Jason and Debbie on DN35

Hi All,

The rescheduled appearance by Jason and Debbie on the Podcast will be this Thursday at 8pm.

You can still use the same link to suggest any questions you want to put to them. Just add your name and the question you want to ask.

https://app.sli.do/event/c4gUxWZ6Pg7L8BoXMeTFo5

It will be live on YouTube and Twitter, as well as available as a podcast afterwards.

YouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCFzjOD10j1eYGcMVo3Z2ANg

Twitter: https://twitter.com/dn35gtfc?s=21

Assume this is still going ahead. Only one question to start with, surely.

Quoted from Poojah

Assume this is still going ahead. Only one question to start with, surely.

Are we allowed flasks?

Now you are providing sanitary products inside the ground how will we smuggle pyro's in ?

How does free sanitary products bring 3 points on a Saturday?

Live now for anyone interested:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuUXi4eHGxI

the big crowds have forced them to think again about their plan for disabled supporters
JS reiterated that we still are not selling out BP - focusing on food and toilet provision
AP - looking at perm solutions in the 4 corners for extra seating - doing cost analysis of the options
over 100 people watching

Pettit said that they have a site now for the training ground and are in 'advanced discussions'. Definitely sounds like that's moving closer.

Assume no Rotherham related questions have been asked as of yet? I imagine there's been a polite request to keep that off the table.

has been mentioned. AP has kidnapped PH and is keeping him in his car boot for the next 3 weeks!

Quoted from Poojah

Assume no Rotherham related questions have been asked as of yet? I imagine there's been a polite request to keep that off the table.

They did ask. They didn't reveal anything, other than saying how proud they are that Hurst might be getting interest. They said that they were trying to create an environment that no-one would want to leave, but at the same time would not stand in anyone's way if they wanted to better themselves.

Quoted from MarinerDevil

They did ask. They didn't reveal anything, other than saying how proud they are that Hurst might be getting interest. They said that they were trying to create an environment that no-one would want to leave, but at the same time would not stand in anyone's way if they wanted to better themselves.

Thanks mate. They can't really do any more than that as owners.

Quoted from Poojah

Thanks mate. They can't really do any more than that as owners.

It’s all you ask for in any professional setting really. Perhaps we should take it as a compliment?

The main thing that came across to me was how safe the club is in the hands of these
people and how lucky we are to have them guiding the clubs future.
The most positive times i can remember in the 50 odd years  of being a Town fan.

Quoted from Poojah

Assume no Rotherham related questions have been asked as of yet? I imagine there's been a polite request to keep that off the table.

Was easing our way into it mate. We’ve never been asked to avoid a subject by any of them.

Tried to get through as many questions as we could, had around 130 so we were never going to get through them all. Hopefully most bases were covered though..

I'm sorry  red crosses don't normally bother me, but who would red cross a positive post
(Other than a Fentyite) its just a bit sad really isn't it?

always worth  a listen.
Some take outs - Head of Operations and Head of Recruitment will shortly be appointed
Focusing on improving toilet and food facilities at BP. Reiterated that away fans will be limited to 1200 and the Ossie corner is for GTFC fans
Are looking at perm solutions for extra seating , be it covered or uncovered, but the cost benefit analysis will be a deciding factor
safe standing is on the agenda, but is difficult because it actually reduces capacity
They are obviously chuffed to have recruited Steve Crousden - AP thinks it's no surprise to see Crocombe going from strength to strength
BCorp application is progressing and AP sees it as a way of locking in the philosophy so that new owners would find it v difficult to unpick should they so wish. Has also been embedded in the constitution, to make it even more watertight.
Club have been a Real Living Wage employer since Jan
Promotion has allowed them to think more laterally and expansively than if we'd stayed in NL - focus and finance then would've been massively on 1st team, but the extra funding allows them to bring forward plans they had envisaged for further down the line
Women's team is important - has been brought across to the Academy and is now under the auspices of Neil Woods , and he has plans apparently! This is groundbreaking stuff for a team at their level, and they will also benefit massively as and when the new training complex is up and running
Dc wants to see more ,and wider, coverage of the women's and youth teams
More shirts should be coming next month and top priority for new commercial manager is getting the advertsing boards fully utilised
fans engagement survey coming out within a month

What made me sit up was when JS spoke quite firmly about the staff and what they found and what they expect. I will have to relisten to this section because i found it quite revealing, and i don't want to misquote him. In short the standards they found were not good enough and people have left because having been there a long time they weren't able to change. Showed a degree of 'steel' that we haven't really seen before - saw the other side of him, for a fleeting moment, the side that will have made him av. successful businessman

Quoted from Mikey_345

Was easing our way into it mate. We’ve never been asked to avoid a subject by any of them.

Tried to get through as many questions as we could, had around 130 so we were never going to get through them all. Hopefully most bases were covered though..

I’d only got 10 mins in and assumed, since it hadn’t come up yet, that it might not. Thought it was handled well by all; sensitive question of course but I thought the response, blended with humour and a degree of serious but considered discussion about the culture now prevailing at the club, was excellent.

I thought the three custodians were an absolute credit to the club and to themselves, as were the hosts. It’s actually quite jarring at times to hear such intelligent and thoughtful discourse, such is the quantum of the departure from what preceded it. I still have flashbacks to Matt Dean gate and I wasn’t even there.

