Scotty

My bug bear, listening to online coverage every week is that the words "a club of our size ...." or something similar seems to be added onto most interviews. I agree that our expectations need to be brought back down to earth at times, but it is becoming repetitive and de-motivating to hear our club talked down week after week after week after week by the very people who should be talking it up. Yes we need more fans, yes its frustrating when the stadium is only full for games against the OF but if you want to increase the popularity of something you dont try to 'guilt' people into it, you promote your product, show some customer care and try to give people the impression that they are getting value for their hard earned money. A lot of fans do try to bring along 'extras' or go to as many games as they can but the realistic answer is that the pricing structure amongst other things means most people have to pick and choose which games they go to, and casual fans are more likely to choose to come to a big game than a small one.

I am going to be quite critical here and it pains me to do so. I have the club in my heart, I am 100% behind the management team, and think we have a lot of good people at the stadium. However, I think the fans are being blamed not only for shortcomings that we do have but also some of the club's own failings. Some people may agree with me, some may disagree. Some at the club will probably be furious that I have the audacity to criticise anything about the club but after too many years sitting on the fence when running the official site, it is quite cathartic to be able to express myself about my concerns. There were positives in the article Alex and I am happy that CC is determined to try and keep our best players ... however, the undercurrent seems to be that if he cant then it is the fault of stay-away fans. This is an oft quoted excuse that has been trotted out far too regularly in our short history and it is no more valid now than it ever was. Only once was it perhaps valid and that was when we were in deep financial doo-doo before David Sutherland's intervention and if you look up my name in the index of Ian Broadfoot's book you will see I actually tried to put something in place when it was actually true. I agree that we can/should all do our bit to try and get more people along but the club should also be proactively and visibly doing something to try and entice 'occasional' fans to come and see more games. Pricing is an obvious area for scrutiny and that has been talked about extensively in this thread, but the overall 'experience', and the club's 'presence' also needs to be looked at and we as fans can do very little about that other than raise the issues. experience: Is it fun to wait in a traffic jam on the way to the stadium, then queue to get in, or to have apparent confusion over the purchasing of tickets when you get there ? [note: I dont disbelieve ymip, but I agree with you that Tess and Andrina are usually hyper efficient so maybe it wasnt them in the ticket office when Ymip went in]. Once you get in is it fun to be confronted with [at times] over-officious and inconsistent stewarding, beverages and food that can only be described as mediocre at best and queues for them that mean you have to miss 10 minutes of the game you paid to see by going to get them well before (or after) half-time. Finally, after the game, you then have to endure the nightmare that is getting out of the car park and back into town ... something that has been raised for years and years as an issue with fans. If I were a neutral, none of this would encourage me to keep returning, although as a diehard I did put up with it for many years. None of this is CC's fault and he probably cant have any effect on any of it, but its as valid an excuse for people not coming as blaming the fans themselves ..... you have to make them 'want' to come, not to expect it without making an effort. presence: Does the club actually have one ? Of course it does with us - the diehards - but other than [once?] sending out a few flyers to the Polish community and sticking a few posters up in selected pubs where is the club's presence in the town ? the TCS is not the easiest place to get to if you dont have your own transport so its not exactly going to pick up a lot of passing trade and those without any transport probably wont bother even if they want to. If charities/small businesses can succesfully operate retail units in the town centre, then what is stopping the club from doing the same ... sell tickets, sell merchandise without giving part of the profits to a 3rd party, get flyers in the tourist information places advertising games in various languages not just Polish, get players into schools instead of the golf course, and FFS stop playing the club down. I am 100% behind Charlie but he needs a new scriptwriter ... stop the references to a "club of our size" and other small town / small club / meagre resource comments. It may be true in part, but we are an SPL club with a 7 figure turnover employing quite a large number of people now both part and full time and this kind of talk is not going to promote the club to neutrals or those who might fancy seeing a game from time to time. I also doubt whether it has a positive effect on players who, for the most part, have performed fantastically well since we reached the SPL. I am realistic, I know we have scant resources when compared to some clubs and that we have come a huge way in a very short time without ever tasting the bad times which will surely come sometime. I am also as guilty as anyone else of expecting us to finish in the top 6, win the cup, qualify for Europe etc. etc. etc. so I dont mind being slapped down every once in a while when my expectations get out of hand, but its not needed every week. agreed. Not sure if its still the case but in lower division days (3, 2, & 1) Caley Thistle were reputed to have more advertising boards than any other team in the division .......

Your shaping up to be a good moderator IHE ... talking sense again, must be that high IQ :004:

I tend to agree - maybe not the higher amounts, but the structure, which is pretty much exactly what I suggested above - didnt realise Hearts priced themselves this way :022:

In addition to having prime, standard, and cheap seats in my earlier plan, I have always thought the club should also have 'flexible pricing' too. You charge a certain amount for Rangers, Celtic, Aberdeen, Hearts or any other game where demand is high, but you charge less for lower demand games. It wouldnt be that difficult to work out prices for season tickets based on 'x' number of premium games and 'x' number of normal games for each of the three suggested sections, and then pricing for individual games can be set based on that without season ticket holders feeling the need to grumble at reduced prices when they paid full whack for season books because the lower rates are already built in. The club would then have a broad range of ticket prices to suit every budget. .... my season ticket for Toronto FC has cost me $200 for minimum of 15 games with a potential for 5 more. In addition to this, I also get first refusal for my seat for the Youth World cup here in Canada later in the year ... pretty **** good I say. Toronto season tickets range from $200 up to $2000 for 'centre-line' and entry to individual games starts at only $10 ...... in a 'non-soccer' city, they have sold more than 6000 season tickets since October and most of those were before the names of the players were even known.

