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Most liked posts in thread: How does this club move forward?

  1. How

    How Knows Football
    P.L.22/23 Entrant P.L. 18/19 Winner Euro 2020

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    It really all comes down to a good manager. At any level in football if you don’t have that right and don’t give them time to succeed you will not be successful. McCall has that time due to his reputation as a player and we have to give him time and stop this nonsense of we are Too big for this league etc. It will take time to get out as bad as we think it is.

    We struck gold with Parky. I think he could go down as one of the most successful managers of league one and league two in the last decade. He took us to a cup final and a quarter final of another when we had zero real success before him for the previous 20 years. He took us up a league and made us competitive in league one straight away and was not far away from taking us to the championship. he then took Bolton up and kept them up with a lot going on behind the scenes. And he now looks to have got Sunderland motoring and take them up again where others have failed.

    I worry we had the best manager we may have for a very long time and we are now going to bumble around for years. I am not sure we realise how good we had it with Parky
     
  2. Feats Don't Fail Me Now

    Feats Don't Fail Me Now Fringe Player

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    I think the stadium issue is underplayed.

    Valley Parade is way past it’s sell by date and not just the stadium but the whole surrounding area adds to the feeling of down trodden decay.

    I do not mean to be disrespectful but had the events of 1985 not occurred I believe we may well have moved out.

    I get a feeling that there is a guilt complex. We can’t move or even discussing moving because of the tragedy. We feel we have to stay.

    We can move on whilst still remembering and acknowledging what happened then.
     
  3. Faithful Bantam

    Faithful Bantam Squad Player

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    Completely agree. I keep saying it - we obsess over price, when we should be thinking about value. That’s the over-riding decision point for many.

    My son is 10. He’s not massively interested or motivated about going to VP - why would he be? The quality is poor, the atmosphere’s poor, the facilities are poor. And football is so accessible through the media now - when I was his age, I was bitten by the bug. It seemed magical to me, especially the night games and whilst football was on TV, it was nowhere near as exposed as it is now. You don’t have to go to games to get your football fix.

    We’re going to have a massive challenge attracting and retaining future generations of fans.

    I’m nearly 40, and even I’m losing interest. There’s so much more to life - paying 150 to watch a lifeless, unambitious outfit circle league’s 1 and 2 doesn’t interest me. Paying 250 quid for a title challenging league 1 side, or 400 quid for a competitive championship side - bring that on!! Now, we can’t just lump up prices of course. It has to be timed right and it has to be a feature of a credible, ambitious plan led by people with credibility.

    If we keep convincing ourselves that underpricing tickets will keep the masses coming while quality and future prospects remain grim, we’re dreaming. Likewise, the community of Bradford are no less able to pay the going rate than any other working class northern City. We have to break this self-limiting cycle and find some bloody ambition!
     
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  4. Faithful Bantam

    Faithful Bantam Squad Player

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    I don't really disagree with anything you've said. The majority of what enables clubs to grow and improve is down to finance. And I wont pretend to be an expert on other clubs, or even ours - but it strikes me that many other clubs in this league and the one above are able to operate and compete/outperform us on the field with consistently fewer resources at their disposal. Accrington and Wycombe are good examples.

    The model we've had of pushing for the largest possible playing budget at the expense of other areas of the club hasnt really worked. We've come close a couple of times but it's short term thinking - if it doesnt work, you're not advancing the club or creating a platform for sustainability and growth over the longer term. What's our legacy for having gone close a couple of times, having had a couple of cup runs and sell ons? Its dismissive to put it all down to 1 season of madness under Rahic - weve been mismanaged for longer than 1 year.

    If our owner wont invest, properly, then we're faced with some tough decisions. Personally, I think we have to accept a reduction in the playing budget so we can invest in the fabric of the club. Rough numbers, but suppose we'd aim for a playing budget of 2m in this league. Perhaps we need to accept a period of cutting it down by 300-400k for 3-4 yeards and get the pitch properly sorted, and invest in better scouting. We'd be ill equipped to cope with a bad injury list, we'd have to rely more on younger players and we might circle League 2 without doing much that period. But at the end of it, we'd at least have a professional standard pitch. Better scouting might unearth a gem, or at least position us to get better value from our signings.

