must read article may take a while tho

[championship_here_we_come]

must read article may take a while

this has been copied off roversrearguard but is a must read

Someone who shall be nameless once said to me that to ask whether Tranmere would ever be a Premier League side was a ridiculous question. Not to be put off, I am asking it again now. The answer is completely clear to me. If Wigan and Bolton can be reasonably successful Premier League sides, why is it so ridiculous to suggest that Tranmere could also be? I work with Bolton and Wigan fans and I have to eat humble pie every day of the week. When I think of the play-off final in 1991, and how fortunes have reversed since then, I could turn to drink (even more than now, that is).

So…

First question: Can we be a Premier League side?
Answer: Of course we can. How close did we come, after all? A couple of dodgy refs away, that’s all.

Second question: Will Tranmere ever become a Premier League side with gates of around 6,000?
Answer: No. However, I’m told there are around 350,000 people living on the Wirral. Approximately 25,000 of them have to be convinced to support Tranmere on a regular basis. That’s about 7%.

Third question: Will 25,000 people come and watch Tranmere playing the way we have this season?
Answer: Give me a break!

Fourth question: Will 25,000 people fit into an 8,000-seater biscuit box stadium?
Answer: Only by sitting on each other’s shoulders in three tiers, which is currently contrary to FA safety regulations. This is not about reducing the size of the stadium to match the crowd. It’s about getting more people to come to the match.

By now everyone is thinking that this bloke is very good at asking questions, but where are all his answers? The truth is that it is a ‘chicken and egg’ situation. 25,000 people will not come to watch a side unless both performances and facilities improve. This will not happen until the Club has the resources, which 25,000 regular supporters will create.

So how do we break out of this vicious circle? In particular, what can we fans do?
We need 7 % of the population of the Wirral to support the team. So here’s my seven point plan for Rovers fans.

1. Be ambitious.
Don’t settle for defeatism or being second best. Let us put the power of positive thinking into action. Make it your personal life’s ambition to see Rovers play in the Premier League, and expect and demand that the Club shares it with you.

2. Support the team.
Home and away if you can. I have never seen a team start to play better when it is being booed by the fans. Pompey’s supporters have helped keep their team in the Premier League this year. So, next season, let’s be the twelfth man at every Tranmere game. In return, expect and demand that the Club invests in the sort of players that it is easy to support. In addition, ensure that the team shows 100% commitment all game, every game.

3. Support the Club.
Yes, that’s right. If you want a successful team you have to reach into your pocket. Get a season ticket. Buy a programme. Buy an Equaliser. Buy a shirt. Have your Christmas party at the Club. Have your pre- and post-match pint in the Prentonian. Support Club events. Use the Club’s facilities. If you have a business, sponsor the Club or advertise through the Club. In return, expect and demand value for money, the highest standards of service and professionalism both on and off the pitch. There are still too many clubs that act as though they are doing fans a favour and expect them to put up with any old thing. It’s the other way round. We’re the paying customers, and without us Tranmere FC can’t survive.

4. Be an ambassador.
Be proud of your team and of where you come from. Next season, try to convert at least one person to the religion of Tranmere Rovers. I remember the times when we were a bit of a music hall joke, but then that all changed with Johnny King. On Match of the Day, Alan Hansen said that the balance of power was about to shift on Merseyside, with Everton facing relegation and Rovers in the play-offs. It never happened. Everton survived and Rovers failed. Let us never go back to being a joke. Keep the faith. Be a one-man/woman PR force for your team. In return, demand that the management, the team and the local media show the same pride in Wirral’s football team.

5. Behave.
Give the Club a national reputation for the conduct of its fans. I’m not having a pop at those people who support our neighbouring sides, but nothing grips me more that seeing little kids walking around in Everton and Liverpool shirts. They should be the next generation of Rovers fans. Mind you, if I still had young kids I would think twice about taking them anywhere where the bloke next to me spent the whole game effin’ and jeffin’, or where there was any threat of violence or racism or any of that moronic crap. You can be loud without being crude, and you can be totally committed without being aggressive. In return, expect and demand that the Club cracks down on bad behaviour and bucks the tendency that football clubs have of treating fans like animals in the first place. Do that and you can expect people to behave like animals.

6 Get political.
If some punter comes round to your house in the next few days asking you to vote for him or her in the local elections, ask precisely what his/her policy is towards Tranmere Rovers. If she/he comes out with some condescending waffle about how they have always supported Tranmere, and how they hope Tranmere do very well next season, tell them that you’re not going to vote for them. You can vote for whoever you like afterwards, but I just want to put the fear of God into these people who don’t have a positive and substantial strategy for the advancement of their local Club. (In 2002 members of the Brentford Independent Supporters Association fielded 14 candidates in the local election and won a seat from a standing start). After the election expect and demand that Wirral Borough Council gives the same priority to Tranmere Rovers as it seems to do to some seemingly less important local facilities. A league football club is a tremendous asset to any community and it should be treated as such.

