Putting Dong On Notice

30 Mar 2021 | 25 comments

With Lee Bowyer as our manager we have someone who understands Birmingham City and has values aligned with us fans. Hopefully we will avoid relegation but if not then most of us Bluenoses will not be blaming the new manager and will give him and the team our support to bounce back.

We know the rot has set in with the inept running of the club over a decade of decline. The zeal removed from a promotion chasing first team, the undoing of one of the best women’s teams in the country, the uncertainty brought to a once great academy, the dismantling of a top administrative team – the list goes on.

This list is surely enough to see the CEO resign or be removed. His decisions have cost the owners millions of pounds. However Dong Ren remains in post – it begs the question how does he survive? The answer must be deeper than just that his bosses are that incompetent themselves they cannot see it. This puzzle together with the lack of communication from the CEO or owners and lack of transparency almost confirms there are dealings and loyalties that lie behind the decision making at Blues which override wanting the best for Birmingham City.

The CEO’s recent pitiful partnership with Karanka and the inability to admit there was anything wrong has demonstrated an astonishing lack of self-awareness that may explain why he does not feel the shame enough to resign.

The new found hope in the manager and team is where our support will be strong, Lee Bowyer and the team should be in no doubt that any protest and unrest amongst fans is aimed specifically at CEO and above.

So should we expect the CEO to carry on and again show his incompetence. The next issue down the line may be that fans are allowed back into stadiums only for us to find the repair work has not been completed. Even if the issue with the Kop and Tilton Road stands was not known previously there has been ample time since it was reported in the press (for a competent leader) to investigate, design and begin works on site. Perhaps keeping the issue secret means those professionals and construction companies that are required in these circumstances do not wish to work for someone who restricts information, does not listen to advice and is prone to hissy fits.

Dong Ren you are on notice that if the remedial works at the ground have not been completed and signed off by the time fans are allowed back in stadiums then you will be held responsible by the fans.

Blues Trust

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25 Comments

  1. Mark R

    Couldn’t agree more.

    Do the owners think there will be no case to answer for them if, God forbid, anyone gets hurt as a result of the fragility of these stands, either inside or outside the stadium, and whether or not there is a match on?

    If we had responsible owners surely this will have been attended to by now-or have they got this in hand but just haven’t bothered telling us?

    Therein lies the issue—a dearth of regular, open and honest communication to the lifeblood of the club, i.e. the fans.

    If we knew what they are up to, exactly how the club are financed, and what their objectives are for Birmingham City FC, that might help us all move forward as one enterprise.

    Maybe we won’t like the answers to some of those questions, and that’s why we haven’t been given any.

    • Eric Jones

      Well said – Dong should resign. He has shown no desire to understand the British way. His communication skills are zero. Blues have lost competent senior staff and good British managers under his watch. Go home Dong….

  2. R Smith

    Until football fans realise that the only real power they have is to not attend matches they will always be impotent.
    I am sick of hearing people say that they are “loyal” fans who must go to matches. Is loyalty proved by helping inept owners destroy the club? An empty ground when every other team has fans back is the only way to pressurise these idiots into acting. It won’t happen of course but if things get worse perhaps Bluenoses need to look at themselves in the mirror and realise the person looking back is partly to blame.

  3. Peter Bates

    Total lack of concern for the club from the top the egos of these people are that big they won’t admit anything they do is wrong and don’t feel the need to tell supporters anything because there is little or no respect for the fans good luck Lee bowyer your going to need it with this ceo

  4. Wilf

    Good/well run clubs have a maintenance team, and if a job is too large they hire in help for the period of the job.
    I have been a season ticket holder for many years and since the present owners have been around, it is quite obvious that maintenance of the stadium has been lacking.
    Corrosion problems to the extent that the 2 stands have been condemned to be closed to the public is gross mismanagement by the club.

    I have sent several emails to the club, all of which I have never once had a reply. This did not happen before the Chinese ownership.

    I also do not subscribe to the Blues TV, as I have pointed out to them, that the cost of £10 per match is equal if not more than I paid for a season ticket. (OAP concession)
    Some families of Blues supporters pay the same £10 for 4.5 or more to watch the match.
    The present owners do not care about our club or the supporters.
    We are just pawns in their ultimate goal, to sell the club at a profit. The sooner they are gone the better for the BEST CLUB around.

    KRO SOTV

    • Linda Goddman

      Will it’s not Blues who are changing £10 per match that fee was set by the EFL.

      • Wilf

        So why did the current useless persons at BCFC
        not respond to my emails complaining of this????

        I have supported Blues since 1952 season, with a few highs but many many lows.
        I have stuck by them through thick and thin, but these owners are unbelievable.
        Why should I back them now with all the amazing decisions that they have made??

        • Sausage n Egg

          You will be lucky if anyone at the club responds to anything … Even club shops don’t bother… The rot is not only in the stands. Contempt seems to run right through the whole place….

          • Wilf

            After todays news we will be sharing with Coventry at the Ricoh next!!!!!!