A much better format than the old fans forums as well. Informative yet relaxed. Keep up the brilliant work!

Quoted from petethemariner

I'm sorry  red crosses don't normally bother me, but who would red cross a positive post
(Other than a Fentyite) its just a bit sad really isn't it?

You’ve answered your own question, mate. Ironically reminiscent of the kind of classless cheap shots that would be routinely dished out by the old regime.

Thank Christ they’re gone. Gone but not forgotten. I lost twenty years of my prime football supporting life to you cúnts. Sorry, that’s not fair. You absolute fúcking cúnts.

What forza has said re: advertising, I do wonder if we will see those electronic advertising hoardings

Bloody hope not! Find them distracting, but if they bring in more money I suppose they are a necessity.

Council leader Philip Jackson was interviewed on Radio Humberside yesterday.  I think he used the words "dead in the water" when asked about a Freeman Street stadium.

Realistically how many extra seats could we get by utilising the three open corners?

New head of recruitment sounds interesting - wonder who that could be? I like the old fashioned approach of managers and their own staff finding players but this could also be a good step in the right direction. It seems it’s the modern way which could allow for better continuity, and would stop the “rip it up and start again” you get when you go between managers. Hurst - Bignot - Slade - Jolley - Holloway - Hurst 2 all having their own side within three years or thereabouts.

Quoted from forza ivano

the big crowds have forced them to think again about their plan for disabled supporters
JS reiterated that we still are not selling out BP - focusing on food and toilet provision
AP - looking at perm solutions in the 4 corners for extra seating - doing cost analysis of the options
over 100 people watching

The first league game was sold out, the next two games will be near sell-outs (fewer than a couple of hundred seats left for each ATM). There were no more than 300-400 unsold seats for Gillingham and Sutton. The issue doesn't look to be not selling out BP, when down to a few restricted view seats that should be considered a sell-out, it's that 10-15% of STH are not turning up. For Gillingham it was nearly a thousand no-shows.

Quoted from Limerick Mariner

The first league game was sold out, the next two games will be near sell-outs (fewer than a couple of hundred seats left for each ATM). There were no more than 300-400 unsold seats for Gillingham and Sutton. The issue doesn't look to be not selling out BP, when down to a few restricted view seats that should be considered a sell-out, it's that 10-15% of STH are not turning up. For Gillingham it was nearly a thousand no-shows.

Tomorrow looks set to be a home sellout; very little left even in the Osmond and Main Stand. Swindon took 632 to Donny and whilst the extra 45 minutes and the second away Saturday on the trot will probably knock a few off that, you’d imagine they’ll still bring somewhere in the region of 400.

With the August holiday no-shows that will have affected the Northampton attendance we should be on for the biggest crowd of the season. Not bad for a regular, early-mid-season game against Swindon.

Quoted from WOZOFGRIMSBY

What forza has said re: advertising, I do wonder if we will see those electronic advertising hoardings

A bit like the extra seats really, electronic boards allow you to sell the same space multiple times by scrolling through advertisers....if we have blank spaces on stationary boards then seems no real demand for pitchside adverts at this time.

Quoted from Poojah

Tomorrow looks set to be a home sellout; very little left even in the Osmond and Main Stand. Swindon took 632 to Donny and whilst the extra 45 minutes and the second away Saturday on the trot will probably knock a few off that, you’d imagine they’ll still bring somewhere in the region of 400.

With the August holiday no-shows that will have affected the Northampton attendance we should be on for the biggest crowd of the season. Not bad for a regular, early-mid-season game against Swindon.

Agreed but the no-shows does need attention. We have more STH than Stockport and the same as Lincoln now, but they are getting circa 1k - 1.5k bigger crowds. They will get more away fans than us, but they also have plenty of better quality seats on offer for home walk-ups. Next season I do wonder whether there should be a reduction in the discount for child ST in the Upper and Lower and instead maybe offer cheaper family tickets in Main Block G and H in return. Parent and child no shows for night matches in term time may explain the big no-show number for Gillingham.

Quoted from White_shorts

Council leader Philip Jackson was interviewed on Radio Humberside yesterday.  I think he used the words "dead in the water" when asked about a Freeman Street stadium.

Could this change that - probably not, but no doubt 1878 will be scrutinising closely?
[url]https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-growth-plan-2022-factsheet-on-investment-zones[/url]

Jason seems to think there isn't a problem but the difficulty getting 3 or 4 seats next to one another with a respectable view say otherwise.

I think that would have a been a good question for last night regarding addressing the no-shows.

Not sure where I stand on it or what’s “right” or “wrong”, just open to discussing what does seem to be an issue developing.

On the one hand, people have put their money where there mouth is early doors and deserve the right to reserve their seat and turn up as and when. On the other hand, I feel like people have seen the clamour for tickets and bought season tickets with the intention of only turning up for maybe half of the games, so that they don’t miss out on a seat when they can attend.

Not bashing either side here, like we keep saying - it’s a nice problem to have.

I think the button you can press to release your seat online is obviously a help, but does everyone know about this? There are the same empty ST seats around me game after game.

A conundrum I’m glad I don’t have to solve! I’m sure we’ll find the right solution though eventually as after all, this is still a new phenomenon.

