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Post by ukcstokie on Jul 15, 2015 15:34:42 GMT
A PR catastrophe? Give it a rest. People who were going to buy a top will almost certainly do so in future. In may cost the club a bit, but in Premier League terms - next to nothing. Maybe they don't see 2000 shirts. What that in terms of profit (keeping in mind what NB take) - £50-60k. A weeks wages for one of top earners. I suspect the owners don't give a shit about that in the scheme of things. Who's to blame for not getting the kit in in-time? Maybe it's the supplier? Maybe it's Scholes? Maybe it's the owners? Maybe it's some of the other employees? Maybe it's just a fact of life that we may not be our supplier's top priority. "I've got Mr Scholes on the line asking where Stoke's kit order is". "Tell him he'll have to wait until we've got Liverpool's done. And Seville's. And Celtic." I don't know. Neither do you. But you decide to blame Scholes anyway. What a load of old shit. Trips to The Far East are brand building, shirt selling exercises nothing more, nothing less and we haven't even got ours on the market. This isn't the first kit launch fuck up either is it? It's the fourth at least. Just like Mark Hughes when one of his players fucks up Scholes has to carry the can when things are so utterly shit off the pitch and if the owners aren't pissed off they fucking well should be. Premier League on the pitch, Conference off it. I suppose on a positive note, if the kit is delayed further, they'll be able to tell us on the tannoy when it will be on sale during the Liverpool game. Oh hold on...... I repeat. How do you know it's Scholes fault? You jump to conclusions. And it's always the same conclusion. You ranted for ages when Juan Agudelo's permit got turned down. Blamed Scholes. Blamed Cartwright. Turned out is was no fault of theirs. But don't let facts or not knowing stand in the way of your normal blame game.
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Post by sheikhmomo on Jul 15, 2015 15:40:59 GMT
What a load of old shit. Trips to The Far East are brand building, shirt selling exercises nothing more, nothing less and we haven't even got ours on the market. This isn't the first kit launch fuck up either is it? It's the fourth at least. Just like Mark Hughes when one of his players fucks up Scholes has to carry the can when things are so utterly shit off the pitch and if the owners aren't pissed off they fucking well should be. Premier League on the pitch, Conference off it. I suppose on a positive note, if the kit is delayed further, they'll be able to tell us on the tannoy when it will be on sale during the Liverpool game. Oh hold on...... I repeat. How do you know it's Scholes fault? You jump to conclusions. And it's always the same conclusion. You ranted for ages when Juan Agudelo's permit got turned down. Blamed Scholes. Blamed Cartwright. Turned out is was no fault of theirs. But don't let facts or not knowing stand in the way of your normal blame game. No I didn't. I posed the question 'had we done everything correctly from our end' did anyone know? Your passionate almost romantic desire to defend Scholes then took over. That's a clear diversion tactic though, we're talking about another no debate, marketing fuck up from the club again. Who should we blame, Dierdrie Rachid?
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Post by bathstoke on Jul 15, 2015 15:45:41 GMT
Just what we need in football, more sparkle
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Post by Davef on Jul 15, 2015 15:49:21 GMT
Do you want them updating the website or filling you in on transfer gossip?
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Post by ashleyscfc on Jul 15, 2015 15:55:13 GMT
The website is just a off the shelf CMS system sold to most premier league clubs of our size. Based on what I've seen none of them know what the fuck their doing. It's embarrassing seeing how sister club Orlando City handles PR, social media, fan experience, ok presence etc in comparison. To be fair when you have people who work for the club who make statements like this...who's surprised? It's not the first time this guy has made derogatory comments about fans. Not often I complain about folk but his attitude stinks at times, not sure who he thinks he is. He works for the club?? Jesus. I happen to agree with him in principle, but that's not the point. Yes, precisely. It's a shame as seems like a decent guy. But when your coming out with stuff like this. It doesn't really endear yourself to the fans.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2015 16:40:30 GMT
I can't believe people are getting their knickers in a twist over a shirt.
