rgreig

This is a very interesting list but I would have represented the numbers slightly differently. In each of the competitions there is a minimum amount that you would receive (e.g. in the premier league, the minimum amount of money you would get was the amount that Dundee Utd got - £1,289,200). I would assume that each club had constructed their 2022/23 budget on that basis and therefore has already spent that money on wages etc. We know that some clubs (e.g. Partick) had made assumptions about finishing the league in a certain position therefore had already budgeted even more than the minimum. So I think it is interesting to look at the amount above the minimum each club received - depending on the club's overall financial position that will give an insight into which clubs are able to increase their budget in 2023/24. Or in the case of clubs coming done, how well they can soften the landing.

Does anyone have an idea of what a competitive playing budget for the championship would be? I have been trying to figure it out based on published accounts but it is tricky since the majority of clubs at our level get away with filing accounts for a small company (which means just a balance sheet not an income statement). Partick do file full accounts and for the year ending May 2022 they had a total employee budget of just under 1.9m - but that is on the basis of 26 playing staff and an astonishing 74 other staff. Queen's Park's most recent accounts were for the period when they were in League 1 and showed about 1.6m in total on staff. On that basis, it seems 1m would be very competitive?

I remembering reading an interview with Tony Fernandes a while ago. He was the guy who bought AirAsia from the Malaysian government when it was a shambles and turned it around. Subsequently he bought QPR. He said in the interview that QPR was a more difficult challenge than anything he had faced in business. At AirAsia he could change almost anything if he wanted to - but at QPR there was a limit because the 11 players on the pitch had a bigger tangible influence. Secondly, everybody had an opinion about what he should or shouldn't be doing and weren't shy at voicing it. I guess that would sound familiar to David Smith. Any successful business looks critically at the previous year's performance to see how they could improve. Apple don't sit back because they have sold a lot of phones in the past, they have to have objectives that drive the business forward. While Ayr has exceeded last year's objectives, Bullen will have a new and tougher set for next season and we all assume will have significantly more budget with which to achieve those objectives. Smith won't be judging success based on sentiment analysis of posts on an online forum.

Yes, I think we need to look at the coaching as well. Our fullbacks had no idea what they were supposed to be doing last night. While we all know that neither of them is great, I think it's becoming clear as we look at the many failings in the team that we need to upgrade the coaching staff (with the obvious exception of the goalkeeping coach). I'm very interested to hear the next interviews from Bullen and Mathie. While I expect them to emphasise the positives about the last season they do also need to be honest with fans about the thigs that were unacceptable and which need to be improved, and tell us how they are going to do that.

I think the last two games have highlighted all our weaknesses - both in the playing squad and in the management. I hope we are able to increase the quality throughout the squad. If we use the additional money we have received (or will receive from the sale of Akinyemi) wisely then this will ultimately be seen as an important season for us. I hope that the Smith and Mathie are now under no illusions about how much investment this team needs in order to be able to challenge for promotion credibly.

We win 4-0 on Friday, Ross County win 1-0 on Sunday and we relegate KFC in the play-offs. Written in the stars. Simple.

I would go with Smith. I think 5 in midfield and exerting control there will be key to us having any sort of chance at all. I don't rate Maguire at all - he struts around thinking he is better than everyone else and has done very little so far in his time with us. Having said that, one of the things he did was play the pass to set up the equaliser when we last played Partick in the league!

For me, the most important question for Friday is how we're going to set up in defence. I hope Bullen was sufficiently angry at our fullbacks to drop them both.

I think we could score a few goals but I agree there is almost no chance we won't concede. Partick lost 2 to Raith in the last game of the season and then 3 to QP in the first leg of the play-off. So I don't think defensively they are very good - but neither are we.

It's just weird. As others have said, why include the question in the edited interview footage? And while I can understand not revealing that an injured player will be fit to play, the converse doesn't make much sense. I can only assume that there is more to it than we know. Anyway, our season is over and I think it was overall far more successful than any of us would have predicted at the end of the league cup group stage. We are far away from having a squad that is ready for the step up, but if we use the additional money from this season wisely to strengthen the starting eleven then I think we will be able to look forward to next season.

Yes, I think we could do a *lot* worse than Aitken. At least he doesn't measure how well he has refereed the game by how many red cards he has dished out.

I thought it was still a loan at Tranmere and his weekly wage didn't change (although I read that Tranmere covered all of it)?

