Bournemouth

[HIBS NUTS]

I’ve taken a sudden interest in the cherries games, currently 1-0 up against West Ham.
How important is our tie up with Bournemouth, that they stay in the EPL,
Many teams that get relegated, go on a downward spiral .

[Torto7]

I’ve taken a sudden interest in the cherries games, currently 1-0 up against West Ham.
How important is our tie up with Bournemouth, that they stay in the EPL,
Many teams that get relegated, go on a downward spiral .

Not vastly important. The group that owns them are worth billions. The Hibs investment is tiny in their operating costs.

[Lancs Harp]

I’ve taken a sudden interest in the cherries games, currently 1-0 up against West Ham.
How important is our tie up with Bournemouth, that they stay in the EPL,
Many teams that get relegated, go on a downward spiral .


Give it 5 seasons they will be our feeder club :)

[Hibee Daft]

Alot of the teams that get relegated now bounce back up because of parachute payments.

Top 4 in championship is Leicester, Southampton and Leeds all just been relegated.

So even if they get relegated they will likely be favourites for promotion, but nothings certain

[HIBS NUTS]

Ryan Christie could do with game time.
There is still time to come to us on loan. 😀

[greenginger]

Not vastly important. The group that owns them are worth billions. The Hibs investment is tiny in their operating costs.

if Bournemouth were to be relegated the group may loose a bit of their interest soccer and concentrate more on other sports.

Ice Hockey already but basketball baseball etc etc are all open to more investment.

Best for us if Bournemouth succeed.

[Since90+2]

Bournemouth won't be relegated. A good few sides in that league poorer then them.

[Craig_HFC]

27661

[CapitalGreen]

Bournemouth won't be relegated. A good few sides in that league poorer then them.

If the score stays the same tonight, only Liverpool will have won more league points than Bournemouth over the previous 10 games.

[007]

If the score stays the same tonight, only Liverpool will have won more league points than Bournemouth over the previous 10 games.

Around about when the Foley link with us became public. That's the Hibees Bounce.

[HIBS NUTS]

If the score stays the same tonight, only Liverpool will have won more league points than Bournemouth over the previous 10 games.
They have missed two absolute sitters to increase their lead.

[HoboHarry]

Bournemouth won't be relegated. A good few sides in that league poorer then them.
Sheffield United and Burnley are going down so that only leaves one other and aside from that Forest face a possible points deduction if they are guilty and I think Everton are facing a new charge.

[Gmack7]

Give it 5 seasons they will be our feeder club :)

I think they are already, players only going one way

[Musselbound]

Ryan Christie could do with game time.
There is still time to come to us on loan. 😀

No chance. He played really well in a deeper midfield role. Think it was Steve McManaman gave him man of the match. Certainly kept praising him anyway.

[Torto7]

if Bournemouth were to be relegated the group may loose a bit of their interest soccer and concentrate more on other sports.

Ice Hockey already but basketball baseball etc etc are all open to more investment.

Best for us if Bournemouth succeed.

Maybe but does that mean if the Vegas Hockey team is dire then us and Bournemouth should worry? I really don't get the impression these guys are likely to lose interest at all just because it's 'soccer'.

[matty_f]

I guess with the money going into Bournemouth, there's really no reason to suspect that they'll remain a yo-yo club threatened with relegation every year. I don't think every team in the Premiership enjoys their backing, there are lots of rich clubs there but also many that spend as much as they earn that can't keep up with the well backed clubs. Brighton are a good example of a team that has traditionally been a lower league side that's now establishing itself as a top flight team.

Foley wants them in Europe as a starting point to build from, he and Black Knight will spend what they think is needed to achieve that. I don't think they expect it to happen in their first couple of seasons but equally I don't think they are going to put the team at risk of going down. Their recruitment looks to have been very good, and their manager is getting results out of the team. They're very much in the Brighton model, I think, and so will do well.

