chapwithwings
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Posts posted by chapwithwings
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9 hours ago, Wiltshire Jag said:
No dispatch email either. Not a great start to the new merch partnership. Sure hope they improve as potentially it's huge improvement in anything we've had since the Puma/Greaves arrangement.
Emailed them yesterday to ask exactly that, as I'd not heard anything either.
Greaves' reply:QuoteWe are receiving deliveries of the tops most days and we are working through the orders chronologically.
Only the first batch has been dispatched.
We are trying our best to work as closely as possible to the estimated delivery dates provided but during the current lockdown situation.
As soon as we reach your order it will processed and dispatched and you will receive an email confirming this.
Apologies for any inconvenience caused.I get they may be struggling to handle the volume, especially if they increased the number available to order based on demand, but the messaging - given they've been very happy to retweet and share lots of images of folk who've received theirs, isn't particularly sound - if they're running at a delay, they should be making that much clearer up front rather than just waiting for folk to get in touch.
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8 hours ago, javeajag said:
I posted the investment in propco £1m and the exit figure £2m both factual......YOU...decided that implied Beattie et al made substantial profits but I never said that and you and others have been unable to find where I did
You certainly implied it in the 'smiling all the way to the beach' comments in the posts above. But presumably all you meant was he was just happy at getting in some sunbathing? -
12 hours ago, Springburnjag said:
What’s the bad thing happening here ?
A potential lack of transparency which puts people on edge.
It's been stated, repeatedly, that Jacqui isn't officially involved in the boardroom - done so, as has been indicated elsewhere, presumably because her presence is seen as divisive among certain aspects of the support. However, we also know she's still an advisor to the new owner, her PR firm are involved in the club, and now a former board member from her previous, short but undistinguished era in charge has returned to the board. So there's a legitimate question to be asked about whether she's unofficially involved, or advising, the club and its new owner regarding the current situation or the next phase of the club's transition.
I've no probem with Smillie rejoining the board - it makes sense we establish partnerships with other small-to-medium sports teams in the city, given the dominance of the ugly sisters and the off-field benefits of having those relationships. Frankly, I've even got no problem if Low is back on the board officially - she's a successful businesswoman, has a good contacts book and is someone who appears to care about Thistle. But equally, all I expect is transparency about it.If we're to trust the interim board and new owner to do the right thing by Thistle - which they've certainly started strongly with - then openness and honesty are essential. Much of the distrust and issues last time round came from the poor comms and transparency last time - the Doolan departure being the most obvious example, which was handled (whether you agree with the decision to let him leave or not) in the most cack-handed way possible.
We've a period of uncertainty over the next few months while the new structure and fan ownership terms are sorted, and then a further period of the same going as the new structure gets implemented. Going into all of that with the added spectre of 'is there someone pulling strings behind the scenes?' doesn't help.
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19 minutes ago, javeajag said:
You might be forgiven for stating that fact as she’s not ....
Low's company is doing the PR for Weir's takeover, she remains an adviser to Weir and is listed as a director of the company that now owns the majority shareholding in Thistle. She might not be an interim director but it would be naive to presume she hasn't an involvement in all this. John Penman is a founding member of TFE, as listed on their Facebook Q&A recently, and now sits on the interim board - presumably helping to facilitate the eventual transfer of shares.
So no, there's absolutely no official boardroom role with TFE or Thistle for Low. But there's a legitimate question to be asked over whether, especially in light of Macklin's tweet and its subsequent removal, she is directly or indirectly involved in what's happening. -
5 minutes ago, flashman said:
According to Companies House Jacqui Low is still a director of Three Black Cats, the new owners. However, since she has not yet been named as part of the interim board then hopefully she will get nowhere near the running of the club or the PR.
If she is the yet to be named member of the interim board then that would immediately toilet much of the goodwill surrounding the announcement, given how unpopular and divisive she was as Chair.
Indigo are handling the PR for TFE and for Weir. So she's already involved in that respect.
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14 minutes ago, Big Col said:
I’ll reserve judgment until I see who’s putting themselves forward to be involved, and more importantly, what experience and talents they have that make them think they can make a positive contribution to the club.
This.
The takeover is to be welcomed in the sense that it resolves the issue around ownership of the club that's led to 227 pages of bitter sniping, resolves the issue of Propco and potentially gives fans a long term stakeholding in running the club - something that's been problematic over the various trusts and fans groups in the 20 years since STJ.
Until we know the make-up of the short-term board, and their respective experience/skills, it's entirely fair to reserve judgment.
We're also entering a crucial few months for the club in an odd position. Will Weir be bankrolling substantive personnel changes for the new management team in January (something, let's be honest, that's absolutely needed), or will any changes come from the existing budget? The former means we'll likely be subject to higher fees as folk look to milk our new owner for an extra quid or two, the latter means we're probably going to struggle to shift Caldwell's dead wood. The interim board will be presiding over the club at this point, if the transfer of shares is likely to take a few months - therefore their experience and understanding of football operations, business and revenue is crucial, as is knowing what the short term running of Thistle will be like. It'll also send a message to the fans, and to the new management team, what support they have from the people running the club.
Longer term it's essential we know the make-up of the fans group ultimately running the club per Weir's statement. There's still huge unanswered questions about the full make-up of TFE. There was, rightly, lots of grumbling from certain quarters about the lack of clarity over the Barnsley takeover and what their plans were for the club going forward, but beyond fan ownership TFE hasn't said much of their strategic aims or goals yet either.
