Paul Baker live web chat on Monday

[Jon Palmer]

Monday, 1pm, please log on and put your questions to the chairman.

[Hubert Parry]

I love these, and thanks Jon for organising them. It would be good if one or two of the following could be asked.

What are your expectations for MY and the team this season?
Could there be room to bring in a loan striker if Cureton's absence is prolonged?
What is your view of the approach taken by Chesterfield to willingly go £100k over budget?
Where do you see Cheltenham in five years time?
How do you think that CTFC as a 'brand' is functioning and how successful have recent marketing attempts been?
Have Cheltenham considered a more adventurous approach to digital platforms? For instance - digital programmes?
Is there a potential to diversify merchandise? (I believe there is a market for supporters who don't want to wear overtly 'football' gear but might like to wear a more discreet and high-end product - Something like this perhaps http://arsenaldirect.arsenal.com/adult- ... invt/a8945" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;).

[Jebolani]

What do you plan to do with the Pack money, Paul? Save it for a rainy day?

[Uppy]

Excellent. I will try and log on as the last one was great!

[taxidave]

What do you plan to do with the Pack money, Paul? Save it for a rainy day?

I think we have already had a few rainy days, it has all been spent.

[Powelly]

Has there been any progress or meetings regarding a new stand to replace the current main stand.

[CS85]

Whats the average crowd needed to break even this season?.
Just the other season you seemed fairly sure your time at the club was coming to an end,do you now see yourself at ctfc for another 5/10/15 years?.
Whats the most frustrating thing about being the chairman at ctfc?.

[taxidave]

Whats the average crowd needed to break even this season?.
Just the other season you seemed fairly sure your time at the club was coming to an end,do you now see yourself at ctfc for another 5/10/15 years?.
Whats the most frustrating thing about being the chairman at ctfc?.

I like those questions, very sensible.

[London Exile]

Can you say anything further regarding the training ground lease and how long this is for? In respect to any new agreement for Seasons, is there scope for us to improve the facilities and academy given the potential for the current crop of youngsters?

[Admin]

CTFC held an open trials day at the end of last season and I believe again just recently. How successful have these been and are we likely to see any new faces come from it?

[Jon Palmer]

starting in an hour, post your questions here or log on live from 1pm: http://bit.ly/PaulBakerWebChat" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Uppy]

My favourite web chat that we've had. Fascinating stuff.

[Hubert Parry]

Thanks again Jon.

Some highlights:

Target is to reach the playoffs. Automatics would be a bonus
Crowds are below average; budget is average for division
Loan replacement for Cureton is a possibility, as he will be out for 4-6 weeks
Gloucester City must pay rent within 14 days notice, or they are kicked out of the league
Programme is a success but embarrassed by errors
Average wage is as high as it has ever been, but no player is earning twice as much as the next best paid.
Footballers are paid well at this level, and some clubs have double the wage budget
Profit towards £100k, and investment hardly tapped into
Willing to listen to news ideas for shop
Baffled by Chesterfield's public announcement about being £100k over playing budget
Terracing in new stand is a possibility - fan consultation will take place
No discussions have taken place about Scott Brown's testimonial, but PB would support one
PB expects Cheltenham in five years time to be a football league club (hopefully League One), solvent and that developments have started on new stand
PB doesn't believe that MY is particularly surly, and that sometimes it is difficult to be positive immediately after a poor performance.

There is plenty more, and it is worth a read. Some very interesting comments.

[asl]

Baffled by Chesterfield's public announcement about £100k loss

What's that one...?

[Jon Palmer]

Thanks for everyone who logged on and put a question to PB, as always he was happy to stay on longer than the scheduled hour. You can read through the entire chat here: http://bit.ly/PaulBakerWebChat" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Hubert Parry]

Baffled by Chesterfield's public announcement about £100k loss

What's that one...?

Thanks for flagging that up, that should read Chesterfield being £100k over budget.

[Robin]

Interesting to read our average wage is the highest it has ever been.

[jaggy]

It was an excellent hour plus

I am slightly confused by the average crowd is down statement
After 1 home match it was obviously below what was hoped for , but PB also said the Cardiff friendly was well up
He also said that the budget/ crowd was being calculated on a match by match basis rather than season so I am not sure why the average crowd is down

I know previously we have used 3500 and 3300 as the budgeted crowd size.
Can anyone explain what was meant

[Shade]

I think he meant Cheltenham fans in the pre-season. Cardiff and Coventry brought more than expected but not as many home fans turned up as hoped, and the Chelt v Glos game was less than hoped for.