[Scouse Hibee]

I guess with the money going into Bournemouth, there's really no reason to suspect that they'll remain a yo-yo club threatened with relegation every year. I don't think every team in the Premiership enjoys their backing, there are lots of rich clubs there but also many that spend as much as they earn that can't keep up with the well backed clubs. Brighton are a good example of a team that has traditionally been a lower league side that's now establishing itself as a top flight team.

Foley wants them in Europe as a starting point to build from, he and Black Knight will spend what they think is needed to achieve that. I don't think they expect it to happen in their first couple of seasons but equally I don't think they are going to put the team at risk of going down. Their recruitment looks to have been very good, and their manager is getting results out of the team. They're very much in the Brighton model, I think, and so will do well.


The problem for Bournemouth is that the list of clubs capable of qualifying for Europe is growing, there are obviously only so many places available and the opportunities to qualify will be few and far between for newcomers on a regular basis.

[matty_f]

The problem for Bournemouth is that the list of clubs capable of qualifying for Europe is growing, there are obviously only so many places available and the opportunities to qualify will be few and far between for newcomers on a regular basis.

Yeah, it's a lot of competition for a few places. It'll come down to how well financed the clubs are but as much as that, it'll come down to how well run the clubs are. I mentioned Brighton in my post, from the outside looking in they look almost like the gold standard for punching above your weight.

[04Sauzee]

Made some amount of money from TV rights last season

https://twitter.com/SwissRamble/status/1753402710890594467?t=zSsci_9CVVncORZoqGRBHQ&s=19

[VoltaireHibs]

Yeah, it's a lot of competition for a few places. It'll come down to how well financed the clubs are but as much as that, it'll come down to how well run the clubs are. I mentioned Brighton in my post, from the outside looking in they look almost like the gold standard for punching above your weight.


Even they are starting to see the limitations. They're doing okay this season, but they aren't the team they were last year. Their system relies so heavily on new players bedding in and excelling in an extremely competitive environment, at some point the gambles won't pay off and they'll tumble down the table. I think this year they're also benefiting from the EPL looking a little weaker, Chelsea, Man United being the obvious ones, but there is a real levelling out these days, no one can sustain a run except Liverpool and Man City. I doubt the EPL will be won with a record points total this year.

With the TV money and transfer fees and the ownership models, almost every club in the division can buy any player they want. There just aren't enough players (Messi/Ronaldo/Mbappe) that can make a match winning difference, so they're cancelling each other out now.

Ironically, the EPL is sort of becoming a wage capped league precisely because they all have so much money. No one can dominate financially and just buy their way to the top so yes, how the money is spent is important, but also stability. If you have to gamble every season then at some point you're going to come unstuck.

[KWJ]

if Bournemouth were to be relegated the group may loose a bit of their interest soccer and concentrate more on other sports.

Ice Hockey already but basketball baseball etc etc are all open to more investment.

Best for us if Bournemouth succeed.

I'm sure there's plenty off ice things for the group to invest in but Vegas are already spending as much as they can on player salaries until the cap goes up.

[Gmack7]

The easiest route to get a team from the black knights group into the champions league is through his team in Scotland, just saying 😉

[WhileTheChief..]

The problem for Bournemouth is that the list of clubs capable of qualifying for Europe is growing, there are obviously only so many places available and the opportunities to qualify will be few and far between for newcomers on a regular basis.

Years ago Sir Alex talked about how a lot of the clubs in the top flight will eventually achieve financial parity.

Feels like it’s almost there. When the difference in backing is measured in billions you’ve really got to look elsewhere to become the best.

Club prestige, history, and culture will play a big part in keeping the top players going to Liverpool instead of Bournemouth, as an example.

[joe breezy]

Years ago Sir Alex talked about how a lot of the clubs in the top flight will eventually achieve financial parity.

Feels like it’s almost there. When the difference in backing is measured in billions you’ve really got to look elsewhere to become the best.

Club prestige, history, and culture will play a big part in keeping the top players going to Liverpool instead of Bournemouth, as an example.

