Author Topic: Albion announce profit  (Read 16664 times)

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Re: Albion announce profit
« Reply #50 on: January 20, 2012, 11:54:21 AM »
I'm no accountant or mathematical genius but A debt of 2 million in premier league football these days is relatively peanuts & if its correct that the 11 million increase of wages is for the term of contracts (spread over 2-3 years) than surely we could 'dip' our toes in the "slightly more expensive pool" & try to kick on.

my expectations haven't increased massively this season but shouldn't we always be trying to better ourselves? or else whats the point of just "surviving"




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« Last Edit: January 20, 2012, 12:04:17 PM by OldburyWBA »
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Re: Albion announce profit
« Reply #51 on: January 20, 2012, 05:39:12 PM »
I am a bit confused by some of the comments on here. From what I can see, we have made a profit this year. We have reduced debt by 8 million to relative peanuts in the last financial year and the wages increase is over the course of their deals, which isnt an immediate threat (with the clauses in the players contracts the amount the contracts cost would go down anyway).

It is at first admirable that in a league where so few teams are self sustainable (with the few who are being the champions league clubs), we are are to keep ourselves running in a German type way. Eventually, all clubs will have to do this as the debts that Bolton, Wigan, Blackburn, Fulham and other similar clubs have are just not safe (everyone of them OVER 50 million in debt).

We can though, clearly, still push a little harder. This has been alluded to by independent assessments of clubs finances by journalists. We could with  bit of imagination still go for it a bit more, with January being an example.

Id also agree with those wo say the deal to take up the option on Bednar was foolish when it was obvious to us we were not going to get a bidder. It was a waste of nearly 1 million and for a club like us that could have been a good players wages for the year.
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Re: Albion announce profit
« Reply #52 on: January 20, 2012, 06:38:39 PM »
I am a bit confused by some of the comments on here. From what I can see, we have made a profit this year. We have reduced debt by 8 million to relative peanuts in the last financial year and the wages increase is over the course of their deals, which isnt an immediate threat (with the clauses in the players contracts the amount the contracts cost would go down anyway).

It is at first admirable that in a league where so few teams are self sustainable (with the few who are being the champions league clubs), we are are to keep ourselves running in a German type way. Eventually, all clubs will have to do this as the debts that Bolton, Wigan, Blackburn, Fulham and other similar clubs have are just not safe (everyone of them OVER 50 million in debt).

We can though, clearly, still push a little harder. This has been alluded to by independent assessments of clubs finances by journalists. We could with  bit of imagination still go for it a bit more, with January being an example.

Id also agree with those wo say the deal to take up the option on Bednar was foolish when it was obvious to us we were not going to get a bidder. It was a waste of nearly 1 million and for a club like us that could have been a good players wages for the year.

Decent assessment of where we are. I agree the Bednar looked strange at the time and now it looks like a really poor decision which has cost the club about £0.75m for no return whatsoever. Although our management of players contracts has generally been astute this is the area where clubs get themselves into trouble with a wage bill that cannot be sustained.

It is rumoured that Onouha wants £80k a week to go to QPR whose income cannot be any greater than ours. Obviously QPR have super rich backers but they would be bankrupt the moment the backers get tired of going to their pocket. This is tantamount to financial doping QPR and other clubs cannot afford the players they are recruiting which has a negative impact not only on the long term future of themselves but inflates players wages across the board.

The Premier league should impose limits not on players wages but the amount of debt that they allow clubs to have it would not stop a wealthy owners subsiding teams but if they wanted to they would have to put the money in as cold hard cash not debt that the club could be saddled with for a decade or more if they chose to walk away.
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Re: Albion announce profit
« Reply #53 on: January 20, 2012, 07:56:43 PM »
Id also agree with those wo say the deal to take up the option on Bednar was foolish when it was obvious to us we were not going to get a bidder. It was a waste of nearly 1 million and for a club like us that could have been a good players wages for the year.

The idea with the renewing of the few players contract was that we renewed them and then hoped to sell them for a profit rather than them leaving for free. It worked for everyone apart from Bednar, who we accepted several bids for but he turned the moves down. If he had agreed terms then it would have worked perfectly and we would of gained money through the process. He could also yet go in January.
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Re: Albion announce profit
« Reply #54 on: January 20, 2012, 08:17:46 PM »
I agree to a certain extent Jay but surely the club should have second guessed what the numpty is like from everything hes said and done since the 'drugs' bust.

