Post by bantam147 on Nov 29, 2020 9:06:20 GMT
Quite a predicament we find ourselves in, isn’t it?
Like most, if not all City fans toiling in the midst of where we find ourselves, I’ve deliberated for a while on how best to express myself following events of the last few years. How has it come to this? I’ll delve into my thinking on that point a little later.
But can we can resolve one point right from the outset? This idea of ‘toxicity’ on Social Media - and specifically, it being the cause of what’s holding this club back? Put simply: it’s a nonsense. I could use more colourful language, but ‘nonsense’ will suffice, for now. This particular website was borne out of a group of fans looking for something different in how it engages online. Not ‘different’ in the sense of trying to find the downside in all things Bantam, as some would have people believe. Just different. The language may not be to everyone’s taste, and that’s fine. Call us ‘vulgar’ and that’s fair enough too. But to suggest that supporter behaviours are a barrier to potential investment in the club, or a factor in player performance - at a time when supporters aren’t even allowed in the ground - is both laughable and completely dismissive of just how much trouble this club is in. This website may not be to everyone’s taste and there are other forums not too far away away that may be suited to a more serene and family friendly audience. But there’s nothing mischievous or adversarial in what this website is ‘seeking to achieve’ because the simple truth is: we’re not seeking to achieve anything. We’re just a group of Bradford City fans who’ve grown tired of repeated, predictable failure and who see nothing wrong in demanding better. Even if that isn’t always expressed in the best way. We have no vendetta against the club or anyone within it. We’re just tired of failure - and more than that we’re tired of that failure being so absolutely self inflicted. Does anyone think that this part of our fan base takes any sense of joy whatsoever in what we’ve become? That we celebrate and enjoy each poor performance and result, each terrible signing? Disavow yourself of that notion. We’re desperate for success. In fact, not even success - we’re desperate for this club to to organise itself into a credible, modestly ambitious and professional outfit, to talk in terms of how we CAN move forward - not adopt this meek position of self surrender in ‘not being able to compete with X, Y or Z’.
I asked the question earlier, ‘how has it come to this?’. The answer to that question is grounded in many mistakes being made over a period of time. Catastrophe - the kind of which we’re very much staring into - rarely comes as a result of one specific thing. Its an accumulation of errors and mismanagement over a period of time. The sad reality is that we’ve become far too accustomed to mediocrity and the very limited objective of simply ensuring we have a football club to call our own, has become an entrenched mindset within the club and for many our fans. Its permeated the mindset of those running the club and its certainly a source of division for supporters. Indeed, I’d say that the catalyst that led to this website being created is that very desire, even a demand for greater ambition. Not recklessness. Not success at all costs or even an expectation of success; but at the very least, and attempt at success. An ethos that aspires for more and that looks to move beyond the failures of our recent history, rather than live in constant fear of repeating them. To have Leaders at the football club who judge the success of the club by how it fares on the field and - whilst being financially responsible - not by an obsession with budget deficits. A club who looks to engage its fans with transparency and clarity. We’re not asking for the earth, we’re simply looking at other clubs with lesser means and who appear to be much more organised and asking ‘why are we unable to compete with the likes of Harrogate, Newport, Salford’. Is that really too much of a stretch objective?
It doesn’t feel too much of a stretch. And yet, recent communications - which have been painfully rare - indicate a complete disconnect with the mood amongst the fan base. Indeed, there’s been a tone of contempt towards fans daring to demand a base level of planning, ambition and capability, lazily dismissing their opinions as being based on an assumption that ambition equates to a blank chequebook. Significant portions of our fan base have now clearly gone beyond anger and dismay, to simply being completely apathetic. Lifelong fans openly stating their lack of interest in the club and a lack of desire to return to the fold. The club needs to consider whether this is a case of venting, or a genuine case of hardened supporters becoming so disenchanted with the club that they’re going to take an awful lot of winning back around. Events of 2020 have forced supporters to find different ways of fulfilling their weekends. It would be naive to think that fans will simply flock back to Valley Parade when the turnstiles re-open. And what effect does this apathy have on future generations of support? How many youngsters do you see wearing City shirts these days? Not many.
The performance of this club over recent years indicates that we’re systemically broken. That’s not a cheap shot, its a reasonable position to take given that we’re perilously close to the foot of the entire football league. So how do we fix it? Given that this forum is often derided for being nothing more than than a group of online cyberyobs, looking to do the club in at every opportunity, lets try and offer something constructive.
Whilst there are many things at the club to be righted, the main challenges can be based around 2 themes:
1. Our performance in the transfer market, over a number of years is shocking.
2. There’s a huge engagement problem between club and supporter.
Of the two, the first issue is the single biggest issue to be put right. Quickly. Very simply; buy better players and performances will improve, leading to higher and more positive levels of supporter engagement. There’s more to be done to engage supporters and rebuild trust, but improving the squad would certainly make inroads and buy time to reconnect the club and its fan base. Which is a roundabout way of saying: online supporter opinion and behaviour is a symptom of how bad we are, not the cause. If there’s one thing that Ryan Sparks needs to focus on, its in delivering a significant improvement in how we scout and recruit players. That’s likely to require the recruitment of a Director of Football and its one role that can’t be done on the cheap - Sparks needs to be into the ribs of Rupp and making clear that having a premium person in this role would pay its own way over a period of time.
