Most liked posts in thread: What are Rupp's Plans for City?

This in a nutshell. Its been done to death but Richmond delivered exactly what he said he would, there would have been no legends reunion the other week without what he did. He also knew when he started his tenure it would take not just a lot of investment in terms of infrastructure of ground and facilities but would also take someone who was prepared to gamble a series of gambles that in the end saw him go all in and get beat on the flop.
History will show Richmond blew it at the end but was also the first person ever to truly try and push this club out of the lower league doldrums, his innovation and desire should not be forgotten when looking back.

 

He got us out of the division. What more do you want?

 

As you say, football is a completely different business and one where emotion plays a bigger part than in any other business. Richmond gambled and failed at the end but up until that point he couldn't do no wrong. The club had achieved what he set out to do and had the new facilities that the club still takes advantage of to this day.

The club suffered as a result but i personally would take a ride on the Richmond roller coaster any day than have been a lower league dweller through the ages, i'll remember those days as long as i live whereas most of the years down the bottom don't warrant much of a thought.

 

Just got up here in Spain, amazed how many people apart from you have misread my post. I said £10m to buy the club AND take it forward to L1. That is my estimate and mine only. If Stefan were to sell I don't know his thinking on value, why would I but I guess he would want to break even at worst. On top of that would be professional fees and the like. After the sale there is then the question of recruitment/ restructure of playing staff and if you want to ensure promotion then be stable in L1 that is my guesstimate.
As an aside my local team here, Malaga were in Europe 3 years ago, now fourth bottom of the second division and facing liquidation or expulsion through overspend. Careful what you wish for.

 

As I said earlier Fordy, if you know anyone with the sort of money I estimated then step forward. In Stefans case he kept us afloat last season and we have a top budget this. There are others in or heading for trouble, we are not, we are pretty stable. Take that for now unless you're going to sell your Merc but I have one as well so between us we could pay travel expenses to Plymouth.

 

10m to buy a league 2 club with no real assets is ridiculous. What has Rupp done to justify a 4m price increase from when he bought the club?

 

Fordy raises some good points I think, it's also patently obvious that Edin's actual plan was never the problem, Edin was in fact the problem. It irks me slightly that Rupp got his money back from last season given it was his choice to trust edin and get involved with him. Granted Edin was a v smooth talker at times but Rupps worth 150m for a reason and that reason probably be wont be him being really gullible. The fact is that under his ownership we have gone backwards, had it still been the Lawn/Rhodes axis we may not be in the champ but we'd have had a reasonably competitive team the fans could relate to and Parky most likely. I almost guarantee we wouldn't have gone down, so its up to Rupp to show us why he is the right man to own this club until we're at the very least back where we started.

Going forwards I would like to see some plans and ambition beyond 'we will get to the champ in 5 years'. How? Is our strategy trust in Bowyer completely and sack off the youth team? Get him to be a head coach and promote youth? What is the actual plan there?

On the infrastructure line, I note some players actually enjoy training at the school and Bowyer himself is happy with it iirc. Which is fine as that's a bloody beautiful area to go to work in every day. However some kind of plan for our own setup would be ideal to just cut the issue out entirely and strengthen us financially in the long term, as it doesn't have to just be used as a training ground if we build it with the right facilities. Also, land in Bradford isn't exactly expensive is it.

I think the stadium is one to look at should we reach the champ due to the rent deal we have on it whereby again if I'm correct the rent is actually cheaper the higher division we're in. However renovation is one area I think is crying out for some investment, as parts of VP are blatantly old af now and the toilets are pretty grim still. I dunno about the food quality as im a posho prawn sandwich corporate ST holder these days but if the quality is poor then this urgently needs relaying to whoever owns the franchise with the implication we will re-tender or bring it in house if things don't improve. We're Bradford City and shouldn't be paying for sub quality service. We should also be looking to further utilise VP for commercial activity if possible however I'm aware the fanzone idea is still sat with the clowncil aka good luck with that. Is it feasible to host concerts or other sporting events for example? Probably not in its current state which is why money needs to be spent renovating.

Playing staff wise I think this one area you can't argue that we've scrimped, Vaughan is ex prem, Donaldo for all his terrible finishing has had a v good career as a pro and cooke probably won't be cheap either. This is an area where I think we are literally 2 to 3 players off smashing the league as we're already very hard to beat and flying pretty high.

So yeah. Ive elaborated on Fordys point which I believe was we need to show some gonads and speculate to accumulate a bit more. This can be done responsibly and nobodys suggesting we throw the kitchen sink at it, but there are real and tangible things the club can invest in responsibly to move forward.

 

There has been interest in the club. But no one is willing to buy at 10m. | can’t blame them, its a ridiculous valuation

 

Why would Rupp sell when we look like we might go up?

Why would he invest heavily if it looks like we might even do okay at League One level?

If I were Rupp, I would neither sell nor invest massively without any real reason to do so.

 

Average losses in the Championship would need far more the Rupp's investment.

 

I could be wrong but I think @wetherbywhaler was making a point that @Fordy117 is constantly shouting for Rupp to invest heavily or get out, yet there is no one waiting in the wings to invest that sort of money. Maybe 10m would be required to buy the club, build a new training ground, invest in infrastructure etc. The point is there isn't anyone.

 

The whole point is about getting us on the right track to success.

The rest is just superfluous nonsense.

Who owns our ground or where we happen to train don't matter to the enjoyment of supporting a team.

 

I can answer this for him.... No he doesn't infarct I'd be surprised if he knew anyone with £10 or £20

 

Unfortunately a Geoffrey Richmond only comes along to a team like Bradford City once in a life time, in my time of watching Bradford City he has been the only owners who showed any faith in us, trouble was he wanted to run before he could walk.

 

In fairness, he only kept us afloat because he allowed a maniac to be let loose in almost destroying the club. It was HIS accountability.

There are parameters of common sense and financial prudence that we, and all clubs, should operate within. But I think it's fair to ask - what's his plan for investing in the club to the extent needed, to take it forward. If he cant or wont front the level of investment needed that you've aluded to - why buy the club in the first place? I dont think he had any idea what he was getting into.

The club does need some serious investment to move back towards the championship. Some should come from the owner, some should come through good commercial practices to bring extra money into the club and some should come from the fans. The concern over how price sensitive fans are, has been overstated in my opinion. The scars of admin lingered for a long time and drive much of our thinking. But Times change and we need to change with them.