Quoted from Poojah

Tomorrow looks set to be a home sellout; very little left even in the Osmond and Main Stand. Swindon took 632 to Donny and whilst the extra 45 minutes and the second away Saturday on the trot will probably knock a few off that, you’d imagine they’ll still bring somewhere in the region of 400.

With the August holiday no-shows that will have affected the Northampton attendance we should be on for the biggest crowd of the season. Not bad for a regular, early-mid-season game against Swindon.

There’s several selling tickets on the various Facebook pages, will not be near full.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

There’s several selling tickets on the various Facebook pages, will not be near full.

And that's my point -  someone who is not a committed regular decides tonight it would be nice to go tomorrow with a couple of mates and have a couple of pints, they take a look at the stadium plan to buy tickets and the choice is 100 or so restricted view seats with cramped leg room at the back of a 120-year-old stand or a few singles dotted elsewere around the Main Stand. They may not consider or be inclined to ferret around on Facebook to try and get 3 seats together in the Upper or Lower. Those Facebook seats really need to be back on the stadium plan.

Quoted from quebec38

I think that would have a been a good question for last night regarding addressing the no-shows.

Not sure where I stand on it or what’s “right” or “wrong”, just open to discussing what does seem to be an issue developing.

On the one hand, people have put their money where there mouth is early doors and deserve the right to reserve their seat and turn up as and when. On the other hand, I feel like people have seen the clamour for tickets and bought season tickets with the intention of only turning up for maybe half of the games, so that they don’t miss out on a seat when they can attend.

Not bashing either side here, like we keep saying - it’s a nice problem to have.

I think the button you can press to release your seat online is obviously a help, but does everyone know about this? There are the same empty ST seats around me game after game.

This is easy really. As a big town fan on a wave of optimism I bought a season ticket for three reasons:
a) it's a donation to the club, b) when I go I can sit where I want, c) I can get tickets to away matches
If the club had a resale facility, I would let them sell my seat whenever I can't go (like tomorrow) for no payment. I checked the site today and couldn't find such a system.
It's not easy being an exile and 220 miles away. I was half way up the M1 on the Friday before Crewe when my mates at the EFL decided I should be in mourning and cancelled the game. Thankfully I discovered the Cleethorpes Taphouse and Kitchen, my new fave (sorry Notts)
I'll be there Tuesday for my first floodlit game in Grimsby for ages and again for Bradford in October but in between there'll be an empty seat. I paid for it with hard earned so really don't think anyone should be upset about it


A conundrum I’m glad I don’t have to solve! I’m sure we’ll find the right solution though eventually as after all, this is still a new phenomenon.

My reply to Quebec got rather mixed up so here it is!
This is easy really. As a big town fan on a wave of optimism I bought a season ticket for three reasons:
a) it's a donation to the club, b) when I go I can sit where I want, c) I can get tickets to away matches
If the club had a resale facility, I would let them sell my seat whenever I can't go (like tomorrow) for no payment. I checked the site today and couldn't find such a system.
It's not easy being an exile and 220 miles away. I was half way up the M1 on the Friday before Crewe when my mates at the EFL decided I should be in mourning and cancelled the game. Thankfully I discovered the Cleethorpes Taphouse and Kitchen, my new fave (sorry Notts)
I'll be there Tuesday for my first floodlit game in Grimsby for ages and again for Bradford in October but in between there'll be an empty seat. I paid for it with hard earned so really don't think anyone should be upset about it

Quoted from buckstown

My reply to Quebec got rather mixed up so here it is!
This is easy really. As a big town fan on a wave of optimism I bought a season ticket for three reasons:
a) it's a donation to the club, b) when I go I can sit where I want, c) I can get tickets to away matches
If the club had a resale facility, I would let them sell my seat whenever I can't go (like tomorrow) for no payment. I checked the site today and couldn't find such a system.
It's not easy being an exile and 220 miles away. I was half way up the M1 on the Friday before Crewe when my mates at the EFL decided I should be in mourning and cancelled the game. Thankfully I discovered the Cleethorpes Taphouse and Kitchen, my new fave (sorry Notts)
I'll be there Tuesday for my first floodlit game in Grimsby for ages and again for Bradford in October but in between there'll be an empty seat. I paid for it with hard earned so really don't think anyone should be upset about it

Go into your account or register if you haven't got one. Once in your account, choose My Current Tickets, then Show More and there is a tab to release tickets.

It could and should be easier to access in my opinion, but the facility is there if you look hard enough.

As anyone told Jason that the capacity isn’t 9500?

Quoted from ginnywings

Go into your account or register if you haven't got one. Once in your account, choose My Current Tickets, then Show More and there is a tab to release tickets.

It could and should be easier to access in my opinion, but the facility is there if you look hard enough.

Thanks for that Ginny, just released it for tomorrow

Quoted from jamesgtfc

Jason seems to think there isn't a problem but the difficulty getting 3 or 4 seats next to one another with a respectable view say otherwise.

Then may I suggest you (and others) get in contact with the Trust & DC with your concerns. I'm not disagreeing with you and I'm sympathetic with the view that why should people have to buy restricted view ,uncomfortable seats, when there is a better alternative available.
I don't usually criticise 1878 but it's 1 area where I'm surprised at their instransigence - surely we need to be making the whole match day 'experience' as comfortable as possible.By their stance of not freeing up the Ossie blocks early they are de incentivising people to come. Surely it make sense to sell the decent seats and then offer the restricted views after that, not before?

