RadOx phone in

[Radley Rambler]

Well I'm cautiously optimistic after that phone-in.

- New signing in Forde who's played consistently at this level and above
- Dickie signing a 2 year extension which means his mind will be on OUFC this season and protects against him running his contract down for now
- Robinson signing a new deal - I have really warmed to him over the past few months, it's very clear he works like a Trojan and is desperate to succeed, he also refers to the history and badge on a regular basis and I think this is a genuine interest rather than playing to the fans
- Board behind the club and not looking for a real estate profit, more of a sustained revenue generation from a stadium complex
- Club to be run sustainably, no Bury/Bolton model
- Indication that measures have been put in place to avoid the money transfer issues of last season
- Business model of developing players for profitable sale remains in place

So cautiously optimistic and more of these phone-ins would be welcomed.

[OtmoorYellow]

The proof of the pudding is in the eating.

[Radley Rambler]

The proof of the pudding is in the eating.

Come on OY - let's have one day of hope!

You'll notice I used the word 'cautious' twice in my original post.

[Kairdiff Exile]

I've just listened to it. RR is certainly correct that lots of people talked a good game on there. I don't doubt KR's passion and enthusiasm, and I don't doubt that Zaki Nuseibah is a shrewd businessman. But if I was a cynical person (and I am), I'd say the following:

• For all the enthusiasm of our manager and the apparent delight about him signing a new contract, we have to continue to judge him on results. The second half of 2018/19 was good, but the first half was awful. He's now had three transfer windows, and we (still) have a squad that on paper looks pretty thin and lacks a proven goalscorer. I expect us to struggle next season. I have a deep-seated suspicion that KR is a bang-average manager who is doing his best under difficult circumstances. We shall see.

• The reassurances about the finances and our business model (focus on the U23s and developing players for profit) are all very well. That doesn't change the fact that we sold Gavin Whyte for significantly short of what the manager and many fans felt he was worth. The model only works if we maximise the profit on players rather than accepting lowball offers to keep our turnover going.

• I understand Niall McWilliams' comments that moving stadium is not a quick process, but after so many years of talk, I think it's reasonable for fans to expect something more than platitudes. If - as we're told - progress is being made, and if we've got some serious money on the Board to push things forward, how long should we expect to wait?

• If the Board are saying they're not here to profit from a real estate profit, and instead want to develop a sustainable football club, how do they anticipate making a personal profit? None of them are here out of pure love for Oxford United FC, they all want to make a few bob - that's fine, but be up-front and honest about it. What timescales are you looking at to make a profit, how much do you expect to make, and how do you expect to do it?

• Call me old-fashioned, but I feel uneasy about our manager being represented by an agent who also represents an OUFC player (Dickie). That strikes me as a conflict of interest.

Come Saturday, I'll have my positivity pants on and will be getting behind the team (albeit from a distance - Peterborough at home will be my first game), but in the meantime it's quite right to keep raising some of these questions at a time when we look decidedly lightweight both on and off the pitch.

[Radley Rambler]

I've just listened to it. RR is certainly correct that lots of people talked a good game on there. I don't doubt KR's passion and enthusiasm, and I don't doubt that Zaki Nuseibah is a shrewd businessman. But if I was a cynical person (and I am), I'd say the following:

• For all the enthusiasm of our manager and the apparent delight about him signing a new contract, we have to continue to judge him on results. The second half of 2018/19 was good, but the first half was awful. He's now had three transfer windows, and we (still) have a squad that on paper looks pretty thin and lacks a proven goalscorer. I expect us to struggle next season. I have a deep-seated suspicion that KR is a bang-average manager who is doing his best under difficult circumstances. We shall see.

• The reassurances about the finances and our business model (focus on the U23s and developing players for profit) are all very well. That doesn't change the fact that we sold Gavin Whyte for significantly short of what the manager and many fans felt he was worth. The model only works if we maximise the profit on players rather than accepting lowball offers to keep our turnover going.

• I understand Niall McWilliams' comments that moving stadium is not a quick process, but after so many years of talk, I think it's reasonable for fans to expect something more than platitudes. If - as we're told - progress is being made, and if we've got some serious money on the Board to push things forward, how long should we expect to wait?

