Post by spiritofradford on Aug 26, 2015 8:10:39 GMT
I am sure I am not the only one on here to have woken incredibly frustrated and depressed today. Last nights performance, especially conceding 5 at home against one of the poorest teams I have ever seen hurts badly! But there was more wrong last night than the things that happened on the pitch.
Firstly ticketing. Last night was the first real test of the clubs ticketless turnstiles policy. I like this idea in principle. The idea of keeping all the cash in one place and to limit the number of cash handlers required is sensible. However to achieve this you have to have the infrastructure in place to deal with it. The queues last night and the delay in starting the game shows we haven't and frankly made us look like a bunch of amateur fools. It doesn't matter how many times you appeal to football fans to get there early on Bulls News, the OS and on forums you will ALWAYS get large numbers of people arriving at the last minute. This has always happened and always will. People are getting there late for many reasons. Some are arriving straight from work and getting there as soon as they are able. Some are arriving late because they have to balance getting there with discharging their domestic responsibilities. For others because they are having a couple of drinks in town first and whilst it would be easy to point the finger at these latter people and suggest they are the ones that could help by coming sooner doing this, for many, is an important part of the football experience HFC and clubs like them are there to provide. Two ticket sellers and 1 dishing out pre-paid is not going to cut it! The people who are manning these windows are therefore coming under a lot of pressure from unhappy punters and given that they are largely volunteers that is unacceptable. If these people aren't looked after properly and given what they need to function correctly then their goodwill will be very quickly lost. Delaying the kick off helped deal with the issue last night but in the long term won't. Firstly it makes us look very poorly managed, won't always be allowed anyway and you risk creating the belief among some supporters that they don't have to rush because there will be queues and the game will be delayed.
How do we put this right ? There are a couple of options. Firstly, you could simply make every game all ticket for home supporters. This will mean having to put in place an infrastructure which allows people to buy tickets during normal office hours Mon to Fri so is probably not viable. Any less than that almost constant availability will inevitably cost support because if people can't get there at the times we choose to open then they simply won't come. We could ensure that our crowds are more accurately estimated in advance, not easy I know but whoever set last night estimate at 1500 was clearly short of the mark, and that a sufficient number of sellers (even if we have to pay them) are in place to cope with the demand. I would also suggest that all sellers need to be either working from the same place (too many people were wandering around lost last night or queuing at the wrong place) Again I know this isn't easy to implement but the fact is if you want to put any labour saving procedure in place you have to make sure you have the facilities and means to do so. From what I saw last night we currently do not have the facilities or means to operate ticketless turnstiles and until this is thought through properly and adequate solutions found this policy needs to abandoned in favour of the old tried and trusted method of taking cash on at least one turnstile in each stand.
Secondly, Programs. Buying a program for many people is an important part of the match day experience. Not everyone does buy one and sometimes groups will buy one or two between them but for those people who do enjoy them, missing out gets their matchday experience off to a poor start. Last night many people who wanted programs didn't get one as evidenced by many complaints on here and many I heard around the ground. I bought mine early and was told by the seller that only 400 had been produced. Really ? More than 2500 people going to a game having only 400 programs between them ? I know the gate budgeted for was 1500 (woeful planning in my opinion) but even if that figure had been proved right you should still be looking to double the number produced. Given that football clubs are about providing a positive experience for their customers I would argue that it is better to have a few left over than to leave "customers" disappointed. Remember, a punters view of their experience today will affect how often they come back, a simple but true tenet of any customer focused industry!
