David Blunt

[Campsall rover]

Anyone criticising Club Doncaster really needs a good shaking.

Club Doncaster brings in revenue from a wide range of commercial activities. Most of which goes into the Football budget which supplements the other income that comes from the EFL, gate receipts, advertising, sponsorship etc.
It is not a drain on finances. Quite the opposite.
I can’t get my head around the fact there are still some people who don’t get it.
It’s as simple as that. Without Club Doncaster we would not be sustainable financially. 

The current problem is TB is not putting in any extra funds which would enable the playing budget to be top 3 in this league or as it transpires not even top 7
TB is covering the extra overheads the club has at present such as the hugely increased Electric bills.

Blunt is running a very tight ship and that’s all well and good having a great looking balance sheet but if that is at the expense of having a successful football team then there is a problem long term. Even less than long term.
The worse the performances on the field the less interest there is for fans to buy season tickets. Less interest for the casual fan to buy tickets. Less interest from our younger fans and potential fans of the future.
Business’s want to be associated with success not failure no they will withdraw sponsorship, decide not to spend on advertising. Commercial revenue will decrease at an alarming rate.
All these factors means reduced revenue which in turn means either large amounts of money are needed from the pockets of the owners or the playing budget is reduced even further.

So we would have a spiral of the same year after year which will end where?

What’s the answer.
1) Get an experienced Manager
2) Give the Manager the budget he needs to give the Club the best opportunity of success.

Success = more revenue.   

This is just plain business sense, it is not rocket science.
If you invest in your staff and bring in the best you can possibly get and invest in the playing squad then you give yourself the chance to make the finances even stronger.

So what’s the game plan here from our board?
They are all astute business men very successful ones.

I simply do not understand what their end game is,
What is the benefit to them, the fans, the city in abject failure which they are presiding over at present.

Am I missing something. 

It has now gone 7.30 pm Sunday eve and we still haven’t heard a squeak regarding DS

[Sprotyrover]

Sorry are we living in the same Dimension, I see us with 51 points in the Bottom Division, Back where we were in 2003! how is that progress.
If we were in 51 points in the Championship, I would not be calling for heads to roll

[Glyn_Wigley]

Sorry are we living in the same Dimension, I see us with 51 points in the Bottom Division, Back where we were in 2003! how is that progress.
If we were in 51 points in the Championship, I would not be calling for heads to roll

Tilt at windmills all you like, but make sure you're tilting at the right ones. Club Doncaster isn't the right windmill by any stretch.

[Draytonian III]

Has anyone on here heard about any potential investors ?
Serious investors not random names like Mike Ashley’s future son in law and Lord Kirkham, serious investors

[Campsall rover]

Sorry are we living in the same Dimension, I see us with 51 points in the Bottom Division, Back where we were in 2003! how is that progress.
If we were in 51 points in the Championship, I would not be calling for heads to roll

Who is that in reply to?

If it’s me then have you read what i posted. Club Doncaster brings in revenue, it doesn’t take it out.
Club Doncaster is nothing whatsoever to do with us have only 51 points from 39 games in league 2.

That’s entirely down to rookie managers and a playing budget that is apparently now below what is required for automatic promotion and the play offs.
A good manager though would have got us in the top 7 imo. A our budget in August was around 5th to 7th but since the turn of the year has fallen to mid table. This is a very poor league

Which 7 clubs had a better squad than us in August or for that matter in January.
Yes it’s easy to say our players are not good enough now but the fact is this Coach (can’t call him a Manager, can’t really call him a coach.) has turned them into a bunch of quivering wrecks with his flawed  way of playing, his tactics, formation and inability to motivate.

Only Bradford, Stockport & Leyton Orient, possibly, Salford & Northampton imo have stronger squads on paper. Possibly we are on par with Mansfield. We should be 6th or 7th, above Carlisle and and the 3 over achieving clubs Stevenage, Barrow & Sutton who all are where they are due to Managers getting the very best out of what they have.

