A1, both are available as their base model in 1.0L, one costs £12,980 the other £20,650.  One can do 0-60 in 12.2 seconds the other 11 seconds, one has a EuroNcap rating of 2 the other 5 etc…

You get a better car (generally) the more you pay.

So, if you want a club with better resources to play at this level, on the field is obvious, but also an off the field team who are professional to bring in more sponsors etc. it will cost.

So, how much would fans be willing to pay?

This year’s full season ticket price was £230, with the early bird price of £195.

Should it be nearer £300 with no discount, this would add around 50% to the income to the club? But still only £13.04 a game.

Gate tickets are £15 on the gate or £13 on-line in advance – should these go up to £16.50 with no on-line discount as charged at St Albans? Both providing additional income.

As the saying goes “you only get what you pay for”.

[Footyfan007]

On 14/01/2023 at 09:45, Curtis said:

Does anyone on here actually know all the details regarding Edon Pruti’s transfer to Brentford B? I definitely don’t.

But the assumption appears to be that:-

1. he was transferred with a NIL fee, and no sell on clause

2. after 4 months & 14 appearances for Brentford B he has been transferred to Hartlepool (& if there was a fee it is not known)

If those assumptions are correct then I would say some mistakes have been made & this should be reviewed to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

But I would have thought there were some other parts to Edon’s move to Brentford B that we are not aware of.

Past deals like this have been as point 1 unless it’s a worldie of a player, along with this Hartlepool reside 2nd bottom in Div 2, and probably looking for players free or next to free that tick their recruitment policy profile.

I wish him all the best at his new club

Edited January 15, 2023 by Footyfan007

[3spirit]

1 hour ago, Sir Rebel1965 said:

Glen

On reflection have you hit the nail on the head?

The board and all involved in getting games on each match are volunteers and none of them are full time, so only have limited time to get things done.

This keeps ticket prices down.

There are other clubs who do have fulltime staff such as Dorking, and having full time staff must have contributed greatly to them getting promotion and a very large income from sponsorship.

It is a bit like comparing cars, if you compare two small family cars – a Dacia Sandero and an Audi A1, both are available as their base model in 1.0L, one costs £12,980 the other £20,650.  One can do 0-60 in 12.2 seconds the other 11 seconds, one has a EuroNcap rating of 2 the other 5 etc…

You get a better car (generally) the more you pay.

So, if you want a club with better resources to play at this level, on the field is obvious, but also an off the field team who are professional to bring in more sponsors etc. it will cost.

So, how much would fans be willing to pay?

This year’s full season ticket price was £230, with the early bird price of £195.

Should it be nearer £300 with no discount, this would add around 50% to the income to the club? But still only £13.04 a game.

Gate tickets are £15 on the gate or £13 on-line in advance – should these go up to £16.50 with no on-line discount as charged at St Albans? Both providing additional income.

As the saying goes “you only get what you pay for”.

You make some valid points SR1965 but I don't believe admission prices should rise because that discourages attendances rising, which the club needs if it wants to progress up the leagues.

To me there is nothing wrong with the current set up, if we could find an investor or two, or bigger sponsors to have a chance of challenging for the NLS title and promotion.

People always want more,though.  What's wrong with having a non-league club which functions well and fluctuates between Step 2, Step 3 and in a big slump Step 4 ?  It's still football. 

The football club and it's fans need to get real, without bigger investment or larger attendances Slough are where they are for a reason. Better to live within their means than have no club at all. 

I haven't a clue about this 'takeover' business and am willing to wait for what materialises. Hopefully, those running the club will provide information on what is happening behind the scenes soon for the supporters to mull over the ramifications of any changes to the club's set up, preferably before they sign on the dotted line !  

