New ticket prices!

[BP1960]

You can't have a go at the club over the scoreboard, the fans who responded to the survey said thats what they wanted.

They wanted goals and entertainment, but haven't got that.

[real]

easier said than done

But better to spend time on than pissy little ideas that don't address the core problem

[real]

 

 

The positive effort on the scoreboard has yet to have any result,still no sign of it!

 

 

These ' scoreboard negotiations ' seem to have been going on for ever.....

 

How long does it take????

 

Until expectations drop low enough to accept whatever is delivered being classed as a major success (even if it's miniscule) in having overcome extreme difficulties - cos no other club has done this in such difficult circumstances

[owdumer]

Until we actually start scoring there won't be any goals to display or show on the new screen anyway.

[piglinbland]

 

Bozman, I`m not being patronising here but your point illustrates what is wrong with Latics and many connected with them. They often cannot see the wood for the trees. You may think it's proactive from the club in contacting some "lone wolf" down south who hasn't apparently been for a couple of years. Meanwhile, we have around 2-3,000 local fans who have abandoned the club over the past few years!

 

There appears to be no "strategic view" whatsoever at Latics - just daft little initiatives here there and everywhere. Scoreboard is a classic example - who really gives a damn about a scoreboard when we have a club struggling in all sorts of other areas. But no, lots of well-meaning people puts lots of effort into an initiative as futile as a scoreboard and pat themselves on the back about the positive things they are doing. In business, it's called being busy fools - and it always results in abject failure.

 

Sorry to be so blunt but the club urgently needs a strategic review :-

 

A plan for the rest of this season

 

A 2 year plan

 

A 5 year plan

 

Once people can see a strategy with some reasonable stated aims, then they may just start to believe there's something worth supporting. At present we are at best, stagnant, and at worst fast turning into a toxic pond from which there will be no recovery.

 

 

Not having a pop at you, nonaenever, as I hear what you're saying and like your posts. We're all frustrated at what has come to pass.

 

However, from where I'm sitting, we are certainly no worse off than many other lower league clubs. While we cast jealous eyes at the likes of Bournemouth or Burton we should be mindful of the plight of far bigger fish - from Portsmouth, Blackpool, Tranmere and Stockport (OK, these last two are tiddlers), who have fallen from grace so spectacularly, to clubs like Coventry, Bolton or Blackburn - clubs who have courted the big time, have 30,000+ stadiums and accompanying overheads (or not, in Coventry's case) and who risk a far more ruinous and infernal descent than us. Even Aston Villa can no longer guarantee their membership among the elite.

 

I would say that our club can't do right for doing wrong. Not so long ago, these pages were filled with posts bemoaning our "3 sided :censored:-hole". Then when the North Stand went up, (and against all expectations, was far more than the bus shelter predicted by the cynics) it was suddenly labelled a white elephant. Similarly, we had nostalgia threads about the old scoreboard and how any progressive board would entertain a modern version. Lo and behold, when the club hold a survey and crowdfund one, it's a "daft little initiative" (sorry, your words). And when the club slash ticket prices (after perennial laments on here about overpricing), it's "too little, too late";

 

The biggest difference between the modern era and our own insouciant youth is without doubt the advent of social media. There is now a form of popular anarchy whereby everybody can scream as loudly as they want and there is, by definition, no call to order because everyone is hidden behind a keyboard. The Ched Evans debacle (without getting political) was an example of this. The constitution going through it's creaky motions in a correct fashion but winged and bought down by on-line hysteria. The ever-increasing vitriol towards OAFC by the fans, whipped-up by a few tenacious provocateurs with an axe to grind may well lead to a precocious exit by Mr. Corney, which could be hugely detrimental to the club. People want him out without knowing what they really want instead and your proposed protest group (pressure group?) would need to be very canny indeed to avoid the shortfalls of previous efforts. To challenge the running of the club you will need your own manifesto. For example, what would be your own plan for the season? or your 2 year/ 5 year plan? (given that Mr. Corney is not rich enough to give us the required impetus and no other investor appears to be on the horizon? What ticketing structure would you propose without alienating the fans, at the same time keeping up cash-flow? what would you do differently to generate off-field income? How can we (afford to) keep players on longer contracts etc; etc?