[Donny Exile in York]

Sorry are we living in the same Dimension, I see us with 51 points in the Bottom Division, Back where we were in 2003! how is that progress.
If we were in 51 points in the Championship, I would not be calling for heads to roll

Who is that in reply to?

If it’s me then have you read what i posted. Club Doncaster brings in revenue, it doesn’t take it out.
Club Doncaster is nothing whatsoever to do with us have only 51 points from 39 games in league 2.

That’s entirely down to rookie managers and a playing budget that is apparently now below what is required for automatic promotion and the play offs.
A good manager though would have got us in the top 7 imo. A our budget in August was around 5th to 7th but since the turn of the year has fallen to mid table. This is a very poor league

Which 7 clubs had a better squad than us in August or for that matter in January.
Yes it’s easy to say our players are not good enough now but the fact is this Coach (can’t call him a Manager, can’t really call him a coach.) has turned them into a bunch of quivering wrecks with his flawed  way of playing, his tactics, formation and inability to motivate.

Only Bradford, Stockport & Leyton Orient, possibly, Salford & Northampton imo have stronger squads on paper. Possibly we are on par with Mansfield. We should be 6th or 7th, above Carlisle and and the 3 over achieving clubs Stevenage, Barrow & Sutton who all are where they are due to Managers getting the very best out of what they have.

For all your backslapping of the current squad on paper Campsall, we have absolutely nothing up front, barring Miller when not injured and not going on a 3 month barren spell, other than him, where is the goal output in our current squad to win us promotion? Hirst scores a few from out wide, Molyneux has been a big let down, the other strikers non existent, and only Biggins contributing from midfield with goals output, so i really don't think there is anything like enough goals up front or in the squad in general to be genuine promotion candidates, and goals and quality attacking players cost money!

Not having a go Campsall, just reigning in expectations of this current squad, there are no goals in it, even if players were firing, maybe some of them potentially in future seasons, but they are nowhere near individually or collectively having a consistent goal output for us to be challenging.

[Campsall rover]

Sorry are we living in the same Dimension, I see us with 51 points in the Bottom Division, Back where we were in 2003! how is that progress.
If we were in 51 points in the Championship, I would not be calling for heads to roll

Who is that in reply to?

If it’s me then have you read what i posted. Club Doncaster brings in revenue, it doesn’t take it out.
Club Doncaster is nothing whatsoever to do with us have only 51 points from 39 games in league 2.

That’s entirely down to rookie managers and a playing budget that is apparently now below what is required for automatic promotion and the play offs.
A good manager though would have got us in the top 7 imo. A our budget in August was around 5th to 7th but since the turn of the year has fallen to mid table. This is a very poor league

Which 7 clubs had a better squad than us in August or for that matter in January.
Yes it’s easy to say our players are not good enough now but the fact is this Coach (can’t call him a Manager, can’t really call him a coach.) has turned them into a bunch of quivering wrecks with his flawed  way of playing, his tactics, formation and inability to motivate.

Only Bradford, Stockport & Leyton Orient, possibly, Salford & Northampton imo have stronger squads on paper. Possibly we are on par with Mansfield. We should be 6th or 7th, above Carlisle and and the 3 over achieving clubs Stevenage, Barrow & Sutton who all are where they are due to Managers getting the very best out of what they have.

For all your backslapping of the current squad on paper Campsall, we have absolutely nothing up front, barring Miller when not injured and not going on a 3 month barren spell, other than him, where is the goal output in our current squad to win us promotion? Hirst scores a few from out wide, Molyneux has been a big let down, the other strikers non existent, and only Biggins contributing from midfield with goals output, so i really don't think there is anything like enough goals up front or in the squad in general to be genuine promotion candidates, and goals and quality attacking players cost money!

Not having a go Campsall, just reigning in expectations of this current squad, there are not goals in it, even if players were firing, maybe some of them potentially in future seasons, but they are nowhere near individually or collectively having a consistent goal output for us to be challenging.

