Ambition, what does it mean?

[Huggybear]

We hear it all the time, from fans of every club at most levels. Where's the ambition?What does this actually mean though, putting yourself in the shoes of any owner or perspective owner? 

It means investing your money in an enterprise that will ultimately lead you to lose money in the vast majority of cases. Unless you are at the very top table and even then risk reward provides relative small returns and in many cases huge debt that are unlikely ever to be repaid.

So when we as fans demand ambition, what we are actually demanding is for someone to lose money for our entertainment. Which is why I never join in with the demands. If a club is lucky to have an owner to do this, putting own money in as a hobby because they've got it, then they are extremely lucky. However, for the most part, money just gets borrowed to finance the ambition. The debt grows, the club finds itself more and more disappearing down a nightmare rabbit hole of financial problems. I firmly believe fans are partly to blame for the mess that so many clubs are in.

I'm quite proud that as yet, we haven't disappeared down this rabbit hole but for how long will this be the case?  Fans demand he sells, anyone but Lai, get him out. But that personally scares me more than Lai staying. Where is the incentive for anyone to buy unless they are ridiculously wealthy and prepared to lose on their investment. We are more likely to end up with the Burnley model of "investor" and that would be a disaster.

What I do demand however is that the club is run well on and off the pitch. That's been missing for a long time now. Going back to Dan Ashworth going and not replacing him well. Pulis was a sticking plaster which bought more time but the dye was set before that.

I'd love us to continue to self finance as long as we were well run unless we found a stinking rich benefactor. It should be within our ability within our finances to do all these things well
1. Manage the academy well, producing golden nuggets every so often that produce 1st team players, loan fees for good prospects and strong sales down the line.
2. A strong and effective scouting network that identifies players that are needed. Not just ability wise but mentally strong and hungry players on the up.
3. Talented administrators that ensure that contracts are well set up whether that's for new players, youth or players coming in.
4. Quality coaching throughout the ages up to 1st team. Where every penny counts, you have to eek every bit of ability out of what you have. There are excellent examples of this elsewhere with Cooper at Forest being a good example.
5. Good communication between fans and club. Cut out the bullshit, be very honest at all times.
6. Do great work in the community to build trust and a feeling of belonging part of something.

This for me is key. Pretty much all the above has been missing for too long. This is where I want us to improve. Not throw money at it. Build a strong well run club from top to bottom. It's possible, with the right people. We aren't there with the right people now but this should be the RG and Lai focus and ambition.

It’s a very good post and what’s gone on in the recent past we can’t do anything about ,so of course we are going to be limited to what we can spend.Those fans who thought we were going to spend because of parachute payments are way out and all we will be doing is relying on getting out of contract players.Number 4 Rich is very important and in Beale we have a very good coach at under 23 level who improves players but the first team unfortunately are going to suffer with Bruce and his coaching staff.
           I keep saying it but it won’t matter who we bring in if the coaching isn’t up to the standard required,you mentioned Cooper and your spot on,a very good coach who is hands on.

[MassDebater]

Ambition for me would be that we try and play decent, entertaining football, and the players give their all. to come away from the match having enjoyed it, win, lose ort draw. It'd be nice not to have a club who make it feel like we're lurching from one bad idea to the next, one that feels stable.

Like it did not so long ago sort of thing! As loads of others said, a club that feels like it's got a plan and is implementing it for the better.

This was Forest just a few months ago, which shows that things can fall into place very quickly indeed, if all the pieces are in place.
This season is gone, we may as well look forward to next with a positive outlook.

Here's hoping Forest's suddenly falls apart again! Yep, tis all we can do.

[MrFizz]

A M B I T I O N shirley?

[SW4Baggie]

We hear it all the time, from fans of every club at most levels. Where's the ambition?What does this actually mean though, putting yourself in the shoes of any owner or perspective owner? 

It means investing your money in an enterprise that will ultimately lead you to lose money in the vast majority of cases. Unless you are at the very top table and even then risk reward provides relative small returns and in many cases huge debt that are unlikely ever to be repaid.

So when we as fans demand ambition, what we are actually demanding is for someone to lose money for our entertainment. Which is why I never join in with the demands. If a club is lucky to have an owner to do this, putting own money in as a hobby because they've got it, then they are extremely lucky. However, for the most part, money just gets borrowed to finance the ambition. The debt grows, the club finds itself more and more disappearing down a nightmare rabbit hole of financial problems. I firmly believe fans are partly to blame for the mess that so many clubs are in.