Now the performance. Conceding 5 at home to them ? Really. I couldn't believe what I was seeing and judging by their players reaction and their managers comments afterwards frankly nor could they! Yes, I know its all new, I have said that myself elsewhere. Its a learning curve, blah blah blah. But really ? 5 at home to a bunch of sunday league cloggers who couldn't quite believe their luck ? 5 to another club who are also rebuilding their squad almost from scratch due to losing most of their decent players ? 5 goals that our opponents didn't even have to work that hard for ? Come to think of it, apart from one half decent free kick I cannot think of one example out of any of the 14 goals we have conceded in our 5 games where I have been able to honestly say yes, they worked that well! Yes I know its all new, it will take time to gel and for things to settle down. thats all very very true. But given the truth of that surel, to help this settling process a lump of a center back and a lump of a holding midfield player with experience of the league we are playing in is a no brainer. I read with dismay Beadles comments after the game that he believes this squad is capable of getting us out of this division. Really Peter ? Which way are we aiming to leave ? Seriously if anyone thinks that with our current set up anything better than our accustomed 17th place is attainable then they are deluded. Its no good banging them in for fun at one end if you give them away so easily at the back. If we are going to persist with this squad then we need an extra day out of the players to drill them on positioning and tactics because if you want to compete at the top of any league especially with a new squad you have to do your learning on the training field not the pitch! Failing that we need that lump of a center half and that lump of a CM to allow the other players a little more luxury to make their mistakes.
This brings me to my final point. Sustainability. Please HFC, do not ram that word down my throat anymore. I'm sick of hearing it and then seeing all the deficiencies it pays for. Of course we want our club to be sustainable, especially after everything we have been through. That goes without saying. I never want to see another begging bowl in my life. But the harsh reality of life is that there is far more to sustainability than saving a few quid today. Sustainability isn't just about saving money its also about maintaining and growing your business and customer base. Please don't make the mistake of previous regimes and just assume that football fans are "different", that they will come what may because we all know that isn't true. If you are providing your customers today with an experience where they turn up, have the stress of having to queue for tickets at inadequate selling points, hunt for the prized match program you haven't printed, fail to console themselves with that much promised pint of beer your bar has run out of, endure the heartache of a woefully naive performance for a team that look like they met on the bus here and then have to stress about missing their bus, train or lift because they are 15 - 20 minutes late getting out of the ground you failed to fill on time, how "sustainable" do you think your attendances and therefore you income and club finances will be ? I know long term we do have to be living within our means but now, this season and probably next is NOT the time for penny pinching. Believe me, if in 2 -3 years we are still experiencing nights similar to last night in the Midland league then there will be nothing sustainable about HFC or football at Edgar Street in the long term!
Firstly ticketing. Last night was the first real test of the clubs ticketless turnstiles policy. I like this idea in principle. The idea of keeping all the cash in one place and to limit the number of cash handlers required is sensible. However to achieve this you have to have the infrastructure in place to deal with it. The queues last night and the delay in starting the game shows we haven't and frankly made us look like a bunch of amateur fools. It doesn't matter how many times you appeal to football fans to get there early on Bulls News, the OS and on forums you will ALWAYS get large numbers of people arriving at the last minute. This has always happened and always will. People are getting there late for many reasons. Some are arriving straight from work and getting there as soon as they are able. Some are arriving late because they have to balance getting there with discharging their domestic responsibilities. For others because they are having a couple of drinks in town first and whilst it would be easy to point the finger at these latter people and suggest they are the ones that could help by coming sooner doing this, for many, is an important part of the football experience HFC and clubs like them are there to provide. Two ticket sellers and 1 dishing out pre-paid is not going to cut it! The people who are manning these windows are therefore coming under a lot of pressure from unhappy punters and given that they are largely volunteers that is unacceptable. If these people aren't looked after properly and given what they need to function correctly then their goodwill will be very quickly lost. Delaying the kick off helped deal with the issue last night but in the long term won't. Firstly it makes us look very poorly managed, won't always be allowed anyway and you risk creating the belief among some supporters that they don't have to rush because there will be queues and the game will be delayed.
