Paul Baker web chat on Monday

Jon Palmer · 14 Dec 2013, 18:39

On gloucestershireecho.co.uk at 1pm, get your questions ready or post them on here.

leohoenig · 14 Dec 2013, 22:45

If the players are available, does our budget allow us to keep all of the current loan players (without other players having to leave or be loaned out) to the end ofthe season?

London Exile · 15 Dec 2013, 22:42

How have things developed on the training ground lease front?
Are there any future plans for the facility which can bring in more revenue to the club?

FGR have recently opened at bar for fans in their new home stand, could we look at that and other improvements to the PRE which is looking a bit tired

Jon Palmer · 16 Dec 2013, 10:30

The web chat will start here at 1pm: http://bit.ly/PaulBakerLiveWebChat" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

horlickfanclub · 16 Dec 2013, 11:17

What is the point in signing Hanks,Ed Williams when the Manager will not play them and we spend money bringing in other peoples young players?

With falling gates is one up front with no wingers entertaining?

Cinderford robin · 16 Dec 2013, 12:45

How are we coming along with the new stand?. Does it get on your nerves that people have been callinh for yates to go.

C.V · 16 Dec 2013, 12:48

With the falling gates how far are you going to let this go before you realise the fans arent getting value for money

mattyboi · 16 Dec 2013, 12:53

C.V wrote:With the falling gates how far are you going to let this go before you realise the fans arent getting value for money

As a season ticket holder, i have no complaints in terms of price per game. Perfectly happy.

Jon Palmer · 16 Dec 2013, 13:00

starting here now: http://bit.ly/PaulBakerLiveWebChat" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

C.V · 16 Dec 2013, 13:02

mattyboi wrote:
C.V wrote:With the falling gates how far are you going to let this go before you realise the fans arent getting value for money
As a season ticket holder, i have no complaints in terms of price per game. Perfectly happy.

Gates like they are will not keep this club solvent fans have to see some reward for there support

Artemis · 16 Dec 2013, 13:37

C.V wrote:
mattyboi wrote:
C.V wrote:With the falling gates how far are you going to let this go before you realise the fans arent getting value for money
As a season ticket holder, i have no complaints in terms of price per game. Perfectly happy.

Gates like they are will not keep this club solvent fans have to see some reward for there support

Why not? All PB will do is to decrease the playing budget until we reach a standard of squad / playing level that our attendances warrant. Converse is also true.

C.V · 16 Dec 2013, 14:23

Interesting comment from Mr Baker we need to be seeing 3000-3100 gates yet Saturday we had less than 2500.Take out the 1200 season ticket holders 500 junior Robins and the away attendances of 150 we are not looking to be in a healthy position financially

Circa 1887 · 16 Dec 2013, 14:27

The prices combined with the results/performances....it's to be expected. Unless the football (or the results) improve or the prices drop, I don't see anything changing.

mattyboi · 16 Dec 2013, 14:36

The trouble is with some people on here and some 'fans' in general, they will never be happy, in league 2 they will moan we should be playoffs as a minimum, anything else is failure. If we were in league 1, after 1 year of survival, the same people will moan we should now be pushing on for playoffs and promotion. Imagine we ever did a Yeovil and got to the championship, the same people would moan out attendances are only 4-5000, why are we in relegation battle, we should be mid table!

Circa 1887 · 16 Dec 2013, 14:40

I don't agree with that.

Paul Baker himself said the target as a minimum was to get in to the play-offs. As i've said before, the club set the expectations this season - not the fans.

When we were in League 1, I don't recall talk of promotion pushes from the fans. Expectations were realistic - survival, or maybe lower-mid table.

I think our supporters are more intelligent, in general, than you give them credit for.