We would have a goal output if we played attacking football.
Miller scored 9 goals in the 1st 19 games didn’t he.  8 of those were before late October under GmS

It’s the formation and style of football that is the problem DEiY
There are goals in this team if he set the team up as he should be doing.
Miller, Hurst, Molyneuex, Biggins & Rowe if deployed as they should be should all have between 7/8 and 18/20 goals each in this league this season.
Anderson, Olowu, Close, should be getting 3/4 each also. Even the full backs should chip in with 1/2 each

Sorry there is no excuse whatsoever for this lack of goals. We don’t create chances so we are not going to score are we.
Sorry this is down to to total tactical ineptitude, stubbiness and his arrogance for not changing from what is so obvious to all but himself.

[Campsall rover]

Yes we need 3/4 players with steel next season if we are going to be top 3

This coach though still needs replacing as I don’t trust his tactical acumen to implement a system to produce attacking winning football.

[Donny Exile in York]

Sorry are we living in the same Dimension, I see us with 51 points in the Bottom Division, Back where we were in 2003! how is that progress.
If we were in 51 points in the Championship, I would not be calling for heads to roll

Who is that in reply to?

If it’s me then have you read what i posted. Club Doncaster brings in revenue, it doesn’t take it out.
Club Doncaster is nothing whatsoever to do with us have only 51 points from 39 games in league 2.

That’s entirely down to rookie managers and a playing budget that is apparently now below what is required for automatic promotion and the play offs.
A good manager though would have got us in the top 7 imo. A our budget in August was around 5th to 7th but since the turn of the year has fallen to mid table. This is a very poor league

Which 7 clubs had a better squad than us in August or for that matter in January.
Yes it’s easy to say our players are not good enough now but the fact is this Coach (can’t call him a Manager, can’t really call him a coach.) has turned them into a bunch of quivering wrecks with his flawed  way of playing, his tactics, formation and inability to motivate.

Only Bradford, Stockport & Leyton Orient, possibly, Salford & Northampton imo have stronger squads on paper. Possibly we are on par with Mansfield. We should be 6th or 7th, above Carlisle and and the 3 over achieving clubs Stevenage, Barrow & Sutton who all are where they are due to Managers getting the very best out of what they have.

For all your backslapping of the current squad on paper Campsall, we have absolutely nothing up front, barring Miller when not injured and not going on a 3 month barren spell, other than him, where is the goal output in our current squad to win us promotion? Hirst scores a few from out wide, Molyneux has been a big let down, the other strikers non existent, and only Biggins contributing from midfield with goals output, so i really don't think there is anything like enough goals up front or in the squad in general to be genuine promotion candidates, and goals and quality attacking players cost money!

Not having a go Campsall, just reigning in expectations of this current squad, there are not goals in it, even if players were firing, maybe some of them potentially in future seasons, but they are nowhere near individually or collectively having a consistent goal output for us to be challenging.

We would have a goal output if we played attacking football.
Miller scored 9 goals in the 1st 19 games didn’t he.  8 of those were before late October under GmS

It’s the formation and style of football that is the problem DEiY
There are goals in this team if he set the team up as he should be doing.
Miller, Hurst, Molyneuex, Biggins & Rowe if deployed as they should be should all have between 7/8 and 18/20 goals each in this league this season.
Anderson, Olowu, Close, should be getting 3/4 each also. Even the full backs should chip in with 1/2 each

Sorry there is no excuse whatsoever for this lack of goals. We don’t create chances so we are not going to score are we.
Sorry this is down to to total tactical ineptitude, stubbiness and his arrogance for not changing from what is so obvious to all but himself.

But we weren't prolific under McSheffrey either despite being alot more direct. Any hopes we had were gone as soon as Tomlin proved he couldn't consistently perform.

