Most liked posts in thread: Do or die January

January won't change us into a promotion winning side, switching personnel mid season rarely works to that extent, pre-season is where the real work is done.

Rupp won't change because he knows he is going to get the season ticket money anyway, he even convinced us to pay £50 extra this year and still got roughly the same number of buyers without a significant investment in the squad. I honestly think a lot of fans agreed to the £50 increase on the understanding that the extra funds were going to go into the squad and we were going to see an improved team, I think some people probably agreed to it as well on the understanding that we had a bad season financially due to the pandemic. That same sympathy and understanding won't be there next season.

 

Rupp bought the club because he was sold a potential money-making model by Rahic.
Rahic was convinced that our proximity to a large number of very big clubs along the M62 meant that we could pick up PL academy rejects, turn them into L1/Championship stars and sell them back to bigger clubs for big money to finance the club and get us into the Championship and then PL. The TV money would then be massive and Rupp would be coining in a huge return on his investment.
Rupp bought into this dream until it became clear that Rahic's master plan was no such thing and that the mad professor had been spending money like water in trying to cover his failings.
So Rupp was left with a club with no assets, in a sport he's not interested in, that needs serious investment to progress. He's had his fingers burned and is unlikely to chuck good money after bad (from his perspective). He'll make sure we stay afloat in L2, so he doesn't lose any future prospect of recouping his outlay, but that'll be it, I suspect.
Our only chance to progress is if we get lucky with a manager who can get us up on a limited budget - hence the appointment of Adams to attempt precisely that.

 

You aren’t wrong, it’s felt that way the last near 4 years and it got me thinking why.

I work for quite a small but successful and close not company. Our success and hard work to the job comes from our boss/owner who even know in his 70s is non stop and loves what he does. This infects the rest of the team, I thought imagine if he was distant, quiet, didn’t have an interest in the company other than not to lose money and most of all had no real time and dedication to it would we perform how we do? Which has seen year on year growth for the last 9 years, absolutely no chance. Why should a football club be much different? I know some clubs still have success despite owner issues so it’s not an exact science, but I imagine they still have off field leaders who are passionate driving the players and manager and making them realise what they do has an impact. Where is that in our club? An owner who’s disinterested and knows nothing about football and a young CEO who knows more about speedway and fell into the role from Twitter, I can’t see the leadership and drive from the top and I think it trickles down.

 

Absolutely.

He bought a club on the up. Momentum that in his first season nearly took us into the Championship. Yes, I know off the field things were getting shabby to say the least, but from a footballing perspective we had a club to be proud of.

Rupp is now holding us back. He clearly won't sell the club, as he isn't going to recoup anywhere near the money he has spent so far. I'm not sure how many suitors there are for the club, but a bit of wise investment in the squad would go a long way in this league. He isn't going to do that.

 

I honestly believe with Rupp at the helm, we will not see promotion.

The club continues to regress under his stewardship and I really hope you fans, are not pinning your hopes on January.

It's clear the budget is tight. January and associated quality costs. Just where does this money come from?

 

Lawn and Rhodes left a solid foundation for Rupp and Rahic to go on and take to next level. Whatever you think of Rahic, Rupp has failed us miserably

 

Like i mentioned previously this is all down to Rupp, when he bought the club we just needed a little investment, we had a good squad who just lost to millwall in the playoff semis.. but nooooo he let that prick Rahic hit the reset button. Parky and co left and we’ve been on the decline ever since.

THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT RUPP get your cheque book out and fix the mess YOU put us in OR EFF OFF!

 

The freefall started under Rupp. He has taken us from the verge of Championship football to flirting with relegation to non league football.

 

As I’ve said numerous times, we’re his Dragons Den project. Chucked some money in on the back of a pitch by Rahic, happy to let it tick over. If something good happens, he takes his share, if it doesn’t, he clears off and puts it down to a misplaced investment. What he’s not gonna do, is throw money at it.

 

You have to wonder about Rupp, a very successful business man who was introduced to a man who had no money and little involvement in the day to day running of a football club by his bank manager.
He obviously didn't look into what the costs were with regards the running of a football club and what is required to make a sucsess of his venture, even posters on here can find the cost of owners getting their clubs to the Championship, but once there what is needed to take that next step up.
You realy have to question his naivety, why anyone who has basically bought the club with his money then puts a stranger in charge, unbelievable Jeff.

 

No chance of ‘serious investment’ under the current regime. Year on year squeeze and the end result is plain to see.

Hope is we can get this group and the injured players fit and firing. I’ve seen worse city squads, were just totally devoid of strength in depth.

 

I must admit to being conned into thinking we had a decent squad with a decent manager before a ball was kicked. How wrong I was. There still appears to be fundamental failings at Valley Parade that continue to hold us back and Adams hinting but not revealing only adds to the frustration. January won't see the great influx we need. We all thought we did that last season but all we saw was a continuation of signings who seem to down tools and revert back into their shell at the first sign of trouble. Until and unless we sign strong leaders we aren't going anywhere. To have one striker in the building is scandalous and Turnbull has quite rightly paid the price for that.

As I see it, unless we waste more money binning off 5 or 6 players and bring in players who can handle opponents raising their game by 20% at Valley Parade, we're going to be stuck in this league for the foreseeable future. I hope Rupp and Sparks let their cheque book do the talking this time. Adams too has take some responsibility. His stubbornness in sticking with the same players, reluctance to change formation and make subs have also contributed to where we are. He too needs to up his game.

 

Money has been spent, it’s just been wasted on absolute rubbish. Wright, Akpan, Guthrie, Mellor, Henley, Bruenker, Sattlemier, Raeder, Barr, Riley.

 

January is never guaranteed to be a magic fix and even if you sign 6 decent players it can take time to settle. We know our luck or rather burning players out which means we get untold muscle injuries that no other clubs seems to get like we do.

One win in 11 games in all competitions now, is that all personnel or part manager? Part rot that has set in at the club like had happened before Parky came all those years ago now?

I felt the win against Rochdale was a paper over the cracks. It’s ok talking about xG and chances but it doesn’t always work and balance out.

Every club in every division in the land wants better strikers and better options up front. Every single one. Even Man City and they won 5-1 tonight. Why are we suddenly gonna find the right combo in January?

I feel there’s too much to do to pin our hopes on a manic 4 weeks mid way through a bad season. We may too far adrift by then anyway.

I don’t think it’s any time to call for adams out and never will. He needs a few windows to sort this out. I also don’t want a boom or bust window this January because we feel we have to do much. We have to get the signings right. If that’s 3 good additions then so be it. For too long now we have signed injury prone garbage that has cost us in the longer term.

We need some experience and we need some level heads at this club. At all levels.

 

He does not use the ones he has now properly so new signings will be just as bad

 

Listen to me next time. I tell it how it is!

Some were getting carried away in a pre season that means nothing.

 

Forget going up. Staying up is where its at.