Quote: HamsterChops "IF we get Kear (and that's a bloody big IF), then the club could do worse than extend the early bird offer. Not a lot of people are going to want to pay £199 for a terracing season ticket, regardless of who the coach is. At the early bird price, after announcing John Kear, they may just shift a few more.'" As if by magic www.bradfordbulls.co.uk/article/ ... -extension

Quote: HamsterChops "IF we get Kear (and that's a bloody big IF), then the club could do worse than extend the early bird offer. Not a lot of people are going to want to pay £199 for a terracing season ticket, regardless of who the coach is. At the early bird price, after announcing John Kear, they may just shift a few more.'" As if by magic www.bradfordbulls.co.uk/article/ ... -extension

Good idea to extend but waverers will need actual concrete nailed on confirmation of a decent head coach in post rather than just paper talk - if they're to stump up the cash.

I'm ready and waiting.

Yeah it does boil down to Chalmers you are bang on the money. He is the decision maker and is responsible for the people around him. It does feel like he is holding the fort for someone and biding his time as his lack of interest in changing things that people have moaned about is very apparent

Please come on and name these broken promises, as I can't remember many tbh.

When did AC say that the ticket postponement was due a hold up on the coach announcement?

Where did AC say there would be a coach announcement by a particular date?

I'm just interested as I see (again) lots of folk jumping up and down on the doom and gloom bandwagon and I really don't see any reason to panic. Does the club not have a squad (weak and young as it may be), have they not signed up new players, could they not survive even if we appointed someone like Leigh Beattie or John Bastian?

I'm really sorry to say this but the biggest weakness this club have got at the moment is our own supporters.

And before any of you start tapping away saying that you've invested ££££'s into the club over x number of years, don't bother... we all have done that and we've all suffered as the club have dropped through the leagues. BUT there is still a club to support.

I don't follow Bradford because of who the owner is, I follow Bradford because I am Bradford through and through. Boycotting the club will only kill it off as there is nobody left who would take it over.

You say you might go watch another club instead and want AC to go... who is going to take over the club? Really, who the hell is there???

Nobody is the answer so until a time where you win the lottery or someone who has lost their mind decides to invest (which is highly unlikely) I'll keep following the club, I'll turn up and do my little bit.

In the meantime, so long, farewell and good riddance.

In his recent blurb didn't he say we are Caretakers of this Club, in other words like most Caretakers just doing the necessary to keep things working! A bit different to being a Custodian or Curator methinks!

Short memory?

Promise to those fans off here that met him that the media numpty and his constant mistakes would be addressed. Clearly hasn't.

Club would appoint a new head coach no later than 10th December. According to all reports, they haven't. They have people they're talking to at an advanced stage maybe, but not appointed.

Shirt would be out (when was it again, beginning of December? I forget now). They're not.

Not a broken promise, but the clear and blatant lies about the away shirt being different to what was advertised. (No matter how you argue it, they either mis-sold pre-orders in the knowledge it was the wrong shirt, or someone lied afterwards when they said it was always supposed to be that one).

Constantly telling us the visa situation with Toovey would be sorted in the next week/month. Constantly missing that deadline. (Admittedly probably out of their control, but if that's the case, don't mention any idea of when).

You could now add "you must buy by this date for early bird price" as a lie too. Admittedly we all understand why they've done that and don't disagree with it, but it's still breaking a previously announced deadline

That's just off the top of my head, I know there are more. Whether people should be boycotting or not over these things is obviously open to argument. You have your opinion, others have theirs. But to suggest you can't remember any broken promises or lies, then you may want to see a doctor about your memory issues.

I can understand your frustration but I’m glad you’re not in charge of selling season tickets

I’d say that the club has done very well indeed to keep as many supporters as it has. The fact that so many are prepared to whine on about it on here (I include myself) at least shows people care.

At the end of the day though there will never be enough “uber supporters” like yourself that will put up with any situation only to have a club. You need to attract some others to make it remotely viable. So the sceptics, the cynics and the glass half empty lot can’t be just dismissed however much you’d like to.

If the club would improve its PR then a lot of the ill feeling could be defused.

I see myself as a realist. I accept that Chalmers is the only show in town, but that doesn't mean I have to pretend to be happy about it or to not point out where I think things are going wrong. I'll still be up there for games next season, but on the subject of buying a season ticket - a big commitment money wise - I'm needing more evidence we've turned the corner before I stump up.

I would accept as the senior manager of a business that this is probably one of the most embarrassing aspects that could be improved. I think it has got better and up until recently hadn't been too bad. The main issue from what I can understand is that the website and social media has been outsourced to someone without the RL knowledge (or ability to spell it would seem). I think this whilst embarrassing isn't the most pressing issue for me and I would imagine that something has been said.



Who says they haven't appointed? "According to all reports" suggests that you are listening to Gledhill or T&A. But even if they haven't, the press release say they "expect"... this is very different to definitely will appoint.



Yes, this is true but the club have been badly let down by the supplier. I know this is also the case for at least one other club too.



