Imagine this conundrum......what next?

[Brin]

Having been asked to be the interim Manager of a doomed team that suffered relegation, must have been very painful to have to go through for Warne.

Through sheer tenacity, reorganisation and a die hard commitment to succeed, Warne manages to pull off an instant return to the Championship. Can you even contemplate just how much effort he and his management team went through to do that and say 'There you go Mr Chairman', with the minimal of spent money on recruiting new players.

Fast forward into this season and here we are again. What must Warne be thinking as he faces yet another battle to survive at the foot of the table?

Should we go down does anyone on here really think Tony Stewart has given his all to retain Championship status?

Yes I know all the plaudits he fully deserves etc god knows I've posted enough on here towards him over the years.
The thing is we are back up with the big boys and all that hard work and effort may well go to the wall through lack of solid investment to stay up.

If we go down does anyone think that Warne has the right seek work elsewhere to see what he can achieve with a better budget or will he stay Mr Nice Guy to his Chairman?

We know Stewart has said even if we go down he won't sack Warne, for me it's because he knows Warne can work miracles on a poor budget. For me is just HOW much Tony Stewart want to stay in this league after all the solid hard work from Warne?

Do I feel I'm being harsh on our Chairman? No. Do I feel Warne deserves more with backing? Yes. It's so damn hard what Warne achieved first time of asking and for me he has the right to walk away should we go down. I'm sure there's Chairmen of other clubs out there who'd take up his services.

[CTMilller]

I suppose it's slightly moot, Brin. If we go down, he won't be a favoured candidate for Championship positions so he would probably only appeal to a League 1 club - in which case why not stay with the Millers where he knows the drill and the Chairman is comfortable with him?

If we went down, there might be a chance that one of the better endowed League 1 clubs could seduce him with an attractive contract and a commitment to spend but, at least on the surface, his two relegations from the Championship might outweigh his one promotion from League 1 in the eyes of an ambitious club looking to invest in going up - but there's not a lot in it...

I'd say there's a lot more chance that he would be a target for a mid-level Championship club if we manage to stay up and Tony S will need to give that some thought. Everybody knows we operate on the slightly worn aglet of a cheap shoestring budget compared to most other clubs in the league and he will be much admired for the achievement.

[gm_gm]

The problem is we are a league one club playing in the championship, manager wise it wouldn’t make any difference if we had the real pep

[gkotw]

Good post Brin and very thought provoking. I like threads like this.

That said, can I throw a couple of counter arguments in, just to get the ball rolling.

1. The L1 promotion season:

Rather than sheer tenacity, determination and all the other platitudes, one could argue that we had the fifth highest budget in the division and we finished around about fifth (I honestly dont recall our exact league placing). The play offs are just a shoutout lottery. So, devil's advocate says, we were par for the course.

2. Warne operating with one hand tied behind his back financially speaking:

There's no doubting this to be the case but I'm not totally convinced it's as black & white as first appears. I've heard from different sources that warne has chosen VOLUNTARILY to invoke a player wage cap in order to engender a greater team spirit. At this point, I'm not judging whether that's a good or bad thing, but if it's true, then I think its a bit rich us all (me included) berating TS for being tight.

Theres also the recent statement from the wigan chairman saying that clubs their/our size are much more viable in league 1. From a fan's perspective, I prefer us beating teams and the atmosphere that generates at the NYS. Sure, we see far better players in the championship, but they dont play for us. Im a Miller much more than I am a fan of good football ((I can watch barca on tv for that).

Food for thought...

Grumps

[KerrAvon]

Grumps,

I would put a slightly different spin on your counter arguments

1. I agree that the L1 budget was competitive, but I think it important not to underestimate the task of rebuilding the side after the disastrous previous season.

2. Given the amount of money that he puts into the club, I think it more than a bit rich for anyone to berate TS for being tight, irrespective of whether he or Warne is the author of the wage cap. The economics of football are such that ‘investing’ in a football team is simply a slightly more exciting way of getting rid of money than piling it in a big heap and setting it on fire.

Perhaps supporters who call for more ‘investment’ in the club should come out and say exactly how much more they would be willing to pay for their tickets in order to try to secure Championship football?

Competing in League 1 is far cheaper than competing in the Championship and so clubs the size of Rotherham and Wigan have a much higher chance of being able to do so. Neither is particularly viable from a strictly economic sense, however, as both require continuing injections of cash from a club's owners. I hate to think how much Whelan paid to get Wigan to the Premiership and keep them there. It’s said that he was putting in around £7m per year just to try to keep them in the Championship.

