Wages up, operating loss of over 1m , DM signings are now starting to impact us financially ? May's termination probably isnt in those numbers either ...  for anyone thats interested

 

 

https://d2cx26qpfwuhvu.cloudfront.net/aberdeen/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/24181429/Annual_Report_Online.pdf

The club as a whole has to take responsibility for the signings, not just Deek. If we're concerned that individual signings are causing us to make a loss then we need to either invest in scouting or reduce the budget for transfers. We need a system in place that transcends the existing manager (I've been saying this for years). A manager will often come in and use their knowledge and contacts in the first couple of seasons, which can often be fruitful. Beyond that, the manager starts to lose contact and knowledge because they've been at one club for that time, so they start to lean more heavily on the scouting network. That needs to be really strong, and I don't think it is. It needs to be more than a manager

 

That said, I reckon we might get as much for Cosgrove as we've spent on transfers, so in terms of overall cost we might be break even on money spent/recieved. I know what you mean though, the transfers in the last 3 seasons haven't been up to scratch and that has caused us to lose a few important fixtures. However, a return to the duopoly status quo is a significant factor too. The fitba on the pitch hasn't been inspiring and neither have events off it. We'll still get a decent crowd tomorrow night like, but a shoeing will see a good thousand or two off the gate the next time either scum are in town. Overall, the loss is made up of a number of things. I think that a less risk-averse manager might have seen us get a greater return in Europe and the one-off games, but I doubt we'd be sitting third (and second in previous years). I think that is definitely a factor in the losses.

Yes agree corrective responsibility and in all fairness its not just down  to DM, in 10 years 3.3m made out of transfers which is hopeless frankly as other income streams are hard to increase significantly

 

Given that Hayes was 1.3m this notion of producing players and selling on for profit doesnt appear to be working

 

some decent analysis here

 

Yes agree corrective responsibility and in all fairness its not just down  to DM, in 10 years 3.3m made out of transfers which is hopeless frankly as other income streams are hard to increase significantly

 

 

Bosman can be a bugger sometimes though.  For example we've lost Jack and McLean for nothing after spending time and money developing these players into internationals but when players choose to run down their contracts you are pretty much screwed as to what you can do about it.  Easy for us to say if they don't sign then put them up for sale but there is so much money to be gained for the player and agent by staying put that it is almost impossible to do anything about it.

 

On the flip side we have picked up most of our players without having to pay a fee so I suppose it works both ways.

 

The bigger clubs can afford to sign players up on longer deals and on better wages and if they turn out to be duds they just bin them.  A club like the Dons just can't do that.

if i had time , which i dont i would be interested in comparison with other spl clubs outside of OF... given one element of the clubs strategy is selling players then unless something fundamentally changes then it isnt really a viable income stream

Great analysis on twitter ayrshire, cheers for the link.

 

When you look at other clubs, they tend to go through spates of player sales and generally it's better looked at over a decade. Obviously the last decade has been poor for us, but we're really only looking at Fraser that could have gone for mega-bucks (and he may still make us a similar wedge to that which would have been recieved if he'd signed a new deal with us). McLean made us £600K, but a player of that age is only ever going to look out for himself (as opposed to players of Fraser, McKenna, Cosgrove age) - we bought McLean (and Shinnie) as ready-made SPL players at an age where they weren't likely to make us a huge sum because their next deals were always going to be critical for them so there's little change that they'd have signed long contracts with us. Jack was disappointing, but he was also beginning to not live up to the hype too. A great player, and has improved further with age, but was never going to get us a few million after he signed his final contract with us.

 

We're looking good for saleable assets at the moment though, with McKenna, Ferguson and Cosgrove all worth a chunk of cash. We'll need to cash in soon though as the market seems to be at a high point with ridiculous fees all over the shop. I'd happily sell all 3 in return for doing up the main stand.

should have cashed in with mckenna 5-7m last year... i think if cosgrove continues scoring to year end there will be bids in january

should have cashed in with mckenna 5-7m last year...

 

I've yet to hear a single reputable source that's quoted the £5-7M. The BBC reported "over £3.5M", which seemed more likely. I just don't see an instance where the dons would turn down 3-4 times their annual prize money for one player. It'd be insane. Especially as they could easily have finished 4th with Considine at left centre half instead of McKenna (would have been a worse team, but not significantly enough to warrant keeping McKenna).

should have cashed in with mckenna 5-7m last year... i think if cosgrove continues scoring to year end there will be bids in january

 

£6.5 million from Villa. But which actually was in essence a free 6 month loan which they would have used as a trial period. And if he didn't measure up to their expectations, they would have found some loophole in the agreement to call the whole thing off.

 

There are stories circulating that McKenna now has an agreement (fuck knows if it is binding) that he can leave if a club bids £4.5million. His agent went into overdrive, resulting in QPR and (allegedly) Notts Forest then trying to low-ball us on that figure.....when their offers were rejected it triggered his transfer request. I suspect both will be back in for him in January and though his form of late hasn't been anywhere near that of a player worth that figure, I still hope we don't let him go on the cheap. Celtic, indeed, may well be back in for him with rumours that they're flogging off Ajer for megabucks.

 

 

 

£6.5 million from Villa. But which actually was in essence a free 6 month loan which they would have used as a trial period. And if he didn't measure up to their expectations, they would have found some loophole in the agreement to call the whole thing off.

 

There are stories circulating that McKenna now has an agreement (fuck knows if it is binding) that he can leave if a club bids £4.5million. His agent went into overdrive, resulting in QPR and (allegedly) Notts Forest then trying to low-ball us on that figure.....when their offers were rejected it triggered his transfer request. I suspect both will be back in for him in January and though his form of late hasn't been anywhere near that of a player worth that figure, I still hope we don't let him go on the cheap. Celtic, indeed, may well be back in for him with rumours that they're flogging off Ajer for megabucks.

 

I wasn't counting you as a reputable source!

All I'll say is......my source was correct about Milne/Cormack and the American investment