League Table

Latest league table. Be delighted if we can get anything at Redditch on Saturday but the following week is a 6 pointer against Histon.  Frome have plenty of games in hand on the Martyrs and may be looking to drag us into the relegation battle.

not good reading I must admit.

muscles76 wrote:not good reading I must admit.

Worryingly as well the three teams immediately above us have played less each

We are where we are because we are not good enough one or two of our recent signings have not come up to the mark at the moment we are heading for the trap door.It might be we have first class facilities but what the good of this if we are in the lower reaches of non league football.I am not sure if Steve is capable or has the backing financially to keep us up

Thats spot on the recent signings are nowhere near the standard required !! Does Scotcher,Bond & Brown compare to Gav,Matty or Leeky ?...think not !! what concerns me is the quality of basic football as in distribution of the ball its so poor we don't even look like scoring tbh.Personally at this present time i'd move Kayne back up top as Pross is no longer hiding it hence the game is coming straight back in our faces,Ash to me spends too much time apologizing for the ball that never made it rather than pushing on but on the plus side Traylor has me on the edge of my seat & Kerry is fit again.This is just imo mind.

It seems the situation is this...1 The Club have no funds to give for new players to strengthen the team 2 Gate receipts and Soccerlot etc will not cover the extra revenue needed.It is obvious by now this team is not strong enough......So do we just wait for the inevitable or do we the fans get some xtra money together to keep us up.eg.4 and a half months left direct debit contributions to bring two .. decent players.in..eg 50 fans 10 pounds a week would raise£500 per wk till season end/or £5 a wk by 100 fans..same amt......This would give Steve some money to work with/Otherwise as the song says WHATEVER WILL BE WILL BE..............
I have heard many fans stating "get Leeky back" I was told last wk he's getting more with Goytre than with us with far less travelling so little hope there.

I forgot to mention that after April the Club should have extra funds from the completion of our new facilities.............................BUT THIS COULD BE TOO LATE FOR OUR SURVIVAL IN THE SOUTHERN PREMIER!!!

I'm certainly not criticising anyone & the Leeky question has been answered i think i just hope the resources at this present time can start to produce the goods,& if it wasn't for x2 daughters eating up MY budget i would gladly assist but i'm sure we are gonna be fine

Good to see some positive suggestions appearing.

In addition to what Royston Rogers mentions, we also now have Match Sponsorship and Ball Sponsorship starting to appear from the Histon game onwards (even without the full facilities being available to the sponsors yet).

Also, a reminder of the 'Save the Martyrs Campaign' which appears in every edition of the match programme and which invites supporters to become sponsors of the club by paying £5 a week to Club funds by standing order. Currently there are only ten people taking part (and the number hasn't varied for some time). If anyone's interested more information can be obtained by contacting Allan Jones on 01685 388352. Perhaps this could also be put on the club website as well as in the programme (apologies if it already is, tucked away somewhere!).

I know there are other fundraising efforts that are more long term But I was thinking specifically as a short term(till the middle of April) to try and ensure we stay in this league as at the moment we seem like the captain of the Titanic singing loudly "NEARER my god to thee" as the Ship went down.Cheers for all your work IMP i KNOW YOU ARE A TRUE MARTYR.
Also I know we're all in different financial positions that's whyI stated some could possibly give £5 and some possible £10.ALSO XMAS JUST GONE TERRIBLE TIMING BUT WHAT ELSE A SUGAR DADDY.....NO I DON'T THINK SO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!






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Royston Rogers wrote:  I forgot to mention that after April the Club should have extra funds from the completion of our new facilities.............................BUT THIS COULD BE TOO LATE FOR OUR SURVIVAL IN THE SOUTHERN PREMIER!!!

I'm sceptical that the new facilities will bring in the extra funds from April. I understand that we will be bringing in a Marketing Manager to manage both Webley's & Roman's, I do not know what Salary they will be getting but if I guess at around £25k a year with on costs such as Employers National Insurance costs the annual costs would be near to £30k, This would mean we would have to make £600 week Nett Profit (not Gross takings) from Webley's & Roman's just to cover this persons weekly Salary, this looks like a tough ask to me but I sincerely hope I'm wrong.

