Thomas Sandgaard answers questions from supporters

Maccn05

Rotherham came down with a team that missed out on the last day and hardly lost a player. They were well set to go back up. 

It’s not that we haven’t spent enough it’s how badly we’ve spent it.

msomerton

Chunes said:l

How much have Rotherham spent? 

I read a lot of comments about us not spending enough. But don't we have highest net spend in league one and the third highest playing budget? Wen you've got clubs like Wigan and Ipswich burning through cash, that should be good enough. Can hardly say we have scrimped.

If you believe unsubstantiated comment.
I even find Sandagssrd's claim that we have the 3rd highest player budget hard to believe.

Cafc43v3r

msomerton said:

Chunes said:l

How much have Rotherham spent? 

I read a lot of comments about us not spending enough. But don't we have highest net spend in league one and the third highest playing budget? Wen you've got clubs like Wigan and Ipswich burning through cash, that should be good enough. Can hardly say we have scrimped.

If you believe unsubstantiated comment.
I even find Sandagssrd's claim that we have the 3rd highest player budget hard to believe.

I fully believe it when you factor in the fees we paid for Stockley and Kirk. 

Airman Brown

Maccn05 said:

cafcfan1990 said:

Maccn05 said:

Dave2l said:

The club was in a huge state and it was a big mess, after 19/20 season.

League one is where we now belong. I suggest getting behind supporting the players and do not overboil in taking things too seriously. I know it's easier said then done.

Within the club, it may take a while to drain the bad vibes. We need to hit the 80-90 point target.

None of us want another playoff drama.

We want and need to finish 1st or 2nd.

I believe we CAN do it and I think it is achievable within the next 3 or 4 years.

Blimey in 3-4 years time we can think about getting promoted?! Meaning 6 years since Thomas bought us.... I thought it was the Prem in 5 years.

That's a really depressing future that we have and would mean TS loses another £24-32m covering our losses, do you really think he'll still be here after that.

lastly why does it take us 5 years in your opinion to get out of this league when it's taken Wigan one from an even worse position than us? 

Not having a go, just keen to understand your thinking. Thx.

Don't mean to answer for the OP but it doesn't look like Sandgaard is going to spend the money to have an instant change of fortunes. Wigan spent the money to get instant results, although as we know it's not guaranteed, look at Ipswich. I too think we're going to be here for a few more years and are heavily reliant on 4/5 youngsters stepping up, whether that's to improve the team or be sold to fund squad strengthening. The only way I can see us getting a bit lucky and doing it sooner is if we make outstanding loan standings like our previous promotion winning season. 

It's always going to be a tough decision but I saw it as a false economy - because if you'd spent £2-3m and gone up this year, then  net losses would have been £11m (£8m+£3m) Next year being in this league you will lose another £6-8m so potentially £14-16m in total and another £6-8m every season onwards.

That's why I always thought the blow the league strategy was right, like Wigan and even Ipswich may still make it this year but even if they don't they are very well positioned for next season.

Unfortunately we made a right cock up of it but increasing expectations massively and then recruiting terribly. Shame really given we were so close last season.

If we are still in this league in 4-5 seasons time it will not be the same club, the luster will have gone about being a big L1 club and we could be on a slippery slope with a massive, expensive stadium (and rent) and nobody coming to watch.

Lets hope lessons have been learned.

I don’t personally think there is ever any excuse for a club of Charlton’s size not to be in the promotion race in this division. The bottom half of the division is full of rabbits. You can never guarantee promotion but the company we are presently keeping is a pitiful overall performance.

As far as losses are concerned, it’s not a given that we would lose £8m in the Championship (sorry, realised on rereading you didn’t mean we would). Clearly the less you spend on players in the second tier the more chance you have of being relegated, but that big chunk of central income gives you the opportunity to cut losses compared to L1. Duchatelet did it in 19/20 - of course he went too far. But without checking (which I will) I think you’d find Millwall losing less than Charlton. Their cost base isn’t significantly different from ours.

In L1 Charlton can’t get near break even (without player sales) because they don’t have the income (and never will).

Maccn05

I actually meant £6-8m per year that we are stuck in this league… based his quotes of that’s how much he expects to lose this season.

obviously he thinks he’ll buck the forever trend and be close to break even next season but without selling the kids we all know that’s not possible.

Airman Brown

Maccn05 said:

I actually meant £6-8m per year that we are stuck in this league… based his quotes of that’s how much he expects to lose this season.

obviously he thinks he’ll buck the forever trend and be close to break even next season but without selling the kids we all know that’s not possible.

In fact he’s pivoting away from it by chasing category one, which means higher costs. I’m not commenting on the ambition but it makes breaking even on operating costs less achievable in the short to medium term.

To break even in L1 the club would have to double its revenue (at minimum, because that would also entail some additional costs). Since some elements, like the central payments, are uncontrollable, it’s likely to need at least a 125% to 150% increase in commercial income (principally from home ticket sales).