The only reason they don’t invest is by choice and not by impediment. Their wealth means they can easily afford to support the club with modest investment (eg a couple of decent signings and new contracts for our better players). If they don’t have the desire to properly fund the club then they need to sell up. It all makes zero sense.

Any model whose main objective is to save money will always lead to ruin eventually. There may be times when they strike it lucky and get a good manager or sign a hidden gem, but the overall direction of travel will be downwards. This has clearly been the sticking point with our good players who are running out of contract. They have done well and understandably expect to be paid accordingly and the club refuses as its overriding objective is to scrimp and save. When does it stop? Today is Travis and Tronstad, but in 5 years will we be competing with Accrington to meet the demands of a league 2 plodder? They may try to advertise it as a Brentford model or a Sunderland model but in actual fact it’s a Venkys model of degradation. Those models take proper planning and some decent strategy and investment to it pull off. They need a strategy with a genuine desire for improvement as the main objective and not money saving. A completely flawed model that raises the ultimate question, why on earth do they bother?

The urgent priority when the season ended was to tie key players down to new contracts. Brittain, Batth, Travis, Tronstad and Dolan. These are the mainstays of the team that got us to the brink of the playoffs last season. Zero contracts signed so far and very little talk of anything imminent. Seeing as players have stated they want to stay, they shouldn’t be hard deals to complete. You have to assume the plan is to sell the players. More asset stripping.

He did a great job keeping Derby up and good on him. Infuriating/embarrassing that he is the second excellent manager we’ve had leave us in 2 years due to our moronic ownership. I dare say either coach could have seen us promoted to the promised land with just modest investment. The complete lack of ambition shown to not capitalise on that opportunity is appalling.

Danny Batth was imo one of the main reasons we did so well last season. Tying him down to another year is the most obvious decision ever and clearly he deserves to be paid according to his influence. Just get it done for the love of God.

There is only a trajectory of decline in any business when the primary objective is cost cutting. You can get lucky for a while, but in the end it will fail. I guess the intention is to keep unearthing cheap gems, but even if we manage to achieve that we would probably not tie down their contract due to penny pinching. They can rebrand their so called model as many times as they like, but the true model is to save money and it’s an utterly depressing state of affairs with a downward trajectory.

We could have funded the women’s team by getting rid of one of Steve or Pasha. It seems that everything is being cut apart from director pay.

Great post! This all begs the ultimate question ‘why bother owning a football club in the first place?’. Roundly hated by all and disinterested in football/the club/the town. It makes no sense.

April 1995 Rovers 2-1 Crystal Palace Kenna and Gallacher

I think he thinks he’s better than he actually is. Likeable and hard working but inconsistent and slow (despite looking like he should be fast). I think we are pretty much his ceiling and he will step sideways to another average championship side. Poor management to not prolong his contract though as his replacement will probably be inferior.

I think you’re probably right. What the morons should also have noticed is that Barnsley sit marooned in mid table in league 1. You might get lucky and buck the trend and have a good season when you underinvest, but the direction of travel will always be downwards.

Did I read this right? You think we are going to invest what’s needed to progress this summer? What part of the previous 15 years has made you think that? I know you don’t know how much money precisely as none of us do, I’m asking you what your opinion is? A ball park figure? I’d suggest if we need 9 new championship players we would need to invest a minimum of £15 million. I would be personally be astounded if we do that but maybe you know better than me.

Pleased for the players second half. Effort was clearly there and deserved the point. Cantwell, Ohashi and Tronstad stepped up. Might save Ismael I suspect and I’m sure Pasha et al will be relieved, but players and dare I say Ismael deserve some credit for that second half performance as I don’t think anyone saw that coming.

That was one of the better first halves under VI. Kept them out for many minutes there 👍

How much do you reckon a team would need to invest to sign 9 players of championship standard? How much would a team need to invest to sign 9 players who are good enough to challenge for promotion? I suppose looking at last year’s reported spend of £4.5 million would be the most reliable estimate of our budget and I’m not clear if that includes wages/agents fees etc. 9 players with a budget like that relies on some spectacular scouting and a lot of luck. Of course we don’t know what the budget is next season but in your opinion is it likely that we are going to invest the money that’s required to progress?