I was looking at the progress the Rams have made since Nigel Clough became manager in January 2009 and to make it a bit clearer, I've summarized the seasons below. It looks as though, with the exception of 2010/2011 which was a really poor season, that there has been a steady improvement.
A case could be made that if the club simply keeps making gradual improvements, as we have been, that promotion is assured... eventually. Slow but sure does the trick, and all of that.
Season
P
W
D
L
F
A
P
Pos
2008/2009
46
14
12
20
55
67
54
18
2009/2010
46
15
11
20
53
63
56
14
2010/2011
46
13
10
23
58
71
49
19
2011/2012
46
18
10
18
50
58
64
12
2012/2013
46
16
13
17
65
62
61
10
The problem is that, as I indicated in my column last week, there is a monster called ‘Financial Fair Play’ which is about to rear its ugly head.
From the 2014/2015 season onwards, Championship clubs are permitted to make a loss of no more than £3M before sanctions, including transfer embargoes kick
in. The Rams are currently losing close to £8M per year.
So a case can be made that slow but sure is not going to work; that the Rams need to be promoted to the Prem this season (2013/2014) or they may have to
begin dismantling the team in order to dramatically cut losses next season (2014/2015), so as not to incur penalties.
Of course, regardless of FFP, the Rams current level of money losing is not sustainable for the long term; losses have to be cut to more reasonable levels.
How real is the threat of FFP? Are Championship clubs taking steps to comply?
For a better idea on how it can be achieved I recommend following the link below to an excellent article from earlier this month, which talks about
Brighton's efforts to cut costs, as well as the Championship in general.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/24024109
It contains this quote from David Burke, Brighton's head of football operations:
"We know the ins and outs of every part of it and we have had to save about £3m in total across the club...
That has meant a huge effort from the club to reduce costs. It has enabled us to hit this first year with a player budget which is the same as last
year."
And this one:
"My experience of the transfer window is that practically every club hasn't bought players and is trying to get rid of players - hence why the
wages are coming down and there is a glut of players, especially midfielders."
That puts a new perspective on the whole situation with John Brayford: why we did not receive a larger fee for him, why it was important for the club that
he should move, and what plans the club has for using the money received.
All of this also makes us realise that the Rams' directors have a very real challenge in front of them: they need to cut a great deal of cost in a manner
which allows the club to continue improving; and they can spend little to nothing on transfer fees to bring players in.
Supporting the Rams is rarely dull.
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