Away vs Mansfield Jan 25th

I don't disagree but there aren't many owners in football who do come out and say what they want and what their plan is, unless they are a hands on owner / fan owner - a bit like Dean Hoyle when he was at Huddersfield.

as most clubs are probably now owned by corporations or owners based elsewhere that's why it's fundamental that the person overseeing the sporting aspect of the club is the correct appointment. question is, can a club at our level and size afford a CEO plus sporting director? one to run the business for the owner and one to oversee the playing side. not sure how much that salary would be, to hazard a guess anything between £80k-£120k a year? then you've got to find a manager willing to work with that structure and that relationship between manager and sporting director.

 

Bournemouth and Southampton also completely changed their structure too. granted Southampton had their academy to fall back on. we need to stop the short sightedness and think long-term, the next 5-10 years. sadly, I don't think the majority of our more vocal fanbase would except that.. too many want things done now without the building blocks in place to get them done. it's not as simplistic as some may think it is.

 

Yes I know, but without a proper plan with investment our situation is quite precarious as Rupp can just sit back and do what he wants. However, the risk of us going out of business is still high in my view.

 

There is no invest about it there is no money to be made with Bradford city. Anybody coming in to put serious money in needs to be a big city fan with a big wallet

 

I'm open to suggestions, at lower league level with limited budgets you have to make sacrifices elswhere to fund other things I guess. At least whoever is in charge on the pitch in the summer should have more of the budget to work with. This season increasing feels like damage limitation where a playoff spot would at least help garner some interest for next season. My hopes of bouncing straight back were probably pie in the sky, now I'd be happy to see a squad progressing forward and I'm being realistic when I think this season it won't happen.

 

Mark Lawn was the driving force when he and JR were at the helm
We seem to be a rudderless ship at the minute
We need big personalities at the minute to drive us forward

 

As did Barnsley and they are struggling in the Championship, yo-yoing from league one to the Championship, becoming the Championships Norwich or West Brom who have in the past done similar in the Premiership.

 

I agree. I spoke to a mate a week ago and we both said very similar. I never expected us to bounce straight back up and was totally suprised by our league position all season especially without playing well at all.

To be honest I'm not that bothered about getting out of this league this season. I'd prefer someone, with some vision, to take over the reigns and start to build a squad for the future but also with a chairmen/owner who is interested in building the same, investing and looking to move the club onwards.

It may mean being in the League another couple of seasons but you actually see the development, style of play and a vision of the future. Maybe invest in a training facility that we can then invest in the kids coming through, start producing quality to keep or hopefully sell on.

The club feels stagnant. It's relying on social media feeds about weight loss plans and 'city for all'. Its on hold with no forward thinking with an owner who doesn't communicate or even go to many of the games.

 

they have but sooner or later I think they'll do what Burnley did when yo-yoing from Championship to Premier League. they stay up and build from there. Norwich are another example of what structure and planning can do, but the key ingredient is something we miss - decent finances. it's difficult because everyone wants success and granted that is different for different people but sooner or later something has to change as we can keep doing the same thing.

 

Yes, and this is one of the reasons I am against Mr Rupp.

Rhodes and Lawn would of sold the club in good faith. Yes, we know what Edin did etc but he was the face, he was in the firing line.

Mr Rupp was on the pitch promising getting us to the PL etc etc. He now fully owns the club and is doing nothing to move us forward.

One of these days @JonButterfield will tell us what was in that email but is Mr Rupp as bad as Edin - No but nearly is that's for sure!

We don't have our Bradford City back at all, we have Bradford City under Rhodes and football as moved on a lot off the pitch since he sold the club!

We needed changes on and off the pitch or get us to teams like Luton, Swansea, Plymouth, Swindon, Walsall, Brentford, Salford, leave us miles behind!

 

Unfortunatly most of us thought we'd got stability and potential finance when Rupp & Rahic took the reins.

 

I’m less sure. I’ve a feeling football outside the PL maybe reaching a tipping point. Morecambe, Macclesfield, Bolton, Bury, Coventry all in a shit state, Championship clubs losing an average of 4-500k a week each. It’s not sustainable.
Unless it’s a passion, like the Hoyle at Town, or a project like Salford and you’re willing to lose money, your best hope in buying a league two club with zero tangible assets is to get lucky with a few promotions or to not lose too much. Even Rupp couldn’t bankroll City to the PL.
A local lad done well with £10m in his pocket is going to risk half or more his grandkids inheritance buying City.

 

Yeah it all feels flat. Like just turning up for the sake of it. I don't want to watch league 2 football next season, but if the club sold me a vision that includes some sort of go forward for the future then i'll bite the bullet. See, i'm not one for this 'City for all' bollocks aiming for 20,000. Turn up cos the seats are cheap and 'we're all City aren't we?' I want fans to turn up for the same reason as me, they see a viable route for the club to go forward with the realistic aim of being a yoyo club between league1 and the championship. Lay down a long term vision that excites me and i as an individual will back the club all the way, if the club is just interested in treading water i'll give it a miss. This clubs needs a better future than turning up to village backwaters in the middle of nowhere, when i start to get bored with something i leave it alone.

 

another issue that must come into any forward planning and decisions made, and it's not an easy one to make due to emotion, is do we stay at Valley Parade? there are clear and obvious reasons as to why we do and why we should but when you look at some of the club's mentioned, part of their future infrastructure has been moving to a new stadium, or planning to move with a training complex that is fit for purpose and close to local retail, etc.

they've also worked closely with their local council, and again this is a difficult topic as we are all aware of the previous relationship between the club, the council and the fans but at some point does the line need to be drawn in the sand and both need to come together to work out how they can help each other. again, a difficult subject and probably more complex that we can solve on here.

 

It requires vision first and foremost and the ambition above all to want to succeed. I noticed after Peterborough's bad run MacAnthony said he would leave if they didn't hit the playoffs. I think they've won their last three games since. He probably wouldn't have left but its that statement of intent that along with his co owners he demands a level of success comparable with his own. I know we are a league 2 club, have been regularly throughout our history. But if you want to move forward you need a mentality a level or two above that. I should be happy just to have a club to support i guess.