Commercial Activity

[AyrshireTon]

4 hours ago, Tubes said:

Struggling to understand the reasoning behind not having some form of merch stall open at that today. Shocked at how stupid that is. How many folk attended? A few hundred people in the building and they can’t spend their money!

That's beyond amateur.

Tomorrow there is a cattle/farmer show thing in Stranraer (basically the whole town goes and gets hammered). Stranraer FC have indicated on social media that they will have a tent/marquee selling merchandise plus a chance to sign up to sponsor players etc.

And we can't even sell stuff at Cappielow on our own open day.

[Greacen2000]

19 hours ago, vikingTON said:

Call me picky, but I'd have thought a general manager operating a business would have an accurate understanding of that business's market and customer base. And if you don't demonstrate that then you shouldn't progress from an interview process. 

It's absolutely basic, public domain information that should be part of any credible pre-job preparation to find out, never mind something to be 'learned' several months later on the job. 

He made a gaffe, nobody is denying that.  All I’m saying is that ultimately his performance will be judged on things other than this single utterance.

[Greacen2000]

18 hours ago, Tink said:

I looked in briefly on the open day today. I think this is the third open day the club has held, and this seemed to be the worst. No catering facilities were open, no stalls to sell merchandise, and no MCT stall to sign up new members. A missed opportunity to make money and to make it a better day for those attending. Also, why have it on a weekday when most people are at work? 
The last one was on a Sunday and included games for the kids to play in the car park (if I remember correctly). The open days are a great idea, but this one was poorly organised compared to the others.

That’s absolutely shocking.  I’ve been to previous open days and spent a lot of cash on merchandise, a sponsored step in the main stand, and the previous seasons training gear.  I can’t believe that the club have done nothing at the open day to try and make a bit of cash.  Wow

[Alibi]

I thought it was an open training session, not an open day?

[SpoonTon]

6 minutes ago, Alibi said:

I thought it was an open training session, not an open day?

Yeah. Without wanting to get into what the club should be doing at an open training session, the inaccuracy in calling it an open day is probably annoying me more than it should (so if people could stop it, I'd appreciate that). 

Edited July 31 by SpoonTon

[TONofmemories]

Doesn't really matter what it was or wasnt, it was an opportunity with a captive audience within the building to sell merch/ST's/MCT memberships. Loathed to be critical, bu't its basics. 

There was an article in the tele suggestion we're around 60 ST's short of this time last year, yet when presented with an opportunity to try and flog them, we don't bother. Comical stuff. 

[Jamie_M]

Posted the same yesterday. It was an open training session not a full blown open day which is why it wasn't the same as previous open days.

The point is still valid though that the number 1 time for the club to market to their customer base is every time they are in the building and we are historically really poor at that.

[Ferguson]

As above we've always been poor at marketing our merch, but this year especially with a cracking set of kits and training gear as well as a full range of 150th anniversary items surely you'd want to plaster it everywhere? It was mentioned on here months ago after the 150 year stuff came out and Dale addressed the poor marketing in a video shortly after yet, as per an emerging pattern, very little has been done. 

[port-ton]

Even the kids Ton club is what £30 is it not? There were surely some kids there having the time of their life that aren’t signed up to that and  parents that could have been convinced to part with their money. 

[vikingTON]

23 hours ago, Cet Homme Charmant said:

Of course in the ideal world that's absolutely true, but being realistic and based on the kind of salary we can probably afford, I would have thought that finding someone with that level of proven experience will be nigh on impossible. 

Absolutely nothing I have stated requires 'experience'. It requires doing absolutely basic homework about the organisation that you are applying to manage on a day to day business. Which should be a pre-requisite for any senior position - not just because it demonstrates your insight about the tasks required, but because it also shows a fundamental seriousness and respect towards the organisation that you are applying to join. 

This guy is just one of a long line of chancers in Scottish football, many of whom have darkened the door at Cappielow, who wouldn't be running any other business of a football club's size. Until that changes, we cannot expect to have nice things. 

[vikingTON]

20 hours ago, Cet Homme Charmant said:

But if a person with such extensive knowledge, expertise and experience had actually applied, you would imagine they would have been a shoo-in. Anyway, time will tell. He talks a good game, but we need to see tangible signs of real progress soon.

In what way does understanding the average attendance i.e. the fundamental revenue base of a football club require 'extensive knowledge'? It's information that exists in the public domain and can be easily obtained with a basic key word search. 

The key point here is that this is a  position that he applied for, not something that was dropped on him without warning. It is a standard expectation that you research the organisation before going to interview for any position of significance. 

So the fact that this knowledge wasn't gained prior to interview - never mind obtained several months into the actual role - either shows that he can't do basic information gathering tasks, or simply hasn't prepared for the job properly. Which raises just as many questions about the scrutiny involved in GMFC's interview process, regardless of the genuine knowledge and experience of applicants.

7 hours ago, Greacen2000 said:

He made a gaffe, nobody is denying that.  All I’m saying is that ultimately his performance will be judged on things other than this single utterance.

He's made a parade of gaffes that consistently suggest he doesn't prepare adequately for the task. Which is not exactly ideal for the public-speaking face of the club. 

