Fans Advisory Board meeting 22nd May - Official club responses

[desensitized43]

Pretty pathetic answers overall.

Especially the ones on PSR compliance and the North Stand. I really don't know why any of us bother with this when they turn up with the intention of not answering straight questions with straight answers.

[ender4]

4 minutes ago, nick76 said:

Guess it depends on whether you like the round badge or not.  You don’t obviously but a lot of people do and while the process wasn’t the best it was chosen by the fans in the end.  This new one wasn’t.

I don't even care whether the badge is round or shield. I don't care whether it has a star or 1874 or not. I don't care that the lion faces forwards or backwards. 

What i do care about is that the club follows due process and the rules, and they don't be underhanded about this and other things. Is that too much to ask?

[Captain_Townsend]

12 minutes ago, CarryOnVilla said:

We changed a shit badge to a shit boring badge back to a shit remix of the first shit badge

but because we wasn’t consulted about if we happy about the remix we snitching our club to the FA?

The whole badge process has been a total botch from day one, but snitching to the FA is petty AF

 

Risso would not be writing to the FA if his own club hadn't tried to gaslight him about what he saw unfold with his own eyes.

It's above and beyond the aesthetic of a badge, it is the principle of it.

Edited May 29 by Captain_Townsend

[nick76]

1 minute ago, ender4 said:

I don't even care whether the badge is round or shield. I don't care whether it has a star or 1874 or not. I don't care that the lion faces forwards or backwards. 

What i do care about is that the club follows due process and the rules, and they don't be underhanded about this and other things. Is that too much to ask?

Agreed

[allani]

2 minutes ago, desensitized43 said:

Pretty pathetic answers overall.

Especially the ones on PSR compliance and the North Stand. I really don't know why any of us bother with this when they turn up with the intention of not answering straight questions with straight answers.

Why on earth would anyone expect any club to talk in detail about PSR compliance in an open forum?  It's commercially sensitive information that could massively impact on future negotiations.  We were given exactly the answer that any professional organisation would have given in the same position - "we've got it under control".

[Stevo985]

I said after the last one that more and more these are seeming like box ticking exercises. The answers are mostly just “this is what we’re doing and **** your if you don’t like it”

I don’t really see the point of them anymore if they’re not going to actually answer things. It’s like we’re asking a Tory MP for their views

The answer to question 2 about club communication is frankly pathetic. They don’t even attempt to answer the question

Edited May 29 by Stevo985

[est1874]

Non-attendance is not the correct response, as it's what they most likely want. When enough components drop out of the FCG they can then shut it down, citing lack of interest. 

It's a nuisance to them and they are treating it as such - but there is still value in sending a delegate.

Thanks @OutByEaster? for attending these.

[HanoiVillan]

16 minutes ago, desensitized43 said:

Pretty pathetic answers overall.

Especially the ones on PSR compliance and the North Stand. I really don't know why any of us bother with this when they turn up with the intention of not answering straight questions with straight answers.

I don't understand what the point of the question on PSR was, the club obviously aren't going to run through the numbers, particularly when we may well be fully up against it, and in any case they're dynamic and would change a lot from meeting to meeting. 

The North Stand issue though, I agree there. They're still not properly addressing the issue. Last time I checked the cancelled plans were still on the freaking OS!

[Risso]

1 minute ago, est1874 said:

Non-attendance is not the correct response, as it's what they most likely want. When enough components drop out of the FCG they can then shut it down, citing lack of interest. 

It's a nuisance to them and they are treating it as such - but there is still value in sending a delegate.

Thanks @OutByEaster? for attending these.

I'm not sure I quite agree with that. They're required to have the meetings as part of new Premier League rules. If everybody dropped out citing the club's terrible attitude to them, the club would have some serious explaining to do.

Of course we can be happy with the overall direction of the club, with Emery and the way the team is playing etc. That doesn't mean they can do what they like surrounding things that have an effect on supporters though.

