Most liked posts in thread: Plans and Vision

The trick is spotting your mistakes quickly. And to be fair they did. Because we have no strategy we just go from one manager to another without any real idea of how we want them to fit a system. The summer was a perfect time to carry on the work Hughes did, but alarm bells should have been ringing for Sparks when Hughes wanted to change everything he'd got right.

 

Perhaps Kev should take his own advice and 'do his homework' before posting

 

To my mind, there are 3 fundamental themes to what our strategy should hinge around:

1. The Ground. The current model of leasing at £500K, is simply not sustainable. And given Rupp's personal wealth, there's zero excuse (other than disinterest) for not resolving it. Either by agreeing a buy-back at a reasonable price, or by investing in a new stadium - which I appreciate isn't cheap. Buy back option, lets assume the purchase price is somewhere in the region of £7m. That seems to be roughly the going rate from what can see - well, that value is immediately back on the balance sheet of the club, and is added to the asking price of the club for any sale. Rupp wouldn't be out of pocket as such. Depending on the level of benevolence (or rather, ambition) Rupp wants to show, he could choose to charge the club zero 'rent' by way of reclaiming his purchase cost. But even if he charged half of what we currently pay, you put the other £250K into hiring a quality DoF, and paying for a high quality data analytics service to properly support effective recruitment (not a kid with an iPad and the gaffers little black book, like we currently do). A new build would likely be in the region of £30m. A lot of money, but could be financed through a combination of Rupp's personal wealth, or leveraged debt against either the club or his business portfolio. Even if the council and Bulls didn't want to do something as a shared venture, take the plunge and build a new, modern stadium that incorporates leisure facilities and creates a much better experience for all supporters, makes game day more of a family day out, and seriously expands the revenue streams coming into the club. Various other clubs have proven what a regenerative effect it has. The only blockers are a lack of genuine ambition - the funding challenges can be overcome. In any event, the fact that we're currently paying 500K per year rent, make a solid business case for either option.

2. Invest in a performance culture. Beyond the DoF, what other roles are required across the wider club? How are we approaching travel, accommodation for away games, nutrition, sports science etc. The fact we train at a school isn't an issue - the training pitches are fine, we have a pool, a gym. Its the marginal things that need sorting - and of course, the pitch at VP. Get it sorted, properly.

3. The football and recruitment philosophy. Establish a style of playing that's embedded in every aspect of the club. First Team, Women's Team, reserve and academy teams etc. Build every aspect of our approach to hiring managers, coaches and players based on that style. Focus on quality over quantity with the squad, the bulk of which should be under 26. And where Rupp could really pony up, is by shifting our recruitment away from out of contract lower league and older players, to funding a succession of transfer fees so we can target quality players who aren't tossed away by their clubs. Back yourself, led by the DoF and higher quality data analytics capability to target the best players in League 2 and the NL, Scandinavian and northern European lower leagues. Build relationships with the norther powerhouse clubs so we're at the front of the queue for their released players or higher quality loan prospects. Establish a pathway for these players to get big moves. Yes it costs, but invest in it properly and create a virtuous cycle of buying and selling well. Do it properly and over time, Rupp would likely get much of his investment back, and may even profit. And do it properly, and I guarantee the fans would back the players - even young players who might look raw. We need a credible plan and believable trajectory to get behind.

We're talking a level of investment into the millions, probably with a combination of personal funding from Rupp and properly structured debt.

This is what it will take to get us properly back as a football club that could get to, and survive in the Championship. And its the only way, in my opinion, that Rupp can redeem himself.

 

Have you seen the planning processes in this country? We'd be lucky to have the plans allowed through in three years. We will sign a new lease and it will be in favour of Gibb cos we hold no cards. We ain't moving to another stadium as there isn't one close by that can be used with the right capacity. And besides if this team has to play outside of Bradford for a prolonged period of time it would be a disaster.

 

Agree. I am more and more thinking that after the Mansfield game it was Rupp who summoned Sparks to Germany rather than the other way round. Rupp isn't stupid. He will have seen the poor performance, the unhappiness amongst supporters and the small crowd. He may appreciate the commercial activities Sparks has initiated but not much else. I suspect Sparks was told to find some football expertise or else. I think he (Sparks) might be in the last chance saloon.

