Most liked posts in thread: Stefan Rupp

Look, nobody wants Rupp to sell to the first bidder regardless, that stopped when he actually supported the club and steadied the ship - which he has done, at least for the time being.

But the club should be publicly up for sale if Rupp's only intention is to recoup his investment. I can't think of a single reason for Rupp to NOT put the club up for sale UNLESS he's here for the long haul - and by long haul, I obviously don't mean getting into the Championship and cashing in.

I'm very disappointed with Stefan Rupp's current position and the way the club is being viewed, and will continue to be very disappointed until Rupp comes out and pledges himself to Bradford City. Is that so much to expect from the owner?

Bradford City is a part of the heart and soul of thousands of people, an ambivalent owner just isn't good enough. But nor, I suppose, is it presently a total disaster.

 

Or pub in Wibsey?

 

I suppose that depends on whether you assess it on the basis of the season as a whole, or since T&S came in. Recent signs are more promising and it would seem that Sparks has a remit and is being empowered to take the club forward. But I think it'll be Sparks who takes us forward rather than Rupp. I'm not saying Rupp will stand in the way, but neither do I think he's going to invest in driving us forward either. We've clearly taken a hit on revenue this season and its likely that Rupp has underwritten some of that, but for me, Rupp only starts to get credit if he's actively seen to contribute towards success over then next couple of years. The last 12 games have been much better, as is the outlook of the club under Sparks, but its still very much outweighed by the last 3 years, that's all I'm saying.

 

Leeds, Burnley, Everton, Liverpool. Premier League. Burnley are paying for their own takeover, the owners aren’t. The Premier League is riding high on the back of TV deals, there is serious money to be spent and made. Mostly American money piling in these days.

Sunderland, big stadium that they own. Will be full each week when they’re in the top half of the championship. Owner worth billions.

Charlton, they’re still arguing over who actually owns the club, takeover started before the pandemic. Own their ground in London. American money.

Wigan have been on the verge of being bought for months. Own their stadium which also has another tenant paying the bills.

Wrexham, American money again. Own their stadium.

That’s five deals in the past year. A report says nearly half the championship clubs are up for sale. It’s not a time to be selling a lower league football club with few assets and expecting top dollar.

 

Not sure why people still have a problem with Rupp, and to think he's as much to blame for our downfall as Rahic was?Granted he's very hands off, but clearly that's what he signed up for. At the end of the day he's trusting the CEO to run the club properly with the money he's putting in, which he should expect at the very least. He wasn't complicit with what Rahic did in my opinion because Rahic kept him cut off. The way i see it Rupp has consistently supported the club financially and kept us going through difficult times when he could have taken off and think he deserves credit. He showed the same support to Sparks and co just as he did Rahic, their respective successes and failures can't be pinned directly to Rupp. Fans still want Rupp to leave but how on earth is that going to help he club unless we get someone with much more money in which isn't going to happen?

 

I wouldn't expect (or want) a new owner to do anything differently right now.

We've hit the jackpot.

A series of cheap internal appointments has transformed our form beyond our wildest dreams. We don't need to recruit because our team of unlikely heroes is getting the job done.

However it's not going to last forever, and plans need to be in place that look beyond the current incumbents in ALL positions, as well as for the next decade or two in a more broad sense.

What's the aim, how do we get there, how do we make it make financial sense, how do we confront the inevitable risks that come with Championship football, do we widen our ambitions to European football in terms of recruitment, are we setting that up now or just hoping we get lucky with agents (lol), I'll give Sparks his due in terms of young players coming through because he's prioritising that, BUT, we've just lost the coaches to the first team, so, what's next, where is the Director of Football we need in place, and heck, even how do we make the match day experience better in terms of the offer presented to fans WITHOUT it costing more?

Plenty to chew on, and a world class owner would have plenty of ideas

 

I agree, i'm not sat here thinking he's doing an amazing job by any means, i've got quite a neutral view of him as he doesn't really have much input into the running of the club, he's happy to give free reign to the CEO over the club. That's the way he wants to do things, fair enough. I suppose we don't really know the truth behind any of it, i've always been under the impression that Rahic was hiding the financial losses however he managed to do it, and Rupp only found out later on. And lets not also forget how quickly things spiralled out of control. Even when things looked Rosy on the surface Rahic's mismanagement was eating away at the club. But It wasn't until arguably the start of the summer of 2018 when Rahic really took hold and tried to do things his way, and over a few months he dismantled everything we had built, spent way beyond what he needed to and the end product was awful. Rupp, like us fans, finally saw Rahic for what he was when this came to light and Rupp got rid.

Ultimately i think i understand the frustrations around Rupp seemingly enabling that downfall to an extent but quite sympathetic to the fact that Rahic manipulated him. If Rahic was a success then Rupp's back seat approach would be deemed a good move by allowing the CEO the freedom they need. He's got the same approach with Sparks right now and it's paying dividends, i think our successes and failures are more relative to the man in the CEO seat than the man funding them. I think him and Sparks seem to have a good thing going now and may it continue.

 

As far as I am concerned, he has had to throw good money after bad to avoid losing the majority of the money he has invested. He has got lucky in the appointment of two rookies, who appear to have transformed the football side of the club. What they have achieved is remarkable.

I am pleased he didn't just write off his money and let our club die. However, he needs to do a lot more after the past three years of decline.

 

It’s hard to forgive his ineptitude allowing Rahic to destroy the club and take us backwards, but he’s still here and funding the club. As we know it isn’t easy finding the right manager and to his credit he gave Bowyer the funds to bounce straight back but it wasn’t to be. Just as Lawn & Rhodes got lucky with Parky, let’s hope Rupp gets lucky with T&S.

 

No way will I forgive him as yet!

We need to get to at least midtable of div 1 then i might start but not a chance now.

If he sells the club I will be pleased.

 

Ok, I am intrigued and echo HornseaBantam's question, who is going to buy out Rupp tomorrow? Zillionaire Middle East Oil Baron, an ex-KJB cum Russian oligarch, a consortium of fired up Bradford Business owners, a choice of two or three ex- Lancashire football club owners, us supporters, or my Mum?

 

Yes this was the case, but odds have now changed unfortunately. Mum tried to withdraw the asking price cash from the bank today, but was detained under the mental capacity act.

 

I'm behind him. I'm just not going to credit him until he starts taking this club forward in a way that matters. Promotion being the first real milestone.

 

To judge Rupp at the minute I have to put myself in his situation.

If I'd been swindled into investing into a 3rd division German team based on the prospect of making a profit in a sport I didn't care about, but it then turned out that things were tougher than it seemed, my new partner was a crook and I'd have to pump more money in.

Would I have stuck around.

Absolutely not.

And I know people will say that he would have had to write off some or all of his investment to do this but that's the same with all investments.

To that extent does he deserve credit for his part in the turnaround so far? 100% yes. Is there more to do? Definitely. No harm in acknowledging the trust he seems to have put in the right people once he got to grips with everything and yhe loyalty and support he's shown so far.

 

If you're not sure, consider where we were when Rupp bought the club, then consider where we are now.

 

Ha, another win would be just lubberly

 

Because men who are into midgets are rarely shocked by anything ?

 

Definitely mellowing Dave