[CarryOnVilla]

21 minutes ago, nick76 said:

Guess it depends on whether you like the round badge or not.  You don’t obviously but a lot of people do and while the process wasn’t the best it was chosen by the fans in the end.  This new one wasn’t.

I don’t like any of the badges and I don’t like any of the process to get to any of them. 

What’s going to happen when we snitching to the FA? Our club is forced back to the round badge or worse, another badge to grone about?

 

[Davkaus]

10 minutes ago, Risso said:

I'm not sure I quite agree with that. They're required to have the meetings as part of new Premier League rules. If everybody dropped out citing the club's terrible attitude to them, the club would have some serious explaining to do.

Of course we can be happy with the overall direction of the club, with Emery and the way the team is playing etc. That doesn't mean they can do what they like surrounding things that have an effect on supporters though.

What's surprising is, if I'm not mistaken, we were one of the first clubs to have these groups, before it was mandatory, and they made all the right noises to start with, or at least it felt that way.

But now it seems like they just go through the motions because they have to.

Has it lead to anything positive at all? We even had that thread of "all the small things" of things we'd noticed around the ground that were shite or broken, because apparently whoever maintains the facilities can't be arsed. I bet if you went through that thread nothing has been done about 95% of it. There are taps that have been broken for years.

A trip advisor review on the Terrace View is probably the best way to get feedback to them these days  

Edited May 29 by Davkaus

[nick76]

4 minutes ago, CarryOnVilla said:

I don’t like any of the badges and I don’t like any of the process to get to any of them. 

What’s going to happen when we snitching to the FA? Our club is forced back to the round badge or worse, another badge to grone about?

 

Back to the round badge you say!

[JPAngel]

There's such an incredible dichotomy in what's happening on the football side compared to the business side.

This whole piece read as though questions were being asked to a political party - replete with "no comment", dismissal of opinions and inability to shoot straight with our own fans. As others have said this came across as so dismissive and felt utterly pointless.

I'd love for someone from the club to honestly state why they have forged ahead with a crest that no one wanted without making a single announcement about the change. They've just shoehorned it into some celebratory posts about Emery and a meme about Luke Littler. Utterly embarrassing.

It no longer feels like a club being run for the fans, but rather a club run for profit above all else.

[nick76]

3 minutes ago, JPAngel said:

There's such an incredible dichotomy in what's happening on the football side compared to the business side.

This whole piece read as though questions were being asked to a political party - replete with "no comment", dismissal of opinions and inability to shoot straight with our own fans. As others have said this came across as so dismissive and felt utterly pointless.

I'd love for someone from the club to honestly state why they have forged ahead with a crest that no one wanted without making a single announcement about the change. They've just shoehorned it into some celebratory posts about Emery and a meme about Luke Littler. Utterly embarrassing.

It no longer feels like a club being run for the fans, but rather a club run for profit above all else.

The ‘on the pitch’ is letting the ‘off the pitch’ stuff off somewhat because fans are so happy with the football.  The new commercial revenue is great but many of the other things are of great concern added o the fact the communication is poor, dismissive and snarky.

[sidcow]

3 minutes ago, nick76 said:

The ‘on the pitch’ is letting the ‘off the pitch’ stuff off somewhat because fans are so happy with the football.  The new commercial revenue is great but many of the other things are of great concern added o the fact the communication is poor, dismissive and snarky.

Yeah, if this shit was going on when the team were playing poorly there would be rioting.

[est1874]

58 minutes ago, Risso said:

I'm not sure I quite agree with that. They're required to have the meetings as part of new Premier League rules. If everybody dropped out citing the club's terrible attitude to them, the club would have some serious explaining to do.

Of course we can be happy with the overall direction of the club, with Emery and the way the team is playing etc. That doesn't mean they can do what they like surrounding things that have an effect on supporters though.

Who was this part directed at? Not me as I suggested nothing of the sort.

