Could we ever do a Bournemouth ??

[OgerAlex]

Fantastic achievement by Bournemouth. I appreciate the club has been backed by a wealthy foreign owner, but Eddie Howe has not exactly splashed the cash about apart from the striker they signed for a good fee.
Got me thinking, could we ever do anything like that?. Football is all about dreaming, and as much as we state that we're in a better position than the likes of Stockport and Tranmere, the likes of Bournemouth and Brentford that we used to rub shoulders with have shown what can be done with investment. Similar comments apply to Wigan, hell of a journey they've been on. Ive got to admit I was jealous of Bournemouth last night, as I was when Wigan lifted the cup. These clubs really aren't that much bigger than our good selves !. All we need to do is find that rich owner...a few good signings on top of a decent bunch of youngsters (Ashton nearly carried us into the 'championship' play offs not so long ago)and you never know...well I can dream !

[Ryancrewefan4ever]

Well a lot of it is down to the investment but not in signings, Bournemouth have a lot of players from the League 1 team in the current team. If we got promoted our best players would be sold and we would struggle. Bournemouth had the money to up the contracts of their players worth keeping. Plus they had a League 1 team that was excellent.

This was the line up the last time they played us:

01 Jalal
02 Francis
03 Cook
05 Seaborne
08 Arter
17 McQuoid (Fogden - 46' )
26 Hughes
30 Ritchie Booked
32 O'Kane (MacDonald - 84' )
22 Grabban
40 Pitman (Tubbs - 87' )

Subs
21 Allsop
06 Partington
12 Fogden
16 MacDonald
20 Fraser
18 Tubbs
33 Fletcher


And this was last night;

31 Boruc
15 Smith
05 Elphick
03 Cook
11 Daniels
30 Ritchie (Fraser - 83' )
06 Surman
08 Arter Booked
07 Pugh (Gosling - 89' )
18 Kermorgant (Pitman - 80' )
13 Wilson

Subs

01 Camp
04 Gosling
10 Pitman
14 Harte
20 Fraser
22 Ward
49 Jones

Not a huge difference.

[VindePays2009]

It would be good if Howe were to be promised a season in charge, come what may.

Otherwise, if the season begins disastrously, one imagines 'Arry being summoned from Sandbanks, and ending his career with another easy commute.

Maybe he deserves it after all those 5.30 a.m. starts for London, but not at the expense of Howe.

[supercrewe]

Its a marvellous achievement without a doubt, but to say they haven't splashed the cash is a touch wide of the mark.

Their losses for 2013-2014 were 13 million, losses for this season expected to be 18 million.

31 million is no insignificant amount for any investor, but ultimately they have achieved, with one season of survival in the premiership then who knows they could become as comfortable in the Premier League as Swansea have

[out0lunch]

Well it's reckoned that promotion to PL is worth £140 million so they could pay a few debts off.

Perhaps NH could follow suit?

[AlexLeicester]

In titular terms, yes. Swindon, Blackpool, Barnsley, Sheffield United, Wigan (as previously stated), and Luton before it was PL.

Practically? No.
We need to sell players to survive; we need our great players to march upwards and onwards. Ergo - we do not survive financially, in today's football world, if we aim too high.
When we were in the Championship things were a little different, but I still hope we'll get back and stay there for a while.

[Gobstopper]

Without the obligatory Billionaire we are not going anywhere near the premiership. I'd be happy with a few more seasons in the championship and that looks highly unlikely, for now survival in league 1 will do.

[jwar123]

We missed our chance a few years back when the board sold Dean Ashton!

[Alex_Crew]

We missed our chance a few years back when the board sold Dean Ashton!

Agree. We'll never get that close again without serious outside investment.

Incredible achievement by Bournemouth though.

[PaulNevitt1981]

Ground capacity is irrelevant as long as strict safety guidelines are met. This means capacity crowds for every game in a small fortress that no Premier league club will relish playing at. £100 million of revenue because of enormous endorsements across the board. Guaranteed parachute payments if relegated.

I say that our board were a little short sighted a few years back, with no vision.

Still hindsight!!