Were no far forward than we were the day we purchased the mem. Though the debt charged against the mem at its current rate of growth will in the near future match the mems £worth
Pre WAQ
- we owned our own stadium but did little to it ourselves - unless the fans 50/50 shamed them into it or FL rules meant we had to (adequate floodlighting and minimum number of seats per capacity).
- we rented our training ground
- we had a small squad of playing staff where four or five had a definite prospect of bagging a decent fee if and when they moved on
- we had no reserve team
- we had a lean back room staff, even having kit managers doubling up as coaches
- we had a Manager pulling up trees and achieving noticeable progress in the face of adversity and building himself a reputation that would surely amount to some decent compo when he eventually left for greener pastures.
- we had lots of volunteers working for nothing or minimal wages helping to keep the club going
- apart from fan representation every board member represented an investor in our club - like them or loathe them.
- we were crippling ourselves with ever more debt chasing a chance to build a new stadium that involved giving up our rights to a lot of the revenue we needed access to in order to be self sufficient
- we had a lot of long suffering but devoted fans trusting the custodians of our club to do the right thing
now...
- we own our own enclosed field, have appointed project management and taken advice on what we can feasibly do with it within budget.
- we regretfully walked away from a stadium deal that did not meet our minimum requirements (although the fans/supporters were never informed as to what those minimum requirements actually were)
- we still own our own stadium, some basic upgrading of our existing stadium facilities have been undertaken to improve the truly cringeworthy matchday experience...but this has all the characteristics of putting lipstick on a pig. Dress it up how you like it is still a pig. Others liken it to polishing a turd. I see merit in both analogies
- we still rent various training facilities
- we have a larger playing staff but sadly only one or two probably have a transfer value.
- we have no well thought of manager worth compensation
- we have a reserve team
- we have very few volunteers left in situ, we have professionalised several roles/positions
- we have more support staff than I thought we'd ever have, this area has grown out of all proportion to any forward progress in any other aspect of running a football club
- there is only one investor on the board, the others are paid yes men. The secrecy at this level makes fans suspicious of whether we're debt free, racking up bills we can't pay or racking up losses that our one investor may no longer consider palatable and they may pull out including converting what assets they can back into cash...they might have to sell that enclosed field for example !
- we have a lot of long suffering but devoted fans trusting the custodians of our club to do the right thing
So the mantra they came in with was Evolution not Revolution but where it counts most commentators (including that shoddy excuse for a news paper the daily mail) have observed they have delivered "Stagnation not Evolution"
A little more well managed communication about future developments rather than hiding behind non-disclosure and stuttering confidence sapping uninspiring non-commital nothing statements may have helped on the trust front but at the moment it's a bleak midwinter for the blue half of Bristol.