Cooling Off Period

I'm not sure I would have renewed. I'm seriously hacked off with the last 12 months. My enthusiasm is waning to say the least.

Only thing keeping me going, is seeing a couple of mates for a few beers and a bit of quality time with my old man.

Not sure I want to go through another 5 years of building to get us back to the position we were in 12 months ago.

 

Ive renewed but last season was a pain to watch and i honestly think if the coming season goes tits up it could get nasty

 

But as others have said, we ARE a lower league club. Always have been, always will be. We simply do not have the fans to be otherwise. Look at the Dog Botherers up the road, even they have higher average attendances throughout their history. They don’t need cheap season tickets to sell over 10k season tickets.

I started watching City in the 80s as a teen, after just finishing school. I couldn’t afford a ST then and paid each game. I turned up every week to watch my team. As soon as I was working, I bought a ST and have renewed every year since.

Why? It’s now in my genes. I don’t agree with all manager decisions or those of the boards that employ them. But by walking away, who will hurt the most when my club is gone? The answer is simple. Me (and those like me). So regardless of whether I am seeing good football or not, I carry on renewing.

The current owners aren’t the only board members to have ‘fecked us over’ since I’ve been watching. But I didn’t rip up my ST book when Simpson refused to sanction to signings of Townsend and Curle all those years ago or when Kammy was unfairly sacked by GR. Or even when big Geoff almost completely bankrupted us.

What did I do during that adversity? I continued to SUPPORT my club.

 

Fine post

 

And I did support the club during the drop from PL to League 2. I appreciate that the good times feel better when you've been through the tough times. I accepted that we didn't have a pot to piss in.

This is different. My enthusiasm is draining away.

We're throwing it away. It doesn't need to be like this.

 

It doesn’t have to be like what? Just because you look at the current Chairmen as some kind of cash cow, doesn’t mean (successful) businessmen will feel the same.

Did you get the scissors out and cut up your ST Card when Lawn repeatedly mentioned ‘the deficit’? Did you reach for the guillotine when he started “pimping” Wells to the highest bidder, because “we need to offset the budget deficit”?

The fact is, the current owners have done nothing different to the last incumbents. The only mistake was setting expectations too high with all the talk off promotion and play offs.

So I ask again, what is so different now than any of the previous periods in our history?

 

We made brilliant progress under Parky. We were so close to the Championship under Stuart and we didn't go again.

I think the frustration is that the perception was there that R&R had the finance and the ambition to get us to the Championship.

Clearly they don't have that short term ambition.

With Lawn & Rhodes I appreciated their honesty and I always felt a strong connection to the club.

I don't feel that now. That's why It's different.

 

But nobody has ever said they would bank roll us to the Championship. You saw them with their wealth and heard the comments from Lawn/Rhodes and assumed they would.

However, the owners have never suggested they would spunk their money on getting out of this league. Now, if we were to get out of L1 (and let’s face it only 12.5% manage promotion each season), THAT’S where the owners’ money would be required.

You’re still talking about the Lawn/Rhodes partnership but what about all the other owners before them.? Or did you only start supporting us in 2012...?

 

Started in the early 90's. Simpson tried his best bit didn't have the money.

Geoffrey was different class.......most of the time.

Rhodes was picking up the pieces and tried his best.

The new owners have dismantled a team that was an offside goal from the Championship. Simpson and Rhodes were just trying to keep the club going. They never got that close to success.

 

Clearly don’t know your history then. Simpson was in control during our ‘nearly’ season, when we got so close to promotion to Division1 (as it was known back then). Dolan wanted Curle and Townsend to get us over the line, but Simpson refused to sanction it, even though he knew he’d be getting over £1.5m from the sales of McCall and Hendrie if we failed.

Instead he “dismantled a team that were a whisker away of promotion to the top tier”.

And for the record, Rahic & Rupp DIDN’T “dismantle a team”. Players and their agents did that...!

 

Agreed but it WAS a mistake not offering Meredith McCardle and Marshall new contracts that January. They'd have probably still left the club but at least we would have got something for them.

 

Are you sure it was Simpson? I'm certain it was Tordoff who wouldn't open the purse strings.

Maybe you don't know your history?

 

You clearly don't. Simpson was chairman from Feb 1990 until Jan 94. You're confused with Jack Tordoff and Stafford.

 

As I thought, Simpson bought the club in 1990. 'Clearly you don't know your history'

 

Why would we have got anything for them? They were over 23 so we wouldn’t have been entitled to anything. And let’s face it, the likes of Mezza and Marshall were going to go regardless and so wouldn’t have signed anything in January.

Yes, Rory may have signed, but then he may have dropped form just like Vincelot has done this season after signing his extension and many m here now want rid, but we can’t because he’s tied down.

 

That's right.

 

My mistake, but the point remains exactly the same. JT could and should have spent the money to try to secure us promotion. He didn’t and we failed at the last hurdle.

The point being (still) that we’ve always been a selling club rather than one that spends and backs managers. You say you have some affinity with Lawn/Rhodes, yet they spent the princely sum of £7500 on players. I think the current incumbents have spent significantly more, although I acknowledge this was on the basis of cutting costs elsewhere

 

Agreed

 

If they'd signed an extension on their contracts in January and they were our players, and then another club came in for them in the summer, they would have had to pay for them, hence we would have got something for them. It's not rocket science.