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Post by expectedtoulouse on Mar 8, 2020 17:22:40 GMT
How many times? No we can’t.
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Post by Malcolm Clarke on Mar 9, 2020 16:36:30 GMT
....monday. Im going, any good questions? I don't know if these are good, but my 3 if I get the chance are 1. In the event of the Government changing Coronavirus status from ‘containment’ to ‘delay’, it is highly likely that EFL games will be played behind closed doors. In this situation, is the club confident that i-follow will have sufficient capacity to meet the demand from our fans to watch the live stream at home ? 2. The recent independent review of EFL governance by Jonathan Taylor QC and the EFL’s own governance review group recommended that 3 of the 6 club representatives on the EFL Board be replaced by 3 independent Directors. At its meeting on 27 February the clubs rejected this recommendation. Did Stoke City support this rejection, and if so, why ? 3. It is plainly apparent that in recent years the Club have recruited a number of very expensive players who did not turn out to be good buys, a number of whom are still on the books. Has the Club changed its player recruitment processes as a result of this experience, and if so, how ?
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Post by Lakeland Potter on Mar 9, 2020 16:56:18 GMT
If the point is reached where EFL games are played behind closed doors:
1. Will there be refunds to ST holders of games they cannot attend because of this decision?
2. If there are refunds, will these be fully proportional? In other words, will each match played behind closed doors attract a refund of one 23rd of the cost of the season ticket?
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Post by Malcolm Clarke on Mar 9, 2020 17:24:07 GMT
If the point is reached where EFL games are played behind closed doors: 1. Will there be refunds to ST holders of games they cannot attend because of this decision? 2. If there are refunds, will these be fully proportional? In other words, will each match played behind closed doors attract a refund of one 23rd of the cost of the season ticket? I don't know the answers to those questions, John, but I would very much doubt there will be refunds. EFL clubs rely on ticket income to a far greater extent than PL clubs, and many of them are very near the financial edge anyway. If they lose all matchday ticket sales and also have to refund season ticket holders, I would guess that it could seriously threaten the survival of quite a lot of them. I think it is far more likely that the i-follow streaming will be offered free, which is why I posed the question above in the way that I have. I suppose that in a national emergency, we all have to bear our share of the pain. Much though, as fans, we think football is very important, is it really in the grand scheme of things, when we have people stranded on cruise ships, people in enforced isolation, people losing income and in some cases their jobs, people losing money on holiday and flight bookings, and of course people dying ? Bill Shankly once famously said that football was important than life or death, but of course he was wrong.
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Post by mickmillslovechild on Mar 9, 2020 17:30:18 GMT
If the point is reached where EFL games are played behind closed doors: 1. Will there be refunds to ST holders of games they cannot attend because of this decision? 2. If there are refunds, will these be fully proportional? In other words, will each match played behind closed doors attract a refund of one 23rd of the cost of the season ticket? I don't know the answers to those questions, John, but I would very much doubt there will be refunds. EFL clubs rely on ticket income to a far greater extent than PL clubs, and many of them are very near the financial edge anyway. If they lose all matchday ticket sales and also have to refund season ticket holders, I would guess that it could seriously threaten the survival of quite a lot of them. I think it is far more likely that the i-follow streaming will be offered free, which is why I posed the question above in the way that I have. I suppose that in a national emergency, we all have to bear our share of the pain. Much though, as fans, we think football is very important, is it really in the grand scheme of things, when we have people stranded on cruise ships, people in enforced isolation, people losing income and in some cases their jobs, people losing money on holiday and flight bookings, and of course people dying ? Bill Shankly once famously said that football was important than life or death, but of course he was wrong.
It's a fair point Malcolm...but you have to remember that it would be far, far easier for the club (that mulit-million pound organisation) to absorb the losses and take the financial hit, than it is for John Smith down the road who works god knows how many hours to have been able to afford that ticket in the first place.
Why would it be down to the paying customers to "bear our share of the pain", whilst the multi million pound company doesn't (as the club has already made it's profit on ticket sales as ST are already paid for)?
They'll miss out on sales of beer, food etc. but that'll be balanced out by not having to pay for as many staff to attend games anyway.
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Post by neddy on Mar 9, 2020 17:33:09 GMT
Is the forum on stream or are the sentinel transcribing the q and a? Does anyone know?
