Quote Originally Posted by SBRed48 View Post
Today's Chronicle report on the meeting--

"Parekh praised part owner James Cryne who designed the data led recruitment system the club still uses.
Parekh said "Barnsley Football Club probably exists because of James Cryne's model and the ability to re-sell players. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say the club might have folded if it weren't for that. James is still a shareholder but he is no longer working full time at Barnsley. He works for a different company right now."

James now works for Zelus Analytics, a sports analytics software consultancy company selling sports data insights to professional teams. It would not surprise me if part of BFC's £17 mill expenditure went towards Zelus Analytics.
Yes that information came through my questioning.

We have had a continuous stream of posts claiming the directors don’t listen.
I’m not accusing you of doing this SB - but some on here think the Forum is there so supporters can tell the directors what to do.
Thats not the purpose of the Forum.
It’s there so supporters can ask questions.

It’s commendable that we have directors willing to do this.
I can’t think of any other club that does it.

The Forum sometimes gets bogged down with supporters complaining about the price of a pint etc.
Hopefully this sort of thing will be dealt with at the FAB meetings giving the Forum more time to discuss more important issues eg
Can you explain the reasons behind the share issues ?
How does the new relationship with the Council work in relation to developing the ground?
Neither of these were asked because the 2 hour meeting ran out of time discussing what I would describe as trivia.

As for expenditure - it was explained that most of the expenditure goes towards the team - it’s a decision that has been made and they realise it is at the expense of doing other things such as improving the fans experience.
The only expenditure that is possible to cut is in buying players and paying players wages.
But fortunately for us supporters the directors are not prepared to do that.
I can’t imagine they will be pumping money into another limited company that they have no control over.
So why try to kick start a conspiracy theory???

The news about James working towards setting up analytical program's for other football clubs is nothing short of alarming.
Our advantage for years has been based on the genius of James Cryne to identify players going under the radar.
If that advantage is lost because other clubs are now using the same system then we are truly up the creek without a paddle.
And it may be the reason why Sormaz is struggling to get players in.
Hence the dip in recruitment this summer.

If I’d have known this about James before the Forum meeting then it would be something I’d have definitely asked about.