Minority Report 2019-20 - Talking Finance (3)

Neither, the top of the corporate structure is a business incorporated in May 18. Looking through the subs there is only one business with tangible value with a balance sheet of circa £5.4m.

 

Where I am. These new owners came in with lots of sound bites, not promises but indications they wanted to move the club forward. It still feels archaic. Old ground, no real enterprise, change or true commercial development. Some new sponsorship, ok we gain a fanzone, but the place and the club generally still feels like it did in the 80's to me. Meanwhile we have a plan. Sorry, they have a plan. Which everyone knows won't work if we intend to become an established Championship club. Football club ownership can't just be about balance sheets if it is to progress. I feel let down and cannot see any prospects unless they change - or sell. Drip, drip and I'm tired after 60 odd years watching. Their stance re Stendel has truly appalled and upset me, to my depths as they say. Credit to the staff and players for keeping going although it is in their best interests should they wish to move on. Sad times at the moment.

 

I clicked like for this, because there's no other option. I feel exactly the same. Get out of my club.

 

I concur with your dour forecast for the expected outcome of this season, but unlike you, I am not in the least depressed by it. I enjoyed last season much more than I enjoy grubbing about at the bottom of the Championship for season after depressing season. I see it as highly unlikely that we would ever match the spending of those already established in the Championship. The only way that it is possible for us to establish there is to be promoted with a settled side. That means keeping together the majority of our players from a promotion season, and that can only happen if you started with young players, if you started with the right players, and you put them on very long contracts. That is by its very nature, a long-term plan. We did not get all the players that we needed during the summer transfer window, but that does not matter if your plan is a long term one, because there will always be another transfer window. If we had been following a short term plan, it would have been a disaster. If we had signed lots of older players and we were still headed down in spite of that, it would have been a disaster. But we are headed down with a squad that can only improve, and relegation is an opportunity, under those circumstances, rather than a disaster.

Clearly, if you want to watch a winning team in the Championship, you are not getting what you want, but I am not sure why you chose a small town club as your team in those circumstances. After all, in our area, you were never short of options, were you. When I chose Barnsley, we were in a far worse predicament. Things are much better than I expected when I made my choice.

 

If a club sells players, it is not the owners' money. It belongs to the company that owns the club. The owners cannot at that money directly. They have to declare a dividend. A transactions between the owners and the company that own the club must be reported via the annual Financial Statements, and nothing like that was reported up to May 2018. The annual Financial Statement to May 2019 will be published in March 2020, and I will report what is in those Financial Statements on here.

 

You are judging a long term plan on short term outcomes.

 

And you are confident that the next owner will be better. Well I admire your confidence anyway.

 

Sorry, I cannot find it. What is its name?

 

Lutons holding group with 384 staff is £6.1M
Barnsleys with 260 staff is 10.5M

 

I know what you mean, and of course I've no way of knowing. It's just that the current way of running the club is of no interest to me, so either these owners have to make substantial changes in the way they operate, or go. I won't be renewing next season in any event, unless they've left. Even if they do make a step change in their plan tomorrow, there's not enough time to convince me that they mean it in time for next year's season ticket sales.

As far as I'm concerned, they're doomed. I'm sure they will not be worried about my views at all, but that's part of the problem. They just don't seem to care what the fans think.

 

I've seen you post similar quite often recently, and previous to that I saw only positive posts from yourself. May I ask why now you've suddenly done a 180 on the club/ownership?

 

That's a very good question, and I'm aware that in the past I've been very positive. The answer is I think threefold.

Firstly, I believe in giving people a chance over an extended period of time, to prove what they are capable of. This applies to new owners as well as to managers and players. I suppose you could say I've been a happy clapper, and I've defended the club for years as many on here will know. When the new owners came in, I think most fans got behind them from the start. I certainly did, I felt good about the future.

Secondly, last season we were so obviously better than just about all teams in League One, so it was very difficult to be negative about anything (although some managed it!). I believe that the on-field success masked any worries about the way the club was being run, although the sale of Brad Potts provided (with the benefit of hindsight) a small hint as to what may be to come. The summer "best ever" transfer window also caused me (and many others) to start doubting the club's strategy.

