[Official Site] FANS FORUM TO BE LIVE STREAMED

Thanks for that. I spent 5 minutes thinking of every player name we had that could have autocorrected to thimble.

 

the song was i'd rather have a lita than a pint.

 

The views are solely mine. Not the clubs. they may think differently.
But as there are only a couple of days left for the early bird. The answers you may be seeking are not going to be there by the end. The Head coach will be in place hopefully in the next week or so. Players will be sold for the right price if necessary. New players will be coming in. None of which give any guarantees. But to extend because of more demands of few pandering. Who you know personally. may appease you but it doesn't guarantee you or them buying a ticket. When would all those wavering be happy. The buck has to stop somewhere.
You may not be completely happy about what Neerav had to say. But everything about recruitment was laid on the table and the ambitions. One thing worried me was experience coming into the club and the data. was not purely about age and they realised that when Solbaur was brought in.
I too have supported the club along with my family son , grandkids. Brother. Bother in law. Niece. Great nephews. Cousins. All renewed and willing to give em a chance. Paid the early bird. Extending for more information in my view. Is not going to happen.
One thing I would do as within a previous post I put in another thread. Is reduce the full price of a season ticket. Purely on the basis of the cost of living crisis. And reduce matchday prices.
Judge us by our actions doesn't guarantee success on the field. Which will only be realised when the season kicks off in my view. And quite simply that is the main priority for me.

 

My internal barometer has switched from glass dangerously empty to glass half full but you're right. It's a very cautious optimism at the moment.

 

Never thought of that, seems like a likely scenario that. I wouldnt trust Conway as far as i could launch him... and im pretty sure those 2 weren't bought using data as reports elsewhere back up.

 

My thoughts and my thoughts alone.
The board as it stands right now speaks for over 60% of the ownership and consists of Barnsley fans.
Jean Cryne is a lifelong supporter, as is James. Neerav came on board as an investor but fell in love with the club, to the extent that he quickly doubled his initial stake and remains willing to buy more. He attends matches home and away, flying from India to do so.
Julie Quay is primarily an investor but according to Nareev is also a fan who watches every game on tinternet. The anonymous investors as far as we know are just that, but their intention is to make money ultimately by selling up at a profit. They can only do that by virtue of the club being succesful, and the fact they have dumped Conway and Lee for the present board shows they feel this is their best chance of achieving that.
The new regime took this action because as minority shareholders in the previous regime they had to stand by and watch powerless as the club they love was driven into the ground by a bunch of clueless chancers. They have come together with the clear intention to get the club back on track, but they inherit a mess and they're not miracle workers. They need time, and support, and patience.
Where does that leave us, the fans? Dejected, divided, cynical (rightfully) and wary of committing to what may prove to be further suffering. Some may already have given up on the club, and be lost for good. But most I suspect are in two camps - either give this new regime a chance, or wait and see how things develop. Nothing wrong with either view, and wait and see is probably the more common sense approach. The problem for the club is that the more who do go down this road, the longer it will take them to achieve their goals. Backing them from the start is a course more likely driven by emotion than common sense, but if we really want the club to survive and prosper then as far as I can see it's the only way to go.
That said I've signed up and am looking forward to my 63rd season, whatever it may bring.

 

Thiam is the one that jumps out at me, although I suspect his backside would not fit into one

 

I've just finished trying to watch this.

A couple of points/thoughts.

Firstly, around the event and production. I value that the club were happy for the event to be streamed. The sound however was terrible and surely, the mic's should be tested in advance? You shouldn't be getting 10-20 minutes in and then having to play around with sound. Also, someone with a roving mic for questions in the audience. Many of the questions I just couldn't hear properly, meaning I can't evaluate the quality of the question to the value of the response. If there are future events like this, I just hope the club can do a more professional job. It's not that difficult. It just needs intent and preparation.

Also the questioning. As a host, you shouldn't be offering possible answers to the person you're asking questions of. Ask a mixture of very specific questions, but also lots of open questions, then leave silence for it to be filled by the person you want answers from. If you offer possible answer options, you tend to find you inadvertently lead the person you want answers from and the level of insight you extract is diluted.

In terms of Neerav. My perception from the event is that he seems a decent chap. He's attended knowing it would likely be difficult, off the back of a horrible season and where people could be emotive. Though in all fairness, it was far less spiky than I thought it may be. So fair play. He's also offered to do more and front up if things don't go well. As long as words align with actions, I respect that.

And fairplay to him for being brave mentioning negatives of Brexit given where he was.

