Q&A forum with Faulkner 24th October

[Clampy]

Judging by some of the comments on Facebook and Twitter when the official site releases any news, i'm surprised Paul Faulkner opens up to the fans as often as he does.

I think this is why the webchat sessions work well as the club can see which questions come in and filter them appropriately - they can also be quite informative but obviously Paul is only going to reveal what he wants to reveal.

Also it's easier to ignore the more difficult questions on a web chat.

Exactly but even asked in person I'm sure he would not give details away of  anything we don't want to comment on .
I would love to know randys vision of where he wants to take the club and what the ambition is for the future - we heard a lot about the so called 5 year plan but we have heard little since - is he committed long term or would he be prepared to sell to the right person ?

Is it worth pointing out once again that there never was a five year plan?

Beat me to it. Was'nt that a throwaway comment by the chap who's name I can't recall off the top of my head?

Richard FitzGerald.

That's the one.

[bertlambshank]

Why have a plan?
Can somebody let the back four know ta.

[paul_e]

Judging by some of the comments on Facebook and Twitter when the official site releases any news, i'm surprised Paul Faulkner opens up to the fans as often as he does.

I think this is why the webchat sessions work well as the club can see which questions come in and filter them appropriately - they can also be quite informative but obviously Paul is only going to reveal what he wants to reveal.

Also it's easier to ignore the more difficult questions on a web chat.

Exactly but even asked in person I'm sure he would not give details away of  anything we don't want to comment on .
I would love to know randys vision of where he wants to take the club and what the ambition is for the future - we heard a lot about the so called 5 year plan but we have heard little since - is he committed long term or would he be prepared to sell to the right person ?

Is it worth pointing out once again that there never was a five year plan?

Yes it is worth pointing out and that's why i said  so called plan - I know the general stated a few things about the aim and ambition a few years back , but I do think if randy did a piece in the programme or on the website even if just once a season , we would have some idea of his intentions and ambitions for the club long term.

I personally believe randy has put a lot of money in for lambert in the last 18 months and think its unfair he is blamed by some for being tight .

Indeed, it's interesting to look at our average annual spend over the time he's been at the club and compare that to the spending since Lambert arrived and has apparently been given no money because Randy is trying to recoup his losses (for the lazy the figures are almost identical).  The only manager who can have any argument about the funds he was given is TSM and I think most fans should be pretty glad he wasn't allowed to spend the same as others.

[rob_bridge]

Judging by some of the comments on Facebook and Twitter when the official site releases any news, i'm surprised Paul Faulkner opens up to the fans as often as he does.

I think this is why the webchat sessions work well as the club can see which questions come in and filter them appropriately - they can also be quite informative but obviously Paul is only going to reveal what he wants to reveal.

Also it's easier to ignore the more difficult questions on a web chat.

Exactly but even asked in person I'm sure he would not give details away of  anything we don't want to comment on .
I would love to know randys vision of where he wants to take the club and what the ambition is for the future - we heard a lot about the so called 5 year plan but we have heard little since - is he committed long term or would he be prepared to sell to the right person ?

Is it worth pointing out once again that there never was a five year plan?

Yes it is worth pointing out and that's why i said  so called plan - I know the general stated a few things about the aim and ambition a few years back , but I do think if randy did a piece in the programme or on the website even if just once a season , we would have some idea of his intentions and ambitions for the club long term.

I personally believe randy has put a lot of money in for lambert in the last 18 months and think its unfair he is blamed by some for being tight .

Indeed, it's interesting to look at our average annual spend over the time he's been at the club and compare that to the spending since Lambert arrived and has apparently been given no money because Randy is trying to recoup his losses (for the lazy the figures are almost identical).  The only manager who can have any argument about the funds he was given is TSM and I think most fans should be pretty glad he wasn't allowed to spend the same as others.

Is that accounting for transfers or transfers + wages?

We'd also need to factor in that Lambert was behind the curve having inherited a load of high wage earners from the all 3 previous incumbents. E.g. Given's wages should be attributed to TSM, Warnock's to MON etc... Waste Waste and More Waste. Lambert hasn't been (allowed to be) so profligate

[paul_e]

Judging by some of the comments on Facebook and Twitter when the official site releases any news, i'm surprised Paul Faulkner opens up to the fans as often as he does.

I think this is why the webchat sessions work well as the club can see which questions come in and filter them appropriately - they can also be quite informative but obviously Paul is only going to reveal what he wants to reveal.