I dare say the sales revenue is similar or less than ticket receipts over the course of a season, which is worth what? Less than 10% of our total income?
Shit happens.
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Post by drjeffsdiscobarge on Jul 15, 2015 17:01:14 GMT
He works for the club?? Jesus. I happen to agree with him in principle, but that's not the point. Yes, precisely. It's a shame as seems like a decent guy. But when your coming out with stuff like this. It doesn't really endear yourself to the fans. This sideways prick doesnt actually work for the club does he?!
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Post by ukcstokie on Jul 15, 2015 17:15:21 GMT
I repeat. How do you know it's Scholes fault? You jump to conclusions. And it's always the same conclusion. You ranted for ages when Juan Agudelo's permit got turned down. Blamed Scholes. Blamed Cartwright. Turned out is was no fault of theirs. But don't let facts or not knowing stand in the way of your normal blame game. No I didn't. I posed the question 'had we done everything correctly from our end' did anyone know? Your passionate almost romantic desire to defend Scholes then took over. That's a clear diversion tactic though, we're talking about another no debate, marketing fuck up from the club again. Who should we blame, Dierdrie Rachid? Of course you did Sheiky. oatcakefanzine.proboards.com/thread/222103/agudelo-work-permit-hearing?page=5
I have no "passionate almost romantic desire to defend Scholes" - just the utter dribble you come out with is just plain unfair. BTW, love the 8 year old "UKC fancies Scholes" bit. Sums you up completely.
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Post by sheikhmomo on Jul 15, 2015 17:24:00 GMT
No I didn't. I posed the question 'had we done everything correctly from our end' did anyone know? Your passionate almost romantic desire to defend Scholes then took over. That's a clear diversion tactic though, we're talking about another no debate, marketing fuck up from the club again. Who should we blame, Dierdrie Rachid? Of course you did Sheiky. oatcakefanzine.proboards.com/thread/222103/agudelo-work-permit-hearing?page=5
I have no "passionate almost romantic desire to defend Scholes" - just the utter dribble you come out with is just plain unfair. BTW, love the 8 year old "UKC fancies Scholes" bit. Sums you up completely.
What I said was in response to you and your Scholeista's baiting as usual but at its essence is the truth. We could have got the player much earlier but tried to be clever and it bit us on the arse. I'd also look up romantic if I were you, it doesn't have to be a sexual thing but now you say it, it was a cap you rushed to wear! Finally what about this latest commercial fucking balls up during our first foray in to the East? You seem a bit quiet on that one?
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Post by Kjones9 on Jul 15, 2015 17:36:43 GMT
Squirm.
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Post by Pugsley on Jul 15, 2015 17:46:05 GMT
Nothings the Chief Executive of the years fault surely? Everything is just fucking perfect. Nice to give the opportunity to fans to wear the new home top for our debut in the Asia Trophy as well I thought. Imagine if we had a club that had a massive launch but didn't have the home kit on sale for the summer holiday period. Imagine having a club run by blazing incompetents like that? Oh come on, it's not like it happens every year is it.....?
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Post by ukcstokie on Jul 15, 2015 17:47:41 GMT
What I said was in response to you and your Scholeista's baiting as usual but at its essence is the truth. We could have got the player much earlier but tried to be clever and it bit us on the arse. I'd also look up romantic if I were you, it doesn't have to be a sexual thing but now you say it, it was a cap you rushed to wear! Finally what about this latest commercial fucking balls up during our first foray in to the East? You seem a bit quiet on that one? "We could have got the player much earlier but tried to be clever" - what, you mean like offering £700k for him. If that had been accepted you'd have being wetting yourself saying that we could have got him for free in a few months. Just HTF could the recruitment team know that in the future the authorities would clamp down on work permits? Are they suppose to be psychic? Really this just demonstrates what the problem is. You pinning blame when there isn't any. Just stick to where you know they've actually fucked up. Try reading what I said early about what's happended on "our first foray in to the East": we don't know where the problem is. I take it you've never had to deal with suppliers then?
