Yep still waiting for the good news . We’ve got an early bird offer with a so called price freeze , but not seen any good news so far
You and all the other staff.. go away have a few weeks off forget all about the job. Then come back refreshed and ready to go in July.. I've a feeling next season maybe not better than this.. Got to get the big decisions wright this summer or it could be a hell of a long way back..
One of the reasons I will not walk away from the club is because of our magnificent staff at the club, I keep seeing the " not a penny more " comment & I understand fans going down this path as I myself detest the owners for what they have done & are doing to the club that I love but if we all walked away then the knock on effect would result in a lot of honest hardworking staff losing their jobs , staff who will still be here if the owners walked , staff who we appreciate & staff who truly work hard for the good of the club , I am the furthest thing there is as an apologist for the owners & it rattles me when fans who want to carry on get criticised but I have renewed again because I want to show my support not only the players but the staff as well .
I couldn't tell you the exact numbers, but I'm pretty sure every time we've been relegated to league 1 before, redundancies have been made. Sadly, I'd be very surprised if that wasn't the case this summer too.
I'm not massively religious. But I do believe (or I like to believe) that the people we've lost in life, they're still with us in spirit. They're watching us move forward. My mother died when I was a young lad, after a two-year battle with cancer. She was cared for by Weston Park Cancer Charity. A few weeks ago, I walked - alongside colleagues and friends - from Oakwell to Bramall Lane, in aid of Weston Park Cancer Charity. Again, I'm not really a religious type, but on that walk, I occasionally glanced towards the sky, and hoped that my mum was proud of me. Well, on a similar theme, I was set on in this role by Patrick Cryne. I remember the last time I saw him, in the corridor of the West Stand, just outside the boardroom. I had a close relationship with him, but we were still blokes. But on that day, I hugged him, and he hugged me, and he smiled. I think we both understood why that needed to happen. He didn't last much longer. That evil disease takes so many people that I care about. So if Patrick is watching, then I'm going to continue to try and work towards a brighter future, because that feels right to me. I respect others who chose a different path. And I completely understand the reservations of many supporters. I didn't intend for this thread to become a discussion piece, I was just moved, emotionally last night by the words and actions of a number of fans, which felt inspirational and serves only to keep me moving ahead towards that brighter future.
@YTBFC The writing was on the wall at the start of the season and was called out by a few including myself and shot down by others. You also had your rose-tinted glasses on with Schopp so not sure if you are wearing them again with respect to the future and just hoping things get better. I fear until this lot are out of our club and we get someone running the show for the club and for the fans again we are dead in the water. I heard rumors about them being bought out but that doesn't seem to be happening. There is still the ground ownership issue and they also said they would go if they weren't welcome at the club anymore but they are not even delivering on that either. As for the argument of who would run us - I don't see them providing any investment themselves so why couldn't another good businessman do the same? If they need money they will just sell players. They have not even provided any sponsorship via advertising boards etc. The staff that run the place on a shoestring including yourself are the backbone of the club so massive praise for that buddy. Everything you do on social media is shot down in flames because its the only way for fans to vent their anger because of our invisible owners who do not communicate with the fans and only turn up when we are winning. Shame we have someone like Conway seemingly blowing the budget gambling off plan on crap players that are nowhere near good enough or fit enough to even play in the championship. Love to know what is better on the horizon? We are getting relegated, going to hemorrhage season ticket holders with those they have infuriated and turned against the club because of how it is run, huge drop in tv money and income, and our owners will simply induce a fire sale of our best players to balance the books. Yet again we will have a full squad rebuilding job on our hands and quite frankly these owners should not be the ones doing it anymore. Season after season we've proved we need a scattering of experience through the spine of the team and every season they either wait until the second window to add it or like this season doesn't add it at all. Look where it got us. It's shambolic. Every fan can see the problems but not our owners or our so-called coaches. Wish I had your optimism mate. Right now I don't want to go next season - I'd sooner do something more productive or enjoyable on a Saturday. Just a shame I started taking my eldest and at 6 he's quite enjoyed going to the match with his daddy. If I ask he'll probably say yes I want to go again and who am I to deny him but feels wrong giving these owners another penny for them to simply bolster their portfolio. The only way we can move forward IMHO is someone else with majority control and say over how we operate - even if they stay as silent investors. I don't even disagree with Moneyball but that has to be done with common sense and also a scattering of experience through the spine. Use the older and more experienced players to bring their best out of the youngsters and show them how to control and win a game - something we have lacked all season.