[Kaiser Gibbs Batman (KGB)]

Our experience at Horsham with involving people from "outside" the club to raise funds was not particularly good. If you employ someone to do it at a salary then you have immediate upfront costs which may add to your outgoings at an already tough time with no guarantee of quick returns. If, to avoid this, you structure payments on a commission basis you run the risk of your fund-raiser setting up all sorts of deals and banging on your treasurer's door for immediate commission payments, whilst leaving the already hard-pressed club volunteers with the job of sealing the deals and collecting the money. I appreciate that a properly worded binding agreement ought to be enough to avoid this latter situation but our experience was that, if we tried to hold them to it, the fund raiser got the hump and simply walked away.

I don't think any of us under-estimate the amount of money Mr White has been prepared to spend to get his club to where it is today. If he were to call it a day (of which there is admittedly no sign) or otherwise withdraw funding the whole edifice would collapse like a pack of cards.

[3spirit]

38 minutes ago, Kaiser Gibbs Batman (KGB) said:

Our experience at Horsham with involving people from "outside" the club to raise funds was not particularly good. If you employ someone to do it at a salary then you have immediate upfront costs which may add to your outgoings at an already tough time with no guarantee of quick returns. If, to avoid this, you structure payments on a commission basis you run the risk of your fund-raiser setting up all sorts of deals and banging on your treasurer's door for immediate commission payments, whilst leaving the already hard-pressed club volunteers with the job of sealing the deals and collecting the money. I appreciate that a properly worded binding agreement ought to be enough to avoid this latter situation but our experience was that, if we tried to hold them to it, the fund raiser got the hump and simply walked away.

I don't think any of us under-estimate the amount of money Mr White has been prepared to spend to get his club to where it is today. If he were to call it a day (of which there is admittedly no sign) or otherwise withdraw funding the whole edifice would collapse like a pack of cards.

Thanks for this insight KGB. Finding the right person/company to help fund a non-league football club must be like 'walking through a minefield'. Slough fans struck lucky when Steve Easterbrook came along. He shrewdly guided our club but finding anyone like as good as him will be a tough ask imo. Since his departure our club has functioned well with our current set up but we appear to be 'a steady ship without the wind in our sails'.

Edited January 15, 2023 by 3spirit

[epicrebel]

On 13/01/2023 at 17:35, Sir Rebel1965 said:

Glen

You seem happy with the commercial disasters of this season, no money at all for Edon, a massive drop in season tickets, the loss of a shirt sponsor (although a lower income replacement was eventually found), still struggling to get general sponsors even though we sit right next to the largest trading estate in Europe (makes the song a little ironic), and still no new backer/owner after a number of false starts.

And with Scott having to work with a shoe string budget and having to call in favours just to get a team together, it is little surprise that we sit in 21st place if you use points per game and goal difference.

It is as if someone on the board would want us to go down to a lower level!

I am not happy about this, as why did we fight so hard for two promotions, for it all to just be forfeited when things get a bit tough.

Looks like Neil and Jon knew they were fighting a losing battle with what they were being offered and looking at things now, who could blame them.

Glen I am sure you are not happy with how things are, considering how long you have followed the club, and you are right in that we cannot change the deal that was done for Edon, but I am sure you do not want to see the club go backwards.

There needs to be far better commercial awareness, and since Steve Easterbrook left it has been sadly lacking.

Just a quick reply.

The trading estate is mainly foreign owned, so don't care about us.

[Sir Rebel1965]

4 hours ago, 3spirit said:

You make some valid points SR1965 but I don't believe admission prices should rise because that discourages attendances rising, which the club needs if it wants to progress up the leagues.

To me there is nothing wrong with the current set up, if we could find an investor or two, or bigger sponsors to have a chance of challenging for the NLS title and promotion.

People always want more,though.  What's wrong with having a non-league club which functions well and fluctuates between Step 2, Step 3 and in a big slump Step 4 ?  It's still football. 

The football club and it's fans need to get real, without bigger investment or larger attendances Slough are where they are for a reason. Better to live within their means than have no club at all. 

I haven't a clue about this 'takeover' business and am willing to wait for what materialises. Hopefully, those running the club will provide information on what is happening behind the scenes soon for the supporters to mull over the ramifications of any changes to the club's set up, preferably before they sign on the dotted line !  