Aside from that though, I don't feel I know a great deal more. That may be down to the level of questioning (from both host, and the audience) and a level of nervousness on his first large meeting, certainly being more of a figurehead. I'll be interested to see what the media focus on and I'd hope, they will drill down into things more and obviously follow up if an answer is a bit nebulous.

Though there are many questions that still need answering, at least we do seem to have someone who will at least meet the fans. In time, we'll be able to form opinion as to whether it's just more of the same or if some confidence can be placed in the new board set up.... however long that board set up remains.

 

The sound wasn't ideal, initially, due to an issue with the frequency on one channel. We were using brand new software and when testing an hour beforehand, we encountered no such issue. As for the roving mic, what you couldn't see, was our press officer ready with a mic to hand to each person asking a question but as ever at such meets, some fans don't wait for you to reach them, no matter how many times it's explained to them. The odd person will, but many just start speaking regardless. I think there were 180 people in attendance and at times it became a little heated too, with many talking over each other, or others talking between themselves. This isn't as big of an issue at our usual events, that aren't streamed, as people in the room can generally hear the questions. At our last one, the four-hour one with Khaled, it was me doing the 'roving' and it was hit and miss on that occasion. However, it definitely helped me in terms of exercise.

The best solution is to be very strict and make completely clear that you don't speak until the mic reaches you. I think that's potentially doable at a press conference. At a fans forum, in a more relaxed atmosphere where we're trying to host our guests in the manner they deserve, it would come over as a little classroomy for my liking. I've made that word up, but you get my point I'm sure.

Our host was wonderful I felt. He read a lot of the questions that were posted online, in places such as this BBS and elsewhere. He's been praised a lot in those other places for how he performed on the night. A great bloke who we intend to use more often this coming season at some of the physical events we'll stage and online in certain instances. That isn't to discount your criticisms of him or our 'event' as a whole on Friday night. We're only human beings at the end of the day, working within limitations but always with the sole intention to deliver our very best regardless. I hope that as well as the on-field performance, and other areas such as the catering and access to the stadium, that our output from a media, marketing and commercial standpoint is seen to be an improvement during the 2022/23 season ahead.

Thanks for your input buddy.

 

No worries and thank you for taking the time to reply. And I can certainly appreciate limitations and the joy of technology! Powerpoint has definitely killed me enough in my career!

It certainly didn't come across that it was heated in the crowd or people talking over each other. But then I couldn't really hear the dialogue with enough clarity to pick that out. If roving mics aren't as practical in such things, could you investigate fixed mics around the room to pick up zones? I've not had to record a room based debate/presentation/dialogue for quite some time and everything I now do online, so in person recording tech I would have thought will have advanced. I'm assuming in room the levels were audible front to back and it was largely more an issue for those watching the stream, live or after the event like me.

As for the presenter/host. I thought he did ok overall. My main issues were the instances where he asked a question and then directly after presented something of a false dichotomy and therefore leading Neerav. Some people find public speaking difficult and can get nervous. It's all too easy to fill silence than control it. Hopefully he can work on it and he'll be all the more effective and successful for it. A great question can be short.

And I can also understand there was most likely a time limit to things so that makes it harder to follow up or pin point an issue when you have a long list of things to squeeze in.

Completely agree with your hopes for 2022/23. Just from a personal point of view, and fully appreciate this might be up in the air still. Obviously I've no idea what that that C thing will do, but I'm setting my expectation that it will be a miracle if I get to see any game live so I'll be completely reliant still on what comes through my screen. Do you know as yet if full games will be available through ifollow after the event again (if we're still retaining it for next season)?

 

I’ve been on annual leave for the last couple of weeks, I only popped in for the fans forum event, so I’m unsure regards quite a lot of things right now. As far as I’m aware - based on the implications of relegation - we will be remaining with iFollow and the EFL-template website for now. I imagine there’ll still be the full matches to watch, a day after the event. But I know that we no longer get four-camera setups at games, in this division. That’s why I’ll probably be filming the games myself from a unique angle and our intention is to offer more post-event video content than we’ve ever done before.

Time will tell though I guess!

 

Thanks for that.

Hopefully the full games will still be there then, good to know, but I won't hold you to it if things change or the EFL tinker with things. I know I'm in a very tiny minority as to how I get to watch my team. If it's one camera, it's one camera, I'll take that gladly over nothing and I've always tried to watch the full game on the Monday morning, though I must admit, the last third of 2021/2, I just couldn't bring myself to do so very often.

Hope you had a good jolly!