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Phoenix Ownership - Rob says FTFFA (Part 2)

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Posted June 13, 2017 23:39 · last edited March 18, 2021 07:34

Surge wrote:

The thing for me is that there's so much the club could be doing things about, but aren't.

There was a massive spike in engagement after the STN campaign, and that culminated in the licence extension - which should have been the first chapter of the story of the Phoenix re-phoenixing once again... but it wasn't. The silence has been deafening, and on top of that there's been some questionable (and I'm being kind) decisions and incidents around the running of the club - both in the football sense and an organisational one. It's like they're trying to out NZF, NZF.

Get DD some specialist support if and where he needs it  (and that's not a reflection on his capability, it's about his capacity), leave the football stuff to the football committee (or even better - give Darije and Rado whatever support they want/need). And start "owning" the message - cos at the moment they're not; and the vast majority of that message is not constructive or positive.

The Welnix guys are very successful individuals, and I am eternally grateful that they stepped in/up and invested in our club when they did. But if they ran some of their organisations the way the Phoenix are being run - I doubt they'd have been in a position to invest in a greyhound.

All the off the field stuff, and junior development things are fine and dandy but ultimately - the Phoenix are a HAL team, everything else comes out of that. And to maintain that status, we have very clear metrics that need to be achieved. The way things are at the moment, I can't see that happening.

Now I wait, and I hope more than anything - that once again; I'm wrong. It wouldn't be the first time :)

Very well said Surge. There are 2 camps on how a football club should be run, one is that you have to have football people in charge and the other is that you need business people in charge. I think there is a degree of 'snobbery' [if that's the right word] within both camps. The truth of the matter is that there needs to be a balance. In the Nix case, they are probably doing quite well financially [as opposed to haemorrhaging money] and have some pretty good structures and systems in place but they are really lacking in terms of marketing to a sports community and fan base. That's where you need that sports marketing background, its much different to selling a bus service or an internet package, you are dealing with the hearts and minds of people.

I've seen it in the YF forum, where a number of the original elite have taken a backwards step in the forum [which is understandable] but there is an underlying dissatisfaction with the club in many of their postings. If the club is alienating these people through their actions or non-actions, can you imagine what they are doing to the general football community. Take me as an example; I'm not a rabid supporter but I used to travel to Wellington and other locations at least 5 or 6 times a year to watch the team. I have not been to a game for the last 2 years. The reason for that is that I don't really care that much any more because the club doesn't feel much like 'mine' now. Sure, I still look at this forum, watch the odd game on TV when I have nothing else to do, check the scores each week, but I'm not actually invested in the club any more. How many other people on here can put their hand up and say they are the same or similar? I suggest several.   The club needs to seriously look at this whole issue and find a solution, otherwise there will be no club. You can have the most amazing balance sheet in the world but if you don't have anyone supporting the club, you don't have a club.

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Unknown editor edited March 18, 2021 07:34
Surge wrote:

The thing for me is that there's so much the club could be doing things about, but aren't.

There was a massive spike in engagement after the STN campaign, and that culminated in the licence extension - which should have been the first chapter of the story of the Phoenix re-phoenixing once again... but it wasn't. The silence has been deafening, and on top of that there's been some questionable (and I'm being kind) decisions and incidents around the running of the club - both in the football sense and an organisational one. It's like they're trying to out NZF, NZF.

Get DD some specialist support if and where he needs it  (and that's not a reflection on his capability, it's about his capacity), leave the football stuff to the football committee (or even better - give Darije and Rado whatever support they want/need). And start "owning" the message - cos at the moment they're not; and the vast majority of that message is not constructive or positive.

The Welnix guys are very successful individuals, and I am eternally grateful that they stepped in/up and invested in our club when they did. But if they ran some of their organisations the way the Phoenix are being run - I doubt they'd have been in a position to invest in a greyhound.

All the off the field stuff, and junior development things are fine and dandy but ultimately - the Phoenix are a HAL team, everything else comes out of that. And to maintain that status, we have very clear metrics that need to be achieved. The way things are at the moment, I can't see that happening.