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Post by Lakeland Potter on Mar 9, 2020 17:40:37 GMT
If the point is reached where EFL games are played behind closed doors: 1. Will there be refunds to ST holders of games they cannot attend because of this decision? 2. If there are refunds, will these be fully proportional? In other words, will each match played behind closed doors attract a refund of one 23rd of the cost of the season ticket? I don't know the answers to those questions, John, but I would very much doubt there will be refunds. EFL clubs rely on ticket income to a far greater extent than PL clubs, and many of them are very near the financial edge anyway. If they lose all matchday ticket sales and also have to refund season ticket holders, I would guess that it could seriously threaten the survival of quite a lot of them. I think it is far more likely that the i-follow streaming will be offered free, which is why I posed the question above in the way that I have. I suppose that in a national emergency, we all have to bear our share of the pain. Much though, as fans, we think football is very important, is it really in the grand scheme of things, when we have people stranded on cruise ships, people in enforced isolation, people losing income and in some cases their jobs, people losing money on holiday and flight bookings, and of course people dying ? Bill Shankly once famously said that football was important than life or death, but of course he was wrong. I take your point Malcolm and it doesn't actually affect me as I am no longer an ST holder. It is lucky that the timing is such that if games are played behind closed doors, it will be at the tail end of the season. If it was now the middle of August and the season had just started, I think there would be riots if fans were told that they would get no refunds - however long the ban lasted! Maybe clubs will wait and see what other sports and event organisers do? I think I might do that if I was the Coates family. I wouldn't want to stand out as being part of a minority who were not giving refunds. Once you lose the support of fans it is very difficult to win them back and takes a long time, if it is to be done.
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Post by neddy on Mar 9, 2020 17:43:03 GMT
There should be an amnesty on FFP if closed door games are played? 😂🤦♂️😀
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Post by Lakeland Potter on Mar 9, 2020 17:45:33 GMT
There should be an amnesty on FFP if closed door games are played? 😂🤦♂️😀 Perhaps not an Amnesty but certainly clubs should be allowed an increased level of loss for the financial year based on the loss of income from the closed door ban.
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Post by FullerMagic on Mar 9, 2020 19:12:38 GMT
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Post by Malcolm Clarke on Mar 9, 2020 19:40:22 GMT
I don't know the answers to those questions, John, but I would very much doubt there will be refunds. EFL clubs rely on ticket income to a far greater extent than PL clubs, and many of them are very near the financial edge anyway. If they lose all matchday ticket sales and also have to refund season ticket holders, I would guess that it could seriously threaten the survival of quite a lot of them. I think it is far more likely that the i-follow streaming will be offered free, which is why I posed the question above in the way that I have. I suppose that in a national emergency, we all have to bear our share of the pain. Much though, as fans, we think football is very important, is it really in the grand scheme of things, when we have people stranded on cruise ships, people in enforced isolation, people losing income and in some cases their jobs, people losing money on holiday and flight bookings, and of course people dying ? Bill Shankly once famously said that football was important than life or death, but of course he was wrong. It's a fair point Malcolm...but you have to remember that it would be far, far easier for the club (that mulit-million pound organisation) to absorb the losses and take the financial hit, than it is for John Smith down the road who works god knows how many hours to have been able to afford that ticket in the first place. Why would it be down to the paying customers to "bear our share of the pain", whilst the multi million pound company doesn't (as the club has already made it's profit on ticket sales as ST are already paid for)? They'll miss out on sales of beer, food etc. but that'll be balanced out by not having to pay for as many staff to attend games anyway. I think the problem is that EFL clubs are in very different financial positions but they will probably all agree to do the same thing
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Post by FullerMagic on Mar 9, 2020 19:51:02 GMT
Boyzone haven't aged well etc etc www.stokesentinel.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/stoke-forum-oneill-coates-scholes-3931090First question: Michael, how are you enjoying life here at Stoke City and what was the atmosphere like in the dressing room when you arrived?MON: Enjoyed it, but it’s been hectic with 22 games with a lot of pressure on them, but the support from players and supporters has helped with everyone pull ing in the same direction. The Championship is very different from international football which is somewhat more tactical, but it’s difficult to guage how games will go in the Championship. The dressing room when I first game in wasn’t big enough because of all the players we had! First game, important thing was to get a reaction, which we did at Barnsley, and then it’s a happier place. Clearly it wasn’t as good a dressing room as it could be when we came in but that first result helped Tony, would you agree Championship is different from the one Stoke was promoted from in 2008?TS: Yes, it certainly feels different. We are a team that’s come down and that’s very different, but we do have a better stadium and infrastructure than we had then, but that probably applies across the league. It feels like a Premier League 2 because something like 19 out of the 24 clubs in our league have been in the Premier League. Of the five who haven’t four are in the top eight. The league doesn’t get the income to match its appeal and the fact it’s the third highest attended in Europe. We also have rules which go against investing in clubs too. Now, in the league, I feel some clubs are desperate to attack other clubs for breaking rules and trying to get them punished. John, How hard is it to run the club as a business when you are so emotionally involved?JC: It’s difficult. I need to get better at it. You have all the feelings you always had, you feel the emotions of games, if you lose you feel bad, it’s no different, you just feel that much greater level of responsibility. We’ve had a fantastic 12 years and then a few seasons which, in anybody’s book, has been disappointing and that’s been tough. You’ve got to get the right manager, the recruitment right for first team and development of players through Academy, and I genuinely feel we are making progress.
