Most liked posts in thread: Ryan Sparks

Spot on Captain! I've been thinking that this Forum would make an ideal study project for the NHS. "The distorting effects of Covid isolation on the minds of sane people".
What this thread has done post the Ryan interview is show how many are determined to undermine and spin untrue situations into facts with no proof or back up just distorted views formulated on goodness knows what basis. Let's look at the development up to the interview.
Poor results and awful tactics - sorted, SM goes.
Lousy appointment of interim management done on the cheap - Yes we will get defeats but so far professional beyond belief and pulling us away from danger.
Cheap CEO appointment - criticised by those who had no idea of Ryan's work in the background. Yes he is the youngest of 92 clubs, the guy at FGR is 1 year older and look where they are.
Constant carping about the pitch - 2 years work showing the results now, one of the better surfaces outside the PL.
Transfer window - those who were constantly complained about are gone. New signings made with a view to avoiding the annual summer rebuild of the squad, get it in place now, done.

Nothing to see, let's make something up. Ryan not here long - wrong he actually said it is long term development and success that is being looked at and planned. I know that both Ryan and Stefan are in for that. Let's face it Stefan will not get his investment back unless we are up two levels and that is what we are surely working to with the recent and yet to emerge plans. Small steps but football is in a precarious position. Every League below NL is suspended and in the next 28 days it is possible NL, NLN and NLS will suspend. If that happens there will be carnage. Taken further there are Clubs in L1 and L2 who are either being marketed for sale or on the cusp of failure. We are NOT one of those.

So takeover?, no chance, quite the opposite. I personally don't speak to Stefan very often, it's not my place but when I do I get positive vibes. Ryan on the other hand speaks almost every day sometimes several times. Stefan not interested!!, give it a rest.

Off the field, spirit in the back office, all time high. Sponsors being heavily engaged. Hospitality boxes redecorated, new seating for box holders having put up with poor seating for some time. Main stand seating slowly being replaced, new dugouts to reveal next season. All small steps but steps that hardly any other L1 or 2 Club is making.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, stop the carping enjoy the current form and results and look forward. Tomorrow will be a better day.

 

OK Trevor, to answer you, How#229 and Dennis#232 I have to say the trouble with many sites like this is what people don't know they make up and then get shirty when they are supposedly excluded from information which is totally confidential but which they see as having a right to access. When that happens they make up spurious claims around "I know something you don't", but when challenged have no response because they had no facts in the first place, more a vindictive mind in some cases.
Now is the time to put some of the points right.
1. No one at the Club outed Rahic to Stefan - Wrong, James Mason made several attempts but when challenged by Stefan, Rahic lied or produced false information and took revenge to preserve himself. In this case James Mason paid with his job. A decent man lost to BCFC.
2. Hannah Cox was a very competent Club Secretary, developed by Dave Baldwin, James and JR but was too clever for Rahic and paid with her job. Now Club Sec. at Leeds.
3. You say the Ambassadors (as we were at the time) did nothing, not true, but fans approached Stefan. Who were these fans, when did they see him?. I'm not aware, BUT-
4. From September, 2018 a group of 5 got together to look at a plan to out Rahic. I have not spoken to these people so it is unfair to name them here and two of them have other jobs so I wouldn't name them anyway and please don't speculate as I won't respond. I can however say one was long term fan John Dewhirst as he blogged or tweeted about it at the time and he has been mentioned on here. It was John who combined a business trip to meet Stefan and outline the issues. After that it was agreed that I would see Stefan and fill in details. This was done with the approval of JR so nothing underhand.
On 22nd November, 2018 I went to Munich and had a 4 hour meeting with Stefan giving him facts about a number of issues. This was followed by more facts and HARD evidence (no speculation) on my return. Stefan knew of a lot of what I told him from the work JR had done on his return and Rahic had left the Club two days before my trip 'for a few days rest'.
Within 2 weeks of my trip Rahic was gone, faced with hard evidence of his mis-doings.
I am not going into any more detail than this other than to say I posted later that in my view it would take BCFC 5 years to get over Rahic and today Stefan continues to work at that with the new support of Ryan who equally has the support of me and the Associate Directors.
So... quick to say we did nothing but I hope those having a go realise it wasn't the case then and it isn't now.
I would however still like an answer from Fordy as he is talking about people I don't recognise.
Roger Owen.

 

Quite right Mike (and Keefly). It's easy for Fordy who runs a complex business where all he needs to worry about is whether he has enough sponges, the leathers are clean and he's paid the water bills!
I said on a previous post that in my own career when the big promotion came I was an unknown quantity, everyone is in those circumstances. What I know of Ryan is that he is ambitious, knows the perils of taking the job and is very keen to make a success of it. Over the last few weeks before his appointment I could see a change in him. I have spent time at away games with him and some of the Associate Directors, at Tonbridge as likely Crawley next week there were just the two of us. Take it from me Ryan's head is full of issues to resolve and take forward and I have no doubt we will all see that in the weeks to come.

Remember Ryan has already headed up the BCFC case through the Covid crisis, set the tone on staffing at VP and negotiated several better and wider sponsorship deals whilst basically being on his own apart from JR and regular - yes regular contact with Stefan.
Ryan has the full backing of Stefan, the staff at VP and us Associate Directors, together with offers of help or guidance based on our own business careers. So, I pick up on Mike's own words, not just to Fordy but anyone else to whom it applies. Stop "whinging and whining like a toddler" and get behind the lad and the Club, support is what is needed, not sniping and snarling when you feel denied every little piece of the Club's confidential business is being denied you.

Roger Owen.

 

I've worked in finance all my life and find that praising people as you go along, as they do small individual good things produces even better results. Now I run my own business that applies even more so. People that help me give me twice as much back if I consistently let them know I appreciate it. You should always go into appraisals knowing exactly what to expect in both good and bad performance.