Now I wait, and I hope more than anything - that once again; I'm wrong. It wouldn't be the first time :)

Very well said Surge. There are 2 camps on how a football club should be run, one is that you have to have football people in charge and the other is that you need business people in charge. I think there is a degree of 'snobbery' [if that's the right word] within both camps. The truth of the matter is that there needs to be a balance. In the Nix case, they are probably doing quite well financially [as opposed to haemorrhaging money] and have some pretty good structures and systems in place but they are really lacking in terms of marketing to a sports community and fan base. That's where you need that sports marketing background, its much different to selling a bus service or an internet package, you are dealing with the hearts and minds of people.

I've seen it in the YF forum, where a number of the original elite have taken a backwards step in the forum [which is understandable] but there is an underlying dissatisfaction with the club in many of their postings. If the club is alienating these people through their actions or non-actions, can you imagine what they are doing to the general football community. Take me as an example; I'm not a rabid supporter but I used to travel to Wellington and other locations at least 5 or 6 times a year to watch the team. I have not been to a game for the last 2 years. The reason for that is that I don't really care that much any more because the club doesn't feel much like 'mine' now. Sure, I still look at this forum, watch the odd game on TV when I have nothing else to do, check the scores each week, but I'm not actually invested in the club any more. How many other people on here can put their hand up and say they are the same or similar? I suggest several.   The club needs to seriously look at this whole issue and find a solution, otherwise there will be no club. You can have the most amazing balance sheet in the world but if you don't have anyone supporting the club, you don't have a club.

Unknown editor edited June 13, 2017 23:40
Surge wrote:

The thing for me is that there's so much the club could be doing things about, but aren't.

There was a massive spike in engagement after the STN campaign, and that culminated in the licence extension - which should have been the first chapter of the story of the Phoenix re-phoenixing once again... but it wasn't. The silence has been deafening, and on top of that there's been some questionable (and I'm being kind) decisions and incidents around the running of the club - both in the football sense and an organisational one. It's like they're trying to out NZF, NZF.

Get DD some specialist support if and where he needs it  (and that's not a reflection on his capability, it's about his capacity), leave the football stuff to the football committee (or even better - give Darije and Rado whatever support they want/need). And start "owning" the message - cos at the moment they're not; and the vast majority of that message is not constructive or positive.

The Welnix guys are very successful individuals, and I am eternally grateful that they stepped in/up and invested in our club when they did. But if they ran some of their organisations the way the Phoenix are being run - I doubt they'd have been in a position to invest in a greyhound.

All the off the field stuff, and junior development things are fine and dandy but ultimately - the Phoenix are a HAL team, everything else comes out of that. And to maintain that status, we have very clear metrics that need to be achieved. The way things are at the moment, I can't see that happening.

Now I wait, and I hope more than anything - that once again; I'm wrong. It wouldn't be the first time :)

Very well said Surge. There are 2 camps on how a football club should be run, one is that you have to have football people in charge and the other is that you need business people in charge. I think there is a degree of 'snobbery' [if that's the right word] within both camps. The truth of the matter is that there needs to be a balance. In the Nix case, they are probably doing quite well financially [as opposed to haemorrhaging money] and have some pretty good structures and systems in place but they are really lacking in terms of marketing to a sports community and fan base. That's where you need that sports marketing background, its much different to selling a bus service or an internet package, you are dealing with the hearts and minds of people.

I've seen it in the YF forum, where a number of the original elite have taken a backwards step in the forum [which is understandable] but there is an underlying dissatisfaction with the club in many of their postings. If the club is alienating these people through their actions or non-actions, can you imagine what they are doing to the general football community. Take me as an example; I'm not a rabid supporter but I used to travel to Wellington and other locations at least 5 or 6 times a year to watch the team. I have not been to a game for the last 2 years. The reason for that is that I don't really care that much any more because the club doesn't feel much like 'mine' now. Sure, I still look at this forum, watch the odd game on TV when I have nothing else to do, check the scores each week, but I'm not actually invested in the club any more. How many other people on here can put their hand up and say they are the same or similar? I suggest several.   The club needs to seriously look at this whole issue and find a solution, otherwise there will be no club. You can have the most amazing balance sheet in the world but if you don't have anyone supporting the club, you don't have a club.