[tom12026]

I am a pensioner,I live within my means,I have done all my life and to that end a knock at the door is not worrying(unless it is a relative at xmas),I regularly read/hear about people who have overstretched themselves financially for holidays,clothes and other stuff they did not NEED-not food and rent which is totally different.We maybe can afford to splash out and then again maybe we cannot,but all I want next year is to go to the NYS and watch a match-RUFC versus whoever in whatever league although preferably not the National league because we have gone bust(AGAIN).
Sorry about the capitals-not shouting-honest.

[MillerBill]

[QUOTE=Brin;39119065]Having been asked to be the interim Manager of a doomed team that suffered relegation, must have been very painful to have to go through for Warne.

Through sheer tenacity, reorganisation and a die hard commitment to succeed, Warne manages to pull off an instant return to the Championship. Can you even contemplate just how much effort he and his management team went through to do that and say 'There you go Mr Chairman', with the minimal of spent money on recruiting new players.

Fast forward into this season and here we are again. What must Warne be thinking as he faces yet another battle to survive at the foot of the table?

Should we go down does anyone on here really think Tony Stewart has given his all to retain Championship status?

Yes I know all the plaudits he fully deserves etc god knows I've posted enough on here towards him over the years.
The thing is we are back up with the big boys and all that hard work and effort may well go to the wall through lack of solid investment to stay up.

If we go down does anyone think that Warne has the right seek work elsewhere to see what he can achieve with a better budget or will he stay Mr Nice Guy to his Chairman?

We know Stewart has said even if we go down he won't sack Warne, for me it's because he knows Warne can work miracles on a poor budget. For me is just HOW much Tony Stewart want to stay in this league after all the solid hard work from Warne?

Do I feel I'm being harsh on our Chairman? No. Do I feel Warne deserves more with backing? Yes. It's so damn hard what Warne achieved first time of asking and for me he has the right to walk away should we go down. I'm sure there's Chairmen of other clubs out there who'd take up his services.[/QUOTE That is a pretty accurate assessment of how I see it Brin.Being a businessman it makes sense to take a good look at the management team you have appointed and if they are performing well you invest in them.At RUFC in the past, we have not had a manager who I would have trusted, to spend money wisely.Warney has created a squad, in which I would say 80% of the current first team are now able to compete at this level.It is that final couple of pieces missing in the jigsaw,that the manager needs help in bringing in.He has identified he wants to bring in a striker and wide player,I don't know whether these would be loans or permanent signings but surely, the chairman should be giving this excellent manager his full backing.The value of these players we have, has risen way above that pre season valuation of 7 million, reported in a local newspaper.Come on Tony,you know it makes sense to stay in this division,especially with the big increase in the TV deal agreed for next season. UTM

[Hazza Has A Gazza]

Ben Pringle was correct in saying, on his departure, that Rotherham don't have a plan.
It was disputed at the time, but it's clear now that we don't actually have a plan. Last season's excellent turnaround and promotion was not planned, it was a brilliant accident.
Now we're winging it in this division again as we always do, without a plan.

Or maybe we do have a plan and we're carrying it out to the best of our abilities under the circumstances? Those circumstances being the limited finances due to a small fanbase. On our trips to Wembley it's hard not to look around and wonder how far the club could go if all the 18000 'fans' were behind the club on a regular basis?
I don't think TS is letting the fans down, more like the opposite.

[Brin]

Ben Pringle was correct in saying, on his departure, that Rotherham don't have a plan.
It was disputed at the time, but it's clear now that we don't actually have a plan. Last season's excellent turnaround and promotion was not planned, it was a brilliant accident.
Now we're winging it in this division again as we always do, without a plan.

Or maybe we do have a plan and we're carrying it out to the best of our abilities under the circumstances? Those circumstances being the limited finances due to a small fanbase. On our trips to Wembley it's hard not to look around and wonder how far the club could go if all the 18000 'fans' were behind the club on a regular basis?
I don't think TS is letting the fans down, more like the opposite.

Hazza, very good point on the fans. The 'woodwork' fans as some call them gladly make a Wembley trip once we get there and like you say where are they the rest of the season. For some it's hardship and the cost of living that may deter/stop them attending every home game?

Others are just glory seekers who back the club but only on BIG occasions. No one can make anyone attend a game but, what Tony Stewart has done and created for this club warrants better support don't you think? Just imagine that extra 2-3,000 per home game and what extra revenue it could generate to bring that better quality player into the club.

TS- He's damned if he doesn't spend money to recruit when needed and not supported with higher gates when he does.

Who'd be a Chairman of a football club?

[MillerBill]

But Brin how do you know he wouldn't be supported by the fans, because no" reasonable" amount of money has been spent.If we were just a little bit more active in recruiting, you would see a response in numbers but nothing positive seems to come out of the club.