The East Fife Thread

[Life on Marrs?]

2 hours ago, sbrandon111 said:

Adam Rooney is looking for a club, last at Solihull Moors. He’s 34 now but no idea how much he would have been on per week at Solihull.

I would rather have leigh Griffiths, he's lookin for a club & he's just 31.

Be close to home for him, especially with us training in Edinburgh! 

[Stevo Fife]

7 minutes ago, Life on Marrs? said:

I would rather have leigh Griffiths, he's lookin for a club & he's just 31.

Be close to home for him, especially with us training in Edinburgh! 

Was speaking to a friend of Crawford's yesterday. According to him Crawford doesn't have much of a budget to play with. Begs the question why is the club in such a perilous state? I appreciate Darren Young's time was up but equally, why replace him with someone, who to be honest looks to be just as vulnerable?

[Guest AberhillEnd]

31 minutes ago, Stevo Fife said:

Was speaking to a friend of Crawford's yesterday. According to him Crawford doesn't have much of a budget to play with. Begs the question why is the club in such a perilous state? I appreciate Darren Young's time was up but equally, why replace him with someone, who to be honest looks to be just as vulnerable?

That's not what the Chairman said at the question & answer.

Who to believe ? 

[Stevo Fife]

46 minutes ago, AberhillEnd said:

That's not what the Chairman said at the question & answer.

Who to believe ? 

And a fine chairman he is. It's all very well saying the clubs on an even keel but if they continue to charge what they are for season tickets whilst producing fucking dross every Saturday afternoon then fans will continue to walk away. 

If the club are not prepared to invest in a few experienced players to supplement the young lads then we're in for a long season. Crawford's had ample opportunity to bring players in. Question is, why hasn't he?

[sammytroot]

A very good question.Not too sure of the answer,mind you.

Player sponsorships now available via club shop.

[Am Featha Taigh Nan Clach]

It is £18 for a ticket for away fans (and presumably non ST EF fans). Eighteen pounds!!!

[Guest AberhillEnd]

37 minutes ago, Stevo Fife said:

And a fine chairman he is. It's all very well saying the clubs on an even keel but if they continue to charge what they are for season tickets whilst producing fucking dross every Saturday afternoon then fans will continue to walk away. 

If the club are not prepared to invest in a few experienced players to supplement the young lads then we're in for a long season. Crawford's had ample opportunity to bring players in. Question is, why hasn't he?

Yep, agree with all this

[Life on Marrs?]

Ordinarily, you'd tend to believe the clubs chairman over Stevie Crawfords friend when it comes to knowledge of club budgets but looking at the evidence, I'm not believing Crawford has money sitting but as a former international striker hes decided to just go with a couple of raw youngsters up front.

It looks like we've overspent during the Darren Young days, which might explain why players were so keen to keep resigning for us during this era. I also think the likes of Cove & Kelty have created huge wage demands at this level.

[BB_Bino]

16 hours ago, Am Featha *****h Nan Clach said:

It is £18 for a ticket for away fans (and presumably non ST EF fans). Eighteen pounds!!!

That's mental for football at this level.

[RateofKnots]

16 hours ago, Am Featha *****h Nan Clach said:

It is £18 for a ticket for away fans (and presumably non ST EF fans). Eighteen pounds!!!

Well, thats one way of making sure the away support will be quiet.

[7 Eleven]

On 26/07/2022 at 22:28, Life on Marrs? said:

It looks like we've overspent during the Darren Young days, which might explain why players were so keen to keep resigning for us during this era. 

Or maybe there has been some other sort of Worldwide event that has impacted the clubs finances? As for your point, a manager can only spend the money that he is given so if there was some sort of overspend then you need to question the person or people who signed it off rather than  the guy still getting the blame for the current mess.

Also, if you think individual players were being over-paid then you probably haven’t been paying enough attention. The figure for the highest paid player has already been discussed in public, albeit only his weekly wage and not appearance fees and signing on fees (which never seem to be taken into account when fans discuss recruitment budgets). That player was out on his own in terms of weekly wage unless the club folded to Ryan Wallace’s alleged demands last season.

Lastly, you need to remember that DY had exactly the same problems trying to recruit players last season as SC is having this season. People can blame slow transfer markets all they want or they can start focusing on why players would rather play elsewhere or lower level football than come to East Fife. It’s very easy to identify better players than you’ve currently got, but very difficult to actually recruit them.

[Life on Marrs?]

7 hours ago, 7 Eleven said:

Or maybe there has been some other sort of Worldwide event that has impacted the clubs finances?