I'm quite proud that as yet, we haven't disappeared down this rabbit hole but for how long will this be the case?  Fans demand he sells, anyone but Lai, get him out. But that personally scares me more than Lai staying. Where is the incentive for anyone to buy unless they are ridiculously wealthy and prepared to lose on their investment. We are more likely to end up with the Burnley model of "investor" and that would be a disaster.

What I do demand however is that the club is run well on and off the pitch. That's been missing for a long time now. Going back to Dan Ashworth going and not replacing him well. Pulis was a sticking plaster which bought more time but the dye was set before that.

I'd love us to continue to self finance as long as we were well run unless we found a stinking rich benefactor. It should be within our ability within our finances to do all these things well
1. Manage the academy well, producing golden nuggets every so often that produce 1st team players, loan fees for good prospects and strong sales down the line.
2. A strong and effective scouting network that identifies players that are needed. Not just ability wise but mentally strong and hungry players on the up.
3. Talented administrators that ensure that contracts are well set up whether that's for new players, youth or players coming in.
4. Quality coaching throughout the ages up to 1st team. Where every penny counts, you have to eek every bit of ability out of what you have. There are excellent examples of this elsewhere with Cooper at Forest being a good example.
5. Good communication between fans and club. Cut out the bullshit, be very honest at all times.
6. Do great work in the community to build trust and a feeling of belonging part of something.

This for me is key. Pretty much all the above has been missing for too long. This is where I want us to improve. Not throw money at it. Build a strong well run club from top to bottom. It's possible, with the right people. We aren't there with the right people now but this should be the RG and Lai focus and ambition.

Well said Rich, and I think this is definitely where most of the more level-headed fans' thinking lays.

The absolute number one for me however is having the best and the right staff in key positions at the club. A strong CEO, a strong DoF, a strong head of recruitment, a strong Academy manager and a strong head coach. 

Unfortunately Richard Stevens is the only person I'd regard in those positions as being fit for purpose, and the fact Big Ron has been made permanent from his "consultancy" role last season (for someone who had such little involvement, he was in a fair few photos...), Ian Pearce is being considered for promotion instead of thorough investigation into our recent recruitment and that Bruce is being kept on suggests it'll be quite some time until that's fixed.

[Squid]

Ambition for me would be that we try and play decent, entertaining football, and the players give their all. to come away from the match having enjoyed it, win, lose ort draw. It'd be nice not to have a club who make it feel like we're lurching from one bad idea to the next, one that feels stable.

Like it did not so long ago sort of thing! As loads of others said, a club that feels like it's got a plan and is implementing it for the better.

This was Forest just a few months ago, which shows that things can fall into place very quickly indeed, if all the pieces are in place.
This season is gone, we may as well look forward to next with a positive outlook.

They have a good coach, who is currently getting a tune out of his players. Let's see how long both those factors last. It's not the same as having a sustainable plan that can weather a change in personnel at any level.

[Tom Joad]

Just in the interests of balance, re Lai. He was advised by Jeremiah P to employ Williams and that other faceless clown as the main men running the business side. He was probably also advised that Pulis never gets relegated. Only after this fell apart was it revealed (by Jenkins) that our previously healthy bank balance had vanished. Even under TP, Lai sanctioned spending unlike our normally modest standard (Gap year Gregs salary, Burke etc), and lifted the Peace embargo on January signings. He was further advised that Pardew was a good shout for manager and to take a punt on the inexperienced Barnsley guy to get us back up. He must really wonder WTF he has got himself into.  As long as Lai keeps us self sustaining, then in the absence of Elon Musk discovering he has long time ties with the Tantany or Bill Gates becoming a regular in The Billiard Hall, I have no real issues.

[Hopalong]

Just in the interests of balance, re Lai. He was advised by Jeremiah P to employ Williams and that other faceless clown as the main men running the business side. He was probably also advised that Pulis never gets relegated. Only after this fell apart was it revealed (by Jenkins) that our previously healthy bank balance had vanished. Even under TP, Lai sanctioned spending unlike our normally modest standard (Gap year Gregs salary, Burke etc), and lifted the Peace embargo on January signings. He was further advised that Pardew was a good shout for manager and to take a punt on the inexperienced Barnsley guy to get us back up. He must really wonder WTF he has got himself into.  As long as Lai keeps us self sustaining, then in the absence of Elon Musk discovering he has long time ties with the Tantany or Bill Gates becoming a regular in The Billiard Hall, I have no real issues.

You do wonder what Roland was thinking of or maybe it was part of a long-term strategy to eventually get the club back for a song.  If we don't go up next season what will the club be valued at?