Most liked posts in thread: The implications of relegation

With respect I think I'm too close to the Club so prefer not to answer.

 

Interesting and valid points. I looked at the League tables for NL, NLN and NLS on Sunday, there were 19 former League clubs in there. Admitted some go back a bit like BPA and Gateshead but nevertheless.
I stand corrected but looking at it the other way only Barrow, Newport, Accy and possibly one or two others I can't remember have come back and it took an awful long time.
Going the other way Torquay, Stockport and others have dropped two levels before the start back and our recent nemesis, Yeovil, are currently bottom of the NL. Even one good season does not offer hope for the second. Look at AFC Fylde, play offs two seasons ago, relegated last season. Notts Co. play offs last season mid table now, mind you Abbott, O'Brien, Reeves and Chicksen, plus it is very early days. The message is clear.

I posted some weeks ago that if the season PP replaced Jackson we had gone down plans were in place that would have seen the club fold. Not to say that would be the case today but it has to be a possibility. Imagine the ninth biggest city in the country with no League club!!

Personally I don't think it will happen but there may have to be a reliance on others such as Southend and/ or a series of Admins and points deductions. As far as BCFC are concerned I believe that Ryan Sparks will come of age here, as I said on another thread I have experience of being put in the spotlight at a much larger organisation, you don't know if such things will be a success until they prove one way or the other. All I see is that Ryan will give it a good go and will be getting guidance from some of us Associate Directors where we feel he can benefit.
Things have to change starting soon let's hope Saturday against the likes of Devine, Omari Patrick, Joe Riley, Dean Furman and Callum Guy prove a point at least to them as to why they are not at VP.

 

Mansfield were crazy sacking their manager and replacing him with Nigel Clough. Surely they must realise that you have to have continuity and stick with the same manager who’s just lost 6 out of the last 8, then of course offer an extended contract.

 

The most basic starting point for any new incumbent stepping into a leadership position, for an organizational turnaround, is a full and frank assessment of just how bad things are and to have a completely open conversation with your boss/board, to establish a common view of the problem(s) and the level of funding and time required to address it. You need to know that you have that backing and financial support behind it, to get to work. And you can't underestimate it. Whatever is said publicly, privately you have to get into the guts of everything that's wrong. If you're not honest and critical in your assessment, you're done before you even begin.

You need to accept that there's a lot to fix and similarly accept that it can't all be fixed quickly. Even with a properly laid and funded plan, executed well, it'll take time and you need a view of the long term goals that you're working to. But that said, you need to look at where quick decisions and changes are needed. You don't have the luxury of time, to stop the bleeding. You need to be bold. Calculated - but bold. You need to demonstrate credibility, quickly, to buy the time and trust to deliver against the longer term plan.

Put simply - the single thing that Sparks needs to concentrate on is strengthening the team in January. Properly strengthening. No half arsed measures and he can't even think too much about recruiting against a longer term strategy at this point - such is the mess we're in. Because if this club goes down, its done. And so is Sparks. Scouting and recruitment needs an overhaul, but right now, he needs to identify at least 4 quality players - a centre back, striker and 2 wingers, to save this club. Its that stark. If we get January wrong, we go down. And then the longer term doesn't matter, because we won't be here.

 

Some people need to get real about this January transfer window and drastically lower their expectations. Ive said it in another post but clubs will be keeping hold of their players this season. Clubs up and down the country are having more injuries due to time in-between matches etc. Then with the possibility of players picking up covid then you cant really risk letting the fringe players go. What this means for us is that we are looking at loans similar to Samuels. These 4-5 quality players? Where are they coming from? We wont be paying transfer fees and clubs in and around the top 3 and playoffs will be at the front of the queue for any kind of quality player that does happen to become available. Where are players going to go? Bolton or Salford who are chasing the playoffs, or Bradford who are in a complete mess and fighting for their football league survival. McCall and the club know this imo and this is why we heard the drivel on Tuesday night about not needing much when the injured players are back. Who are all these players that we are due back?? The only player that id have back is Novak which is saying something. Sataunton too but I cant believe our season has come down to relying on an 18 year centre back.
The club have cocked up recruitment for the past 3 years. Now we sit 3rd from bottom in the whole of the Football League and have absolutley zero pulling power. On top of that I have no trust in our owner, our new CEO or our Manager to get it right.

