[The Only Way Is Up]

The right amount of finance (aka budget) is very important. But there are other elements too.

My old Nain might have been given a McLaren or Ferrari, or even a Mercedes F1 car, but it doesn't mean that she could complete a lap in any of them. Her forte was riding a 1940s pedal cycle. The same kind of analogy applies to many managers and coaches. You can give them the earth but it doesn't guarantee that they can handle it well. Conversely, some managers and coaches are able to perform miracles with what their clubs can afford - Accrington and Macclesfield anyone?

As with almost everything in life, balancing the budget available with players' ability vs their egos, and applying development skills to improve their individual and team performances is essential to create opportunity at every level.

Focusing on improving skills is vital - but so is eliminating the weaknesses in individual players and the team.

Everyone know this already, and I really don't understand why we have this same "chat" every season. OK - I do... it is because despite that certain knowledge, its application is found wanting year after year. It is the reason why managers come and go with the regularity of cuckoo clocks, with a bit of help (or hindrance) from Lady Luck, refereeing decisions, and the strength of the opponents. A manager can put together the best package that his budget can buy, but if another manager at a competing club can work with a better package for the same money, or can have his budget increased part way through the season if his team needs strengthening, sourcing that extra budget can be vital.

If our club sets the maximum budget affordable for the start of the new season, then BTB is the perfect vehicle for that strengthening: it doesn't reduce the size of the pot available between now and the start of the season just in order to have funds available in January. That extra money in January is like the icing on the cake that gives us an edge that our competitors may not be able to match.

Keep at it pagl. YOU know it's right. If others chose not to contribute, that's ok too. Not everyone can afford to raise the extra, and no-one is going to think less of them because of that.

Those who either don't understand why BTB exists, or regard it as a begging bowl to milk the same fans all the time, should think of it in the same way that other clubs' owners and directors do when they want extra performance from their team for the benefit of the supporters but only have the option of using their own chequebooks for the purpose. And if finding £100,000 is beyond their individual means, isn't it great that Wrexham has loyal fans who can dip into whatever they have available and use it to make a difference! How much more might fans have donated had they known how much (or how little) it might have taken to "buy" the four points extra that would have guaranteed us a play-off place?