3spirit

You are right about attracting more fans, but the scenario currently is that there is not a backer in place and for the last umpteen years the only way gate numbers go up is when there is some glory hunting to be done; as we went out of the cups far too promptly the last couple of seasons the gate numbers reflected the exodus of the fair weather fans.

We are now at the scenario of get some money in quick or go down, maybe not this season, but probably in the next year or two.

So either a backer with a sustainable substantial package, which MAY be in the pipeline, or the other income source is that the fans put there hands in their pockets - all of them, not the usual 20 percent, as everyone one watches the same game so everyone contributes at the same rate, Sky don't let concessions and others pay less, otherwise the extra income will be a pittance.

Or accept the likelihood of relegation.

Remember it is harder to get promoted than relegated.

Time for some very big decisions, and ones which cannot be put off any longer - delays and stagnation will only make things worse.

 

[GlenSTFC]

8 minutes ago, Sir Rebel1965 said:

3spirit

You are right about attracting more fans, but the scenario currently is that there is not a backer in place and for the last umpteen years the only way gate numbers go up is when there is some glory hunting to be done; as we went out of the cups far too promptly the last couple of seasons the gate numbers reflected the exodus of the fair weather fans.

We are now at the scenario of get some money in quick or go down, maybe not this season, but probably in the next year or two.

So either a backer with a sustainable substantial package, which MAY be in the pipeline, or the other income source is that the fans put there hands in their pockets - all of them, not the usual 20 percent, as everyone one watches the same game so everyone contributes at the same rate, Sky don't let concessions and others pay less, otherwise the extra income will be a pittance.

Or accept the likelihood of relegation.

Remember it is harder to get promoted than relegated.

Time for some very big decisions, and ones which cannot be put off any longer - delays and stagnation will only make things worse.

 

Or have a little more patience and see what happens in the next 1-2 weeks.

[3spirit]

On 15/01/2023 at 16:39, Sir Rebel1965 said:

3spirit

You are right about attracting more fans, but the scenario currently is that there is not a backer in place and for the last umpteen years the only way gate numbers go up is when there is some glory hunting to be done; as we went out of the cups far too promptly the last couple of seasons the gate numbers reflected the exodus of the fair weather fans.

We are now at the scenario of get some money in quick or go down, maybe not this season, but probably in the next year or two.

So either a backer with a sustainable substantial package, which MAY be in the pipeline, or the other income source is that the fans put there hands in their pockets - all of them, not the usual 20 percent, as everyone one watches the same game so everyone contributes at the same rate, Sky don't let concessions and others pay less, otherwise the extra income will be a pittance.

Or accept the likelihood of relegation.

Remember it is harder to get promoted than relegated.

Time for some very big decisions, and ones which cannot be put off any longer - delays and stagnation will only make things worse.

 

As GlenSTFC posted, all Slough fans may find out what's happening behind the scenes at our club in a couple of weeks. It might be a couple of months the way it's been announced so far ! ha ha !

To me relegation isn't the worse thing that could happen to Slough Town FC if , and it is a big if,.... IF our club saves money to help the club function better and regroups to build another team/squad to go for promotion again in up and coming seasons. That said I would prefer to stay in the National League South but who really wants to see a team who has no chance of promotion and just competes for mid-table mediocrity like we were witnessing under the latter seasons of Bakes and Unders time at the club.

Somehow we went from being an exciting team[the promotion years of B and U / or challenging for the title under Steve Bateman] to being a resilient outfit which was competive but possessed little flair with it's soul aim to stay in this division at all costs but having no real chance of promotion. Yes, the hype every season said we were trying for the play-offs but the signings we've made in recent seasons haven't suggested we're really up for that. 

Bakes and Unders are good guys and clever managers and had got to grips with the rigours of this division. Had they been given the funds I'm sure they would have taken the Slough team to challenging for the title and promotion but they knew they were limited to what could be achieved with the budgets they've been given[or not given]. This is not a knock at the brave volunteer set up of the current board members who have been trying to steer the club in the right direction without the help of a major investor. I'm just saying it as I see it.