Also it's easier to ignore the more difficult questions on a web chat.

Exactly but even asked in person I'm sure he would not give details away of  anything we don't want to comment on .
I would love to know randys vision of where he wants to take the club and what the ambition is for the future - we heard a lot about the so called 5 year plan but we have heard little since - is he committed long term or would he be prepared to sell to the right person ?

Is it worth pointing out once again that there never was a five year plan?

Yes it is worth pointing out and that's why i said  so called plan - I know the general stated a few things about the aim and ambition a few years back , but I do think if randy did a piece in the programme or on the website even if just once a season , we would have some idea of his intentions and ambitions for the club long term.

I personally believe randy has put a lot of money in for lambert in the last 18 months and think its unfair he is blamed by some for being tight .

Indeed, it's interesting to look at our average annual spend over the time he's been at the club and compare that to the spending since Lambert arrived and has apparently been given no money because Randy is trying to recoup his losses (for the lazy the figures are almost identical).  The only manager who can have any argument about the funds he was given is TSM and I think most fans should be pretty glad he wasn't allowed to spend the same as others.

Is that accounting for transfers or transfers + wages?

We'd also need to factor in that Lambert was behind the curve having inherited a load of high wage earners from the all 3 previous incumbents. E.g. Given's wages should be attributed to TSM, Warnock's to MON etc... Waste Waste and More Waste. Lambert hasn't been (allowed to be) so profligate

You can't compare wages really because the situation is very different, the key appears to be to keep them at a manageable level that doesn't require cash input from the owner to pay them, that seems perfectly fair, it's fairly clear that MON pushed that cost too high and GH and TSM weren't able to reduce it.  Lambert has done a better job, and the round of new contracts in the summer suggests that he's been given the backing to pay people what he thinks they deserve.

[Dante Lavelli]

On face value I can understand the doom-mongers on here.  Results have been shite for the best part of four years now which isn't acceptable for a club of our stature. 

The key silver lining for me however is I now think we're in a position to grow again whereas all of the previous managers would have been faced (at some point) with the huge elephant in the room that the wage bill was way too high for the natural income generated.  Bent, Nzogbia and Given, whilst established players were never going to solve that problem.

I think Lambert deserves a lot of credit for that as he has shopped in the budget end of the market and has managed to find some (rough) diamonds.  That said he is at a cross roads now where for everyone's sanity he needs to start signing fewer players but of a more established quality.

[Leighton]

There is a very good interview in the August issue of the H&V with Paul Faulkner. If you want to find out what he told us last week at the AVST meeting, then I suggest you take another look at it.

[eamonn]

Enough on Faulkner, what about our CFO, Robin Russell. Is he any craic?

[eastie]

On face value I can understand the doom-mongers on here.  Results have been shite for the best part of four years now which isn't acceptable for a club of our stature. 

The key silver lining for me however is I now think we're in a position to grow again whereas all of the previous managers would have been faced (at some point) with the huge elephant in the room that the wage bill was way too high for the natural income generated.  Bent, Nzogbia and Given, whilst established players were never going to solve that problem.

I think Lambert deserves a lot of credit for that as he has shopped in the budget end of the market and has managed to find some (rough) diamonds.  That said he is at a cross roads now where for everyone's sanity he needs to start signing fewer players but of a more established quality.

If benteke is sold next summer for £40m having had a good World Cup it will be interesting to see how lambert spends the cash - that sort of money could buy 4 or 5 decent players who could make a huge difference.

[Dave Clark Five]

He'll be gone in January.

[Clampy]

He'll be gone in January.

I think he might go in the summer, not sure about January.

[eastie]

He'll be gone in January.

No point selling him in January - a good World Cup would bump up the price .

[rob_bridge]

He'll be gone in January.

No point selling him in January - a good World Cup would bump up the price .

The only way I can see him being sold in January is if one of the three who should be in Champions League places (Man U / Citeh and Chelski) look as they though they might miss out of are far off the pace and not scoring a lot.

Any of them could then come in with a £40m 'panic' bid. If they are all in Champions League then added bonus he can also play in those games.

I think he is much more likely to go in the summer - probably to Dortmund to replace Ledandowski.

[Dave Clark Five]

He'll be gone in January.

No point selling him in January - a good World Cup would bump up the price .

We won't have the whip hand.

[saunders_heroes]

Not a chance. He'll be with us till the summer then flogged to the highest bidder.