Most liked posts in thread: Takeover Rumours

This is a deeply disappointing response.

I've always respected you as a poster, but you now seem to be seriously out of touch with the feelings of City fans. Look around the ground at home games - there are big gaps everywhere, as loyal season ticket holders are choosing not to bother to go to games that they have paid for. Yes, there is some hysteria on here. But it's not just the hotheads who are now seriously brassed off. Plenty of balanced, reasonable supporters are questioning the lack of investment in the team, which is what supporters really care about.

Everyone can see that the current squad is simply not good enough, particularly up front. On Wednesday we looked like we could have played until Christmas without scoring, even against a very poor Colchester team on a long away trip after playing a tough FA Cup tie three days earlier.

You make the comparison with Parky's long losing run, but that is false equivalence. The big difference is that Parky's team was full of players who'd already proved themselves to the fans, so they were cut some slack. This team is full of players who've done nothing of note and in several cases have been part of several seasons of failure. There is nothing whatsoever to suggest that this squad is capable of mounting a long winning run to push for promotion. Without reinforcements in January it's much more likely to be hovering above the relegation zone than in the playoffs.

I'm a 25 year season ticket holder and a generally 'glass half full' supporter. I've even been accused of being a 'happy clapper'. But I'm getting sick of watching has beens, never will be's and perennial sick notes while our multi millionaire owner keeps his hands in his pockets and fails to rectify the abominable decline in our league position that he has presided over since he bought the club. Mr Rupp once said that he was determined to put right the mess that his deluded sidekick caused. It's about time he started to live up to that statement by spending some money on the team instead of the seats. Reckless spending that threatens the club's existence is obviously undesirable. But moderate investment from our wealthy owner is not an unreasonable expectation and is not 'hysteria'.

It's great that you are involved in various projects. But the project that most fans really care about is success on the pitch and that looks a very long way off at present.

 

Complete nonsense. The lot of it.
Do football fans become fans because the non football revenues are up? Because we now have a sponsor with seabrooks crisps and are making an extra 50k a year?

No we become fans for sides like Paul Jewell’s and Parkys and all those players we loved. All those games at Chelsea and villa away and Wolves away and the like.
No one goes the pub after with their mates and says “oh we were crap but we’ve got some new seats in the sunwin provided by directseats.com, free of charge, did you know that?”
it doesn’t happen. Sort it out on the pitch or clear off should be the message. No more bullshit about we are financially stable currently. At what cost? Almost non league standard football. No one cares and we will see it in season ticket sales before long and then the club is in trouble. If you or Rupp or sparks cannot see that then we are in a sorry state. The non football’s revenues will soon dwindle and if we go into the non-league, good bye free clean seats because there will be no one to sit in them!

also as for Rupp if he’s so passionate about the club and worried about travelling, base yourself over here to avoid these travel restrictions. But he won’t do that because it’s ticking over nicely for him via zoom calls with Ryan every week

Completely had enough with all this “oh but revenues are up”. So what?

 

I’m almost ashamed to post this but, I’m going to start at the beginning to justify my love for all things BCFC!
I started watching City in 85, the year of the fire, promotion, Bobby, Hendrie, McCall, Ellis et al.
Since then it’s been one hell of a ride, I’d go home & away, Patsy & Tiny coach tours, the fights, the emotions, the sheer joy at being a city fan! Out singing the Sunderland fans at Roker, same at St James park followed by pitched battles outside. The nearly season, I actually think the first 11 were better than the team who eventually gained promotion to the top tier. Some big lows, some huge highs!
Bantam progressivism at its best........
BUT, I can’t be arsed any more, I don’t want the club to be fiscally responsible, if that floated my boat I’d bang my season ticket money into an ISA!
I’m actually a bit jealous of fans like @Park bantam, I’ll probably get a season ticket again next year, don’t think I’ll go again this season though! Mrs Meltham will yet again question my sanity about paying for something I never use.
Win or die trying, I’d rather the club went bust trying than just accept bloody sh*te 4th tier football.
We’re not Rochdale, I can’t cope with apathy, decades in the same crap league, being grateful we’re not Bury.......
Well and here’s the big nasty admission, I’d rather we reached for the stars and died trying above financial stability and mid table mediocrity year on year, I’ve found better things to do on a weekend, I’d rather have no club than the cr*p currently served.
Mr Chairman, get your wallet out or F**k off.