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Post by FullerMagic on Mar 9, 2020 19:55:18 GMT
Michael, how big a challenge to manage Stoke and Northern Ireland? MON: It hasn’t been because I’ve just been managing Stoke.
I’ll name my NI squad for Bosnia tomorrow, but it’s very easy after eight years in the job and with no surprises in the squad.
My support staff have done all the preparations I would have been involved in to some extent such as going to watch Bosnia.
If I watch two games, or watch 30 games here, the squad would be the same because it’s not like Gareth Southgate’s job where you’re making a decision between a Manchester City or Tottenham player. We don’t have those choices.
So it’s been very easy for me to do both jobs, it’s not been demanding and the focus has been purely on Stoke.
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Post by Cast no shadow on Mar 9, 2020 19:56:22 GMT
Jon, does ya owd man understand what the fuss about now?
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Post by FullerMagic on Mar 9, 2020 19:58:47 GMT
Michael, Do you have a shopping list for next season? MON: (laughter). I had to assess the player which was difficult because it was a big squad and you were straight into games.
We were trying to form opinions on players whilst trying to get them off the bottom of the league, so were having to make quick decisions and possibly some were unfair.
We are still evaluating what we have and what we will need to eventually push for the Premier League.
Still a lot of work to do in assessment of players and other factors like the injury to Joe Allen and how long he’ll be out.
It’s not about numbers, it’s about the right type of player, and they should see this as a big opportunity, a big club and a forward step in their career and think `I’m going to go into the Premier League with this club.’
So we are trying to create in the building a real hunger, which we have, but want to increase that to create the right culture, which we tried to do in this window with the two youngsters and James Chester.
I don’t think we need loads of players, three or four in key areas.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 9, 2020 20:01:25 GMT
Does anyone think that the failed trader from Bet365, that attends three games a week, will get a mention?
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Post by FullerMagic on Mar 9, 2020 20:01:52 GMT
Michael, How much say do you have in recruitment and do you have the final say? MON: Yes I do.
With Northern Ireland, recruitment was just about finding somebody with a blood line to Northern Ireland, and if there wasn’t one we tried to create one!
Here, John and Tony supported me 100 per cent in January and the three I brought in were my decisions.
Tashan has massive potential, whether he’s ready now, time will tell.
Anything I’ve asked for, the two guys with me tonight have been 100 per cent supportive.
But recruitment shouldn’t be just down to the manager because it’s more complex and you’re fishing in a bigger pond, so it’s a combined effort, but the club has to sign the players the manager wants and how he wants the team to play.
We get our recruitment right and we can get the club back to where we believe it should be.
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Post by FullerMagic on Mar 9, 2020 20:05:44 GMT
Tony, what lessons have you learned? TS: If you make mistakes, you’d be a fool not to learn from them, but it doesn’t mean you are not going to make other mistakes going forward.
John and I can’t sit here and say the last three years have been good enough.
One of the key decisions is getting the right manager and you have to try and do that with rigour and due diligence and make a judgement, but hindsight has shown that judgement was wrong.
It’s continual, learning, and a football club is a complex animal.
