SHA Small Heath Alliance

Brilliant Rags, well said.

Rags

I have despaired the last few seasons and thought we were going to be relegated this season until Knighthead took over. However I was looking for our new owners to act with loyalty and integrity. So whilst I have stayed mostly quiet now re Rooney, I am also switched off.

I think you should reconsider

1.. Knighthead is as good a "dream come true" as we are likely to get. Whilst others may be more impressed with superficial (but welcome and important) changes, for me the fact that we are now untangled from the previous ownership model is the most essential part. Whilst it was a work of genius (something only a very few on here appreciate) and it may, as mayor often points out, have been the thing that saved us from administration over the last ten years, it was also a barrier to new ownership and investment.

2.. I don't think (and have never thought) that Knighthead are here for the short-term. hopefully by hearing that enforced repeatedly by Wagner the doubters will ease off their criticism of the owners (Moxley and Simon Jordan especially - this means you).

3.. Ours is a TINY business. It may be very high profile but we only have a revenue of about £18 million a year, i think) -- i pay out DOUBLE that PER MONTH to contractors where i work. Blues probably struggle to be in the top 40 clubs in the country in terms of revenue - and we lose an absolute fortune as a %. We should be grateful and thankful that someone is prepared to appoint very talented and motivated (and very highly paid) people with the ambition to drag us up from being a basket case (not due to previous owners alone) to somewhere where we compete with clubs in football's elite. Even the bloody Vile have an annual revenue ten times ours, and they access the same demographic and geographic areas

4.. Yes, it's very corporate and very Americanised - but most large businesses are these days, the one i work for is - but it's up to us, the fans, to adapt and get used to that. I mean, who the feck else would have us AND have access to the funds we need

5.. linked to 4 ... there will be other things we don't like too that feel "unBlues". Probably a Peaky Blinders theme park feel - perhaps special guest appearances - things done solely for social media hits - but to get where we want to get, these days, there isn't much choice - you sell your soul to the Corporate Devil and ride on that wave. Is it the destination that's the over-riding factor or the fact that the journey may not be the most picturesque ?

6.. Then there were some things that Cook said last night that hinted at things i'd emailed him about (i can be polite and eloquent when i want to be) and he'd emailed me about (or perhaps he got someone to email on his behalf) ... and i know that i'm not the only person (by a long way) he has had correspondence with.

a) Yes, in hindsight there was no need for the words used in the statement regarding JE's dismissal - and there was no need for him to sound so ungracious. He believes that his second statement (and Wagner admitting that Knighthead wouldn't have bought Blues if it wasn't for JE keeping us up last season) have righted that. I'm not in full agreement

b) but i am in agreement with the view that it's their club, their investment and their choice to employ whoever they want and whoever they think will be best for the club in the long run.... and the way they think that the club will get to where they want it to get is investment, investment, investment.... and the effects on investment will always form part of all decisions they make

c) Cook is very clear that he doesn't like mediocrity, he expects everything to be a step in the direction of being world class and doesn't like "yes men". He is open to criticism (that doesn't mean abuse and booing which i'm also dead against) and will always take on board suggestions and ideas that clash with his own. In fact he agrees that questioning, doubting and searching for evidential proof is the way that all major companies (and societies) grow - in the same way that he questions everything, and every working practice, he has walked into at Blues.

As i said last night,

" as CEO he's the public face of the business and he acts similarly to many of the better CEOs i've worked for. It's a lot about pushing ambition, excellence, positivity, teamwork, and setting the goal and teaching the vision and putting a team in place to pass that vision and ambition through his team leaders or departmental managers all the way through the business. For me he's about as good as it gets in British football as a CEO ...."

So, to repeat myself, i think you should reconsider. We know here we want to be, and in the world as it is today, we have to accept that there will be things and decisions that we may not agree with but i think that fans are correct to trust Knighthead and that if we want to get to "that place" then we, as individuals, have to accept that things are being done by Knighthead for the right reasons (in their belief) and for the long term good of the club.

Rags, great post and I don't disagree with you at all but also I can't find one good persuasive reason I can abandon my own principles. In fact I agree it's their football club, I admire the ambition but on this one issue not the method. Doesn't matter who the manager was I was hoping to see more loyalty. But I'm only an occasional paying customer now so probably collateral damage. I will probably come round in time, I guess. There have been far worse instances like the sale of Latchford, Francis and Burns etc.