In terms of playing identity, Phil Parkinson absolutely nailed the key point around what connects the City fan base with its team; effort and spirit. That’s not to say that skill, flair and talent aren’t important or welcome. Of course, they are. But this is a working class city and the fabric of this side needs to be based around never giving in, not giving opponents anything for free, being a difficult side to play against. Win, lose, or draw, our performance on the ugly side of the game should always stand up to scrutiny. As for the make up of the squad, there needs to be a clear plan. In a squad of 22, we should be aiming to have 4-6 seasoned professionals, with the right leadership credentials to maintain that spirit and hold the rest of the squad to account In the dressing room and on the pitch. We should reasonably expect to have 4-5 young lads breaking through at any time, and the rest of the squad should be made up exclusively of 21-26 year olds. Players with the potential and energy to grow as assets and further their own careers whilst driving the fortunes of this club. Our scouting ground should be the U23 sides of premiership clubs and leagues 2 and the conference. With the exception of a handful of seasoned pros, signing players as they drop down the leagues should be an absolute no-go. There’s no shame whatsoever in being a feeder club - which club isn’t? Establishing a model of selling players at the right time to fund further recruitment is the way to go, and as much as possible needs to be done to open up Mr Rupp’s wallet to bring this young talent into the club.
The salary cap presents an issue but our main sponsor is a car retailer and our owner is a multimillionaire. There are ways outside of the salary cap to make attractive offers - are we working with JCT 600 to provide lease cars to our players? Could Rupp be persuaded to drop a couple of million into property purchases in the area, which players could use rent free for the duration of their contract? Property appreciates over time, so Rupp loses no money but the dynamics of contract offers to players looks very different and much more lucrative if property rent and car costs are largely covered.
A significant emphasis on investing in scouting and recruitment is paramount. And whilst a more effective performance in the transfer market will translate into better results and greater supporter engagement; its not enough on its own. For many, we’re way beyond blind faith and lazy assumptions that we’ll rebound back simply because we’ve done it before. Supporters need to be given a reason to believe. A transparent admission on our failings and a clear view of a plan to move forward - with specifics and not cliches and platitudes, will be essential to building any sense of confidence that the decisions taken this week are a calculated outcome based on a robust and forward looking plan - and not a case of the club taking a cheap and easy route to addressing its problems.
The road back is going to be long and tough. And we might not make it. But if we don’t, it won’t be anything to do with Internet forums.
Like most, if not all City fans toiling in the midst of where we find ourselves, I’ve deliberated for a while on how best to express myself following events of the last few years. How has it come to this? I’ll delve into my thinking on that point a little later.
But can we can resolve one point right from the outset? This idea of ‘toxicity’ on Social Media - and specifically, it being the cause of what’s holding this club back? Put simply: it’s a nonsense. I could use more colourful language, but ‘nonsense’ will suffice, for now. This particular website was borne out of a group of fans looking for something different in how it engages online. Not ‘different’ in the sense of trying to find the downside in all things Bantam, as some would have people believe. Just different. The language may not be to everyone’s taste, and that’s fine. Call us ‘vulgar’ and that’s fair enough too. But to suggest that supporter behaviours are a barrier to potential investment in the club, or a factor in player performance - at a time when supporters aren’t even allowed in the ground - is both laughable and completely dismissive of just how much trouble this club is in. This website may not be to everyone’s taste and there are other forums not too far away away that may be suited to a more serene and family friendly audience. But there’s nothing mischievous or adversarial in what this website is ‘seeking to achieve’ because the simple truth is: we’re not seeking to achieve anything. We’re just a group of Bradford City fans who’ve grown tired of repeated, predictable failure and who see nothing wrong in demanding better. Even if that isn’t always expressed in the best way. We have no vendetta against the club or anyone within it. We’re just tired of failure - and more than that we’re tired of that failure being so absolutely self inflicted. Does anyone think that this part of our fan base takes any sense of joy whatsoever in what we’ve become? That we celebrate and enjoy each poor performance and result, each terrible signing? Disavow yourself of that notion. We’re desperate for success. In fact, not even success - we’re desperate for this club to to organise itself into a credible, modestly ambitious and professional outfit, to talk in terms of how we CAN move forward - not adopt this meek position of self surrender in ‘not being able to compete with X, Y or Z’.
I asked the question earlier, ‘how has it come to this?’. The answer to that question is grounded in many mistakes being made over a period of time. Catastrophe - the kind of which we’re very much staring into - rarely comes as a result of one specific thing. Its an accumulation of errors and mismanagement over a period of time. The sad reality is that we’ve become far too accustomed to mediocrity and the very limited objective of simply ensuring we have a football club to call our own, has become an entrenched mindset within the club and for many our fans. Its permeated the mindset of those running the club and its certainly a source of division for supporters. Indeed, I’d say that the catalyst that led to this website being created is that very desire, even a demand for greater ambition. Not recklessness. Not success at all costs or even an expectation of success; but at the very least, and attempt at success. An ethos that aspires for more and that looks to move beyond the failures of our recent history, rather than live in constant fear of repeating them. To have Leaders at the football club who judge the success of the club by how it fares on the field and - whilst being financially responsible - not by an obsession with budget deficits. A club who looks to engage its fans with transparency and clarity. We’re not asking for the earth, we’re simply looking at other clubs with lesser means and who appear to be much more organised and asking ‘why are we unable to compete with the likes of Harrogate, Newport, Salford’. Is that really too much of a stretch objective?