Fighting with shadows again.

[Captain_Townsend]

59 minutes ago, CarryOnVilla said:

I don’t like any of the badges and I don’t like any of the process to get to any of them. 

What’s going to happen when we snitching to the FA? Our club is forced back to the round badge or worse, another badge to grone about?

 

I no longer care what badge we go forward with. But I want the club to be accountable and to be up front. That puff piece with a Heck in the marketing magazine was off the charts! I mean, claiming the fans weren't consulted on the round badge, that is the definition of gaslighting. And again here to FAB

 

Edited May 29 by Captain_Townsend

[Risso]

It wasn't directed at you or anybody else in particular, it was just a general follow up point.

[OutByEaster?]

Well...

There's a lot to get through and I guess one of the first things is about the tone of meetings - the meetings are certainly a lot more open than the notes are, there's often more discussion about the topics on the agenda with lots of small details that don't get added to the minutes that are discussed - more flesh on the bones as it were.

This meeting was up and down, there were some really positive moments and a couple that were slightly more fractious - but in general, you can speak your mind and Mr Hatton will endeavour to give you as much of an answer as he can. The key, and the reason (I think) to keep going is the hope that some things stick, that at some point someone in a club meeting elsewhere says "actually at the fans group meeting...." because something we said to them got into their heads - this isn't the more open group we had with Lerner, or the one given a little more play by Mr Purslow - this management group are unashamedly driven in their goal and their goal is increasing our revenue to help us win on the pitch - we can try to add some conscience to that, but they're clear that nothing will get in the way of it. That's football, we do what we can - and I like winning.

I think it's also important to recognise that we're a club doing really well, and in so many ways I've never been happier in my time as a fan, this ownership and their management team are a huge part of that and I think we have to frame everything around that while also remembering that ultimately it's their club, they're firing a lot of money into it and they have the right to make unpopular decisions if they think they're for the greater good.

I think the best way for me to add my thoughts is a bit at a time, although from a 'feel' perspective, I'll probably concentrate a little bit more on this one than some of the others - and there's every chance I might start with a bit of a rant.

Quote

2. Club communications

There are concerns over the consistency of the club’s communication to supporters. Announcement of Aston Villa Football Club deals, achievements etc on personal social media accounts are inappropriate and unprofessional and should be shared principally on Aston Villa channels first. For example, the season ticket price increase was dropped in mid-conversation in a staged PR video, as opposed to a formal club release, that this group has to respect the embargo of.

Chris has taken part in two club interviews this season which we believe is the right number. One earlier in the season as a way to an introduction to supporters and the most recent one with Gabby Agbonlahor to update the wider fan base on various topics. The interview seemed to be well received and was viewed by over 82,000 fans. There will be times when the club decides to publish information directly in a similar way moving forward – as most clubs do.

It was noted from feedback that such videos should include subtitles and/or be accompanied by a transcript to ensure the information is accessible for all.

Talking about how the meeting and the minutes can be different is for me really clear on this answer, which I think is really disappointing.

We talked a LOT about communication, not only when working through this point  but also in most of the other points on the agenda. We very often found ourselves talking not necessarily about unhappiness with the outcomes of the clubs actions, but the lack of clarity on them - the lack of any kind of clear communication around them.

One of the things we were clear on is that the very clear message from the fanbase is that we hate the way in which our biggest announcements are dropped into in-house media pieces as an aside at the same level as Mr Heck telling us how he's getting used to living in Birmingham or having seen Gabby's goals on youtube. That's not how the fanbase wants to find out about the shelving of a transformational hundred million pound stand reconstruction, or how fans want to find out news about the prices they'll be paying in the next footballing year.

I joked at the time of the interview with Mr Heck and Gabby and the 5% statement that I immediately went to the Official Site to find out more detail, and felt a bit of a pillock when I got there and there was nothing - but there's a lot in that in terms of what the club should be improving on. It's a headline with no story.

