Club for sale etc.

This is the man who said we would see a different approach to recruitment this summer as we were going for a leaner and meaner squad, but then signed off a ridiculous number of signings of poor quality. I think he's done a very good job in terms of the commercial side of things but when it comes to footballing matters, I'm afraid I have no confidence in anything that comes out of his mouth.

 

His two soundbites of 'We don't accept mediocracy' and 'Leaner & Meaner squad' Are Spark's Gerald Ratner moments

 

Who's this fella, is he a sensible and reliable twitter poster?

 

He’s the bloke who comments on Bradford Bulls,I suspect he’s got the takeover rumours from social media. Probably this site.

 

Ultimately under Rupps reign the budget has always been a secondary issue imo, it could be better sure but it could be much worse as well. Although I’d Sparks’ quote of £2.8 million is correct then I do worry why we spend 35% of our turnover on laying budget, where as our competitors often spend up to the 55% this imo takes away our advantage of being the ‘bigger club’. With this in mind you have to wonder just what the rest of the turnover goes on in comparison with our competitors, it’s a CEO’s job to make sure that spending is in line.

Another thing against Sparks for me is the recruitment side of things, and I mean non playing staff not players as he can’t be blamed for that. I’ve now worked in recruitment for 10 years and had our partners come to me and praise me and unfortunately say ‘how did they get through’ at times, accountability in recruitment is absolutely key. So while some will just lay all the blame at a managers door, or his head or recruitment whatever Gent is Sparks is the one who sets the ‘vision’ for the company and employs those to fit it and the high turnover under his tenure would indicate a massive and costly failure on this account. Sparks does seem to recruit well for things like marketing and the commercial side of the business, with this in mind I still think it’s imperative we bring in someone for the footballing side of things to take it by the scruff of the neck. Football has changed since the likes of Brian Clough treated a club like their own personal business.

Ultimately there is one common denominator with all the failures in the last 7 years and that’s the owner, I’m sure he’s a nice guy but accountability works from the top down, and someone who has no passion or interest in the sport I can see why it’s a failure. I saw an interview with the Notts County co owners who are brothers, I could never imagine Rupp talking with such passion and enthusiasm about the sport. It’s easy to see why they are just another club that’s easily over taken us.

But hey let’s just keep blaming manager after manager as it makes people feel more comfortable that the situation is an easy fix.

 

@WilsdenBantam mentions non-playing staff and if you check the club's website there are plenty of holdovers from years ago- Avison and Bloodworth ive seen before;
I dont miss Parky but his fitness coaches dammit get the job done, days after their draw with City they get 2 late wins on the bounce.
Trueman is listed as a first team coach and a loans manager, which when i first read it thought well he is not a banker(i said banker)
Plus you would have to have a heart of stone not to laugh at the surname of City's Performance Analyst-
"Dyer"
You couldn't make it up!

Culture Change Overdue

 

thanks for crushing all our dreams

 

Yes, it is.

The CEO signs off the deals. He needs some insight in the budget and standards of player. This is why this club urgently needs a DOF if Sparks is to stay because he doesn’t know what he is doing on footballing matters.

 

thing is if we had an owner who was trying to be hands on and interfere with signings etc we would be complaining

 

So get rid of Gent tans get a DoF? Would your DoF have final say in signings or would the new manager?

 

Imagine the hullabaloo on here if it was getting out that the CEO was blocking signings because he didn’t rate him

 

I don’t think we’ve ever replaced Parkinson’s fitness guru - Nick Allenby, (who he took with him). Even though we train at a (wet/muddy) school, he had the same tools to work with as every other fitness coach we’ve had since. He had us fit/sharp, whereas for the last few years we look unfit/sluggish.

 

That’s NOT how it works. The footballing side is controlled, organised , recruited and budgeted for by those paid to lead in that specific area ie Hughes and Gent. That’s their job. It is Spark’s job to give them a lump sum year on year, how they spend it is purely down to the Manager and DoF/ Recruitment Manager.
If Sparks failed to give them the funds then, I agree that’s solely down to him, but if he does and it’s wasted, or spent incorrectly , then it isn’t.
That my own personal experience over let’s say over 30 years of senior management and working with CeO’s. Hope that helps?

 

If there is a DOF in place it’s usually a head coach rather than manager and often disagreements often take place

 

On the money!

 

Good point bar the “ muddy school” nonsense. ( Sorry!)

 

The CEO/DoF should absolutely have that veto. Buy not just on the basis of individual opinion. We should be signing players according to a strategy, and applying professional data analytics. NOT having that veto in place is how you end up squads like the one we have.

 

All the data is available and is being used by head of recruitment and manager. The CEO should only be involved in recruitment on affordability