Thirdly, the treatment of Daniel Stendel, and that so-called "statement". A diabolical chapter in the history of the club. In my 51 years as a fan, I thought I'd seen it all. I hadn't. Obviously I've no idea what the background to Daniel's departure was, but the way it was handled appeared to be an autocratic abomination. The eventual follow up statement from Dane Murphy just made it worse, as it appeared to have been dictated to him by someone else. It's the worst experience I can remember, and it's finished me as a season ticket holder until we have new owners. It was an utter disgrace, and left me and many other fans fuming with rage.

 

Just sent you a PM

 

Sorry but I cannot see it in my Inbox.

 

Thank you. I'm sure there are a lot of us. I can only look forward to pain and further discontent until they take the money and run.

 

Like and agree with you totally (surprise). Although my cynical view may have kicked in a bit earlier. Seen some bad things in 65 years of supporting the club, but this final part you describe here beggar's belief. My season ticket is currently in the pants drawer. Hope I start to feel better about it but at the moment, not.

 

You want people to endure years and years of poor results and no real ambition and to keep buying season tickets before we become established at a higher level? Won't happen.

 

I do not particularly want anything. These Talking Finance Posts are my attempt to get reader to understand why things are the way they are. If you want to ignore my explanations, then that is up to you.

 

I think inside this thread Red Rain kind of gives reasoning as to why we had to sell Potts. Many believe that having supposed wealthy ownership means we don't sell. But rules are in place financially and I'm assuming those led to his sale and maybe even Bradshaw's. It's guesswork to a degree but there are protocols in place in the third division in terms of salaried budgets. In hindsight, it also allowed an academy lad to come in and prosper who was vital in getting us over the line. And Potts barely plays now. He wasn't even a well-liked player on this board from memory either. Nor Bradshaw.

I'm on record saying I didn't disagree with any of the sales or departures in the summer window. We apparently got millions for three players who are unproven at the level (relegated last time around) and after a dozen games I've not seen any of the three do anything of note for their new employers. All three wanted to leave and we chose as a club to let them. Of course, it's an individual's decision whether to agree with that policy and I'm one who wasn't against it. Although I do miss Pinnock who was the only one who left who for me looked a top end Championship player.
My issue was not replacing them appropriately. But again that is only an opinion I hold. It's not fact or proven by anything. Not after three months.

I would have liked three, maybe four experienced heads fetching in. Championship know-how. Centre back, midfielder, target man. But that isn't to say I don't think we should have signed the players that we did. I happen to be impressed with them all to some degree but I think we signed one or two too many and we didn't strengthen at full-back which was quite bizarre really.
But it's not how the club did their business. In my eyes, the window wasn't the best ever, it was a failure in my eyes for the reasons given.

As for Stendel-gate, I too was gutted that he'd gone. Results were terrible but I thought he'd earned some patience. He also came across very well as a person which means a lot to me at least. But it was the statement that angered me. A thank you isn't difficult.
However, in the context of results and a seeming inability to come up with a different way of playing, it's not the biggest shock that he left. Also, if you're continually complaining in public about your employers, I imagine that isn't advisory. I can't imagine the players were impressed by his dumbing down of the squad and its ability either.
I didn't rate Flitcroft very much but I'll give him credit for getting the best out of what was a very average squad and getting them playing promotion football for half a season by constantly singing their praises and creating a unity.

I have experienced many worse periods following the club for a similar amount of time as yourself. Not to decry your own opinion, I appreciate we are all one and our own and I also appreciate you responding to my questions.

On Saturday at Oakwell there was no protest, no banner unfurled, no chants against the board, the gate was as expected. Just 18 months before promotion to the Premiership I remember very vocal chants and demonstrations against the Dennis ownership. One stands out because we actually scored during a chant that was sickening to hear at the time. They wanted Dennis out and the chant was vociferous. Then we scored and it ended there and then. A little similar was the attempt at a Daniel Stendel song on Saturday that faded as Woodrow nearly scored, and never re-emerged because I'm assuming the team were playing well.

I hope you remain a Red and change your mind. We were here before this international consortium and will be once it has departed, like the many legends and villains have throughout our history.

 

Where did I say I was ignoring them? You don't want anything, that's fine. But then there is no need to sound patronising towards this reader. I want something from everything I do. Long term is fine but we also need short term gains.You may as well suggest I go to the supermarket for my bread. It'll be poor for a couple of years and then it'll improve. In the meantime suffer or get used to its mediocrity.