The Q&A

[dollar'sbloke]

I am certain that is not true.
time is approaching when it will become inevitable.
there will be interested parties. But there is a significant amount of procedure still in place for that eventuality.
Especially if the Paliloi couldn't carry on.

Of course there would be interested parties with all those assets to leverage with, punt to nothing

 

[bigmart]

Going to be interesting what questions they answer with the run we are on

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I think we have to give time for the new players to gel. It took several matches in 2018-19 to get consistent results after the January signings arrived.

I think it is pretty clear that Hendry and Walker are better than the midfielders we already have, and Chalmers offers something different as well.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

 

[Boz]

Missed the first ten minutes though being late in from work, so grateful to RLC for posting this so quickly. Thought it was informative and they didn't duck some of the more difficult questions..

 

[ALDO MUSSY]

as for PAUL what a twat

 

[ALDO MUSSY]

also good to hear that they could have made 500k in jan but no they did not want to good on them hearing we made 75k in transfers is very disappointing as i would have thought we would have made more

 

[MancunianWhite]

also good to hear that they could have made 500k in jan but no they did not want to good on them hearing we made 75k in transfers is very disappointing as i would have thought we would have made more

I assume they mean 75k net after we have paid for our new signings.

 

[ONIGP]

I enjoyed the Q and A and think Mark and Nicola were as open as they could be. It's reassuring to be reminded from time to time what responsible and well-qualified owners we have. However, our anti-supporters, whether attending the match or attached to a device, will not be concerned with such trivialities. It's not a Tranmere issue It's a society one. Disconcerting and depressing for sure, but best blocked out as much as is possible.

 

[ADD]

Pretty honest assessment to be fair with no cherry picking of questions. Pretty emphatic that like many fans they are disappointed about where we are at League position wise

Finances are clearly under pressure if having to part fund the wages bill themselves so I am personally surprised that we turned down £500k in transfer fees especially where we are League position wise. Fascinating that Break Even is an average 10 to 11,000 attendances at home games - not heard that before. A net £75k in transfer fees was earned so likely sales would have been well over £100k given we brought in Walker and Saunders on fees. All went straight back into the playing budget which was good to have confirmed. Was also good to hear that MP believes that we still have a top half budget which puts a lie to those who continually suggest otherwise. Also interesting to hear who we bid for in the window and why they didn't come.

Far from ringing endorsement of MM was also interesting. MP didn't say yes or no as to whether he was the right man for the new development model. Also veiled criticism of MM's complaints in his pre- match press conferences re player budget. Suggestion to me is that jury is out and if we don't significantly improve then MM will not have his contract extended.

 

[ONIGP]

I think the 10-11k can be interpreted in a number of ways. For example Is that with or without the profit from other existing revenue streams being taken into account, or does it take into account only the profit from direct football revenue streams? What level of amortised capital investment going forward does that figure assume? Does it assume transfer market break even? Cup revenues? They did suggest that we had reached breakeven pre-pandemic and that was probably on 7k attendances but perhaps including revenue from some big cup games. Interesting all the same.

 

[Boz]

Given what’s been said about the finances, I imagine Micky will stay put until the end of the season, unless things go so wrong that we’re in danger of dropping out of the FL.
After that who knows? Hard to say how fully MM was involved in the development model and summer recruiting. He seems happier with the squad now, while it is arguably better quality is imbalanced in a different way. Think Mark was understandably needled by some of Micky’s remarks in match interviews, regardless of whether they were fair or otherwise.

 

[ADD]

I think the 10-11k can be interpreted in a number of ways. For example Is that with or without the profit from other existing revenue streams being taken into account, or does it take into account only the profit from direct football revenue streams? What level of amortised capital investment going forward does that figure assume? Does it assume transfer market break even? Cup revenues? They did suggest that we had reached breakeven pre-pandemic and that was probably on 7k attendances but perhaps including revenue from some big cup games. Interesting all the same.

Totally agree it can be interpreted different ways but from NP's follow on comment about diversifying revenue streams I took it to mean P & L break even on the day to day football operations so yes before transfer fees/ cup runs etc. and definitely before all none football related revenue.

 

[dollar'sbloke]

I think the 10-11k can be interpreted in a number of ways. For example Is that with or without the profit from other existing revenue streams being taken into account, or does it take into account only the profit from direct football revenue streams? What level of amortised capital investment going forward does that figure assume? Does it assume transfer market break even? Cup revenues? They did suggest that we had reached breakeven pre-pandemic and that was probably on 7k attendances but perhaps including revenue from some big cup games. Interesting all the same.

I think Palios played a little game to confuse and therefore defuse some fans. Not surprised given the aggressive comments I saw before hand.
Tranmere lose money in a flat season, no transfers and no cup ties. Over time and in recent history due to incredibly generous debt arrangements, Tranmere roughly breaks even. The current debt is the total historic debt, as owners have never had a dividend and there has never been a legal bail out.
At time of speaking Palios knows his running deficit so it simple to increase the imaginary gate in order to eliminate it.
Critically over time his off-field investments need to be bring that number down and in any case at some point transfers or cup tie money need to go to the bank and not be reinvested. As true break even is some way off.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Pretty honest assessment to be fair with no cherry picking of questions. Pretty emphatic that like many fans they are disappointed about where we are at League position wise

Finances are clearly under pressure if having to part fund the wages bill themselves so I am personally surprised that we turned down £500k in transfer fees especially where we are League position wise. Fascinating that Break Even is an average 10 to 11,000 attendances at home games - not heard that before. A net £75k in transfer fees was earned so likely sales would have been well over £100k given we brought in Walker and Saunders on fees. All went straight back into the playing budget which was good to have confirmed. Was also good to hear that MP believes that we still have a top half budget which puts a lie to those who continually suggest otherwise. Also interesting to hear who we bid for in the window and why they didn't come.