Yeah will take years for a club like Bournemouth to get close to Liverpool or Man U in terms of prestige or fan base even if they were top 5

You go to Thailand and still people mostly support Liverpool and Man U although Man City and Chelsea have made inroads - Chelsea being sponsored by Singha helped them there

But money talks - but Bournemouth don’t have the sleeping giant type fan base of Newcastle


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Eyrie]

The easiest route to get a team from the black knights group into the champions league is through his team in Scotland, just saying 😉

It would be doable if we got the investment that Bournemouth are getting as that would likely see us match the budgets of the Ugly Sisters.

However for far less money the Black Knights can help Hibs get into Europe regularly and win the occasional cup which would make us the most successful part of the group. Foley's comments suggest that is the medium term goal.

[VoltaireHibs]

A draw for Bournemouth today, but a much needed win for Lorient. Not sure I feel like cheering just yet.

[AFCBfan]

Evening. Some thoughts from sunny, sunny Bournemouth.

I'm unsure how this will work out for any of us in this group structure. I'm not a fan of the concept and don't think it should be allowed, but I don't make the rules, and many others have been doing the same for a long time. Modern football is rubbish sometimes. Often, even.

I wouldn't have too high expectations about our youth system. When it was run on some borrowed school playing fields with a staff of one, we still managed to turn out some decent players. Danny Ings for example. We've been investing more into it for about ten years but only this season got up from a Category C academy to a Category B one. Facilities are hard to build in a conurbation with no free land but luckily we managed to buy up a golf course and Foley is seeing the plans come to completion. Sadly, Category B still means that if we get a really exciting prospect anyone with a Category A academy can take them off our hands for a pittance. Because, you know, the big clubs need all the help they can get. I don't know if Cat A is a goal for us but if we are going to try and build everything we need for it, until we get it we remain sitting ducks.

The best chance we both have is if there is a plan to recruit young players from around the world who are 18+ so they can sign a pro deal which would keep the vultures at bay, for a little bit of time anyway. There was a South American midfielder we were meant to be after in January but that never materialised in the end. That kind of thing.

The EPL is absolutely a financially dominated league divided into clear groups. There are basically three leagues in it. Six or seven clubs that are on another planet, a few middle riders and then everyone else. Don't believe the hype that there's any kind of equality there. Plus, every year the biggest clubs try and bring in more rules to ensure they get to keep even more of the pie. I always want to see my team play as high as they can but, at the same time, the EPL is the most boring league I've ever watched us in. And that includes other divisions and seasons where we might have been stuck in a relegation battle.

I'm not convinced Foley understands the structural barriers that the big teams have spent the last thirty years erecting to try and keep others away. My worry is what he will do when the penny drops, but hopefully we're a long way from that still. I hope he finishes the new stadium before that moment!

Anyway, I'll drop in occasionally. Feel free to ask me anything about AFCB and I'll try and give an honest response to the best of my knowledge.

[bingo70]

Evening. Some thoughts from sunny, sunny Bournemouth.

I'm unsure how this will work out for any of us in this group structure. I'm not a fan of the concept and don't think it should be allowed, but I don't make the rules, and many others have been doing the same for a long time. Modern football is rubbish sometimes. Often, even.

I wouldn't have too high expectations about our youth system. When it was run on some borrowed school playing fields with a staff of one, we still managed to turn out some decent players. Danny Ings for example. We've been investing more into it for about ten years but only this season got up from a Category C academy to a Category B one. Facilities are hard to build in a conurbation with no free land but luckily we managed to buy up a golf course and Foley is seeing the plans come to completion. Sadly, Category B still means that if we get a really exciting prospect anyone with a Category A academy can take them off our hands for a pittance. Because, you know, the big clubs need all the help they can get. I don't know if Cat A is a goal for us but if we are going to try and build everything we need for it, until we get it we remain sitting ducks.

The best chance we both have is if there is a plan to recruit young players from around the world who are 18+ so they can sign a pro deal which would keep the vultures at bay, for a little bit of time anyway. There was a South American midfielder we were meant to be after in January but that never materialised in the end. That kind of thing.