• If the Board are saying they're not here to profit from a real estate profit, and instead want to develop a sustainable football club, how do they anticipate making a personal profit? None of them are here out of pure love for Oxford United FC, they all want to make a few bob - that's fine, but be up-front and honest about it. What timescales are you looking at to make a profit, how much do you expect to make, and how do you expect to do it?

totally agree - this is something that needs a greater level of detail given it is so critical to our future sustainability/existence

• Call me old-fashioned, but I feel uneasy about our manager being represented by an agent who also represents an OUFC player (Dickie). That strikes me as a conflict of interest.

I wasn't aware of that, wow - wouldn't get away with that where I work!

Come Saturday, I'll have my positivity pants on and will be getting behind the team (albeit from a distance - Peterborough at home will be my first game), but in the meantime it's quite right to keep raising some of these questions at a time when we look decidedly lightweight both on and off the pitch.

[recordmeister]

I can’t remember the specific facts, but was Mike Williamson repped by an agent who was the son of a board member? I’m sure this sort of stuff happens all the time.

[Dr Bob]

I too am a Natural Born Cynic, but here goes an attempt to find the positives in some of KEs concerns. My positivity usually lasts until about 3.45pm on the first day of the season, so whilst it is still there:

I reckon that land deals and planning discussions take an awful long time, after which things can move quite quickly. Given that it took many decades from United first looking to move from the Manor to it actually happening (this is the City of Oxford we are talking about), I am not at all surprised that things have not happened yet.

More and more transfers seem to involve 'undisclosed sums' nowadays. What we do not know, but what I hope is in place, is a series of add-ons to Whyte's basic transfer fee - and the lower the up-front fee, the better the add-ons for us.

Now for the one that might get the biggest push-back. For years, under Denis Smith and Brian Horton, Manchester City (did you see that coming?) were languishing in the lower reaches of the top division. Fans were critical of them for not getting the club back to where they felt it belonged. And what happened when they had been replaced? Relegations, plural. If, as KE says, he is working under difficult circumstances (and given the concerns over the owners and the issue of the StadCo draining money out of the club, I agree with that), then the question really is how, under the same circumstances, could others do significantly better? If our business model is based on getting in raw talent and selling them for a profit, we need a manager who (a) supports that model; and (b) has a reputation for being able to develop and sell on talent. I am warming more to KR - whilst recognising our longstanding concerns - but now he seems to have calmed down a bit from a year ago I am starting to like what I see underneath. When I leave here and add my end of season prediction to the other thread, it will be based more on the financial constraints we have than my concerns over KR as a manager. And feel free to bring this to my attention when we are languishing in the relegation places come Christmas...

[Kairdiff Exile]

Bob - I think I agree with all of that! You're absolutely right that the model we have is on paper a very sensible and sustainable one, and it's vital that everyone at the club from the Chairman to the tea lady are signed up to it. My only quibble (which I hope I expressed clearly above) is that for it to work, we cannot undersell our assets when someone comes knocking.

On the stadium, I totally agree that it's a long term process. But we shouldn't just accept (and I'm not suggesting you are accepting) platitudes that work is going on so we don't need to worry our pretty little heads. We've been burnt enough times to know that boards need proper scrutiny and need to be held accountable. That doesn't mean they need to announce commercially sensitive information, but I think a balance can be struck somewhere.

[Dr Bob]

Absolutely KE. Platitudes drive me nuts. They are, by definition, empty and meaningless and have negative value added. I also agree with you on not underselling - I was just expressing the hope that subsequent add-ons might offset any up-front underselling. After all, I am still in my happy optimistic place...

[OtmoorYellow]

I largely agree with Bob.

For a club of our size and with our facilities, the options for making money whilst remaining in League 1 are very limited, which is why the profit from transfers is so important. Under this model, we have been quite fortunate (and/or skilful) in the relatively high proportion of positive outcomes. There will be failures too though e.g. Fiacre Kelleher.

I would agree that we must maximise the funds we get for player sales, but I suspect this is out of Robbo’s hands, so I don’t blame him for the poor return on Whyte. We also cannot forget the player’s ambitions in this too.

And lack of signings. Is that down to Robbo? If as has been widely reported, Robbo’s budget has been slashed this year, it will be much more difficult to get in players that improve the squad. There is no point signing players who are not up to scratch, just to have more bodies available.

I remain of the view that the board are primarily interested in a property deal, but in recognition of the time factor involved, their interest in the short term is forced into subsidising the club, and hence the tight grip on the purse strings.

Realistically, the result of this is that the best we can expect from our team is mid-table mediocrity for some years to come, and hope we can avoid relegation battles, bored owners, and insolvency. That’s an outcome I am content with for now, but my trust in the board to do more than that without stadium ownership is virtually non-existent.