Most liked posts in thread: January transfer window

I think we needed a better keeper. But it wasn't a priority and aside from his first game, Bass has looked no better.

Going into this window, we needed a proper Centre Back, Right back and Striker. There's room to say we need a midfield general and better winger, but if we'd just signed quality in those 3 positions, we'd be in a much better place.

The window was a poor one, and reflects the broken nature of the club. Owner, CEO, Manager. We have the wrong people in all 3 positions.

 

I think I once read that Adams has never paid a transfer fee for a player. If that's the case, 4 promotions bringing in free agents is top management, and probably what appealed to Rupp and Sparks

 

Maybe they are Twin Pakes. Lol

 

I once worked for a company who had an aim to increase sales by 50% over 8 years. That was it, no plan on how to get there, no strategy, no money for investment, recruitment or acquisitions, just a target. Increase sales. The target and the things surrounding it were nothing more than a wish list.

That’s what City feels like, Stefan, Derek and Ryan or whoever the CEO is wishing we were in League 1, wishing we could increase revenue or wishing he could get his money back. Nothing feels joined up. Ryan seems to be doing the right things but these are the basics and aren’t feeding through to the football.

Investment in the lad at Chesterfield and I’m hindsight Stockton in the summer instead of Lavery and Robinson, we’re in the automatics. And a good chance of making a profit on them. But no, everything, literally everything is done on the cheap. There’s a difference in between spending recklessly and spending wisely. City in my opinion do the former whether they have a large or small budget because there is nobody bringing everyone together to work for a common goal following a sound strategy.

And half the fan base don’t mind this because it could be worse, we could be Bury/Macclesfield or whoever. They omit that we could be a Lincoln/Wycombe/Accrington punching above or weight if we did things properly. But we don’t because there is a fear of failure hardwired through the club and its fan base since the administrations 17-20 years ago.

 

Derek Adams and his recruitment team have had plenty of time to collate and now move to secure the signatures of transfer targets over the coming days.
If they fail to lure fresh faces and ship old ones out they want sacking in my opinion.

 

For anyone that's interested, here's what Port Vale's CEO says about this transfer window...

https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/port-vale-transfer-window-garlick-6415866

“You can rest assured that we will be looking to make ourselves better the minute that window opens. The commitment is there from our owners to support everything we have done and to kick on from the early part of the season.

“Clearly we have had one or two injuries recently and we have now had the benefit of twenty plus games across all competitions to see how people are settling in and so forth. So, we want to kick on. We will use that window in the most positive way we can.

Support from the Chairman? Tick.
Boldly reinforcing to continue promotion charge? Tick.
Ambitious signings from rival clubs? Tick.
A lack of ready made excuses to temper expectations? Tick.

 

Not spending money rarely brings success

 

Via a link posted by Kieran Maguire, Birmingham City fans annoyed at invisible owners, a decaying ground, a lack of investment and lack of stability. Sounds familiar.

But uniting in a common cause to oust Rupp is what Bradford City fans could never ever unite and do, even now, after nearly six years in which the club has fallen from the cusp of the championship to the bottom half of league two there are still Stefan Rupp apologists who say it could be worse, we could be Bury or Macclesfield.

Half way through the January window, one where we were promised changes we’ve one signing which on paper is decent, one who has gone straight on to the injury list, and possibly a semi pro who might have turned us down. And we still have Rupp apologists.

We have the club some of our fan base deserve.
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/birmingham-city-protest-fans-bshlout-22749133

 

This appears to be the type of annual target we name because we have little chance of securing but shows the fans we are trying to be ambitious, and not our fault better placed clubs will be signing him.

Go on City, prove me wrong

 

We were never getting him, the minute a random article in the T & A came out at midnight which has never been done for any of our actual signings it was always going to be the case. It’s either Moore mark II or it’s to hurry along our more realistic target if he’s dragging his heels deciding. Could be a bit of both tbf.

 

Why do you always bring up Ross Hannah as the blue print? Is that your only example? Plenty of teams like Posh and Brentford have done ok with NL strikers.

Vaughan, Donaldson, Doyle, McLean and many many more have come here with a good pedigree and been a disaster.

For every non league failure we have had at least 10 journeymen failures in the last 20 years.

PS - Hanson and Wells had NL backgrounds before joining us.

 

Owner gave up long ago, it’s a case of fend for yourselves and don’t cost me any money.

Regardless of people’s thoughts on the CEO and manager, until the owner changes we’ll be just floating around hoping not to sink.

 

People need to stop taking Adams words for face value, not a chance he signed all those players.

What's does he gain by saying "Turnbull signed him, him and him" ? It just creates a separation in the squad and those players know they weren't in the managers plans to begin with. The answer at the forum was the only logical one to give, takes the responsibility on and says its his squad. Publicly puts everyone on a level and puts a line under it.

He's old school, not everything he says is truthful. You can probably go through his press conferences and he'll contradict himself 20 times over the last month. Even last night, he rejected that there's been an approach for any of our players even though I'm 99% sure we'll see Hartlepool announce ROD today or tomorrow.

 

Yep, quite right - we are now primed and ready for a late promotion push.

 

I don’t like to sound so plastic but for the first time in 25 years unless a miracle happens, either promotion or Rupp sells, then I’m done until I feel the club gets it’s shit together. There’s only so much pre season nonsense and being out played to by league 2 village teams I can stomach. I had to think about this season after the garbage last season, but we were told lessons had been learned and nothing but promotion will do. Well it obviously will do so 3 more paying customers are lost to Mr Rupp next season, imagine we won’t be exclusive.

Feel free to feed that back to Sparksy @wetherbywhaler

 

Don’t believe that. Derek doesn’t have a personality.

 

Poor or not, we’re now left with POC, a CM and a non league clogger to fill the 2 CB positions. If he departed at the start of the window and we signed an adequate replacement then fair enough but the timing of this is really off. We’re now arguably weaker in a position that needed strengthening even before January.

A bizarre piece of business to say the least

 

True. But he’s also one of the best 2 centre halves we had - which says a lot. Letting him go now, without a replacement, on the basis that he only had 6 months left and wouldn’t be getting another deal, tells you everything you could possibly want to know about:

A) How this club is managed.
B) The real outlook that the club has for the remainder of the season.

 

I can 100% believe it. Having Elliot, Robinson, Lavery and Delfounso all on our books, instead of 2 quality forwards, is quintessential Bradford City.