Tonight's webinar
Feb 25, 2021 21:08:04 GMT
Post by ickle2 on Feb 25, 2021 21:08:04 GMT
Here are some notes from tonight's webinar (these came from a message sent out to WHOSE members)
Club feels we have been unlucky, perhaps 5-6 points shy of what we deserve.
Sweet on Club financial health – pandemic has really hurt us – in any other industry we’d be sending out significant warnings. But in football we are as good as almost anyone. WENT INTO PANDEMIC NO EXTERNAL DEBT. Normal year we make a nominal loss or profit. Pandemic changing that, so things are worse, reiterated how fundamental the support of the fans / exec members have been. Feels sure we will survive, not sure about other clubs, may well mean that we come out more competitive than before.
Thinks football will need to change, was unsustainable before, now it’s ridiculous, some clubs may not survive but this positions us better. Feels we can outperform almost any other club even spending double us because of our efficiency and creative techniques. Though reality is that we are up against teams with ten times the budget. However, thinks we are comfortable now in the championship. Big thanks to supporters.
Did no fans help him when he came back and did he come back better? Not sure, thinks it might have been a distraction though. His mandate has been simply to stay in this division. Took a lot of work including from the fans and their financial support. Took great pains to state that it’s been a huge team effort from everyone from the groundsman, to the cleaners to the players to the board. Swwet also said that Nathan wanted the fans there whatever the reaction. He also thinks that the board’s relationship with the manager is now more progressive.
To Jones: If a premiership club came in for you what would you do? He said he never saw the project through last time and he moved at the wrong time. Again gave credit to everyone for previous progress. Initial goal was to get to the Championship within 4 years. Now the second phase is establishing in the Championship. He is very happy here, doesn’t want to think about other offers and believes he will stick with it.
Time away taught him a lot. Came back better because of the tough times / adversity he faced. Became a better manager including tactically and he eradicated some weaknesses of his.
Nathan on fans in stadiums: Interesting topic, we have suffered from no fans at home as when the Kenny is rocking there aren’t many places like it. Some other clubs may have 3 times the fans but it is still not as imposing so not having that at home has hindered us. Can’t answer with true certainty except that it has been a hindrance at home. Not so sure away as we’ve been playing well so home fans might have got at their own team at times.. Sonny – fans have been massively important during his time here. Especially at home. Players have missed it and he feels we’d definitely have picked up more at home. The team told him the same, even with just 1-2000, they said it felt like 5-6000.
Sonny on Covid restrictions: At first it was different, some teething problems, but we have a mature squad with a great team including the physio who keeps them in line. Players are well aware of the consequences of letting the infection into their bubble. But thinks the performances have shown us coming back strong, he thinks stronger relatively than any other team in the league. Players have worked so hard to be here and don’t want to let it go.
“Kevin” DH – how is Luton different to Leicester – Really impressed, great training ground, pitches , gym, canteen etc. Everything like coaching, training etc is top notch and well thought out. Leicester’s is one of the best in Europe but Luton is more than good enough for Championship level. Said you never know when asked if he would sign on loan next year.
Nathan on why so defensive: Brutally honest answer. At no point do we just set up defensively but do make sure we are not easy to beat. After 31 games last year had a -29GD. Graeme Jones, he feels, had already addressed that with some improvement. Didn’t think fans would be happy with going out and losing by attacking. We were never going to be the most fluent side, so set up to be difficult to beat. Now we are evolving, a long process, so now we are a high pressing, aggressive team and we go out to win every game. In his first season a similar practical approach then evolved the diamond and finished fourth. Next year, after 18 months we were fluent and wonderfully attacking. Now phase two so we are gradually building, he thinks we are, we play three front men, two attacking FBs and two “number 8s”. So we are evolving and on the right path. Thinks we’ve not picked up enough points recently but equally we probably deserved more and hopes we will get to be more fluent in time.
How do you feel about being accused of being too defensive? It’ a great question. At times you come up against very good sides so you end up looking defensive. We work religiously on attacking play, but it doesn’t always come across, we are at the level where we are really tested. Tries to make players better. Sweet: We like tough questions, we like to be challenged. Quoted “Never too high, never too low”. Focused on the long term plan at Board level. We’re going through a period of evolution.
KDH: James Justin, what did he say about Luton Town? Signed on deadline day, Luton had been interested for some time so they had regular chats. Justin said Jones was vital to his development and how much he helped him improve. Justin talked about the family spirit and the fans which contributed to him coming here, “he’s an honest boy and I trusted all he said”. He gave me a good feeling about the place and I haven’t looked back since I got here.