JC: If you appoint the right manager and get the recruitment right you get the right results, but some of our appointments and recruitment has not been good enough.
We have a good manager and we are starting to see the fruits of the Academy - tomorrow night we are in the under-18s cup final against Manchester City which is pretty good, so we are starting to get that bit of it right.
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Post by FullerMagic on Mar 9, 2020 20:07:17 GMT
Who is accountable for Wimmer, Imbula and Berahino? JC: Clearly, we’ve acknowledged that some signings haven’t been the best and I can feel the pain of that from a fan perspective and the fact that since 2006 we’ve put in £224m into the club I think.
You don’t want to recruit badly and we absolutely acknowledge we’ve got to get better at it and we will.
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Post by FullerMagic on Mar 9, 2020 20:09:59 GMT
How do you combat the penalties of Financial Fair Play? TS: It’s something that occupies our mind all the time.
We don’t like the rules, we think the rules are ill conceived, we think they make you dumb down.
What the league should be doing is encourage the clubs to invest and get as close to the Premier League as we possibly can.
You will never see us criticising another club in relation to those rules and it’s unseemly when you see another club trying desperately to see another club get docked points.
We are lobbying to try and change the rules and if we don’t then we have to operate within the structure.
JC: I don’t think a set of rules which has a number of clubs, with nine games to go, under threat of a points deduction is good.
I believe those rules need to be changed.
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Post by FullerMagic on Mar 9, 2020 20:14:14 GMT
Michael, what encouraged you to come to Stoke?MON: (laughter). I was warned of this question and meant to say something about oatcakes. I haven’t tried them yet, even though I was told to say the opposite! Football is about timing and when opportunities come. I’d had opportunities to leave Northern Ireland before, but the timing or opportunity wasn’t right. Most of those decisions was around stability and who you’d be working for. I once sat in the room with a big club and four people from that club, but four months later none of those four people were at that club., so maybe I wouldn’t have been either Having met John, Tony and Peter, I knew who I’d be working for and I’d have a relationship with them to work together to build the football club. I probably see too much of them now! But no, they have the club’s best interests at heart and that’s a good stability to come in and work with. I have no regrets at my decision - and I’m still here at this minute in time!
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Post by FullerMagic on Mar 9, 2020 20:17:08 GMT
Michael, are you getting there with the system you want? MON: I believe we have the players to play 4-3-3, but we’ve had to improvise a little bit, like with Nick Powell, but his response has been really positive.
Playing with him as a number 10 can leave you a bit vulnerable at times, like at QPR, so you have to tweak it.
We will sign players and build a squad to play in that system because you have to have a team that has to be 50-50 in possession, if not more than that, and we want a team that’s dominant in possession and capable of scoring goals.
We’ve shown we can score goals and another key thing is speed and running power in the team with attacking full backs, so there’s all areas where we are looking to improve.
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Post by FullerMagic on Mar 9, 2020 20:19:29 GMT
Michael, will there will wholesale changes to the squad going forward? MON: Probably not. It’s often a lot easier to get players out of a football club than into a football club.
We don’t want to go out and sign 10 players in the summer and find the dressing room is too small for all the players again.
It’s not like Fantasy Football where you can take players in and out each week.
So no, not wholesale changes.
It’s difficult for some of the players here because they have only been here two years and I’m their fourth manager, so that creates uncertainty for the player and it’s something we have to work on in terms of developing relationships.
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Post by FullerMagic on Mar 9, 2020 20:22:56 GMT
Tony, who is accountable for the left-back situation over the last two or three years? TS: What’s the situation?
From the floor: We don’t have a recognised left back.
MON: We do have one in Stephen Ward. Josh Tymon was out on loan when I came to the club and he’s come back but found it difficult to push his way into the team.
Bruno is maybe not a natural attacking left back, but he’s used to play left of a back three in Holland so playing on the left of a four isn’t asking too much of him.
The left-back situation is something we will look at going forward though.
If I’m honest, Bruno looks more comfortable at left back than centre half in the Championship.
John, should you have a non-executive director? JC: I think they are valuable for public companies, but we are a private company, and we like to run our businesses without non-exec directors.
Tony, re coronoavirus, is the live stream good enough for fans to watch games from home? TS: There were meetings today in London and they determined that for the moment games can continue, so there’s no reason to change plans.