Edited November 17, 2016 by piglinbland

[MAC0AFC]

Think about it . This forum is, amongst other things, a means of sharing information. As such the existence of a newsletter was shared with those two posters and probably with others . If they want to receive the newsletter in the future then requesting it seems to me to be a sensible approach. But hey it's not the end of the world if you disagree.

Pete, don't get caught up in all of this - your original point made perfect sense.

[Monty Burns]

 

Bozman, I`m not being patronising here but your point illustrates what is wrong with Latics and many connected with them. They often cannot see the wood for the trees. You may think it's proactive from the club in contacting some "lone wolf" down south who hasn't apparently been for a couple of years. Meanwhile, we have around 2-3,000 local fans who have abandoned the club over the past few years!

 

There appears to be no "strategic view" whatsoever at Latics - just daft little initiatives here there and everywhere. Scoreboard is a classic example - who really gives a damn about a scoreboard when we have a club struggling in all sorts of other areas. But no, lots of well-meaning people puts lots of effort into an initiative as futile as a scoreboard and pat themselves on the back about the positive things they are doing. In business, it's called being busy fools - and it always results in abject failure.

 

Sorry to be so blunt but the club urgently needs a strategic review :-

 

A plan for the rest of this season

 

A 2 year plan

 

A 5 year plan

 

Once people can see a strategy with some reasonable stated aims, then they may just start to believe there's something worth supporting. At present we are at best, stagnant, and at worst fast turning into a toxic pond from which there will be no recovery.

Agreed.

[bozman]

 

Bozman, I`m not being patronising here but your point illustrates what is wrong with Latics and many connected with them. They often cannot see the wood for the trees. You may think it's proactive from the club in contacting some "lone wolf" down south who hasn't apparently been for a couple of years. Meanwhile, we have around 2-3,000 local fans who have abandoned the club over the past few years!

 

There appears to be no "strategic view" whatsoever at Latics - just daft little initiatives here there and everywhere. Scoreboard is a classic example - who really gives a damn about a scoreboard when we have a club struggling in all sorts of other areas. But no, lots of well-meaning people puts lots of effort into an initiative as futile as a scoreboard and pat themselves on the back about the positive things they are doing. In business, it's called being busy fools - and it always results in abject failure.

 

Sorry to be so blunt but the club urgently needs a strategic review :-

 

A plan for the rest of this season

 

A 2 year plan

 

A 5 year plan

 

Once people can see a strategy with some reasonable stated aims, then they may just start to believe there's something worth supporting. At present we are at best, stagnant, and at worst fast turning into a toxic pond from which there will be no recovery.

 

Some fair points and it doesn't come across as patronising. I hope this doesn't either.

 

I completely agree that we haven't seen much evidence of an overall strategy in recent years but I don't think the evidence we've seen in the past few weeks supports your conclusion.

 

My real point is that the new chief exec has come in, in the last month or so and done several things to attempt to address the issues we face

(price reductions, the fan survey, contacting lapsed fans, organising a fans forum etc).

Whilst taken individually these can easily be interpreted as "daft little initiatives", the fact that they have all been initiated within the space of a month since his appointment, suggests to me that it might be unfair to assume that these aren't part of a wider strategy.

I don't know the guy and can't comment on his business credentials but he has at least taken decisive action to attempt to move things in the right direction.

 

As many have pointed out, the evidence so far suggests these initiatives will not have the desired impact unless accompanied by a significant improvement in the product on the pitch. You don't need to hire McKinsey and Co. at £15k a day to work that much out.

[mcfluff1985]

 

 

Not having a pop at you, nonaenever, as I hear what you're saying and like your posts. We're all frustrated at what has come to pass.

 

However, from where I'm sitting, we are certainly no worse off than many other lower league clubs. While we cast jealous eyes at the likes of Bournemouth or Burton we should be mindful of the plight of far bigger fish - from Portsmouth, Blackpool, Tranmere and Stockport (OK, these last two are tiddlers), who have fallen from grace so spectacularly, to clubs like Coventry, Bolton or Blackburn - clubs who have courted the big time, have 30,000+ stadiums and accompanying overheads (or not, in Coventry's case) and who risk a far more ruinous and infernal descent than us. Even Aston Villa can no longer guarantee their membership among the elite.