How do we put this right ? There are a couple of options. Firstly, you could simply make every game all ticket for home supporters. This will mean having to put in place an infrastructure which allows people to buy tickets during normal office hours Mon to Fri so is probably not viable. Any less than that almost constant availability will inevitably cost support because if people can't get there at the times we choose to open then they simply won't come. We could ensure that our crowds are more accurately estimated in advance, not easy I know but whoever set last night estimate at 1500 was clearly short of the mark, and that a sufficient number of sellers (even if we have to pay them) are in place to cope with the demand. I would also suggest that all sellers need to be either working from the same place (too many people were wandering around lost last night or queuing at the wrong place) Again I know this isn't easy to implement but the fact is if you want to put any labour saving procedure in place you have to make sure you have the facilities and means to do so. From what I saw last night we currently do not have the facilities or means to operate ticketless turnstiles and until this is thought through properly and adequate solutions found this policy needs to abandoned in favour of the old tried and trusted method of taking cash on at least one turnstile in each stand.
Secondly, Programs. Buying a program for many people is an important part of the match day experience. Not everyone does buy one and sometimes groups will buy one or two between them but for those people who do enjoy them, missing out gets their matchday experience off to a poor start. Last night many people who wanted programs didn't get one as evidenced by many complaints on here and many I heard around the ground. I bought mine early and was told by the seller that only 400 had been produced. Really ? More than 2500 people going to a game having only 400 programs between them ? I know the gate budgeted for was 1500 (woeful planning in my opinion) but even if that figure had been proved right you should still be looking to double the number produced. Given that football clubs are about providing a positive experience for their customers I would argue that it is better to have a few left over than to leave "customers" disappointed. Remember, a punters view of their experience today will affect how often they come back, a simple but true tenet of any customer focused industry!
Now the performance. Conceding 5 at home to them ? Really. I couldn't believe what I was seeing and judging by their players reaction and their managers comments afterwards frankly nor could they! Yes, I know its all new, I have said that myself elsewhere. Its a learning curve, blah blah blah. But really ? 5 at home to a bunch of sunday league cloggers who couldn't quite believe their luck ? 5 to another club who are also rebuilding their squad almost from scratch due to losing most of their decent players ? 5 goals that our opponents didn't even have to work that hard for ? Come to think of it, apart from one half decent free kick I cannot think of one example out of any of the 14 goals we have conceded in our 5 games where I have been able to honestly say yes, they worked that well! Yes I know its all new, it will take time to gel and for things to settle down. thats all very very true. But given the truth of that surel, to help this settling process a lump of a center back and a lump of a holding midfield player with experience of the league we are playing in is a no brainer. I read with dismay Beadles comments after the game that he believes this squad is capable of getting us out of this division. Really Peter ? Which way are we aiming to leave ? Seriously if anyone thinks that with our current set up anything better than our accustomed 17th place is attainable then they are deluded. Its no good banging them in for fun at one end if you give them away so easily at the back. If we are going to persist with this squad then we need an extra day out of the players to drill them on positioning and tactics because if you want to compete at the top of any league especially with a new squad you have to do your learning on the training field not the pitch! Failing that we need that lump of a center half and that lump of a CM to allow the other players a little more luxury to make their mistakes.
This brings me to my final point. Sustainability. Please HFC, do not ram that word down my throat anymore. I'm sick of hearing it and then seeing all the deficiencies it pays for. Of course we want our club to be sustainable, especially after everything we have been through. That goes without saying. I never want to see another begging bowl in my life. But the harsh reality of life is that there is far more to sustainability than saving a few quid today. Sustainability isn't just about saving money its also about maintaining and growing your business and customer base. Please don't make the mistake of previous regimes and just assume that football fans are "different", that they will come what may because we all know that isn't true. If you are providing your customers today with an experience where they turn up, have the stress of having to queue for tickets at inadequate selling points, hunt for the prized match program you haven't printed, fail to console themselves with that much promised pint of beer your bar has run out of, endure the heartache of a woefully naive performance for a team that look like they met on the bus here and then have to stress about missing their bus, train or lift because they are 15 - 20 minutes late getting out of the ground you failed to fill on time, how "sustainable" do you think your attendances and therefore you income and club finances will be ? I know long term we do have to be living within our means but now, this season and probably next is NOT the time for penny pinching. Believe me, if in 2 -3 years we are still experiencing nights similar to last night in the Midland league then there will be nothing sustainable about HFC or football at Edgar Street in the long term!
