Club statement

[boyliegladbach]

It's so the fans get the blame when they leave. However it wasn't the fans who said let's put a lid on it.

[Lowtower]

"We need supporters who convince their friends and co-workers to come down to a match on a Tuesday or Saturday so that we have crowds of 2,000 and not 1,000. All of these things are possible, and the next 12 months will decide what kind of club we want Barrow AFC to be."

I always struggle to get anyone that I know that has an interest in football to come along to watch a game.

Maybe start by restructuring the Corporate experience so we can entice folk to come on down and have a few drinks etc.

I think season tickets were 8 games free, we need some sort of other ticket offers to bring people along.

It can't just be "fetch someone along it will be reet" quote from the Cassons and expect us to use a Jedi mind trick to drag unwilling friends/colleagues along.

[Shaun]

We realise we've [SwearFilter] up, so we're off soon, in other words.

[tictactoe]

Paul Cassons speech at the beginning of all this was good nobody can say otherwise and everyone hoped he would deliver - he hasn’t and tbh it was plainly clear he didn’t have a clue.

We are going to struggle no question and how long we can continue in the way they want who knows but we’ll all be there cheering the lads on it’s what we know and love.

Buckle up everyone for a bumpy ride

[Kieran]

"We need supporters who convince their friends and co-workers to come down to a match on a Tuesday or Saturday so that we have crowds of 2,000 and not 1,000. All of these things are possible, and the next 12 months will decide what kind of club we want Barrow AFC to be."

I always struggle to get anyone that I know that has an interest in football to come along to watch a game.

Maybe start by restructuring the Corporate experience so we can entice folk to come on down and have a few drinks etc.

I think season tickets were 8 games free, we need some sort of other ticket offers to bring people along.

It can't just be "fetch someone along it will be reet" quote from the Cassons and expect us to use a Jedi mind trick to drag unwilling friends/colleagues along.

You also have to give people a reason to come down. The basics of that are a reasonably competitive team playing reasonably decent football, and decent facilities to watch it in. With a cutting back of investment on the scale that statement suggests we're highly unlikely to get either of those things.

I think ultimately this is going to end with the Casson's and the club parting company. If it is then I'd rather they just get on with it and do it now. I don't believe a word any of them say, their era so far has seen a moderate amount of success and a whole host of broken promises. I've got no faith or trust in them.

[Shaun]

He never did put that 'lid' on, did he.

[HenneysKnee]

Went to the rugby on Sunday; there was only just over a 1000 in. That’s just about the level the town will get to watch a sporting side regularly

[Shaun]

If you put on good football, people will always turn up. But when you have changes in managers, a team who can't win at home, and scrabbling around the relegation zone all season, what kind of crowds do they reasonably expect???
We blew it the season before by not strengthening in January when we had a genuine chance of getting into The Football League - which was the aim wasn't it.

[Lowtower]

Went to the rugby on Sunday; there was only just over a 1000 in. That’s just about the level the town will get to watch a sporting side regularly

Respectfully going to disagree with this.

The potential ,with the right marketing is 1400-1500, then build from there.

For the football anyway, For a regionalised sport such as rugby 1000 is pretty good going.

[mall]

I get the impression that they wouldn't have minded if we had been relegated. Who knows, maybe they wanted us relegated.
Pennock l'not hang around here with 'that' budget. Can see us picking the Mail up next and reading of his departure.

[DaveP]

Bayles & Shezza anyone?

[Backofthenet]

I didn't believe that next season would be worse than this one.....I was wrong....guaranteed relegation....is Pennock's 'staying up' list of transfer targets based on this new approach?

[Jim]

All very disappointing, but not surprising and quite understandable. I would rather we had a sustainable model even if that was National North level, rather than crash and burn, as other teams have done pursuing the dream.

I don't want to sound like a 'former member of this forum', but I couldn't help comparing Harrogate Town with Barrow. I heard an interview with their local reporter last week and he was asked what was their secret. He said the main factor was continuity - a Chairman and Manager who have been at the club several years and a business model of building slowly, a piece at a time. They have been knocking at the door of the top 5 in Nat North for several years, a bit like we used to do in Kenny Lowe's day, and they have gradually built the infrastructure and the team, which is one with no big pay packets apparently.

No point looking back at the mistakes we have made, but in my opinion the statement is probably a fair summary of what we need to do to keep the club afloat. I am assuming that Ady has kept his silence while waiting for this statement to be made, and that he will not continue as manager. It will be interesting to see who we appoint. It needs to be sorted quickly.

[Rob]

Barrow AFC did not ask Paul Casson to invest in the club. We finished a solid mid-table in the Conference North the year before he came in. We weren't money-bags and times were tough, but the club was just about managing at that level.

Paul Casson made a series of promises at this statement is an attempt to get out of those. I think the most arrogant part is:

In my brief time working in football, I have learned that a club that is reliant on a single shareholder cannot achieve lasting success. This is because we all work a little less hard than we should because we think the money will bring success and I have fallen into this thought process as well.

Well it was the Cassons who came in and created this management structure; not the fans, not the previous board, the Cassons, and we accepted their offer to do it based on promises which they now say they have no intention of keeping. The whole point was that they made these investments to get the club to a position where it was self-maintaining, surely? They're bailing on these plans a quarter of the way through that process because things are tougher than they expected. Pathetic.

Almost £4m have been ‘invested’ in the club and the return on that has been one promotion, a new boiler system, new floodlights and a nice 3rd round FA Cup tie

Frankly, that is a crap return on £4m. Oh, and note the scare quotes around 'invested'. A lot of this has been in loans - I won't be surprised if Paul Casson suddenly decides he wants his money back. He's barely better than S*****n V*****n.

[Jim]

Deleting my post made twice in error.