Promotion prospects

The board have given Bowyer a budget that they believe should be good enough to get out of League2. HOWEVER, £1.6m of this is tied up in players that have proved time and again that they are not good enough.

Unless Bowyer can move on many of those, his hands are still very much tied. Adding 5-6 quality players to this squad will not be enough to turn us from bottom of League1 into top of League2.

Now, if he can move on the likes of Riley, O’Connor, Wright, McCartan, Patrick and possibly Akpan, his ability to address the many weaknesses of his squad will be greater. And if that happens, then I back him to give the League2 Championship a challenge.

If he doesn’t, I think he will struggle to generate enough funds to add to the £1m already promised, and build a squad capable of getting out of the league.

That isn’t “defeatist”..... that’s being a realist

 

I agree with your sentiments and have said similar already. But it’s not true to suggest relegated teams rarely bounce back at the first attempt. Only this season saw 50% of the relegated teams bounce back. It does happen.

But, those clubs were able to break up their squads and effectively start again. Bowyer and City don’t have that luxury as too many are tied down on big contracts. Until we can offload them and allow Bowyer to revamp his squad, we are not going to be challenging the top10, let alone top3..... despite how much stamping of feet and demanding some folk are..!

 

You really need to stop believing everything that people say.

If WOTP say jump would you jump?

At his minute no evidence whatsoever of what the budget is. None!

Until that budget figure comes from Bowyer, Rhodes or Rupp then I won't believe.

Is the WOTP a classified source? Always seems to have an agenda of backing their favourites.

However, if it's true and WOTP are correct then the budget is 1m then that's a disgrace from Mr Rupp and Bradford City have lied to fans because that isn't competitive at all.

I'm not including the other 1.6m because these are contracted players and it's up to them if they stay or go.

 

Not sure we stand much chance of getting Riley and Wright off the books but stranger things have happened. Think there will be more interest in the likes of Scannell, Doyle and possibly O'Donnell, but whether potential interest will turn into firm offers remains to be seen. If O'Connor has a decent agent that can put together a nice little show reel of his 'best bits', he may attract interest from league 1 clubs - 6 goals from a defender isn't a bad return and there were a couple of occasions he made decent off the line clearances so you never know. Being realistic, there's no way we are going to shift all the deadwood and like you say, Bowyer's hands will be very much tied if we don't at least move on at least half a dozen of them. Knowing our luck though, the player that will attract interest and end up moving on will be the one player most people seem to want to stay (Mellor).

 

Agree and had this out with the supposed “we are accepting mediocrity” brigade who keep resurfacing.

If anyone’s seen the Sunderland Netflix documentary I’d say they were quite forceful in their views towards the side and yet got relegated and struggled to get out of league one despite a big budget.

As I said before. It’s down to good management and recruitment. Nothing else really matters

 

Scunthorpe are my favourites. Got a good manager in early for this level. And also started recruiting.

I quite fancy Plymouth dependent on who they keep and when they get a manager.

Salford will no doubt recruit well. See how they make the step up.

 

So, a contracted budget of £1.6m isn’t counted towards our budget? Because it doesn’t fit with your agenda? A budget of £2.6m in League2 IS competitive, however you want to spin it. Remember Fordy, you claim you rate these players that make up this £1.6m and that they should be given another chance.

No, I’m not saying I believe @Jason McKeown or the WOTP articles. But the source was our media manager and I note Simon Parker has reaffirmed the figures in his article. He was at the same W&A session.

 

You could argue successfully that the first season it did work. A league 1 Wembley playoff final playing (in my opinion) a far more watchable style of football is better than what Parkinson achieved during his league 1 seasons.

 

No, agenda. I never have an agenda when it comes to Bradford City.

My point is like WOTP have said that Bowyer does want to keep some of these contracted players and the FACT is it's up to these players if they stay or leave depending on if any offers come in for them. I can't include the 1.6m for them reasons.

It's stupid of any fan to think we will get rid of 16 contracted players.

So, when you sit back and think about then if WOTP is correct the true budget is only 1m.

Now, my problem with WOTP is why are they not question why that is so low. That isn't really competitive for a team that finished bottom.

Also, why are they not questioning Mr Rupp for wanting to run the club at break even? Rhodes and Lawn could of done that. Rhodes and Lawn sold the club to Edin and Rupp to enable it to kick on because and to owners with more money and now we're a div 2 club that acts like it hasn't got a pot to p@ss in.

Too many of the media are scared of rocking the boot and for me this club needs rocking because this nice, nice behaviour is getting us nowhere is it?

What is the true vision for the club for Mr Rupp? Do you know? Because I don't.

 

You could argue it for 1 season I suppose even if its borderline (same league position, got beat by the same opponent but did get 1 round further) and the watchability is very much in the eye of the beholder.

Long term though..........

 

Long term i agree completely, but that season was better than anything Parkinson dished up in league 1 and parky didn’t get us to a league 1 playoff final.

 

He didn't. I would trade that progression of one extra game for where we are right now in a heartbeat. One step forward to go a million steps back.

Like I say though. I don't think the entertainment was any different but that's personal opinion either way.

 

Parkinson knew he had taken us as far as he could, as soon as Bolton, a bigger club, showed interest he was off. Had McCall had the right backing from a chairman with any sort of football nous i'd also argue we would have had avery good chance of bettering the result in the playoff final that eluded Parkinson.

 

Maybe but we're moving away from what the real crux of what I was talking about into a discussion that has been had a hundred times.

I personally saw no sign of Parkinson taking us as far as he could and pretty much every single move we made (with the exception of swapping Hanson for Wyke which gave us a massive boost) was a backwards step.

 

Its a discussion board so theres no problem. What are these backward steps you talk of?

 

Pretty much every player we replaced from the Parkinson team was worse, then every player we replaced from the McCall team was worse still. Until we are where we are.

 

Absolute rubbish Fordy. I think you live in a different world going by that logic.

Regardless of the fact that we are currently going to be spending £1.6m on players that Bowyer may or may not want, it is still part of the budget. Added to that is an extra £1m, so I’m not sure where you get your “break even” comment from.

Rupp is paying off the overspending from last season and providing an additional £1m on top of money generated by ticket sales. That is NOT break-even...!

If I want to move house, I don’t go looking for one valued at £100k. I look to get rid of mine and add the profit from that to the £100k I want to spend.

Bowyer will know he isn’t going to get rid of 16 players and I doubt he’d want to anyway. But he will have an idea of who is in his plans and who isn’t and it is up to him, the players and their agents to try to come to a deal that works for all parties. And hopefully, that will free up enough money that he can add to the £1m he has left to spend.

 

What's our budget? 2.6 million.

How much is taken? 1.6m

How much is available at present? 1m.

Simple.

 

Ok so if 1.6 million gets you 16 squad player at league 1 level on league 1 wages then what does 1 million get you in league 2?
I’d say it’s a good enough budget to get out of this league and certainly more than we had last time around