Jones on KDH: I had a list of players when I came back but the process started last December. Met KDH three days after we survived in Cheshire. We went after him Leicester weren’t sure that as he was close to the first team. He was number one target in that position, so a year long process, talks every couple of weeks. Sweet tried to make it permanent.
KDH, it seems unfair you never played in front of a crowd. Would you sign for another year? Would you think about it? Of course, I would definitely think about it. Have loved the club since the first day. Only disappointment since being here is not playing in front of a full crowd. Players keep telling him. Could not stress enough how even 1-2k fans helped. Will just live in the moment, I’m really happy but would definitely consider it if the offer came in.
Sonny: How does the pressure compare now versus being top in League One? Different players see it differently. For him the pressure is similar, always feeling like he’s playing for something, desperate to win. Manager keep the pressure on even in training. Believes that he is constantly learning and so is the team.
Martin Trainer! Disappointed by time wasting on Tuesday night. Were the players encouraged to do that? Sonny: Every team does it, want to keep possession and keep the ball as far from the goal as possible. Does not understand why that is seen as negative, felt it was the right thing to do to win the game. It’s all about winning. Gutted about the equaliser, “it hurts badly”. Doesn’t understand how a fan can look at that as being negative. KDH: Agrees, we knew they would bring big players on and bombard the box, the further from our goal the better. Compares it with losing the ball cheaply. Jones: Everything tactical falls on me. We don’t set up to be negative, should have been clear with a second goal based on chances. When you get to the end of the game there is a different mentality. WE made five positive subs, well at least four were totally positive. Let down by the ref on time added on. People have to understand that when the pressure on sometimes you make decision that an armchair fan wouldn’t. Lat subs were two strikers and an attacking midfielder. The others were tactical, just like Brentford did to us.
If Tom Ince wanted to stay could that happen? Whatever Nathan wants! Nathan makes the football decisions. Tom is the right type of character for us, has real quality. We need to get more athleticism and quality in the squad over the next couple of windows. But we won’t break the bank, referenced previous bad management. In summary, fingers crossed on that! More positive than I expected. Stated that average Champ wages would be about £13k but obviously some are on up to £100k. Almost every other club has one player that would blow our total budget. But our budget is the right budget for us. Worries about the state other clubs are getting into. We have been on a gentle incline and we want to keep that going. It is a challenge to recruit players within our budget. Thanks the squad because they know there is more money elsewhere, but they love it here and feel they are progressing as players. Money isn’t the only currency in football and we have plenty of all the other currencies. Our wage CAP is less than half of that Champ average. We believe that every pound we spend is worth two of what anyone else spends.
Sonny: Fans have been absolutely brilliant after the passing of his father. It has really helped him. Wants to say thankyou to the fans, “we’ve needed you immensely”. Appreciates the financial support. Seemed genuinely touched by it all.
Nathan: Very proud of his captain, heard from a doctor about his empathy, and ability to speak. We have good people from top to bottom. The human side of how we recruit is so important.
If next season we get to the play-offs would it be too soon to get to the PL so would the board manage it to avoid promotion? Sweet: We would never manipulate results for any reason. We got to the Championship a year early. We would go for it any way that we could. Yes, Power court would be better but with the PL finances of 120 million the difference between the Kenny and PC would be a max of 5 million to start with. So financially we would be massively better off regardless. They talk about the EPL frequently and what our journey there would look like.
Power Court . .. when? Sweet: as soon as possible. We are working really hard on this. When pandemic hit, they made a couple of massive decisions. One, bring Nathan back, saw the original lockdown as an opportunity to get things done that might have waited until Summer. Two, in face of declining retail and other impacts it really needed a review of the developments especially Newlands Park. Now in a pre-app process with Luton Council, the new plans out in days / weeks. Will not be a long process, will be some big changes. Focus is on the way the market is today. It will all be deliverable, they have genuine investment interest. Feel more confident of delivering a stadium than they ever have. Moving away a bit from retail at NP but that reduces value. Currently not compromising on design, stadium is being re-designed too, will be completed in coming months. Could be as early as Summer 2024 but might be a year later.
How much money is needed? We bought 2 pieces of land for about 30 million, good value, worth a lot more now so sensible investments. Build cost of everything 4-500 million! But we will section off parcels of land and sell to joint venture developers who develop based on our licenses and planning permission. For that we get money to build the stadium. Cashflow is a massive thing over the three years. Currently it’s looking good but haven’t got there yet. It will happen, 2024 looking possible, 2025 is very likely. Chance it could be 2023 but that is very unlikely. Elements of control lost to pandemic but progress is relatively good. Retail might have struggled but housing, especially lower end, is booming. Appartments at PC doubled in number. Thinks the new stadium designs are improvements.
