Sons' sorrow

[sarti pooh]

Show's you the lack of football knowledge on that board when they think GPS vests are a brand new innovation that should get us all excited.

[cb_diamond]

15 minutes ago, The Moonster said:

"We depend on volunteers". Maybe stop chasing them away from the club then.

"We rely on sponsorship". Maybe don't knock back guaranteed sponsorship money from a trusted source then.

"We look to grow our community involvement". Again, the aforementioned trusted sponsor had done far more for our community involvement than anyone previous to them, maybe don't tell them their time and money isn't required. 

"We've got to run a tight budget". What the f**k we doing with 2 kitmen then? 

Where's that "f**k off, and when you get to f**k you can f**k off from there too" meme?

So you're on the fence about your board then...

[Robertsons]

Bit that grabbed me in that statement was the reference to the supporters trust. Is there any evidence of efforts to build a collaborative approach with fans. 

[Turnberry Fields Forever]

We'll, it's a much better defensive showing than the team has managed all season.  Bit worrying though that we've become a community benefit organisation rather than a professional football club, or am I missing something ?

[Frank Quitely]

10 minutes ago, Robertsons said:

Bit that grabbed me in that statement was the reference to the supporters trust. Is there any evidence of efforts to build a collaborative approach with fans. 

I think you'd struggle to get supporters onside when after all this time you are still prepared to believe that the club's owners should be viewed as a force for progress.  

[Clarko_son]

[Greenmachine]

3 minutes ago, Clarko_son said:

The Bankies have had GPS vests for 2 years

[Sweet Pete]

So horny for floodlights and league two football right now.

[Boghead ranter]

All GPS vests do is show you who the athletes in the team are, and where they spend most of their time on the pitch being athletic. 

They don't tell you who was posted missing at a corner, who didn't track their man, who couldn't trap a bag of cement, etc etc etc.

Perfect for justifying players like Orsi being PotY.

[FifeSons]

Oh dear. Totally tone deaf statement.

He must be an ostrich, because he’s got his head in the sand.

[The Moonster]

50 minutes ago, Robertsons said:

Bit that grabbed me in that statement was the reference to the supporters trust. Is there any evidence of efforts to build a collaborative approach with fans. 

It's just a lie. If the Trust rep is doing a fantastic job in relaying the supporters feelings then there is no need for fans focus groups. We've had fan working groups for years who have done pretty much all of the fundraising and match day stuff, Neil MacKay isn't responsible for any of that. 

In my old workplace when people were caught out as unprepared they would start calling on things that have no relevance to the current situation in a bid to validate their position in the company. That's all I see with Neil MacKays statement. 

[Robertsons]

I was thinking about the wider trust board and not the rep on the club board. The statement appears to suggest overtures have been made to the trust board and that the door is open for a working partnership. I’m not suggesting it is an open door in the way described by the chairman. 

[GoTeamGaz]

Quote

Winning promotion back to cinch League One is now our priority, but it will not be easy as the impact of relegation brings its own specific challenges.

How long do the board think this will take? What plans do they have prepared for this outcome? What specific things are they going to do to achieve it & over what time periods?

Quote

The club's owners have ambitious plans which, if successful, will provide us with significant revenue and much improved facilities.

Brilliant! What are the plans? Which owners? How ambitious? How realistic at being successful? What are the consequences of those ambitions not being met?

Quote

the board will continue to expend considerable effort to implement disciplines and strategies to ensure the financial stability of the club with the ultimate aim of improving the fan experience both on and outwith matchdays.

What disciplines and strategies? Do the board already have those skills? Do the board need help? Where do they plan on getting it from? In what ways to the board think the match day experience needs improved? What about outwith? Where are the weak points? Who, how and when do they believe these can be done?

Quote

We are now midway through the period of our current strategic planning cycle and have made substantial progress…

It seems odd that the middle of the boards strategy planning cycle falls at the end of a season. What plans need to be put in place now? Suggests that there a planning cycle and a separate seasonal planning that are separate from each other. Is that just a one off due to the ownership change or a long term cycle.