Quoted from forza ivano

Then may I suggest you (and others) get in contact with the Trust & DC with your concerns. I'm not disagreeing with you and I'm sympathetic with the view that why should people have to buy restricted view ,uncomfortable seats, when there is a better alternative available.
I don't usually criticise 1878 but it's 1 area where I'm surprised at their instransigence - surely we need to be making the whole match day 'experience' as comfortable as possible.By their stance of not freeing up the Ossie blocks early they are de incentivising people to come. Surely it make sense to sell the decent seats and then offer the restricted views after that, not before?

Though I have been vocal on the issue of more capacity and their slowness to acknowledge this one area where things do now have appeared to have changed is that both Osmond corner blocks are being opened up when tickets first go on sale rather then wait for the poor views  to sell first somIething Ingive them  credit for listening on.

Quoted from forza ivano

Then may I suggest you (and others) get in contact with the Trust & DC with your concerns. I'm not disagreeing with you and I'm sympathetic with the view that why should people have to buy restricted view ,uncomfortable seats, when there is a better alternative available.
I don't usually criticise 1878 but it's 1 area where I'm surprised at their instransigence - surely we need to be making the whole match day 'experience' as comfortable as possible.By their stance of not freeing up the Ossie blocks early they are de incentivising people to come. Surely it make sense to sell the decent seats and then offer the restricted views after that, not before?

I have actually contacted the Trust, they are doing an audit of restricted view seats and explained that the club is looking at additional capacity but it must generate a return, like Andrew said last night. I'd like to know what they consider an acceptable payback to be. For me, a fan is for life, and giving young people or fairweather supporters a decent experience could easily secure their income for over 50 years. As people stop going regularly due to moving away, ill health and the inevitable death, we need to make sure there is always a steady flow of newcomers coming in otherwise the current generation of kids won't be interested in years to come and attendances risk falling off a cliff.

It's good that the club are looking at it, the acid test is season ticket sales next season. I think the club need to look at the possibility of moving some season ticket holders along to turn random single seats into 2's, 3's and 4's.

ps re my summing up yesterday (post 16); have now relistened to the interview and  it really reinforces my point
It's very noticeable that DC has dealt with the staffing question ;was v. polite and diplomatic but at 24.00 JS jumps in , and it's obvious he's got a bee in his bonnet as he goes into it for 2.5 - 3 minutes!
he's actually q. disparaging about the previous regime, and the way it was run, which is a sea change compared to his previous very measured, neutral views on JF. Says 2016 was missed opportunity and it wasn't going to happen again. Reiterated that DC has their full support and they are driving her to improve every aspect of the club. Makes it very clear that standards weren't anywhere near good enough and that too many people were used to doing things a certain way and some were unable to deal with change. There was  a lot of inertia.Pretty obvious that they weren't sorry to lose those people. 'QUITE FRANKLY WE NEED TO IMPROVE EVERYWHERE' is both a quote and a damning indictment
Reinforced by this ' certain standards we are used to seeing is where the bar is now. .We want people to come with us on those terms, but if they don't then we leave on good terms. SOME PEOPLE MIGHT DECIDE NOT T TURN THE PAGE WITH US & THAT'S FINE'
my capitals.

He didn't get to be a multi, multi millionaire without being ruthless and i think those 2-3 minutes showed the pussycat bearing its teeth and claws!

Organisations who don’t think they can get better fail.

I think there is a difference between no shows and not able to attend, some people including myself have had a season ticket for ages but quite often I can’t make Tuesday games, not through choice. I’ll have a look at the release button and like many won’t ask for anything in return.

Any chance of an update on replica shirts? Hearing there’s still no stock. Didn’t think it was worth a new thread but just wondered if anyone knows what’s going on?

Quoted from MuddyWaters

Any chance of an update on replica shirts? Hearing there’s still no stock. Didn’t think it was worth a new thread but just wondered if anyone knows what’s going on?

another batch of shirts next month

my wife ,who employs a couple of hundred people, is a huge fan of JS and has just listened to the relevant part of the I.V. Her immediate thought that was that this was a planned intervention and was probably aimed at  the staff in the club who 'hadn't turned the page'. It's a not uncommon strategy apparently - going public and forcing the issue.
May well be that they've felt they've given these people the benefit of the doubt for  a year and now's the time to up the ante
Obviously no evidence to back this up, just the observations of someone who employs a large number of unionised staff , who aren't always quite as flexible as she might like!

Quoted from forza ivano

ps re my summing up yesterday (post 16); have now relistened to the interview and  it really reinforces my point
It's very noticeable that DC has dealt with the staffing question ;was v. polite and diplomatic but at 24.00 JS jumps in , and it's obvious he's got a bee in his bonnet as he goes into it for 2.5 - 3 minutes!
he's actually q. disparaging about the previous regime, and the way it was run, which is a sea change compared to his previous very measured, neutral views on JF. Says 2016 was missed opportunity and it wasn't going to happen again. Reiterated that DC has their full support and they are driving her to improve every aspect of the club. Makes it very clear that standards weren't anywhere near good enough and that too many people were used to doing things a certain way and some were unable to deal with change. There was  a lot of inertia.Pretty obvious that they weren't sorry to lose those people. 'QUITE FRANKLY WE NEED TO IMPROVE EVERYWHERE' is both a quote and a damning indictment
Reinforced by this ' certain standards we are used to seeing is where the bar is now. .We want people to come with us on those terms, but if they don't then we leave on good terms. SOME PEOPLE MIGHT DECIDE NOT T TURN THE PAGE WITH US & THAT'S FINE'
my capitals.