I appreciate you taking the time to type that up. But it still begs the question, what brighter future are you and certain members of the BFCST talking about? With season ticket sales reportedly tanking so far, maybe now would be the perfect time for someone to actually tell us what form this brighter future will take.
Very true DW but my point is that every fan literally walked away I do not see this lot keeping the club a float , I would not put it past them to wind it up as they have absolutely no allegiance to the club , the fans or the community & that is why when questioned about renewing my season ticket my response is that my cash is for the team, the staff , the academy etc not to line the owners pockets , I do not see them bank rolling the running of the club that will be down to the fans & sponsors etc.
I'd honestly prefer to see a reincarnated version of BFC starting again in the non-leagues, than put another pound into the club in its current state.
I personally find this 'brighter things are coming' narrative frustrating. It takes me back to the days of 'in the know' cliques, that I thought we'd got past. If there is something brighter, I would personally prefer if those ITK either tell us what it is, or keep quiet until there's something to announce. It might seem like giving hope, but to others it's just frustrating, when all they can see in shambles.
I understand your sentiment. I've said numerous times the most tragic thing in all of this is that fans, and some of the most long serving are being put in a position to make an active choice and the division that can entail. Nobody should feel guilty for going or not going to Oakwell next season. I agree that I don't think the owners would subsidise the club with their own money, but, I'd be very surprised that they'd walk away. If the club went into administration (which would be the first stage), the power would then be with the administrators. The question would be would a pending move to admin provoke the Crynes to step in to maintain their stake rather than it be in the hands of the administrators where anything could happen. And therein, perhaps, shows a route out of the current mess we witness.
That is your opinion to which I respect , however that would be devastating for the current staff who have families , mortgages etc in this current climate plus it would affect local business who trade with the club & a big loss of revenue to the town itself with losing match day trade in the pubs & clubs & food outlets from both home & visiting fans , we also have an acadamy where young players learn their trade & that would go which brings me to believe that if we went to the wall it would be a total disaster for both the club & community .
If the club went in admin, would the crynes be able to mount a takeover. Legally.... After all, he is one board member Not entirely sure of the rules of being banned to run another business etc
Can't help feeling it's just giving false hope, all this secret 'in the know' talk. That said, if anything was happening there'd be strict confidentiality rules to follow. As always, it's the hope that kills you......
I know it's definitely coming from a good place, and I keep reminding myself of that, even though it doesn't land well with me personally.
With owners who refuse to put funds into the club whilst pursuing a loss-making strategy of running it, administration is an inevitability. It's also the quickest route for new owners to take over the club without paying an over-inflated price to the current ones. I fear administration far less than I fear a prolonged period of further mis-management under this ownership, which is why refusing to invest in the club under these owners is the best option I have available for a change to be made that benefits the club long-term. The only viable take-over scenario I can see that avoids it would be via a route that involves the Cryne family and another party (perhaps Parekh, as as been rumoured previously), as some form of settlement of the ongoing dispute. Beyond that there's likely to be an insurmountable difference in valuation between interested parties and the current ownership. In that scenario it's only a matter of time before the club ends up insolvent, so we'll end up going down the same route ultimately. Our previous administration was a horrible time to be a supporter, and the aftermath was a short period of time under the ownership of someone with no interest in the long-term viability of the club. At the time I was a season-ticket holder making 300 mile round trips for every home game I attended, which felt like less of a burden than the relatively short-trips from Leeds that I've opted against making for most of this season. Right now, I'd take that, and the uncertainty as to who would follow them as owners, over the prospect of a long-term future with this ownership remaining in place. It's not an easy decision, by any means, and others will value having these owners above going through all that again, which is understandable. I'd probably do the same if I thought there was any realistic prospect that we'd ultimately avoid administration with these owners, and if I had any confidence that money I spent at BFC would be used solely for the running of the football club.
If you didn't bring in administrators if you were insolvent, potentially, but I suspect the main issue would be with the majority shareholders. It seems to happen a little less than other industries, but you can agree a pre pack, where administrators quickly sell the entity back to the original owners for a nominal amount. I'd think because of the complexity of the holding of the club, that is unlikely. I'd expect the most likely outcome would be an agreed deal ahead of any administration. Administration takes control out of the existing owners hands completely.
In the case of the club employee he seems in general to say upbeat things, have a good outlook even when things are pretty grim and maybe seem hopeless to other people The term a brighter future ahead is for better word a " saying" because if you don't think or believe there's a brighter future ahead however dark or bad things may be or have got there would be no point carrying on you have to move forward. in his case i don't believe he means it literally as in he knows there's better times ahead or there's something he knows that you don't know.
