So, I think I've bought into the model.

They made a large profit at Nice and could do the same here in time. It’s a massive ‘if’ but if we stay at the right end of the championship whilst not racking up any proper debt, we’ll be an attractive proposition for somebody at some point. And if we can reach the Prem (I know) our value will go through the roof.

 

To make money. They believe sports clubs in Europe are undervalued. Compared to clubs in the States there is validity to this argument. So you buy cheap, wait for the European market to catch up and sell at a profit. This isn't speculation on my part, Paul Conway is on record saying this in an interview.

The reason people don't understand why they would be interested in making a few paltry million is because of the reports when they arrived that they're all billionaires. There is no evidence at all to suggest they are.

 

I'm not getting bogged down by the business side of the club; until the owners make a major blunder they're ok with me. By and large they've been excellent so far, genuinely don't see anything to get riled up about.

 

What's the Crawley Incident?

 

I think it was something similar to this:

 

The owners are here to make money. That's the bottom line for me. So while it is nice to see Barnsley have a good season like the last one my pleasure in that is tempered by the fact that the owners are simply using the club as a capitalistic goal for themselves. I don't like that but there is no real alternative to having them as far as I can tell. Modern football is all about money. Obviously as one can tell I am not a fan of modern football and if I've read Mr Khat correctly I agree with him and do not feel as attached to the game as I once did. We are where we are however.

 

Owners do not make the big money by taking dividends or directors fees. They make the big money by improving the company and the business strategy of the company. They improve the company by changing the way that it does business, selling it on to a new owner who believes that the company is now worth more than it was, taking their profit and moving on to the next new project. We have no idea at this point what the next new owner's plans will be, or in what direction he thinks he can improve the club. It is all conjecture until they sell.

As fans of the football club that the company owns, that should be music to our ears. If the current owner wants to use their expertise in football club management to yield a profit on their investment, and that can only leave us with a better club than was the case when they took over. OK, you may not like the whole of their strategy. I do not like the press, but I see why they do, and on balance I see that their management principles are right for the club, and good for its future. Their aims and my aims as a life long supporter are aligned and that can only be good.

 

Yeah @Hooky feller Remind us please!

 

Travelling back from the game on the train 2015 (we’d lost 5-1) . James was verbally attacked by fans. ( if that’s what we call em.) At the next fan engagement. Patrick said, James was distraught at the amount of abuse he got. And wanted to step aside from his club role.
Maybe if James had a thicker skin. Patrick might not have been as eager to sell. Bear in mind. he was a reluctant purchaser. Only stepping in. to save the club. That he loved.

He said: "For much of the time since I became the club's buyer of last resort, I allowed others to run the club, fearing that I did not know enough to win the respect and supporter of the 'football people'.

"It is ironic therefore that we enjoyed one of our most successful periods when I did take up the mantle ending in two successful visits to Wembley.

"Most people realise I was a reluctant custodian but what has made it bearable against the occasional cruelty of the internet world is the kindness shown to me by so many fans on a personal basis.

 

See previous mate.

 

Maybe if a proportion of our fans could stop being cap ends? Why blame the victim of the abuse.
Even with these new owners, we owe more to James Cryne for being at the forefront of a revolution in football management, than to any one player or manager.

 

I get all of this. I didn't think they could achieve the finishing position we managed last season with this approach. But barring Jacob Brown, there were no significant pre-season sales and one assumes that fairly significant sums were laid out to secure Dike's loan and Morris. The season's accounts would make interesting reading - if they were published in an accessible jurisdiction! We haven't got (and many don't even want) a Matthew Benham type philanthropic owner, but have we generated the revenue to shop in a more expensive store and (hopefully) in time command bigger transfer fees in in the absence of a money man? And what does our status as 'traders' say about the relationship we all have with the club? Is it enough that they are called Barnsley FC, play at Oakwell and that we are solvent?

I don't know the answers to those questions myself, but I'm interested in yours and others' views!

 

I wasnt blaming the victim. Sorry if I gave that impression.
I pointed out to Patrick that James should take on board the feelings of the majority not the idiotic minority. James was/is a young man. You build up a thicker skin through life experiences, and wanted James to take on board that these experiences will come and go. As Patrck experienced throughout his tenure. Thankfully it appears he did.

 

What’s not to like?
They have a business plan and they stick to it.
There doesn’t appear to be little to worry about in terms of our financial future. Unlike a lot of foreign owned clubs.
As we’ve already seen, runaway spending in the hope of buying success is the downfall of many.

 

I have been a Barnsley fan for a very long time. Only rarely over that time have we had the funds to outspend our divisional rivals, and on those occasions, we were always below the second tier. We have competed by being better at managing our limited resources than most of the others. Because when you borrow heavily, mostly from an owner because the banks will not touch that sort of risk, you are simply trying to shortcut that process of patiently building from sound foundations. It is the belief that outspending your ability to repay a loan unless the club is promoted to the Premier League, is a risk free or even a sensible strategy, that I have problems with. I held that view when it was a much less popular position than it is now that it has become more obvious. Just up the road, we have the latest example of a club owner who thought that outspending rivals was a sure fire way to the promised land. He was wrong, and the consequences for being wrong are obvious. We almost lost our club, and but for Patrick Cryne, we would have done. Whatever anyone says about John Denis, I will hold the view that he was over ambitious. That he failed to watch cash flows and borrowed when he should have sold. There are no risk free strategies, but our current strategy has a lower risk than most. That strategy means that when you have a sudden windfall, you realise that there may not be another for quite some time, and that windfall has to last until then, otherwise there will be lot of sudden and damaging changes of direction as money is made available, and then players have to be sold under duress, because cash is running low. OK, some fans get frustrated with what they see as a lack of ambition, but personally, I have never supported Barnsley because I thought they could ever be the best. I supported the club because, for better or worse, it is the club that represents my town.

 

There are several ways to make profit from a company. Its perfectly feasible to find a distressed sale or undervalued company (a company where the seller is desperate to sell for any one of a multitude of reasons), do the bare minimum to it, or just keep it ticking over and then as time passes, find yourself with a tangible profit from what you bought it for.

If, UK & International TV rights and therefore the value of UK football clubs are undervalued with a projected uplift to align more with US sporting ventures, surely as "billionaires" with access to funding streams, you'd acquire a club that had most scope for value increase, or had wider exposure for any other business interests you may purport to have.

A business valued at £300m with a 10% uplift gives a far greater return than one valued at £10m which has a 10% uplift.

Of course.... it may be that the owners could only raise a nominal amount and nothing near £300m.

 

I understand and respect the model and we are run much better than most in our league that lose millions and millions each season. However that doesn't mean I 'love' this model either. Its so frustrating as a fan to see us build something great using our clever recruitment etc. only for us to be ripped apart year after year. We all get attached to the players, the managers etc. only for them to leave to the first big offer and leave us with a rebuild job again.