Where do you expect the club to be in 5 years time? Jones: With a fair wind we’ll be a PL club. Had a four year plan to get to Champ. Did that a year early but if we’d gone down would have been at least a year late. Last year about survival, now we are trying to establish ourselves and then evolve. Want to be the same side in the Champ as we were in League Two / One. But it will take time. But not trapdoors, won’t be gungho, to avoid falling down. So the next couple of years evolve into an attacking side near the top. If we can do that then try to get in the play offs. Become a side that is consistently in top 6/8, and then really push for the top. Sweet: It’s that boring word of patience, thinks people understand that. Wants us to have that patience. We’ve gone up three leagues but that was much simpler than Championship due to budget and other factors. Needs the faith and patience of supporters, he “knows it’s there”.
Youth system, anyone close to being another James Justin? Jones: Justin is a very special player. We’ve given 18 young players their debuts (our own plus ones brought in). Academy is so important, educated from a young age and players get the club’s importance bred into them. Won’t mention names but a few are getting there. Getting the U23s will be a big plus. Don’t forget we’ve come up three leagues so academy is continually having to adjust to much higher levels. Sometimes it’s not safe to do that with young players but thinks the future is very bright.
When will details of STs for next season be published? Thanks for the question! Had a meeting about it today, should launch something same time as last year, towards the beginning of April. Very difficult this time but could not deliver everything this year due to pandemic so they will recognise that. Have worked really hard with iFollow and the league to improve iFollow and it will continue to improve.
BBC documentary, Trouble at the Top: Do you look back at John Gurney as an inspiration of how not to run a football club? Sweet: Well he never really ran a football club. I miss John, he was fun to deal with, a comedy character. Looks at other FC owners and thinks they are doing a lot of damage.
During time at Luton who was the best player you played with? In the reserves it was Clive Allen, Jones never played in first team. Pleat signed him then left, said with 40 players it was very entertaining. Liked Ceri Hughes, Botcho Geuntchev. He really liked Micthell Thomas who was the biggest moaner, Graham alexander, Gary Waddock. But once you had played in front of Mitchell, everything else was easier. But Ceri Hughes was the most skillful and had the most talent.
Then a last thankyou from the board for the phenomenal support. Same from Jones on behalf of management and coaches.
Club feels we have been unlucky, perhaps 5-6 points shy of what we deserve.
Sweet on Club financial health – pandemic has really hurt us – in any other industry we’d be sending out significant warnings. But in football we are as good as almost anyone. WENT INTO PANDEMIC NO EXTERNAL DEBT. Normal year we make a nominal loss or profit. Pandemic changing that, so things are worse, reiterated how fundamental the support of the fans / exec members have been. Feels sure we will survive, not sure about other clubs, may well mean that we come out more competitive than before.
Thinks football will need to change, was unsustainable before, now it’s ridiculous, some clubs may not survive but this positions us better. Feels we can outperform almost any other club even spending double us because of our efficiency and creative techniques. Though reality is that we are up against teams with ten times the budget. However, thinks we are comfortable now in the championship. Big thanks to supporters.
Did no fans help him when he came back and did he come back better? Not sure, thinks it might have been a distraction though. His mandate has been simply to stay in this division. Took a lot of work including from the fans and their financial support. Took great pains to state that it’s been a huge team effort from everyone from the groundsman, to the cleaners to the players to the board. Swwet also said that Nathan wanted the fans there whatever the reaction. He also thinks that the board’s relationship with the manager is now more progressive.
To Jones: If a premiership club came in for you what would you do? He said he never saw the project through last time and he moved at the wrong time. Again gave credit to everyone for previous progress. Initial goal was to get to the Championship within 4 years. Now the second phase is establishing in the Championship. He is very happy here, doesn’t want to think about other offers and believes he will stick with it.
Time away taught him a lot. Came back better because of the tough times / adversity he faced. Became a better manager including tactically and he eradicated some weaknesses of his.
Nathan on fans in stadiums: Interesting topic, we have suffered from no fans at home as when the Kenny is rocking there aren’t many places like it. Some other clubs may have 3 times the fans but it is still not as imposing so not having that at home has hindered us. Can’t answer with true certainty except that it has been a hindrance at home. Not so sure away as we’ve been playing well so home fans might have got at their own team at times.. Sonny – fans have been massively important during his time here. Especially at home. Players have missed it and he feels we’d definitely have picked up more at home. The team told him the same, even with just 1-2000, they said it felt like 5-6000.
