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The Hibee Harp
23-01-2014, 11:12 AM
We've all seen, read about and debated the Rangers and Hearts car crashes in recent years but one thing is clear, Scottish clubs are struggling financially, but are any of them really doing enough to cut costs - our own included?

Rangers have been heavily criticised last week (and rightly so) for a luxury hotel stay ahead of their match against part-time Forfar, but this isn't unique to them. For example, do Hibs really need to send the team north for overnight stays ahead of matches against Ross County, Inverness and Aberdeen that are just 2-3 hours up the road?

jdships
23-01-2014, 11:25 AM
We've all seen, read about and debated the Rangers and Hearts car crashes in recent years but one thing is clear, Scottish clubs are struggling financially, but are any of them really doing enough to cut costs - our own included?

Rangers have been heavily criticised last week (and rightly so) for a luxury hotel stay ahead of their match against part-time Forfar, but this isn't unique to them. For example, do Hibs really need to send the team north for overnight stays ahead of matches against Ross County, Inverness and Aberdeen that are just 2-3 hours up the road?

Sorry can't agree with that .
Sitting in a bus for three hours + is not the ideal preparation for a professional sportsman who is to play a match a couple of hours later !!
From my own experiences only had to do this to Aberdeen ONCE a year .
Yes , agree re Rangers and " Five Star " accomodation
The problem lies more to do with increasing revenue to allow the players to be given the correct preparation .
I.E. East Mains has and will be money well spent .

:flag:

Craig_in_Prague
23-01-2014, 11:30 AM
hibs manage very well their wages (wages to turnover), additional costs like hotels / travel, are part and parcel of any business, football clubs included.
Increasing revenue streams is the potential mover, or differentiator.
Our cost base is very well ran, we have RP in place and I am thankful for his prudence.

We've seen less foreigners in recent times in favour of more scots/brits and youth players... I hope that trend continues. Hibs in particular, being based in Edinburgh/central belt - with a top training centre, should be attracting, developing and producing more and more quality young players. Not sure we have that vision or strategy at the core of what we do, i think we have a balance, but would not mind a more aggressive policy in youth.
Going a bit off track there I know....

The Hibee Harp
23-01-2014, 11:36 AM
Sorry can't agree with that .
Sitting in a bus for three hours + is not the ideal preparation for a professional sportsman who is to play a match a couple of hours later !!
From my own experiences only had to do this to Aberdeen ONCE a year .
Yes , agree re Rangers and " Five Star " accomodation
The problem lies more to do with increasing revenue to allow the players to be given the correct preparation .
I.E. East Mains has and will be money well spent .

:flag:

Absolutely take on board what you are saying however Inverness (for years) and Ross County (last season) seemed to have managed very well without overnight stays when coming south and on a more regular basis. Interestingly our U20s have had quite a few good results up north on the back of travelling up same day.

However I do agree it's not ideal preparation.

Spike Mandela
23-01-2014, 12:12 PM
Absolutely take on board what you are saying however Inverness (for years) and Ross County (last season) seemed to have managed very well without overnight stays when coming south and on a more regular basis. Interestingly our U20s have had quite a few good results up north on the back of travelling up same day.

However I do agree it's not ideal preparation.

I would imagine if things get financially tough for Hibs this is one of the first sort of things that would cease. However, if it is within annual budget and the budget is being managed correctly then I would imagine the sporting advantage that could be gained from an overnight stay is something that would be desirable to the management team.

NAE NOOKIE
23-01-2014, 08:24 PM
Its kind of difficult to see what more the majority of clubs can do. Most clubs like Motherwell, St Mirren, St Johnstone, ICT etc have cut spending to the bone ... I would imagine that there comes a point in that process where you endanger the chances of being able to compete at all. The trick is I suppose to get the balance right.

There was always a case to be made for the two Dundee clubs to share a stadium given their proximity to each other. You could near enough build a new ground with one end of the new pitch on ground where Dens Park was and the other end on ground where Tannadice was. The problem would be financing such a project of say a 14,000 capacity ground, but there is no doubt that if the clubs could do that and emerge debt free from the process the long term savings on running costs would be significant.

In the current situation the big issue is not about clubs cutting down any more, its about how more income can be generated .... There are single clubs in Europe who generate many times the income of the whole of Scottish football .... perhaps we need to think out of the box when it comes to promoting Scottish football as a whole.

Viva_Palmeiras
23-01-2014, 08:33 PM
Unmanned turn-styles
Print at home tickets
Internet sales
Exclusive retail outlet
modern stadium with reduced maintenance
trimmed back admin staff


if it wasn't for the managerial merri-go-round and staff payoffs through transition we'd be pretty optimal...

Stax
23-01-2014, 10:19 PM
hibs manage very well their wages (wages to turnover), additional costs like hotels / travel, are part and parcel of any business, football clubs included.
Increasing revenue streams is the potential mover, or differentiator.
Our cost base is very well ran, we have RP in place and I am thankful for his prudence.

We've seen less foreigners in recent times in favour of more scots/brits and youth players... I hope that trend continues. Hibs in particular, being based in Edinburgh/central belt - with a top training centre, should be attracting, developing and producing more and more quality young players. Not sure we have that vision or strategy at the core of what we do, i think we have a balance, but would not mind a more aggressive policy in youth.
Going a bit off track there I know....
This 100%