I know what your saying but last time we got promoted we had Marquis, Williams, Rowe and Coppinger all in double figures.. this lot aren't a patch on them.. when we won the league in 03-04 and i accept that is scarily 20 years ago nearly, we had Blundell, Chris Brown, Leo Fortune West and McIndoe in double figures, and Paul Green and Akinfenwa also chipping in significantly! The current team have got potential but also inconsistency irrespective of formation and tactics.. and that is said not supporting the current shot shy tactics.

[ravenrover]

Whilst I am in the "got to go" camp I get the feeling it's not going to happen. Certainly not this side of the seasons end, main reason is there is nothing to gain by sacking him we're not going up or down so leave it as it is. It matters to us as fans how we end our season but does it matter to those on control, it would appear not.

[donnybez]

Club Doncaster is not the problem, its been a success and Baldwin deserves credit for it. Its a great bit of income generation and soft power generation.

The problem is that the boards enthusiasm doesn't extend to the success of its sporting teams in that its funding and decision making has fallen woefully short for 2 years leading to a drastic decline.

I think people see the care and attention given to CD and point the finger at it, and not at the problem that's lead to that effect

[Alan Southstand]

Agreed Donnybez, imho CD keeps us ticking over and that’s it. Trouble is, we need such a massive budget boost to allow us to build the squad back to any sort of level to be able to compete at the top end of this league. It has become destabilised by underfunding over the last few seasons.

[EasyforDennis]

Maybe at the Grimsby game DB could wear a rovers shirt along with a red & white woolly hat and we could play "Where's Wally"?

[Glyn_Wigley]

Agreed Donnybez, imho CD keeps us ticking over and that’s it. Trouble is, we need such a massive budget boost to allow us to build the squad back to any sort of level to be able to compete at the top end of this league. It has become destabilised by underfunding over the last few seasons.

CD has been a success in generating the £2mill pa that Rovers used to lose. However, there's nothing to say it can't carry on increasing revenues and be the source of future Rovers budgets.

But hey, some people want to get rid of it!

[Filo]

Still not a word on the current situation from our non working invisible Chairman!

[drfchound]

It is hard to believe that Blunt doesn’t see fit to make an appearance and try to allay supporters fears.
He must think everything is going well.

[donnybez]

It is hard to believe that Blunt doesn’t see fit to make an appearance and try to allay supporters fears.
He must think everything is going well.

In his mind I guess he'd reply with why would he?
Copps is in charge of footballing matters so in his mind hes overseeing Copps. GB oversee's CD and thats running smoothly - though I'm sure as Chairman he'd have some oversight of that too.

This isn't me condoning him btw, I'd sooner see the back of him. I'm just trying to understand the flawed logic at play in the club right now.

[Filo]

I wonder if Blunts position is salaried?

[silent majority]

I wonder if Blunts position is salaried?

No, it’s not.

[Filo]

I wonder if Blunts position is salaried?

No, it’s not.

In that case, what is he getting out of it? Apart from the kudos of being a football club chairman, because he certainly appears to do nothing that a chairman should be doing

[Chris Black come back]

He has a sizeable stake in the club (? Or Club Doncaster).

[Filo]

He has a sizeable stake in the club (? Or Club Doncaster).

Both I believe

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/idlpqSoVOTylcZZR5bURnrxtF20/appointments

[Avsuptem]

He has a sizeable stake in the club (? Or Club Doncaster).

Both I believe

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/idlpqSoVOTylcZZR5bURnrxtF20/appointments

This does not detail his financial stake in the company only that he is a stakeholder in the sense that anyone who works for the company is although especially so at Director level. He could be a Director without being a shareholder.

It would be interesting to know what his shareholding is, also details of any loans, paid up capital etc.

[EasyforDennis]

He has a sizeable stake in the club (? Or Club Doncaster).

Both I believe

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/idlpqSoVOTylcZZR5bURnrxtF20/appointments

This does not detail his financial stake in the company only that he is a stakeholder in the sense that anyone who works for the company is although especially so at Director level. He could be a Director without being a shareholder.

