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They've charged £200 for a season ticket. If they are allowed fans in, in my opinion they have to accommodate that in some way. That's the premise on which the tickets were sold, essentially as a way of ensuring you can get access to the ground once crowds are allowed back. 
All a long way off though it seems. 
"Have to"? Kinda unprecedented times we're living in, Calderon.
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I haven't had the chance to listen yet, but reassuring to hear that we'll make it through even if fans aren't allowed back. 
Given the general tone of the last week, I think we can assume that fans will not be back until maybe March next year at the earliest. 

Whilst I’ve always been impressed with how Sim has come across, I was disappointed in this interview. He seemed to care about what was more important to him, rather than the club. Even prioritising the development of the railway stand for hospitality rather than the fans who are the heart and soul of the club. Then when we had a message at the end, it was a negative when there have been so many positives. If it weren’t for David then it’d of ended terribly. Yes we made a profit, Bowie sale and covid grant contributing to that but that just papers over the cracks. Also to say he’s reluctant to sell the club in case they don’t keep up rent payments (which were not doing anyway) is ridiculous. This shows the problem of the 2 entities and how there is a conflict of interest.
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1 hour ago, Brashy's Boots said:
11 hours ago, CALDERON said:
They've charged £200 for a season ticket. If they are allowed fans in, in my opinion they have to accommodate that in some way. That's the premise on which the tickets were sold, essentially as a way of ensuring you can get access to the ground once crowds are allowed back. 
All a long way off though it seems. 

"Have to"? Kinda unprecedented times we're living in, Calderon.

Correct. I'm basing that on the assumption that fans are allowed in.  If fans are allowed in, you can't really prevent people from going to games due to cost reasons if you've charged them 200 quid on the understanding that they would get in once safe to do so. In my opinion anyway. 

Edited by CALDERON
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Whilst I’ve always been impressed with how Sim has come across, I was disappointed in this interview. He seemed to care about what was more important to him, rather than the club. Even prioritising the development of the railway stand for hospitality rather than the fans who are the heart and soul of the club. Then when we had a message at the end, it was a negative when there have been so many positives. If it weren’t for David then it’d of ended terribly. Yes we made a profit, Bowie sale and covid grant contributing to that but that just papers over the cracks. Also to say he’s reluctant to sell the club in case they don’t keep up rent payments (which were not doing anyway) is ridiculous. This shows the problem of the 2 entities and how there is a conflict of interest.

 

If the club is self sustaining then that's a good thing for everyone involved. That's his goal with the club and I don't see any reason to disagree with that. He isn't really prioritising the railway stand. He spoke of putting in hospitality as part of the plans for it but we are probably 5-10 years away from the railway stand being developed with that iirc. The hospitality he spoke of spending money on was the existing setup and it was seats, which we only need to sell one more hospitality package per game and they've paid for themselves. Several projects such as the community hub are going ahead to the detriment of the railway stand as well which he actually states will only happen if it is affordable. I get the impression the plans involve building towards the railway line with it from what has been said publicly. Boxes at the back with either safe standing or seats in front of said boxes. From what he said I took that he didn't want to sell to foreign investors because he has been told the fans don't want that essentially after the anelka debacle etc. If he's going by the books for the profit then the donations or covid grant won't be in that either if I'm getting my dates right in my head. Not sure on when the Bowie money was due to go in so could also maybe say that isn't a part of the profit. Time will tell with all that.

 

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31 minutes ago, grumswall said:

If the club is self sustaining then that's a good thing for everyone involved. That's his goal with the club and I don't see any reason to disagree with that. He isn't really prioritising the railway stand. He spoke of putting in hospitality as part of the plans for it but we are probably 5-10 years away from the railway stand being developed with that iirc. The hospitality he spoke of spending money on was the existing setup and it was seats, which we only need to sell one more hospitality package per game and they've paid for themselves. Several projects such as the community hub are going ahead to the detriment of the railway stand as well which he actually states will only happen if it is affordable. I get the impression the plans involve building towards the railway line with it from what has been said publicly. Boxes at the back with either safe standing or seats in front of said boxes. From what he said I took that he didn't want to sell to foreign investors because he has been told the fans don't want that essentially after the anelka debacle etc. If he's going by the books for the profit then the donations or covid grant won't be in that either if I'm getting my dates right in my head. Not sure on when the Bowie money was due to go in so could also maybe say that isn't a part of the profit. Time will tell with all that.