Sonny on Covid restrictions: At first it was different, some teething problems, but we have a mature squad with a great team including the physio who keeps them in line. Players are well aware of the consequences of letting the infection into their bubble. But thinks the performances have shown us coming back strong, he thinks stronger relatively than any other team in the league. Players have worked so hard to be here and don’t want to let it go.
“Kevin” DH – how is Luton different to Leicester – Really impressed, great training ground, pitches , gym, canteen etc. Everything like coaching, training etc is top notch and well thought out. Leicester’s is one of the best in Europe but Luton is more than good enough for Championship level. Said you never know when asked if he would sign on loan next year.
Nathan on why so defensive: Brutally honest answer. At no point do we just set up defensively but do make sure we are not easy to beat. After 31 games last year had a -29GD. Graeme Jones, he feels, had already addressed that with some improvement. Didn’t think fans would be happy with going out and losing by attacking. We were never going to be the most fluent side, so set up to be difficult to beat. Now we are evolving, a long process, so now we are a high pressing, aggressive team and we go out to win every game. In his first season a similar practical approach then evolved the diamond and finished fourth. Next year, after 18 months we were fluent and wonderfully attacking. Now phase two so we are gradually building, he thinks we are, we play three front men, two attacking FBs and two “number 8s”. So we are evolving and on the right path. Thinks we’ve not picked up enough points recently but equally we probably deserved more and hopes we will get to be more fluent in time.
How do you feel about being accused of being too defensive? It’ a great question. At times you come up against very good sides so you end up looking defensive. We work religiously on attacking play, but it doesn’t always come across, we are at the level where we are really tested. Tries to make players better. Sweet: We like tough questions, we like to be challenged. Quoted “Never too high, never too low”. Focused on the long term plan at Board level. We’re going through a period of evolution.
KDH: James Justin, what did he say about Luton Town? Signed on deadline day, Luton had been interested for some time so they had regular chats. Justin said Jones was vital to his development and how much he helped him improve. Justin talked about the family spirit and the fans which contributed to him coming here, “he’s an honest boy and I trusted all he said”. He gave me a good feeling about the place and I haven’t looked back since I got here.
Jones on KDH: I had a list of players when I came back but the process started last December. Met KDH three days after we survived in Cheshire. We went after him Leicester weren’t sure that as he was close to the first team. He was number one target in that position, so a year long process, talks every couple of weeks. Sweet tried to make it permanent.
KDH, it seems unfair you never played in front of a crowd. Would you sign for another year? Would you think about it? Of course, I would definitely think about it. Have loved the club since the first day. Only disappointment since being here is not playing in front of a full crowd. Players keep telling him. Could not stress enough how even 1-2k fans helped. Will just live in the moment, I’m really happy but would definitely consider it if the offer came in.
Sonny: How does the pressure compare now versus being top in League One? Different players see it differently. For him the pressure is similar, always feeling like he’s playing for something, desperate to win. Manager keep the pressure on even in training. Believes that he is constantly learning and so is the team.
Martin Trainer! Disappointed by time wasting on Tuesday night. Were the players encouraged to do that? Sonny: Every team does it, want to keep possession and keep the ball as far from the goal as possible. Does not understand why that is seen as negative, felt it was the right thing to do to win the game. It’s all about winning. Gutted about the equaliser, “it hurts badly”. Doesn’t understand how a fan can look at that as being negative. KDH: Agrees, we knew they would bring big players on and bombard the box, the further from our goal the better. Compares it with losing the ball cheaply. Jones: Everything tactical falls on me. We don’t set up to be negative, should have been clear with a second goal based on chances. When you get to the end of the game there is a different mentality. WE made five positive subs, well at least four were totally positive. Let down by the ref on time added on. People have to understand that when the pressure on sometimes you make decision that an armchair fan wouldn’t. Lat subs were two strikers and an attacking midfielder. The others were tactical, just like Brentford did to us.
If Tom Ince wanted to stay could that happen? Whatever Nathan wants! Nathan makes the football decisions. Tom is the right type of character for us, has real quality. We need to get more athleticism and quality in the squad over the next couple of windows. But we won’t break the bank, referenced previous bad management. In summary, fingers crossed on that! More positive than I expected. Stated that average Champ wages would be about £13k but obviously some are on up to £100k. Almost every other club has one player that would blow our total budget. But our budget is the right budget for us. Worries about the state other clubs are getting into. We have been on a gentle incline and we want to keep that going. It is a challenge to recruit players within our budget. Thanks the squad because they know there is more money elsewhere, but they love it here and feel they are progressing as players. Money isn’t the only currency in football and we have plenty of all the other currencies. Our wage CAP is less than half of that Champ average. We believe that every pound we spend is worth two of what anyone else spends.