 

There is a massive credibility gap between the owner and the fans. When Herr Rupp bought the club we had national press articles promising Premier League football within a few years. We had a team that was one offside goal from promotion that was crying out for a few minor tweaks to get us into the Championship - instead that team was allowed to disintegrate for want of modest investment and we have been on a downward trajectory ever since.

The patience of the fans is wearing very thin - not just the hothead, sack-em types, but ordinary sensible fans who have had their fill of boring football, terrible results, substandard reject players and perennial sick notes. Despite its long lower league history, this is a club with clear Championship potential which isn't being realised. It may be stable financially, but it's on a long steady decline football-wise which could soon lead to non-league if things don't change.

What's the point of having a multi-millionaire owner if he isn't prepared to put any significant funds in to improve the team? No one expects Abramovich-level sums, just modest investment to get us the handful of reliable quality players needed to get us out of the khazi league. If Rupp is not prepared to do that then he needs to sell up.

If we don't get a couple of reliable goalscorers in January then we will finish nearer the bottom than than the top. If that happens then season ticket sales next season will plummet. It's false economy not to put a modest amount in to improve the team. Stable finances are all well and good, but fans pay their money to see winning football and there's only so much dross they're prepared to tolerate, especially since being promised a genuine promotion push this season.

 

The world's moved on, people like Dean Hoyle just don't buy and invest in clubs for the love any more. People buy them to speculate.

Look at the PL. How many of their owners grew up as fans of the club?

Delia Smith maybe (although she's only part owner). Any others roll off the tongue?

Even in the championship, Barnsley are owned by Americans and there are other owners from China, Egypt and Saudi Arabia to name a few.

In fact, there are just 7 English owners in the whole of the Championship.

The point is, if we really want to progress as a club, we need to forget about this "white Knight from Bradford" who's a lifelong fan of the club and be ready to willingly accept real investment from far and wide.

 

Hysterical? Currently sitting 12th in an appallingly bad league 2 below the likes of Harrogate, Sutton and Hartlepool and with 5 wins all season. Out of the cups at the first hurdle. Ah well, at least the grass is nice and green.

 

Can you post a picture of yourself with todays Washington post please? Just to prove you are who you say you are. Thanks.

 

We're not merely average. We're currently poor. No wins since October. One clean sheet since October. Ten of our 26 points were in August - since then we've amassed 16 points in three and a half months, which is relegation form.
It's not necessary to be battered 3-0 frequently to be a poor team. Bryan Robson's City team were rarely battered but kept drawing or losing 1-0 and were relegated. The start in August now looks like an aberration - like the freak mid season winning run under Hopkin - rather than the norm. We are playing quite well in bursts but can't sustain it over whole games. At one point we were missing chances for fun; now we're not even creating many.

I'm usually a glass half full supporter. But I can't see any basis to think that this squad can suddenly transform itself into a consistently winning outfit to get into the playoffs. I think it's much more likely that we'll finish above the relegation places unless there are several good reinforcements brought in in January, which will require our owner to splash some cash. I think most City fans feel likewise. Other than the small minority on here who are hysterical most of the time and should be ignored, most of the comments made to Roger Owen were merely pointing out what I've described above. We're a club in decline, or at very best stagnating. It's not hysterical to point that out.

 

Rupp positioning himself as Custodian of the club has some irony.

He invested in the club for financial gain, and was negligent in his duties to ensure the business was being run well. Some basic controls and oversight of his ceo, a recent acquaintance, could have stopped the millions in losses that were run up.

He gets no credit in my eyes for covering the losses that he was culpable for being unaware of. And doubly so, by then taking revenue in the form of McBurnie money to cover it.

That money should have been converted into a longterm loan, recovered on sale of the business, if and when he has delivered a recovery.

That money could have, could still be, invested into the business.

Invested over a number of years into targetted player purchases, with a view to creating a cycle of performance improvenent and resale value.

Or invested to create off-field assets for the benefit of the club in the longrun.