 

[championship_here_we_come]

Thread continues

This last few seasons, I like many others, have watched OUR club be systematically taken apart at the seams.
And as heart breaking as it is, you have to look between the lines to try and make some sense out of it all.

Lorraine?? Love or hate?
Let's be honest, she controls the purse strings, and has done a very good job of keeping us from drowning in debt. But that's where her strength should stay. Why does she get involved in de-stabilising the manager and players, by publicly slating the manager for not spending, and getting the players backs up? How many players have left now, after falling out with the 'bean counter'?
Apart from occasionally flashing her teeth in her fur coat, she is not a PR guru. So stick to the numbers Lorraine and leave the staff alone!

As for Robbo, every player and manager, has a shelf life with any club. I am delighted Gareth stuck with us for as long as he did, as there is no better left back in this division. But even he will agree, things have probably got stale here for him too, and a fresh challenge is needed, especially if a club not dissimilar to us offers him a decent wage.
Who's to say he wasn't on a decent pay deal anyway, as he was one of the few survivors from the championship crew. Again, maybe he was a cost cutting measure to reduce the wage bill.
That's always possible, but surely we can't have that many top earners left bleeding the club dry?

And as for getting bums on seats!!!!
Don't get me started on that one!
Where is the local press? The Globe, Wirral News, Radio Merseyside, City even Buzz FM for gods sake? Where are they?
I am disgusted more with Buzz FM and the local papers for a lack of interest. Buzz could do our live commentaries if they want to be taken seriously as an independent station. Could even have internet radio for the exiles around the world.
The Globe and News, pathetic! I'm sick to death of seeing a paragraph report on Tranmere squashed in between car ads and a full back page on New Brighton Rugby Club!!!!

The bottom line is, everything surrounding this club is half hearted. The press coverage, the PR, the TRSA, recruitment even the public!
This must change for us to move forward.
300,000 people on the Wirral, and we can only attract say 6000 locals (plus travellers)? Something has got to be wrong there.

I remember writing a letter to Franky Fingers, about the club needing to let kids in for free for about 10 years, in order to give them long enough to get hooked. I'm just glad the club did just that otherwise we would only have 4500 at PP, but now is the time to push that idea on.
The club should be targetting every home on the Wirral.
There should be fresh initiatives to attract people to our 'stadium'. Whether that means allowing 5000 people in for free on regular occassions, as well as the season ticket holders and kids and students and OAPs.
Ladies days --- pllleeease! One day and that's it!
How about 5 ladies days a season if not more?
How about students days a few times a year?
How about school daze?
Dad and lad days.......anything.
There must be some way of getting @rses on seats regularly and generating a bit more interest. Yes they might get in free, but people do spend money when they come here, equalisers, drinks, food even flags and scarves if they were available within the stands.

I think what I'm trying to say is, the club could easily pull their collective thumbs out of their collective @rses and try a lot harder to fill OUR club to the rafters, but they must try their hardest to keep that rolling, even in the summer months with concerts or displays.
They must also keep that interest going by bringing in players of decent quality, and a manager with half a clue and passion.
If it's a chicken and egg argument, then fine.
Make every attempt to get bums on seats, keep the place full, make some money, buy some players, pay off PJ's debt, then and only then will we move forward.

Another thing that's p!ssed me off over the years, when we sell a player for 200,000 - 2,000,000 why wasn't at least half the transfer fee paid towards the debt to get rid of the millstone?
Someone work out the fees, then work out how little the debt would be now if we had paid some off. I say we could easily have been down to 1-2 million by now and still been where we are now! But even a 2million debt would make us slightly more attractive to prospective buyers/investors. It's almost as if PJ wants to keep a strangle hold over us, and Lorraine is his yard dog!

Sorry for the rant, but I'm starting to lose my mi..........

 

[DixieDean]

Sorry, but that was far too long to read. Also, the parts I did read were either so OBVIOUS they really were a waste of effort typing it in OR they just made me think Eddie is a bit of a fool and doesn't really know what he's talking about.

For example: The bit about the 6million debt. Just say we had put £500k towards paying off the debt last summer (after selling Ryan/Hume). Ok, the debt would have gone down by £500k, but guess what? We'd have made a LOSS over the financial year of £500k, meaning we'd be right back where we started with the £6million debt.

Kind of glad I didnt waste my time reading the rest...

 

[Super_white_army]

Agree Dixie. It is all very well putting all those words down on the page but most of them are just not going to happen. Giving frre tickets to kids is a gamble as to whether it would work and it is a gamble that we shouldn't take. The club is running well behind the scenes and I think that a new gaffa and some good signings will turn us into a better team on the pitch.

 

[evo_trfc]

You have to spend if you want to go up simple as that. Look we are in the s**t with money so we ent going to bring in top quality players sp face the facts look i hate being negative i want to see the club get to the top flight but unless we spend we cant, say we spend money this season on a few top quality signings ok our financial status will go say into & million debt but if we win games the crowd will increase and if we go up we get money,
yet that could backfire and leave us in more s**t!