Does Smith really want the job ??? That will be why he asked to be relieved of his Scotland contract on Monday morning then ..... and why the SFA refused

The club need to look at maximising the utilisation of what they have in terms of seating and the costs associated with it ..... this is an area where looking at the pricing structure of North American sporting venues is valid here is a quickly thought up plan ..... At its most basic level you have prime seats, standard seats, and cheap seats, and maybe family seats as a 4th category. Prime Seats would be main stand sections C,D,E (upper and lower) which have the best overall views in the stadium as you can easily see the action at both ends. Standard seats would be main stand sections B and F and most of the North and South Stands - not restricted view, but restricted in the sense that you only clearly see goalmouth action at your end. Cheap seats would be main stand sections A and G (uncovered) and maybe the far corners of each part of north and south stands. For Prime seats you charge full whack, with little or no discount for concessions, and you maybe throw in a couple of sweeteners like entry for a cup game or two or an invite to hospitality at the end of season where you get the buffet paid for but buy your own drink. For Standard seats you charge a bit less and also make concessions available. You give season ticket holders in these seats first refusal at their seat for cup games but no freebies. For Cheap seats you sell them on matchday only or maybe the day before and slash the prices - these are not the best seats and not worth 20 or 25 quid a pop. For Family section you deep discount the overall cost and maintain it throughout the season. limited family seating in other areas of the stadium at the regular rate for that area less a % discount - lets families sit with pals if they want without being screwed for huge wads of cash.

Its amazing what you can find when you do a little digging or look up associated stats ........ If you take season 2005/06 - i.e. the last full season, and the one whose revenue we are now spending - the approximate figures add up as follows: 2005/06 average attendances (source = SPL website) ICT: 5061 FALKIRK: 5515 difference = 454 If we take an arbitrary figure of £20.00 for the average ticket price, this means that 18 home games X an extra 454 fans = £163,440 more in additional revenue for Falkirk over the season. HOWEVER ICT finished 7th which represented a payout over the season of around £781,500 but FALKIRK finished 10th and got around £614,000 in SPL payouts .... a difference of around £167,500 in ICT's favour (source = various websites discussing new setanta deal when it was proposed) Overall, taking these figures based on crowds/payouts into effect, ICT made a little over £4k more than Falkirk over the course of the season !!!!! Obviously, there is no allowance for stadium costs, wages, staff costs, transfers in/out or anything else in here so the figures are skewed to show only one portion of the equation but it does show that their isnt as big a gulf in finances because of the crowds as we would be led to believe. 2006/07 If I were CC, I would however be more worried about how much we will have at the end of this season - our average crowd is now 4798 (down 263 on last season) and Falkirk's is now 5695 (up 180 on last season) for a difference in Falkirk's favour of 897. Taking that number over the course of the season at the same figure of £20 would net Falkirk an additional £322,920 in revenue and with them two spots above us in the table, if the league were to end tomorrow, the difference when you add the sponsor's payouts / TV money would be closer to £480,000.

Bon Cop / Bad Cop ***/5 A Canadian film, translated as 'good cop / bad cop' and very much in the mould of the 'buddy' cop movies like Lethal Weapon, Bad Boys etc. but well worth a look. A body is discovered on the Quebec / Ontario border - quite literally - It is hanging over the border sign with one half in Ontario and the other half in Quebec ... the cops argue over whose jurisdiction it is and both try to climb up a ladder on either side of the border sign to take the body down ... they slip and both ladders fall, leaving one hanging onto the arms and the other hanging on to the legs ... rrrr...iii...pppp, they both fall to the ground as the body is torn in half. There is loads of quirky humour in this part-french part-english speaking film and some good dialogue between the two lead characters but overall the storyline is a bit weak - they are chasing down a serial killer who is taking revenge on people he thinks have been ruining a Canadian institution - HOCKEY As I mentioned above, well worth a look but not a classic.

It would give Caley D a coronary ........ ......... I'll consider it :017:

sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind .... didnt Pele put Wyness on the transfer list at one point ? .... he also sent Barry Robson to Forfar on loan, a move that the player was furious with, but one that saw him come back a far better player ....

I think I need a drink ..... :015:

Guess you need to show him yer erse then IHE :moon2:

Looks like Wattie has made up his mind ....... according to impeccable sources .... "At a meeting this morning Walter Smith asked to be relieved of his contract as Scotland's National Team Manager. This request was refused."

eventually got it back just in time to catch the interview with CC - sounded fair enough, but I wish he would stop using "...a club of our size..." at the end of each interview.

only thing that spoilt my day was the BBC cutting off the online coverage half way through. I can understand that games are subject to copyright, and maybe the first half of the Hearts game shouldnt have been broadcast on the main radio scotland site (as opposed to sportsound site) but couldnt somebody have thought to make the studio coverage they talked about available live on the internet .... there surely couldnt be any problem with copyright there ? Also, why o why did some bright spark not switch back to the sportsound programme at the end of the game so we could hear the reports ? Its more than 20 minutes after most gamers have finished and I am still getting the 'contractual' message - utter b0ll0x

Think the 'shock' of the round is Killie currently losing 3-1 to Morton

Draw for next round is tomorrow

Deveronvale 5-4 Elgin --- thats some comeback !!! can they do it ?

McAllister on for Bayne Morgan on for Wilson

http://home.skysports.com/livescores/football/ - live score ticker Elgin were making a comeback at 4-2 but its now 5-2 to Deveronvale

you are in the UK though Ross - I am not so its blocked :019: - hope they reinstate it at full time so I can record the match report !!!

Caff on for Tokely

feckin online coverage which was working fine in the first half (apart from having to listen to the Hearts match) cut out and now gives the "...for contractual reasons ... we are unable to bring you this program ..." bull**** .... must have been a feckin quick contract if it was done between first and second half !!

was just going to post that !!! :015: :015: