Do I get the blame if the Boards Suicidal Financial Plans Bankrupt Us?

Just to give you a little background I am Bnei Lod in Israel. Won promotion in the first season and sold my best player to finance staying in the Israeli Premier league. I ended up finishing 4th. Then finished 2nd in my 3rd year and won the Isreali cup. The following year through a massive stroke of luck I received a fairly easy ride through the UEFA Cup qualifying rounds and increased my Income by about 10Million Isreali Shekels, due to playing in the Group Stage. I also finished 3rd in the league and again qualified for the Euro Cup, but am unlikely to progress past the last Qualifying Round as I have Monaco.

My ground is tiny with only 3000 seats that are constantly full, it has only been the increase in Income from Euro cup, and Isreali cup competitions that saved the club from bankruptcy. But my board in its ultimate wisdom has decided to build a new ground, which is going to take 2 years to build and is costing me 650k a month. In other words unless I repeat the success of the last two seasons the club will go bankrupt. In fact even if I repeat those two years the club will almost certainly be in dire straights.

I have kept myself well within the wage budget (currently 4 Million Shekels under it) and have sold players when required to balance the books, but I have a nasty feeling that I will get blamed if the Boards massive loan repayments cripple the club, my financial control stat has already gone down to 8 over the past 4 years.

Any suggestions welcome?

Try and arrange pre-season friendlies with big clubs to generate some income. Obviously this will only generate income over a couple of weeks but if you can get a big club to play you at home you will get not just ticket sales but also matchday income too.

Also if you have any feeder clubs that aren't of use terminate the link, once again this isn't a long term solution as it only saves one payment a year, but every little helps though.

I am 400k in debt. I am now blaming my transfer of a coach which I had to pay 130k compensation!

Try and arrange pre-season friendlies with big clubs to generate some income. Obviously this will only generate income over a couple of weeks but if you can get a big club to play you at home you will get not just ticket sales but also matchday income too.

Also if you have any feeder clubs that aren't of use terminate the link, once again this isn't a long term solution as it only saves one payment a year, but every little helps though.

I will give the big club friendlies a go, but in the past they have been reluctant to play my team. Probably because our reputation is low.

Sadly I dont have any feeder teams.

I hate the current financial set up and it's one of the few things that really gets on my baps about the game. We have no say in ticket prices etc, and I don't want that to change, so how can we be held accountable for financial situations? If I stay within my transfer and wage budget and the club still goes into debt then it's the boards fault and should have nothing to do with my board confidence.

yes, we should be responsible only for wage and transfer budgets

this is after all FOOTBALL manager 08 and not FINANCE manager 08

I know it is considered cheating, but as you say you have stayed within in the realms of what the board requested, why not use football manager modifier to give your balance sheet a boost? lets face it in real life a club wouldnt consistantly play friendlies in between league matches to bolster the balance sheet as your club would be too knackered for the weekend and getting humped in every friendly with a big club would also damage your teams morale!

I know it is considered cheating, but as you say you have stayed within in the realms of what the board requested, why not use football manager modifier to give your balance sheet a boost? lets face it in real life a club wouldnt consistantly play friendlies in between league matches to bolster the balance sheet as your club would be too knackered for the weekend and getting humped in every friendly with a big club would also damage your teams morale!

To be honest this is probably what I would do as what you have said is happening is pretty unrealistic. Although it depends where you stand concerning modifiers.

That really sucks balls, and one of my main bugbears with this version. I'm afraid yes, they will be devastated and saddened by the financial situation - even if they were the ones causing the problems.

That really sucks balls, and one of my main bugbears with this version. I'm afraid yes, they will be devastated and saddened by the financial situation - even if they were the ones causing the problems.

DAMN!!!

I will just have to keep selling my players to keep the books balanced. Thankfully there is a good number of young Serbians willing to come and play in Isreal for next to nothing, and they are all on Bosmans. So any future transfer fee is pure profit!

The idiots have even increased the wage budget hugely as well, I refuse to use it as I can see the future financial disaster just waiting to happen!