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Post by Pugsley on Jul 15, 2015 17:48:35 GMT
Do you want them updating the website or filling you in on transfer gossip? Can't we employ a few women to get some multi-tasking done?
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Post by sheikhmomo on Jul 15, 2015 18:14:05 GMT
What I said was in response to you and your Scholeista's baiting as usual but at its essence is the truth. We could have got the player much earlier but tried to be clever and it bit us on the arse. I'd also look up romantic if I were you, it doesn't have to be a sexual thing but now you say it, it was a cap you rushed to wear! Finally what about this latest commercial fucking balls up during our first foray in to the East? You seem a bit quiet on that one? "We could have got the player much earlier but tried to be clever" - what, you mean like offering £700k for him. If that had been accepted you'd have being wetting yourself saying that we could have got him for free in a few months. Just HTF could the recruitment team know that in the future the authorities would clamp down on work permits? Are they suppose to be psychic? Really this just demonstrates what the problem is. You pinning blame when there isn't any. Just stick to where you know they've actually fucked up. Try reading what I said early about what's happended on "our first foray in to the East": we don't know where the problem is. I take it you've never had to deal with suppliers then? Incorrect again. I don't care about Coates's money as much as some and wouldn't have batted an eyelid for chip change for a player who the manager clearly wanted. Now back to our latest marketing disaster. You might, just might, have a point if this was the first time that this has happened but it's happened under every supplier with every kit to a degree. Don't believe me? Check out other people who possess a memory on this thread. Scholes is fucking wank and it needs saying. Your continual impassioned defence of our bespectacled hero is quite touching though.
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Post by redandwhitetundra on Jul 15, 2015 18:28:14 GMT
For the record (that was asked earlier)
Yes, Sidaway does work for the club.
I believe he's a Walsall fan - not that that should make any jot of difference to getting the website updated and accurate.
As for the website itself... As has been mentioned elsewhere, it is a templated design available to ALL clubs in the Football League - providing they're signed up to the service (which 99% are). If memory serves, the contract runs out in 2017 - so expect it for a while longer yet.
Massive own goal by the club/backroom team/New Balance - what is actually being achieved on this PR-building tour, that will benefit the club? How much effort are NB making in having shirts available to buy over there?
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Post by Pugsley on Jul 15, 2015 18:30:20 GMT
For the record (that was asked earlier) Yes, Sidaway does work for the club. I believe he's a Walsall fan - not that that should make any jot of difference to getting the website updated and accurate. As for the website itself... As has been mentioned elsewhere, it is a templated design available to ALL clubs in the Football League - providing they're signed up to the service (which 99% are). If memory serves, the contract runs out in 2017 - so expect it for a while longer yet. Massive own goal by the club/backroom team/New Balance - what is actually being achieved on this PR-building tour, that will benefit the club? How much effort are NB making in having shirts available to buy over there? Available to buy? They should be giving them away to local kids in the bucket load. And to the supporters who have made the trip. They haven't got a scooby doo.
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Post by mickstupp on Jul 15, 2015 18:34:25 GMT
Do Stoke get a cut of shirt sales, or do they just get a lump sum from the suppliers regardless of how many get sold??
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Post by ukcstokie on Jul 15, 2015 20:01:50 GMT
"We could have got the player much earlier but tried to be clever" - what, you mean like offering £700k for him. If that had been accepted you'd have being wetting yourself saying that we could have got him for free in a few months. Just HTF could the recruitment team know that in the future the authorities would clamp down on work permits? Are they suppose to be psychic? Really this just demonstrates what the problem is. You pinning blame when there isn't any. Just stick to where you know they've actually fucked up. Try reading what I said early about what's happended on "our first foray in to the East": we don't know where the problem is. I take it you've never had to deal with suppliers then? Incorrect again. I don't care about Coates's money as much as some and wouldn't have batted an eyelid for chip change for a player who the manager clearly wanted. Now back to our latest marketing disaster. You might, just might, have a point if this was the first time that this has happened but it's happened under every supplier with every kit to a degree. Don't believe me? Check out other people who possess a memory on this thread. Scholes is fucking wank and it needs saying. Your continual impassioned defence of our bespectacled hero is quite touching though. "Incorrect again. I don't care about Coates's money as much as some and wouldn't have batted an eyelid for chip change for a player who the manager clearly wanted."