I still feel the club were foolish to risk a new contract with Mr Big Head.

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Re: Albion announce profit
« Reply #55 on: January 20, 2012, 09:19:13 PM »
It looks like I'm in a minority here with saying JP lacks ambition.  Most of you are happy with his blueprint.  That's fine - people have differing opinions.

With this in mind, I can't understand the hysteria on messageboards when we lose premier matches as surely we have set ourselves up to lose a lot of top flight games with this business model.

I realise football is a passionate game and people can lose rationality / perspective minutes after a loss.

My frustrations are generally to do with the financial restrictions applied and "the bigger picture".  We really do not deserve higher than our current placing of 15th.  The league table doesn't lie. 

If we change manager they will be dogged by this strategy also, hence a never ending cycle. 

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Re: Albion announce profit
« Reply #56 on: January 20, 2012, 09:44:01 PM »
It looks like I'm in a minority here with saying JP lacks ambition.  Most of you are happy with his blueprint.  That's fine - people have differing opinions.

With this in mind, I can't understand the hysteria on messageboards when we lose premier matches as surely we have set ourselves up to lose a lot of top flight games with this business model.

I realise football is a passionate game and people can lose rationality / perspective minutes after a loss.

My frustrations are generally to do with the financial restrictions applied and "the bigger picture".  We really do not deserve higher than our current placing of 15th.  The league table doesn't lie. 


If we change manager they will be dogged by this strategy also, hence a never ending cycle. 


Well we finished 11th last season and since then we have brought in Jones,Gera,G-Mac and Long. Apart from Gera who has unfortunately been ruled out for the season, those players have performed extremely well this season and all look like bargains.

The reality regarding our position in the league not being higher than it is, consists of poor tactics and an injury crisis - especially to pivotal players.

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Re: Albion announce profit
« Reply #57 on: January 20, 2012, 10:17:21 PM »
11th was a bit of a one-off last season and was the result of the exact same manager you're criticizing now! 

Agree about losing Gera - a massive blow, the same as Man U losing Rooney, Man C losing Silva, Chelsea losing Mata etc.  Brunt on the other hand has done jack all season apart from a wonder through ball at St James Park. 

G Mac, Jones were bargains but haven't proved bona fida top flight players yet.  Long was £6 million i.e. the sort of fee we should be spending regularly to remain competitive IMO.

Basically JP has set us up to scrap for survival, accepted by many fans "settling for 17th".

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Re: Albion announce profit
« Reply #58 on: January 20, 2012, 10:39:49 PM »
11th was a bit of a one-off last season and was the result of the exact same manager you're criticizing now! 

Agree about losing Gera - a massive blow, the same as Man U losing Rooney, Man C losing Silva, Chelsea losing Mata etc.  Brunt on the other hand has done jack all season apart from a wonder through ball at St James Park. 

G Mac, Jones were bargains but haven't proved bona fida top flight players yet.  Long was £6 million i.e. the sort of fee we should be spending regularly to remain competitive IMO.

Basically JP has set us up to scrap for survival, accepted by many fans "settling for 17th".

I don't think losing Gera has made any difference at all. He played less than 3 hours football. We managed well enough without him last season. A negative approach to games is our downfall at present.
« Last Edit: January 20, 2012, 11:48:05 PM by OldburyWBA »
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Re: Albion announce profit
« Reply #59 on: January 20, 2012, 10:50:41 PM »
It wasn't negative at Newcastle or Blackburn - our away record is excellent.

We went attacking with RDM and collapsed post Oct 10.  RH then saved us from bottom 3.

Like it or not 15th is about right for a club with a very cautious approach to finance. 

We have done extremely well to progress this far with signings like Olsson, Mulumbu, Odemwingie, Thomas etc.  There's only so far we can push our luck IMO.