The EPL is absolutely a financially dominated league divided into clear groups. There are basically three leagues in it. Six or seven clubs that are on another planet, a few middle riders and then everyone else. Don't believe the hype that there's any kind of equality there. Plus, every year the biggest clubs try and bring in more rules to ensure they get to keep even more of the pie. I always want to see my team play as high as they can but, at the same time, the EPL is the most boring league I've ever watched us in. And that includes other divisions and seasons where we might have been stuck in a relegation battle.

I'm not convinced Foley understands the structural barriers that the big teams have spent the last thirty years erecting to try and keep others away. My worry is what he will do when the penny drops, but hopefully we're a long way from that still. I hope he finishes the new stadium before that moment!

Anyway, I'll drop in occasionally. Feel free to ask me anything about AFCB and I'll try and give an honest response to the best of my knowledge.

Cheers for the post.

Something I’m really curious about is who the footballing brains behind the Black knights are? Clearly it won’t be Bill Foley so who was it that made the call to get rid of O’Neil and bring in your current manager (sorry, name escapes me).

The black knights and the people involved will be leaving on people with a lot of knowledge, has there ever been any suggestion as to who this is?

[Since90+2]

Yeah will take years for a club like Bournemouth to get close to Liverpool or Man U in terms of prestige or fan base even if they were top 5

You go to Thailand and still people mostly support Liverpool and Man U although Man City and Chelsea have made inroads - Chelsea being sponsored by Singha helped them there

But money talks - but Bournemouth don’t have the sleeping giant type fan base of Newcastle


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm not sure fan base makes any noticeable difference. When City first won the league their national and global fanbase was miniscule compared to the historical giants.

It was purely financial muscle that got them there. Now they avenue has been closed off due to FFP I can't see the dynamics changing.

[Hiber-nation]

Thanks for that AFCB fan👍

[PHeffernan]

Evening. Some thoughts from sunny, sunny Bournemouth.

I'm unsure how this will work out for any of us in this group structure. I'm not a fan of the concept and don't think it should be allowed, but I don't make the rules, and many others have been doing the same for a long time. Modern football is rubbish sometimes. Often, even.

I wouldn't have too high expectations about our youth system. When it was run on some borrowed school playing fields with a staff of one, we still managed to turn out some decent players. Danny Ings for example. We've been investing more into it for about ten years but only this season got up from a Category C academy to a Category B one. Facilities are hard to build in a conurbation with no free land but luckily we managed to buy up a golf course and Foley is seeing the plans come to completion. Sadly, Category B still means that if we get a really exciting prospect anyone with a Category A academy can take them off our hands for a pittance. Because, you know, the big clubs need all the help they can get. I don't know if Cat A is a goal for us but if we are going to try and build everything we need for it, until we get it we remain sitting ducks.

The best chance we both have is if there is a plan to recruit young players from around the world who are 18+ so they can sign a pro deal which would keep the vultures at bay, for a little bit of time anyway. There was a South American midfielder we were meant to be after in January but that never materialised in the end. That kind of thing.

The EPL is absolutely a financially dominated league divided into clear groups. There are basically three leagues in it. Six or seven clubs that are on another planet, a few middle riders and then everyone else. Don't believe the hype that there's any kind of equality there. Plus, every year the biggest clubs try and bring in more rules to ensure they get to keep even more of the pie. I always want to see my team play as high as they can but, at the same time, the EPL is the most boring league I've ever watched us in. And that includes other divisions and seasons where we might have been stuck in a relegation battle.

I'm not convinced Foley understands the structural barriers that the big teams have spent the last thirty years erecting to try and keep others away. My worry is what he will do when the penny drops, but hopefully we're a long way from that still. I hope he finishes the new stadium before that moment!

Anyway, I'll drop in occasionally. Feel free to ask me anything about AFCB and I'll try and give an honest response to the best of my knowledge.