[Cet Homme Charmant]

29 minutes ago, vikingTON said:

Absolutely nothing I have stated requires 'experience'. It requires doing absolutely basic homework about the organisation that you are applying to manage on a day to day business. Which should be a pre-requisite for any senior position - not just because it demonstrates your insight about the tasks required, but because it also shows a fundamental seriousness and respect towards the organisation that you are applying to join. 

This guy is just one of a long line of chancers in Scottish football, many of whom have darkened the door at Cappielow, who wouldn't be running any other business of a football club's size. Until that changes, we cannot expect to have nice things. 

I agree that the optics of the 5000 average attendance claim are not good, but if it was made as a throw-away comment then I don't think it's a hanging offence. He's undoubtedly made some rookie errors and it's right and understandable that some doubts and questions are starting to be raised, but to label him a 'chancer' already is unfair, IMO. Maybe in time you will be proven to be right, but I think it's a bit too premature to completely write him off. Just my opinion. 

[Toby]

I think it’s fair to say that while Dale may not be the next Warren Hawke of Dave McKinnon, the honeymoon period is over for him.

Great with buzzwords and training modules for staff, but marketing errors like the other day, basics like vT has alluded to and unanswered emails are crosses on the report card.

[Greacen2000]

3 hours ago, vikingTON said:

 

He's made a parade of gaffes that consistently suggest he doesn't prepare adequately for the task. Which is not exactly ideal for the public-speaking face of the club. 

what other gaffes?  I’m not doubting you - I must have missed them all

[Hightide]

11 minutes ago, Greacen2000 said:

what other gaffes?  I’m not doubting you - I must have missed them all

Limiting the crowd for the Motherwell game last season in case it rained was a belter. 

[Cet Homme Charmant]

1 hour ago, Hightide said:

Limiting the crowd for the Motherwell game last season in case it rained was a belter. 

Was it his decision alone to voluntarily reduce the capacity, or was it imposed by an external authority? Genuine question, I really don't know. 

[Greacen2000]

28 minutes ago, Cet Homme Charmant said:

Was it his decision alone to voluntarily reduce the capacity, or was it imposed by an external authority? Genuine question, I really don't know. 

I think Dales statement after the game mentioned him supporting the decision of the safety advisors or something like that.  I’m not sure whether that means from the police or from within the club (I suspect the latter as it didn’t explicitly mention the police).  Either way it turned out to be the wrong call but at least there was a statement made to address it and provide a bit of transparency
 

I am not for 1 minute trying to defend Dale here and saying he is doing a great job etc.  All I’m saying is that a clear set of success measures have been laid out, and it’s upon them which his performance will be measured and to which he will be held accountable 

Edited July 31 by Greacen2000

[Tink]

28 minutes ago, Cet Homme Charmant said:

Was it his decision alone to voluntarily reduce the capacity, or was it imposed by an external authority? Genuine question, I really don't know. 

I’d guess that it was an internal decision, as the capacity was increased for the Hearts game and “external authorities” don’t, in my experience, react that quickly to situations. Whether it was Dale’s decision or someone else, I don’t know.

[vikingTON]

45 minutes ago, Greacen2000 said:

I am not for 1 minute trying to defend Dale here and saying he is doing a great job etc.  All I’m saying is that a clear set of success measures have been laid out, and it’s upon them which his performance will be measured and to which he will be held accountable 

How many of the success measures achieved will count as good performance? Establishing the club in the top 16 of the Scottish game is clearly an aspiration: we don't have anywhere near top 16 revenue and even a superb GM can't control what other clubs do as well. To mark someone's card down based on that birthday caird pish would be stupid.

I find it difficult to believe that GMFC is seriously using any framework to track the GM's performance. Those so-called success measures are just platitudes that any organisation can pin up but will never be required to follow up on.

A more cynical view might say that the 5,000 average crowd line is an attempt to preempt any criticism for failure. But as I don't see any credible scrutiny taking place anyway, I'm putting it down to ignorance and bullshit instead. 

[Greacen2000]

9 hours ago, vikingTON said:

How many of the success measures achieved will count as good performance? Establishing the club in the top 16 of the Scottish game is clearly an aspiration: we don't have anywhere near top 16 revenue and even a superb GM can't control what other clubs do as well. To mark someone's card down based on that birthday caird pish would be stupid.

I find it difficult to believe that GMFC is seriously using any framework to track the GM's performance. Those so-called success measures are just platitudes that any organisation can pin up but will never be required to follow up on.

A more cynical view might say that the 5,000 average crowd line is an attempt to preempt any criticism for failure. But as I don't see any credible scrutiny taking place anyway, I'm putting it down to ignorance and bullshit instead. 

You mentioned 1 out of 18 goals which the document contains.  The buck will stop with Dale for many if not all of these.  

We are less than 6 months into this 3 year strategy, so no I don’t expect Dale to get emptied if we fail to make the top 4 this season.  I do fully expect that every one of the items contained therein will be reviewed on a regular basis, with the expectation that progress is being made towards them.  

Edited August 1 by Greacen2000