4 Year Anniversary

In a week’s time it will be four years since our ‘new’ owners took over. I thought it might be interesting (you can be the judge of that) to look back and compare how things have progressed over that 4 year period.

On field

On the 19 December 2017 the club sat in 20th position in the Championship with 21 points from 22 games. Roll forward 4 years and we are in 23rd position with 13 points from 22 games. On the face of it the on field progress has been backwards but this hides the roller coaster that is BFC.

The early days were characterised with the departure of the manager and the Morais months of believing. It turned out no one actually believed and Stendel got the job. We then had a very successful bounce back year, followed by the great escape under Struber. Both managers losing their way the following seasons, the latter heralding the arrival of Big Val and vertical football that brought us closest to the premier league than we had been since the turn of the millennium. This year? Enough said.

Overall no progression on field and a return to League one looks highly likely.

Financials

On taking over they said they wouldn’t do anything crazy. They certainly haven’t saddled the club with debt, but then again the deal to buy the club resulted in the club being debt free with around £5m on the balance sheet in cash.

Despite some high profile sales the cash pile has been dwindling, a loss of £3.4m in 2019, followed by a loss of £0.3m in 2020 (after the payment of £750k) goes some way to explaining why the cash is dwindling. Add on to that another COVID impacted year to 2021 and I guess that means the budget strings are getting tightened. Things are not looking good, with relegation looming things will need to change. Last time, the club lost over £3m in league one despite a successful season. There isn’t the cash buffer to sustain these losses so either player sales (looking more difficult through poor performances and COVID restricted budgets) debt or an injection of cash from the owners look like the only options open.

Playing squad

The number of transfers in and out of the club over the last four years has been astonishing. The bigger value sales, Potts, Lindsay, Pinnock and Brown were all at the club prior to the new owners arrival. Arguably the signing of Moore had already been agreed but give them the credit for bringing him in.

Players certainly have longer contracts but have we got a better squad now than we had four years ago? time will tell but despite all the dealings in the transfer market it isn’t clear cut.

Other stuff

The fiasco over the ground and more latterly the West Stand has been an unmitigated omnishambles. Matchday experience despite the talk of change has not improved.

Fan relationships have ebbed and flowed but as of now it’s not looking good.

Overall

There’s been some highs but the current position, both on and off the field, does not bode well. If I had invested £6m of my own money in BFC I would be looking for an exit.

3/10

 

We’ve had 4 summer transfer windows under these owners, and somehow ended up without a ceo for two of them. Both of which were disastrous.

1/10. don’t mind losing games, and losing money is understandable after a relegation and a pandemic. But they’re just not very good at running a football club

 

Don’t forget the chicken flatbread, that went down well with the carnivores..?

Still makes depressing reading..

 

We've had our 'best transfer window ever' in that period.
I don't think my definition of best is the same as Conways.

 

3 out of 10 is generous. Match day experience down, lied to about stands closing, change style of play to try sell players, garbage on the pitch, conway in hiding, 750k gone missing Its a mess wish they would pack up and **** off.

 

I'd probably be a little more specific and say they're not very good at running a football club without a CEO. When we've had a CEO we've done okay on the football side. The two occassions one of the ownership group has stepped up to be the CEO has resulted in two distrastrous starts to seasons - we got away with it on the first occasion though it's looking increasing likely that we won't this time. It is now clear the ownership group are too business focused and don't have the footballing acumen to fulfil that role. Unfortunately we don't have any contingencies - probably due to budget - built into the current operating model at the club to mitigate not having a CEO hence we have to result using a body from the ownership group.

 

0/10 they're ****

 

But they’ve allowed themselves to be in that situation twice in three years though.

 

All what the OP said , i know it was said relations ebbed and flowed but for me thru have alienated a large portion of thr fan base, existing season tickey holders are staying away thousands wont renew! Next season will be a **** show L1 crowds of 5/6000 no player budget doomed

 

Not often an investment company takes a loan that is subsequently written off, from the company that it’s supposed to be investing in.

“I will offer you minus £750,000 and for that I want 80% of the business”

 

How to run a football club into the ground in 4 years by paul conway....

 

I agree it's bad and it's an issue that needs addressing.

I don't know the solution maybe either they build a contingency into the current step up or we have the ability to 'borrow' an existing CEO from another team in the ownership group to bridge the gap (perhaps).

I might be wrong - and I'm not looking for excuses for the current owners - but I don't think the previous owners dealt with this scenario well either. I'm thinking of the time between Gordon Shepard and Ben Mansfield and subsequently between Mansfield and Gauthier Ganaye.

 

1/10 I have no words for how much I dislike them though they are not alone in modern football they represent everything I hate.

 

You meant Ben Mansford.

 

0/10

As as you’ve outlined, we’re in a worse place in terms of league standing/financial standing and squad quality.

Pretty spectacular to be in a worse position considering new owners with their supposed business acumen and ideas/promises/plans they had regarding improvements in sponsorship and income streams.

They have brought nothing.

 

Exactly this.
The biggest mistakes the owners have made is to allow Conway to act as a CEO.

 

I now pay for my season ticket solely(plus having 2hrs of escapism from the outside world with my kids) to gain access to Lee's culinary delights in the East Stand. Unfortunately i'll probably lose that access when the West Stand does reopen and brought back down to earth with a Pukka pie, as Lee isn't me personal chef.

 

I'm pretty much numb to the pain of continuous failure to win games and the dire football on display this season.

The only emotion that I feel with any intensity now is the utter contempt I hold for these owners.

 

"Pretty spectacular to be in a worse position considering new owners with their supposed business acumen and ideas/promises/plans they had regarding improvements in sponsorship and income streams".
Bang on!

 

You are allowed to stay in your new seat you know! Looking forward to trying Lee's new offerings on Friday