Good post.
FWIW I don't see the EPL as a proper league anymore.
It's just one big money harvesting platform for investors with the faces of big legacy football clubs.
EPL R.I.P.
The saddest thing is the supporters can never get their club back.

In Scotland our 2 big clubs are PLC's and there are now American owners and influence at Hibs, Aberdeen, Dundee and Dundee Utd. Only Hearts of our bigger clubs have not been infiltrated and that was through circumstance rather than by design.
Our protection for years was that it was all but impossible to make money from Scottish football, so the sharks stayed away, but with the new multi club models that has changed.

Keep in touch.

[Keith_M]

Evening. Some thoughts from sunny, sunny Bournemouth.

I'm unsure how this will work out for any of us in this group structure. I'm not a fan of the concept and don't think it should be allowed, but I don't make the rules, and many others have been doing the same for a long time. Modern football is rubbish sometimes. Often, even.

I wouldn't have too high expectations about our youth system. When it was run on some borrowed school playing fields with a staff of one, we still managed to turn out some decent players. Danny Ings for example. We've been investing more into it for about ten years but only this season got up from a Category C academy to a Category B one. Facilities are hard to build in a conurbation with no free land but luckily we managed to buy up a golf course and Foley is seeing the plans come to completion. Sadly, Category B still means that if we get a really exciting prospect anyone with a Category A academy can take them off our hands for a pittance. Because, you know, the big clubs need all the help they can get. I don't know if Cat A is a goal for us but if we are going to try and build everything we need for it, until we get it we remain sitting ducks.

The best chance we both have is if there is a plan to recruit young players from around the world who are 18+ so they can sign a pro deal which would keep the vultures at bay, for a little bit of time anyway. There was a South American midfielder we were meant to be after in January but that never materialised in the end. That kind of thing.

The EPL is absolutely a financially dominated league divided into clear groups. There are basically three leagues in it. Six or seven clubs that are on another planet, a few middle riders and then everyone else. Don't believe the hype that there's any kind of equality there. Plus, every year the biggest clubs try and bring in more rules to ensure they get to keep even more of the pie. I always want to see my team play as high as they can but, at the same time, the EPL is the most boring league I've ever watched us in. And that includes other divisions and seasons where we might have been stuck in a relegation battle.

I'm not convinced Foley understands the structural barriers that the big teams have spent the last thirty years erecting to try and keep others away. My worry is what he will do when the penny drops, but hopefully we're a long way from that still. I hope he finishes the new stadium before that moment!

Anyway, I'll drop in occasionally. Feel free to ask me anything about AFCB and I'll try and give an honest response to the best of my knowledge.


Welcome to the forum, mate, and for a very informative first post.

:aok:

[AFCBfan]

Cheers for the post.

Something I’m really curious about is who the footballing brains behind the Black knights are? Clearly it won’t be Bill Foley so who was it that made the call to get rid of O’Neil and bring in your current manager (sorry, name escapes me).

The black knights and the people involved will be leaving on people with a lot of knowledge, has there ever been any suggestion as to who this is?

It's a good question and I think there are two answers. I've no idea who is advising them on which clubs to buy, valuations, and how to run the multiclub model but would assume there is someone with football knowledge in the organisation. I can't recall a name being mentioned but there has to be somebody.

At AFCB club level, Foley has been leaning quite heavily on (former Scottish international) Richard Hughes who used to play for us and ended up being appointed in a senior backroom role when Howe was at the club. I'm not sure of his exact job title but essentially he's the man in charge of all the football side of the business. The O'Neil decision is interesting and there's quite a lot to it. Word is that before they appointed him, they tried to get Iraola but he wouldn't move clubs mid-season. However, his contract was only until the end of the season and he told his old club he wouldn't be signing a new one.

