The Next Barrow Manager

[The Real Slim Azza]

If money has been made available in January I am sure we would have got promoted.
Bennett looked worn out at times and did well.
In reality if we got promoted would massive investment in the ground have been required.
In the the owners cost benefit analysis sheet it might have shown he would have to spend more money for less return

Back to January eh Pedro, have you mentioned this before?

TBF, with all thats gone on recently I reckon January was the beginning of the end.

[MikeRenney]

It's gone stop banging on about it.

[MikeRenney]

Pedro / a former member of this forum
Ever heard of Peter Ridsdale. Sometimes you have to stop throwing money at things.
Possibly one club to take note of would be Norwich as a model to copy.
Owned by Delia Smith who as we know has millions not billions. They are run responsibly and are debt free. At times they compete with the billionaire clubs in the Premiership but if they get relegated they keep a tight ship regroup and try for promotion all the time keeping a sensible outlay which will not ruin them or the owner.

[The Real Slim Azza]

Pedro
Ever heard of Peter Ridsdale. Sometimes you have to stop throwing money at things.
Possibly one club to take note of would be Norwich as a model to copy.
Owned by Delia Smith who as we know has millions not billions. They are run responsibly and are debt free. At times they compete with the billionaire clubs in the Premiership but if they get relegated they keep a tight ship regroup and try for promotion all the time keeping a sensible outlay which will not ruin them or the owner.

Norwich are literally leagues ahead of Barrow. Its hard to compare both.

When comparing against teams Id suggest starting by finding a team to compare in this league . See what they do right and copy it, then put your own spin on it. Thats not happening at the moment and its just expected and hoped everything will come good.

[MikeRenney]

a former member of this forum
I am not talking about status I am talking about a method of running a club which is applicable at whatever level in the league you are. Now Barrow have a good budget for the league we are in but the temptation to throw even more money at the team as per last January must be resisted or you possibly go the way of Ridsdale.

[The Real Slim Azza]

a former member of this forum
I am not talking about status I am talking about a method of running a club which is applicable at whatever level in the league you are. Now Barrow have a good budget for the league we are in but the temptation to throw even more money at the team as per last January must be resisted or you possibly go the way of Ridsdale.

How do you know what the budget is?

[MikeRenney]

I don't other than the speculation on this website plus the report the budget going up a considerable percentage. A dangerous thing to believe I know. If it is not as good as I thought we are certainly overachieving. However, to run a sustainable club I thought the Norwich model seemed okay. The only snag is we need to get a lot more people to attend, perhaps you might have some ideas on this.

[The Real Slim Azza]

I don't other than the speculation on this website plus the report the budget going up a considerable percentage. A dangerous thing to believe I know. If it is not as good as I thought we are certainly overachieving. However, to run a sustainable club I thought the Norwich model seemed okay. The only snag is we need to get a lot more people to attend, perhaps you might have some ideas on this.

I think this seasons start for Barrow would be a perfect example of needing to strengthen. If the wage bills up by approximately 30% then you would expect more than the 1 win from 6 which isn't the 6th or above form the owner wants.
Fair enough there are players to come back in but its now a fresh start with a new manager having to come in and build a side from what hes got. He isn't going to be able to bring the players in that he wants to.

Best thing the club could do at the moment to get people in would be to do some market research and see how the bigger clubs get the fans in. Its a tough ask mainly because Barrow isn't even a second team to most football fans in LA14 outwards and its a bad location. Most people in this area go to the pub to watch a team they dont really have much of a connection with and outside of them buying a shirt every year and sharing posts on facebook slating their sides rivals.

I firmly believe getting kids interested as soon as is possible is the way forward. In the short period of time from the start of last season the club and its fans have now realised a winning side won't bring fans in. I think the clubs attendances should expect to stay the same the 1100-1300 (more if its a decent away following). Planning ahead now to get children interested in 4/5 years time is crucial.
I only really ever supported Barrow because I got a free season ticket as a kid because I played for Barrow AFC juniors. Most kids my age at the time thought Barrow was a bit boring, old fashioned, "Barrow are shit, support Man UTD".

Other than that, the only other way to get fans back in is to freshen the place up a bit. Its a shithole. Every Barrow fan knows Holker St is an embarrassment. Its aged enough now, its falling apart and is becoming a lot of hassle. No major positive building work has been done to the ground since the middle of the 1990's. I think there are a few fans out there that would be happy to keep Holker St the way it is for the next 100 years because of the memories. Well its time to build new memories in a fresher, more customer friendly environment.

Yeah fair enough, mistakes have been made in making promises and yes I understand a lot of work goes into this kind of thing. If it can't be done at the moment due to financial constraints then why not let the fans know? I understand that yes "Its his club, he doesnt have to" but for the club to move forward then it needs everyone to be heading in the same directions. The Board, The Players and The Fans.

[MikeRenney]

a former member of this forum
A good post and most of your points I would broadly agree with. Particularly on communication.

[finbar17]

Right a former member of this forum now you have given us that terrific post! Which it is every single piece of it is bang on the money especially down to the free season ticket. That too is the reason I am a bluebird. Could you please though just stick a massive pin in the above post and move forward a little more positively. And if not positively pro actively at least. Are you going tonight? Shirley you are attending this game?

[bigmac95]

This argument has been done so many times - if we can get people to agree on this when they can't agree on anything else - why haven't the club done it? Serious question? Why haven't they become more proactive in getting kids into the ground?

[russell_anderson]

a former member of this forum
A good post and most of your points I would broadly agree with. Particularly on communication.

I agree. I think (hope!) most people would agree with those points.

[Lowtower]

What happened to the junior sides that played in the local junior leagues ?

The age ranges start at under 8s now (i think) so we could potentially have 7 differing age ranges. Thats quite a lot of fans we could attract to the games on the back of it.

[Sefton Aubergine]

Martin Foyle may apply.

[PerthBluebird]

Another reason attendences are low as well is to do with shifts in the yard as well a lot of lads are stuck in work 3 o clock on a saturday, likewise nailed on the head by a former member of this forum decent post