Re: Jake Mullaney : Tue Dec 08, 2015 10:33 am  

What are the Clough rumours? Must have missed those

[Bullseye]

Re: Jake Mullaney : Tue Dec 08, 2015 10:38 am  

The Clough rumours are just one here. Hopefully they’ll not amount to anything given that he and Sidlow are our best props with significant daylight between them and the likes of Crossley and Lauaki.

He’s of SL quality though so is likely to attract attention, same goes for Ferguson (if he can stay fit).

The loss of either would see us significantly weakened.

Re: Jake Mullaney : Tue Dec 08, 2015 11:49 am  

thepimp007 wrote:

To be honest its all very disheartening to see rumours coming to fruition that our front line players are leaving and not returning! Which makes me even more nervy seeing rumours of clough and ferguson considering we are stockpiling props and back rowers. To me this will be the last season we will see the club full time before eventually falling into championship no mans land. As it stands we havent a cat in hells chance of getting to the MPG let alone win the thing. It seems a lot is till to happen before the season kicks off and im genuinely concerned it wont all be good news and thats why if he has signed they may keep Sammut under wraps until all the bad news is out of the way to say here we have been trying

Clough is currently suffering from a virus that will see him miss the start of the season. I'd just like to wish him all the best on a swift recovery.

I spoke with Steve Ferres about the financial situation and any difficulties are all tied to season ticket sales. Steve and the club genuinely expect to sell between 4,000 and 5,000 at the premium price. If the club doesn't hit that figure, this will generate a shortfall in funding and will mean Rob Parker and Robbie Paul have the job of securing sponsorship to covering the funding gap.

[Bulliac]

Re: Jake Mullaney : Tue Dec 08, 2015 11:51 am  

Yeah, I agree Bullseye.

It is the season of 'not a lot going on', of course and isn't there some old truism about, "the devil finding jobs for idle minds" or something along those lines? There are sooo many rumours, both incoming and outgoing, so I guess it's qué sera sera..

[Bulliac]

Re: Jake Mullaney : Tue Dec 08, 2015 11:59 am  

Peter Hood wrote:

Clough is currently suffering from a virus that will see him miss the start of the season. I'd just like to wish him all the best on a swift recovery.

I spoke with Steve Ferres about the financial situation and any difficulties are all tied to season ticket sales. Steve and the club genuinely expect to sell between 4,000 and 5,000 at the premium price. If the club doesn't hit that figure, this will generate a shortfall in funding and will mean Rob Parker and Robbie Paul have the job of securing sponsorship to covering the funding gap.

Actually, whilst fully accepting that funding through memberships is better all round for the club, not least as the directors will know from the start just where they stand, what is just as important though, is simply bums on seats and feet on terraces, sales in the shop and the whole panoply of 'supporter involvement'. In short, we need at least the number we had last season and preferably a few more. Having them all signed up as members isn't the be all and end all, after all there are many who just can't commit that sort of money up front.

Re: Jake Mullaney : Tue Dec 08, 2015 12:14 pm  

Peter Hood wrote:

I spoke with Steve Ferres about the financial situation and any difficulties are all tied to season ticket sales. Steve and the club genuinely expect to sell between 4,000 and 5,000 at the premium price. If the club doesn't hit that figure, this will generate a shortfall in funding and will mean Rob Parker and Robbie Paul have the job of securing sponsorship to covering the funding gap.

Then massive good luck to Robbie and Rob, as I cannot see how we will sell 4,000 season tickets at those prices.
I have mine, but you are only going to get the ultra loyal crowd buying them now, as funds are still tight for most people and some folk just can't justify paying that amount out for second tier rugby. Loyalty unfortunately can only get you so far. The more fickle fans will certainly not pay it, as they'll compare to other clubs prices and refuse.

You have this catch-22 situation unfortunately. They can't fund a better team without more fans, but more fans won't turn up unless the team is better.

Re: Jake Mullaney : Tue Dec 08, 2015 12:25 pm  

I was going to say, if you can get that number of season tickets, you will romp away with the league. There is a thread on the virtual terrace for average home attendances last season. Yours was 5222 I think. Leigh had 37??. Appreciate away support from some teams is low. But season tickets at that level would be impressive. Hope you get there, but think it's optimistic.

Re: Jake Mullaney : Tue Dec 08, 2015 12:44 pm  

HamsterChops wrote:

Then massive good luck to Robbie and Rob, as I cannot see how we will sell 4,000 season tickets at those prices.
I have mine, but you are only going to get the ultra loyal crowd buying them now, as funds are still tight for most people and some folk just can't justify paying that amount out for second tier rugby. Loyalty unfortunately can only get you so far. The more fickle fans will certainly not pay it, as they'll compare to other clubs prices and refuse.

You have this catch-22 situation unfortunately. They can't fund a better team without more fans, but more fans won't turn up unless the team is better.

It's not so much Bradford being a better team, it's more playing other teams that are better and thus creating an actual contest that people are willing to pay to see. I know several people who've stopped going because they don't want to splash out all that cash to see a one sided contest most weeks.

[Bulliac]

Re: Jake Mullaney : Tue Dec 08, 2015 12:46 pm  

Marc Green said on Sunday that we sold around 3.5 k last year [first time I'd heard the 'official' figure to be honest] and that currently we're slightly ahead of where we were this time last season. For a guess I think equalling last season's total [members and walk-ups]would be more or less what I'd expect. Even if our proselytising makes some impact.

Re: Jake Mullaney : Tue Dec 08, 2015 12:50 pm  

I'd regard same as last year as a massive success.