    Personally, I'd like us to show much more ambition, but we need to start planning and thinking for the longer term. How do we strengthen the club financially? How do we sort the pitch? How do we establish capable professionals into key, non playing roles to embed a strategy that looks at where we want to be in 5, 10 years time? If Rupp wants to sell, what would that take - and if not, what's he prepared to do to properly invest in areas where we're not only lagging, but being exposed? How do we establish a more competitive pricing approach to tickets without losing fans?

    All we seem to have now is cheap tickets and hope, and a cycle of firing managers and bringing back McCall. There's no real plan that I can see.
     
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  5. abbomf

    abbomf Emergency Backup

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    Bielsa was an unbelievably ambitious, imaginative & expensive appointment, the best they could get. Result? City fallen back in love with it's team, sold out ground (not cheap tickets) & with promotion a 50k ER which will be sold out.

    Bradford City? Still shuffling about gazing at it's shoes.
     
  6. BingleyBantam

    BingleyBantam Impact Sub

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    I’m sick of the whole “well we have always been a 3rd/4th division club” bullshit.. sums up Bradford as a City... Don’t get ideas above your station...know your place...bollocks I want a club that had ambition.. not happy to plod along... I want more!
     
  7. Idlebantam

    Idlebantam Squad Player
    P.L.22/23 Entrant P.L.23/24 Entrant P.L. 20/21 Top 10

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    Some fans go on about cheap tickets holding us back. Some go on about Rhodes holding us back.

    Truth is, we had several years of progression under Rhodes and cheap season tickets culminating in us being one game off being back in the Championship.

    Then one man, Rahic, blew that all out of the water

    There is no reason why we cannot turn it around again. Rupp needs to adequately back McCall in the summer and let him get on with rebuilding.

    We also need to appoint a chief scout to assist McCall and Black identifying the right players with the right character to come in

    Ive given up on this current squad and season, but have faith that McCall and Black will get it right in the summer and next season
     
  8. Mike Hunt

    Mike Hunt Impact Sub

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    Sort the recruitment process so we’re not buying bloated lopsided squad full of more Guthries, Akpans, Andersons etc. and then replacing them annually. Proper scouting and a DoF who is here for the long term so it’s not the manager buying players he’s friends with. Maybe see the odd youth player make the first team.

    Long term off the field vision, getting the pitch fixed, deciding on a long term home, professionals doing a proper job on marketing, finance etc.

    All of that is possible with Rupp owning it. It needs a strong experienced visionary CEO to tell him what is necessary. Rhodes might have many years experience at City but has he ever worked at a well operated football club? Our old HR manager used to have a saying, there’s a difference in between 15 year’s experience and one year experience 15 times over.

    Rahic had what was possibly a good vision and plan but was completely out of his depth and utterly incapable of implementing it.
     
    Inspector, How, Fordy117 and 5 others like this.
  9. Hoochy-Min

    Hoochy-Min Squad Player

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    Whether we're a satellite city to Leeds or not is not significant to the football team. We're still the 7th (I think) largest city in England which makes us different to Halifax, Huddersfield, Rotheram, Rochdale, Oldham etc.

    We have shown in our most recent seasons in the top 2 divisions that crowds of 18-20k are the norm and that was before cheap tickets. People will come to watch a good standard of football against decent teams who bring lots of fans for atmosphere.

    That is the potential we're talking about.

    I agree that the ground is a huge sticking point but as the opening post suggests, this is part of the crossroads we're at. The lease is running down so that should form a part of the overall discussions.
     
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  10. Lard Arse

    Lard Arse Impact Sub
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    It's a never ending spiral.
    Clearout / change manager / clearout / change manager
    Repeat until we strike lucky
     
  11. abbomf

    abbomf Emergency Backup

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    Leeds, all my family support them, l think back to the, in reality a tin pot nothing game, where we beat them 2-1. Their boards were full of posters saying how much they'd enjoyed the atmosphere at VP. We do have potential but it'll never be realised with dullard unimaginative owners.
     
  12. Hoochy-Min

    Hoochy-Min Squad Player

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    The point is that if we do get it right off the pitch and on the pitch, we have the potential to be a proper, Championship club at least.
     
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    WilsdenBantam, Onside, Chad and 4 others like this.
  13. Onside

    Onside Squad Player
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    What we all need is information that we can properly assess as to how the club intends to move forward. For me that starts right at the top. Rupp and Rahic have basically demolished our club and sent us to the basement. Since they arrived, we have had 7 manager appointments! They pushed our very successful manager out of the door, and it has been a revolving door ever since.

