It's important to remember that the 400k wasn't a debt - it was a shortfall in next year's income against projected operating costs, the largest of which being player wages; since then, we've managed to leverage decent transfer fees for a number of players, which has had the double benefit of a) adding to the projected income and b) reducing outgoings for next year. I don't know the details, but the received wisdom that we were paying inflated wages to some players appears to be true, so getting those off the books will have had a significant impact. We've also seen new sponsors and commercial deals agreed, which again will have been of benefit in terms of income for next season.

The fact that we're now signing players suggests that MC's austerity regime has brought the books back into some kind of equilibrium between income and costs; I would imagine that we're pretty much at or close to the limit now, so any significant additions to the playing roster are only likely to happen if we have an equally significant upturn in ST sales, or a massive walk-up attendance during early season.

In my view it's right to be optimistic, but it's wise to be cautiously optimistic; like most fans, I certainly won't take anything at face value in future, but it does seem that we now have a fighting chance of staying out of the bottom 2 next season, and MC deserves credit for that. I never expected to be worried about my RL club having a sustainable business model, but I now find myself wishing for that almost as much as taking 6 points off Cas in 2014.

2,000 members under the current prices is probably better than 4,000 members under the old, as the income will be similar now but the 2,000 "lost" members will probably pay on the day, adding more cash to the pot.

Cheap tickets filled the ground but emptied the tills.

I very much doubt this...

I suppose it depends on the make up of that 4000 (if indeed that was how many the club did actually sell!). It would've been nice to know the actual breakdown between adult, concessions, young persons and juniors in order to get a better understanding of where the club stands financially between the two seasons.

add to it the rest of Slugger's post in your quote and he is probably correct

Unfortunately some of the current 2,000 will still be at cheap rates as starting price was still a bargain.
Objective now is surely to drag the rest through the gate though as said above.

I believe a win at Salford would get everyone back involved.

That's a big ask.....as the kids say these days.

Amazing things happen when people least expect it...

Just looked at their likely team on other forum.
This is certainly the right time to play them as it will take some time to gel but a good performance is all I'm expecting from our team. A result is a big bonus

Thats right dreadnought. I remember going to Wigan a few seasons ago & the main topic of conversation in the away stand was what amount of defeat would be a good result for us, then to come away with a win ! What a journey back that was.

My missus hasn't renewed this year but may well end up paying at the gate for a few games. I've upgraded to Platinium. So it's a definite net gain from our house.