Most liked posts in thread: Stefan Rupp - An Open Letter

The biggest issue isn't how much money is being spent on the team, it's how it is spent.

Sparks has wasted money sacking managers and giving multi year contracts to dross that Gent has brought in.

Stevenage don't pay the wages we do. They can't otherwise they would be breaching the football league rules regarding spending.

At this moment in time nothing has changed, the clowns handing out the money in contract and pay offs, are still the ones doing this.

God knows how much we have paid for a handful of appearances for Matt Derbyshire in the last two years. I mean that's a sackable offense on it's own.

 

Genuine question - given that he's made similar promises of investment and changes of fortune and not delivered on either, why do you trust that this latest round of promises will actually come to fruition?

 

In the past 8 seasons the problem has not been recruiting players of the right mentality, it’s been quality. Most good recruitment teams will research a player’s temperament. The flat issue is quality, despite your assertions of the 150+ players signed in the Rupp era precious few have gone on to bigger and better things. Excluding loans off the top of my head,
Wyke, Meredith, Paudie, McLaughlin, Ben Wilson, Halliday, Lewis, Doyle, Scannell, Payne, AOC and Vernam left to higher division clubs. Watt and the boys at Harrogate are doing well but that’s it. Feel free to add to it.

In contrast millions has been wasted on the likes of Guthrie, Theo Robinson, Derbyshire, Akpan, DMH, Ash Taylor, Threlkeld, Lavery, Angol, Delfouneso, Tom Elliot, Donaldson, McCarten, Jermaine Anderson and BRE who have plummeted down the leagues after leaving City. Then you have the likes of seemingly permanently injured players like Ismail and to a lesser extent, Jamie Walker.

City’s problem isn’t the budget, it isn’t the ability to recruit players with the right temperament, it’s the constant chopping and changing of managers and style of football by an inexperienced CEO and the inability of those at the club to plan recruitment more than ten minutes before the end of the transfer windows, leaving us in the Guthrie Zone

 

The elephant in the room in Rupp's letter is, of course, Ryan Sparks. Not only has he been hopeless on the football front he also seems to have managed to alienate other employees and sponsors, if reports are to be believed. He's a reincarnation of Rahic. I can't conceive of any meaningful progress being made as long as he's here and I also can't see Rupp getting rid of him, at least not for a fair while. And that's very depressing as he's the root of all our problems.

 

This fanbase has done nothing BUT get behind this team, and has been shat upon from great heights by a mixture of incompetence, disinterest and disdain from those running it. Owner, executives, manager and coaches, players - they're the ones who need to pull their socks up, NOT one of the most committed and supportive group of fans you'll find in the country.

 

Convenient. He speaks up once he realises ST sales will be half of what they were this season.

 

Why does it take a drop in ST sales. They have said that sustainability was the aim all along but now us peasants are revolting they promise the approach every one was clamouring for. Do we trust them? Let's see evidence...
Once bitten twice shy...

 

There is no hatred for the club, there's disdain for those running it. What do people want? People want action - IF Rupp delivers on today's statement by materially investing, resolving the ownership of the ground, and appointing capable leadership of the football operation, people will be delighted. But there's valid and justified scepticism because he's been here 7 years and done none of those things, nor has he delivered on almost identical previous soundbites.

Oh, an people would probably appreciate more communication from our owner than every couple of years, and only in response to the most recent crises that emerge.

 

The things he stated today pretty much mirror what he said in 2018. You might have missed that bit Norman. You might also have missed the fact it's taken him the best part of 5 seasons in league 2 since he said that to realise he's been making mistakes. I'm guessing you missed that bit as well.

 

The chuckle brothers have us currently sat 17th in league 2 with another season of league 2 beckoning next season. Remember the talk of not accepting mediocrity'? Well, after all that and some are berating others for not sucking farts out of the ownerships arse on receipt of a grovelling apology. Especially after knowledgeable fans pointed out the obvious?
Honestly, this club sometimes lol.

 

I didn't wish to be 17th in league 2 watching a style of football that makes Parky look like Pep Guardiola.

 

Well read that twice now and a few things stand out for me.

1. RS and SR apparently haven't been on the same page for a while but now are-that's worrying in itself
2. SR is going to buy VP
3. RS is still here
4. SR thinks throwing more money at it will improve our league position next season-it won't -it's HOW its spent that has been the problem
5. Sounds like a DoF is incoming
6. Contrition is acceptable if action follows

IF RS is taken completely out of footballing matters that would be a start-that's clearly where the problem lies.

The protest tomorrow still has to proceed to hold SR to account and that the fans won't accept statements that appear to mirror closely others where a lot was promised and nothing actually happened.

 

It just seems completely meaningless to me. No substance at all.

Let's not forget, it is less than 2 months since Ryan was on the record as saying more footballing knowledge wasn't necessary, Rupp had put no more money in and the model was sustainability. Radio Leeds 'fan's forum.

It's less than 2 weeks since Ryan met with Rupp and Graham on the Friday to talk about next season's budget.

Now everything has changed and we should all be thankful!!! Why the change? Oh, planned protests.....

Nothing's changed, let's keep it going guys. Protest continues.

 

In reality this club needs millions in investment. To buy back and upgrade the stadium, to rectify the pitch, to buy lighting for the pitch, to upgrade or purchase a purpose built training facility, to recruit and implement the right backroom staff not just for the footballing side, to recruit the right players. Can you see Rupp putting that amount of money into the club? He didn’t buy the club to move us forward, he saw the model of cup runs and promotions paying for everything. He certainly wasn’t expecting to spend money. 8 years in and we own as much as now as we did when he walked through the door. Together with Sparks they’ve stripped back everything to remain sustainable, whilst operating a quantity over quality recruitment policy, in the hope that the manager might fall lucky. To quote Adams “small club on the inside”.

As others have said, chucking a couple of extra million at the playing side won’t guarantee success on the pitch. Leaving it to Sparks to come up with the plan is akin to madness. Rupp hasn’t learnt a thing.

 

Yawn. Heard it all before.

Sparks out. Rupp out.

 

That's a good point and a serious concern.

Investment in the first team isn't our primary issue.

We don't have the 17th highest budget in League Two, so we're drastically underperforming for reasons unrelated to the budget.

 

Completely disagree about the budget. It's the way it has been spent that's the issue. If, and it's a big IF Rupp is true to his word about next years budget, all it will mean is even more money will be wasted unless he changes the people that will be spending it.

 

So Sparks flew to Germany to tell him he needs to increase the football budget. So, what happened in the summer when it was clear that the likes of Mansfield, Wrexham, Stockport, Notts County, Gillingham etc might have bigger budgets than us. What happened in the Jan window?

See this the the problems Sparks is clueless on the footballing side of things and Rupp hasn’t tackled the main thing which is the Sparks needs sacking and the whole club needs addressing. However, due to a lack of season ticket sales and the protests plans he came out with such a poor statement to fans. It’s too late. It really is!

Get Sparks out to highlight you are serious about the club or just sell!