He didn't get to be a multi, multi millionaire without being ruthless and i think those 2-3 minutes showed the pussycat bearing its teeth and claws!

Bit in bold works for me, anyone who had been to more than a handful of games or had a regular association with GTFC would know that during the Fenty years and before if I'm honest some enthusiastic amateurs had really important roles, as time went on the enthusiasm was no doubt kicked out of them by their despot leader and that led to some shocking levels of engagement across all levels and service delivery.

At all levels and in all roles the owners and DC need to hold themselves to account to get the best people, they can to work for the club and it's supporters and IMHO they are and have been doing exactly that.

My belief is that clubs at are level don't sustainably progress by making the odd "name" signing and paying reasonable players exceptional wages they progress by clear leadership on and off the field executing a clear and simple plan that engages everyone for the betterment of the club and equitable outcomes.
.

Quoted from forza ivano

my wife ,who employs a couple of hundred people, is a huge fan of JS and has just listened to the relevant part of the I.V. Her immediate thought that was that this was a planned intervention and was probably aimed at  the staff in the club who 'hadn't turned the page'. It's a not uncommon strategy apparently - going public and forcing the issue.
May well be that they've felt they've given these people the benefit of the doubt for  a year and now's the time to up the ante
Obviously no evidence to back this up, just the observations of someone who employs a large number of unionised staff , who aren't always quite as flexible as she might like!

I understand the logic but have to say that, anecdotally, it isn’t going down well. Not totally convinced that a football club can be run in the same way as a normal corporate organisation.

Quoted from forza ivano

my wife ,who employs a couple of hundred people, is a huge fan of JS and has just listened to the relevant part of the I.V. Her immediate thought that was that this was a planned intervention and was probably aimed at  the staff in the club who 'hadn't turned the page'. It's a not uncommon strategy apparently - going public and forcing the issue.
May well be that they've felt they've given these people the benefit of the doubt for  a year and now's the time to up the ante
Obviously no evidence to back this up, just the observations of someone who employs a large number of unionised staff , who aren't always quite as flexible as she might like

I'd agree with this and my view is also based upon relevant experience and my current role in term of numbers similar to Mrs Forza. I think JS was in a relatively comfortable place to make his statement re this as it looks like the new leadership have pretty much evaluated all the key non playing roles and more importantly made affirmative decisions to ensure we have the best person for the job. What I would suspect is for everyone who hasn't wanted/been able to change I'd suspect there are plenty of others who have bought into the new regime and how they want things to operate and personally grown in the process.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

I understand the logic but have to say that, anecdotally, it isn’t going down well. Not totally convinced that a football club can be run in the same way as a normal corporate organisation.

see the above post to yours Codger, which makes the counter argument. Should add my wife runs 2 special needs schools, so in a way there are parallels , it's  a social/community 'business'' ; but the point about standards,ethics and professionalism remains true.

and i would add that whilst it may not be going down well with certain people, there will be others who come into replace them. And i suspect those people who leave will be replaced by forward thinking, dynamic, enthusiastic and efficient professionals, coz i don't think DC would settle for anything else

Quoted from MuddyWaters

I understand the logic but have to say that, anecdotally, it isn’t going down well. Not totally convinced that a football club can be run in the same way as a normal corporate organisation.

I don't disagree but JS at least has developed some businesses who aren't "normal cooperate organisations" in terms of culture at any rate. I think change isn't always popular some people get it and respond some don't.

Also credit to the owners as Jason calls it they have pretty much dealt with stuff in the "organisation" rather than the "football" club. The football side of things has been left to PH and the "football club" stuff has been addressed with some great consultation with stake holders like the Trust etc...

Quoted from MuddyWaters

I understand the logic but have to say that, anecdotally, it isn’t going down well. Not totally convinced that a football club can be run in the same way as a normal corporate organisation.

Why?

It’s clear the old regime was pointless, incompetent and if they weren’t sycophants that said ‘yes John, no John, three bags full John’ they were numb, coasting, taking their money and going home. That’s no good for an organisation either.

Football club or corporate organisation, the operations of the club were embarrassing and it was on life support. For me, I’d have removed the lot, couldn’t give two shits of they’ve been there ages and work hard, not a single element of the club was working smartly or effectively.

They chose, and understandably so, to give folk a chance. Some have taken it, others not so much, those people have been moved on. Some more forcibly than others I’d imagine. That business. Football is the same, you’re excrement, you’re moved on. Teams that are shite and a shambles like us go through lots of players, businesses poorly run and chaotic go through lots of staff. Culturally they’re a mess and environmentally they’re not places that are relational or places folk won’t to work.

The club was rotten, it still is in parts. There’ll be casualties along the way, as a fan I can’t say I’m bothered about that. Decisions are being made to make the club future proof, sustainable and successful.