I do think FMM should be used to keep your game going, seeing as you will be playing for fum, right? Dont make your bank balance stupid though, just a tad boost, like if the board invested more capital in the club.

Ofcourse these saved games shouldnt be used for record games, eg. In the Records Forum.

You might be surprised that the capacity of the new ground is such that the extra supporters pay for the stadium bill.

Have you any idea on how many extra seats you will fill in your new stadium each week?

With FMM you could look at the three attendance figures to see if this is possible, if your average attendance is 5000, that means your new stadium is going to generate an extra 2/3 in ticket sales. The other key is the maximum attendance, this needs to be close to the seating of your new stadium.

Let us hope they name the stadium after you.

You might be surprised that the capacity of the new ground is such that the extra supporters pay for the stadium bill.

Have you any idea on how many extra seats you will fill in your new stadium each week?

With FMM you could look at the three attendance figures to see if this is possible, if your average attendance is 5000, that means your new stadium is going to generate an extra 2/3 in ticket sales. The other key is the maximum attendance, this needs to be close to the seating of your new stadium.

Let us hope they name the stadium after you.

Am afraid I have no ideas about any of the above I have never used FMM and probably never will. But the new stadiums capacity will be 8011. Only problem is the Stadium is 2 years away! I have no doubt it will pay for its self once open, its getting to the new stadium that worries me.

They have named the stadium 'Bnei Lod Stadium' I bet it took ages for them to come up with that one!!!

They have named the stadium 'Bnei Lod Stadium' I bet it took ages for them to come up with that one!!!

You may laugh, but that sort of thing really does happen..

Education bosses overseeing a university merger have defended paying consultants thousands of pounds to create a new name.

The University of Bradford and Bradford College are joining together to create an institution with up to 50,000 students.

But after more than three months and £20,000 the study produced three alternative names - Bradford University, University of Bradford and The University of Bradford.

Nothing suprises me these days...:confused:

Only problem is the Stadium is 2 years away! I have no doubt it will pay for its self once open, its getting to the new stadium that worries me.

You could try negotiating with the board for a long contract. That should reduce your chances of getting sacked in the next two years.

You might not get the blame for the financial troubles as I once took a club into masses of debt by accident (but still my own fault) and the board who should have blamed me, actually sympathised with me and when we were taken over the new owners thanked me for helping the club through its financial problems. That said the club is now crippled as we have loan debts of 40 million that we have to pay off despite being a scottish premier league team that regularly finishes off in the bottom half of the table (making a loss of 500k a month in Scotland is disastrous).

You could try negotiating with the board for a long contract. That should reduce your chances of getting sacked in the next two years.

I had just signed a contract about a month before they announced the building of the new stadium. They now don't want to negotiate, but I could probably wait a year and then ask for a new longer one.

I have decided after reading these that my two options are:

1. Cheat - and use FMM to give me more money

or

2. Wait it out and see what happens.

I think I will probably wait it out and see what happens, I am currently unbeaten and top of the league, but my away form will probably cost me the title like it has in the previous two seasons. Champions league football would save me I reckon though, but it if it looks like I will get sacked I will just have to cheat to keep the game going, which is sad really.

I think you should wait it out and see what happens. I must say after reading through this topic i'm interested on what the outcome will be. Please keep us informed...

Become a feeder club, sod having your own...one off payment but its income...and a friendly...

Become a feeder club, sod having your own...one off payment but its income...and a friendly...

The board seem to think we are far too big for them to even consider us being a feeder club sadly.

I think you should wait it out and see what happens. I must say after reading through this topic i'm interested on what the outcome will be. Please keep us informed...

I will keep you up to date as much as I can.

Well as predicted after only 17 games (half the Isreali season) of the first season I am almost out of money.

The bank balance is now only 277K, with a loss of 6.34million Shekels already. If this continues I will be about 24 million shekels (if not more) in debt by the time the new ground opens. About 5million Shekels of the loss is loan repayments.