Yes, like you were going to miss the opportunity to have a go at them? Pull the other one.
Maybe a club of our size just isn't ever going to be a priority for kit manufacturers?
"Marketing disaster"? Get a grip. We may have sold a few less shirts than we could of done. Peanuts to a Premiership club.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2015 20:03:00 GMT
The income from shirt sales to the club will be minimal in the grand scheme of the Premier League and I can understand it's not a financial priority for the club but new shirts are of upmost importance to some fans and the club constantly fails to recognise the needs of its fan base.
Fans are eager to get the new shirt, to wear on holidays, pre season tours or even just around town. The fans want them and they want them early for whatever reason. It's down to the club to listen and deliver to the supporters. Sadly, this is just another example of Stoke City FCs ever growing detachment from its followers.
I'm not sure who is supposed to head our PR department but whoever it is they need to have a serious look at what they're doing.
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Post by sheikhmomo on Jul 15, 2015 20:06:15 GMT
Incorrect again. I don't care about Coates's money as much as some and wouldn't have batted an eyelid for chip change for a player who the manager clearly wanted. Now back to our latest marketing disaster. You might, just might, have a point if this was the first time that this has happened but it's happened under every supplier with every kit to a degree. Don't believe me? Check out other people who possess a memory on this thread. Scholes is fucking wank and it needs saying. Your continual impassioned defence of our bespectacled hero is quite touching though. Maybe a club of our size just isn't ever going to be a priority for kit manufacturers? [quote/] Maybe. And if so Scholes is utterly fucking shit at his job. We are a customer of a huge conglomerate, desperate to get a foothold in the Premier League with only one other client in that league to service and we get home shirts just before the first game, Fucking scandalous.
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Post by Pirate on Jul 15, 2015 20:16:10 GMT
The income from shirt sales to the club will be minimal in the grand scheme of the Premier League and I can understand it's not a financial priority for the club but new shirts are of upmost importance to some fans and the club constantly fails to recognise the needs of its fan base. Fans are eager to get the new shirt, to wear on holidays, pre season tours or even just around town. The fans want them and they want them early for whatever reason. It's down to the club to listen and deliver to the supporters. Sadly, this is just another example of Stoke City FCs ever growing detachment from its followers. I'm not sure who is supposed to head our PR department but whoever it is they need to have a serious look at what they're doing. Not a fan of free away travel or frozen season ticket prices then? Huge amounts of community work not floating your boat? I completely concur that certain facets of our PR & marketing leave a huge amount to be desired. The website is truly awful & if all this talk of shirts sales not mattering is correct then surly a few quid chucked that way wouldn't make any odds either. On the shirt issue, its rubbish & its a recurring problem which suggests somebody along the chain is being rolled over buy suppliers & needs to man up a bit. This element for me though is not about money but exposure, as someone said above, you want to see the red & white stripes all over Singapore right now, its garnering a wider supporter base so one day the money we make off shirts does matter, like it does to the top sides, if not in terms of budget it certainly helps them balance the FFP thingy! To call the club detached from its fan base is very, very unfair & i think some of the gestures we receive from our club, especially where it counts, in the wallet are nothing short of fantastic & we are probably the envy of a lot of fans for just how much our beloved club retains its identity & relationship with its fans. There is always room for improvement but they have it wear it really counts!
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Post by Lakeland Potter on Jul 15, 2015 20:20:40 GMT
How come Everton have two highlights packages of today's game on their website but we had none the last time I looked. It should be no more difficult for the club to get highlights than it is for a league game - you simply get the footage from Sky and edit it.
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Post by Pugsley on Jul 15, 2015 20:24:31 GMT
I keep saying that they are lazy down there and they keep proving me right. Bone idle the lot of them.