Just listened and really enjoyed it. Good stuff by the dn35 guys and always enjoy hearing from our owners. They talk alot of sense and disagree completely with the old codgers comment. All the clubs that have been run in the way jason and andrew are looking to run ours, have overtaken the old school run clubs. Dont get what theyre saying conflated with the commercially ran disaster clubs like man united. Theyre leaving the football side to the football people, but setting those football people up for long term sustained success and growing the club into being the embraced heart of the town, which it hasnt quite been for a long time.

My experience is that people who tell you that where they work is different and that the normal rules don't really apply are generally making excuses. You can't be the first to complain about anything being wrong and then criticise the owners for wanting to improve standards.

I mean, this is what we asked for, isn't it? We wanted the club to be dragged into the 21st century, kicking and screaming if needs be. This is the ruthless attitude we need if we're going to get back to where we want to be. As long as people are given a chance to prove themselves and the owners act professionally, I'll be fully supportive of any action they deem necessary.

Quoted from aldi_01

Why?

It’s clear the old regime was pointless, incompetent and if they weren’t sycophants that said ‘yes John, no John, three bags full John’ they were numb, coasting, taking their money and going home. That’s no good for an organisation either.

Football club or corporate organisation, the operations of the club were embarrassing and it was on life support. For me, I’d have removed the lot, couldn’t give two shits of they’ve been there ages and work hard, not a single element of the club was working smartly or effectively.

They chose, and understandably so, to give folk a chance. Some have taken it, others not so much, those people have been moved on. Some more forcibly than others I’d imagine. That business. Football is the same, you’re excrement, you’re moved on. Teams that are shite and a shambles like us go through lots of players, businesses poorly run and chaotic go through lots of staff. Culturally they’re a mess and environmentally they’re not places that are relational or places folk won’t to work.

The club was rotten, it still is in parts. There’ll be casualties along the way, as a fan I can’t say I’m bothered about that. Decisions are being made to make the club future proof, sustainable and successful.

If I wasted my discretional energy on that ticks and crosses bollox I'd give this post a gold star.

Will have to re listen because I may have misunderstood at the time. However I took Jason’s comments about sell outs to be in relation to a new ground but they recognise there’s an issue with grouping tickets etc hence they’re looking for additional seating in the corners?

As I said, I might be wrong.

They’re saying we aren’t selling out home games yet there’s no decent seats together for todays game. I can’t get 2 seats together anywhere in the ground that aren’t restricted views. Any STs not going able to release their seats? Despite what they say, we do have a capacity issue that are keeping people away.

Just 22 seats left with 90 minutes to go to kick off . Sell out by any reasonable definition of the term

Quoted from HerveJosse

Just 22 seats left with 90 minutes to go to kick off . Sell out by any reasonable definition of the term

Exactly. Just does my head in how I keep hearing ‘Until we sellout we’re not going to be looking at a new ground.’ There’s at least 6 of us not going today due to lack of availability. Obviously leaving it late due to our other commitments, but I can imagine there’s a fair few in the same boat. Realistically, as soon as there’s no more pairs left, we should be viewing it as a “sellout.”

Quoted from GyMariner

Exactly. Just does my head in how I keep hearing ‘Until we sellout we’re not going to be looking at a new ground.’ There’s at least 6 of us not going today due to lack of availability. Obviously leaving it late due to our other commitments, but I can imagine there’s a fair few in the same boat. Realistically, as soon as there’s no more pairs left, we should be viewing it as a “sellout.”

then please, please email the trust and debbie.the more complaints they get the more they are likely to act, especially if you tell them specific instances

Quoted from forza ivano

then please, please email the trust and debbie.the more complaints they get the more they are likely to act, especially if you tell them specific instances

If I’m totally honest I thought it was common sense until just having listened to that podcast.

To be fair, whilst I know for some it’s an issue and I guess, having years of Fenty running BP in to the ground and telling us we need a new stadium, it’s become somewhat of an obsession.

The new owners have made it clear, until there’s a consistent crowd and the viability work is done, we’re not moving.

I saw a fair few empty seats in what I guess are prime location yesterday, some together, clearly STHs who didn’t attend but didn’t sell their seat back, or did they but perhaps late? Who knows?

I’d argue that needs pushing more, get that up and running might solve some issues.

I guess it’s a nice problem to have.

How many fans are we ‘turning away’ each week?

https://twitter.com/DebbieCGF/status/1573954922940350465

wonder what's happened there?

Probably nothing? It's not unusual for people to bin off social media (and twitter in particular) for periods every now and then.

The Club say that the decision on installing extra seats in a corner or corners will depend on a careful cost/benefit analysis.  This is a sensible business approach.  

This assessment could be made at any time and just “parked” for the future.  It has been said that the assessment will be made when we have home sell-outs. We have reached that point now.

Any decision to install extra seats will take time implement.  The earlier action the better.  In the meantime, as reported above, all seats sold for the Swindon game and someone wanted 2 seats together - to no avail.

Quoted from forza ivano

https://twitter.com/DebbieCGF/status/1573954922940350465

wonder what's happened there?

Interesting especially when someone else potentially has interest in our manager.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Interesting especially when someone else potentially has interest in our manager.

There were some negative comments on Twitter about Dave Smith’s departure.

Quoted from forza ivano

https://twitter.com/DebbieCGF/status/1573954922940350465

wonder what's happened there?