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Re: Albion announce profit
« Reply #60 on: January 21, 2012, 12:05:37 AM »
JP actually appears to be taking not far short of a million in pay/pension in the past year. No great issue with that, as he has overseen great improvements in our fortunes in the past few years. I think we are adopting a sensible approach, but we will all get frustrated by losing more games than we win. Look at teams like Bolton, Blackburn,Wigan who have survived for a number of years. People do not go to watch them in large numbers. It seems that our "yo yo " approach is actually more exciting. Another season like this one at home and I suspect attendances will be down regardless of which division we are in.
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Re: Albion announce profit
« Reply #61 on: January 21, 2012, 12:35:31 AM »
I think although people moan about relegation battles and going to the championship its exciting because we are playing for something. Expectation has now rose and without sounding arrogant i dont think we will go down this season and never have once thought we will, i think we will sail close to the wind at times but i cant see a stage where we are bottom 2 or 3 relying on other results, not because we are a great side but i think there a small cluster of sides we are slightly better than and why we wont be in any trouble, i will take this back come May if we are bottom 3.

The problem with that expectation is that should we stay up again this season, we have then probably hit our level, we wont be playing for anything on a weekly basis except to consolidate which isnt as exciting as promotion or relegation battles. Thats why i would love us to go on a cup run, fair enough first couple rounds dont get peoples interest as much nowadays which is a shame but after that people get into in and it would be great to experience and talk about in the future the cup runs, days out, winning trophies instead of thinking that was the year we finished 13th or something.
« Last Edit: January 21, 2012, 12:37:56 AM by Albion79 »

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Re: Albion announce profit
« Reply #62 on: January 21, 2012, 02:12:24 AM »
The only criticism I would have of the board is why hold the AGM in London?

Surely most albion shareholders (I'm not one) are midlands based?

You've answered your own question lad!
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Albion announce profit
« Reply #63 on: January 21, 2012, 08:51:40 AM »
I think Peace takes a small salary considering the club has a £60-£80 million turnover.

Can you think of another company whose main shareholder takes home such a small percentage of turnover?

Think youve got this the wrong way round mate.

His pay isnt in return for being a shareholder, but for his work. The return on his shareholding would come from a dividend (i dont think there is one?) and the increase in asset value.

He paid himself a million this year. That's a huge salary for a business with a turnover of the Albion.

It's equivalent to the boss of M and B paying himself £20m a year or National Express boss paying himself £30m. In reality, I suspect they each get closer to £1m, running businesses 25-40 times the size of WBA.

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Re: Albion announce profit
« Reply #64 on: January 21, 2012, 10:03:57 AM »
Think youve got this the wrong way round mate.

His pay isnt in return for being a shareholder, but for his work. The return on his shareholding would come from a dividend (i dont think there is one?) and the increase in asset value.

He paid himself a million this year. That's a huge salary for a business with a turnover of the Albion.

It's equivalent to the boss of M and B paying himself £20m a year or National Express boss paying himself £30m. In reality, I suspect they each get closer to £1m, running businesses 25-40 times the size of WBA.

Thanks for clarifying that Jeremy.  ;)

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Re: Albion announce profit
« Reply #65 on: January 21, 2012, 10:04:51 AM »
Hind sight is a wonderful thing :D

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Re: Albion announce profit
« Reply #66 on: January 21, 2012, 07:01:30 PM »
£1m a year for being one of the best-run clubs in the Premiership, and one of the very few which are not burdened by completely unsustainable debt?  A bargain.

It works out to £20k a week - I think you will find somewhere between 15 and 20 WBA employees earning at least that, i.e. the players and the manager.

I've been a big critic of Peace in the past, but over the past 12 months he has really earned his salary.  The decision alone of sacking RDM and replacing him with Hodgson was a brave and successful one.

In my view, based on performance, Peace is CURRENTLY worth every penny at £1m a year for the way he runs the club.

But that has to be distinguished from his role as Shareholder.  Even if he sold the club, he could well be worth £1m a year to a new owner as Chief Executive Officer.  We all know that JP does not have the wealth to enable the club to compete with other Premiership clubs, which makes the club's performance all the more impressive.   

There is no doubt in my mind that the club's model is the right model for all Premiership clubs over the next decade - as many of them are starting to find out.  Around 80% of clubs would go to the wall overnight if their owners demanded repayment of their loans.  Not us though - its a heck of an achievement for us to be doing as well as we are, and it is easily forgotten.

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Re: Albion announce profit
« Reply #67 on: January 21, 2012, 07:47:44 PM »
We're not a steady Premiership club yet.  We're doing well and now have another cushion between us and the teams below.  The problem is if this is us as a well run club then all we can hope for is relegation battle every season.  In another thread I posted the total transfer spends for us year in year out.  Typically it was around a £4m net spend once you've accounted for players sold.  That's includes about 10 years ago.  Taking that and allowing for inflation means it would be more like £5.7m a year of net spend.  Remember, that's not making a loss, that's just spending the same on players that we did under Megson when we hadn't had years of Premiership money.