It would be interesting to know what his shareholding is, also details of any loans, paid up capital etc.

I believe he was given 1/3rd of the shares by TB

[Avsuptem]

I wonder if Blunts position is salaried?

No, it’s not.

It may not be salaried but he could be receiving benefits indirectly perhaps by channeling expenses incurred in running the company eg vehicle, accommodation, travel, entertaining expenses. He could also be receiving a salary from a company sub contracted to Doncaster Rovers Limited for any services provided which would be perfectly legitimate if the conflict of interest had been declared and approved by the board.

I am not saying he is, personally I doubt that he is to any extent, only that he could be and we would not necessarily know.

[Avsuptem]

  'I believe he was given 1/3rd of the shares by TB'

If this is the case the question arises of what is the value of the shares, are they merely allocated and unpaid or have they been paid up and, if so how were they paid up ?

Knowing this would provide a more accurate view of his financial stake in the club.

[Filo]

  'I believe he was given 1/3rd of the shares by TB'

If this is the case the question arises of what is the value of the shares, are they merely allocated and unpaid or have they been paid up and, if so how were they paid up ?

Knowing this would provide a more accurate view of his financial stake in the club.

A bit of clarity might well give us an idea as to why he stays in position but doesn’t appear to do or say anything

[NickDRFC]

He has a sizeable stake in the club (? Or Club Doncaster).

Both I believe

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/idlpqSoVOTylcZZR5bURnrxtF20/appointments

This does not detail his financial stake in the company only that he is a stakeholder in the sense that anyone who works for the company is although especially so at Director level. He could be a Director without being a shareholder.

It would be interesting to know what his shareholding is, also details of any loans, paid up capital etc.

I believe he was given 1/3rd of the shares by TB

Bramall, Baldwin and Blunt each own 1/3 of the shares in Club Doncaster as of September 2020 (see link below). When we’ve had such significant shareholding change before (like Watson and Bramall joining the board initially), I believe that it’s been via a share issue which dilutes everyone else’s holding and the money goes straight into the club. I could be wrong but I think these shares were gifted to Baldwin and Blunt (ie they didn’t invest themselves) - I don’t think it was ever publicly disclosed (again, could be wrong).

Blunt must have put some money in at some stage, though, as in the last set of accounts there’s a loan for £140k owed to him. There’s also a loan for £3.5m owed to Bramall - I’d thought all the loans had been converted to equity but maybe that wasn’t until the last financial year.