 

100%. Agree that the Bowie funds should be July 1 or so, if paid based upon the effective date, so should be out of the numbers. Also, the fundraiser(s) were ongoing at the end of May, so how much, if any, was included is an open question as the monies were likely not delivered yet. Once the books are reported, we’ll be able to see the assumptions made and various other details.

As I interpreted his discussion, the railway stand development is behind the community hub in the North Stand and also the access under the rail line. If access under the rail line is gained, the development of the Railway Stand will take on more of a multipurpose nature rather than a game day focus, as improved access away from Pratt Street would turn that point into the primary entry for a number of fans (He specifically mentioned access to Beveridge Park as well). That would also allow the community hub or facilities located in the redeveloped Railway Stand to be usable for events and such located on the Balwearie side of the rail line.

There was a passing mention of IF Stark’s Park remained viable...but with the development plans and the hiring of more staff dedicated to building value in SP, it seems he’s committed. The most interesting thing was the suggestion we’ll be adding 5 yards to the width of the pitch on the Pratt Street side and then developing the area left in front of the Main Stand.

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100%. Agree that the Bowie funds should be July 1 or so, if paid based upon the effective date, so should be out of the numbers. Also, the fundraiser(s) were ongoing at the end of May, so how much, if any, was included is an open question as the monies were likely not delivered yet. Once the books are reported, we’ll be able to see the assumptions made and various other details.
As I interpreted his discussion, the railway stand development is behind the community hub in the North Stand and also the access under the rail line. If access under the rail line is gained, the development of the Railway Stand will take on more of a multipurpose nature rather than a game day focus, as improved access away from Pratt Street would turn that point into the primary entry for a number of fans (He specifically mentioned access to Beveridge Park as well). That would also allow the community hub or facilities located in the redeveloped Railway Stand to be usable for events and such located on the Balwearie side of the rail line.
There was a passing mention of IF Stark’s Park remained viable...but with the development plans and the hiring of more staff dedicated to building value in SP, it seems he’s committed. The most interesting thing was the suggestion we’ll be adding 5 yards to the width of the pitch on the Pratt Street side and then developing the area left in front of the Main Stand.

Pretty much how I took it as well if network rail agree to that then it could open up us getting more income through the hub with Kirkcaldy athletics potentially developing balweries track and as you say better access for youth teams trainijg at the bevereidge Park, where the changing rooms aren't always accessible. Iv never really noticed starks being a narrow pitch in the past but it would probably suit how mcglynn wants us to play having it widened as well. I think sim was as honest about things as he could be in the interview. I don't really see much deception there. I'd expect another company to become part of the landscape soon enough with what he said about grants etc as well. I think he has the club at heart and iv not seen much to suggest he isn't the right man for the club just now.
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I was very impressed with Sim’s honesty. Perhaps a bit too honest when he said he was shocked that, with accountants on the board, we couldn’t get a budget right!

I can’t help but feel that some of the projects he mentioned regarding the stadium will become a pipe dream but at least he’s trying something and not just settling for the status quo.

It appears he’s not too keen on our new signings from England though.

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17 minutes ago, grumswall said:

I'd expect another company to become part of the landscape soon enough with what he said about grants etc as well. I think he has the club at heart and iv not seen much to suggest he isn't the right man for the club just now.

That’ll be the “Stark’s Park Foundation”, to disentangle from the commercial.

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16 minutes ago, Jilted John said:

I was very impressed with Sim’s honesty. Perhaps a bit too honest when he said he was shocked that, with accountants on the board, we couldn’t get a budget right!

