Phoenix Ownership - Rob says FTFFA

Great post. Good man. Sums up my thoughts exactly. Me any my new convert nix fan Mrs will be there too.

This isn't about the Phoenix anymore.  It's about Gareth, which is pretty sad.  Only at the very end did Terry play that card and he's was running a fearsome PR exercise off the back of the club!!

Are you kidding? It's what he said!

I think I should start up a Tabloid.  It seems easy to get a bite out of people these days, especially on the interwebz.

Exactly - you can still support the team and think the owner is a grade A penis.  

People need to realise what journalists do, or STFU though. This mess isn't the DP's fault.

MO or not nJ82 it's hurting the club by insulting the fans that have been through thick and thin with the club - was Gareth around when Terry was struggling, no we were! Was gareth around when we finished last in the first season, no we were! Gareth was probably sitting around watching rugby thinking not even thinking about football or the nix, I doubt he has ever attending a a game before this season.

the insults were directed at us the fans, GM has called us the fans pathetic and unsophisticated becuase we discuss the league table and like him expect results.

Yep good troll.

Morgans got us FIRED UP. I need a kitten to stomp!

BTW I disagree with Gareth in some of his opinions/blogs.  I do think his forthrightness on this from a media management perspective is not particularly helpful - but as I said - that is his MO.

I'm not insulted. I'm hugely disappointed and disillusioned that the person at the helm of the Club holds the supporters in such obvious disdain and obviously has no appreciation of what football, and being a supporter, is all about.

I'm not naive enough to think that all Club chairmen are all about the fans and fonts of knowledge on all things football, but they at least keep their views pretty much to themselves.

And his MO is being taken to task

Without a word of a lie - my cat tried to jump out our window from the second level on Tuesday night and I had to grab it.

Mr Morgan should think before he speaks

I think the general feeling here is that he shouldn't have said anything!

sure say as a club we are changing direction this is going to take time. saying the fans know nothing is wrong. Especially given the preseason discussion of we are targetting top two etc

Maybe GM said these things because he's not overly concerned about what the Phoenix's Wellington supporters think anymore. Could he have already made the decision to make the team a travelling roadshow taking more games to other big centres? That would be my reading between the lines. I won't be surprised if it's rebranded as the New Zealand Phoenix next season.

which in turn is going to hurt the club long term, the breakers and warriors a re different in that there is already a string local league and basketball following. Football does not have this. Plus I don't think the FFA wants the NZ Phoenix, the want the Wellington Phoenix - that is who the licence is currently with, I could be wrong but I dont think they'll change it until the contract expires 2015.

Disappointed that GM seems to shoot from the hip with a shotgun. He seems to have the propensity to upset all and sundry with his pronouncements, and does not care who gets in the way.

He is now upsetting the lifeblood of the team, us the supporters. 

There are maybe 5000 die hard supporters, many of whom have been there since day one. I'd guess the die hard numbers have not increased much after the end of our first season. Unfortunately some may now drift away. There is not a legion of new people queuing up to buy season tickets, so the numbers will drop away as the season winds down.

The only way to get numbers up is to have a winning streak, unfortunately I can't see that happening this season. As a result season ticket sales will fall next year. We need a great start to next season ( say top two or three after week 5) before numbers increase. 

To win, we need (IMO) to replace quite a few players. This costs. 

Seems to be a bit of a downwards spiral.

Having said all of that, I will be there on Sunday to cheer the team on, and hope for a win. I will also renew my (foundation) season ticket for the next season, and probably the one after that..

Others have posted exactly what Gareth is quoted as saying. The way it is very selectively presented in headlines and wording by the good old Doom Post is plainly in character with their usual rabble-rousing on topics they have a set editorial angle on. Bashing the nix is among their favourites. This isn't objective media reporting of the facts people! Don't be sucked in too easily. They (and many others)were chucking all the same sort of dirt around against the Black Caps - who I think may be returning a one-fingered salute about now.

Given all that though - clearly some serious media management is required at the Nix to balance the persistent negative spin that will be actively searched for on anything that happens, is said, or can be made up. Unfortunately they are being fed plenty of juicy fodder at the moment. It will pass.

But the really important thing is to be down there Sunday backing the Nix to beating Newcastle!

There may of course be a third option.

c) he really is a grade A penis

And Rob is actually the chairman of Welnix. I'm not sure why Gareth think's it is his role to be the spokesman for the club.

Hah - I didn't even know Rob Morrison had made any comments - if they are level headed and reasonable you won't be hearing about them any time soon on the Doom Post etc (unless they can misquote him...)

We'll all look back on tis and laugh one day :-)

I don't think they are balanced, or try to be, which is my point. People dealing with the media on behalf of the team need to be media savvy.

And I'm with Frankie on this: I think the whole Doom Post thing is lame and makes us look like tards. Just an opinion.

first Gareth tells the Nix how to play (and our results suffer), then the cats, now dissing the fans...

What concerns me is that I have my Kiwisaver with his company......

gareths latest brain explosion. geez what a knob. he keeps harping on about how this is a business and the style of play and style of blah blah blah and all to raise crowd numbers and fan base, yet comes out and insults us?! surely thats counter productive....

What Rob Morrison said on 442....and to be fair fundamentally what Gareth actually said as well (if anyone cared to read the details instead of the headlines. But don't let facts get in the way of a good story - Journalism 101

"There was no directive about the way the team plays," stressed Morrison. "What we looked at was setting an overall philosophy at the club.

"That was pretty simple and it was based on the three-to-five year view because we understand you cannot change things overnight. It does take time to change.

"There is an overall club philosophy that we would like to play attractive, possession-based football. We think that that done well is a winning way of playing.

"Ricki presented to the board on the style, formations and tactics that he wanted to implement. He's  done a lot of work on that.

"It wasn't anybody saying 'Ricki go and play this way' or 'we'll set the tactics for you'. That is simply not the case and has never been the case."

I cannot believe that people are somehow turning this into an issue with the Dom Post. 

Lets face it, the Media are always going to seek out Gareth because he can always be relied on for a Gem of a quote (or Misquote). why bother asking Rob Morrison when all you get is a sound reasoned response.

Me too, although I would like us to be on top of the league table one of these days and if it takes a bit of pain to get us closer to getting there then so be it.