[duebenji]

I think he meant Cheltenham fans in the pre-season. Cardiff and Coventry brought more than expected but not as many home fans turned up as hoped, and the Chelt v Glos game was less than hoped for.

Surely he must have expected a very low turn-out for this with all things considered.

It was effectively a home game against a non-league side. Just because they were once rivals doesn't mean the local public are still going to be invested in such a fixture to the extent they once were. Then you have, possibly, the biggest factor of all and that is the fans don't want Gloucester at Whaddon Road and after last seasons rent fiasco are unhappy to line the pockets of the club we want out.

It was a fixture doomed to fail, especially after the past year. If Baker and the board expected anything much higher than what turned up then they were very naive over the issue.

[Si Robin]

I believe he was referring to the turn out by the Gloucester fans. He said that Cardiff had brought a lot, but he was disappointed by the Gloucester and CCFC (Coventry) turn outs.

[duebenji]

I haven't had a chance to read through the web chat so I am going by Shade's comment entirely right now and his comment is quite clear Cardiff and Coventry were fine/better than expected but the overall attendance for Gloucester v Cheltenham was disappointing.

I didn't touch on Gloucester's side of the argument for poor attendance from their side as I have no idea their feelings toward the game and as such it would be wrong of me to comment for them.

[Daveangel]

I didn't touch on Gloucester's side of the argument for poor attendance from their side as I have no idea their feelings toward the game and as such it would be wrong of me to comment for them.

Pretty much general apathy was the overwhelming opinion of those I spoke to. Many seemingly not wanting to pay half their entrance fee to CTFC (in much the same way many on here not wanting their hard earned cash ending up with us, arguably both shooting ourselves in the foot).
That said, I'd have definitely gone if I hadn't been away. Sounded like a pretty decent game!

[Shade]

I haven't had a chance to read through the web chat so I am going by Shade's comment entirely right now and his comment is quite clear Cardiff and Coventry were fine/better than expected but the overall attendance for Gloucester v Cheltenham was disappointing.

I didn't touch on Gloucester's side of the argument for poor attendance from their side as I have no idea their feelings toward the game and as such it would be wrong of me to comment for them.

And I never said what I said was fact, hence the "I think". I only had a quick skip through the chat and saw Cardiff brought more than expected and assumed Coventry had as well. Apparently not.

[Horteng]

Didn't get chance to see this. Was anything mentioned about Yates' spoilt brat attitude in EVERY interview whether its pre match or post match?

[Hubert Parry]

Yes, I asked the question and summarised PB's view above.

[Si Robin]

Someone asked why he was surly. PB said he didn't think he was but that he can appreciate it's tough doing media straight after a game, he also referred to JP about whether he though Yates was surly, but JP never put his own response, or at least I didn't see it.

[London Exile]

I can be a little critical of PB and the club sometimes but when I take a step back, you've got to admire the honesty and tremendous hard work that PB and board put in.
I wonder how many other chairman in the FL72 have these kind of open web chats?

[duebenji]

I haven't had a chance to read through the web chat so I am going by Shade's comment entirely right now and his comment is quite clear Cardiff and Coventry were fine/better than expected but the overall attendance for Gloucester v Cheltenham was disappointing.

I didn't touch on Gloucester's side of the argument for poor attendance from their side as I have no idea their feelings toward the game and as such it would be wrong of me to comment for them.

And I never said what I said was fact, hence the "I think". I only had a quick skip through the chat and saw Cardiff brought more than expected and assumed Coventry had as well. Apparently not.

First of all I wasn't having a pop at you so don't get defensive.

I simply used your comment regarding Cheltenham/Gloucester, which was its own point separate to the 'I think' statement which clearly referenced the Cardiff and Coventry matches, to make my initial statement.

Secondly, having read the web chat in full, your initial post was absolutely spot on.

As a result I stand by my comments so far - if Baker and the board expected the game to yield a bigger attendance after what I mentioned above then he/they were extremely naive.

[Horteng]

Its not just post match tho..... Its Yates in general..... Think the Pro Licence has gone to his head!!

[Shade]

First of all I wasn't having a pop at you so don't get defensive.

I was just meaning don't take anything I say as gospel. I rarely know what I'm talking about, it seems

[Joey]

Its not just post match tho..... Its Yates in general..... Think the Pro Licence has gone to his head!!

I do wonder why you even bother turning up.

[51/84]

so who would you rather have horty