I took some time mull this over without comment, as to not say anything reactionary.
At first glance, these figures are really alarming, for a club of our size. It’s also really no consolation to me that almost every other club is also losing money hand over first.
The important questions ahead are:
- Will the losses continue at such a high level?
- What happens when Lomtadze wants to move on?
On the first question, I think it’s reasonable to expect the last financial year to account for the largest L1 losses of ML’s ownership.
We’ve made significant up-front investments into the academy, the training ground, the golf club, and the backroom staff (including compensation for Dodds and co.). We have assets to show for the spend.
Seeing any profit from the academy in terms of player sales is a long term project, but the costs almost entirely came to bear this season.
If we get to the Championship, income would increase massively, but the academy investment should drop without the need for such significant one-off payments.
We appear to have been quite wasteful on transfers fees and player salaries this season, but hopefully mistakes have been learned from and recruitment will become more savvy.
I still suspect we will lose money most seasons, but as a much smaller percentage of turnover.
- ML seems like a very private person. One of the quickest ways to lose your privacy in England is to become a target of the media, especially around football.
If Wycombe become the next Bury / Reading / Derby County, his name will be associated with a very ugly financial situation.
He also doesn’t have a track record of shafting clubs, unlike Yongge and Dale, so its far more reasonable to give him the benefit of the doubt.
To ML’s credit, he’s put his money where his mouth is in terms of investing in the club, and the academy. The money hasn’t always appeared to be spent wisely, or in a way that has resulted in immediate success. However, you can’t blame Lomtadze for that, he is delegating almost all responsibility to others, including but not limited to Rice, players and manager.
And his vision has always been long term, rather than spaffing cash on a huge squad of stars. I’d rather an owner tries to implement a long term vision that involves developing talent over many years, than immediate success.
Who comes after Lomtadze, and what happens to the debt and running costs, who knows? Given his long term goals, I think its too far away to have any certainty on any of it.