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We've had a lot of discussion about how people think we may perform next season etc, and I think many people often end up disagreeing because the four things (Priorities, Targets, Hopes and Expectations) often get confused.
For me, this is how I see it........
- Priorities -
SPL Survival should always be top of the priority list. Within that there's a catalogue of other "smaller" priorities which the club need to keep on top of to ensure it happens. Everything from obtaining and keeping the correct personnel, to keeping punters coming through the gates and all the other income streams which support it.
- Targets -
This should be what the club is aiming for. It's actually one of the few things I won't criticise Brewster on as I think he's got it right that we should constantly be chasing the team in front of us in the league. However, I think he also needs to set out his stall in terms of targeting a league position. Be that an open ended target of improving on the previous seasons place, securing more points or whatever. We need some KPI's (Key Performance Indicators) to measure him against....it happens in just about every other business I know of and I don't see why it shouldn't be the case at ICT.
Off the pitch, I think the exact same thing should be happening. The club should be identifying areas where they fall short and setting clear and achievable targets for improvement. Everything from Customer Service to Merchandising, improving match day experience, reducing complaints etc. This needs to be done on a departmental level as well as an individual level for everyone from the bottom to the top.
- Hopes -
This is one primarily for the fans. It's the Manager/Clubs job to keep their feet on the ground and make sensible decisions....it's the fans job to get a little carried away with their hopes and dreams. Nothing wrong with that, so long as it's tempered with a little dose of reality come the end when your hopes may not have been achieved.
Personally I hope to see ICT getting a shot in Europe some way or another before 2012....It's not impossible that it could happen, but I would never expect to see it on the club/players/managers lists of Targets at the moment. I also hope to see us reach a cup final every season...again, not something the club are going to come out and list as a Target. It's that "Hope" that keeps us going back time and again.
- Expectations -
Fans expectation is something ICT have been very poor at handling for as long as I can remember. However, to be fair, it's only since we reached the SPL that it's become an issue as we were nearly always improving year on year until that point.
The club screwed up when they signed Niculae by hyping him as the man who was going to come in and bang away the goals left right and centre. He was fresh off the plane, hadn't had a pre-season and the club lumped this huge expectation on not only him, but the fans. When you do that your only setting yourself up for failure/criticism when it goes wrong.
The club should have already been making noises and managing expectation for next season. If the plan is to consolidate, rebuild the team and simply go for survival, then they need to come out and say it. We may not like it....but we will at least know what to expect.
On the other hand if they are building to go for a top 6 next season then they should be coming out and saying that. We might think they are barking given what we've witnessed so far, but again....we could at least try and garner some understanding as to the events surrounding player movements (or lack of).
For next season here are my Priorities, Targets, Hopes and Expectations based on what I've seen in the past season and what I've seen so far in terms of preparations for next season.
- I think our PRIORITY should be survival in the SPL, in order to achieve that I think we need to be prioritising the acquisition of about 6 to 8 players during the close season to fill gaps and provide adequate cover.
Off the park I think the club need to prioritise how they are going to improve the match day experience and reduce the level of complaints. The past 2 season have seen more complaints than all previous years combined IMO and they need to stop the rot.
Top Priority off the pitch is to improve communication with fans.
- I think our TARGETS for next season should be to improve on this seasons points tally and league position.
Off the park I think the club need to be targeting improvements on things such as the availability of Season Tickets during the final month of the season. I think they need to be doing the same with any new strips. On top of that they need to set themselves targets to reduce complaints. You'll never eliminate complaints, but by the same voice...it's dangerous business to ignore them and dismiss them on the basis of "some people are never happy".
- My Hope for next season is that we can somehow squeeze ourselves into the top 6 and get a decent cup run and reach final. I also hope the club can see beyond the immediate pounds signs and come to some agreement to extend Niculaes stay at ICT. Above all else, I hope we don't see a repeat of the disharmony between players and club/management.
Off the pitch, I hope the club have been listening to the fans and we see some of the improvements mentioned in targets and priorities above.
- My expectations are fairly low at the moment unfortunately. I've seen nothing in recent weeks that gives me any hope that we'll see an improvement at the start of the season and I find that worrying. I expect we'll see a couple of signings, but nothing that's going to move us forward. I would just like to know what the "plan" is, as I said above, if we knew they at least had a plan then it might help.
Whether my expectations improve or not will depend very much on our summer transfer activity.