I can’t help but feel that some of the projects he mentioned regarding the stadium will become a pipe dream but at least he’s trying something and not just settling for the status quo.

It appears he’s not too keen on our new signings from England though.

to be fair, it's a sizeable gamble. It's not like we've got a surplus of good options in positions that we can use if these guys turn out shite. If Masonda isn't up to it, we are left with two half decent centre backs, if Duku and Ugwu are shite, we have Jack Smith, Lewis Vaughan and at an absolute pinch, Grant Anderson. We all know Vaughan has the ability to build a team around him,  but there are huge doubts about him being able to stay fit.

We could end up making some fairly rapid, panicky forays into the loan market.

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43 minutes ago, renton said:

to be fair, it's a sizeable gamble. It's not like we've got a surplus of good options in positions that we can use if these guys turn out shite. If Masonda isn't up to it, we are left with two half decent centre backs, if Duku and Ugwu are shite, we have Jack Smith, Lewis Vaughan and at an absolute pinch, Grant Anderson. We all know Vaughan has the ability to build a team around him,  but there are huge doubts about him being able to stay fit.

We could end up making some fairly rapid, panicky forays into the loan market.

I agree the English signings are gambles and I’m not overly confident they will pay off. Our options at centre back and up front look weak or at best unproven.

However, McGlynn usually tends to keep a portion of his budget up his sleeve for when the season has started. Allowing him to pick up some loans that maybe wouldn’t have been available earlier in the market and once he has assessed the squad in competitive games to see where the weaknesses are.

It happened regularly in McGlynn’s first spell but even last year is a good example. We all had doubts with the side that started the league season but before the first quarter was out we had added Steven Anderson, Dan Armstrong, Jamie Gullan and John Baird.

If he doesn’t think the English lads are at the level he hoped after the friendlies and League Cup games we will hopefully use the loan market to add a couple. Some of our youngsters that aren’t quite ready may go out on loan to make room and get game time. Ideally a central defender, left winger and striker although that may be pushing it but when have we ever seen a John McGlynn side without at least a couple of loans! 

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23 minutes ago, R.R.FC said:

However, McGlynn usually tends to keep a portion of his budget up his sleeve for when the season has started. Allowing him to pick up some loans that maybe wouldn’t have been available earlier in the market and once he has assessed the squad in competitive games to see where the weaknesses are.

It happened regularly in McGlynn’s first spell but even last year is a good example. We all had doubts with the side that started the league season but before the first quarter was out we had added Steven Anderson, Dan Armstrong, Jamie Gullan and John Baird.

The same John McGlynn that said we have no money for extra players and the 'can you count' incident? I am pretty sure after he said that we signed at least 2 of those players, possibly even three. The board made more funds available for him

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Every signing is a gamble. We just need to look at Smith signing Buchanan, Spence etc to see that supposed proven players in Scotland don't always work out. It's the same boat we are in now. None of us have seen these guys play but they obviously have something about them if the management team are bringing them in. They've gotten it right more times than not during both spells so as much as I'm not expecting every signing to be a hit, I expect there to be more hit than miss. I really, really want and think we need musonda to be a hit though!

On loan signings, that's probably more a case of mcglynn bugging the board for more cash on top of external funding rather than him keeping money back specifically for that.

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29 minutes ago, grumswall said:

On loan signings, that's probably more a case of mcglynn bugging the board for more cash on top of external funding rather than him keeping money back specifically for that.

I think that was the case with Steven Anderson and Dan Armstrong. However, the plan was always to add a striker later in the summer when better quality became available. We were lucky with circumstances to get both Baird AND Gullan but the plan was always to add the right loan player when they became available.

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I’ve not even watched those highlights. No concern from me on the players we’ve brought in until I’ve seen them in a few competitive games. Although I was like “who the feck is the Kevin Nisbet guy?” After that betfred cup game against Cowdenbeath at New bayview.....

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