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The Daily ITK Discussion Thread -The SOS EDITION! 1st July 2014

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Archibald&Crooks

Aegina Expat
Admin
Feb 1, 2005
55,533
204,721
index.php
Morning all! Apologies for the lateness of today's thread, which should have actually been posted yesterday if you know what I mean. I tried to log on to my computer yesterday morning but it wouldn't let me in. I shouted to my wife, "Babe, have you changed the password on the PC?" "Yes honey." she said.......
"What is it?", I asked........."It's the date of our anniversary."....................Bitch.

I'm afraid I have some bad news for you all. Yes, today folks, we're passing around the begging bowl!

HAVE YOU DONATED THIS MONTH/YET/AT ALL?

As you all know, SC relies on your donations to be able to provide a unrivalled coverage of ITK, if it wasn't for you guys, the server would crash left right and centre and we simply couldn't afford to be as awesome and sexy as I am, I mean we are.

In the summer 2013 transfer window we ran a poll asking when people thought we'd sign Benteke. The poll got an astonishing number of votes, over 600 of you took part.

Six bloody hundred. And that's just the yokes who bothered voting. Whichever way you slice it that's a lot. If everyone slung just three or four quid in the pot we'd be sorted for quite a while, so if you've never donated before, please consider doing so now.

Now, when it's donation drive time, which it is i'm afraid, where are you? *Goes all Delia* where aaaaare yoooooou? Let's be having youuuuuuu!

I reckon we've about 500 or more lurkmeisters, so come on guys, if you're one of them and you enjoy SC's coverage of the Transfer Window (and lets face it, you do because you're here right?), then please chip in. It doesn't have to be a massive amount. A monkey will do. Nah i'm kidding.......Why not a long 'un? Or even a pony? hehe, seriously though, a cockle would be great or even a lady. In fact whatever you can stretch to.

And if you happen to be a Spurs mad gazzillionaire, cough the fuck up. Or if you're a famous Spurs fan, then send me a PM, you might be able to help us. And if you're Daniel Levy, fucking hell shortstuff, put your hands in your pockets. And get the freeloading BSoDL to chip in too, we'll call it maintenance.

But A&C, where does the money go?

Outgoings: The server costs £390 per month. Forum software purchases/licenses/misc comes to around £500 a year. So currently, the cost of SC is about £5k a year.

Incomings: Advertising/Affiliates can sometimes cover the costs during the transfer window (January, July, August) but thats sometimes. The rest of the year that falls well short. Its difficult to give an exact figure because the numbers don't stay the same but i'd say £100 a month during the quiet months. Donations during the quiet months come to about £50pm if we're lucky.

Rob will know better than I do, but I reckon we're short by about £2500 a year.

If one month we raise more than is needed, it stays in the pot as it won't be long before it IS needed. The shortfall is made up out of Robs pocket. I'll repeat that.......It comes out of his pocket. Think about that for a minute. I reckon he pays an average of £50 a WEEK.

This is why i'm often cajoling, nudging, outright begging and open to bribery during the transfer window. It's when the most of you are about and our last big donation drive raised enough to cover costs for about a month or so and that's more or less gone.

Any excess raised stays in the pot until its needed when donations/income goes right down. Absolutely nothing goes on anything other than SC's running costs.

Since last summer SC has been surviving from month to month, some months just barely getting by, others well short. To be honest, SC IS SKINT.

So, if you'd like to donate, there's a donation link on the front or home page of the site. We use Paypal but you don't need an account with them, you can use your card in the same way as making any other online purchase. If you want to send a postal order/cheque, please PM myself or Rob.

All donations are very much appreciated. Thanks.
 

kdem

Active Member
Jan 31, 2013
190
519
You tell a good story A&C...and much respect for the fantastic site. First donation incoming...

I look forward to spending entirely too much time here over the course of silly season.