With the 3G pitch up and running are we making money on this or is the profits being put away for a rainy day when it needs replacing.I hope the cost of a marketing manager is not as suggested and profits drained away on administrators we must remember we are only a non league club in the lower reaches of non league football

Surely if we are appointing a marketing manager he or she will be on a low basic salary with realistic commission based on what they bring in monetary terms,if they are successful then both the club and comm.manager will benefit.

scamp wrote: ...profits drained away on administrators we must remember we are only a non league club in the lower reaches of non league football

But there might not be much in the way of profit without paid administrators to attract business and custom to generate them. I think it's asking a lot for their duties to be performed by volunteers - even if any could be found. As I said in the programme on Boxing Day:

'Regarding paid off-the-field staff, basically someone's got to do what they do, and I can't see it's feasible for it to be done by volunteers who have other calls on their time, including full time jobs. In fact there was a call [at the recent Q & A session] for more volunteers to come forward to help in all aspects of running the club. Despite permanent notices on the club website and in the programme asking for volunteers, it appears no-one ever comes forward.'

Regarding the management of Webley's and Romans, I would assume there's been some sort of financial projection done to take into account staff salaries and the amount of business expected and what the profits might be.

And as we've been told at meetings in the past, and as I also said in the programme, the providers of the grant money for the new facilities have a right to expect professional management of them - especially as the whole idea of it is to benefit the whole community and not just to generate profits for the football club.

As for being in the lower reaches of non-league football, I would say that's where we've been for the last five seasons, but we've now moved up to what might clumsily be called the lower part of the HIGHER reaches of non-league football. We've seen a step up in the playing standards required this season, and I think the off-the-field standards required at this level are higher also.

Regarding financial backing, it's not as if the club was set up on the same basis as the new Hereford FC, for example, where as I understand it they have three or four 'investors' who have put a few hundred thousand pounds into the club between them. At Merthyr all club owners have an equal share, and apart from there being the various membership options, each puts no more money into the club than any other. Although I daresay if anyone wanted to GIFT a substantial sum of money to the club it would be gratefully accepted! But as with Royston Rogers, I don't think it's likely to happen either.

Merthyr Imp wrote:

scamp wrote:  ...profits drained away on administrators we must remember we are only a non league club in the lower reaches of non league football

Regarding the management of Webley's and Romans, I would assume there's been some sort of financial projection done to take into account staff salaries and the amount of business expected and what the profits might be.

Projections/Business Plan/Budgets are the easy part, Achieving them! well that's the hard part, I just hope we have built realistic expectations in the Business Plan that the Hospitality/Marketing Manager can achieve but I still think this will be a big ask!!

Fair comment Imp.

There has been a lot of negativity around which is to some degree is to be expected in view of our recent results on the park.

Negativity doesn't help anyone , whatever interest in the Club or Community they hold.

In the words of the Donald Sutherland character 'Oddball' in the Dirty Dozen - ' Don't hit me with those negative waves'.

Expectation levels too are somewhat high for a Club that less than half a decade ago was teetering on the brink of extinction, homeless and pretty much skint.

The manager has to manage with the limited budget we have and the on field 'staff' have to do the best they can at this new higher level.

There is no doubt we have missed the quality of Gavin, Mattie Harris and more than most the drive of Kris Leek.

But we are fans cannot influence who plays, where they play or how much they get paid.

Unless we have the time and dedication available to help positively improve our club, bank balance or morale , then we must do the only thing available and SUPPORT the players who wear the famous Merthyr Town kit and the Club Trust and officials that steer the ship through these stormy waters.

So what if we do get relegated from this league this season ( which I personally think will not happen)?

We have survived worse ordeals.

We will still have a club, and facilities the envy of most non league clubs, live football on a Saturday and community facilities that are vastly improved from the previous outdated and delapidated ones.

The Clubs adopted motto is Progress through Stability not Boom or Bust.

Get the Club facilities finished and push on from there - whatever division we end up in.

Yes...it is great to support a winning team but please be realistic in view of the current position we find ourselves in .

And don't forget how far we have come in such a short time.

Up the Town.

Boz

Well said Boz. Agree with you 110%. Win OR lose, rain or shine, I'll be at PP most home games.

Well said, Boz.

I also don't think it would be the end of the world if relegation should happen this season, although I hope even accepting the possibility of it doesn't come across as 'negative wave' thinking - by the way, surely the film where Donald Sutherland says that was 'Kelly's Heroes'?

Imp...I knew you were a football Statto but a Barry Norman too....there is no end to your talents...I did warn you I have 'Senior Moments'....but on a positive note...with an aged 50 plus reduced brain capacity ...every day is new to me....Boz

Boz1964 wrote:Fair comment Imp.