Rasputin

newblue

For all the complaints, however justified, about the sacking of the last manager and the appointment of a new one and the way it was done, I can’t think of a time when the board and management of the club has made such effort to comprehensively set out where they want to take it and us. If that’s Americanised, then I welcome that, because the disrespect our loyal supporters have been treated with for decades is the exact opposite. Whether we achieve it is another matter but I think it’s great that the ambition is there. It rarely (frankly if ever) has been and I go back even further than 68 (sadly).

A really good viewpoint, I like this.

I believe you are being genuine, and it’s appreciated. I think we have a lot to look forward to as a club.

Super Hans

You can’t compare the two after 11 games, you have to give WR this season and all of next summer.

Some are struggling to put the daggers away. They really don't want to give the manager a fair chance. It's disappointing.

I was just comparing the 2 managers. They're much of a muchness and there's hardly a fag paper between their respective records, neither of them are a Pep, in waiting.

Those aren't daggers, merely the parameters for success. If we are to improve going forward then 1.6 points per game is the par that Wayne must meet. Rooney needs to pull his finger and get a few more wins under his belt. First 5 have been written off, beating Wednesday is a step in the right direction, but more wins are a must.

What I would like to know from the open housers is if there has been any word from Knighthead concerning St Andrew's. Do they intend to merge the stadium and the club back into 1 entity, or will they remain split apart, for the foreseeable future?

foghorn leghorn

What I would like to know from the open housers is if there has been any word from Knighthead concerning St Andrew's. Do they intend to merge the stadium and the club back into 1 entity, or will they remain split apart, for the foreseeable future?

You need to remember that Shelby/Knighthead are still only minority shareholders in the club but 100% owners of the stadium company.

We don't want the stadium owned by the club itself until Shelby/Knighthead are majority shareholders...do we?

Excuse my ignorance, but what difference would it make? Surely the sooner the 2 are united, the better.

foghorn leghorn

Excuse my ignorance, but what difference would it make? Surely the sooner the 2 are united, the better.

Birmingham City Limited is owned (1) 51.7% by Birmingham Sports Holdings Limited, (2) 45.96% by Shelby Companies Limited and (3) 2.34% by minority shareholders.

BSHL is Vong Pech etc.

Do you want the stadium to go back (Albeit partially) into the hands of BSHL?

Did you stop supporting Blues when we sacked likeable Jim Smith and
replaced him with DVB Ron ?

BSHL won't be on the paperwork for much longer. This is a mere formality. The contracts drawn up by Wagner are water tight and Vong Pech can't get his dibs onto any kind of control, or influence over the affairs of BCFC, or the stadium. Shelby intend to buy out their remaining 51%, in a timely fashion.

I want to avoid any Sisu type of drama, cos they promised the world to Cov, during the honeymoon period. We all know how that turned out.

foghorn leghorn

BSHL won't be on the paperwork for much longer. This is a mere formality. The contracts drawn up by Wagner are water tight and Vong Pech can't get his dibs onto any kind of control, or influence over the affairs of BCFC, or the stadium. Shelby intend to buy out their remaining 51%, in a timely fashion.

I want to avoid any Sisu type of drama, cos they promised the world to Cov, during the honeymoon period. We all know how that turned out.

But until they do it is prudent for Shelby to keep the Stadium Company separate.

Rags

I have despaired the last few seasons and thought we were going to be relegated this season until Knighthead took over. However I was looking for our new owners to act with loyalty and integrity. So whilst I have stayed mostly quiet now re Rooney, I am also switched off.

I think you should reconsider

1.. Knighthead is as good a "dream come true" as we are likely to get. Whilst others may be more impressed with superficial (but welcome and important) changes, for me the fact that we are now untangled from the previous ownership model is the most essential part. Whilst it was a work of genius (something only a very few on here appreciate) and it may, as mayor often points out, have been the thing that saved us from administration over the last ten years, it was also a barrier to new ownership and investment.

2.. I don't think (and have never thought) that Knighthead are here for the short-term. hopefully by hearing that enforced repeatedly by Wagner the doubters will ease off their criticism of the owners (Moxley and Simon Jordan especially - this means you).