Benctfc · 16 Dec 2013, 15:07

mattyboi wrote:The trouble is with some people on here and some 'fans' in general, they will never be happy, in league 2 they will moan we should be playoffs as a minimum, anything else is failure. If we were in league 1, after 1 year of survival, the same people will moan we should now be pushing on for playoffs and promotion. Imagine we ever did a Yeovil and got to the championship, the same people would moan out attendances are only 4-5000, why are we in relegation battle, we should be mid table!

What a ridiculous post. No fan would think that!

16 Dec 2013, 15:29

I missed the chat today but PB needs to realise the apathy from the fans at the moment, it's a real struggle convincing fans who have been coming since the non-league days to go anymore. There is a real disconnect between the fans and the club, in my opinion this is heavilly down to pricing but not exclusively and I do acknowledge we are not the only lower league club facing this challenge but I fear for our attendences in a couple of years if this continues.

Alf · 16 Dec 2013, 17:12

IMO poor second half display cannot be blamed entirely on weather, it was the managers lack of ability to deal with the weather and alter his tactics/formation accordingly.

IYWT · 16 Dec 2013, 18:41

Alf wrote:IMO poor second half display cannot be blamed entirely on weather, it was the managers lack of ability to deal with the weather and alter his tactics/formation accordingly.

You are forgetting that Hartlepool were fortunate enough to play in perfect conditions all afternoon, therefore Yates can blame the weather.

Horteng · 16 Dec 2013, 19:47

F*ck me Yates will sleep well tonight after reading that..... He truly is the luckiest football manager in the land having PB as chairman.

He is untouchable

Artemis · 16 Dec 2013, 21:16

As a fan, PB will be disappointed by how the season is going thus far. But he's also a canny businessman, who knows that changing the manager will cost a lot of money, and offer no certainty that things will improve. Our position is not so bad as to be worth taking the gamble. Although I doubt he would wield the axe even if we were cut adrift at the bottom of the table, as I think he also understands the importance of stability and continuity. In his role as chairman, therefore, its a no-brainer to not change the management team.

We on the other hand are disappointed as fans about how the season is going....so our views might be a bit different. So I'm pleased PB is running our club, not me!

Benctfc · 16 Dec 2013, 23:11

Firstly imo changing the manager now this season would be pointless and it is obvious it isnt going to happen. What i found interesting is Baker is basically saying MY is guaranteed a new contract unless we go down or are threatened by relegation. However i may be wrong but did Baker not say expectations were playoffs? Surely if a manager fails to meet expectations he doesn't warrant a new contract what he's done in the past is history. It will be interesting to see what happens if we finish around 14/15th come the end of the season. If MY gets a new contract many will see that as a lack of ambition by the club and i can't see many renewing season tickets. Lets face it if we fail to get promotion that will mean MY has had 4 full seasons to achieve it many other managers don't get that long.

16 Dec 2013, 23:17

I can only echo the above Yates is too safe but will not be sacked while we are mid-table despite many fans wishing otherwise and I actually admire PB for his stance in many ways.

Alf · 17 Dec 2013, 08:34

Sends out a message to fans that the club is content with mediocrity. Not the way to improve attendances.

Benctfc · 17 Dec 2013, 08:44

Alf wrote:Sends out a message to fans that the club is content with mediocrity. Not the way to improve attendances.

Have to agree with that.

Artemis · 17 Dec 2013, 09:13

Alf wrote:Sends out a message to fans that the club is content with mediocrity. Not the way to improve attendances.

Please explain how PB not wanting to sack the manager when we are mid-table and in touch with the playoffs and automatic promotion sends out a message of contentment with mediocrity?
.

Benctfc · 17 Dec 2013, 09:17

Artemis wrote:
Alf wrote:Sends out a message to fans that the club is content with mediocrity. Not the way to improve attendances.
Please explain how PB not wanting to sack the manager when we are mid-table and in touch with the playoffs and automatic promotion sends out a message of contentment with mediocrity?
.

I think he means at the end of the season if we finish in an average position.

Si Robin · 17 Dec 2013, 09:52

I think we should make it clear that what he said was, playoffs are the expectation but not reaching them does not necessarily mean Yates will not be offered a new contract.