    Stefan Rupp told us when they arrived that it was for the long term and he did not expect an instant return. However, since then his previous partner’s business plan was dreamt up after a good night out and has predictably hit the skids. Now what I want to hear from Stefan is what are his intentions; does he intend to stay as promised, or does he now want to leave as soon as possible. However, his estimate of our club’s worth is off the scale and sitting in situ until somebody with loads of money comes along is not really an option. This club needs financial investment it cannot just be left sitting in the basement as we will go bust, our expenditure as most clubs in the lower divisions outstrips our income, and without cup runs and player sales we will start to accumulate debt. It is the same as a house you can’t sell, you still have to keep it in good repair and ready to sell and you may also have to take a financial hit.

    I believe we have the right manager, yes he will make mistakes, but he is fully committed to this club. He will need in the short term a very healthy budget to build a squad to get us out of the basement and even then there are no guarantees. Let’s look to support him before considering sacking him, because our lack of an overall plan for the squad and the lack of management stability is the foundation for failure.

    The above is a short term plan 2/3 seasons, we also need a 5/10 year plan and that will depend on where we are going and who will be driving the car. However, whatever way we go, the fans are the lifeblood of this club, they are not children to be pacified, they can cope with bad news, we have had plenty to deal with over the years; yes they maybe angry, but that will settle and then we can get on with supporting this club. The reason I am saying this is because normally when ppl or the board in this case don’t want to inform fans it is probably bad news.
     
  14. brisbanebantams

    brisbanebantams Impact Sub

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    Rhodes and Lawn failed to capitalise on the opportunity to raise ticket prices even a small percentage post cup runs, promotion and Wembley - people now expect success for their £150 not realising just how lucky we were that in those years everything just clicked. any attempt to raise prices now and the consumer leaves because the product is worse.
     
  15. JonButterfield

    JonButterfield Star Player
    Qatar 2022 Entrant P.L.22/23 Entrant P.L.23/24 Entrant

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    There is absolutely no way we need to increase our income to finish top 7 in League Two...

    That argument made little sense in League One, but in League Two, it's absolute nonsense.
     
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  16. Faithful Bantam

    Faithful Bantam Squad Player

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    This is where I'm confused by Rupp. Fair enough, hes shown some accountability by offering to plug the whole created by Rahic, though I'd argue that there was minimal risk given the McBurnie sell on.

    I struggle with the idea that an owner would fund an overspend on a playing budget but nothing else. I'd have much more support for an owner that said 'the budget will be capped at whatever we naturally bring in, the only money I'm putting in will be to the infrastructure of the club to grow it as an asset'.

    I really dont get it.
     
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  17. Rogered Tart

    Rogered Tart Regular Starter
    P.L.22/23 Entrant P.L.23/24 Entrant

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    The worry is as Leeds grows as a City and Leeds United eventually anchor their place in the Premier league, which I think they will, that we just become a satellite area of Leeds, akin to the likes of Rochdale, Oldham and Rochdale are for Manchester. I keep hearing this word 'potential'. Yet no one seems to be able to define it in our terms. What exactly. Is this potential? The city itself has died on its arse, its a dead end to nowhere. Both sporting clubs have no long term potential, all we have is an ageing ground we don't own in a run down area, same with the rugby team. A large number of fans enticed by dirt cheap season tickets does not define potential.
     
  18. brisbanebantams

    brisbanebantams Impact Sub

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    Sheffield is one of the poorest ward cities in the UK when high to low income and social factors are taken in to consideration but it manages to successfully keep two good football clubs, a rugby team, basketball and ice hockey. due to the industrial downturn of the city in some ways it's massively punching above it's weight. one thing it doesn't do is feel sorry for itself.
     
  19. Petrov

    Petrov Squad Player

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    We are also the youngest city (population wise) in the whole country, another area of potential that should be tapped into.
     
  20. king karl

    king karl Administrator
    Admin Moderator Supporter P.L.23/24 Entrant

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    As I have posted before .. Its very simple really

    £299 for premium seats on the halfway line etc and filtering down to £199 for the edges

    That way everyone feels like they are getting value for money and the club gets some extra wonga

    You go to a concert / show and you pick and choose where you sit due to your budget but everyone gets to see the show at a price they are comfortable to pay

    simples
     
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