This was months ago, I think everyone has accepted the club handled this wrongly at the time.



Again months ago



Standard marketing ploy used universally. Been done pretty much every year there was an early bird discount at Bulls... never heard you complain about it before.

There's a difference between saying something and actually acting on it though. Just telling the kid "Try and run the bloody spellchecker will you?" isn't the same as actually addressing the issue.




I've been very vocal on here previously that I don't believe a word either Gledhill or the T&A say. I'm going by actually respected journo reports. Like Ross Heppenstall in the Express, like Aaron Bower in League Express. Both saying discussions ongoing, but nothing finalised.





Maybe they have. So just come out and say so. If you make a promise and can't fulfil it because of someone else's issues, just make a small statement to explain that it's out of your hands and you're as frustrated as everyone else. Instead of just doing the usual Chalmers action of saying absolutely nothing and letting the fans get annoyed.




They're still examples of broken promises and lies. Which is what you were asking for. Months ago or not, that's the kind of thing when people start losing trust.




I've gotta be honest, I don't remember any previous Bulls early bird deadlines being extended. But I may well be wrong in that. Regardless though, it's still a case of giving a deadline and not sticking to it, even if the intentions are good ones.

I would fully accept that the club could do more to communicate with the fans should any issues arise (shirts being one) but there needs to be a point in time where the past is laid to rest and we try and work more positively moving forwards.

There are too many folk on here who were ready with the knives the minute the new owners were announced.

As I say in the post to Bullseye, Boycotting a club will not hurt the owners... it hurts the club and the fans.

I think this is the key for me. I don't agree with some of the stuff the OP says. I personally believe Chalmers is in it for the long haul. For me i think he's doing a good job on the basis that the on-field performance next year matters more than anything else. We simply have to get promoted next year. If we have a squad that includes Chisholm, Ryan, Oakes, Crossley and is coached by John Kear,than that is better than anyone could have asked for and puts us in a strong position. In that respect, he's worked miracles IMHO.

But as you say, the PR is key. The twitter account is beyond a farce. He spelled [iabsolutely positively[/i wrong in the tweet he typed, even though there was a picture of the two words underneath his typed tweet

The missed dates thing i think people are going slightly OTT. If we have to wait a week more after the 10th December if it results i JK being coach i'm ok with. I think lying is strong word, i don't believe Chalmers is trying to deceive us or deliberately lie to us, i just think it fits in with the "bad PR" when Chalmers puts a self-imposed end date on. It's just asking for trouble.

PR clearly isn't Chalmers strong point. I think he needs some help with that. Ryan Sparks was a huge off-field loss. When he was here under Green, it was brilliant, and you now see what he's doing with Fev, as Gavin Wilson is doing with York, it can make a big difference. Fan engagement. If we're hired one of those two, i think there would be a big difference in PR relations. Chalmers to run the rugby club (which i believe in the main, he's doing well) and get a good PR guy in. Preferably some one who can spell.

You can only judge them on what they’ve done and there’s room for improvement. They are dealing with a fan base that’s very short on patience – that wasn’t Cha-lo’s fault to begin with but goodwill and benefit of the doubt has been running low for years now.



I’d love to get to a situation like at 99% of other clubs where we can focus on the on field stuff. It would be easier if the club didn’t keep leaving themselves open to such criticism. The pedestrian way they’ve tackled the issue of head coach hasn’t helped matters. The PR vacuum doesn’t help either so the rumour mill gets going and the old worries and annoyances don’t take long to surface.

Chalmers is so weak in this area it’s an obvious area where he needs to recruit someone. Allowing the misspelled media releases to continue is like getting a constant reminder that slapdash amateurs that don’t care about the club are filling important roles. I contacted the owner directly about the matter months ago and didn’t get a reply. I wasn’t the only one either. The lack of a reply spoke volumes.

Were there people ready with the knives when they were announced? I confess I’ve been far more reticent with Cha-Lo than previous owners. That’s partly down to being left bruised by their predecessors and partly down to my research into their past businesses which left me rather worried.

Nothing would please me more than to see them turn this club around. I don’t enjoy posting this stuff. I’d much rather be enthusing about our chances next year. I’m sure I’m not alone. It’s doubly annoying when you see the great work going on with the youth side of things. So much positivity there. The back office needs to raise its game.

Fans always have expectations and when the dust settled and MR C, a reputable figurehead took control, most would have expected a turnaround in fortunes.Especially as sanctioned and advocated by the powers that be.12 point deficit did us no favours and little was done to placate supporters in that we seemed to lurch from one set back to another.Present non developments have merely added disillusionment to an emerging pattern of laboured communication.It's just that we needed to witness a professional approach to problem solving and in the running of the Club.Mistakes are unfortunate, but forgivable, but most of the time there appears little sign of such an approach.To develop trust, it is essential that professionalism is demonstrated.It is paramount in the present state of affairs, that fans are not alienated..they are the lifeblood of the Club after all.On the plus side, the continued emphasis on youth development is a great move by the owners.