al_quaker wrote:darlo_baron wrote:
Withdrawing your funding, therefore impacting the club's finances, because you don't like a manager is Raj Singh behaviour.
I'm not sure it's quite the same. Cancelling BtB midway through a season definitely is Singh behaviour. Choosing not to subsidise the club next season while budgets for next season are still being sorted out is somewhat different in my opinion.
Would also point out that Raj Singh didn't give a toss about the club. The fans investing or considering investing in the B-T-B do, and are motivated by wanting to see the club succeed, unlike Singh who was only interested in money.
So those comparing B-T-B waverers to Singh, Houghton and Reynolds can do one as far as I'm concerned. It's bully-boy behaviour, trying to shame people into investing, and it's out of order.
The big issue here to me seems to be one of accountability. By even the club's admission, the B-T-B helped contribute to TW having a competitive budget in the summer, yet with two and a bit months to go, we're not even clear of the relegation fight. TW has also admitted allowing players (whose wages fans have contributed towards) to skive training. And just generally there's been a malaise around the club - look at the fall in attendances, particularly the Brackley game.
So in terms of accountability, some fans are thinking: "Why should he just get my money again? Why will things be different this time?" He's not done a good job, yet seems to have no repercussions to that. Reinvesting will be seen as rewarding failure.
That's why I'm choosing to put things on hold for now. Do I want to hand money over to some who's previously wasted it away? No. But I'm also conscious taking money away from the club isn't helping matters. I'd be a lot more comfortable knowing the money will not be wasted, which is why I'd rather it go towards the infrastructure, than into TW's hands.
Spyman raises the point that many transfers aren't successful, and this has always been the case. Surely the difference this time though is fans are directly involved here. The aspiration should be every signing he makes is a success. TW is, or should be, accountable to the owners - who are the supporters. If this isn't happening, something is going wrong fundamentally. That's where the concern and doubts about renewing come from.
I also think Ghost_of_1883 is being disappointingly patronising by saying "impulsive" kids are the ones most likely to not invest. There's concern about TW across a broad cross-section of our supporters. Just look at the falling attendances for one thing (and this is a much bigger issue than B-T-B, but that's for another thread).
And one other thing, if people decide not to invest because they feel TW has wasted money in the past, that's on TW, not on the individual fans. Pointing the finger at supporters who put money and saying: "You're responsible if things go wrong" is not on in my opinion.