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Post by 2004 on Jul 15, 2015 20:30:40 GMT
Sidaway is a West Brom fan whose previous job was at Walsall working for their media team. Not sure how he got a job at a PL club.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2015 20:33:12 GMT
The website is just a off the shelf CMS system sold to most premier league clubs of our size. Based on what I've seen none of them know what the fuck their doing. It's embarrassing seeing how sister club Orlando City handles PR, social media, fan experience, ok presence etc in comparison. To be fair when you have people who work for the club who make statements like this...who's surprised? It's not the first time this guy has made derogatory comments about fans. Not often I complain about folk but his attitude stinks at times, not sure who he thinks he is. good girl Leanne
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2015 20:34:20 GMT
The income from shirt sales to the club will be minimal in the grand scheme of the Premier League and I can understand it's not a financial priority for the club but new shirts are of upmost importance to some fans and the club constantly fails to recognise the needs of its fan base. Fans are eager to get the new shirt, to wear on holidays, pre season tours or even just around town. The fans want them and they want them early for whatever reason. It's down to the club to listen and deliver to the supporters. Sadly, this is just another example of Stoke City FCs ever growing detachment from its followers. I'm not sure who is supposed to head our PR department but whoever it is they need to have a serious look at what they're doing. Not a fan of free away travel or frozen season ticket prices then? Huge amounts of community work not floating your boat? I completely concur that certain facets of our PR & marketing leave a huge amount to be desired. The website is truly awful & if all this talk of shirts sales not mattering is correct then surly a few quid chucked that way wouldn't make any odds either. On the shirt issue, its rubbish & its a recurring problem which suggests somebody along the chain is being rolled over buy suppliers & needs to man up a bit. This element for me though is not about money but exposure, as someone said above, you want to see the red & white stripes all over Singapore right now, its garnering a wider supporter base so one day the money we make off shirts does matter, like it does to the top sides, if not in terms of budget it certainly helps them balance the FFP thingy! To call the club detached from its fan base is very, very unfair & i think some of the gestures we receive from our club, especially where it counts, in the wallet are nothing short of fantastic & we are probably the envy of a lot of fans for just how much our beloved club retains its identity & relationship with its fans. There is always room for improvement but they have it wear it really counts! Free away travel is great and I'm not knocking it but is it a gesture to the fans or an incentive to pick up the ailing travelling support which diminished under the previous regime ? Are they helping your pocket or hoping for more vocal away support to spur the team on ? Either way it's a winner for fans and so is the frozen pricing strategy. Community work ? Not seen anything around here so I'm not sure on what they actually do. Fans paying 40 quid for a seat in the rain I still see. Queues 17 deep at half time to get refreshments I still see. Outdated web site, no stock in online shop, failure to answer a phone, ticket office run by Laurel and Hardy, the list goes on. I've been following Stoke a good few years now and I can honestly say I've never felt less valued as a supporter as I do now. Maybe that's just symptomatic of Premier League football in general but that's the way I see it.
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Post by Paul Spencer on Jul 15, 2015 20:40:28 GMT
How come Everton have two highlights packages of today's game on their website but we had none the last time I looked. It should be no more difficult for the club to get highlights than it is for a league game - you simply get the footage from Sky and edit it. It'll be interesting to see how long it takes ...
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2015 21:12:48 GMT
This kind of stuff doesn't really bother me. Late shirts (I don't buy them), shit YouTube Channel (I wouldn't use it much) but still - even on a simple, good practice level - we do seem to, as a club - a powerhouse Premier League club - tolerate a level of performance mediocrity that I wouldn't tolerate in my middle-management role at work - let alone if I was CEO or whatever.
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Post by debabelizer on Jul 15, 2015 21:15:39 GMT
Seems like there is a serious content issue on the website. This is the responsibility of the Marketing Head. The responsibility of the ailing merchandise deliverables should fall under the Commercial Head. It sounds to me as though the club is extremely complacent or naive in relation to how it should be performing and so clearly fails to understand the way these sort of things should be run on a day to day world class level. Quite frankly, we have all heard the same complaints being levelled at the club for years, season after season.
