negative sales pitch

[donnyproletarian]

Looks like SOD has put billy in the shop window in his last interview.Meanwhile JR has confirmed he might move on to pastures new on radio Sheffield.Talk about negative just before a match.What does that say to fans thinking about renewing season tickets and players confidence.It says to me we had one shot for playoffs this season but got stuffed with injuries.Therefore we are going to sell off the crown jewels and cut our losses to prepare for life in the lower divisions were we belong.It blames low crowds and ignores the fact that theres a big nasty recession out there and that what was once a working class sport is now a luxury and a commodity that has effectively priced itself out of the market and reaches of ordinary people with extortinate unrealistic prices.Not words that inspire me to rush out and renew my season ticket

[Norfolk N Chance]

So you would like to lose millions would you ?

The train to leeds spoke volumes to me when we played at bellend rd as more leeds fans than rovers !!!

We are fighting against the tide and we could become either a Wigan or Scunthorpe,either fine by me as its not my money but merely grateful i can afford another ST!

I adore my team and would pay to watch them at Cusworth Park,if I was lucky enough!

Looks like SOD has put billy in the shop window in his last interview.Meanwhile JR has confirmed he might move on to pastures new on radio Sheffield.Talk about negative just before a match.What does that say to fans thinking about renewing season tickets and players confidence.It says to me we had one shot for playoffs this season but got stuffed with injuries.Therefore we are going to sell off the crown jewels and cut our losses to prepare for life in the lower divisions were we belong.It blames low crowds and ignores the fact that theres a big nasty recession out there and that what was once a working class sport is now a luxury and a commodity that has effectively priced itself out of the market and reaches of ordinary people with extortinate unrealistic prices.Not words that inspire me to rush out and renew my season ticket

[Superspy]

So you would like to lose millions would you ?

The train to leeds spoke volumes to me when we played at bellend rd as more leeds fans than rovers !!!

We are fighting against the tide and we could become either a Wigan or Scunthorpe,either fine by me as its not my money but merely grateful i can afford another ST!

I adore my team and would pay to watch them at Cusworth Park,if I was lucky enough!

amen. i can't be arsed typing up more SOD quotes tonight, i'll let someone else get it.

[BobG]

I didn't get the impression SOD was 'putting Billy in the shop window'. I thought he was being realistic. He knows what the world out there is like. He knows that some Championship club, somewhere, will want a striker - and that Billy will always be on on their list. Then, it simply depends on the money and the decision making within DRFC. That's all pretty straight forward and an honest appraisal as far as I can see.

BobG

[Berkshire Rover]

I didn't get the impression SOD was 'putting Billy in the shop window'. I thought he was being realistic. He knows what the world out there is like. He knows that some Championship club, somewhere, will want a striker - and that Billy will always be on on their list. Then, it simply depends on the money and the decision making within DRFC. That's all pretty straight forward and an honest appraisal as far as I can see.

BobG

Completely agree Bob, I think one of the things that a lot of people don't get is SOD's honesty. I'm looking forward to JR slapping acridiculous price tag on his head, I would guess minimum £5m, any advances on that?

[AbsolutDRFC]

I didn't get the impression SOD was 'putting Billy in the shop window'. I thought he was being realistic. He knows what the world out there is like. He knows that some Championship club, somewhere, will want a striker - and that Billy will always be on on their list. Then, it simply depends on the money and the decision making within DRFC. That's all pretty straight forward and an honest appraisal as far as I can see.

BobG

Completely agree Bob, I think one of the things that a lot of people don't get is SOD's honesty. I'm looking forward to JR slapping acridiculous price tag on his head, I would guess minimum £5m, any advances on that?

Have to agree with Bob/Berkshire as well...
It's a really difficult position, as whatever is said may not go down well with certain sections of fans.

SOD is refreshingly honest and I do welcome that. Whenever he moves onto pastures new, we will miss him.
The realistic fans understand the financial implications of being in the Championship (based on our current levels of income).

However some fans sometimes don't want to hear the truth all the time. Last nights interview was poorly timed. I really wanted to hear about positives on how we were going to perform against PNE and aspects ON the pitch.

I'm sorry to switch this back to the foundation of the club, but again our income levels would be much better if we had a good business structure at the club.

I think in the summer, it would be really useful for the VSC to sit down again with the board (Watson, Bramhall, Ryan, Blunt) to explain where things can be improved.

The Marketing, Commercial functions clearly are not working up to the levels of a Championship football team. If we aspire to remain there, we HAVE to get this sorted once and for all, during the summer, when the opportunity is there.

The board also have to address the shocking medical record that the squad has suffered, not just this season, but over the last 4 seasons.
The 13 players out was just the tip of the iceberg; but look back at the recent record....
Even in League One (under SOD), we had the likes of Horlock, Lee, McDaid etc..
The situation with Martin Woods, Stock, the late operations in pre-season for Oster/Chambers...
It isn't good enough, but the board need to get behind the underlying problems.
Is it the pitch, the training methods, the pre-season build up, the recovery time of players, rehabilitation of players? etc etc

[ravenrover]

I didn't get the impression SOD was 'putting Billy in the shop window'. I thought he was being realistic. He knows what the world out there is like. He knows that some Championship club, somewhere, will want a striker - and that Billy will always be on on their list. Then, it simply depends on the money and the decision making within DRFC. That's all pretty straight forward and an honest appraisal as far as I can see.