It doesn’t feel too much of a stretch. And yet, recent communications - which have been painfully rare - indicate a complete disconnect with the mood amongst the fan base. Indeed, there’s been a tone of contempt towards fans daring to demand a base level of planning, ambition and capability, lazily dismissing their opinions as being based on an assumption that ambition equates to a blank chequebook. Significant portions of our fan base have now clearly gone beyond anger and dismay, to simply being completely apathetic. Lifelong fans openly stating their lack of interest in the club and a lack of desire to return to the fold. The club needs to consider whether this is a case of venting, or a genuine case of hardened supporters becoming so disenchanted with the club that they’re going to take an awful lot of winning back around. Events of 2020 have forced supporters to find different ways of fulfilling their weekends. It would be naive to think that fans will simply flock back to Valley Parade when the turnstiles re-open. And what effect does this apathy have on future generations of support? How many youngsters do you see wearing City shirts these days? Not many.
The performance of this club over recent years indicates that we’re systemically broken. That’s not a cheap shot, its a reasonable position to take given that we’re perilously close to the foot of the entire football league. So how do we fix it? Given that this forum is often derided for being nothing more than than a group of online cyberyobs, looking to do the club in at every opportunity, lets try and offer something constructive.
Whilst there are many things at the club to be righted, the main challenges can be based around 2 themes:
1. Our performance in the transfer market, over a number of years is shocking.
2. There’s a huge engagement problem between club and supporter.
Of the two, the first issue is the single biggest issue to be put right. Quickly. Very simply; buy better players and performances will improve, leading to higher and more positive levels of supporter engagement. There’s more to be done to engage supporters and rebuild trust, but improving the squad would certainly make inroads and buy time to reconnect the club and its fan base. Which is a roundabout way of saying: online supporter opinion and behaviour is a symptom of how bad we are, not the cause. If there’s one thing that Ryan Sparks needs to focus on, its in delivering a significant improvement in how we scout and recruit players. That’s likely to require the recruitment of a Director of Football and its one role that can’t be done on the cheap - Sparks needs to be into the ribs of Rupp and making clear that having a premium person in this role would pay its own way over a period of time.
In terms of playing identity, Phil Parkinson absolutely nailed the key point around what connects the City fan base with its team; effort and spirit. That’s not to say that skill, flair and talent aren’t important or welcome. Of course, they are. But this is a working class city and the fabric of this side needs to be based around never giving in, not giving opponents anything for free, being a difficult side to play against. Win, lose, or draw, our performance on the ugly side of the game should always stand up to scrutiny. As for the make up of the squad, there needs to be a clear plan. In a squad of 22, we should be aiming to have 4-6 seasoned professionals, with the right leadership credentials to maintain that spirit and hold the rest of the squad to account In the dressing room and on the pitch. We should reasonably expect to have 4-5 young lads breaking through at any time, and the rest of the squad should be made up exclusively of 21-26 year olds. Players with the potential and energy to grow as assets and further their own careers whilst driving the fortunes of this club. Our scouting ground should be the U23 sides of premiership clubs and leagues 2 and the conference. With the exception of a handful of seasoned pros, signing players as they drop down the leagues should be an absolute no-go. There’s no shame whatsoever in being a feeder club - which club isn’t? Establishing a model of selling players at the right time to fund further recruitment is the way to go, and as much as possible needs to be done to open up Mr Rupp’s wallet to bring this young talent into the club.
The salary cap presents an issue but our main sponsor is a car retailer and our owner is a multimillionaire. There are ways outside of the salary cap to make attractive offers - are we working with JCT 600 to provide lease cars to our players? Could Rupp be persuaded to drop a couple of million into property purchases in the area, which players could use rent free for the duration of their contract? Property appreciates over time, so Rupp loses no money but the dynamics of contract offers to players looks very different and much more lucrative if property rent and car costs are largely covered.
A significant emphasis on investing in scouting and recruitment is paramount. And whilst a more effective performance in the transfer market will translate into better results and greater supporter engagement; its not enough on its own. For many, we’re way beyond blind faith and lazy assumptions that we’ll rebound back simply because we’ve done it before. Supporters need to be given a reason to believe. A transparent admission on our failings and a clear view of a plan to move forward - with specifics and not cliches and platitudes, will be essential to building any sense of confidence that the decisions taken this week are a calculated outcome based on a robust and forward looking plan - and not a case of the club taking a cheap and easy route to addressing its problems.
The road back is going to be long and tough. And we might not make it. But if we don’t, it won’t be anything to do with Internet forums.