In general, most big companies do these things the same way:  there's a statement, with some detail on what they're about to do. They put that out through their regular channels and then their CEO or President or whatever they want to call him comes out and does interviews either internally or with the press and talks about how exciting the thing in the statement is and all the positive stuff it means for people. Cake first, then cherry. 

There are some business's where the CEO or President or whatever speaks first and the detail comes after - these tend to be the owner/CEO business's run by 'characters' like Elon Musk - they're a little bit Wild West by design - risk takers, go getters, trendsetters (I'm sure you can think of other words) - but in general, their words are usually followed by a slightly more staid statement that expresses the often slightly greyer truth of what they're doing - Giant cherry, dull cake.

What we're doing isn't what anyone else is doing - it's the CEO throwing in a line about the biggest things we do, in a fluff piece interview that usually purports to be about something else, preceded or followed by....well, nothing at all. No detail, nothing to learn or understand or follow, nothing you can plan around, nothing that has any reasoning or explanation. 

Half a cherry on a plate. A beige plate.

We made this point over and over and over again - the club shouldn't have announced the 919 people being moved before providing some detail as to which of the potentially 10,000 people that might have been affected were going to be moved, a business shelving a hundred million pound construction project should have a written statement, it should be clear why it's happening and what the plan is, it shouldn't be an aside, season ticket prices shouldn't be half announced to Gabby Agbonlahor as a throwaway line in a fluff piece - as stakeholders, as customers, as the blummin' lifeblood of this football club, the courtesy of some sort of clarity shouldn't be too much to ask.

The club says that the interviews were watched by 82,000 people and were generally well received - I don't doubt that for a minute - it's the only place to find out anything about the club; people in the dark will gather around even the smallest candle. Fans are going to tune in just in case Mr Heck tells us that he finds driving on the left really funny, he likes Eastenders, he's changing the shirt colour to pink and he's really enjoying a full English breakfast. 

For clarity, in my opinion, and I think it's a fair reflection of the views of the group and probably the wider fanbase, the ideal number of club interviews that Mr Heck should give each year is zero, or at least as few are as required in support of announcements and information. The club has a website, various forms of social media, links to the local and national press - if Mr Heck want's to support all of that with a nice stroll around the pitch with a former player then great - but it can't be a replacement - it's ridiculous.

The message from the group to the club on this was that the communication is nowhere near good enough, there's no detail, no information and the timelines can be enormously frustrating - it's been a couple of weeks since 5%, a week and a bit since "time for a new kit" - the club knows its schedules on these things, it knows the plan, it's just stopped telling us.

In the meeting, this seemed to be getting through, there was an acceptance from the club on some of the things we were saying about communication, from my seat it looked like they "got it". That's where the meetings can often seem more positive than a read through the minutes might suggest. There are smart people running things at Villa Park and they aren't deaf.

So it's disappointing that the answer is this slightly strange defence of "Chris has taken part in two club interviews this season which we believe is the right number."  

No one in the group and very few people in the fanbase are concerned that Mr Heck isn't doing enough of these type of interviews - we're almost all very concerned that they're a ridiculously poor way for the club to communicate to us. They are the problem - more or less of them isn't the concern.

I know that for some people that might seem a strange one to feel so strongly about, but their communication is how the club shows us the degree to which the care about fans, and for me it's the single thing that can be improved most and make the biggest difference to how we all go forward together.

[CarryOnVilla]

1 hour ago, Captain_Townsend said:

I no longer care what badge we go forward with. But I want the club to be accountable and to be up front. That puff piece with a Heck in the marketing magazine was off the charts! I mean, claiming the fans weren't consulted on the round badge, that us the definition of gaslighting. 

 

You’re misquoting him

“he didnt say “they weren’t consulted” he said “they weren’t adequately consulted”

from someone who works in that kind of industry. I agree, the fans weren’t consulted correctly. in the whole process. 

Edited May 29 by CarryOnVilla