Hereford United's directors have a busy week ahead of them. On Tuesday (tomorrow) they will have a board meeting. Afterwards, and on Wednesday, they are expected to interview candidates for the vacant post of manager. Director of football Gary Peters will join the directors for the interviews. It's thought these interviews may not take place at Edgar Street, possibly perhaps potential candidates may want their names kept out of the press.
At the board meeting the directors are likely to spend sometime discussing financial issues at the club.
The relegation to the Conference means there will be savage cuts in funding, perhaps as much as £400,000 from central sources according to the chairman, David Keyte.
And the board is also expected to factor in less income from the turnstiles, advertising and sponsorship this coming season.
However even more urgent is the funding gap until games begin again in mid-August. Whilst it is understood that the directors will cover the deficit this time, it's unrealistic to expect them to do so on anything other than a short-term basis.
"At a time when the income has stopped we have got a cash flow situation to cover for the next two and a half months," said Keyte last week.
In the same interview Keyte hinted that more help was needed.
There is just not enough of a base of people keeping it going.
(BN understands that there are some moves going on behind the scenes to get more supporters involved but agreement is thought highly unlikely, even if reached, before tomorrow's meeting.)
Whilst the chairman appears confident that the redevelopment of one or other of the two ends of Edgar Street could start in eighteen months or so, it is probably prudent to factor in a longer time period given the recession and, closer to Edgar Street, the delays in starting the work on the former livestock market site. And perhaps even longer for any income to come in unless there is someone who might put some cash upfront for the rights to redevelope.
I'd like to think we would have made significant progress in eighteen months time.
So any new manager is likely to be given a much reduced budget and told he will have to stick to it.
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