Play-offs – Who do we want to play next season?

You should never be 3rd division though marrer. I thought Martin Bain came across as a genuine guy who had his hands tied.

Seriously egg if you haven’t seen it watch it. We had some on here lambasting Mr Whelan for keeping the famed “War Chest” in check well he was a real big spender compared to the owner at Sunderland. Yes they got good players in on loan and paid Rodwell a ridiculous wage not to play but it backfired spectacularly on them. There is no way that club should have been relegated again from the championship. Chris Coleman never saw or spoke to the owner in his time in charge which seems ludicrous. I feel for the Sunderland fans at a small club like ours yes getting relegated twice is possible and understandable at times but when you have the revenue they can create along with the parachute payments they should never have been so bad. Thank god we had an owner who was hands on and gave us many memorable moments in his tenure. I didn’t think I could ever appreciate Mr Whelan more than I did but after watching what Ellis Short has done to Sunderland I truly do.[/quote]

The latest podcast, a 2 hour chat with the owners, was very revealing. They reflected on what had happened over the past 12 months, and how far they have come from turning a club with almost £200m of debts and 100m of assets into a debt-free club who will start to turn a surplus in a year. They described it as a “basket case” operation, where the owner wrote cheques from his Miami home whenever the Chief Exec asked him to. That was, until the day of relegation from the premier league, when Mr Short told the CE that he could whistle for any more funding. That put the club in a tailspin, as all of a sudden, they had to run it like a business rather than as if they were playing football manager on an X-box.

Ellis Short has waived his personal debt and helped clear the loan he had arranged with an American Bank who were charging £8m a year in interest alone. His only crime was to appoint executives who spent his money like it grew on trees on ridiculous things. The new owners’ first words were “The Piss Take Party Stops Now”, and boy has it, with spectacular results. The club has reconnected with the fans, the owners make visits to see fans who are too sick to attend, players attend fan sessions and willingly mingle, the owners do regular podcasts with the fanzine (perhaps Jay or Egg could get a 2hr interview every other month with Mr Royal and upload it to a podcast?).

Sure, we are 3rd division on the field, but off it, we are up there with the best.[/quote]
Who is this Mr Royle bloke? Is he Latics chairman. Honestly, I’m not taking the piss but who is our chairman these days?

He’s someone who doesnt understand the words “engagement with customers”

Well, I for one am disappointed that there will be less games next season with a cracking atmosphere. Villa’s away support are always noisy and plentiful. Sunderland are the only club that have managed to pack out the East Stand, and cannot be classed as “Glory Hunters”. Packed away ends tend to make for a better atmosphere at the DW which can be pretty soulless when the visitors are dotted around the North Stand.

We’ve traded Bolton, Ipswich & Rotherham for Luton, Barnsley & Charlton. We’ve lost Norwich, Sheff Utd and Villa, to be replaced by Fulham, Huddersfield & Cardiff. I don’t see any of those six home fixtures as ones where there’ll be a great atmosphere, whereas at least 4 of the 6 we’ve lost were great days.[/quote]
Positive is that for non season ticket holders there won’t be a ridiculous price to watch the Latics.
Twenty is plenty.