The club finishing 10th gets 175k so I presume they can safely pay that in instalments earlier in the season, but I don't see how they could go above that figure? Surely we will now get the remaining 300k? Do we get any additional money for the TV coverage or is that all wrapped up in the money received already from the BBC deal? For the gate receipts, it is money that won't have been budgeted for so it should still be viewed as a bonus. I hope it's Partick since that will maximise our revenue.

It is really unfortunate that it's a Friday evening. I would go if possible but like many people cannot fit it in around work commitments. Had it been at Cappielow or Firhill I am sure we would have taken at least 1000. The luck of the draw I guess.

For me 5 is fine if they are going to be a step up in terms of quality. We have seen what just a couple of skilful and creative players can do for us in this division. I think if we had better players at LB and RB then McGinty and Musonda would be fine at CB. Does Bullen have a preferred formation he is trying to find players to fit?

However bad Ashford looks on the stream let me assure you he is ten times worse live. I cannot believe he even made it to half time.

I watched the Hamilton vs Inverness game last night. To be honest if it hadn't been for suicidal defending and a total lack of discipline for the second Inverness goal in particular I did think that Accies would have taken something from the game. If Dundee don't revert to their terrible form of a few months ago I think they should be capable of winning against Inverness.

Well, I was certainly delighted when he came off. Some very poor free kicks yesterday and some terrible first touches. Although we were generally on top in the second half there was in my eyes a noticeable improvement when he came off.

I certainly agree he is going to be here next season. If I were evaluating him I objectively I would look at two key things: 1 - achieving targets set at start of the season. None of knows for sure what his targets were but I would hazard a guess that mid-table was the minimum and play-off spot was the stretch. If we manage to finish in fourth (big if) then Bullen can comfortably mark that as complete. 2 - budget compared to peers, and league position compared with that. I think that Dundee, Partick and QP will all have had significantly higher player budgets than us. But Raith, Morton and Inverness are likely to have similar budgets to us and on that basis Bullen has done well to finish above them (again, assuming Inverness don't overtake us which is certainly possible). Bullen can make the case that he done well with the budget he has been given. In terms of player development, which is clearly a lot more subjective, I think it's much less positive. McKenzie may have improved a bit but we have others who are arguably worse - Reading and Houston for example - and some who haven't held down a place in the first team (Smith, Ecrepont). The players who arguably made the biggest difference were brought in on loan (Mullin and Chalmers). This is where, if I were on the board, I would be asking questions of Bullen in terms of the plan for next season.

Ah, I thought that they would be out of contract at the end of this season. That is going to be a real problem in that case.

Yes, agree. I will judge Bullen on who he releases. If we don't offload the likes of Reading, Ashford, JML etc. then it shows in my opinion really poor judgement from Bullen.

And I think that's Cove now in the position they will be in at the end of the season.

I agree with your prediction of our top four finish. I think for Bullen, it's hard to pass judgement because we don't know what he is telling Mathie and Smith. I am sure that he has exceeded the targets he has been set for the season. Our league finish if it is indeed top four will be better than most of us expected and the likely sale of Akinyemi will bring in cash that would never have been budgeted for. Although Akinyemi isn't just down to Bullen you have to give him credit for his development through the season. That's why I would keep him next season - in any other area of work you cannot give someone targets and then when they exceed those targets say it isn't good enough. What I do hope is that Bullen is making the case that we need to increase the quality throughout the squad. Players like McKenzie work incredibly hard and are valuable but we need a few more with the quality of Chalmers in order to be able to compete at the top. I am looking forward to the play-offs. Whatever legitimate criticism has been levelled at Bullen around his ability to react and change games, his teams do work very hard for 90 minutes and I am certain that they will give everything and that gives us a chance.

Did we not have it as a condition of the loan agreement that he has to start against us?

Yes, it was only due to some tremendous goalkeeping that we didn't go in at half-time with the game already over. We did look pretty good going forward in the first half but we are only going to continue our slide if we continue to put in defensive performances like that. As others have said, I don't know what Reading needs to do to get dropped. Do we know if Kirk is going to be out for a while? For me, if Bullen does not appreciate that he needs to do significant rebuilding to raise the overall quality level in the starting eleven then he isn't going to take us any further. I can understand that you can't do too much in January but I hope we see a number of departures in the summer.