BobG

Completely agree Bob, I think one of the things that a lot of people don't get is SOD's honesty. I'm looking forward to JR slapping acridiculous price tag on his head, I would guess minimum £5m, any advances on that?

Exactly the price JR came up with on DeeDah last night. Now if the chairman AND the manager are coming out with the same mantra ie don't want to lose him but....... then I think that they are waiting for the offers to start coming in.

[MickyNorburys90shat-trick]

Exactly the price JR came up with on DeeDah last night. Now if the chairman AND the manager are coming out with the same mantra ie don't want to lose him but....... then I think that they are waiting for the offers to start coming in.[/quote]

....or perhaps the offers have already started to come in on a 'would you be willing to sell Billy for £...' basis and JR is making it clear that to get Billy teams will have to pay big.  With any luck it might scare a few off.

[MrFrost]

Lets say we sell Billy in the summer for 2.5 million, do people think any of that will be made available for SOD to spend?

I also doubt we would be able to replace Billy with anyone anywhere near the same caliabre.

Was this just a business move from the directors to sign him and then sell him for a profit?

[steve@dcfd]

What JR and SOD said last is realism because of the support we have. It is also negative to the floating supporters we wantt to return. Success will bring them back not good marketing without winning games. If we sell Billy and any other players what will happen to the funds we receive. Like the money for Mills and Wellens not put back in to improve the playing staff but to continue to run the club. Without signing good players but substandard we will not get the floating supporters to come back. Last night JR said they were not looking at a new goalkeeper or centrehalves they were good enough. Well if we continue with that policy we will be fighting relegation from the start of the season. Because the centre halves and goalkeeper are no better than we had in the conference. Last night showed we lack firepower infront of goal we created  chances yet in the first half only one save from Preston keeper.

[Filo]

They were just replying to the usual mischievous questions from Radio Sheffield, Billy has n`t gone anywhere and in my opinion won`t be going anywhere, casting aspersions about the situation is wrong, the media put their on spin on things to make a story out of nothing

[Alan Southstand]

It's the timing of such comments and theories that's all wrong though. Surely, with 5 games left of this season to run, and our predicament not resolved yet - why should we be talking about the possibility of selling our prize asset? It almost ranks alongside the statement that 'we were going for the play-off's', earlier this season!

How a topic like this encourages anyone to fork out their hard-earned cash on another season ticket for next season is beyond me. We should be squashing such questions, if indeed it was a question, before they're allowed to grow into statements that just plainly look bad.

One thing we have to do for next season is get our strategy right, as it has been proven this season, that we got it badly wrong last summer. IF we survive this season, it has to be a lesson learned. Yes, there's a recession of sorts at the moment, but the Doncaster public will turn out in increasing numbers if we give them the right product and 'spin'. We had the crowd numbers, arguably for the first 2 seasons in the CCC, but due to some circumstances beyond our control, and some well within, we have seen the numbers gradually dwindle. I thought we were still in the business of trying to increase crowd attendances, not knock a few more hundred off!

[DonnyBazR0ver]

If the message is the board has taken us as far as they can with the resources available, then I don't really have a problem with that.

I am grateful that the board invested beyond our revenue to give us as much chance as possible to do a 'Blackpool'. Unfortunately, a few things have conspired against us in terms of key signings (Shackell) and the injury crisis, and the gamble has not paid off.

The boards decisions on the ticketing/pricing policy has worked against us however, had we have been in, or on the verge of, the play-offs then their gamble on higher ticket prices may have paid off.

My only beef is the way they have gone about trying to minimise losses. In the face of a recession and on the back of losing 2000 ST holders in the previous 2 seasons, the signs were already there that price is the key to the success or failure in maintaining your season ticket fan base.

The club must have known that increases in prices, particularly to raise the South Stand to Cat A would have an adverse affect on sales and attendances. In addition to that, to categorise the games as cat 1,2,3 indicated a lack of commitment to the fans to charge a 'fair' price to watch a game of football and smacked of exploitation. So to then have JR going on radio to infer that the town was letting the team down was a bad bit of PR.

Alas the inevitable has happened and we will have to work much harder to win fans back. I know the VSC has done much to advise the club against continuing with the same policies however, the same attitude seems to prevail where the club thinks it can maximise revenue by raising prices and keeping it's cards hidden when deciding what to charge for match tickets.

I will conceed however, that the club scout scheme is a generous offer. Perhaps too generous, when a modest price decrease or generous loyalty renewal discount would have been sufficient to encourage more renewals. (so long as the fan could see the match day prices and how much more beneficial it is to buy a season ticket)

The board will be meeting again in the summer to determine next seasons match prices amongst other things and given the record so far of increasing the fan base, I think they will do well to consult with the VSC/fans to determine the best way forward.