 

[NeverBeatDaveHiggins]

The club currently invests in youth. However there is no joined-up thinking when it comes to the senior squad. Tie these lads to 3 or 4 year deals when they're 19 or 20 and you'll see a return on the investment. Allow them to go for nothing at the end of a 1 or 2 year deal and you've wasted the money spent on them since they were 14.

Yes I can see the logic in only offering older players 1 or 2 year deals to keep the wage bill down, but these kids are on next to nothing and it makes no sense to only give them 1 year deals. I'd rather have 10 players like Davies, Tremarco and Brown than have one player like McAteer or Summerbee.

That is my biggest gripe at the moment, definitely not that we aren't spending enough, only that we are squandering talent.

 

[Matthew The Rover]

Evo_trfc I disagree. Luton, Southend and Colchester hardly spent a penny and they went up.

 

[Aldo's Worthy 2000]

The club currently invests in youth. However there is no joined-up thinking when it comes to the senior squad. Tie these lads to 3 or 4 year deals when they're 19 or 20 and you'll see a return on the investment. Allow them to go for nothing at the end of a 1 or 2 year deal and you've wasted the money spent on them since they were 14.

Yes I can see the logic in only offering older players 1 or 2 year deals to keep the wage bill down, but these kids are on next to nothing and it makes no sense to only give them 1 year deals. I'd rather have 10 players like Davies, Tremarco and Brown than have one player like McAteer or Summerbee.

That is my biggest gripe at the moment, definitely not that we aren't spending enough, only that we are squandering talent.

i agree totally NBDH!

 

[Super_white_army]

We should have the resorces to bring in players like Greenacre this pre-season. We have Robbo's wages which can be invested in a 'free' transfer and we apparently have wage money anyway. I knw that we are in debt to PJ, but I dont think we need to worry about that. As some one said on here a few days back, He likes haveing some control over the club. I think that all we can do is be positive and have faith in who ever gets the job. Matthew I think that you are right. I believe that we have the resorces to go up and all we need is confidence, motivation and manager who has something to prove and not some one who is on their way out.

 

[Gray]

Evo_trfc I disagree. Luton, Southend and Colchester hardly spent a penny and they went up.

That's because this is a ***** division. You don't need money and talent to go up, just a bit of belief, passion and commitment (which is free!)

 

[Matthew The Rover]

I agree Gray. I'm just pointing out you don't need money to go up - you need a decent squad of players who gel together well and believe they can do it - look at Watford!

 

[Banana Army]

That's because this is a ***** division. You don't need money and talent to go up, just a bit of belief, passion and commitment (which is free!)

Exactly, thats why i dont care about pre season this itme around. Id be happy with this team next season plus or minus a few signings (RB, Back Up GK and CM)

Achto
Tremarco
Sharps
Jacko
RB
Brown
Jenno
Macca
Aiston
greenacre
Zola

GK
Linwood
CM
Facey
Davies

PLus all our youth academy singings.... Henry etc. we'll be fine

We need a RB and would be nice to have another CM and GK but Harrison and Wilson may do for now. So im not worried about sigings this season.

Lets get out of htis didvision then rebuild

 

[championship_here_we_come]

my team

...............................actho/new gk(dino??)
rb(francis??) .....sharps/linwood ....jackson/new cb(ollie james??) ..tremarco
mike jones ..............jenno ...............macca/harrison................... brown
..............................greenacre.......... zola/davies

 

[Super_white_army]

I think that we need to get a team who want to play a team who want to do well for their careers and not a team who realise that they aren't actually going anywhere and that will never play in a higher division (again). There are some players however who are on the way out but have tremendous passion for the club.

Achto

?
Sharps
Goodison
Tremaco

Aiston
Harrison
Jennings
Brown

Greenacre
Zola

We need a RB and if we can a RM who has a good cross on him. If another srtiker comes I wont complain, but I think with good service we should get a few goals next season. I have to say I am quietly optimistic about next season. However I think it might take a few years when we are not expected to do well that we will do well and go up.

 

[NeverBeatDaveHiggins]

We need to get rid of that drain on our wage bill that is Ian Goodison, and preferably Jason McAteer as well.

 

[Super_white_army]

Apparently Goodi is re-signing with us. I think that he would do well in the CB with Sharps.

 

[Joe_TRFC]

Goodison is a decent Centre Back... the problem came when he was played left back by Little. Now Little has gone I don't expect to see him playing there so I have no problem with him signing a 1 year deal. Sharps is supposed to be considering his options... I wouldn't be too arsed if he went tbh... he was shocking in the games I saw towards the end of the season and from what I heard from people at the other games.

 

[Boz]

Don't think Sharps had a particularly good season last year, but think he's still a better central defender than Goodison or Jackson, both of whom I'd like to see leave.