Quote

whilst maximising income through sponsorship, business partnerships, event hosting and providing an attractive matchday experience

How? Who is going to do that? Do the board believe they have the skills to achieve this? Do they have the say from the owners to allow them to?

Quote

and we have just taken delivery of GPS tracking vests to monitor player performance and fitness.

It appears most clubs had this a long time ago. Who instigated this purchase? The board? The manager? Are we going to be hiring a full time or part time data analyst professional to make use of this? 

Quote

A new website with greatly improved functionality is under construction, from which event and match tickets will be able to be purchased, as well as via a mobile phone app.

Please don’t waste money on an app, please! Apps are dead. The time for an app was 10-15 years ago. Just make a good website that’s mobile first! 
 

Quote

to this end, we have embarked on a programme of fan focus groups

You say groups, how many? What knowledge and experience are you looking for in each of these? What is each one focussing on? Is the outcome of them public?

Quote

we are in the process of setting up a charitable trust with the goal of improving accessibility to sport and physical activity while developing a local hub to enrich the lives of local people

There are lots of funding opportunities from government to support physical and mental health, particularly in men. involving football clubs, this is what this is, right? In what way will the charitable trust flow money into the playing budget? It’s undoubtedly a good thing to do but I’m struggling to see the benefit to the first team beyond the idea that the wider community will see a benefit to the club in the community (which is very highly unlikely on any sort of measurable scale, in my opinion)

 

without any of that openness, honesty and detail it’s hard to see this as anything but word salad. It’s not like it’s business sensitive detail to hind from competitors. If all these detailed plans exist there’s a number of people interested and willing to move mountains to make it happen - if the clarity and realism is there. 

Edited May 8, 2022 by GoTeamGaz

[the snudge]

2 hours ago, sarti pooh said:

Show's you the lack of football knowledge on that board when they think GPS vests are a brand new innovation that should get us all excited.

It's too late the players went missing months ago.

[BallochSonsFan]

The statement isnt completely without merit. Unfortunately it fails to address the big issue that the fans want addressed. Whether he stays or goes, the fans need a proper explanation on Farrell's future and the club board needs to understand why the fans deserve to be treated with far more respect. The overall tone is really badly judged and the lack of comment on Farrell is only going to make fans angrier.

Fans deserve better from the club board. Hopefully there's a way to improve that and something that the club will realise sooner rather than later.

[Sergeant Wilson]

49 minutes ago, GoTeamGaz said:

The club's owners have ambitious plans which, if successful, will provide us with significant revenue and much improved facilities

When is it running?

[Clarko_son]

I went through the statement again just to see if some fresh eyes or maybe not reading it in a foul mood would help. It turns out it didn't.

It's a case of having many words to it but nothing is actually said. As many have pointed out it's just corporate buzzwords and vagueness thrown together. From the groundbreaking plan of increasing income and decreasing costs to save money (no details on either there) to making improvements in technology to try and gloss over the on the park issues and/or Farrell. It's just dreadful really. 

I know I mocked the GPS plan earlier but do they honestly believe anyone is sat at home now going "imagine if we'd stayed up but we had inefficient floodlights, then we'd look REALLY stupid"

[BallochSonsFan]

The floodlight thing is easy to laugh at, but there's a more serious point hidden behind it. For years our floodlights didnt satisfy SPFL criteria. We were able to claim an easement from the league because we intended to move  to a new ground and upgrading our floodlights at the current ground was therefore not a viable option.

Replacing the old floodlights that didnt satisfy league criteria for ones that do is a fair cost for us. Make of that what you will, but we'll no longer need to apply for dispensation from the SPFL.

[The Moonster]

When was the floodlight upgrade completed?

[George Parr]

I’m glad they’ve fixed the floodlights but a Board statement in response to a humiliating relegation at the end of a miserable season wasn’t the moment to make that particular announcement.