There has been a lot of negativity around which is to some degree is to be expected in view of our recent results on the park.

Negativity doesn't help anyone , whatever interest in the Club or Community they hold.

In the words  of the Donald Sutherland character 'Oddball' in the Dirty Dozen - ' Don't hit me with those negative waves'.

Expectation levels too are somewhat high for a Club that less than half  a decade ago was teetering on the brink of extinction, homeless and pretty much skint.

The manager has to manage with the limited budget we have and the on field 'staff' have to do the best they can at this new higher level.

There is no doubt we have missed the quality of Gavin, Mattie Harris and more than most the drive of Kris Leek.

But we are fans cannot influence who plays, where they play or how much they get paid.

Unless we have the time and dedication available to help positively improve our club, bank balance or morale , then we must do the only thing available and SUPPORT the players who wear the famous Merthyr Town kit and the Club Trust and officials that steer the ship through these stormy waters.

So what if we do get relegated from this league this season ( which I personally think will not happen)?

We have survived worse ordeals.

We will still have a club, and facilities the envy of most non league clubs, live football on a Saturday and community facilities that are vastly improved from the previous outdated and delapidated ones.

The Clubs adopted motto is Progress through Stability not Boom or Bust.

Get the Club facilities finished and push on from there - whatever division we end up in.

Yes...it is great to support a winning team but please be realistic in view of the current position we find ourselves in .

And don't forget how far we have come in such a short time.

Up the Town.

Boz

It's true that early season expectations have turned out to be too high,but they were based on our squad at the time,plus the impetus we carried over from a Championship winning season.

I also honestly thought we were in with a chance of challenging for a playoff place,but it's patently obvious that this league is far more difficult to read,with no games we can regard as 3 pt bankers.
A lot of the regular fans would now settle for survival in the league this season,and consolidation for the time being.I think it is achievable with a final tally of about 41 points. This isn't going to be an easy task,but we as supporters have to our bit for the club, by shaking off the air of gloom that has pervaded the terraces.
The trouble is,some people seem to think we have a divine right to win,especially at home,because of our past record. And some certainly don't help our cause by loudly haranguing our own players for every error, like some of the bellowing frustrated X-box footy managers,comfortably covered from the elements in the stand!

I'm with Boz 100%

I'll admit, I was having some negative thoughts about our situation on and off field but then I put them into context.

My understanding is, we have one of the lowest wage budgets in our League? It's well documented that we've lost A LOT of key players over the Summer for reasons out of our control. Obviously we've lost some extra income because of the re-build of hospitality suites etc. We all knew this was going to happen so I think we just need to ride with it, support the boys on the pitch and help in whatever way we can.

Once I've finished my mega project, I'm going to volunteer on the Clubs media output, marketing of games and events. Not only for my personal experience but to get this Club's name out there. Anything that can help but like anything it's down to time

I agree with some of the sentiments expressed by our supporters with short term memories, But we cannot get away from the fact that the majority of players in the team are quite capable and have just lost focus, irrespective of some of those comments made, furthermore if the lads get back to basics and concentrate on doing those things right, like completing simple passes “not game changers” that rarely come off, making themselves available to receive a pass to help the person on the ball and talk to each other on the field , we must look towards teamwork on and off the pitch and I and sure we will climb out of the hole we are all digging for ourselves.

Yes, some sensible words.

No doubt we are all frustrated, however this should not result in targeted attacks on the team, and certainly individuals.

Now is the time to pull together as we approach a delicate time, and head towards the business end of the season. The run to Easter is crucial. If there is any money available - and quality players to spend it on - I'm sire the Board and Management will apply the necessary common sense balanced with financial proprietary.

One thing for sure the Bennatorial army will be heading to Redditch subject to the game being on and will be backing the lads 100 per cent. Were all in it together and must keep the faith

KPT1950 wrote:I understand that we will be bringing in a Marketing Manager to manage both Webley's & Roman's, I do not know what Salary they will be getting but if I guess at around £25k a year with on costs such as Employers National Insurance costs the annual costs would be near to £30k, This would mean we would have to make £600 week Nett Profit (not Gross takings) from Webley's & Roman's  just to cover this persons weekly Salary, this looks like a tough ask to me but I sincerely hope I'm wrong.

You'll have to add to that figure the cost of Bar Staff and purchase of stock, before you even start to produce any surplus profit.