Sonny: Fans have been absolutely brilliant after the passing of his father. It has really helped him. Wants to say thankyou to the fans, “we’ve needed you immensely”. Appreciates the financial support. Seemed genuinely touched by it all.
Nathan: Very proud of his captain, heard from a doctor about his empathy, and ability to speak. We have good people from top to bottom. The human side of how we recruit is so important.
If next season we get to the play-offs would it be too soon to get to the PL so would the board manage it to avoid promotion? Sweet: We would never manipulate results for any reason. We got to the Championship a year early. We would go for it any way that we could. Yes, Power court would be better but with the PL finances of 120 million the difference between the Kenny and PC would be a max of 5 million to start with. So financially we would be massively better off regardless. They talk about the EPL frequently and what our journey there would look like.
Power Court . .. when? Sweet: as soon as possible. We are working really hard on this. When pandemic hit, they made a couple of massive decisions. One, bring Nathan back, saw the original lockdown as an opportunity to get things done that might have waited until Summer. Two, in face of declining retail and other impacts it really needed a review of the developments especially Newlands Park. Now in a pre-app process with Luton Council, the new plans out in days / weeks. Will not be a long process, will be some big changes. Focus is on the way the market is today. It will all be deliverable, they have genuine investment interest. Feel more confident of delivering a stadium than they ever have. Moving away a bit from retail at NP but that reduces value. Currently not compromising on design, stadium is being re-designed too, will be completed in coming months. Could be as early as Summer 2024 but might be a year later.
How much money is needed? We bought 2 pieces of land for about 30 million, good value, worth a lot more now so sensible investments. Build cost of everything 4-500 million! But we will section off parcels of land and sell to joint venture developers who develop based on our licenses and planning permission. For that we get money to build the stadium. Cashflow is a massive thing over the three years. Currently it’s looking good but haven’t got there yet. It will happen, 2024 looking possible, 2025 is very likely. Chance it could be 2023 but that is very unlikely. Elements of control lost to pandemic but progress is relatively good. Retail might have struggled but housing, especially lower end, is booming. Appartments at PC doubled in number. Thinks the new stadium designs are improvements.
Where do you expect the club to be in 5 years time? Jones: With a fair wind we’ll be a PL club. Had a four year plan to get to Champ. Did that a year early but if we’d gone down would have been at least a year late. Last year about survival, now we are trying to establish ourselves and then evolve. Want to be the same side in the Champ as we were in League Two / One. But it will take time. But not trapdoors, won’t be gungho, to avoid falling down. So the next couple of years evolve into an attacking side near the top. If we can do that then try to get in the play offs. Become a side that is consistently in top 6/8, and then really push for the top. Sweet: It’s that boring word of patience, thinks people understand that. Wants us to have that patience. We’ve gone up three leagues but that was much simpler than Championship due to budget and other factors. Needs the faith and patience of supporters, he “knows it’s there”.
Youth system, anyone close to being another James Justin? Jones: Justin is a very special player. We’ve given 18 young players their debuts (our own plus ones brought in). Academy is so important, educated from a young age and players get the club’s importance bred into them. Won’t mention names but a few are getting there. Getting the U23s will be a big plus. Don’t forget we’ve come up three leagues so academy is continually having to adjust to much higher levels. Sometimes it’s not safe to do that with young players but thinks the future is very bright.
When will details of STs for next season be published? Thanks for the question! Had a meeting about it today, should launch something same time as last year, towards the beginning of April. Very difficult this time but could not deliver everything this year due to pandemic so they will recognise that. Have worked really hard with iFollow and the league to improve iFollow and it will continue to improve.
BBC documentary, Trouble at the Top: Do you look back at John Gurney as an inspiration of how not to run a football club? Sweet: Well he never really ran a football club. I miss John, he was fun to deal with, a comedy character. Looks at other FC owners and thinks they are doing a lot of damage.
During time at Luton who was the best player you played with? In the reserves it was Clive Allen, Jones never played in first team. Pleat signed him then left, said with 40 players it was very entertaining. Liked Ceri Hughes, Botcho Geuntchev. He really liked Micthell Thomas who was the biggest moaner, Graham alexander, Gary Waddock. But once you had played in front of Mitchell, everything else was easier. But Ceri Hughes was the most skillful and had the most talent.
Then a last thankyou from the board for the phenomenal support. Same from Jones on behalf of management and coaches.
