It’s fair to say we’re all pretty shocked at the depth of the cuts to the squad yesterday. But there may be one, small positive. I should quantify two things before I write anything further – firstly, I’m no Swann apologist or fan. The last few years have been a disaster; secondly, I’m basing these thoughts on the wages list posted online on the Salary Sport website.
So, here goes: based on their figures, the released players will cut the weekly wage bill by nearly £22k (or £1.13m per year of the £1.95m annual wage bill for 2020/21). Those cuts include KVV (£4k). McGahey (£3.2k), Clarke (£3.1k) & Gilliad (£2.5k). A quick flick through the (alleged) wage bills of the other League Two clubs and there are only 13 players earning more than KVV.
With say £15k per week to play with (assuming that is what remains in the playing budget after the releases, ie £7k pw or £360k less than this season’s budget) that should be ample money to be able to sign seven “decent” players while still offering them a “decent” League Two wage. Interestingly, Karacan doesn’t feature on the list of player wages so I have no idea what will be saved by the very poor decision to not offer him a new deal. Again, based on a scan through the wages of this season’s successful sides, a maximum of £2k per week should secure the type of players needed to at the very least drag us into the top half of the table.
Anyway, that’s a speculative positive-ish spin on yesterday’s news. Let’s just hope and pray our recruitment this time around is better than last and lessons have been learnt. Unlikely, I know, but we can but hope!
