What will Appleton achieve now? | Vital Football

What will Appleton achieve now?

Gratzimp

Gratzimp

Vital Squad Member
The Cowleys sacked thread has started to look a bit like an appraisal of MA and what he could achieve this year, so I thought I would start a new thread. Here goes:

When he came in we had just lost DC and NC, the team were beginning to lose, and then we got tanked 6-0 at home by Oxford, with Michael watching from the stands. The team, had lost that winning feeling, and was starting to drop.
Forward now to today, we have comfortably stayed up, the team is now comprised mostly of the players considered as bench warmers, plus a few youngsters added since Michael began.
Now it doesn't look all that good for next season, however, all the other teams in the league are in a similar position. But we have an advantage in that we have a excellent coach of youngsters, who will build the team in that respect. The players he brings in are I think going to be hungry, young, inexperienced yes, but coach-able meaning they wont have a mind set of playing a certain way.

I think that IF we can fend off relegation next season, and finish in the lower mid table position, as we did this season, with a squad that Michael has of his own, then there will be no reason we should not be pushing for the play-offs in the 21/22 season.
BUT, this is a damn hard league to get out of, I posted on the L1 facebook forum a post saying just how competitive this league is under my true name (DG), happily it got positive replies from the so called bigger clubs such as Sunderland and Portsmouth.
It will be even harder next season, will the clubs coming down and those coming up. I really don't envy MA in his task, so we as fans have to make his task easier, by not getting on his or the teams backs, when things are going wrong. I do believe we have the right man for the job, his failures were mainly down to being at Barnpot owners clubs, rather than he himself.
So lets get behind him and the team, then our goal of the promised land of the Championship can be achieved.

Not the Prem though - horrible league, full of plastics, arrogance, entitlement, and only interested in money.
 
a) It depends on our budget
b) It depends on other clubs' budgets
c) It depends on the impact of covid on those things
d) It depends on proposed salary caps

Why on earth would we not wish to reach the Premier League? Bank £100 million, get relegated like Norwich have, build a fabulous new stadium with the money and settle as a Championship club. It's a complete no-brainer.

Given the likely answers to questions a) to d) above, we should not be remotely in danger of relegation. Other clubs are likely to be in a dire place financially, even if they survive the season.
 
I think we will be absolutely fine next season and we will finish comfortably in mid table. We have an exciting crop of young hungry players and I believe we will surprise a few people next season with some more quality addtions that are clearly coming in and MA will coach and iprove these players so we will get stronger as the season progresses.

In these turbulent and unpredictable times we have something that gives us a sizeable advantage of many of out League 1 opponents and that is we are a stable well run club that through the hard work of the people that manage the club have solid foundations on which to build.

Unfortunately I think there will be a number of clubs whose sole goal next season will be to simply survive it. They are not going to have the resources or the management structure to emerge from this crisis as well as I believe we will. These are the clubs that will be in and around the relegation zone because there is also the distinct possibility a number with points deductions for going into Administration.

Personally I am looking forward to seeing our young team evolve and grow as surely it will under MA's guidance.
 
Personally I think the pressure will be on MA to keep us in the top ten all season, purely to keep attendances up.

Yes, we are a well run club - but a club, like many others, who have incurred huge losses so far in 2020. We still have some high earners under contract that we are basically stuck with for another year - players who are not really part of MA's plans (Payne and Coker for example). The first few home games will be behind closed doors and it could be December at the very earliest before we are allowed decent attendance levels. Unlike EPL clubs with TV money, a very large percentage of our income comes from gate receipts. So the losses will continue unfortunately.

Once we are allowed full capacity, MA will have to provide winning football, otherwise crowds will decrease. A season of mid to lower table mediocrity would therefore be disastrous for the finances, and would not help either with the strategy of MA developing players who might command a decent transfer fee.

So, while Covid has levelled the playing field as regards competitor's budgets, MA will still have to produce the goods. Clive and Co do not have bottomless pockets, and some of the new directors that came on board the past two years were inevitably attracted by success. If its not forthcoming and we are lower table and back to 4-5k per game, they may well not stay around.
 
To cite a few examples, AFC Wimbledon are about to enter a new stadium that they cannot pay for; Burton Albion have just posted a loss of £1.2 million for the 2018-19 financial year, only survived because the chairman put £400,000 of his own money into the club, and have replaced their management team as a desperate economy measure; Wigan are in administration, having spent £19.4 million on wages in 2018-19 against revenue of £11.5 million (168% of revenue); Gillingham have closed their ladies team permanently as an economy measure and have not offered contracts to any player; owner Marcus Evans believes Ipswich will have been hit harder by covid than any other L1 club; Pete Winkelman believes MK Dons - already with significant financial challenges - are operating at 25% of business capacity.

No one knows what position each club will be in by the time revenue streams return, but I would rather be Lincoln City than any of the above.
 
mikeosullivan said:
Personally I think the pressure will be on MA to keep us in the top ten all season, purely to keep attendances up.

Yes, we are a well run club - but a club, like many others, who have incurred huge losses so far in 2020. We still have some high earners under contract that we are basically stuck with for another year - players who are not really part of MA's plans (Payne and Coker for example). The first few home games will be behind closed doors and it could be December at the very earliest before we are allowed decent attendance levels. Unlike EPL clubs with TV money, a very large percentage of our income comes from gate receipts. So the losses will continue unfortunately.

Once we are allowed full capacity, MA will have to provide winning football, otherwise crowds will decrease. A season of mid to lower table mediocrity would therefore be disastrous for the finances, and would not help either with the strategy of MA developing players who might command a decent transfer fee.