That doesn't mean Yates is guaranteed a contract, it doesn't mean that PB is happy with us sitting in mid-table. However, it also doesn't mean that where we are now is all doom and gloom and we should so quick to bring down the axe. As he rightly pointed out, there is no guarantee of success by replacing Yates, so it could turn out to be more costly.

What was clear from the webchat yesterday was that PB gets just as disappointed as the rest of us with results and low attendances, etc... however, he has to keep a clear head and not make rash decisions based on what was a shockingly poor start. 9 games unbeaten in the league, 6 points off the playoffs (8 off autos and 10 off the top), shows that this season is far from over, and the playoffs are still a more than realistic target.

Artemis · 17 Dec 2013, 09:54

Benctfc wrote:
Artemis wrote:
Alf wrote:Sends out a message to fans that the club is content with mediocrity. Not the way to improve attendances.
Please explain how PB not wanting to sack the manager when we are mid-table and in touch with the playoffs and automatic promotion sends out a message of contentment with mediocrity?
.
I think he means at the end of the season if we finish in an average position.

A position which reflects our lower-mid-table gates and mid-table budget? Hardly failure in my book.

Benctfc · 17 Dec 2013, 10:31

Please explain how PB not wanting to sack the manager when we are mid-table and in touch with the playoffs and automatic promotion sends out a message of contentment with mediocrity?
.[/quote]
I think he means at the end of the season if we finish in an average position.[/quote]

A position which reflects our lower-mid-table gates and mid-table budget? Hardly failure in my book.[/quote]
So would you accept finishing 15th for example? That would be a failure with our squad.

Horteng · 17 Dec 2013, 10:37

Despite my dig at Paul Baker I would like to put on record my admiration for him and think he has been and is still fantastic for the football club....... He always comes across very professional but that did nark me yesterday when all he said is Yates is the best thing since sliced bread which I don't think is the case although equally he isn't as bad as some make out

Laurence · 17 Dec 2013, 10:55

"In short, the more you pay your players in wages, the higher you will finish"
Source: Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski, Soccernomics

"A NEW Football League report circulated to member clubs has revealed Cheltenham Town have the 12th highest playing budget in League Two."
Source: http://www.gloucestershireecho.co.uk/Ch ... z2njCoCOjm

Current league position: 13th.

Anyone who thinks we have a right to be top of the league, much less in League One, needs to check their expectations. I'm just glad we have a chairman with a grasp on reality.

C.V · 17 Dec 2013, 11:06

Laurence wrote:"In short, the more you pay your players in wages, the higher you will finish"
Source: Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski, Soccernomics

"A NEW Football League report circulated to member clubs has revealed Cheltenham Town have the 12th highest playing budget in League Two."
Source: http://www.gloucestershireecho.co.uk/Ch ... z2njCoCOjm

Current league position: 13th.

Anyone who thinks we have a right to be top of the league, much less in League One, needs to check their expectations. I'm just glad we have a chairman with a grasp on reality.

So by your thinking we should not expect to finish above 12th as our budget suggests that

Maybe we should not bother playing games and just award positions on budgets.

Laurence · 17 Dec 2013, 11:13

C.V wrote:So by your thinking we should not expect to finish above 12th as our budget suggests that Maybe we should not bother playing games and just award positions on budgets.

Not my thinking, I'm just reporting what the data tells us. However, based on this, what I will argue is that Yates has overachieved in his previous three seasons and at some point we have to expect a regression to the mean.

17 Dec 2013, 11:18

Nonsense Laurence, it's not just about position of budget but differential between positions. For example if the 2nd placed or 22nd placed for that matter are only marginally different it's more or less an even playing field. Look at the Prem teams like Man City and Chelsea will be well ahead of the rest then Man Ure, Tottenham, Arsenal and maybe Liverpool before a huge gap down to the rest, this is why the league is so predictable.