An Update

[3spirit]

I've only seen Rhys Forster play once,so can't judge how good he is as a goalkeeper compared with Jonathan North[ who I have watched numerous times over the years]. What I would say, though,is you seem fixated on Jonathan North as if it is a personal grudge. I am not Ben Harris's biggest fan but when he plays well I will say he has and I can appreciate his all round game and when he puts in the effort.

You don't give Jonathan North any regard, why is this? He is by far a better goalkeeper than you say he is and over the years has been among the best non-league goalkeepers in the south of England so your criticism of him seems over the top in my opinion. I've digressed from the more important topic that of our football club and the here and now/and it's future.

21 minutes ago, SloughFlyer said:

You know me 3spirit, I want to keep it consistant . North v Forster was more about, IMO, downgrading on wages whilst upgrading on a player and was the most recent example of what could be achieved.

I think its more to do with exploring as many avenues as possible to ensure the club continues to function at the best level possible and that this season the squad that we have can stay together to perform our way out of a potential jam the we are in currently. You may well be right in looking to balance the whole books on just the players heads v performance and expectation. I do wonder though if for the players it might be more about coming together as a group and keeping everyone, rather than removing 1/2/3 of their numbers, bring in new talent and team members vs a loss in money.

Totally agree about the bottom line  

On team matters,this is now down to Scott Davies and Lee Togwell to sort out. I know what I would do straight away but Scott and Lee are friends with this group of players,so taking a tougher line and making the hard calls/decisions on what players stay and go, and who comes in, are going to be interesting to say the least, as neither Scott or Lee have managed before [as far as I'm aware of]. Only time will tell if Scott and Lee have what it takes to get this aspect right, and whether the board of directors have appointed wisely.

To me Slough don't need wholesale changes but there are changes that need to be made to this team to stay in this division and out of the relegation zone. Tinkering with what we have than drastically altering the squad.

       

[SloughFlyer]

29 minutes ago, Curtis said:

This update doesn’t really make things any clearer to me.

In the joint statement when resigning Jon & Neil said:-

“Most supporters will know that the club is in a difficult place financially at the moment and as managers we have done all we can to support this. We have always kept to our agreed budget and made proactive decisions to minimise spend wherever possible, but we now feel in the current climate that competing in the way we want to at this level has become incredibly difficult. We understand the need for the club to make difficult decisions as the long-term future of the club has to be the priority and we fully support this.’

Is anybody any wiser now about what these difficult decisions the Board have made are? And why Jon & Neil felt that these would prevent the club from continuing to be competitive in the National South.

I thought we were or were trying to be a Community football club, but this Board update doesn’t appear to me to be providing much detail & I really don’t understand the reluctance to ask for help from the Community (other than attending matches) if they are in difficulty.

To marry the 2 together Curtis. I read the comments from Neil and Jon (both in the statement and the comments made throughout their time at the club) that they want to be competing at the higher end of the league and certainly looking at the playoffs. Perhaps the current climate gives us a level at the lower end of the league and therefore, "competing in the way we want to at this level has become incredibly difficult".

I suspect the diffiuclt decisions are still to come.

What details would you be looking for Curtis? I also totally agree with the asking for help part. If everyone from players, managers, supporters and the club can contribute something more, perhaps it might make those decisions easier.

[Ian g f]

59 minutes ago, SloughFlyer said:

I agree Ian. The initial saving of Edon's wages from the budget by Neil and Jon, the potential of a good influx of money if Edon performs well / for the first team and as an added bonus the encouragement of younger players to come to Slough and see them helped to meet their own dreams and goals for the future is a great piece of work by the club.

Thats what you meant, right?

No Sorry I meant if we had kept him will wouldn't have conceded so many goals he was under contract we got no money we're now struggling to play our players The writing is on the wall 

[3spirit]

5 minutes ago, Sir Rebel1965 said:

I see the board in the situation of being "caretakers" of the club, without the finances to take the club forward, trying to pay the daily bills, unsure where or how much money will be coming in. 

Yet acting as gatekeeper to ensure a new backer will take the club in the right direction going forward.

Hence Status quo (lower case q as the band are Q) as they are trying to keep things going as before.

I feel that for the board to do this successfully they need the fans fully on board and engaged, and this will only happen if they are correctly communicated with and there is no secret squirrels, or a them and us between the board and fans.

So yesterdays statement was a good starting point, but more frequent and more detailed communications are needed to the full fan base (the trust only has a small fraction of the fan's as members so will only reach those in that limited circle) what is needed is communications to as broad group of fans and potential fans to find a suitable backer and get more into the ground.

We are all fighting the same battle and none of us want to return to the dark days of the mid/late 2000's prior to the arrival of Steve.

I hope everyone is doing the Euromillions tonight!

Excellent post, SR1965. 