And in my previous life, I always got more from my troops in battle if I told them they had given there all. We wouldn't have made it through the wilderness, and smashed the rebels, if I'd come down hard on a poor days fight,

 

I was very sceptical when Ryan Sparks became CEO of the football club but actually I'm really surprised how he's gone about his business.
It would appear from the outside looking in that he comes across in the media as a very shrewd individual.
Rebuilding will take years but at this moment in time his professional and calculated manner will stand us in good stead going forward, let's face it Ryan Sparks is a million times more transparent than what we've become accustomed to and his application to detail is refreshing.
Perhaps the small shoots of Bantam progressivism are starting to appear again and we can look forward to better times under a new direction both on and off the field of play.
Regards Optermistic Bantam.

 

Here's an oldie who's full of vaccine who can't wait for the return of live football, I can understand others may have a different point of view, unfortunately this bast*rd Covid has curtailed my lifestyle for well over 12 months once that flag goes down and we fans are allowed back in I'll be there enjoying every minute.

 

Come on Fordy, that's ridiculous.

Sparks has gone out and put his neck on the line and he's got one of the top three most sought after managers from what I've read from City fans. Alongside Wellens and Jackett/Parky, Adams was always a fan favourite.

If ADAMS doesn't deliver promotion (let alone automatic), his position is in jeopardy most likely (it will depend on the circumstances). However there's absolutely no reason to be looking to sack the CEO as well. If Sparks starts letting City down with his appointments and decision making, and he starts hurting the club, fine, consider his position - but we do NOT need to be changing CEO twice a season like we've been doing with our managers, because that will get us absolutely nowhere.

I'll certainly be keeping tabs on Ryan's progress, but his job is not under consideration IMHO unless there are serious issues like with Edin. It's the manager's job to guide this club to promotion; it's Ryan's to employ the best candidates to guide us to promotion, and I think we all feel he's done a pretty good job in his first REAL appointment.

 

I wouldn’t let short term events distract from a long term goal. If Hurst was the right man yesterday morning he’s the right man today

 

There's a real irony on show. The last 8 games have been much better and the trajectory of the club is now genuinely starting to look like it could be positive again, which is fantastic. But the vast majority of what fans have been complaining about over the last 3 years, can be represented by:

Shocking communication from the club
Backward thinking over Management selection
Horrendous recruitment performance
A chronic lack of investment in off field infrastructure, especially around scouting and recruitment
The lack of anything like a coherent plan for taking the club forward

Fans expressing concern were derided by other fans and worse, by the previous CEO!! And yet, ALL of the above is conceded by Sparks in his interview and ALL of which has been his immediate priority once in role.

 

That attitude might have filtered down to T&S and the players initially but something seems to have changed. I remember a few weeks ago actually looking forward to games again and believing we would actually win them, and a lot of that belief came from the noises T&S and the players were making at that time - 'we go out to win and believe we can win every game' they said, and the players couldn't praise them highly enough for the training, preparation and detail that was going on behind the scenes. There seemed to be an air of confidence in the players again when they walked out onto the pitch, and that togetherness and team spirit was there for all to see.
So what changed? Why over the last few weeks have T&S sounded much less bullish in their pressers? Why do the players have less urgency and seemingly less desire about them when there has actually been something very much still worth playing for? It just doesn't make any sense.

 

He talks well. Most of the stuff he's mentioned ain't inventing the wheel, in fact they've been mentioned on social media and the likes for years. Stuff like non existent back room, poor stadium facilities, even down to the little things that show how professional your club really is, all stuff that Rhodes didn't give a shit about. What i like about Sparks is his attention to detail and the fact that a lot of the stuff he is trying to improve wouldn't even register with most Bradford City fans due to their just happy to have a club to support approach. A will to succeed manifests itself not just on the pitch but also off it. Simple things like how your staff dress and act, how things like painted walls give the effect that someone at Valley Parade actually listens and does give a shit. The big one is getting the manager right but things like a shabby stadium and lack of staff professionalism has bugged me for years and its encouraging to see Sparks starting to address it.

 

I think Sparks is a good fit. He's doing a good job and needs to be given our support and patience to put his plan into full action.

 

@Fordy117 might be overly critical of the club, but he's one of the only ones who've consistently called it correctly about the lack of ambition and subsequent decline of the club. He's right about the amateur atmosphere and operation of the club, hence the reason we're 2nd bottom of the football league. He might not go about it in a diplomatic way but he's been proven correct and until we get some professionalism and ambition back (hopefully this time around), we'll continue to struggle. In regard to his yes men comment, you only have to see the minutes of the supporters Trust/board, WOTP and Simon Parker columns to see how they follow the party line, never overly critical when it's as clear as day the club should be challenged.

 

Think they will cope better than a lot will on here will.

 

There is an air of expectancy about how the club is approaching this year and beyond, hopefully no more of that 'happy to have a club to support' that permeates the fan base. A club with as big a fan base as this and a 25,000 seater stadium should never be there just to make the numbers up, the fact we are shows just how apathetic the majority of the Bradford population had become to its football team.
Always made me laugh the ones that blindly follow while refusing to listen to anything they saw as criticism, any mention of ambition met with howls of derision. Well look what a an unbeaten run with some good football does. Push that momentum with a good transfer window, ifollow sales have gone through the roof. The support was always there, the intelligent ones weren't prepared to sit there and pay to watchg the ship go down.
Theres a simple outlook to this, show some ambition, laydown a strategy and the fans will back you to the hilt. Thats all we ever asked for in the first place.

 

I imagine fans across the country are shouting the same thing. Absolutely delighted for Leicester, great club.