Piracy

42 minutes ago, Secure Par said:

So Charlie D’s has been going most of the season and last game so no staff etc…. Well done Mr Cook…he could have made this happen easily getting extra staff in but we all know he doesn’t want this🤷

Tbf they did try to get staff,well, I say they,  and I could be more specific but I won't. Wouldn't be fair.

26 minutes ago, parsforlife said:

When I talked of the overall package for hospitality an area for bampots is part of that and I don't want that to sound offensive.  Its kinda organic but everyone knows the parts of the grounds where expected behaviour differ If you start swearing your head off in the family section then that's not ok and if you bounce around and sing songs in the main stand you'll get a few questionable looks,  but you do either in section NW you'll be right at home.  Similarly at the other end you might find a few more frustrated glances coming if you try take a 5 year old outside the family section and need to constantly ask to be let out for toilets/drinks but that's clearly acceptable in the family section.   

The hospitality package needs to be similar,  you can have an area for kids to go play games, an area for a quite pint and catch up, an area to have a meal, an area to entertain business clients and an area for folk to be a bit boisterous.  They aren't conflicting when appropriately managed.

No offence taken. The reference to bampots isn't anything other than a joke between those who patronise Charlie Ds on matchdays. I remember a former board member speaking through drink muttering "I wish we could get rid of them', in reference to those who drank regularly in Charlie D's. To counter that I do remember Ross McArthur valuing the efforts made by fans using Charlie D's because it added to the hospitality packages and Legends as another valuable revenue stream for the club. Tbh I think the variety of options is great for the club, it should be all things to all people. 

13 minutes ago, Superally said:

Happy to be seen as a bampot then

https://media.tenor.com/dUNDLq5fdPgAAAAM/idiots-idiot.gif

4 minutes ago, Boston Red Sox said:

Perhaps if they treated their staff a bit better (sending them home 5 mins before finishing time and docking them back half an hour etc) there wouldn’t be a staffing issue. Genuinely wouldn’t mind spending an extra ten bob a pint if it went on increasing from minimum wage. Last week it was quiet but generally it’s busy enough with thirsty chaps and should be turning a profit. At times the club needs to read the room as for me watching the pars isn’t about the attractive free flowing football, it’s a thing, it’s the day, it’s the folk that makes the club special. 

That last sentence is particularly relevant imo. 

2 minutes ago, Superally said:

Legends is fine, I prefer Charlie D's good company, banter and live music. Given the choice its Charlie D's 

It's my preference too.

The frustrating thing for me is that the club has never paid any heed to this facility on match days. It really took off in the early days and never really capitalised on that. It was always Honk who organised (and paid) the artists. Club pay them now, but still Honk who books them. The club never advertise the fact there is live music. I think it's always been seen as an area for bampots. 

7 minutes ago, Eastendtales said:

Does Legends need a rebrand? Freshen it up and start catering to a wider part of the fanbase?

Certainly needs spruced up given the telly's are ancient, split material on the seating and some of the flooring is splitting. However, it's still a decent enough space. 

40 minutes ago, parsforlife said:

It always seems to be staffing for these kind of things. I think we are in a tough position for it too,  can’t offer reliable shifts or many hours, so you’re left in the casual market. But those working in that market are also not offered reliable shifts and need to take the hours they can and they’re not going to choose the pars over an employer who they rely on more

It is frustrating for the club.

It is a ****er that it's always Charlie D's that gets hit, but it's probably the least profitable part of hospitality on match days, so you can understand their decision making. 

13 minutes ago, Rossmcno1 said:

Maybe they’ve done some work on how much having that area open would bring in, accounted for the costs associated and just decided not to bother.  It’s not so easy nowadays to make money in the bar game.  Sometimes it’s simply not worth it, see the amount of pubs etc shutting down across the country. Sad times but if (and that’s the operative word, if) the club have done analysis and deemed it not worthwhile then fair enough?

 

In all of this, communication continues to seem to be a big problem despite the continued growth in our commercial and non footballing departments.  Why?

It's because there's a shortage of 5 hospitality staff for tomorrow's game. I got that straight from 2 people at the club after I contacted a couple of them this morning. They rely on a number of youngsters/students and a lot of them have exams just now. 

Old Inn it is for some Pars fans, money in their tills. 

No idea about that tbh. I'm reliably informed the guys are booked. 

I'll endeavour to find out what's happening.

Done

Gordon Rowan & Mike O'Reilly playing Charlie D's prematch on Saturday, superb.

Great way to see out this season at our last home game of the season.

COYP

Lewis McCann, I think his positional sense is poor, his ability to header is poor, his finishing is poor and some of his decision making is suspect. However, he is a strong runner, good stamina, and he committed. No doubt there's a player there, I just think don't think he's an instinctive player and needs a lot more coaching. I think times running out for him in our team, that's my honest opinion.

Fantastic result. Good to see. 

1 hour ago, Rossmcno1 said:

I think he has been exposed without Bene in front of him, but he’s not all bad like you say.  I just don’t think he’s good enough for us to be challenging at the top end of the table.  If we finish 6th - he’s probably at the right level.  But I do think we need better to be challenging at the top. 

Tbf the whole defensive set up missed Benedictus.

1 hour ago, DA-go Par Adonis said:

To be fair, I've heard the same about Cook's negotiations - and it may be confidential from our side - but agents will say anything to anyone, especially if they think it will benefit them. I'm guessing that's why Laing has come in.

Some did criticise recruitment last year for being too ambitious. We were in for Reilly (and, I think, one other) who ended up going to the Premier League. You're damned if you do and damned if you don't when you miss out on a player.

Re the strategy of the board, they'd argue that this is season 3 coming up, given that they couldn't start to implement what they wanted until the Covid restrictions were over.  They're trying to build the club from the bottom up, whereas the Rovers are doing it from the top down.