He has covered covid losses and for that, can be applauded. With the caveat, that it was in his self interest to protect his investment.

These Americans may prove to be conmen and charlatans. Mr Rupp may have saved the club from future ruin. Then again, maybe not. Only those who have seen their funding plans, business case and met them can do so.

He now needs to find a buyer who can take the club forward, or step up and properly deliver on his promises. A vision needs setting out and money invested to back it.

 

And you base this on??. In our last financial year (reported some months ago by Ryan Sparks) we lost £800k, if I remember and this was apparently the smallest LOSS in L2. License to print money?. Looking at the situation at clubs visited last time round, in the week we played at Cheltenham their owner had loaned/ put in £1m to keep them going, they had switched off all heating and cancelled the Sky subscription. In the week we played at Colchester their owner had loaned/ put in £3m to keep them going, admitted they are funding a Cat2 Academy but print money??. So it goes on anywhere you want to look in L2.

Let me turn to my hysteria comment which has got some agreement, thanks to those who did. Before the days of social media I was a regular in the T&A letters column 'having a go'. Even up to the last year Jack Tordoff still commented on the pest I was. BFG even had me and my wife to lunch after my attacks on Lenny Lawrence (the day we sold Dean Richards) but my comments were nothing compared to the bile on here.

I said hysteria because it is. Loose three games and the world is ending, look at how people on here, or its predecessor turned on PP with 2 wins in 20 or something and look how that turned round. Look at how people on here turned on T &S when we lost a few games, despite the fact they pulled us from almost certain relegation.

This season, yes, maybe our prospects were over stated but all this angst when we are not even half way through and no one yet knows whether those prospects will end up over hyped or not is hysteria.

In my time on here and previously I have tried to be factual, rather than pub talk. As a member of the Board to 2016 when Rahic got rid, I tried to be as open as I could. Contrary to some I do have the Club at heart, after all I have been at VP for over 65 years, I do quite a bit behind the scenes on matters my career has made me good at, I am seeing much needed improvements where money was not previously available, even this week another block of seats have been renewed but that is only the tip of the iceberg. As finance allows things move, sponsorship, finances, all the stuff that some on here don't care about but without there would be no club. Despite that still hysteria.

Remember Bury, Macclesfield, and others to follow? I have little doubt we will get where we want to be and it will not be with a takeover because for that to happen as I said in a previous post, you need a willing seller and not some mythical consortia.

I'm finished with this site now, I don't need the angst, I'm more than happy with banter but the bile from those who think they know and don't listen to reason is frankly not worth my attention, I have better things to do for the club, like the several projects I'm heading up right now.

Happy Christmas and hopefully a promotional New Year.

 

'Be grateful we're not Bury'

The clubs ethos in a nutshell.

 

Excited to join the forum here thanks to an introduction by @hawk1911 on twitter. Many Bradford fans have already dmed me on twitter (@jacksettleman). I'm part of the WAGMI team and **if** Bradford is the club, we will be very excited to make sure the club is all about the fans and those who have built it over its' great history. Anyways, feel free to reach out!

 

This thread is a bit of a sad moment.

Too much hostility towards @wetherbywhaler with several comments overstepping the mark in my opinion.

Yes we're all frustrated and some are clearly very angry, and I do see that a pro-owner, progressive stance isn't in keeping with most people's feelings, but it's no excuse for some of the comments I've read - not all, but some. The 'pile on' mentality wasn't great either, with everyone trying to hammer Wetherby. We all want what's best for the club, but the methodology is different from person to person. That's fine. That's okay. No problem.

I think this board will be weaker without his presence, and I personally took a break earlier this season for similar reasons. I can absolutely understand why he will take a break now, things get out of hand with the antagonism and that's what I've seen here.

Sad moment for the forum.

 

While the season ticket sales were strong in the summer, how many fans actually turn up? Only the club knows the true number of fans that turn up.

Personally, Sutton was the game that broke me for good I think. When we went 2-1 down I was straight off and missed the later equaliser, lol.

but just had enough of mediocrity, underinvestment and wasted time down at VP.

Have had a ST 25 years now and used to crawl over broken glass to get to VP when I moved out of Bradford for three years during uni. That was during the admin days. But these days just feel like going through the motions.