 

Does it matter?

They made an error and corrected it and are now sat in 4th.

 

Bang on this. It's why I'm pretty sure there isn't a debt free successful club in the football league. But this could be applied to any successful business, not just football. It's why our public services such the railways are held together with sellotape because of lack of investment.
The word debt shouldnt scare anyone, it's part of business. Debt and sustainability can go hand in hand quite happily if run by intelligent and competent people.

 

Just listened to Sharp’s first interview, lots of talk of having a long term plan in place. Good to hear, can’t believe people think things just happen transfer window to transfer window, talked about Mansfield’s promotion being years in the making etc. well worth a listen for those who haven’t.

 

It's where we went completely wrong this season and that was down solely to Mark Hughes. And it's where if we'd had a football director in place I'd have expected him to question why he was going to rip up the play book when it only needed tweeking in certain areas.

 

Yeah investment and a plan. He's only been in the door two minutes and he's talking about 3/4/5 year plans. Remember big Geoff? For all his faults he told us he'd have us in the prem in 5 years and did it. Not for one minute do i envisage the same happening this time but its a start. Nothing, and i repeat, nothing works without a plan, not in football, rugby, business etc.
The trick is to have everyone singing off the same hymn sheet, and thats right from the guy at the top to the staff in the canteen. You lay down a culture at the club and make sure everyone buys into it. You can sense when its gonna work, i remember the late great Peter Deakin doing this very thing at the bulls.
My only gripe with the appointment is straight away Sharpe is telling Sparks what he should have been telling Rupp from the very beginning. Do we really need two people at the club who could do the CEO role? Personally i don't.

 

Every club has or should have plan including short and long term. We do actually have a plan from our owner, that was to be self sufficient above everything else. Which has proved to be detrimental to any progress we could have made. See why Carlisle came back down, because they had no plan other than to see what would happen from season to season. You might get lucky but you will find your rightful place on the ladder.
Now our owner has admitted it the club would go nowhere with that plan, hence his statement of intent the other day. As @Faithful Bantam rightly pointed out , clubs or businesses that plan to stay still usually go backwards.
I hope Rupp is true to his word, that his lack of plan and leadership over the last six years has.put this club back years. And that he now acts on this.

 

More than anything, I believe fans just want to see reasonable ambition, and a plan. A modest but tangible aspiration of wanting to move forward, and how we're aiming to do it. Because you'll never land on a plan that everyone agrees with. We all have different views on tactics, football style etc. But if the club committed it's approach to fans, and demonstrated alignment to how we recruit and make decisions against that plan, you earn the right to ask for patience from fans, and it becomes easier to back the club during times when the plan seems to struggle.

 

When you don't you end up like Oldham or Bury. Stockport have a vision right down to the revamp of the ground in stages. It will be based on success and that's not guaranteed, but theyve had to sink a fair bit of investment to get to where they are now. Same with Wrexham, Chesterfield et al. Even Barrow, it's a very interesting read of how the owners have taken a small side floundering in non league to the edge of the automatic spots. It takes years of hard behind the scenes work, you can't just throw eleven players on the field and demand the just 'run harder', something I hear regularly on the terraces. The eleven on the field is the last piece of the jigsaw, if the others are missing or don't fit don't expect those being asked to run harder to make it all right

 

How did Stockport get out of national League north? How did Wrexham get out of the national league after 18 seasons in the doldrums? Despite all the money it didn't happen straight away for Wrexham, they could have gotten rid of Parky after being beat in the playoffs but they stick with their plan. Why are the likes of Chelsea and Man Utd now headhunting why they perceive to be the best folk behind the scenes despite spending vast fortunes without any recent success? Because you could run a coach and horses through their off field game plan.
A plan needs capital, more importantly it needs the right people to implement it. Seems Rupp (although I suspect the decision was made by others associated with the club) to bring in fresh faces with new ideas.
I hope it brings improvement.

 

Maybe the penny is finally starting to drop with him that it is the fans that are the lifeblood of this club and the people who genuinely have its best interest at heart. The fans are the ones that will still be here long after Sparks has trotted off and are the ones who hurt when we see the damage being done to our club. We aren't moaning for the sake of moaning, we are genuinely concerned. Maybe, just maybe he is beginning to get that. I hope so.