To get back to the topic at hand...I'm excited about Ben Davies, as I think he's just what we need, and I really hope we wrap up Lovren. But Bony/Lukaku (the latter especially) seem like a pipe dream. Latest ITK basically confirms that. If we do get Lukaku I'll drop £50 in the pot...keep Rob's money in his pocket for a week...
 

whitechina

Well-Known Member
Dec 27, 2012
4,227
9,094
donation made. sorry not more it's what I can afford this month. If I get what I want in the other thread for signings then more to follow.
 

DaiT

Well-Known Member
Jan 29, 2011
374
698
So to cover the shortfall all you need is 50 people donating 50 quid - I sent mine last month so 49 more needed. Surely out of 600 there has to be 49 that can afford that. ☺☺
 

jimbo

Cabbages
Dec 22, 2003
8,035
7,436
I think the Chelsea attitude should be reciprocal. I don't care how highly or over rated one of their players might be, we should snub them entirely at all times and doubly so whenever they want one of ours.
 

GetSpurredOn

Well-Known Member
Jun 18, 2006
5,022
8,922
Reading the ITK, if we ended up with Davies, one of Lukaku/Bony, that'd be a damn good start in my opinion. A real sign we're addressing key areas decisively.
Next up, CB. The latest ITK on Dawson suggests we are going to be bringing somebody new in. Ideally a RCB and a LCB, to compliment Chiriches and Vertonghen. Lovren seems to be the favourite for RCB. Shame Moreno got injured, as I'm not sure we'll go after Rojo.

Only areas left then, are if we opt to go after a new backup keeper, depth in DM/CM if any of ours are sold, and potentially a winger/wide forward. But so long as LB, CB and CF have been addressed, not too concerned.
Maybe let Baldini/Broomfield loose on signing a couple of projects to slide into the U19's/U21's.
 

McArchibald

Well-Known Member
Jun 6, 2010
1,280
5,579
Isn't Kaboul's contract up today? With him and Daws going, we absolutely need two centre halves at least


BTW: Donation just went in. Keep up the good work
 

Atarrier

Well-Known Member
Aug 20, 2013
238
1,071
First payday of new job is Friday so i'll be sure to give you a little something something, but a bit skint till then I'm afraid. Davies is definitely an improvement on Rose but I can't pretend I've ever really watched Swansea and signaled out his performances. Would be over the moon with Lukaku but I'd be desperately sad if we called quits on Soldado.
 

bomberH

Well-Known Member
Jun 4, 2005
28,455
168,222
I know this has been mentioned many times before but I can't remember the answer. Why can't each member be charged £1 or £1.50 for an annual subscription fee? That'd cover the costs wouldn't it? I can't think of many people who use the site (lurkers aside) who would leave SC for the sake of a pound.

Is it just that you don't want to deter new people from joining?
 

andyp8080

SC Supporter
Jan 30, 2011
2,098
4,203
£30 donated. Keep up the good work chaps

perhaps we should encourage some pledges based on transfer targets again?
 

Ledleys Knee

Well-Known Member
May 11, 2014
1,521
3,760
Isn't Kaboul's contract up today? With him and Daws going, we absolutely need two centre halves at least


BTW: Donation just went in. Keep up the good work

We have a 1 year extension on Kaboul that we can exercise or not IIRC.

I still think Dawson will stay and we'll just go for one CB to replace Kaboul.
 

Rob

The Boss
Admin
Jun 8, 2003
28,014
65,116
I know this has been mentioned many times before but I can't remember the answer. Why can't each member be charged £1 or £1.50 for an annual subscription fee? That'd cover the costs wouldn't it? I can't think of many people who use the site (lurkers aside) who would leave SC for the sake of a pound.

Is it just that you don't want to deter new people from joining?

It's a bit about the principle - Not everyone can afford to pay, not everyone has a way to pay, etc. We're meant to be an inclusive community so in general I'm against the ideas of subscriptions that allow access. Subscriptions that give extra features are something we've thought about but I don't think they'd be as big a pull.

The second reason is that it'd complicate a lot of things. As soon as people start paying for a service they expect a lot of things from it (including the right not to be banned :p).
 