https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/document-api-images-live.ch.gov.uk/docs/XE3NimlQMSNoXnnH3FSsyv0hQUcPVybHQy3didccEcs/application-pdf?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=ASIAWRGBDBV3M5UC7CVN%2F20230403%2Feu-west-2%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20230403T163602Z&X-Amz-Expires=60&X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEAAaCWV1LXdlc3QtMiJHMEUCIFTdd4yvhi6jPA8M%2BtoPi2AQKWP6ZVS%2Ft62lTR1KwNtGAiEAgtdn8zcDA6ry%2Bpk5JCnTmHbmf9%2FZscEsfC2G4vIq6McqxAUI2f%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FARAEGgw0NDkyMjkwMzI4MjIiDEIHfacSHkG8MisiESqYBTCSxFovYYUo36EaGYi7LXpyRjW4hZnBm936Kiu2WoU6HxBJpGwxX%2BwRZPPNn0E0pS6ihvIu8TyGwt6rjTLLWQehKR0J%2BOW9E12vb%2Bom3p5K0KsPUQ2VWHqDdWD3GvtXnaZwIkjHgDXTI5egqh%2FXvWupqrqbxHN2LL2w0UhrAnkPaWunELChP2lBQTH4tPPkICLGdTOiB%2B46fn7KM3Phf2gNya7%2FMJtfK%2BajS8JHuF2bqBlVGAFh%2FR47aZtHMWE7ptGrMji9c6CYYgTf4YIJm%2FsP6%2F8SAFTGwaX9Eaa7B8xx%2FZP2CwSFNCzg5lskXtkN3SJf30TpzrBtSCcOgisiPeoN1DRTJ49d1mHs%2FpPVE3idYN3zC56Nz7MIMiHt4tAXW35DtbqZfz7jVQGQOZK0OBkr9TCGzNGyC%2FbJGocpImpEuQaeVgQTtwitIaCU8vVDcavRHF3saNSzEZK7QtPfHS1HY1LOAT1FKfj9i4pxnIWLrezQjN58%2BogpUj%2BKPuUFkNcnVDkQEKGW%2FXOSvoOPSyULKxbC9v%2FZVFjsld8o6ZDpjn1mvmU13LZFfXYenuAICeMn3%2FEQb4ZFilwdYxBEBP%2F1%2BhmlRxfuShjDpUwIksr62MuAqHuPTnH6jnLdEQkV33ua7Lw8P426R2zIY%2F26Yz%2BBIEJabaz8W4r11md4SJk12LdWjDf86ZM1SEy31qDzWqQPd7r5Z4Ojie76vuWqLFrbqEFFCN4RDOezvx%2FR2nUVemWXcUHQuJxXiWbPQcv%2BWcC41HWdkpP8w%2FLqtXpSGnT%2FTQiijQS9U%2FZFQ2aBYfCuykSGiDFGAxUIMDTWLeXs%2BmLZJf3MAnrkux9zOQ%2BPVg7O%2BebaCfBr2qT4L6lIrwByH%2BKgpjxGsxww%2FOSroQY6sQFd4tEGj%2F%2BNfImZjmtm5YKVYZFKGenIPTI%2FoHnI3TXOJZu6oc7tCSKJukNh67CwWdZ7l7tWnu%2FxWFncplNRAQ6w93sQMGk5KOG8aiGCaVph4PbXVbSsbHJ1lBHygyp9fOqv181rdhC4C9HBRPs%2FWeIfQMI7PzVsDRF0YVX%2BzUd9pNjLUXE%2BysNSNxLw7UKPzP3wYVElibC1WQ1Z7CHLQHob8eFYyY4IJGDVBNHu5DtUl%2BY%3D&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&response-content-disposition=inline%3Bfilename%3D%22companies_house_document.pdf%22&X-Amz-Signature=89203d8af61ee260c7632bfee077e49e509a2bb1176f1923caf4ab1033fb84c3

[waldron40]

@NickDRFC

Bramall, Baldwin and Blunt each own 1/3 of the shares in Club Doncaster as of September 2020 (see link below). When we’ve had such significant shareholding change before (like Watson and Bramall joining the board initially), I believe that it’s been via a share issue which dilutes everyone else’s holding and the money goes straight into the club. I could be wrong but I think these shares were gifted to Baldwin and Blunt (ie they didn’t invest themselves) - I don’t think it was ever publicly disclosed (again, could be wrong).

When the Watson family dropped out, their shares were returned to Club Doncaster. All shares were later reallocated ( 20 Sep 2020?) one-third each, as you said. There are 2,881,966,244 shares nominal value £0.005 each (a total value of approximately £14.4 million).
Club Doncaster holds 98.42 of the shares of Doncaster Rovers (the remaining shares being held by Viking Supporters IPS and 3 individuals)

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

  'I believe he was given 1/3rd of the shares by TB'

If this is the case the question arises of what is the value of the shares, are they merely allocated and unpaid or have they been paid up and, if so how were they paid up ?

Knowing this would provide a more accurate view of his financial stake in the club.

A bit of clarity might well give us an idea as to why he stays in position but doesn’t appear to do or say anything

It doesn't really matter. He has shared that were given, no salary and is owed money from a loan.

I don't know why he does it, a good question to ask him, he may enjoy it, he may be doing it out of loyalty, who knows?

As for shares, I've said this before I'd imagine shares in a non profit making football with club with minimal assets are worth next to nothing in real terms.