Offer

If there is interest from outside parties surely their first step is to test the water and see if the present owners have any interest in selling.
If there is a possibility they have to make sure they have the finacial clout not merely to purchase the club but to have the resources to invest in all aspects of the club.
The week to week running of the club, money available for reasonable quality signings to give the manager a chance to compete in league one, money to spend on the infrastructure, the pitch sorting properly not a cosmetic make over ETC.
Give us fans their longer term plans on getting us to the Championship and establishing our club there, before anyone talks about trying to go for the promised land.
I would like any new investors to have amongst their ranks a Bradford City fan as IMO that gives us fans confidence that they would not jeopardise the clubs future for a quick fix.
But as my first comment they have to find out first if the club can be purchased from the present owners, or all the talk/rumour of a possible take over is pointless.

 

...and who knows if the summer recruitment had provided the quality replacements and some depth to the squad we may have got over the Yeovil hurdle and generated the much needed income from a lucrative FA cup draw..,

 

We had enough players to overcome Yeovil it was a failure from the players and man management

 

Too right, Dave ......... Pointless talking about a purchase if such a 'product' is not for sale ?
But once established the former is on 'offer' ......... Then it must be seen the product can grow - if not, then stay where we are, and hope our strategy improves.
Yet we will have to wait and see ......... Afterall, until Friday - I was oblivious of any Sainsbury/ASDA merger !!

 

R&R will sell if the price is right.. whether that be to get out without loss or sell for a big profit.
Their intention, so they said, is to get to the premiership where they can realise a massive increase in TV money and get out then I would assume.
Edin always said there is no money to be made in League one and only promotion to the Championship and then the Premiership would gain any profit.

They have a choice now, invest and go for promotion, stay in the lower leagues and lose money or sell.
If Edin says he's not willing to sell then he must be considering investment because he knows that's the only two options he really has with a chance to make a profit.

 

Well said!

 

I don't think it's so much desperate to have Lawn back, as desperate to have someone that isn't the complete idiot we've got running the club now, and Lawn is an easy name to choose as he was here before, and was probably, in many people's minds, most likely to buy the club..

 

Not true, look at Bury. It’s how the money is spent and then made into a cohesive squad. Look at Sunderland they had the largest parachute payment from the Prem in history to carry into the CC...... That went well did it not?

Bolton had no budget to play about with. So how does your argument always work?. The poster who commented about Argard was spot on.

 

The lack of impact (some of it unlucky) from our summer recruiting goes a long way to explaining where we are at.

Chicksen, no Mezza, not a bad player but suffered with injuries, no longer first choice.
Reeves, good L1 player but no Cullen, again injury problems, not available.
McCarten, potential but minimal impact, not as good as Clarke, not in starting XI.
Poleon, this was a chance to get his career on track and establish himself as a first team regular. He's not achieved this, again not in starting XI.
Adam Thompson, looked ok on paper but no McCardle and no impact. Season long loan cut short.

That leaves Alex Gilliad as the summer signing who has been more or less a regular starter, good player but lacks the assists and goals Marshall provided.

In a nutshell we recruited players who have had minimal impact on the starting XI for one reason or another.

Agree subsidy is needed just to stand still and substantial subsidy to move forward. Any takeover group will have to provide this to give us a fighting chance.

If there is no change of ownership R&R should find a way to subsidise the team to right the serious mistakes they have made.

 

whether you are paying transfer fees or spending big money in wages and signing on fees it’s finding the right players. It’s about good scouting and connections.

 

I think you're missing my point a little re Sunderland. They may have had tens of millions in parachute payments but did that money go on the squad? Nope, the vast majority went on clearing their debts and paying Jack Rodwell 80k a week! You only have to look at their matchday 18 to see how reliant they've been on academy players and loans this season.

I mentioned Bury as an example of where a large playing budget hasn't worked, but this sort of example is rare at this level. And as for Bolton, you're right they didn't have a pot to piss in last year, but they already had players on championship wages who were top end league 1 players (Wheater, Vela, Clough, Madine etc) and then added players such as Ameobi and Beevers (on good league 1 wages) who would all walk into any side at this level.

 

I think folk need to remember we spent 3 seasons in League One under Mark Lawn and Julian Rhodes with no proper investment despite various cup runs, Fabian Delph, Wells money. I liked Lawn but it is bizarre folk are wanting him back at the expense of Rahic.

Lawns plan was get players in for nowt and pay them a shitload of cash - despite the transfer failings under Rahic at least we have a plan. It hasn't worked but not for the want of trying - we are paying fees for players so at least they have an intention.

I don't think the owners have made deliberate mistakes - they are naive and I think they should get at least one more crack at this next season. Last season they did a fantastic job building a squad that was a whisker away from the Championship. Wyke was a solid investment and it looks like they found a gem in Robinson too.

 

We didn't. We had Jacob Hanson at right back.

To put that into perspective, his loan at Halifax Town hasn't gone very well.

 

Ricc .......... Serious question, my friend (Or anyone else)......... Although I now live away, I'm not completely 'cut off' thanks to various media platforms - BUT ......... I 'thought' ML wanted to sell because of events surrounding him in his life outside football, and wanting a quieter life ? Indeed, my belief was that both he and JR only 'needed' to sell, to progress the Club beyond league 1. In other words, neither could finance a push forward, one had personal issues, and jointly they would only sell to a party who could facilitate that push forward ?
So this is where Forums such as here, C&B and the like can often be misleading. So much said, but so little fully understood, if you know what I mean ?

 

I agree, Park. Recruitment is not about getting the best individuals, more to do with finding the right ones to build a 'team'. Individuals don't get promotion, good teams do.

 

In hindsight the WOAP article was embarrassing. The coke sniffing con man Archie Christie took them in.

 

At the 25 yearer meeting Edin said on average Championship clubs lose £10m every season so I think it’s easier to make money in League One than the Championship!!

 

Which part of "only promotion to the Championship and then the Premiership would gain any profit." do you not understand?

 

They didn’t have a squad of players at a,l it was beg and borrow

 

And yet within all that - The current strategy is severely flawed, at this level. Yes, a good squad was built - but rather than build further ........... It was dismantled !!
Had the whole thing been a true life real estate building project - the 'architects' would never get another assignment again, such was their naivety.
When in Rome, do as the Romans do. I have no qualms with their overall strategy , say over 5/6 years, and I posted as long ago as last Summer - For a Board who claimed they would not fix something which was not broken, that same Board has implemented too many changes far too soon, on and off the pitch. To err is human - but to screw up is beyond acceptable, at any level, in any situation in life.
Their Penny pinching attitude may have saved a few quid - But to correct all the wrongs will now cost them those savings, ten fold, IMO. I may sound like a broken record - 'But please, Edin ........... Just sit behind your Directors desk, and be a Director. Allow those you employ to actually do the jobs they are paid to do, with minimum (and no unnecessary ) interference from you'.