JonnySpurs

SC Veteran
Jun 4, 2004
5,345
12,398
I'm inclined to agree with @bomberH but equally it would be kinda tough to ask people to pay subscription to actually gain access. Maybe you could get basic level access without paying but if you wanted to get the ITK and the more juicy stuff then you could pay £1 a month or something?

Either way I used to have that going but just realised it wasn't there anymore, must've dropped when my bank card details changed or something.

I've set up a monthly recurring payment again so hopefully that will help.
 

indianspurs

Desi Khiladi
Sep 3, 2013
657
3,138
I know this has been mentioned many times before but I can't remember the answer. Why can't each member be charged £1 or £1.50 for an annual subscription fee? That'd cover the costs wouldn't it? I can't think of many people who use the site (lurkers aside) who would leave SC for the sake of a pound.

Is it just that you don't want to deter new people from joining?

If a member is asked to pay £1 or £1.50 for an annual subscription fee then he will expect to get the services for an entire year. Now lets say he's banned for some reason then what about the subscription fee ? I agree this should be agreed upon when subscribing but the ban thing is complicated. I've seen people being banned and some only warned for ITK bashing so what exactly constitutes a ban is ambiguous. Matters will be further complicated according to me.
 

Kaboul'sForehead

Well-Known Member
Jul 12, 2013
854
3,868
I know this has been mentioned many times before but I can't remember the answer. Why can't each member be charged £1 or £1.50 for an annual subscription fee? That'd cover the costs wouldn't it? I can't think of many people who use the site (lurkers aside) who would leave SC for the sake of a pound.

Is it just that you don't want to deter new people from joining?
I imagine it's tax reasons as SC will then have to go down as a company because it has an income.

Edit:

Oh yeah, and also what Rob said :p
Bloody government cutting costs so my contract could not be extended passed my probation period in the government-funded company I worked at = looking for a new job. However, I love you sexy people (apart from maybe you A&C as whips and chains ain't my thang) and love the site so donation on its way.

If anyone knows of office work going in the Essex/London area let me know haha!

Muchos Lovos
 
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bomberH

Well-Known Member
Jun 4, 2005
28,455
168,222
It's a bit about the principle - Not everyone can afford to pay, not everyone has a way to pay, etc. We're meant to be an inclusive community so in general I'm against the ideas of subscriptions that allow access. Subscriptions that give extra features are something we've thought about but I don't think they'd be as big a pull.

The second reason is that it'd complicate a lot of things. As soon as people start paying for a service they expect a lot of things from it (including the right not to be banned :p).

My opinion only but I think everyone who has access to a computer/phone/tablet can afford £1 a year. It's dead easy to set up a PayPal account (for example) - even I managed it and I'm a ****.

Re the banning issue, yes it will be complicated particularly with ITK bashing etc but if it's written into the rules that banning doesn't mean you get a refund, then it's tough titties. They just won't renew the following year if they're that upset by it. I think you can get away with not having to be 100% consistent with any set of rules because it's a pound a year - if people were paying big money and believed they weren't being treated fairly then there may be issues. But if the only thing to come out of it is they lost a pound, then I'm sure they'll cope.

The bottom line is that if people don't donate when you have these sessions, then no one expects you to fund it yourself, which means the site would cease to exist if you decided to stop paying or couldn't afford it. Surely you'd rather get a pound from everyone than have to give up the site completely or fork out yourself?
 

bomberH

Well-Known Member
Jun 4, 2005
28,455
168,222
If a member is asked to pay £1 or £1.50 for an annual subscription fee then he will expect to get the services for an entire year. Now lets say he's banned for some reason then what about the subscription fee ? I agree this should be agreed upon when subscribing but the ban thing is complicated. I've seen people being banned and some only warned for ITK bashing so what exactly constitutes a ban is ambiguous. Matters will be further complicated according to me.

See my reply to rob. I agree that it's not as consistent as it could be (as with anything that uses discretion) but if it's only a pound loss, I don't think it's a big problem. It's something that needs to be looked at, especially if it meant saving the site.
 
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