The Plan: A good servant but a bad master

This is something I’ve seen a few times now and it needs to stop. You can be angry about the results but referring to the fan zone is totally unfair. That’s a not for profit service run mainly by volunteers where all money goes to charitable causes. It’s something that fans banged on and on about for years so hats off to those involved.

 

As you've referenced Wikipedia, take a look at Chien Lee's wiki page.

 

And?

 

Why would anyone need paying to write a Wikipedia profile?

 

I've no objection to the Fan Zone as such, and that it's profits go to charity is extremely laudable. But positioning it where it is has seriously inconvenienced several fans that I know of who are now having difficulty getting to games. So sorry, it's still something people can have an opinion on without in any way criticising those who run it.

 

Perhaps I'm being dense, but I don't understand the point you are making. My point is that the owners are wealthy and have financial standing.

 

And my point is that wealth is nothing like has been reported.

Chien Lee's Wikipedia profile has a disclaimer in bold letters from the those that run the site that there is evidence that someone was paid to write the profile. Why do you think that is?

 

I'm not sure what that proves. But let's suppose that the owners' combined wealth is only 10% of what has been reported. That would be a miserable $900 Million. Enough to stand behind the club raising enough to at least attempt to build a side able to compete in the Championship.

 

It doesn't prove anything. But I'd like someone with more time on their hands than me to ask why. And ask a lot more questions about the $billions that were reported in the press, presented without source or citation and taken as read.

And 10% of something that isn't real isn't $900 million.

 

As far as I'm aware (and I could have this wrong, apologies if so) this project is mostly run by the supporters trust with some capital from the club.

There's been such lack of investment in the stadium and supporter facilities since the Dennis era that almost anything is a wow. I'm not in any way denigrating the fanzone or the hard work people have put into it, but how much of a chunk has it taken out of the Moore transfer money? I wouldn't call it a major investment, particularly as it is not even run by the club, but the supporters of that club. That doesn't make it a bad thing, I'm not suggesting that for a second, but I don't believe its existence negates the point I made.

 

Do you want to elaborate on the inconveniencing?

 

They're on 4 year contracts. They'll be here next season. The hope is they'll perform well at League 1 level and then be sold at a profit* Relegation doesn't make that much difference.

We buy cheap, the initial outlay isn't that much, so if they don't make it and aren't sold at a profit, all is not lost so long as some of them are. And let's be fair to the recruitment team here: they're very good at identifying players who will improve and will make money. They've done it time and again, their success rate is very high, they're good at it. I would imagine it's fun too. If you're not a huge Barnsley fan and results don't matter that much, buying players for peanuts and selling them for £millions must give a lot of job satisfaction.

*The real hope is that we're not relegated and they make a name for themselves in the Championship, then they can be sold at a huge profit, but if we are relegated, they'll get a chance to shine at a lesser standard.

The £6 million deficit in income from relegation is a bit of a red herring. It matters, but not as much as people think. All our players will have relegation clauses in their contracts so the wage will bill will be much less in League 1. Similarly, the majority of players who won us promotion would have had promotion clauses in their contracts. Most were signed while we were in the Championship last time. Their wage dropped when we were relegated but reverted back when we were promoted. So, a lot of that extra £6 million we get this season is simply swallowed up by a larger wage bill, before we even signed anyone.

Spending money on Championship ready players costs more money. Much less room for profit. They're known players, we'd be paying the market rate. They could have a very good season and be worth no more than we paid. There's much more room for loss. If you pay a lot of money and the player fails...

If we were a football club we'd buy players at any age and with any resale value if they improved the team and were within budget. We don't buy to improve the team, we buy for resale value, and that's not a football club it's a business that makes a profit on trading with a sideline in fielding a football team that serves to highlight the product and helps pay the running costs.

 

Are you suggesting the consortium thought it was in their interests to allow their wealth to be overstated to the fanbase?

 

Supporters who had season car park tickets for that area have lost them. One I know of through work has stopped attending as a direct result.

 

I'm not suggesting any reasons for anything. But even if I was, I'm certainly not thinking about football fans.

 

Really? I thought they were executive box holders’ parking spaces? Were they not allocated a different one?

 

Don't know the in and outs, said he had had it for years and got a letter saying they would lose it.

 

A lot of what you say may be true but surely the monies in the premier league .
These are multi millionaires and a billionaire a few hundred thousand or a couple of million a year to share between them isn’t imo gonna be satisfactory .
I’d say the target eventually would be the premier league with all that it’s to offer and developing talent in that league whilst hopefully maintaining their prem status as their shop window.
This is what they have more or less stated and imo makes sense as a buisness venture .
Can’t see them settling for the milk when there’s cream to be had , a season or twos set back will not worry them as a buisness venture I would think but it’s a pain for us impatient fans .