Meanwhile O'Neil did a good job of shoring up the team after the mess Parker left and so got the full job. He's a man that splits opinion but he did the job of keeping us up which is impressive. However, he approached it in such a dull and defensive way it was eye-gouging to watch at times. The thing that most bugs me about it is that, after a bad run of results where we were in the mire, he finally threw caution to the wind for a few games and we looked really good and picked up some outstanding points. Somehow, he'd got us safe with four games to go when we looked dead and buried and he then had the chance to try and attack those last games. Instead, in those free hit four matches and for no discernable reason he went back to being ultra defensive and horrible to watch. It looked like that was his default preferred approach and the crowd turned on him a bit. I think those four games and the fact that first choice target Iraola was now a free agent prompted Hughes to go to Foley and tell him to make the change.

Foley has fronted up a few times and said it's on him, but he's also indicated the advice came from Hughes and our CEO Blake, who doesn't have a football background so probably didn't have much to say. I still think if O'Neil had tried to win those last four matches rather than snatch a 1-0 with 18% possession and eleven men defending for 90 minutes then he'd probably still have the job.

I haven't watched Wolves this season apart from our match against them when they were terrible to watch but got a fortunate win thanks to a moment of madness red card from one of our players and then a goalkeeping howler in injury time. However, his results indicate he's doing well so maybe it was the tough love moment he needed to see there's more to football than defending.

My guess is when it comes to footballing matters, he'd be looking at someone inside your club for advice. Of course, it is slightly different in that he only has a minority share with you but owns us outright.

[DIXIHIBS]

It's a good question and I think there are two answers. I've no idea who is advising them on which clubs to buy, valuations, and how to run the multiclub model but would assume there is someone with football knowledge in the organisation. I can't recall a name being mentioned but there has to be somebody.

At AFCB club level, Foley has been leaning quite heavily on (former Scottish international) Richard Hughes who used to play for us and ended up being appointed in a senior backroom role when Howe was at the club. I'm not sure of his exact job title but essentially he's the man in charge of all the football side of the business. The O'Neil decision is interesting and there's quite a lot to it. Word is that before they appointed him, they tried to get Iraola but he wouldn't move clubs mid-season. However, his contract was only until the end of the season and he told his old club he wouldn't be signing a new one.

Meanwhile O'Neil did a good job of shoring up the team after the mess Parker left and so got the full job. He's a man that splits opinion but he did the job of keeping us up which is impressive. However, he approached it in such a dull and defensive way it was eye-gouging to watch at times. The thing that most bugs me about it is that, after a bad run of results where we were in the mire, he finally threw caution to the wind for a few games and we looked really good and picked up some outstanding points. Somehow, he'd got us safe with four games to go when we looked dead and buried and he then had the chance to try and attack those last games. Instead, in those free hit four matches and for no discernable reason he went back to being ultra defensive and horrible to watch. It looked like that was his default preferred approach and the crowd turned on him a bit. I think those four games and the fact that first choice target Iraola was now a free agent prompted Hughes to go to Foley and tell him to make the change.

Foley has fronted up a few times and said it's on him, but he's also indicated the advice came from Hughes and our CEO Blake, who doesn't have a football background so probably didn't have much to say. I still think if O'Neil had tried to win those last four matches rather than snatch a 1-0 with 18% possession and eleven men defending for 90 minutes then he'd probably still have the job.

I haven't watched Wolves this season apart from our match against them when they were terrible to watch but got a fortunate win thanks to a moment of madness red card from one of our players and then a goalkeeping howler in injury time. However, his results indicate he's doing well so maybe it was the tough love moment he needed to see there's more to football than defending.

My guess is when it comes to footballing matters, he'd be looking at someone inside your club for advice. Of course, it is slightly different in that he only has a minority share with you but owns us outright.

Can you help arrange a wee friendly in the summer? Nice to get down to the south coast for a few days😀

[linlithgowhibbie]

Can you help arrange a wee friendly in the summer? Nice to get down to the south coast for a few days😀

I would agree with that:thumbsup:

[Jones28]

We Scottish fans are well versed in big clubs erecting barriers for everyone else!

Thanks for stopping in and all the best for the season.

How far away from staying up are you? Forgive my ignorance, other than the odd match of the day I never watch English football.