In real terms then we're spending less as each year goes by.  Wages have gone up but we are in the Premier League now and if we really want to kick on and get ourselves to a stable position we can't keep shopping in the manner we are.  We need to step it up a bit.  The squad is lacking in quality and depth and we have too many players who clearly aren't good enough to help us push on.  Our next target should be finishing midtable steadily without looking over our shoulders. 

And before anyone starts, I'm not asking for us to go and spend £20m net.  I'm saying spending £6m net shouldn't put us to the wall.  If it would then JP isn't run the club as well as people keep telling me he is.

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Re: Albion announce profit
« Reply #68 on: January 22, 2012, 02:14:17 AM »
I think everyone seems to be under estimating how much the player wages have gone through the roof. The figure quoted in the Daily Mail is £49m. To put that into context we only earned £45m from TV rights last year and the total wage bill (for players, coaching and commercial staff) back in 2008/2009 was £30m.
Our position on paying competitive wages is much better but there is no doubt this has had a negative impact on the fees we are able to pay.

I cannot see us spending much by the way of net fees whilst we are paying the current wage bill. It is an either or scenario.
 
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Re: Albion announce profit
« Reply #69 on: January 22, 2012, 12:41:54 PM »
I think everyone seems to be under estimating how much the player wages have gone through the roof. The figure quoted in the Daily Mail is £49m. To put that into context we only earned £45m from TV rights last year and the total wage bill (for players, coaching and commercial staff) back in 2008/2009 was £30m.
Our position on paying competitive wages is much better but there is no doubt this has had a negative impact on the fees we are able to pay.

I cannot see us spending much by the way of net fees whilst we are paying the current wage bill. It is an either or scenario.

That figure is for 'fulfilling' wages on contracts from what i've read so its not the actual 'wage bill' per season. So if Brunt has had a new four year deal, all the money for that 4 years is put to one side which is all well and good but what happens to the money for the rest of the contract if Brunt is sold in two years time ? Not many players fulfill their entire contract these days.
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Re: Albion announce profit
« Reply #70 on: January 22, 2012, 02:22:14 PM »
The idea with the renewing of the few players contract was that we renewed them and then hoped to sell them for a profit rather than them leaving for free. It worked for everyone apart from Bednar, who we accepted several bids for but he turned the moves down. If he had agreed terms then it would have worked perfectly and we would of gained money through the process. He could also yet go in January.

Id say poor ground work was put in place when taking up the option baggie79. Surely a little bit of research could have found out that bednar did not want to leave if he did not have to. He has been on sale for 2 years now and we didnt get a sale last year so why we would get a sale this year is something I cant work out. It was a costly mistake.
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Re: Albion announce profit
« Reply #71 on: January 22, 2012, 02:29:52 PM »
That figure is for 'fulfilling' wages on contracts from what i've read so its not the actual 'wage bill' per season. So if Brunt has had a new four year deal, all the money for that 4 years is put to one side which is all well and good but what happens to the money for the rest of the contract if Brunt is sold in two years time ? Not many players fulfill their entire contract these days.

Yes maybe that is why I would like to see a copy of the accounts rather than rely on press reports
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Re: Albion announce profit
« Reply #72 on: January 22, 2012, 02:37:29 PM »
£1m a year for being one of the best-run clubs in the Premiership, and one of the very few which are not burdened by completely unsustainable debt?  A bargain.


Im not that comfortable with it really. We are in a world where most premier league owners put money INTO their clubs. Football is a unique industry, separate from selling clothing or furniture. Your income comes from fans loyalty to a particular club. They money he earns comes directly from fans.

Now you can say "he has done a good job" but does he really need 1 million a year? That is a lot of money for a club with our turnover and our limited resources. Thats 1 million that could improve the first team or improve the fans match day experience.

I understand if he is putting time into the club he needs some money to live on (is he doing much though, we dont know any more what he does because Ashworth does some of his old duties and Jenkins seem to be in charge of finance and he does no interviews any more). 1 million quid a year though? The national average wage is 20 thousand a year (and I dont even get that). The wages the anti capitalist protesters have been protesting about are the top company bosses wages of 200,000 a year which is gross wealth. So Peace gets between half a million and a million a season off the fans backs, bearing in mind he owns the club therefore has an asset worth 30 million in his possession. Is that not a eye watering amount of money for such a small investment? That is a lot of money to get out of fans loyalty.