Scott Davies and Lee Togwell deserve plaudits for taking on the challenge of keeping this team in the NLS. It's ironic that they've been given funds to bring in players but it's taken the resignation of our joint managers to do it.Things had got stale especially with our forward line,so these changes feel like a boost to what we were seeing back in October and early November 2022. Only time will tell if this new squad will be successful but to me least we have refreshed the team and it now feels like a backs to the wall fight to stay in the division, and who knows with a cash injection maybe the club/team can prosper?

Edited January 17, 2023 by 3spirit

[Reading Rebel]

2 hours ago, 3spirit said:

As GlenSTFC posted, all Slough fans may find out what's happening behind the scenes at our club in a couple of weeks. It might be a couple of months the way it's been announced so far ! ha ha !

To me relegation isn't the worse thing that could happen to Slough Town FC if , and it is a big if,.... IF our club saves money to help the club function better and regroups to build another team/squad to go for promotion again in up and coming seasons. That said I would prefer to stay in the National League South but who really wants to see a team who has no chance of promotion and just competes for mid-table mediocrity like we were witnessing under the latter seasons of Bakes and Unders time at the club.

Somehow we went from being an exciting team[the promotion years of B and U / or challenging for the title under Steve Bateman] to being a resilient outfit which was competive but possessed little flair with it's soul aim to stay in this division at all costs but having no real chance of promotion. Yes, the hype every season said we were trying for the play-offs but the signings we've made in recent seasons haven't suggested we're really up for that. 

Bakes and Unders are good guys and clever managers and had got to grips with the rigours of this division. Had they been given the funds I'm sure they would have taken the Slough team to challenging for the title and promotion but they knew they were limited to what could be achieved with the budgets they've been given[or not given]. This is not a knock at the brave volunteer set up of the current board members who have been trying to steer the club in the right direction without the help of a major investor. I'm just saying it as I see it.

Scott Davies and Lee Togwell deserve plaudits for taking on the challenge of keeping this team in the NLS. It's ironic that they've been given funds to bring in players but it's taken the resignation of our joint managers to do it.Things had got stale especially with our forward line,so these changes feel like a boost to what we were seeing back in October and early November 2022. Only time will tell if this new squad will be successful but to me least we have refreshed the team and it now feels like a backs to the wall fight to stay in the division, and who knows with a cash injection maybe the club/team can prosper?

OK Scott has been given funds to bring in players but if you look at the players who have left the club I'd say our outgoings now compared to the beginning of the season is substantially a lot less.

Players who have left the club:

Harris, Wells, North, Pruti, Sole, Hollis, Williams and Dobson

Players in:

Woodhouse (loan), Eweka (loan), Amartey (loan) Obi, Hall, Forster, Walsh.

 

Edited January 17, 2023 by Reading Rebel

[3spirit]

11 minutes ago, Reading Rebel said:

OK Scott has been given funds to bring in players but if you look at the players who have left the club I'd say our outgoings now compared to the beginning of the season is substantially a lot less.

Players who have left the club:

Harris, Wells, North, Pruti, Sole, Hollis, Williams and Dobson

Players in:

Woodhouse (loan), Eweka (loan), Amartey (loan) Obi, Hall, Forster, Walsh.

 

I know, and Forster doesn't count because he was a Bakes and Unders signing. We're very much a patched up team but it's shaken things up which was needed imo, and no longer are we carrying players who are not putting much in on the pitch. Made our fight for survival in this division more interesting, well it has to me.

[Reading Rebel]

9 minutes ago, 3spirit said:

I know, and Forster doesn't count because he was a Bakes and Unders signing. We're very much a patched up team but it's shaken things up which was needed imo, and no longer are we carrying players who are not putting much in on the pitch. Made our fight for survival in this division more interesting, well it has to me.

Also to add that any gains made on players leaving have been wiped out by our drop in income.

Edited January 17, 2023 by Reading Rebel