Also as predicted I failled to get past Monaco, so the riches of the EURO Cup have past me by, my only saving grace at the moment is I am still top of the league and hopefull I can win it and qualify for the Champions league. Its my only hope!

Interestingly the boards confidence Says they are "very pleased with my control of the wage budget" and "less than satisfied with the bank balance" the two have balanced each other out and the board are "satisfied with finances" overall. If I can keep under budget I might not get the sack, on the other hand the club will go bankrupt anyway!

good luck and i hope the financial trouble improves.

Sounds that the only hope you have is to get a board cash injection or a takeover. I've been in that situations and the board have kept me afloat for a season or two. If you're within the wage budget and are performing well they should be happy to do this.

this is after all FOOTBALL manager 08 and not FINANCE manager 08

Your full of hate arnt you....

The person asked for help with an addition to the game, Because believe it for not Finances are in Football Manager. So what are you busting the persons nuts for ?

Surely if you posted for help you wouldn't like to be berated with minless stupid comments?!

Seems from my experience as though the buck stops with the manager on finances, irrespective of what causes them.

My Werder Bremen board just spent £192 million on a new 54,000 seater stadium. They got ~£40 million from the sale of the old one, but took out a crippling £152 million loan that is being repaid at a rate of £1.1 million per month. Our annual turnover last season, excluding the stadium stuff was of the order of £70 million and our expenditure around the same level. Now my board expect to be able to just add some £13 million to our annual expenditure and expect it won't make any difference...mebee they're going to put ticket prices up hugely, with the Weserstadion already holding 42,000 the extra money from 12,000 new supporters each home game is unlikely to cover the loan repayments otherwise, and the stadium isn't ready for another 2 years anyway.

Personally I find it irritating - I'd have loved a bigger stadium if the Weserstadion could have been explanded, but clearly it can't so I'd rather just stay put and accept it since I've grown very attached to it. Or if we must move then at least show some real ambition and go to town on an 80,000 seater stadium. Attendances in Germany tend to be very good so I'm sure we could fill it if I were to be successful!

Personally I find it irritating - I'd have loved a bigger stadium if the Weserstadion could have been explanded, but clearly it can't so I'd rather just stay put and accept it since I've grown very attached to it. !

These are my exact feelings to be honest. The Lod Municipal Stadium is tiny but at least it aint goin to bankrupt us, for very little long term gain in my opinion.

Also on another point I noticed whilst checking my financial screen yesterday that the board had taken out the whole loan right at the beginning of the building process and paid for the whole stadium up front.

This never happens in real building projects! Yes the board would have an arrangement with the bank in place for a loan, but they would receive this in installments. These installments would coincide with the installments (progress claims) received from the builder.

I think if this system was adopted for future FM series then it would alleviate some of the problems being faced by people in the game at the moment. As it would reduce the interest payments over the first 2 years of the loan, helping the club get into the stadium and (hopefully) the increased revenue from gate receipts would then service the loan.

Anyway those are my thoughts.

and if your wondering I am still up a certain creek without a paddle re the money!!!

Well miracles do happen!

I ended up finishing 2nd after losing to Beitar 1-0 at home to an unlucky deflected shot, they won the last 7 games and won the league by a few points, ensue deep depression. That only lasted for a few moments tho as I was shocked to find that Isreal had gone up in the european co-efficients and I had qualified for the Champions League anyway. After beating an Icelandic team 6-1 I then managed to beat Slavia Prague and qualified for the Group Stages.

All I can say is wow how much money!!! I earned more for those four games than I did all of last year and the club is saved from financial hardship, in fact another year like this and the new stadium will be fully paid for. No wonder Beitar win the league every year they must have vast piles of cash...

good to hear. keep us updated please.

All I can say is wow how much money!!! I earned more for those four games than I did all of last year and the club is saved from financial hardship, in fact another year like this and the new stadium will be fully paid for. No wonder Beitar win the league every year they must have vast piles of cash...

they have a sugardaddy as well don't they?