Far from ringing endorsement of MM was also interesting. MP didn't say yes or no as to whether he was the right man for the new development model. Also veiled criticism of MM's complaints in his pre- match press conferences re player budget. Suggestion to me is that jury is out and if we don't significantly improve then MM will not have his contract extended.

Nobody has suggested otherwise. A 'top half' budget, as opposed to top third which Palios has referred to previously, would equate to ninth to twelfth positions in the table. So effectively a mid-table budget, which is broadly in line with our performance this season.

The argument from myself and others is that these are financially challenging times for the club, we struggle to compete with the high spenders in the division, such as Orient and Stevenage, and don't have a budget which guarantees a top seven finish. That was effectively confirmed by Palios last night. Palios also emphasised that the youth development model inevitably results in inconsistencies in performance, with the average age of the squad having reduced significantly.

The break even figure of 10-11,000 clearly excluded all non-matchday revenues, and I think a similar figure was quoted even under the Johnson regime.

The comments regarding Mellon are irrelevant, as Palios is not going to endorse or un-endorse any manager on a Facebook forum.

 

[Boz]

On the top half budget, maybe not on here, but questions have been raised elsewhere about the validity of this claim. I’m content to accept what Mark/Nicola say about the budget, but that stance isn’t universal amongst the fan base. Interesting Stevenage are cited amongst the big-spenders, as historically this hasn’t been the case, while Stockport and todays opponent clearly do fall into that category.

While I agree Mark wasn’t going to say too much about the manager on a Facebook forum, what he did say didn’t come across as a ringing endorsement.

 

[O4anotherplayoff]

Finances are clearly under pressure if having to part fund the wages bill themselves so I am personally surprised that we turned down £500k in transfer fees especially where we are League position wise.

So long as we’re in L2 we’ll always need to balance cashing in with mounting a promotion challenge, so the model can never work if we’re going to sell everyone off at the first opportunity. Think Mark mentioned that the owners covering the current deficit is only necessary for the short term, which would make sense.

Good news is that all those players attracting bids in January should still be good enough to attract decent bids in the summer, and that’s when I reckon we‘ll cash in on two or three of them (Cogley, being out of contract, is the exception, but then I doubt we’d have been offered more than peanuts for him in January given the stage of his contract).

Hopefully we‘d then bring through a couple of the younger lads we signed last summer and, to continue to the supply line, bring a few more youngsters in this summer. With a few fees coming in too, we should also be able to bring in the necessary experience/proven quality to both strengthen the squad and ensure it‘s balanced.

 

[dollar'sbloke]

On the top half budget, maybe not on here, but questions have been raised elsewhere about the validity of this claim. I’m content to accept what Mark/Nicola say about the budget, but that stance isn’t universal amongst the fan base. Interesting Stevenage are cited amongst the big-spenders, as historically this hasn’t been the case, while Stockport and todays opponent clearly do fall into that category.

While I agree Mark wasn’t going to say too much about the manager on a Facebook forum, what he did say didn’t come across as a ringing endorsement.

People don't half linger on this old topic, the budget relativity status is a de facto after the event measure. Put simply you won't know until the second half of this year even roughly how your budget compared with this season.
Tranmere could and did change theirs in January, others might sign non-contracted players before the season ends. No one really knows who signed for what and when. Crewe for example still spend a huge sum on youth which does produce, not sure they get value for money anymore, there again Tranmere's youth end up in tier 7. It is an impossible comparison on an non-determined matrix. I'd guess there are three clubs miles ahead in spending, so best case scenario Tranmere can challenge for play-offs which generally happens.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

So long as we’re in L2 we’ll always need to balance cashing in with mounting a promotion challenge, so the model can never work if we’re going to sell everyone off at the first opportunity. Think Mark mentioned that the owners covering the current deficit is only necessary for the short term, which would make sense.

Good news is that all those players attracting bids in January should still be good enough to attract decent bids in the summer, and that’s when I reckon we‘ll cash in on two or three of them (Cogley, being out of contract, is the exception, but then I doubt we’d have been offered more than peanuts for him in January given the stage of his contract).

Hopefully we‘d then bring through a couple of the younger lads we signed last summer and, to continue to the supply line, bring a few more youngsters in this summer. With a few fees coming in too, we should also be able to bring in the necessary experience/proven quality to both strengthen the squad and ensure it‘s balanced.

Yes, it seems certain that Bristow will be sold in the summer, and we should be able to extract a substantial fee.

 

[dollar'sbloke]

So long as we’re in L2 we’ll always need to balance cashing in with mounting a promotion challenge, so the model can never work if we’re going to sell everyone off at the first opportunity. Think Mark mentioned that the owners covering the current deficit is only necessary for the short term, which would make sense.

Good news is that all those players attracting bids in January should still be good enough to attract decent bids in the summer, and that’s when I reckon we‘ll cash in on two or three of them (Cogley, being out of contract, is the exception, but then I doubt we’d have been offered more than peanuts for him in January given the stage of his contract).

Hopefully we‘d then bring through a couple of the younger lads we signed last summer and, to continue to the supply line, bring a few more youngsters in this summer. With a few fees coming in too, we should also be able to bring in the necessary experience/proven quality to both strengthen the squad and ensure it‘s balanced.

I'd guess if you got promoted it would be even worse. Probably need to double your wage bill to get to mid-table, and unlike this year's moneybags there you are talking four five times the budget you'd be up against.
Palios will only be short term lending on the deficit. I think the £500k quote was economically creative btw