  5. Granaldo

    Well said Blues Focus. I have been looking for updates on the stadium repairs for several weeks but no information is coming from BCFC. The ground is owned by Birmingham City Stadium Limited which is only 75% owned by Birmingham City Football Club. There are possibly legal arguments over who is responsible for the costs which have been estimated at more than £1million.
    For the sake of the fans and matchday revenues the stands should be repaired now and the legal arguments discussed after the repairs have been completed. The repairs have been described as “substantial”. £1million i substantial repairs will not be completed in a few weeks. The 2021/22 season starts in less than four months.
    Could the EFL throw BCFC out of the league on the basis that the ground is not fit and proper for purpose or meet their own requirements????????????

  6. david jevons

    when we are finally allowed back in the stadium then we have to get that idiot removed.We must channel all our efforts and frustration into getting him out !

  7. MR V M PHILLIPS

    Fellow Bluenoses: our sole objective must be to rid ourselves of the current owners ASAP. If that means starting again so be it.
    If you want some encouragement look at Hereford FC. Dissolved as Hereford United in 2014 they are in the 2021 FA Trophy Final at Wembley from the sixth tier and have one of the brightest manager prospects in the game, Josh Gowling. Remember the name; I hope one day he manages the Blues.
    KRO

  8. John

    100% right.

    Clearly Dong Ren has a hold over the owners to still be in his position, it’s been said time and time again, a CEO in any other job or at any other club would have received his P45 months if not years ago. He is completely inept and continues to make our wonderful club (and it’s owners) a laughing stock in both the football and business world.

    The workings of the club are a closed shop to which no-one outside the boardroom is privy to, which clearly shows the lack of respect the owners and board have for the Birmingham fans; they don’t seem to realise that it’s just a part time Saturday job to them but it’s heart and soul to us but of course we don’t count.

    As you so eloquently put, they have destroyed the ground (by not taking immediate action on repairs), the men’s and women’s squads, and the academy; most of all they have destroyed the trust the fans once had in the hierarchy.

    Whatever happens over the next eight or nine games we will stand behind Lee Bowyer, we all know that he should have been appointed last summer, it won’t be his fault if we’re relegated, that’s down to the terrible two, Ren and Karanka.

    KRO

  9. Bill

    In my sixty two years as a Blues supporter I have never known owners who have been so secretive?
    Why ? This is a question that needs to be answered.

    On day to day matters doesn’t the CEO realise that all Blues fans are on the clubs side ?. The new majority shareholder must take action to see the CEO communicates with the long suffering and loyal supporters or is replaced with someone who will.

  10. Sausage n Egg

    Dong is a caretaker .. A well paid one but never the less a caretaker… I look forward to the day he gets what his track record merits… We will still be around long after he’s gone … Let’s hope it’s sooner rather than later before he does more damage with his idiotic ego trip

  11. Walker

    Could you not get any sort of answers from michael wiseman. He has been part of the club for a long long time and I am sure he would help if he could

  12. Mitchell Bray

    So much anger and so much resentment by supporters is all there to be felt. Above all it is the frustration of not being able to do anything- especially with an empty St.Andrews. Crumb of comfort and my opinion only, but Ren surely must be history now , else Lee Bowyer would not be treading the turf at Wast Hills. Fanciful maybe, but let’s get behind these next eight games and direct whatever emotions are pent up into helping him. No doubt after the final whistle of the eighth and final game- all will come out.

    • Bill

      Totally agree. Whatever happens we don’t want Blues to be relegated so we should be behind the players and our manager.

  13. Alan Watton

    Dong is the Boris Johnson of Brum.

    • Granaldo

      More like Harry Windsor given the privilege of running our club/firm and then shafting us from a great height.

  14. Leethos

    Whilst the sentiment of this is understood and no one can deny that our CEO is hugely incapable in the role. To suggest he is the reason that works haven’t begun on the stands shows the same level of naivety he is guilty of. The remedials will undoubtedly require work to be performed from the pitch side of the stand. How does the author propose this happens whilst the season is still in full swing?

    • Granaldo

      Sorry but the supporting steelwork is at the back of the stands and not pitch side as it is a cantilever stand. The supporting joists are close to the car park at the rear of the Kop.
      If you are correct and I am wrong lets hire another pitch (Hawthorns, Molineux or Bank’s Stadium Ricoh!!) whilst fans cannot attend.
      I will not accept any excuse whatsoever if I cannot sit in my usual seat on the Kop when the 2021/22 season starts in less than four months.
      Fans and fans groups need to pressure the management (Dong) NOW before it is too late.

  15. Granaldo

    Not sure what clout Blues Focus has but I feel the fans have been sold out again. Questions need to be asked NOW about repairing the stands.
    The new owner of 75% of our ground is Ms Minge Minge. She really must be some pussy cat and is a property developer. How is she going to develop our ground?
    Is this Coventry City and Highfield Road all over again?

  16. Mitchell Bray

    Granaldo. My advice is to follow this site (Blues Trust). More members = more clout. Just what you are asking for. Supporters are biting back and Lee Bowyer will no doubt show his respect to whoever wants their proper BCFC back.

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