Sorry this has taken so long but have been busy, working, playing footie, living a real rather than virtual fm life, sadly!

Well basically I made it to the new Stadium with plenty of money and a League and Cup double to put on display. I even had enough money to go out and spend 7million Shekels on a few players, which patched up the weaknesses we had.

Only problem is we are still venting money at an alarming rate as the new ground is too small. Practically all the seats were sold as season tickets meaning barely any money is taken on the day. So I might have to expand the stadium after only 12months!!!

yes lets hope u get a new stadium

Do keep us updated on this - a really interesting story.

I've not much experience of managing non-English teams, I always start out either with my favoured club (Reading) or with a non-league English team, which means if I move abroad it's always to a high-rep club, as I've managed to get to that level, somehow, so it's really interesting seeing what can happen in a club such as yours, etc.

As you've done such a good job, have you considered moving to a higher-profile European club, or do you want to stick it out in Israel?

Yeah, fingers crossed on a new stadium.

yes lets hope u get a new stadium

Yeah, fingers crossed on a new stadium.

God no!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If they do build another new one, they best name it after me.

I've not much experience of managing non-English teams, I always start out either with my favoured club (Reading) or with a non-league English team, which means if I move abroad it's always to a high-rep club, as I've managed to get to that level, somehow, so it's really interesting seeing what can happen in a club such as yours, etc.

I have played a save-game as my favourite team and one first true love (Barnsley), then I gave Wellington Pheonix a bash (the nearest pro-team on the game to me). This turned into a huge long career game, which then got corrupted somehow (I am still bitter about this, the less said the better)! The funny thing is I purely started in Isreal as it had the fewest games in a season of the leagues I had never played in. I am really glad I did tho, as it has probably been one of the most interesting and challenging games I have played.

As you've done such a good job, have you considered moving to a higher-profile European club, or do you want to stick it out in Israel?

In the past year or so I have been linked to about 5 or 6 Russian jobs, including some big name clubs, but I have no interest in leaving Bnei Lod at the mo.

Its taken me 6 seasons but I have finally got the team playing the brand of football I like to see. In previous seasons I have had to forsake style and flair to get results. Mainly playing a very tight 4-4-2, with little or no flair, relying on stopping the opposition rather than actually going out to entertain. During this close season was able to bring in better full-backs, and a tall striker, meaning I have finally been able to switch to my favoured 4-3-3, which has resulted in some great football and some even better results. If I leave I don't think I would have the patience to spend literally hours tweaking my 4-4-2 tactics to suit a new club again!!!

I dont think you need to worry about the clubs debt, it's not real life after all. you cant go bankrupt because far as im aware no teams get kicked out of the league on here for that. after you have built the ground may be your chairman will retire too..

how big is the new ground? at 600k cant be that big?

Arsenal are 300 million in debt. they still have the money to pay back for there stadium

I dont think you need to worry about the clubs debt' date=' it's not real life after all. you cant go bankrupt because far as im aware no teams get kicked out of the league on here for that. after you have built the ground may be your chairman will retire too..

how big is the new ground? at 600k cant be that big?

Arsenal are 300 million in debt. they still have the money to pay back for there stadium[/quote']

I don't really think you get me. I am not worried by the clubs financial worries because I know they can't be liquidated like IRL. What I am worried about is the fact I have followed the boards financial restrictions to the letter and yet they have gone and almost bankrupted the team. This would ruin my save game in various ways:-

1. I get sacked by the current board for poor financial management, even though it was them that bankrupted us.

2. The club goes bankrupt, a new board comes in and I get sacked by them as they want a new manager.

3. The club goes into administration, the administrators sell my best players. The team struggles I get sacked due to poor team performance. Again even though this was out of my control.

4. I have to sell players to keep the club afloat. Similar thing to number 3 happens.

So yes its not like its real life, but it would ruin my game!!!

Also comparing Bnei Lod to Aresnal is next to hopeless. Aresnal are a top 4 team in the EPL. Turnover (before prize money) probably well over GBP100million my turnover was around GBP4million (before prize money). So as you can see my loan of 600k a month is a massive chunk of my expected revenue stream!