 

I would say that our club can't do right for doing wrong. Not so long ago, these pages were filled with posts bemoaning our "3 sided :censored:-hole". Then when the North Stand went up, (and against all expectations, was far more than the bus shelter predicted by the cynics) it was suddenly labelled a white elephant. Similarly, we had nostalgia threads about the old scoreboard and how any progressive board would entertain a modern version. Lo and behold, when the club hold a survey and crowdfund one, it's a "daft little initiative" (sorry, your words). And when the club slash ticket prices (after perennial laments on here about overpricing), it's "too little, too late";

 

The biggest difference between the modern era and our own insouciant youth is without doubt the advent of social media. There is now a form of popular anarchy whereby everybody can scream as loudly as they want and there is, by definition, no call to order because everyone is hidden behind a keyboard. The Ched Evans debacle (without getting political) was an example of this. The constitution going through it's creaky motions in a correct fashion but winged and bought down by on-line hysteria. The ever-increasing vitriol towards OAFC by the fans, whipped-up by a few tenacious provocateurs with an axe to grind may well lead to a precocious exit by Mr. Corney, which could be hugely detrimental to the club. People want him out without knowing what they really want instead and your proposed protest group (pressure group?) would need to be very canny indeed to avoid the shortfalls of previous efforts. To challenge the running of the club you will need your own manifesto. For example, what would be your own plan for the season? or your 2 year/ 5 year plan? (given that Mr. Corney is not rich enough to give us the required impetus and no other investor appears to be on the horizon? What ticketing structure would you propose without alienating the fans, at the same time keeping up cash-flow? what would you do differently to generate off-field income? How can we (afford to) keep players on longer contracts etc; etc?

Spot on

[real]

However, from where I'm sitting, we are certainly no worse off than many other lower league clubs.

 

Not so long ago, these pages were filled with posts bemoaning our "3 sided :censored:-hole". Then when the North Stand went up, (and against all expectations, was far more than the bus shelter predicted by the cynics) it was suddenly labelled a white elephant.

 

Similarly, we had nostalgia threads about the old scoreboard and how any progressive board would entertain a modern version. Lo and behold, when the club hold a survey and crowdfund one, it's a "daft little initiative" (sorry, your words).

 

And when the club slash ticket prices (after perennial laments on here about overpricing), it's "too little, too late";

 

The ever-increasing vitriol towards OAFC by the fans, whipped-up by a few tenacious provocateurs with an axe to grind may well lead to a precocious exit by Mr. Corney, which could be hugely detrimental to the club.

 

People want him out without knowing what they really want instead and your proposed protest group (pressure group?) would need to be very canny indeed to avoid the shortfalls of previous efforts.

 

To challenge the running of the club you will need your own manifesto. For example, what would be your own plan for the season? or your 2 year/ 5 year plan? (given that Mr. Corney is not rich enough to give us the required impetus and no other investor appears to be on the horizon? What ticketing structure would you propose without alienating the fans, at the same time keeping up cash-flow? what would you do differently to generate off-field income? How can we (afford to) keep players on longer contracts etc; etc?

 

Sorry but I think some of your comments here distort the views of many.

 

Whilst we are all glad we're not in Tranmere's position, we have still lost half the gate and there's no real likelihood of this changing. we lose more each year and moved closer to relegation over the last 6/7 years. People want this to be reversed.

 

The new stand was never described as a white elephant when it started, it was unanimously seen as a positive step, bringing in 7 day income. A few questioned the pace and the viability of escalating cost from £4m to over £6m (rightly so it now seems). The fact that it has not been funded directly and has never been shown to bring in 7 days income is what people resent. they were sold one thing and got something different. In any situation that type of behaviour will lead to discontent.

 

The scoreboard campaign was launched when we were in the bottom 4, and with a target of c£130k. We've hit c£27k some time ago and it's not there yet. No proposals, no dates. People haven't expressed discontent, but they have asked questions, is that a bad thing? Hopefully it will deliver what people wanted and quickly, but lessons about creating false expectations are clearly not being learned.

