Reply With QuoteTalk about moaning for the sake of it.Originally Posted by FTD1983
From Fed update of q&a with Martin and Fyffe says Taylor and Thompson signed majority of players in Jan. So criticisms of signings perhaps shouldn't be laid entirely at Csaba's door. This is bull****. Age old tactic of scapegoating the people who are no longer there. I’ve long suspected this ST stepping into the shadows was seen as a way for the leadership in charge of the club to use him as a punchbag, the boogeyman, whilst the “new” chairman – one of his best mates – runs the ship – we are still under the same ownership and therefore the same regime! Conversely, id we have a manager who is happy to come in and let others dictate his signings then he’s not a strong enough manager for Dundee Utd – do you think Jack Ross and David Hopkin allowed their boards to sign players for them without at least looking at them and giving their approval? A flimsy excuse for a flimsy manager
Luggy is in charge of all scouting at all age groups but will eventually focus on central and south of England. Dave Bowman was chosen by Luggy to cover Scotland. The recruitment process has undergone a significant and required review which will hopefully bring benefits moving forward. This is a continuation of the “jobs for the boys” policy which already exists at the club. “Right lads, Bow is ****e with the under 20’s and can’t be trusted to bring players through, can’t sack him though as he’s been here a while and is a nice guy”.
Per one of the points below “failure will be addressed quickly” – well get him to **** then. What experience and quality can he bring to being our scout for Scotland? There are guys who work for years to become scouts, with their knowledge and contacts being their bible. Bowman has been ensconced at Utd doing other things for years. If we really must be seen to give boys like him a job make him a matchday ambassador or something similar – keep our positions filled with people competent to do them!
Debate still taking place about whether the structure should be primarily our own scouts or recommendations from "contacts". What does this even mean!? How can this debate be ongoing when we have recently appointed 2 blokes to scouting roles? Why appoint them if the decision isn’t made? Surely recommendations from contacts is an inherent part of the scouting process? Are we saying that we either listen to contacts for tips or that we just randomly turn up at as many games as we can and watch random players. If we choose a route of “our own scouts” will we just delete any emails from agents/friends of the club etc? An absolute nonsense of a statement.
Player contracts consist of three elements: basic, bonus and an accommodation allowance in relation to the "25 mile rule". Oh – so the same as every other club then…. So we are paying a smaller basic wage but paying for their accommodation – probably the same outgoings in total then with yet more players put up in the Apex/private rented accommodation at cost to the club – we’ll not be sticking them into semi’s in Kirkton!
No signing so far had meant the new wage structure has had to be broken although many agents tried to "plead a case". This is an agents job….
The players will only get a bonus if they win a game, no bonus for a draw. The bonus will be paid at the end of the season - but only if we are the Champions, if not the bonus will be halved. So we are telling the fans on the one hand low basic and big bonuses – I can understand that as a player who backs themselves that may sound appealing. However we are now hearing that even the bonuses aren’t guaranteed and won’t make up the weekly wages as traditional bonuses do. This effectively confirms that our “lower wages” are probably commensurate, if not slightly higher than the other “big teams” in this league. This has led to us signing a markedly lower level of player this season (i.e championship jobbers) as we are no longer capable of competing with top flight sides for players. This is a far cry from the Jim McLean days of a really low basic wage that we have been sold this as.
Mike Martin, Luggy, Csaba, David Southern and Laurie Ellis meeting about every 3 days to discuss signing targets. Mike Martin and David Southern handle contracts with the agents of the players Csaba wants to bring in. This is their job! It should be a daily meeting at such a critical stage of the season FFS
A rigid checklist is in place to ensure the risks in recruitment are minimised. One year deals are no longer considered. I’m against blanket statements like this – there are exceptions in every business and always room for short term contractors…. What can a checklist possibly bring to this – unless the top point is “Make sure player isn’t ****e”
The Challenge Cup will be for the reserve squad this season, Craig Easton and Scott Robertson will be in the dugout for this competition. Good
An application has been made for United's academy to have elite status. Why? We can’t afford this at the moment
Sunday morning warm-down sessions will now take place, the players will have Monday off and be back in at St Andrews on a Tuesday morning. Fluff – we’ll see how long this lasts – I can’t see any benefit to it. Players should be warming down immediately after the match and then resting.
Specific afternoon training sessions will be held with only the players involved in the topic being covered required to attend. These sessions may at times cut across all squads. Fluff – we should train as a team – if we need afternoon sessions it should be as a squad. Whats the point in having defenders in to work on something defensively without having actual attackers pushing them – unless of course the intent is to train other defenders as a replacement for Mark Durnan as the emergency striker.
The club will make a financial loss this season due to the revenue situation i.e. Championship v SPL income and not costs which are all budgeted and under a more strict control. Success will be rewarded but failure will be addressed quickly. Why is the championship income a surprise? I thought we had 2 budgets, one for going up, one for staying down, so why are we still using this revenue situation as an excuse? You can’t make a loss and say it’s not down to costs, but is purely down to income. Cost should be based on (and lower than) known income – this is a failure to budget correctly.
A new sports bar will be opening half way through the season. It will be on two levels with the top section used for match day hospitality. The George Fox hospitality lounges have been combined and improved at almost no cost to the Club thanks to various sponsors. This facility is to be utilised out with match days and as it now has its own entrance can be used without opening the stand. It is hoped that a variety of non football related functions will utilise this facility providing additional ongoing revenue to the Club. I’m not a fan of the sports bar – think the impact on local businesses (pubs tbh) could be a killer – but I’m not dead against it and praise the board for looking to maximise revenue. The GF hospitality could be a real earner so good to see that investment.
The share sale process is progressing, due diligence has been complete for some time and Mike Martin is confident of a successful outcome. The prospective new owners have been kept informed in relation to the big numbers for 2018/19 but not the detail of how these sums are to be spent. Mike Martin confirmed that if he is still involved after the share sale he will consider establishing a basis in Dundee. He also stated that Gussie's ownership would revert to the Club when the share sale takes place at the same price he paid. It’s unuasual for due diligence to be complete yet still no sniff of who these new owners are – I’m not buying it tbh but hopefully this is true!
United still own 20% of Ryan Gauld and will get a sell-on fee for Stuart Armstrong. Mike Martin stressed that some media stories were completely without foundation using Chris Miller as a recent example. Good news RE Gauld and stretch – absolutely no shock to anyone RE the media
Although a loss was expected for the current year this could be reduced by unbudgeted income with Mike Martin giving the example of the Scottish Cup game against Aberdeen which was worth approx. £100k to United. We are effectively gambling and hoping for a good cup draw – not a clever business model
Mike Martin's 33% share purchase took place in October. No formal announcement was made as he didn't think it was of interest as Stephen Thompson still remained the majority shareholder. Mike Martin and Jimmy Fyffe both stressed that Stephen Thompson has no involvement with the Club at any level and they believe this will continue until the sale of his shares takes place. He has no involvement with the club at any level yet is the majority shareholder? The Majority shareholder has absolute authority and sign off on any decisions – why are people swallowing this?
Luggy is now unlikely to hold the trial game previously mentioned although some players will be invited to join "on trial" during the pre season period. It is hoped to announce more pre season friendlies shortly. ”We thought the trial idea would sound good and progressive, we reailise now it’s amateur and has embarrassed our club and fans so we’ve cancelled it. We still intend on having trialists in friendlies, like every club in the world does though….” FFS.
Another revenue stream being considered is looking at Tannadice as a concert venue , Rod Stewart in June/July 2019 was mentioned Not a snowballs chance in hell of an open air concert in a heavily built up residential area. Pure pie in the sky.
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