But, it’s moving at such a pace it’s naive to think things won’t change in a week, two or three and that depends on the advice from public health and there’s a whole range of options it could lead to.
If it was a behind closed doors game, the ability to stream it would be one way to deal with that situation.
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Post by sheikhmomo on Mar 9, 2020 20:28:32 GMT
Tony, who is accountable for the left-back situation over the last two or three years?TS: What’s the situation? He really is a twattish piece of work isn't he.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 9, 2020 20:31:30 GMT
Tony, who is accountable for the left-back situation over the last two or three years?TS: What’s the situation? He really is a twattish piece of work isn't he. What's the situation? Lol. That's the new "What's all the fuss about?". Pisser.
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Post by datguy on Mar 9, 2020 20:33:52 GMT
Tony, who is accountable for the left-back situation over the last two or three years?TS: What’s the situation?From the floor: We don’t have a recognised left back. MON: We do have one in Stephen Ward. Josh Tymon was out on loan when I came to the club and he’s come back but found it difficult to push his way into the team. Bruno is maybe not a natural attacking left back, but he’s used to play left of a back three in Holland so playing on the left of a four isn’t asking too much of him. The left-back situation is something we will look at going forward though. If I’m honest, Bruno looks more comfortable at left back than centre half in the Championship. John, should you have a non-executive director?JC: I think they are valuable for public companies, but we are a private company, and we like to run our businesses without non-exec directors. Tony, re coronoavirus, is the live stream good enough for fans to watch games from home?TS: There were meetings today in London and they determined that for the moment games can continue, so there’s no reason to change plans. But, it’s moving at such a pace it’s naive to think things won’t change in a week, two or three and that depends on the advice from public health and there’s a whole range of options it could lead to. If it was a behind closed doors game, the ability to stream it would be one way to deal with that situation. Is he taking the piss?
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Post by ibby on Mar 9, 2020 20:34:27 GMT
Get them out
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Post by datguy on Mar 9, 2020 20:34:36 GMT
Tony, who is accountable for the left-back situation over the last two or three years?TS: What’s the situation? From the floor: We don’t have a recognised left back. MON: We do have one in Stephen Ward. Josh Tymon was out on loan when I came to the club and he’s come back but found it difficult to push his way into the team. Bruno is maybe not a natural attacking left back, but he’s used to play left of a back three in Holland so playing on the left of a four isn’t asking too much of him. The left-back situation is something we will look at going forward though. If I’m honest, Bruno looks more comfortable at left back than centre half in the Championship.John, should you have a non-executive director?JC: I think they are valuable for public companies, but we are a private company, and we like to run our businesses without non-exec directors. Tony, re coronoavirus, is the live stream good enough for fans to watch games from home?TS: There were meetings today in London and they determined that for the moment games can continue, so there’s no reason to change plans. But, it’s moving at such a pace it’s naive to think things won’t change in a week, two or three and that depends on the advice from public health and there’s a whole range of options it could lead to. If it was a behind closed doors game, the ability to stream it would be one way to deal with that situation. Don't think I'd be happy with MO'N saying that if I was Bruno.
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Post by DentySCFC on Mar 9, 2020 20:35:13 GMT
Tony, who is accountable for the left-back situation over the last two or three years?TS: What’s the situation?From the floor: We don’t have a recognised left back.MON: We do have one in Stephen Ward. Josh Tymon was out on loan when I came to the club and he’s come back but found it difficult to push his way into the team. Bruno is maybe not a natural attacking left back, but he’s used to play left of a back three in Holland so playing on the left of a four isn’t asking too much of him. The left-back situation is something we will look at going forward though. If I’m honest, Bruno looks more comfortable at left back than centre half in the Championship. John, should you have a non-executive director?JC: I think they are valuable for public companies, but we are a private company, and we like to run our businesses without non-exec directors. Tony, re coronoavirus, is the live stream good enough for fans to watch games from home?TS: There were meetings today in London and they determined that for the moment games can continue, so there’s no reason to change plans. But, it’s moving at such a pace it’s naive to think things won’t change in a week, two or three and that depends on the advice from public health and there’s a whole range of options it could lead to. If it was a behind closed doors game, the ability to stream it would be one way to deal with that situation. Is he taking the piss? Tbf, he’s so out of touch, I’m surprised he’s heard of the Coronavirus.
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