 

People said ticket prices were too high last season, so the club put them up. Few (none) criticised the move to drop them, but calling it as too late is all too familiar.

 

As for the idea that people have "an axe to grind" - who are these people? i think you mean fans that care about the decline that is actually happening under corney. there's no need for him to go for detrimental change, he's achieving it - check our league position for the last 6 years and our attendances.

 

So, what could be done?

 

Firstly create a situation where the owner(s) have to be more realistic about accepting their own losses when considering any offer to buy the club. If the rumoured price is even half true, it isn't particularly great value. There are people out there looking at clubs to buy, but a stupid price will put them off.

 

Secondly show genuine efforts to build for the future - many thought re-signing Shez was a sign ; then they though

O'Driscoll and Turnbull were signs of this, but it was one illusion after another (sold one thing, got something different). This should more resilience amongst exisitng attendees and limit the decline in gates.

 

Finally, getting lapsed fans back is the hardest task -hence the suggestions to retain fans - but decent prices, better long term planning and player retention would help.

 

Overall I think the key issue is repeatedly failing to deliver what has been promised (or at least been alluded to in some cases):

 

It started with Championship football (no chance now), then a new ground at BP (abandoned), then a new ground at M35 (abandoned), then a new stand with 7 day income in 12 months (3 years and counting, any sign of increased income?), then a bright young manager - LJ (gone), some :censored: managers in between, then Shez (gone), A score board (shifted to the trust whn failing, not there yet) then a proper backroom team (gone).

 

How many improvements have been delivered to the genuine benefit of the club?

[boundaryblue80]

 

 

Not having a pop at you, nonaenever, as I hear what you're saying and like your posts. We're all frustrated at what has come to pass.

 

However, from where I'm sitting, we are certainly no worse off than many other lower league clubs. While we cast jealous eyes at the likes of Bournemouth or Burton we should be mindful of the plight of far bigger fish - from Portsmouth, Blackpool, Tranmere and Stockport (OK, these last two are tiddlers), who have fallen from grace so spectacularly, to clubs like Coventry, Bolton or Blackburn - clubs who have courted the big time, have 30,000+ stadiums and accompanying overheads (or not, in Coventry's case) and who risk a far more ruinous and infernal descent than us. Even Aston Villa can no longer guarantee their membership among the elite.

 

I would say that our club can't do right for doing wrong. Not so long ago, these pages were filled with posts bemoaning our "3 sided :censored:-hole". Then when the North Stand went up, (and against all expectations, was far more than the bus shelter predicted by the cynics) it was suddenly labelled a white elephant. Similarly, we had nostalgia threads about the old scoreboard and how any progressive board would entertain a modern version. Lo and behold, when the club hold a survey and crowdfund one, it's a "daft little initiative" (sorry, your words). And when the club slash ticket prices (after perennial laments on here about overpricing), it's "too little, too late";

 

The biggest difference between the modern era and our own insouciant youth is without doubt the advent of social media. There is now a form of popular anarchy whereby everybody can scream as loudly as they want and there is, by definition, no call to order because everyone is hidden behind a keyboard. The Ched Evans debacle (without getting political) was an example of this. The constitution going through it's creaky motions in a correct fashion but winged and bought down by on-line hysteria. The ever-increasing vitriol towards OAFC by the fans, whipped-up by a few tenacious provocateurs with an axe to grind may well lead to a precocious exit by Mr. Corney, which could be hugely detrimental to the club. People want him out without knowing what they really want instead and your proposed protest group (pressure group?) would need to be very canny indeed to avoid the shortfalls of previous efforts. To challenge the running of the club you will need your own manifesto. For example, what would be your own plan for the season? or your 2 year/ 5 year plan? (given that Mr. Corney is not rich enough to give us the required impetus and no other investor appears to be on the horizon? What ticketing structure would you propose without alienating the fans, at the same time keeping up cash-flow? what would you do differently to generate off-field income? How can we (afford to) keep players on longer contracts etc; etc?

 

You've just shot your own post square in the foot!

 

"To challenge the running of the club you will need your own manifesto. For example, what would be your own plan for the season? or your 2 year/ 5 year plan? "

 

Where the :censored: is Simon Corneys manifesto or any sign of a plan to stop this ever decreasing circle????????????