So, while Covid has levelled the playing field as regards competitor's budgets, MA will still have to produce the goods. Clive and Co do not have bottomless pockets, and some of the new directors that came on board the past two years were inevitably attracted by success. If its not forthcoming and we are lower table and back to 4-5k per game, they may well not stay around.
Click to expand...
So you are essentially saying that, if Lincoln are not in the top ten all season, gates will reduce to 4,000 to 5,000 and the directors will run away. How on earth have you arrived at that conclusion?
 
I’ve no idea how well we will do next season and think it’s difficult to fairly compare the Cowley’s and Appleton so wouldn’t attempt to.

I’m just grateful that we are ticking along with a reasonably sustainable business model and thank Appleton for keeping us at this level. This has enabled us to have these discussions and be enthusiastic about next season, a gift that many football fans won’t have to look forward to regardless of whether we return to games before January.
 
Yes, I thought saying crowds would drop to 4-5k was strange. I think we will be fine next year. As Casper says we may well surprise a few and in fairness we have done that this season with Sunderland, Peterborough and Ipswich being examples. We are one of a limited number of clubs who seem to be actively recruiting and are shaping and moulding a squad that the manager feels he can get the best out of. We don't need to improve hugely to finish in the top half; a simple improvement in away form, turning half a dozen defeats into draws and a bit more consistency would nearly do that. As ScotImp says, lots of others are in all sorts of mess and may find their ability to even compete in the top half almost impossible.

The circumstances may be unprecedented and are without doubt both difficult and at times have been tragic, but we may just find that (however fortuitously) these do work to our advantage as well run club. I think we have the right manager at the right time and see no reason why we can't be competitive in the top half of the table.
 
mikeosullivan said:
Personally I think the pressure will be on MA to keep us in the top ten all season, purely to keep attendances up.

Yes, we are a well run club - but a club, like many others, who have incurred huge losses so far in 2020. We still have some high earners under contract that we are basically stuck with for another year - players who are not really part of MA's plans (Payne and Coker for example). The first few home games will be behind closed doors and it could be December at the very earliest before we are allowed decent attendance levels. Unlike EPL clubs with TV money, a very large percentage of our income comes from gate receipts. So the losses will continue unfortunately.

Once we are allowed full capacity, MA will have to provide winning football, otherwise crowds will decrease. A season of mid to lower table mediocrity would therefore be disastrous for the finances, and would not help either with the strategy of MA developing players who might command a decent transfer fee.

So, while Covid has levelled the playing field as regards competitor's budgets, MA will still have to produce the goods. Clive and Co do not have bottomless pockets, and some of the new directors that came on board the past two years were inevitably attracted by success. If its not forthcoming and we are lower table and back to 4-5k per game, they may well not stay around.
Click to expand...
Just to be pedantic, how do you know that Payne and Coker are high earners?
 
I think not only for Lincoln but every other club staying up and still having a club at the bend of the season will be deemed a success. Michael will produce a few diamonds to sell on but wont happen over night. give him time
 
I certainly don't expect anything good on the pitch with Appleton, and instead more of a pre-Moyses level of football.
However, providing there are several clubs even worse, then it will be a successful job done by Appleton.
Priority has to be to spend as little as possible and out-survive those clubs who don't yet grasp that key point.
 
Incidentally, it is entirely possible that Leagues One and Two will be used as a pilot for reduced capacities from the first game of the season, not from October.
 
buckielugger said:
I certainly don't expect anything good on the pitch with Appleton, and instead more of a pre-Moyses level of football.
However, providing there are several clubs even worse, then it will be a successful job done by Appleton.
Priority has to be to spend as little as possible and out-survive those clubs who don't yet grasp that key point.
Click to expand...
As ridiculous comments go, that's right up there.
 
mikeosullivan said:
Personally I think the pressure will be on MA to keep us in the top ten all season, purely to keep attendances up.

Yes, we are a well run club - but a club, like many others, who have incurred huge losses so far in 2020. We still have some high earners under contract that we are basically stuck with for another year - players who are not really part of MA's plans (Payne and Coker for example). The first few home games will be behind closed doors and it could be December at the very earliest before we are allowed decent attendance levels. Unlike EPL clubs with TV money, a very large percentage of our income comes from gate receipts. So the losses will continue unfortunately.

Once we are allowed full capacity, MA will have to provide winning football, otherwise crowds will decrease. A season of mid to lower table mediocrity would therefore be disastrous for the finances, and would not help either with the strategy of MA developing players who might command a decent transfer fee.

So, while Covid has levelled the playing field as regards competitor's budgets, MA will still have to produce the goods. Clive and Co do not have bottomless pockets, and some of the new directors that came on board the past two years were inevitably attracted by success. If its not forthcoming and we are lower table and back to 4-5k per game, they may well not stay around.
Click to expand...
1) Do we have high earners still under contract? What exactly is a high earner? I doubt they're on a Shackell, Freck, Akinde level.

2) Shock, a team don't win football matches, crowds drop - nothing new, attendances fluctuate depending on form.

3) Are you seriously suggesting that a failure to achieve top ten will result in Directors leaving en masse and 4k attendances?
 
MA has only just started with us. He's got a three year deal. New signings are being given 3 year deals. I think that's a pretty good indication of how long this evolution is expected to take.

For the coming season there will be good times and bad times. There will be pieces of exceptional play and there will be silly mistakes which concede goals. There are still some traditionally 'big' teams in the division , though how the likes of Wigan , Charlton and Hull adapt to L1 could go either way. Swindon and Plymouth coming up have the potential to stir things up as well. It is probably a tougher league that it was 12 months ago, but with the disruption caused by Covid every team is in a unknown and untested time. Might level everything out.

So a barometer of success for the end of the coming season to me would be a marginal league position improvement, with a top half one being exceptional, but I'd be judging it more on the consistency aspect with a marked improvement in away form and points accumulation away from The Bank.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.