Whether it works, we'll wait and see. However, they're trying to do things to enhance the fan experience and build a fan base in our expanding city. Some of it is unconventional but nothing has worked for any other provincial club in Scotland in the last 40 years, so if they have a 'plan', that's better for me than overspending on players or temporarily reducing prices - which might be a short term fix but doesn't do much overall.

 

Don't know about overspending on players but we've been overspending as a whole given the losses last season and projected losses for this season.

No detailed profit and loss information means some fans won't get the specifics they'd like to understand where the money had been spent.

It'd obviously be good to understand what proportion was allocated to the playing side but I suspect we won't be seeing that type of detail anytime soon.

In relation to balance, yes, I agree we can't overspend on players but maybe increasing the budget at the expense of other aspirations can be achieved as part of the overall financial strategy. Increasing player budget doesn't automatically mean it's an irresponsible choice, it just depends how it's managed.

34 minutes ago, Eastendtales said:

Next season there's no excuse for not pushing hard in thr top 4. 

No excuse for poor recruitment.

We've got the makings of a really decent side. Time to show it.

I agree, it really is crunch time and the board need to really read the room with fans and understand growing frustrations.

10 hours ago, Secure Par said:

If Mr Cook is involved in transfer dealings then it’s going to be like this season as he doesn’t negotiate so I have heard?

7/8 players have to go and bring in Championship players. I would also like to see Sutherland getting a chance up top.

Just with this 10 year plan pish, I can honestly see the club/owners making sure we finish mid table in the championship for a few seasons to get the academy up to standard etc….. I’m just going to wait to get 3 x season tickets now to see what happens over the summer as if it’s the same team again then then I’ll do something else on a Saturday… 

I'm not sticking up for David Cook but what you've heard may not be accurate, just saying. How does anyone know how transfer deals are conducted?, I'd have thought that's pretty confidential compared to most club business. Mind you maybe our negotiating style is a bit like a school dinners menu when I was at school, take it or leave it!

I do remember Ross McArthur being quite clear about how frustrating dealing with players agents can be. If our club has a set budget and some agents want more then maybe it's right to walk away. 

My own thoughts are maybe we should be more ambitious with what's available to the manager and aim just a wee bit higher in the market in key areas of the squad. But I can't see this really happening given the losses for last season and this season combined which will surely have a profound effect on what's available to the manager given they've said them aim to reel in the clubs spending.

Maybe a significant actor in all of this is James McPakes judgement on players and what we offer them. The club has backed him with giving players 2 to 3 year deals rather than the 1 year deals we'd previously been dishing out. Obviously trying to create stability in an effort to build a team, and I think that's a good ethos, but, they obviously have to be of the right quality. Some players are evidently not good enough but we can maybe attribute some of that to McPakes inexperience being a younger manager. That was last season and he obviously now needs to get things right over the summer to give himself and the team a real chance of competing for the league. Like yourself I'll probably wait to see what transpires over the summer and make a judgement before committing to renewing my season ticket.

This is a difficult game. ICT were decent against Rovers last Friday, but hopeless finishing on their part.

I'm going to go 2-1 Pars.

9 hours ago, Boston Red Sox said:

Absolute apathy from me at the moment, if the weather is ok might go fishing on Saturday instead of enduring that again. Highlight of the match was watching Sneds having a quality rant about something.

Few stories doing the rounds about personnel leaving in the summer and changes afoot, if correct I'd have serious questions about the owners, 

I went fishing for Salmon the other week rather go to the game. Might head out this weekend too. I'm about done with this season.

Sned have a rant at a game is predictable but usually amusing 😆 

Personnel changes afoot, not heard anything on that front tbh, but no surprises in football. 

48 minutes ago, da_no_1 said:

I really enjoyed the food.

There was a vegetarian option as well. 

Yeah, the vegetarian option I forgot about. But tbh I'm not built like a vegetarian.

33 minutes ago, parsforlife said:

The club had a video done on the experience.  Does this reflect the actual fan experience? Obviously things like a walk around the pitch would be something you’d have to arrange separately.  What are the options on food? 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Czjnbj_M2w3/?igsh=MWJrYmNub2I3cm14OQ==

The food is what is is, no menu choices. We had soup, ham potatoes and veg, then chocolate sponge with ice cream. I have to say the quality was good.

We've hopefully survived the league but missed out on the play offs. Mediocre at best, disappointing at worst.

James McPake deserves to take us into next season and the aim must be the play offs as a minimum. If we start poorly then it will not take long for the fans to get on the clubs back. It's an unrelenting pressure but we need to take all this up a notch. 

We don't have any consistent flair or consistent opportunities in front of goal, we see it in odd games when it can click, like against Dundee United.

It was really the same last season. Its becoming boring now, like yesterday's game for example 😴.

I'm now thinking about not renewing my season ticket for the NW. 

2 hours ago, Raymie said:

I really can’t see much changing on the park as those off the park have a different strategy 

Everything's under control regardless of the high spends last season and this season. They're also committed to driving down costs going forward. That's been the message from the board. So, they'll be judged on their merits as far as I'm concerned.

I personally won't be getting involved in any further correspondence or communication with them, think my names **** with some of them anyway after the fairly recent efforts to gain clarity on concerns. As one fellow fan asked "what's it got to do with you", the answer to that is sod all.

I've got time for James McPake, I've backed him since he came in. I believe him to be our most competent manager in an age. However, given that turgid performance yesterday I did begin to question (to myself) how good are his motivational skills?

Luckily we're about at the end of the season and should be safe, but he's got a job to do preparing for a competitive league next season. He'll need to clear out a few players and make some astute signings. That will take major backing from the board and given our projected losses for this season I'm sceptical about how good that backing will be.