How come this worldwide event has impacted EF's finances more than that of our traditional rivals? 

Its also fact that part time players wage demands have rocketed in recent years(to what most of us would call a full time wage), this started pre-covid & much of that inflation must be down to the wages Cove & Kelty have been throwing about at our level. 

[7 Eleven]

41 minutes ago, Life on Marrs? said:

How come this worldwide event has impacted EF's finances more than that of our traditional rivals? 

Its also fact that part time players wage demands have rocketed in recent years(to what most of us would call a full time wage), this started pre-covid & much of that inflation must be down to the wages Cove & Kelty have been throwing about at our level. 

I’m not sure what clubs would be classified as traditional rivals so I can’t answer that one. However, I believe that EF topped up wage of those put on furlough. I don’t believe that all other clubs did this. So, if EF have done this while others haven’t then there’s your difference right there.

You are right that clubs like Cove & Kelty have over inflated wages for part-time players. That has been funded by benefactors and there is nothing a club like EF can do about it. I believe that Cove have a £350k loan/debt on their books, which is fine if it’s never called in, but it’s basically money the club wouldn’t have otherwise.

The inflation in wages is more likely coming from teams at a lower level being able to match or better the money teams are offering at this level. That’s why we are seeing a transition of established teams from the SPFL being replaced by teams willing to invest, which is fair enough and will continue for the next few years.

Your original comment was that there was an overspend during the DY era. My point was that I don’t believe that to be true. But if there was then the people who signed off that overspend are still at the club. 

 

[Guest AberhillEnd]

59 minutes ago, Life on Marrs? said:

How come this worldwide event has impacted EF's finances more than that of our traditional rivals? 

 

It's common knowledge that parts of Methil &  Buckhaven are some of the most deprived in the country.

I did look on in concern at some of the go-fund amounts some other clubs were raising during the pandemic.

This is no way criticism of the great work the ladies did in organising the money that was raised for the club.

 

[Anychance]

i think hes struggling recruitment wise 

been in the job a while and he should of been planning ahead 

maybe he doesnt know the lower end market of players so its hard to attract the higher end players to east fife i get the feeling with cowdenbeath being the same with Mo Ross

one thing about kelty even though they pay good wages they always shopped well in their market with a couple of exceptions 

in my opinion i feel a manager for east fife would be better coming from lower league who knows the market better then possibly a few rough diamonds on loan from clubs higher up 

[King Kebab]

[Life on Marrs?]

3 hours ago, 7 Eleven said:

 original comment was that there was an overspend during the DY era. My point was that I don’t believe that to be true. But if there was then the people who signed off that overspend are still at the club. 

 

I'm not criticising us perhaps pushing the boat out, speculating to accumulate etc during this period. This would probably go a long way to explain the fall we are now seeing. 

Covid can't be made an easy scapegoat all the time. The pandemic hit the towns of Forfar, Montrose, Stenhousemuir & Dumbarton also. 

I'm just trying to find reasons why we are now seeing such a drop, yet charging so much (Elgin £13 on Saturday). 

 

[Life on Marrs?]

2 hours ago, King Kebab said:

Pity it wasn't his namesake! 

 

Still, welcome. 

[WhoAmI]

1 hour ago, Life on Marrs? said:

Pity it wasn't his namesake! 

 

Still, welcome. 

As manager or player?????

[7 Eleven]

1 hour ago, Life on Marrs? said:

I'm not criticising us perhaps pushing the boat out, speculating to accumulate etc during this period. This would probably go a long way to explain the fall we are now seeing. 

Covid can't be made an easy scapegoat all the time. The pandemic hit the towns of Forfar, Montrose, Stenhousemuir & Dumbarton also. 

I'm just trying to find reasons why we are now seeing such a drop, yet charging so much (Elgin £13 on Saturday). 

 

I’m really not sure in what way you think that the club pushed the boat out when DY was the manager. What is this based on?

COVID happened (objective) while overspending/pushing the boat out or whatever other term you may wish to use seems pretty subjective. COVID isn’t a scapegoat. If the club did top up furlough money while there was no money coming into the club and other clubs didn’t do this gives you a valid reason why there maybe issues competing financially. 

Three out of the four clubs you have listed have also been relegated in resent seasons. All are now SPFL2 clubs. In Stenny case they had a spell of signing lower league players. As for Montrose, I believe they are an extremely well run club. They have the best part-time manager out with Dick Campbell in my opinion. Their recruitment, including identifying quality loan signings has been consistently excellent for as long as Stewart Petrie has been there.  I am not sure you have provided the best comparative examples there.