 

That's my worry. I don't place too much emphasis on what manager's say to the press, as its all smoke and mirrors. Its action that counts. If there's any sense that we'll be fine once injured players return, or an ignorance to the extent of strengthening needed in Jan, we're f*****d.

 

I agree, it's ridiculous that we are appointing everyone who is within proverbial earshot of the club.

But, there was a strong argument being made for doing just that during the Colin Todd era.

Dispassionate managers with no ties to the club were definitely OUT at that point - I can certainly sympathise with 'the club' for recent appointments (Rhodes and McCall rather than Sparks, to be fair), and it's a little bit hypocritical of the fan base at large to say we don't have to appoint someone with ties to the club, but that's how overly invested football fans work - unless things are going well, the owner is always going to be asked to play whack-a-mole with ever-evolving criticisms.

Having said that, I agree that it's all very short termist. I hope if Ryan Sparks ever reads this forum he doesn't take criticisms too personally - and understands that we are all debating his appointment in the light of the last 10, 20 or more years, and the future 10, 20 or more years. Because in that light, it looks like another lazy appointment in a string of lazy appointments ever since Rupp and Rahic took charge.

 

£50k is peanuts for some one who could have maybe prevented millions being wasted on Wright, Riley, Akpan, Anderson, Guthrie, Reeves and all of the others. Short term thinking at its very very best.

 

Heard the same as we dropped in to Lge 2

 

Mansfield only lost once in 7 if they hold on tonight since Clough came in. Great appointment for this level and they won’t be down there for long.

We are in serious trouble

 

Retrospectively, any inexperienced up-and-comer would have been fodder. I don't think either Evatt or Wild would have done well AT ALL if they weren't supported by the club - and by support I don't just mean budget-wise, I mean in terms of putting good, experienced 'club' staff around them to enable them to do their job to the best potential.

As a football club who wouldn't let Bowyer have an assistant and who hasn't got a professional scouting system in place and who didn't even have a permanent CEO in place at the time, I think those appointments could have been even more catastrophic than Stuart's. I think those appointments would have ended up being LESS long-term than Stuart, unfortunately, through little fault of their own.

 

You and I both know that we aren't all other clubs. For a start there is £375,000 rent to pay on a stadium that would be useless in the Conference. Secondly, no other relegated club has a 12 year old CEO.

 

Stop being so positive, get a grip. We are fooked.

 

Mansfield are not going down. Clough is a great appointment as you say.

 

I seem to remember Bowyer making a comment that he was given the choice of bringing in his own assistant/back up team or using that money to strengthen (lol) the squad, and he chose the latter. It should never have been an either or situation. Now we are hearing we aren't prepared to spend 50k on a DOF, a small sum of money in the grand scheme of things but one which might just pay dividends. I honestly cannot believe a man who wouldn't notice 50k leaving his bank account has said no to this, but the alternative would be that someone else has, and given that would be one of the people tasked with getting us out of this mess, is even more worrying.

 

I think McCall is more concerned with the morale of his squad and getting them to January before talking about changes and recruits

I hope!!!!

 

Well, back in September I was writing this season off as a non attending one, and seeing us drift aimlessly in mid table. How wrong could I have been on the latter point.

This last month as made me realise that we are actually going to be in a battle to preserve our 117 year membership of the football league. I hope Rupp, Sparks and McCall have now realised this. Listening to McCall's recent interviews, it comes across that it hasn't sunk in with him yet. He says he doesn't look at league tables, well it is to be hoped someone has shown him now.

The thought of one of our legends taking us to non league obscurity is a heartbreaking thought.

 

I admire you for getting real in terms of Bradford City recently but honestly when it comes to our fan base I would say its about 8k top end. Now I would say it 5- 6k top end.

The club is losing loyal supporters everyday with the stupid decisions its making.

Why should people care about Bradford City with the club is highlighting it doesn't care about having ambition?

 

The shit storm of the horrendous ST take up is going to be epic.