If time tell us these last few seasons are as good as it gets then I for one will be thankful to JR for taking the risks to get us there.

[hoolahoop]

What JR and SOD said last is realism because of the support we have. It is also negative to the floating supporters we wantt to return. Success will bring them back not good marketing without winning games. If we sell Billy and any other players what will happen to the funds we receive. Like the money for Mills and Wellens not put back in to improve the playing staff but to continue to run the club. Without signing good players but substandard we will not get the floating supporters to come back. Last night JR said they were not looking at a new goalkeeper or centrehalves they were good enough. Well if we continue with that policy we will be fighting relegation from the start of the season. Because the centre halves and goalkeeper are no better than we had in the conference. Last night showed we lack firepower infront of goal we created  chances yet in the first half only one save from Preston keeper.

Could not agree more Steve..............time to put up or shut up. I'm very grateful for the way our Directors have not paid tax on their loss-making investments now I for one am tired of saying 'thank you JR', most of us 'given the same financial position' would have done the same. Jeez ask yourself why , just why multi multi millionaires want to be shareholders of this particular club......JUST ASK YOURSELVES.

[VixDRFC]

Regarding the point of the \"floating supporters\" I'm not sure selling Billy will influence them into not buying Season tickets - after all, if they're \"floating\" then signing him in the first place didn't make them buy them this season!

[donnyproletarian]

Your all missing the point of the post

1 If we had pele playing for us fans are still skint given the economic climate so our season tickets would not increase significantly.

2 Timing of the interview to bring up the selling off of Billy before a major match was ill advised as it projects us as a selling club with no aspirations in effect putting off potential floating voters outthere

3 Ime not grateful to give my hard earned cash to players who have forgotten there roots and whose greed will be the games downfall.It should be the other way round.This goes for all clubs.I seem to remember Cloughy taking some of his players down the pit for a reality check

4 It would not hurt to pretend to fans that we should try and hang on to him for one more season .He owes us this as we have put him in the shop window to revive his career.If he wants to go then, fine.We can cash in and reinvest

5 Rovers fanbase will grow with the younger generation but this will take time.Forget about the Leeds defectors they are a lost cause

[steve@dcfd]

Regarding the point of the \"floating supporters\" I'm not sure selling Billy will influence them into not buying Season tickets - after all, if they're \"floating\" then signing him in the first place didn't make them buy them this season!

Did not link Billy to season tickets. When we first arrived in the championship we had more supporters we have allowed good players to leave the club because we could not compete with wages. This strategy has made the club less successful. Therefore floating supporters have decided not to come. We have also loss season ticket holders from year 1 in the Championship to now. Some will be financial but by allowing quality players to leave we are less successful. Example this years defence, is it better or worst than last year even if all players were fit.  The loans we brought in last year were head and shoulders better than this year. So realism is we cannot spend what we do not have, but we have to accept we will be in a relegation fight next year if we stay up this year. Therefore we will get less supporters. Success breads success we have proved that over the last years. But we are reducing the quality of the team and when you stand still in football you go backwards we have done that this year.Last point we have brought young supporters to the club, but they will not stay and watch poor performances and lack of quality players. People who have been with Rovers for years can be classed has loyal supporters they watched the good and the bad. The young ones have only seen success so when they reach 16/17 and have to pay more they are choosing not to come or even renew season tickets. So we will not build on our fanbase.

[ravenrover]

They were just replying to the usual mischievous questions from Radio Sheffield, Billy has n`t gone anywhere and in my opinion won`t be going anywhere, casting aspersions about the situation is wrong, the media put their on spin on things to make a story out of nothing

Jr was asked a direct question, unfortunately his answer was the thing that made the story
Will BS be here next season.....I hope so
Is there a sell on clause in his contract........I don't know bit he is under contract for another 2 years.
But is there a figure that says he can listen to offers...........No, well lets say £5million
It may not be verbatim but it was certainly the gist of the interview, add that to what SO'D said and it's hardly spin and the media making a story out of nothing.

[VixDRFC]

Fair enough I apologise if I got your point wrong but people are saying its negative to talk about selling Billy and it will impact on attendances. We had our best league finish for a long long time last season and signed our first £1M+ player and it didn't put bums on seats - at that point no-one knew we were going to have the fiasco of the season that we have had. I suspect the financial climate has a lot more impact on attendances than we realise

And I'm not sure I buy into the young supporters being the ones to jump ship. I work in a secondary school and the supporters I meet are amongst the most passionate you could meet (fair more passiuonate than their Leeds supporting peers) They're also taking advantage of the 17-20 season tickets.

[VixDRFC]

Anyway given most of these quotes etc (the O'Driscoll ones not the Ryan ones) came from the pre-Preston match interview on Player what do people think about the attempts to get Sean to say whether he thought we would still be in the Championship next season? The interviewer (guessing its a RS numpty) really went for getting a media worthy quote even down to saying well I'd like the comfort of you saying it or words to that effect - thought Sean handled that one well