At this rate I'll be starting your fan club ! 🤣

[SloughFlyer]

5 minutes ago, 3spirit said:

I've only seen Rhys Forster play once,so can't judge how good he is as a goalkeeper compared with Jonathan North[ who I have watched numerous times over the years]. What I would say, though,is you seem fixated on Jonathan North as if it is a personal grudge. I am not Ben Harris's biggest fan but when he plays well I will say he has and I can appreciate his all round game and when he puts in the effort.

You don't give Jonathan North any regard, why is this? He is by far a better goalkeeper than you say he is and over the years has been among the best non-league goalkeepers in the south of England so your criticism of him seems over the top in my opinion. I've digressed from the more important topic that of our football club and the here and now/and it's future.

On team matters,this is now down to Scott Davies and Lee Togwell to sort out. I know what I would do straight away but Scott and Lee are friends with this group of players,so taking a tougher line and making the hard calls/decisions on what players stay and go, and who comes in, are going to be interesting to say the least, as neither Scott or Lee have managed before [as far as I'm aware of]. Only time will tell if Scott and Lee have what it takes to get this aspect right, and whether the board of directors have appointed wisely.

To me Slough don't need wholesale changes but there are changes that need to be made to this team to stay in this division and out of the relegation zone. Tinkering with what we have than drastically altering the squad.

       

North = I cant be bothered any more

As for the squad, I agree about the wholesale changes and hopefully any changes that are made they improve the squad. I also agree that it will be interesting to see how Lee and Scott transition into management as thats going to determine our position come the end of the season.

[SloughFlyer]

11 minutes ago, Ian g f said:

No Sorry I meant if we had kept him will wouldn't have conceded so many goals he was under contract we got no money we're now struggling to play our players The writing is on the wall 

You don't seem that positive Ian!

I know that the Pruti deal wasn't for everyone, but I think saving on his wages since he has left have helped (perhaps bring in Arnie currently?) budget wise. Any fee we could have got wouldn't have been as high as the potential we could get (although I understand this is a matter of opinion and also something now might be better than nothing in future) and the obvious much discussed "other" aspects. I don't think though that Edon Pruti here or not would have changed much in the current situation the club finds itself in TBH.

Writing on the wall Ian? Relegation, club folding, not surviving in its current form, what do you think, any / all of the above?

[Curtis]

10 minutes ago, SloughFlyer said:

What details would you be looking for Curtis?

What we have been told by the Board is:-

‘The alternative is to reduce our outgoings, which we appreciate will not be a popular route.’

and

‘Whilst we work behind the scenes on the bigger picture - which include discussions with our landlord Slough Borough Council in relation to the facilities and our profit sharing agreement at Arbour Park’

Do you think Jon & Neil would have resigned after 9 years on the strength of this, or do you think they were told more detail about what cuts are being made?

[SloughFlyer]

10 minutes ago, Curtis said:

What we have been told by the Board is:-

‘The alternative is to reduce our outgoings, which we appreciate will not be a popular route.’

and

‘Whilst we work behind the scenes on the bigger picture - which include discussions with our landlord Slough Borough Council in relation to the facilities and our profit sharing agreement at Arbour Park’

Do you think Jon & Neil would have resigned after 9 years on the strength of this, or do you think they were told more detail about what cuts are being made?i

I think Neil and Jon resigned for a number of reasons and I suspect the budget / future budget / finances of the club was a factor for them. I also think they would have been aware of what the future looked like with them in charge in reference to the budgets etc. I also think that Neil and Jon would have resigned on the strength of the teams performances over the past 2 months, the legacy they have built over the past 9 years, perhaps needing a rest etc, etc, etc. I can't believe they would have resigned on only the strength of the budget and the near future.

Were you expecting a full financial breakdown of the current situation and what the board believes is the next future of the club over the next 6 months? I think you were off the mark if you were if not, my question stands, what more detail did you want?

[Ian g f]

21 minutes ago, SloughFlyer said:

You don't seem that positive Ian!

I know that the Pruti deal wasn't for everyone, but I think saving on his wages since he has left have helped (perhaps bring in Arnie currently?) budget wise. Any fee we could have got wouldn't have been as high as the potential we could get (although I understand this is a matter of opinion and also something now might be better than nothing in future) and the obvious much discussed "other" aspects. I don't think though that Edon Pruti here or not would have changed much in the current situation the club finds itself in TBH.

Writing on the wall Ian? Relegation, club folding, not surviving in its current form, what do you think, any / all of the above?

Definitely relegation is on the cards maybe dropping down a league or two The ground could be sold and we go down does the rent A depressing out look At least Wales got stuffed 😂

[SloughFlyer]

1 minute ago, Ian g f said:

Definitely relegation is on the cards maybe dropping down a league or two The ground could be sold and we go down does the rent A depressing out look At least Wales got stuffed 😂

For clarity, the laughing reaction was on the Wales bit!!!