Edited November 17, 2016 by boundaryblue80

[yarddog73]

All those asking what the alternative plans are for the club are the same ones who won't have a bad word said about Simon 'Baldrick' Corneys cunning plan of winging it.

[palmer1]

All those asking what the alternative plans are for the club are the same ones who won't have a bad word said about Simon 'Baldrick' Corneys cunning plan of winging it.

 

No they arent!

 

and its clear that a 'Bladrick' plan would be better than anything that Corney has done recently.

 

many want a plan because as you say 'winging' it hasnt exactly been a success! Why would they want the same :censored: from someone else?

[mcfluff1985]

 

You've just shot your own post square in the foot!

 

"To challenge the running of the club you will need your own manifesto. For example, what would be your own plan for the season? or your 2 year/ 5 year plan? "

 

Where the :censored: is Simon Corneys manifesto or any sign of a plan to stop this ever decreasing circle????????????

He's aiming to sell. Why would he have a 5 year plan?

[mcfluff1985]

All those asking what the alternative plans are for the club are the same ones who won't have a bad word said about Simon 'Baldrick' Corneys cunning plan of winging it.

Pathetic.

[boundaryblue80]

He's aiming to sell. Why would he have a 5 year plan?

 

Your echo above said "plan for the season? or your 2 year/ 5 year plan?"

 

Obviously picking a 5yr plan suits you though eh! Any plan of something remotely positive would do at this stage.

[opinions4u]

Hasn't Corney turned the North Stand into a five year plan?

[al_bro]

The bottom line is we don't have enough income to support a L1 team any more. This is why the North Stand was built, but the income is still only coming from match days, and whatever peppercorn rent OEC is paying the club (I would love to have been a fly on the wall when Corney was negotiating a rent to pay himself).

 

Corney relies on additional income from a good FA Cup run, and hopefully some TV money to keep us in this division.

 

No plan at all, just wing it and firefight when something crops up..

[real]

Hasn't Corney turned the North Stand into a five year plan?

Unlikely as there's not a snowballs chance in hell that it will be repaid in 5 yrs

[piglinbland]

 

You've just shot your own post square in the foot!

 

"To challenge the running of the club you will need your own manifesto. For example, what would be your own plan for the season? or your 2 year/ 5 year plan? "

 

Where the :censored: is Simon Corneys manifesto or any sign of a plan to stop this ever decreasing circle????????????

 

Actually, there is no shortage of evidence of forward planning - aforementioned stand, scoreboard and ticket prices for example. I accept that the club have failed on many fronts over the last couple of years but it isn't for me to come on here wailing and gnashing my teeth with the benefit of hindsight. The appointing of rookie managers, for example, isn't a bad idea and the new stand, to my mind, is a fantastic asset and could still be a great revenue generator when completed.

 

Only Mr. Corney (I don't know this man from Adam, but still accord him the respect on here that I would should I meet him face to face) and his entourage are privy to the finer details concerning OAFC and it's finances. Anything we hear on here is rumour - so why even speculate on the supposed 24 million value put on the club? I'll tell you why - because on here we can dream up unbridled conspiracy theories without the worry of responsibility or reprimand and without the slightest regard for etiquette - and this is precisely the reason why the club are so circumspect when releasing information. Catch 22.

Edited November 17, 2016 by piglinbland

[real]

The scoreboard fund was failing and got moved to the trust.

The ticket offer is only 5 games, not a strategy.

The stand was £4m but then £6m and still isn't finished.

 

Your 3 examples are all flawed. SC is demonstrating his incompetence repeatedly.

[HarryBosch]

 

 

Not having a pop at you, nonaenever, as I hear what you're saying and like your posts. We're all frustrated at what has come to pass.

 

However, from where I'm sitting, we are certainly no worse off than many other lower league clubs. While we cast jealous eyes at the likes of Bournemouth or Burton we should be mindful of the plight of far bigger fish - from Portsmouth, Blackpool, Tranmere and Stockport (OK, these last two are tiddlers), who have fallen from grace so spectacularly, to clubs like Coventry, Bolton or Blackburn - clubs who have courted the big time, have 30,000+ stadiums and accompanying overheads (or not, in Coventry's case) and who risk a far more ruinous and infernal descent than us. Even Aston Villa can no longer guarantee their membership among the elite.