Conspiracy theorists will say there's "big" news about to come out and DC doesn't want bombarding on twitter, others may think she's got too much on her hands and just hasn't got time for social media....take your pick

Quoted from MuddyWaters

There were some negative comments on Twitter about Dave Smith’s departure.

I have to say that watching his interview I still have to be convinced he is only leaving for family issues.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

There were some negative comments on Twitter about Dave Smith’s departure.

That’s a sensible thing to do then.

Quoted from arryarryarry

I have to say that watching his interview I still have to be convinced he is only leaving for family issues.

Given Jason’s comments regarding getting people to change to their ways on DN35, I would be inclined to agree.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

Given Jason’s comments regarding getting people to change to their ways on DN35, I would be inclined to agree.

i tend to agree with you, but am guessing that it was all worked out pretty amicably, given the warm words on either side plus the interviews n coverage etc etc
I can easily imagine a scenario where he's been 'passed over' by the younger, dynamic, new thinking Jo and he's thought 'feck it, I've done my time , don't need this, if the payoff's good then I'm out of here'

20 years is a huge stretch for anyone in commercial. I don’t think there’s anything untoward here. Strange how there’s still a few that are determined to push that narrative though. Wonder what their motivation is..?

Quoted from 140381

20 years is a huge stretch for anyone in commercial. I don’t think there’s anything untoward here. Strange how there’s still a few that are determined to push that narrative though. Wonder what their motivation is..?

I wonder🤔

Quoted from forza ivano

i tend to agree with you, but am guessing that it was all worked pretty amicably, given the warm words on either side plus the interviews n coverage etc etc
I can easily imagine a scenario where he's been 'passed over' by the younger, dynamic, new thinking Jo and he's thought 'feck it, I've done my time , don't need this, if the payoff's good then I'm out of here'

That’s probably pretty much as it played out. Shame in many ways, Dave was possibly the most palatable part of the previous era, lovely bloke.

Don’t think there’s too much in this other than sometimes it’s good to take a break from SM especially Twitter. When you’re in a position like hers it attracts an awful lot of idiots “@“ her and the owners all the time.

Must take its toll.

Quoted from aldi_01

I wonder🤔

Yeah…

Quoted from Mikey_345

Don’t think there’s too much in this other than sometimes it’s good to take a break from SM especially Twitter. When you’re in a position like hers it attracts an awful lot of idiots “@“ her and the owners all the time.

Must take its toll.

There’s a couple of obvious trolls who criticise absolutely every statement she makes…

Quoted from 140381

There’s a couple of obvious trolls who criticise absolutely every statement she makes…

oh, that's interesting. Debbie's probably had enough of constant petty sniping, and thought it's not really worth the hassle

Quoted from forza ivano

i tend to agree with you, but am guessing that it was all worked out pretty amicably, given the warm words on either side plus the interviews n coverage etc etc
I can easily imagine a scenario where he's been 'passed over' by the younger, dynamic, new thinking Jo and he's thought 'feck it, I've done my time , don't need this, if the payoff's good then I'm out of here'

From what I was told I don't think you are far wrong from that.

I wonder how much it cost for the seats that was put on the side of the pontoon? If it's cheaper than getting a whole 'stand' of green seats the club could try that. it was a long time ago but I'm guessing it was roughly 100 odd seats??

Quoted from 140381

Yeah…

I don’t have Twitter anymore but had a look on someone else the other day and the troll accounts are all similar.

Rather sad really, I know people are loyal to their masters but they’re grown men…

Quoted from arryarryarry

From what I was told I don't think you are far wrong from that.

that's interesting. It was just seeing Jo, and listening to her etc that I thought - this is a new broom . ihad a similar experience at a similar age to Dave. New young , dynamic, I'm going to change the world , Let's re invent the wheel go getter.i had been doing the job successfully for 20 odd years, and soon thought , feck it, I don't need some kid telling me how to do my job! And you do get tired and bored of the same old corporate bullshite.
I'm sure he'll be happier as a result

Quoted from forza ivano

that's interesting. It was just seeing Jo, and listening to her etc that I thought - this is a new broom . ihad a similar experience at a similar age to Dave. New young , dynamic, I'm going to change the world , Let's re invent the wheel go getter.i had been doing the job successfully for 20 odd years, and soon thought , feck it, I don't need some kid telling me how to do my job! And you do get tired and bored of the same old corporate bullshite.
I'm sure he'll be happier as a result

I think it's quite telling that, if this kind of scenario has gone on, Dave gas gone about it in the right way. The good words, the interview and the invite back as a guest next month.

Compare that with someone like Ian Fleming who sneaked out the back door.

Quoted from jamesgtfc

I think it's quite telling that, if this kind of scenario has gone on, Dave gas gone about it in the right way. The good words, the interview and the invite back as a guest next month.

Compare that with someone like Ian Fleming who sneaked out the back door.

yup - a scenario where everyone agreed that it was the best option. After such long and distinguished service I'm sure Dave will have got a decent payoff , and Jo/Debbie get a free hand to go forward with what, I'm guessing, will be a very different approach!

Quoted from jamesgtfc

I think it's quite telling that, if this kind of scenario has gone on, Dave gas gone about it in the right way. The good words, the interview and the invite back as a guest next month.

Compare that with someone like Ian Fleming who sneaked out the back door.

