Quote Bull Mania="Bull Mania"Genuine question Hamster, as you've ever right to not attend but what would entice you back?
I personally think Chalmers is doing a good job. Yes some of his press releases are obviously written from his heart rather than his head (I do understand he needs to stand up to the SL lot as he's been put up as the main man to represent L1, shouldn't get back in his box as Mr Hudgell would prefer)
But when he took over he/we literally had nothing. No kit, no sponsors, no players with around 3 weeks until the season along with a 12 point deduction. Yes there's been cock-ups along the way (the away kit debacle) but having gone through last year, we're in a decent position now.
Top of the league
A good young squad
JOHN KEAR as the coach
Reserves
Academy
Womens Team
A FREE streaming service which lets us watch a game for free if we are unable to attend.
Speaking to some sponsors, they're very happy with the way things are run.
Regarding the price, i do think he's on to a no win situation (those who go will use the prices as a positive, those who don't want a go will use it as a negative) The facts are we've £75k central funding and in L1. We all want financial stability and not to overspend. So if we want all of the above, a good squad with an academy etc, the money has to come from somewhere. I'd personally rather be the most expensive and pay a bit more, if it means we have an academy, JK as coach and a good squad, rather than paying £10 and being the 4th/5th best team in the league.
You look at the players we're rumoured to be signing for next year. Jy Hytchcox, Brad Dwyer, James Laithwaite. They are quality players and i personally would rather pay more to see players like that, rather than pay what everyone else pays, and end up with average players and 20 wingers. If we charge the prices we do but have a 40 man squad with 20 wingers and no SH's like before, i would be aggrieved, but the money is being spent well and i feel we get value for money.
Would you come back to see Dwyer, Laithwaite, Hytchcox play for us in the championship?'"
I don't disagree with most of what you say to be honest. And I tend to agree that if you want the competitive squad, the fans have to pay for it. We've heard numerous chairmen in the past say the same thing and as much as it can come across as an excuse to charge more money, it's also true. Without a big money backer, there's only one way to earn money to fund a good team and that's the fans. Personally for me though, I wouldn't get a season ticket because I can't guarantee I'll be at every game due to work commitments. I have a disability which although it doesn't qualify me for any special perks like blue badges, it does mean I can't really stand for a full game. That means I either have to pay £23 in advance, or £25 on the day and I just can't justify that sort of money. I'm not saying it's wrong of them to charge that, I'm sure they've done their sums and worked out what the best price is to maximise income. But me personally I find that too expensive so choose not to pay it, especially when I've been putting so much money into the club over a lot of years, it kind of feels like a slap in the face to get relegated and be expected to put even more in than previously.
Genuinely though, if they have done their sums and worked out this is the optimum price to bring in the most money, then I don't want them to lower it. From a business standpoint, it's absolutely the right thing to turn off some fans in order to make the most coin.
I don't know what would bring me back now. I think enough things just built up that I'd had enough and wasn't willing to pay that money any more, but then as I mentioned I've found other things to do with my weekend which I enjoy. So it could be that the damage is irreparable.
The only thing I will disagree with you, and I'll try to answer Belcki's question at the same time, is the chairman. I agree he came into it with having to start almost everything from scratch and that couldn't be easy. I agree he did a very good job of getting all that done, especially when his business partner fell ill and couldn't do much to help. The media releases aren't really the thing that bug me about him, although they undoubtedly don't do him any favours. It's more the early days of lack of communication and secrecy (and indeed this still happens, although not as often) over important issues. It's lies that came out last year that were never clarified (example being the away shirt debacle you mentioned, the club clearly lied one way or the other). It's the employment of people who are utterly inept ("Media Manager" or whatever his title is, being top of the list), who seem to be able to repeatedly do a terrible job of things and continue as normal, even when numerous fans have highlighted it to them as being an embarrassment. So it's not really one thing that puts me off him, it's a number of things combined. Perhaps coupled with the one time I have actually chatted to him face to face, I got the distinct impression I couldn't trust him as far as I could throw him and he was just saying what he thought I wanted to hear.
I would also mention again, nobody outside of the true "insiders" know that the club is doing OK financially. All we know is that there hasn't been any WUPs for 18 months, which admittedly is a big improvement! Until proper books are seen, the idea that the club is being run financially well is just speculation (as indeed is the idea that's it's still in trouble).
I'm not trying to bring everyone down when most fans are positive. I am genuinely happy that a few thousand of our fans are enjoying themselves again and feel like the club is going places. God knows they deserve it after the last few years of nothing but stress. I just don't find myself subscribing to some of those opinions, perhaps because I don't any more experience the euphoria of being there when someone scores or the team wins, who knows? Seriously, I hope I'm wrong about him. I hope he's the saviour and the club get back to Super League and 10,000 fans every week, with no bloody tax problems! I just can't see myself being one of those 10,000 whilst things are like they are, and maybe not even if they changed.
Wow I feel like I've been typing for years...
