Rotting from the head down

Unfortunately it will probably take another relegation for people to realise the problems are still here at the club and didn't just disappear when Conway left.

 

People can see we're not in a good place at the club yet but imo i think some fans get sick of hearing all the negativey and never pick up on the good bits as few as there are. WE ALL want our club to do well but sometimes it's depressing reading BBS.

 

It’s depressing because of the way the club is being run, and all that brings with it. Results are just part of that.

But if we implement the shadow board that Crouch recommended, we could at least see some
Transparency which I believe would reassure fans.

Or alternatively give fans a true picture of the club and it’s direction - which will hopefully instigate change from within the relationship with a shadow board.

I’m not bothered if, as seems likely, we finish mid table and win as many as we lose this year.

But I want to know we have a clear strategy and sustainable future with these owners, which I cannot say at this point in time.

We had that when we turned to the data-led recruitment strategy in 2015/16 but we’ve even come away from that even, with decisions seemingly being made unilaterally by individuals (Eg last year’s Recruitment and the last two disastrous Management appointments)

 

I think the recruitment this summer has been the best in years. The problem has been due to finances their hasn't been enough of it. It's half finished in my view. They need 4 more players. The problem is the deficit hasn't been plugged and these owners don't want to make up the short fall. We desperately need to sell Helik and Styles to raise funds and a bit of hope of signing some of those four players we need.

That's my only gripe. I think in Duff we've an excellent young head coach. He's having to work with his hands tied though.

 

The position of the club can’t be changed. For all the analysis of the finances, the personal failings and bad luck we are skint.

Unlike other clubs we do not have a benefactor and we have overspent relative to income for the last four years.

The board have to reset the financial position and this will be painful. There a good initial signs but it will take time to get the club back on an even keel.

Spectemur Agendo

 

Steady on mate. I'm talking about the club as a whole. I'm aware we're doing okay on the pitch. I'm not one of these pillocks who thinks we should win every match, I've a realistic/hopeful expectation of about 10th this season.

I know we need time to gel as a team, and that we're lacking in some areas (particularly up front), but that doesn't make us the worst team in the world or the division. I can also acknowledge it'll be more of a slog to be promoted again than it was under Stendel due to the number of decent sides in this league and the number of them that are getting richer.

My issue is more with how we are run, off the pitch. I don't like the way Lee and Conway are still on the board, and I don't understand their model of ownership, unless it's 'penny stocks'. If it is that, we're at risk should they strike lucky at FC Thun or similar. They're not invested in BFC, other than in a literal, financial sense and to me that feels risky.

The Hex affair was ridiculous, showing that there are still significant issues with the people in charge of the club, and the root cause of this is money in the modern game, which we simply do not have enough of and have always been crap at getting, at least since the days of John Dennis, who had to spend most of his gains on modernising Oakwell, until ITV Digital went bust.

I'm also complaining about football in general, look at Malik Wilks for example. Now at Wednesday, just journeymanning around to the highest bidder despite his being mediocre at best. I'm willing to bet we wouldn't have been able to afford the wage he's now currently on though. Kieffer Moore is another great example of this, although his career does seem to have moved up a level after leaving Wigan. Going to then was purely cash-based though. So was Sam Winnall.

Do you think we'll ever see someone play 200 games for BFC again?

It's this sort of thing that bothers me, and the point I was trying to make is that if the board and a significant majority of the players are only motivated by profit, I'm not interested any more.

I loved the 'My Town, My Club' years, where we had Cryne as owner, Marc Roberts as captain and Hecky as manager. It might not have lasted very long or been particularly successful in the championship, but it felt a lot more sincere than what we have now.

That's what I'm talking about when I say the club is gone. I'll never stop caring and I'll never stop looking for the result, and I'll never follow another side who are 'better', it's just I don't like having a simulacrum of 'Barnsley', none of whom give a ****.

 

Completely agree with all of this. We're doing ok as a team, but who owns and runs BFC?

Can we be given a definitive structure? Can we be given a definitive model of decision making and/or authority and deference?

If not, why not?

Who decides on transfers? Do we need a right winger or a left back? How much can we spend? What about wages? Does Duff have a say? It really didn't feel like Schopp or Asbaghi did.

What's changed since Parek came in? If Conway and Lee have stepped back, why are they still on the board/shareholders?

Why must BFC be entirely self financing? Why can no board investment be made to kick-start this model, even at a minimal level (see the £750k ground rights saga). Lee, Parek and Conway (I believe, correct me if I'm wrong) are all billionaires. That money is nothing to them.

I dunno. I'm just ranting now.

 

It's your last paragraph that boils my piss and the sole reason I'm not attending matches.

 

Thank you ,constructive criticism which is fine.

 

Think one of the problems may be with Helik "injured" clubs might not want to take a punt with him at the moment and Styles expecting a move he is not getting stuck into tackles in case he risks injury. Wonder if no clubs come in for Styles whether he will start playing better to move in winter?

 

Lee and Conway aren't on the board. They are shareholders because they own shares, you can't simply remove their shares, it is up to them if they want to sell. Neerav Parekh and Paul Conway aren't billionaires, I doubt Chien Lee is, but why would he put in money to a club where he's just been removed from the board? Neerav, JAQ and Mrs Cryne have injected £1m. The £750k wasn't taken out by them.

I appreciate you are just ranting but it seems that you are incorrectly allocating blame.

 

Fair.

I do remember a lot of press frenzy at the time of our being purchased (which was quite possibly just hyperbole) about how we were now one of the richest clubs in England due to the amount he's worth though.

Maybe it's just that my trust in what's going on at a board level has been eroded significantly since Cryne died.

Parek was there already, I have no idea who Quay is or where she came from, and although I know you can't just remove a person's shares, you can buy them out.

That may be what Conway is aiming for, sell for double what he paid for something, which wouldn't be a good deal for Parek and the other members of the new board, but again this is a **** deal for BFC and represents our football team being used as a corporate investment vehicle rather than being a football team that represents a town in South Yorkshire.

I'm not trying to argue the toss with you here and say that I'm right and you're wrong, I'm just frustrated with how focused on money football has become and watching BFC be slowly strangled by spending/being able to afford less and less is life-sapping.

 

This is a similar post to the one last season that predicted what a shocker of a season we were in for. I agreed with that post and I agree with a lot of what is in this one.

Feel we got the manager decision right from what I can see but early days.
Weve not spent any money on the squad - just free transfers
Weve sold the best players and the key ones left that have quality want to move on or aren't playing - that's not to say we don't have any decent players - we do but they are raw.
We seem to be doing everything on a shoestring and hoping we can pull it off.
Fingers crossed we don't capitulate again.

As the saying goes - fill the team with league one players you are heading to league one.
Where did we get a lot of players from this time?

We need to hope we can maintain some wins and get points on the board. That may breed some confidence and help them. Last season we didn't and the cardboard cutout managers just didn't have it in them to sort them out of lift them. I think Duff is made of stronger stuff.

Lets hope it comes together. League 2 would be a disaster and I personally don't think we would drop again - but anything could happen. Fil the squad with an unknown quantity you don't know what could happen. Could gel and be mint or fall apart and go down.