Ian Fleming and the eulogising is an example of the state the club was in and where it currently is. He was a useless CEO, I’m sure he was a lovely bloke but as a CEO he brought little to the role, hence why he was moved on.

Dave Smith is a great bloke and the reciprocated kind words speak volumes but it is 2022 and the club needs future proofing and we need to behave and operate like a 21sr century club and that’s what is happening…

Good mention for us in this BBC article with a few quotes from DC on the real living wage. I think our average home attendance is more than 5,400 though?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/62996172

Ian Fleming might just have wanted to leave in that way.  He was, rightly or wrongly, a hidden figure for many years in the running of the club.  He might just be very uncomfortable with any form of spotlight.

We're over a year into the 1878 regime.  Yet prior to that there wasn't an awful lot of turnover in the club.  The same old faces had sat in the same old chairs for a long, long time.  Change was needed.  Now that could be change of mindset or change of people.  From the outside looking in, the occupants of those chairs were given ample opportunity to bring about that change of mindset.  

I feel that as a fanbase we're looking too much into people leaving their roles at the club.  It's not even evolution and development of the club, it's just natural churn of staff.  

Enjoyed the interview again and definitely agree with forza that there was a different side to Stockwood coming out there.  Dare I say it, he showed his frustration a little.  It must have been hard over the last 18 months refusing to bite and admitting that what they inherited was a shower, you can forgive him for letting slip a little.  Regardless he still comes across incredibly well.

I've got to be honest though, the ticketing issue still remains unresolved for me.  It feels a little like that they don't get it.  I completely understand that they're looking at the number of empty seats and saying 'yeah, but why would we bring extra seats in when we can't sell what we've got?'.  If you're a corner shop and you're only selling 8 tins of beans a day, you're not going to order 12 a day from the wholesaler are you?  But our version of that analogy is that we're ordering 10 a day, selling 8 but 3 are damaged that no-one wants.  

I'm not aware of any way that we can measure the level of interest in the games beyond actual ticket sales.  But I'm pretty certain that we're effectively turning people away because the seats that are available are substandard.  There's incredibly limited scope for tomorrow's game to get a seat that isn't on the back row of the Main Stand where the really restricted views are (regardless of what the official stance on these are).  Yet I'm certain as hell that we'll have quite a lot of empty seats bunched together that could have been sold once we kick-off tomorrow night.

If I don't have a season ticket and I look to buy a couple of tickets today, I'm thinking balderdash to that.  I'm either unable to see half the pitch or sitting 70 seats away from the person I've come to the game with.  

We need proof of concept, be it that we need more seats or we don't.  Until we get that, it'll always remain an issue.  One way of helping to determine that is an effective seat release scheme.  Yes, I know there's the option there.  But honestly why am I going to release my seat for a game I can't go to?  There has to be an incentive otherwise the vast majority of people won't bother.  Over 5 weeks ago the club said they were working on a rewards scheme - https://gtfc.co.uk/donating-your-seat/ - unless I've missed it nothing has been done since then.  Yet we've had 4 home league fixtures where tickets have been sold since (including the Crewe game that was curtailed).

Until we acknowledge that there will be a percentage of fans that can't attend games and we maximise the ability to resell those seats on a game-by-game basis, we'll never achieve full house status in the sense of bums on seats. If and when we can get there or thereabouts will be the point of putting extra capacity in.

Only around 80 tickets left for tommorrow with 36 hours to go singles restricted view back row etc so of course we are turning people a way . Those asking for evidence of this are asking for the impossible . Just think where we would be if we had won our home league games .

But as devil's advocate, to my own argument nonetheless, we don't know if we're turning people away.

It could be that we're not getting anyone logging onto the ticketing site and see what's available, saying no thanks and not bothering because the seats are excrement.  

It could be that there's hundreds of unique visits to the ticketing site without buying a ticket, which could suggest that people are put off by the lack of options.  Or it could be people looking out of curiosity to see how many tickets are available, like I've just done and I'm guessing you've done too.  

On a game by game basis we need to understand what our capacity is going to be.  Our capacity can quite simply be defined as how many people we can fit in the ground/how many seats we can have occupied, not how many tickets we can sell.  At the minute I'm absolutely convinced we've no idea, not even close to knowing, how many people will be sat in the ground on a game-by-game basis.  Within that we've no idea how many seats could have been resold to willing buyers.  

Quoted from diehardmariner

But as devil's advocate, to my own argument nonetheless, we don't know if we're turning people away.

It could be that we're not getting anyone logging onto the ticketing site and see what's available, saying no thanks and not bothering because the seats are excrement.  

It could be that there's hundreds of unique visits to the ticketing site without buying a ticket, which could suggest that people are put off by the lack of options.  Or it could be people looking out of curiosity to see how many tickets are available, like I've just done and I'm guessing you've done too.  

On a game by game basis we need to understand what our capacity is going to be.  Our capacity can quite simply be defined as how many people we can fit in the ground/how many seats we can have occupied, not how many tickets we can sell.  At the minute I'm absolutely convinced we've no idea, not even close to knowing, how many people will be sat in the ground on a game-by-game basis.  Within that we've no idea how many seats could have been resold to willing buyers.  

It’s a lot simpler then that if there are no or only single and poor view seats available on sale we are turning people away . You can argue about how many anecdotely it’s a fair number.

Could anyone give me a link please to the podcast,  thank you.