In my experience I have found that these problems are almost always down to bang average employees in the key roles i.e. the Commercial & Marketing departmental principals. Often these people promise the earth on interview and through a genuine lack of job experience, fail to deliver time after time. The CEO should be looking at the staffing issues and should perhaps consider appointing individuals who have proven track records of success in the following areas:
For web) delivering live and constantly updating/sticky web content that both engages and stimulates users and that perhaps become a platform for fan discussion/opinion
For merchandise) strong negotiators/procurement officers who install prompt delivery/stock levels procedures,
For PR) working with Merch/Marketing heads to deliver unique fan goodwill and positive club community opportunities.
Having had experience in a world class events company (which is essentially what SCFC should be trying to become) I know only too well that truly talented people are very hard to find. Furthermore, bullshitters who interview well and promise the earth are very much the norm. It's clear that there are too many negative stories levelled at the business side of the club for there to be no smoke without fire on what are essentially very important customer touchpoints. The negative image and "bad smell" that arises as a result of these errors have come to re-inforce the fan malaise that seems to define and surround the clubs off pitch business and cottage industry persona.
Serious supporters take a deep pride in the club and in every single aspect in which the way SCFC conducts itself/functions, across its entire business. Getting an events company like SCFC to function correctly off the pitch requires a tremendous amount of vision, hard work and good planning. I'm not suggesting for a second that all the individuals within the various internal SCFC departments aren't working extremely hard or burning the midnight oil, but strong inspiring leadership with a real sense of purpose, direction, community and lets face it - fun, is perhaps what is missing here.
Appointing these roles and hires is a very difficult and time consuming process. It's all about the people, after all. Get the leadership and direction wrong and you will be 100% guaranteeing yourself all sorts of problems and issues.
And as for the idiot who is tweeting about the fans stalking the training ground, this bloke and the club itself should love that sort of thing, it's commitment on a level that he clearly just does not understand and really a miserable bugger like that shouldn't be anywhere near the club in my opinion. He should be taking cups of tea out or get the content dept. to take it a step further and feature a "Clayton Wood bush stalker of the day" picture and caption on the clubs website. It's about making good things happen, make the fans love the club, it's an ents business ffs!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2015 21:29:49 GMT
Seems like there is a serious content issue on the website. This is the responsibility of the the Marketing Head. The responsibility of the ailing merchandise deliverables should fall under the Commercial Head. It sounds to me as though the club is extremely complacent or naive in relation to how it should be performing and so clearly fails to understand the way these sort of things should be run on a day to day world class level. Quite frankly, we have all heard the same complaints being levelled at the club for years, season after season. In my experience I have found that these problems are almost always down to bang average employees in these sorts of key roles (Commercial & Marketing Heads). People who ppromise the earth and through a genuine lack of job experience, fail to deliver time after time. The CEO should be looking at the staffing issues and should strongly consider appointing individuals who have proven track record in the following areas: For web) delivering live and constantly updating/sticky web content that both engages and stimulates users and that perhaps become a platform for fan discussion/opinion For merchandise) strong negotiators/procurement officers who install prompt delivery/stock levels procedures, For PR) working with Merch/Marketing heads to deliver unique fan goodwill and positive club community opportunities. Having had experience in a world class events company (which is essentially what SCFC is) I know only too well that truly good people are very hard to find and bullshitters who interview well and promise the earth are the norm. There are far too many negative stories coming out of the club for there to be no smoke without fire on these important customer touchpoints. The negative image and "bad smell" that arises from these continual failed opportunities really do come to define the fan malaise that seems to define and surround the clubs off pitch persona. OK. So we are the club's customers. Albeit on a forum, there is pretty widespread opinion that things aren't working as they should, in a number of different areas. In my line of work, should this be brought to the attention of the CEO, there would at the very least, be an internal process undertaken whereby the complaints would be reviewed, to decide whether they were reasonable - and if so, whose areas are responsible? - and a formale review takes place. Should Mr Scholes be sent this, and asked for response?
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