Imagine

Yet here we are just over 5 months after our best season for 21 years and our 5th highest league finish in our entire history.

 

Certainly not how it came across in the interview where the comment was made.
Unsustainable in the sense that the whole was better than the sum if the parts under the previous style rather than the current shambles?
I think it would universally be disagreed with as a statement.
It came across as we had to change the style because regardless of other factors if we can't sell players off we are failing in our primary objective. Now that may well be the most truthful statement to slip out if Oakwell for some time, but its not what the fans want to hear.
You were at the meeting and I accept you heard first hand the explanation. To me and I assume others it just felt like conformation of what we already knew. On the field success is a secondary objective of the football club and the priority is selling players for profit. Maybe that's the right thing to do for the sustainability of the club. Especially seen as the club has to pay to purchase itself for current ownership. I just feel less compelled to support a balance sheet.

 

We have always been a selling club - 99% of football clubs are. I think the majority of fans accept this.

What fans don't accept though is the constant lies and contempt towards us. The destruction of the match day experience. The cloak and daggers surround the closure of the West Stand. The mystery of the ownership. The ridiculous comments about styles of play and bids of players. 21 word statements. Travel chaos. Continuing catering shambles. 36 quid a ticket - in fact that probably doesn't count as pay on the day Reds fans weren't allowed to come to the Sheff Utd game.

In the grand scheme of things, nobody really cares that Mowatt and Dike have been replaced by Benson and Oulare - we do care about been taken for fools though.

 

Match day experience? There’s never been one at Oakwell. The new owners implemented one and for a variety of reasons had to suspend it. That’s coming back now. But they’ve done more than anyone else has.

Cat A game has always existed, and doesn’t affect most home fans. IIRC, if the away club reciprocate, then the category is lowered.

Travel chaos? You think Conway’s building the bridge for Network rail? Or do you think the club should ignore findings from the Manchester Arena bombing?

The board aren’t perfect - but some of these arguments are just bizarre…….

 

I'm at work at the minute so can't respond how I would like to, but I'll be along this afternoon to rip this post to shreds, as its so laughable I'm surprised you managed to type it.

I'm sure someone else will fill in the blanks to save me a job, to be fair.

 

Precisely. That's why separating the club into two parts was the worst idea ever. The club is worth f cuk all. That's what's caused all the hoo hah. The consortium didn't do their due diligence. The money pit from transfers has ran out. They can't acquire the land to make money. So they want to chalk f cuk on it. The clubs being run by season ticket sales and Sky money. Be interesting what happens when we go down.

 

Exactly this.

Every single business buys materials, makes something and then sells at a profit.

It's what a business is. Football is no exception.

But its all well and good, selling something for high profit, and upgrading your screens (if a cinema) or plates and chairs (restaurant) if you don't invest in the very thing people are attracted to (films in or chef/staff)

Get the main attraction wrong or go downhill because you aren't investing in the very thing people come to pay for, then you end up with no visitors.

I get the feeling that if our club could survive without the input of fans but continue to buy and sell players without said fans (become a wholesaler instead of a retailer) They would happily do so.

 

I don't think "interesting" is the best descriptor. Partly because it would likely be extremely painful.

The last time we went down, they kept the squad together largely. In doing so we made a very significant loss (circa £3.5m). We then went up and they generated a large number of sales. But over the last few years our cash reserves and our retained profits have been dwindling.

We can only assume similar has happened in 2020/21 which we'll see accounts for in Feb 2022 (most likely) and that would pretty much mean we've used up all our buffer.

To then get relegated and lose huge amounts of income and potentially the bad will hitting ST renewals, the club has two options. Inject credit or capital. Or sell assets.

 

Sell players nobody else wants.

 

I wouldn’t bother. The only thing you can come back on, is the fan zone isn’t run by the club. Granted. But they helped facilitate it. And did quite a bit in the family area upstairs too.

Don’t waste your fingers replying to the rest.

 

It’s true that we’ve always been a selling club and it’s almost certainly true that 99% of clubs are. But IMO we’ve changed from a selling club to a club,, selling. Like a shop. In the past I always believed that, okay, players leave for fees, but they left because it was unavoidable, we never wanted them to leave and did what we could to keep them, but it was inevitable because financially we couldn’t compete. When a football club becomes a de facto shop, as a supporter you can be forgiven for wondering what the point is.

 

I'd be astonished if we don't sell 2 or 3 players in January.

I think we've some good players. But they've been underprepared for the season ahead, the coaching clearly hasn't aided them to perform and I'd argue that even if only nominally, their effort and motivation levels have dimmed.

You add them all together and you see general underperformance. But if you took one of them and put them into a better environment with a higher level of fitness, skill and experience, and you'll see them look a better player straight away.

 

You're correct, the fan zone isn't run by the club. Yet you know that. And you tried to spin it as a positive. Even though its not. And the matchday experience is shocking. Run out of food. Run out of ale. If you park in the club car park then you're penned in for half an hour. You can only exit on foot a certain way. It's pathetic.

And obviously the things you mentioned in your post were the not the main issues. Obviously Category A games existed beforehand. But generally, the Category A was for hone fans. But not us, oh no. We suspend ticket sales to home fans, to try to cram in as many away fans as possible.

And the other stuff I mentioned? The stuff you handily forgot in your clever clogs reply? The actual important stuff? The mystery of the ownership? The inconsistency of closing the West Stand? The not taking a penny out of the club then using the club to pay 750k? (Even though I would have no actual issues with that it they'd be honest - it's their club, they do what they like).

Moving onto verbiage about style of play not working because it didn't make money. Last season was our 4th best league finish in over 130 years as a football club. But it was deemed unsuccessful. So instead of building on it, we ripped it up, appointed a bloke who was probably a yes man, but didn't equip him at all to do the job to the best of his ability.

Oh and whilst I'm on my soapbox, Reds Reserved Plus? Another lie. Now they're not available till Christmas allegedly. Conway has probably redeemed them to pay Cryne.

So whilst you can't blame The Club for everything (and it would be stupid to do so), there's a hell of a lot of problems that they've caused, lied about, then magnified.

And a lot of fans/customers or whatever we are, are rightly pissed off about it.

 

Excellent post.

 

Do you work for the club or are you closely connected to the club via a family member?

 

well said.

 

I'm no fan of the Crynes after all they are the ones who landed us with the 80% charlatans. As for spending time bashing them well maybe if they didn't keep giving me reasons to criticise them I wouldn't.

 

Well, if the team are behind after a poor pre season on things like fitness, they're not using the international break very well. Taking most of the week off according the Doug O'Kane.

 

I'm close to being lost for words!