Edin speaks

Have a link for that? If true thats poor from Rupp.

 

How dare you challenge the narrative that big bad Edin is not solely to blame.

 

I'll have a look, it was Ryan sparks comments about the fees helped being paid by the extra ifollow revenue and the club in general which in a sense is a good thing because it shows that we didnt actually pay out large fees in January and that we are getting value for money in a time when most clubs won't be spending.

 

He is chief antagoniser in all this but there were a fair few people who knew what was going on but chose to try and get others to do their dirty work.

 

This one?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/sport/19058088.amp/

 

Richmond certainly brings back good and bad memories. Had he not literally forced Paul Jewell out of the club and left the recruiting and football matters to him we may have still got relegated but wouldn't have ended up in that financial mess and the club might have actually grown over time rather than nearly folding.
Jewell has said several times since that Benito Carbone was a very good player (we all new that) but for what we were paying him he could have brought in 4 players, and may not have signed some of the other big earners.
Today Burnley are a good model for us to follow if we can get the right owner! Similar stadium but much bigger population and crowd potential.

 

Great points. Jewell leaving was a tipping point. And as daft as it sounds, we'd have been better off not beating Liverpool on the last day and going down, but you can't change history. That period in the last 90s was golden for me. It coincided with my teenage years and life was just a blast, watching City punch above its weight, showing real ambition, bringing in exciting players, improving year on year. I'll always be grateful to Richmond for that.

Burnley are an excellent model. And when I talk about bringing in an ambitious owner, it doesn't even need someone who's willing to prop up the budget each year - it needs someone who's willing invest in the fabric of the club. Buying the ground back was be a huge start.

 

I think there's even a case to be had that Rahic wasn't the worst culprit. Don't get me wrong; he was a loon. Like a kid let loose running a toy shop.... but who gave him the keys to the safe? I don't think for a second he set out to ruin the club. He actually had some very sound ideas but his execution was shocking, his engagement skills terrible and he was clearly not equipped for the role. Maybe he was a narcissist just chasing his own dream, who knows. But he had no self awareness and no real understanding of the context he was operating within and the damage he was doing. But others knew. Others who were more informed, more aware, more capable. Others with a responsibility to ensure that one single loon couldn't bring the club to the verge of destruction. Others who'd apparently 'do anything for this club'. Still, I suppose its easier to talk about your principles than it is to live up to them.

 

Weren't we at the start of a tipping point despite the efforts of Richmond 6 weeks of madness? With no sugar daddy to speak of hadn't we started to over stretch ourselves, relegation just making the process quicker.

 

Before we start celebrating 8 good games in 30
or more league and cup games, even though Grimsby seem to be doing their best to help us out by booking a relegation spot, we’re still only 8 points off the drop. Let’s see what happens over the next few weeks, we weren’t great at Exeter and, admittedly in very poor conditions looked lacking in composure against Scunthorpe before it was abandoned. There are two games a week, possibly more later on if there are more Covid cancellations. This season ain’t over yet.

 

Yes you're right but we could probably have managed it better without those infamous 6 weeks. It wasn't just Carbone's wages and probable signing on fee (and house). There was Dan Petrescue £1 million fee and big wages, David Hopkin £2.4 million fee and big wages, Ashley Ward signing on fee and big wages, all players costing us big time for no visible benefit on the pitch. The only players we signed after promotion with a name in the game who we got much out of on the pitch were Gunner Halle and David Wetherall.

 

Yeah. I'll be honest, my memory of exactly when Jewell left is fuzzy. Was it before, during or after the 6 weeks of madness? Either way, if we'd kept Jewell and allowed him to lead our recruitment plans, we'd have had a good shot at staying up. Who knows where we'd be now? In any event, our worst case should have been that we were a strong championship club with the occasional dabble with promotion. Maybe like a West Brom.

 

Richmond going batshit crazy certainly made things go downhill very quickly, his crazy strategy based on a non existent deal with on digital has to be up there with the best of stupidity in football. I'm just wondering how good a position we would have been in had we got relegated without Richmond 6 week madness? Could we have survived the spending we underwent to get to the premiership in the first place and the cost Geoffreys valley parade rebuilding programme. Could we have survived as a mid table championship team with Richmond at the helm?

 

We've got similar stadiums that by design will create a good atmosphere. If we stay at Valley Parade and get an owner interested in buying it back and investing in it I'd like to see the T L DALLAS Stand pulled down (sorry T L Dallas) and a new stand built linking the Midland Road and a completed Main Stand. We could probably take out some of the rows of seats open to the elements in the kop and still have a capacity of 30,000.
I love to dream.

 

The same plans BFG has written up before he fell out with the council for good. Have you seen the plans, they are available on line somewhere, shows the main stand going right to the end of the pitch

 

No I've never seen them.

 

Loving your posts mate. Talking so much sense!

City fans got played also. Blinded by cheap tickets and then what seem to be an agenda from within to make excuses not to do off the pitch improvements. Even have to listen to Sparks now and some one on here to understand that investing in the fabric of the club is something that we seem unwilling to do and fans seem not to understand why is important.

Getting the ground back would be a massive step forward for this club.

 

My main thought is around the commercial benefit. i.e the potential to save on the rent (£350K per year)? But more than that, its a tangible asset against which we might be able to borrow in order to fuel growth across various areas of the club.

 

I'll see if I can find them. BFG wanted to shut the road that goes past the club shop so he could take the main stand and eventually take it around the corner but the council refused him permission which to be fair was probably for the best, even though I hate how the main stand looks half finished. It would have also led to the demolition of the offices in the corner which to be fair make the ground look an eyesore in that corner.

 

https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/8058187.valley-set-for-27000/

Haven't found the plans yet but this was the gist of the plans to turn Valley Parade into a 35,000 seater stadium.