I look at the shareholders meeting being held down in London, excluding normal shareholders, and it shows you our club is run by a rich elite now who have little really empathy/relationship with the fans who pay their wages and make their existence possible. It is sad now that football has come to this really - just a money making tool for people who most likely look down on the silly working classes funding the extravagance and the wealth making potential. There is certainly no way I will say peace deserves what he gets.
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Re: Albion announce profit
« Reply #73 on: January 22, 2012, 03:19:48 PM »
Im not that comfortable with it really. We are in a world where most premier league owners put money INTO their clubs. Football is a unique industry, separate from selling clothing or furniture. Your income comes from fans loyalty to a particular club. They money he earns comes directly from fans.

Now you can say "he has done a good job" but does he really need 1 million a year? That is a lot of money for a club with our turnover and our limited resources. Thats 1 million that could improve the first team or improve the fans match day experience.

I understand if he is putting time into the club he needs some money to live on (is he doing much though, we dont know any more what he does because Ashworth does some of his old duties and Jenkins seem to be in charge of finance and he does no interviews any more). 1 million quid a year though? The national average wage is 20 thousand a year (and I dont even get that). The wages the anti capitalist protesters have been protesting about are the top company bosses wages of 200,000 a year which is gross wealth. So Peace gets between half a million and a million a season off the fans backs, bearing in mind he owns the club therefore has an asset worth 30 million in his possession. Is that not a eye watering amount of money for such a small investment? That is a lot of money to get out of fans loyalty.

I look at the shareholders meeting being held down in London, excluding normal shareholders, and it shows you our club is run by a rich elite now who have little really empathy/relationship with the fans who pay their wages and make their existence possible. It is sad now that football has come to this really - just a money making tool for people who most likely look down on the silly working classes funding the extravagance and the wealth making potential. There is certainly no way I will say peace deserves what he gets.

sounding like a resentful left wing politician who begrudges the rewards open to anyone in the capitalist world with the get up and go to make a success of their lives (excluding those with title) peace was born with exactly the same opportunity as all of us i presume. ambition and drive in individuals is what drives the capitalist world and while it has its imperfections i dont see an alternative system that has worked as well and affords the sort of freedom we all enjoy

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Re: Albion announce profit
« Reply #74 on: January 22, 2012, 03:34:02 PM »
Im not that comfortable with it really. We are in a world where most premier league owners put money INTO their clubs. Football is a unique industry, separate from selling clothing or furniture. Your income comes from fans loyalty to a particular club. They money he earns comes directly from fans.

Now you can say "he has done a good job" but does he really need 1 million a year? That is a lot of money for a club with our turnover and our limited resources. Thats 1 million that could improve the first team or improve the fans match day experience.

I understand if he is putting time into the club he needs some money to live on (is he doing much though, we dont know any more what he does because Ashworth does some of his old duties and Jenkins seem to be in charge of finance and he does no interviews any more). 1 million quid a year though? The national average wage is 20 thousand a year (and I dont even get that). The wages the anti capitalist protesters have been protesting about are the top company bosses wages of 200,000 a year which is gross wealth. So Peace gets between half a million and a million a season off the fans backs, bearing in mind he owns the club therefore has an asset worth 30 million in his possession. Is that not a eye watering amount of money for such a small investment? That is a lot of money to get out of fans loyalty.

I look at the shareholders meeting being held down in London, excluding normal shareholders, and it shows you our club is run by a rich elite now who have little really empathy/relationship with the fans who pay their wages and make their existence possible. It is sad now that football has come to this really - just a money making tool for people who most likely look down on the silly working classes funding the extravagance and the wealth making potential. There is certainly no way I will say peace deserves what he gets.

Grass roots football is a working mans game but when you get to the level we are achieving, it no longer is and requires money and money men to sustain it. The money that the fans put into the game at this level wouldn't scratch the surface of what is required to sustain the level of achievement we are attaining to.

I do agree the amount of money that Peace earns out of being chairman is scandalous but then again, so is the money that players earn and the money involved in the game in general.

Premiership football is a indeed a unique industry, one where it appears the employee should get paid more than the employer!

 
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