I do think FMM should be used to keep your game going, seeing as you will be playing for fum, right? Dont make your bank balance stupid though, just a tad boost, like if the board invested more capital in the club.

Ofcourse these saved games shouldnt be used for record games, eg. In the Records Forum.

I say use FMM. And you could always give the money back once the situation resolves itself. If you feel guilty, you could even pay it back with interest.

I dont think you need to worry about the clubs debt' date=' it's not real life after all. you cant go bankrupt because far as im aware no teams get kicked out of the league on here for that. after you have built the ground may be your chairman will retire too..

how big is the new ground? at 600k cant be that big?

Arsenal are 300 million in debt. they still have the money to pay back for there stadium[/quote']

You need to worry about the club's debt if you go bankrupt and can't afford to keep your players etc, etc...obviously. There are quite a few steps on the ladder above getting thrown out of the league which are still unpleasant!

Well just finished my 7th Season and first in the new ground.

The season had several ups and alot of downs. Firstly crashed out of the Chamions league against Kobenhaven, dominated both games and lost! But qualified for the 1st Knockout round in the Euro, so it was a fairly good European season all in all, but missed out on the Champions League mega bucks which I need. The domestic season was excellent in the league. 1 loss and back to back titles, but woeful in the cups.

Financially the club lost money. If you discount the 7m I spent on players the club still lost around 5m. Added to this the new ground was too small as I predicted, and the board has decided to expand it....

So I now have 2 loans to repay, both for 59m Shekels. One to pay for the original 8001 seater Stadium. The other to pay for the 5835 seat expansion. The new ground will be fairly big by Isreali standards when finished in 9 months! Obviously this new loan is a worry financially. I will have to qualify for the Champions league group stages to make it pay I think.

Hi,

I have managed small clubs before who build costly new Stadiums, and I don't think you have to worry too much about it. The game/board "fixes" this for me in the following way:

When you go into the red and stay in the red for a time there comes a message which tells you that "The board has injected more funds into the team" or something like that.

The game must have been coded so that decisions from the board are followed up with cash injections as long as the potential for profit in the future is there. For relegated teams with a huge wage bill the future potential is pretty bleak, so there is no incentive to inject cash, that's the only way to really get in trouble with regards to bankrupcy and going into administration.

But nice to read your story, please keep us updated! Hope this helps!

Hi,

I have managed small clubs before who build costly new Stadiums, and I don't think you have to worry too much about it. The game/board "fixes" this for me in the following way:

When you go into the red and stay in the red for a time there comes a message which tells you that "The board has injected more funds into the team" or something like that.

The game must have been coded so that decisions from the board are followed up with cash injections as long as the potential for profit in the future is there. For relegated teams with a huge wage bill the future potential is pretty bleak, so there is no incentive to inject cash, that's the only way to really get in trouble with regards to bankrupcy and going into administration.

But nice to read your story, please keep us updated! Hope this helps!

Cheers for that. Hopefully it won't have to come to this tho.

Well here is where it has just got silly!

Whilst the new stadium is being expanded I have had to move to the Ramat-Gan stadium. In other words I have moved into the Wembley of Isreal. My crowds have jumped from a full 8000 stadium to a full 40,000 stadium!!!! Am now making fist fulls of cash and laughing all the way to the bank. This set me off thinking, when my new ground opens in February I will have to move into a 13,800 seater stadium. This will obviously be full, and need to be expanded again. I checked and the Ramat-Gan Stadium is just down the road from Lod, and only used for international football, so why don't my board sell my ground and move into the Ramat-Gan fulltime, or does this make too much sense?

It would solve my endless problems regarding expanding the stadium.

I was AFC Wimbledon and I managed to get them to League 1, we had £3.5m but after the board announced plans to improve the training and youth facilities and increase the capacity by 2k they are now £350k in the red, needless to say I jumped ship and am now at one of their divisional rivals of Doncaster Rovers.