3.. Ours is a TINY business. It may be very high profile but we only have a revenue of about £18 million a year, i think) -- i pay out DOUBLE that PER MONTH to contractors where i work. Blues probably struggle to be in the top 40 clubs in the country in terms of revenue - and we lose an absolute fortune as a %. We should be grateful and thankful that someone is prepared to appoint very talented and motivated (and very highly paid) people with the ambition to drag us up from being a basket case (not due to previous owners alone) to somewhere where we compete with clubs in football's elite. Even the bloody Vile have an annual revenue ten times ours, and they access the same demographic and geographic areas

4.. Yes, it's very corporate and very Americanised - but most large businesses are these days, the one i work for is - but it's up to us, the fans, to adapt and get used to that. I mean, who the feck else would have us AND have access to the funds we need

5.. linked to 4 ... there will be other things we don't like too that feel "unBlues". Probably a Peaky Blinders theme park feel - perhaps special guest appearances - things done solely for social media hits - but to get where we want to get, these days, there isn't much choice - you sell your soul to the Corporate Devil and ride on that wave. Is it the destination that's the over-riding factor or the fact that the journey may not be the most picturesque ?

6.. Then there were some things that Cook said last night that hinted at things i'd emailed him about (i can be polite and eloquent when i want to be) and he'd emailed me about (or perhaps he got someone to email on his behalf) ... and i know that i'm not the only person (by a long way) he has had correspondence with.

a) Yes, in hindsight there was no need for the words used in the statement regarding JE's dismissal - and there was no need for him to sound so ungracious. He believes that his second statement (and Wagner admitting that Knighthead wouldn't have bought Blues if it wasn't for JE keeping us up last season) have righted that. I'm not in full agreement

b) but i am in agreement with the view that it's their club, their investment and their choice to employ whoever they want and whoever they think will be best for the club in the long run.... and the way they think that the club will get to where they want it to get is investment, investment, investment.... and the effects on investment will always form part of all decisions they make

c) Cook is very clear that he doesn't like mediocrity, he expects everything to be a step in the direction of being world class and doesn't like "yes men". He is open to criticism (that doesn't mean abuse and booing which i'm also dead against) and will always take on board suggestions and ideas that clash with his own. In fact he agrees that questioning, doubting and searching for evidential proof is the way that all major companies (and societies) grow - in the same way that he questions everything, and every working practice, he has walked into at Blues.

As i said last night,

" as CEO he's the public face of the business and he acts similarly to many of the better CEOs i've worked for. It's a lot about pushing ambition, excellence, positivity, teamwork, and setting the goal and teaching the vision and putting a team in place to pass that vision and ambition through his team leaders or departmental managers all the way through the business. For me he's about as good as it gets in British football as a CEO ...."

So, to repeat myself, i think you should reconsider. We know here we want to be, and in the world as it is today, we have to accept that there will be things and decisions that we may not agree with but i think that fans are correct to trust Knighthead and that if we want to get to "that place" then we, as individuals, have to accept that things are being done by Knighthead for the right reasons (in their belief) and for the long term good of the club.

Rags, great post and I don't disagree with you at all but also I can't find one good persuasive reason I can abandon my own principles. In fact I agree it's their football club, I admire the ambition but on this one issue not the method. Doesn't matter who the manager was I was hoping to see more loyalty. But I'm only an occasional paying customer now so probably collateral damage. I will probably come round in time, I guess. There have been far worse instances like the sale of Latchford, Francis and Burns etc.

I know, and thanks for answering honestly.

But .......... if you were shagging Nicole Scherzinger you wouldn't kick her out of bed for having dirty toenails

GBlue

Did you stop supporting Blues when we sacked likeable Jim Smith and
replaced him with DVB Ron ?

Jim Smith's time had come to an end and we were struggling with him in charge. There's a major difference there. Also it's not about who the manager is/was.

GBlue

Did you stop supporting Blues when we sacked likeable Jim Smith and
replaced him with DVB Ron ?

Jim Smith's time had come to an end and we were struggling with him in charge. There's a major difference there. Also it's not about who the manager is/was.

I dont think its a major difference.

At Norwich a number of our fans were chanting "we want our money back" - Eustace's post match interview was him saying

"Norwich are a top side"....they aren't. The week before Plymouth put 6 past them and we were the only team they beat in 6 game.

Eustace did a decent job but he was never a great coach and was always on borrowed time.

You don't seem to get it.

I'm not saying JE was great, it's the principle. If somebody who is in charge is performing at a decent level you don't sack them to get your own man in.

People then say well that's football but to me it doesn't mean it's right.

And don't get me started on changing tactics a quarter into the season too.

For one, I admire your principal and the stance you have made. It's an easy position to take when results have been so poor, but would you feel the same if rooney had won a few more and kept up the early season momentum?