What would need to change to change your outlook on the current situation Ian? Not saying you are wrong and a very good point on the rent for the club if we were to go down, just wondering?

[Ian g f]

2 minutes ago, SloughFlyer said:

For clarity, the laughing reaction was on the Wales bit!!!

What would need to change to change your outlook on the current situation Ian? Not saying you are wrong and a very good point on the rent for the club if we were to go down, just wondering?

Well a shed load of money don't know where from but I'm doing the lottery tonight 😃

[3spirit]

3 minutes ago, Curtis said:

What we have been told by the Board is:-

‘The alternative is to reduce our outgoings, which we appreciate will not be a popular route.’

and

‘Whilst we work behind the scenes on the bigger picture - which include discussions with our landlord Slough Borough Council in relation to the facilities and our profit sharing agreement at Arbour Park’

Do you think Jon & Neil would have resigned after 9 years on the strength of this, or do you think they were told more detail about what cuts are being made?

I think Bakes and Unders would have wanted to reinforce the squad by getting better players in to push up the table. The Slough board have obviously said no and if anything,have said 'costs will need to be slashed'. Jon and Neil hold this club in high regard but probably felt like they were struggling to compete and that the way things are going Slough/the team are likely to end up in a relegation dogfight and risk going down, so they probably didn't want this on their football cv as it isn't of their making.....And who could blame them?

My IDEAL would be that Neil and Jon get appointed as joint mangers of a team in the National Premier[that we may be able to get players from], and Slough Town FC will get through this financial problem and that the club get on a firmer footing with Slough Borough Council, to stabilise it's future.

Going up and down divisions is just part and parcel of football life.

 

[REBEL MATTERS]

26 minutes ago, Ian g f said:

Well a shed load of money don't know where from but I'm doing the lottery tonight 😃

Laughs, thats one of my dreams, to win the lottery and plough it into slough  One can dream !!!

[Ian g f]

25 minutes ago, 3spirit said:

I think Bakes and Unders would have wanted to reinforce the squad by getting better players in to push up the table. The Slough board have obviously said no and if anything,have said 'costs will need to be slashed'. Jon and Neil hold this club in high regard but probably felt like they were struggling to compete and that the way things are going Slough/the team are likely to end up in a relegation dogfight and risk going down, so they probably didn't want this on their football cv as it isn't of their making.....And who could blame them?

My IDEAL would be that Neil and Jon get appointed as joint mangers of a team in the National Premier[that we may be able to get players from], and Slough Town FC will get through this financial problem and that the club get on a firmer footing with Slough Borough Council, to stabilise it's future.

Going up and down divisions is just part and parcel of football life.

 

Also going out of business 

[Reading Rebel]

Club towards the bottom of the division and with the quality of players signed they expected to be towards the top end of the table.

Financial cut backs on the horizon due to less through the turnstiles = cannot compete in this division, players either taking a pay cut or departing unless we can rustle up more money from somewhere.

The chances of us getting money from other sources are pretty slim so I really cannot see why the club don't test the water to see if supporters are willing to chip in on the playing budget to help keep us in this division.

I see no harm in putting it to supporters to see the response. 

 

 

[Ian g f]

51 minutes ago, Ian g f said:

Also going out of business 

I've been following Slough for 50+ years I reckon they've been promoted 5 times not moved leagues  Could be wrong

[Curtis]

1 hour ago, SloughFlyer said:

Were you expecting a full financial breakdown of the current situation and what the board believes is the next future of the club over the next 6 months? I think you were off the mark if you were

Basically, yes.

My understanding is the Board are not the owners of the Club, and I thought they had been made custodians of the Club on behalf of the fans & the community. So why would they not share what they believe the next six months looks like?
When other clubs have been in difficulty (notably Dulwich) they have been very vocal about the their circumstances and the community has rallied round & got behind them.

[Reading Rebel]

19 hours ago, Curtis said:

Basically, yes.

My understanding is the Board are not the owners of the Club, and I thought they had been made custodians of the Club on behalf of the fans & the community. So why would they not share what they believe the next six months looks like?
When other clubs have been in difficulty (notably Dulwich) they have been very vocal about the their circumstances and the community has rallied round & got behind them.

Perhaps if they knew the situation and were asked Slough supporters would rally round the club?

[GlenSTFC]

32 minutes ago, Reading Rebel said:

Perhaps if they knew the situation and were asked Slough supporters would rally round the club?

I think RR should start of the fund with a very generous £500 per month.

[Reading Rebel]

8 minutes ago, GlenSTFC said:

I think RR should start of the fund with a very generous £500 per month.

Only if you match it Glen  😉