My kids hate City. Have taken my eldest to Man City for a day out but, like most kids, the Prem is all they really want to know. Taking him to the Spurs game in a few months and lookimg forward to it. Would rather spend £100 and watch something enjoyable than £15 and leave with that horrible feeling we get now after more dropped points.

Kids like a feelgood factor that comes from success and a team playing well, ultimately. The current mood of frustration in the stands isn’t conducive for maintaining their support.

I really thought Adams was the man and this year was our year. With the underlying data early on suggesting we were playing well too, I kept my confidence in us for longer than most, but Tranmere was a turning point I think. We looked so bad. Now holes are appearing elsewhere. We need four players realistically - ST, winger, RB and GK, maybe even a CB if it means Songoo can push up, and it just isn’t going to happen is it.

its cold, the product is poor, and the lack of direction from Rupp doesn’t make you wanna snap out of it and become re-energised.

We need someone with charisma and ambition. Throw caution to the wind and gamble a little.

 

Look at the tables for the top four divisions at the end of the 15/16 season.

Now look at the same four tables at the end of last season.

Of those still in the league only Walsall and Scunthorpe fell more league places in the period Stefan has owned Bradford City.

Walsall’s owner sold up, he was less than popular for not investing in the club and having their stadium in a separate company with the club paying £440k a year rent into his pension.

Peter Swann at Scunthorpe is also less than popular although he can’t be accused of not investing having written off £11am of loans in exchange for their stadium.

Non-league Chesterfield and Southend sit either side of City in the five seasons league of shame. Both have had owners who have been less than popular. Just below them are York and Barnet, also non league these days.

I know you’re not necessarily saying this but Rupp gets a free ride from a good proportion of our fans because “it good be worse”. In his tenure of the top ten worst performing clubs, four have gone out of the league, and Scunthorpe might well join them, Southend might yet join York in the sixth tier and Bolton have been in administration. Chesterfield, Bolton and Sunderland are starting to bounce back but importantly all under new owners.

So Bradford City under Rupp are in the five seasons hall of performance shame alongside some clubs with controversial owners, some who are or might soon be in the fifth and sixth tiers and the three who are bouncing back have new owners.

It could be worse. It could be. It could be a whole lot better though and I have little confidence that without a change at the top Bradford City will not slip out of the league. At the moment, I think Derek Adams is the buffer that stops that happening.

We need to stop giving Rupp a free ride and thinking it could be worse. You could give half of the City fans a Villa with giant windows with panoramic view of the Alps, and they’d complain that sure it’s a good view but the windows are big, a bugger to clean and they had to spend a lot on curtains.

 

Stefan - you've been a disaster for this club. For the love of chuff, sell it to someone with a forward thinking plan and bit of ambition.

 

Credit to you Park. I'd suggest you're probably part of a core of around 4-5k who feel the same way. At most. But there's a bigger proportion of fans who are becoming disengaged, disinterested and moving beyond being concerned to being apathetic. I wonder to what degree the club recognise this - because its something they need to worry about. Unless we have a good January of recruitment and results pick up in the second half of the season, ST sales are going to take a real hit in the summer. And if sustainability is the buzzword, then it'll mean budgets have to be cut and its another season of regression on the cards.

 

Where were the comments overstepping the mark? He didn't like people disagreeing with him so took his bat and ball home. Quite amusing in a way, this forum is the softest place on the Internet, if you get upset on here there's really no hope.

 

Whatever happens now, there’s going to be pressure on Rupp to either back Adams in the window or accept the offer. To do nothing and maintain the status quo won’t wash. There’s massive frustration at the continued decline and this offer, whether good or bad has awoken a fanbase that want more than we’re seeing at the moment.

 

Just as a matter of factual interest with no further comment.

Last Saturday Trevor Birch, the EFL CEO was at our game and I had 10 minutes with him on a different subject but in and amongst he praised Ryan for the way he has handled the Club through the recent Covid crisis and how he had set a benchmark for the EFL. Described Ryan as a bright star with a prospect of a great future in the game. I happen to know that others outside our Club see it the same.

Tin hat on for the rest of the day but I see what he does off the media circus.