 

I would say that our club can't do right for doing wrong. Not so long ago, these pages were filled with posts bemoaning our "3 sided :censored:-hole". Then when the North Stand went up, (and against all expectations, was far more than the bus shelter predicted by the cynics) it was suddenly labelled a white elephant. Similarly, we had nostalgia threads about the old scoreboard and how any progressive board would entertain a modern version. Lo and behold, when the club hold a survey and crowdfund one, it's a "daft little initiative" (sorry, your words). And when the club slash ticket prices (after perennial laments on here about overpricing), it's "too little, too late";

 

The biggest difference between the modern era and our own insouciant youth is without doubt the advent of social media. There is now a form of popular anarchy whereby everybody can scream as loudly as they want and there is, by definition, no call to order because everyone is hidden behind a keyboard. The Ched Evans debacle (without getting political) was an example of this. The constitution going through it's creaky motions in a correct fashion but winged and bought down by on-line hysteria. The ever-increasing vitriol towards OAFC by the fans, whipped-up by a few tenacious provocateurs with an axe to grind may well lead to a precocious exit by Mr. Corney, which could be hugely detrimental to the club. People want him out without knowing what they really want instead and your proposed protest group (pressure group?) would need to be very canny indeed to avoid the shortfalls of previous efforts. To challenge the running of the club you will need your own manifesto. For example, what would be your own plan for the season? or your 2 year/ 5 year plan? (given that Mr. Corney is not rich enough to give us the required impetus and no other investor appears to be on the horizon? What ticketing structure would you propose without alienating the fans, at the same time keeping up cash-flow? what would you do differently to generate off-field income? How can we (afford to) keep players on longer contracts etc; etc?

 

Using the words/sentiments of a minority of Oldham fans/OWTB users and then using contrary words/sentiments from different OAFC fans/OWTB users (eg, only one pillock has ever called the new stand a "white elephant") (plus just making stuff up like "nostalgia threads about the old scoreboard") to label the majority of us as :censored: in a very self satisfied manner is an interesting new :censored: arguing technique if nothing else....

Edited November 17, 2016 by HarryBosch

[HarryBosch]

The bottom line is we don't have enough income to support a L1 team any more.

 

The bottom line is that the Oldham Athletic staff - football, commercial, admin - work in an environment where the owner of the business, their boss, is never there.

 

Most of us have probably had, or have, jobs where we :censored:ed about & skived when the boss was off or away. Or, at best, weren't on our toes as much as we should be. It's human nature. That's the vast majority of the time at BP.

 

Whatever bad we can say about his running the club into the ground I'd imagine he commands respect & a decent days work out of people when he's around.

For years we had Barry & Neil Joy presiding over things, now Mark Moisley. I don't know for certain but none of those 3 cut formidable figures in my eyes.

 

He needs to be here to make sure all & sundry are pulling their weight or he needs to employ someone who will.

I've said it for several years now - paying an experienced, go getting football Chief Executive £100k a year, or howver much such a person costs, would surely give him a massive return on investment....

[ChaddySmoker]

 

Using the words/sentiments of a minority of Oldham fans/OWTB users and then using contrary words/sentiments from different OAFC fans/OWTB users (eg, only one pillock has ever called the new stand a "white elephant") (plus just making stuff up like "nostalgia threads about the old scoreboard") to label the majority of us as :censored: in a very self satisfied manner is an interesting new :censored: arguing technique if nothing else....

Talking of :censored: arguing techniques.

[piglinbland]

 

Using the words/sentiments of a minority of Oldham fans/OWTB users and then using contrary words/sentiments from different OAFC fans/OWTB users (eg, only one pillock has ever called the new stand a "white elephant") (plus just making stuff up like "nostalgia threads about the old scoreboard") to label the majority of us as :censored: in a very self satisfied manner is an interesting new :censored: arguing technique if nothing else....

 

I think my appraisals are justified - this forum is littered with the most preposterous accusations and half-formed bar-room conspiracy theories. The fact that you think my pointedly impersonal posts are labeling the majority of you as :censored: just demonstrates the cyber-hostility I was trying to describe.