Financial Miscalculations?

All the speculation has been about who Jim Magilton will look to bring in with the £12m Marcus Evans investment. But no-one seems to have actually analysed how much of this money is really likely to be available. To anyone.

Having looked at the recently released company accounts, its plainly evident that some of the dots are not being joined up by excited fans salivating at the prospect of some real investment being made in players.

The money supplied by Marcus Evans has been described as being made available to the football club to be used as the management see fit in order to help improve the business. The accounts demonstrate that Ipswich Town Football Club turned a profit of £175k in 2006/07. On the face of it, that would essentially mean that all £12m supplied can be used to invest in the squad, alongside that £175k (Not to be sniffed at- it would probably buy another Jon Walters!).

However, what has also been flagged up throughout the accounts is that this is the first time in 5 years that the club have been able to record a profit for the financial year. What has also been celebrated is the unexpected 2.5m which boosted the accounts substantially as a result of the long-awaited Darren Bent transfer sell-on (as the transfer was concluded during last years financial year, the entire fee has to be included in last years accounts, irrespective of when the money is actually received). Further to this, there is also the matter of a share issue which boosted revenues by 700k.

Truth is, it seems the accounts have benefitted from one-off windfalls of over £3m in the last year. Whilst Marcus Evans money is intended to allow us to buy some players and increase the current wage bill, we arent currently managing to pay for the one we already have. Which suggests that when the board comes to agree on where the £12m is to be spent, some of it is going to have to be used to fill the hole that already exists. Not to mention the hole that is presumably growing as a result of attendances which must surely be below expected levels.

Whilst Im sure Marcus Evans would acknowledge that some speculation towards accumulation is required, Im not entirely sure it is the intention to allow the business to accumulate substantial new debts in the pursuit of promotion. If we dont get promoted this season, then it would need at least £6-8m just to enable us to break even on the existing wage bill over the current and next financial year.

To get good quality championship players, its plausible the club would need to pay at least £1m in wages over a 3 year contract. Three new signings would leave us with £1-3m remaining for transfer fees, agents fees and signing-on fees.

With this in mind, and considering Jims famed prudency and the need for a transfer budget next summer in the event we dont go up, transfer fees in excess of £1m for the likes of David Norris from Plymouth or Rob Jones from Hibs might just be some way beyond what is really available for the forthcoming transfer window.....