ChiThistle

At this point I’d imagine the TJF contribution is more of a known quantity than the prize money at the end of the season. I don’t envy the budgeting process required when you, y’know, can’t totally be certain of your revenue curves and such.

I’m not debating standards or saying we should not use volunteers or that volunteers can’t do quality work. What I am saying is that volunteerism is labor that you don’t have to put on your balance sheet. There are no wages, no benefits. It is free labor. The club, to an extent, relies on this free labor. The free labor, to an extent, allows the club to extend its staff beyond what it can do with its own finances…. …in the same manner that the 500k cash influx allows the club to extend its margin of safety beyond what it can do with its own finances… …and in the same manner that TJF is providing funds to the club beyond what it is making through normal trading. You’re making the point that the investment and TJF funding are handouts. I don’t disagree. But I argue that volunteerism is a handout - just one you happen to find more acceptable.

Fair enough. But what about the volunteers who help provide a fresh coat of paint in the summer so we don’t have to pay maintenance people to do it? Or the ones who help out on match days? I think it’s very clear that we rely to some extent on free labor where people AREN’T getting paid in work experience.

So…..you’re saying that volunteerism is not a begging bowl….because the labor isn’t 100% free….because we are paying the fans in work experience……for things like selling match programmes (trying out this UK spelling 😃) and applying a fresh coat of paint to the stairs? As my wife said to me when I chose Wham’s “Freedom” for my karaoke, “that seems like a reach.”

I agree with you but also would consider volunteerism to be a “handout” of time & labor in the same way you’re considering the 500k investment to be a financial handout.

A 10% stake in the club, according to the announcement?

Not so sure the USA investor counts as a handout. TJF, bit of a gray area. Players Fund, totally a handout and a miniature, non-crisis version of Save the Jags. But why the sudden hatred for the Player’s Fund that has been around for years? I personally don’t love it, as “help fund our transfer window” has a “crowdfund our new church window” feel to it, but it seems like something you’d phase out gradually - not immediately discontinue. Has it been stated anywhere that the intent is to keep that going long-term? And does anyone know if it’s the ONLY source of transfer window funding Doolan will have?

So the 500k investment is really not meant to be spent, right? It’s essentially an emergency fund for cash reserves? Does that money sit in a bank account? Does it get invested in some way so it’s making money?

Tale of two halves. Decent performance in our own half. Looks a bit like Bambi on the ice in the opposing half.

Would love in some future TJF meet the manager thing to hear Doolan and whoever our CEO is to outline their vision for the club on and off the pitch. Ideally they have some kind of three-year plan for both.

My reading is that this was an anomaly that was time-sensitive, and the benefit of circumventing the fans was outweighed by the benefit of the investment. As shareholders, we probably should file this one under “times the fans weren’t consulted” and keep tabs on the frequency of any future instances.

Late posting, but……I’m gonna have to take the blame for this one. I seem to have become a jinx when I attend games in person. But I brought some baby formula and nappies so there’s that. I love Thistle, but this game was a flaming sack of shite. No creativity, drive, or purpose. Arbroath first to every ball and every second ball. Lost count of how many diagonal balls from Neilson to McKenzie sailed too far (and not like Zander would have known what to do with them as others have noted he’s not a right back). Kieran should be first choice when McMillan isn’t there. He offers more offensively than Zander does defensively at that particular position. Lot of fans in my area cursing at Fitzy for his constant yapping at officials. Can’t say I blame them. Real opportunity for him to be a leader on this team if he wants it. Somehow this game brought out the worst in us. I don’t think we are world beaters but I also don’t think this game was indicative of who we are as a team. Hope the post-match talk was a lot of tough love.

The trend is a cashless future wherever possible and automation of lower level tasks for operational efficiency. I’m sure if there were an automated way to deliver pies and bovril and snacks, we’d be doing it already. That said, it would make sense to at least have an automated ticket kiosk to pay at the gate.

For real though, I can’t think of anything as appropriate as the training complex. Awarding the academy/young player of the year with the McParland Trophy? I’m too American to understand his full impact, but as the OP said, if I understand it correctly it’s really something on the level of a training ground.

McParland Park at The Wyre Stadium at Firhill. Solved it.

Thanks for that - I had not heard that a supporter donated money to fund capital improvements. In my mind, that was the only way some of these were going to get accomplished. Also, we broadly refer to this money as “investment” but that term implies the provider is getting something in return. Is that the case here?

And managed to tack on like 10 minutes of added time despite no real injury stoppages.

Agreed re: Fitzpatrick but thought he had a couple of key plays in the second half where he won the ball by being physical. Felt like something we were sorely lacking, especially contrasted against all those times we let Fox or somebody waltz into the final third.

We look way more alive on offense today and some real nice one-touch passing early on. Defense looks more steady than it did with Williams in. Another cheap goal to lose - it almost looked like that warmup drill where one of the coaches tees you up.

Ha. Heard Michael Max for a brief second and now the video’s stopped.

Anyone else watching the stream but no audio!

Doom and gloom are our business, and business is booming! 😝

Seems to have some ability (courtesy of Reiss Haldane on Twitter): https://www.instagram.com/reel/CsHQTIRIIog/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA%3D%3D

That’s one of my pet peeves. Not the question itself, but the fact that the platform simply can’t remember that I’m a home supporter - like I was the time before that. And the time before that. I would presume it’s just a nice metric to have for sales/marketing purposes. I would want to look at home/away signup trends to figure out how to get more people on board. Then put some effort into place to do that and see how the numbers move. Whether that’s actually happened behind the scenes, I couldn’t tell you.

Still fuming from yesterday’s game. Appreciate Doolan taking blame for changing shape, but it still doesn’t excuse the players being able to deal with the strategy and adjust.