Source: Bournemouth_Echo
Cherries: Mitchell writes off hopes of a debt-free October
EDDIE Mitchell has conceded that Cherries are unlikely to be debt-free by the end of October and admits the club is entering a critical financial period.[LNB] Chairman Mitchell was hoping to have cleared the club's outstanding liabilities and wiped the slate clean this month but has been forced to re-focus his aims.[LNB] Mitchell has spoken of the fine balance between investing in the stadium in an attempt to generate additional income and setting aside funds to help pay debts.[LNB] He has also warned of hard times ahead and admitted wrestling with the club's parlous financial position has started to drain me of my energy.[LNB] In a candid interview with the Daily Echo, Mitchell also praised Eddie Howe and his squad for easing the financial burden thanks to their impressive start in League One and spoke of his fierce determination to get the club back on an even keel.[LNB] Mitchell added: We've still got a week to go but the odds are that we won't be debt-free by the end of October. It's going to be hard work but we didn't expect anything else. The downturn in the market place hasn't helped but has been counter-acted by the good fortune of the team on the pitch.[LNB] There is always a time in the season when it's difficult and, between now and Christmas, are probably going to be the most difficult months for the club. I don't think anybody needs to look much farther than our own finances to see that things aren't fine. The whole country has to re-correct itself and everybody is in the same boat.[LNB] The team has made our job very easy with regard to selling to the crowd and building crowd numbers because of the way they are playing and that side of it is going very well.[LNB] There is a fine balance between what we spend to promote the stadium and what we put aside to pay debts and one has got to work with the other. It's no good standing still and not trying to turn around the business and using every penny to pay debts.[LNB] We don't want to go back to having a once-a-fortnight, Saturday afternoon stadium. We've got to carry on down the road we have chosen and that is to promote it as a business. We're probably one of the few clubs in this league that is trying to do that.[LNB] Mitchell was at pains to point out that none of the directors had taken a penny out of the club since we've been here, adding that the board had put in large sums of money ourselves.[LNB] He said expensive work needed to be carried out on the plumbing system and that he hoped a new supporters' bar would be open by Christmas. He also admitted rent arrears continued to be a noose around the club's neck.[LNB] Mitchell continued: It all nibbles away at the money coming in. It's paramount that we work hard towards clearing the debt, which we eventually will, but there are hard times ahead.[LNB] It's a hard slog and, for the first time for a long time, I've felt exhausted with it at times and it has certainly drained a bit of my energy. But I'm determined to get the club standing on its own two feet without people having to lob in big sums of money to keep it afloat.[LNB] We are certainly a lot closer to clearing the debt than we were this time last year when it was looking very bleak. We have probably got between now and January to overcome the shortfalls and then we can start going forward.[LNB]