It's very easy to say in a statement to folk who've bunged your a few quid 'Everyone now needs to get behind us' but it's fair to ask what it is we're getting behind in the first place. Day one answers are a bit ambitious perhaps, but clarity needs to come quickly and clearly from those now in charge of the club. This might end up the start of a glorious new era, it might be the first step towards STJ2, it might end up business as usual. But getting good communication from the people now looking after the club we all care about regarding their intentions shouldn't be something we need to ask repeatedly for.-
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1 hour ago, javeajag said:
TFE have said they will put out a communication to all pledgers this morning
If they're aiming to run the club eventually should they not be speaking to all the fans, not just the ones who give them money?
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2 minutes ago, javeajag said:
It’s pretty clear from the bbc report that Colin weir intends to transfer his shareholding into a fan vehicle and ownership
Well, let's hope that vehicle isn't driven off a cliff by the people being installed behind the wheel.
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31 minutes ago, blakey said:
Is this story definitely dead, or can the players still leave after having their contracts terminated "by mutual consent". i.e. if they find another club? It does seem odd to have 4 central halves for example. That can happen outside the transfer window...or do we move on and hope this is not happening?
As I understand it no, you have to have been released before the end of the window to sign as a free after the window closes. So if Tam and Banzo were released from their contracts today, they'd be unable to sign for anyone officially until Jan 1.
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My first ever game at Firhill, this. It's been a long 25 years...
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At this point - and this is purely speculation - we don't really know what the terms of any negotiations between the returning board and any prospective new owners are. They could well be covered by some kind of non-disclosure agreement (not wholly uncommon), which limits what they say, hence a limited press release which unfortunately ends up raising more questions than answers.
Too much of this absolute bunfight has played out through the press - the initial interest was reported by McGowan at the Mail, wasn't it? - and since then feels like exchanges of sniper fire between the ousted board and the current incumbents through their newspaper proxies. The downside of that, beyond the obvious obfuscation on both sides of what's really gone on, is that it just ends up pissing off everyone caught in the crossfire.It's very hard to sort the actual, credible information from the circular arguments, conspiracy theories and ITK claims being floated on here, P&B and elsewhere. That's the kind of nasty behaviour we like to berate the ugly sisters' supporters for. Maybe, difficult though it is, it's worth taking a step back, clearing the heads and seeing what can genuinely be pieced together in terms of what's going on without it dissolving back into factionalised warfare?
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I wrote a tribute to Dools in the last issue of Nutmeg. Now horribly out of date by virtue of this week's news, but the sentiment stands. Gutted he's gone - a figure whose legacy at Firhill, both as a player and as a gentleman, will be remembered for a generation to come.
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If you're serious about doing the book via crowdfunding you might be better doing it via someone like Unbound.co.uk, or alternatively just writing it and publishing it via Lulu, then people can pay a reasonable amount for it. The former will also help you set a realistic fundraising target and incentives goals for it - with all respect due, £20K is a huge amount to fund a book.
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Pleased I went. Thought Lance compered the evening very well. Normally speaking I'm of the opinion of opening up a meeting to the floor without set agenda can be frustrating if questions go off on a tangent about relatively trivial matters. Tonight was an exception and the mix of EGM related questions and non EGM stuff went down very well.
On the rather trivial matter of Friday night football I still fail to understand why we've elected to be out of 32 clubs the guinea pig for this, and then of all games risking what would be potentially our largest Saturday attendance.
I understood it to be that we didn't so much volunteer as were 'requested' by the SFL to take part, and felt we couldn't refuse in case it led to a TV deal or more revenue coming into the club. Disappointed they hadn't thought to get a deal with the SFL in place to compensate for any loss of revenue from moving the Morton game though - as was pointed out by someone on the floor, it's usually a big gate for us.
For anyone who didn't make it, btw, I and a few others were doing Twitter updates during the night - I've collated them here http://sfy.co/Hi4 if anyone needs a guide to the bulletpoints from the evening and who said what.
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Thistle 2 Kilmarnock 0, August 1994.
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On the bright side, Vinny, you'll land a lucrative advertising deal with Pizza Hut...
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Get your bahookeys over to the Jagscast site
We're joined by Jagscast founder Ian Hepburn (chapwithwings) in addition to the usual rabble to look back over the season, make some frivolous suggestions about what to change at Firhill, eat some cracking pizza, assess the season ahead of us and induct a new member into the John Lambie Hall of Fame.
LISTEN.
Ahem. That's Iain. Thought our fans were supposed to be the literate ones!
Seriously though, thanks for inviting me back on - a genuine pleasure, even if the season's been a bit of a non-event.
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WiFi was an issue when I was testing the viability yesterday (VPN related issues).
Is there any kind of 3G signal in the building?
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Filming the meeting just isn't possible for a number of reasons, the main one being that we don't think that with the resources that we have available, we would be able to deal with the sound being good enough and the net result would be next to useless - pictures, but only patchy sound... a bit like Question Time on the telly but without being able to hear the audience and half the panellists.
What we will have is an audio link that should be more reliable since we hope to tie into the PA system. This is all new territory, but it's worth trying. Fingers crossed that it works well enough.
Depending on what the WiFi and accoustics are like in the place, a cheapo video camera and a laptop would be enough to do a reasonable quality feed on UStream or something similar, especially if you can get a feed from the PA into the camera. Though if it's off-mic, then yes, audio quality might be horrible (but it would be for a pure audio stream too, then).
Should hopefully be along on Wednesday so if you need a hand let me know.
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Very interesting reading in the final From The Chair column in today's match programme, with Cowan's tribute to the 'fine people' he has had the chance to work with during his reign of terror.
The two notable absences from it? The club's support - with a couple of exceptions - and the Jags Trust.
Those exceptions are:
Supporters who contribute to contribute to the Centenary Fund which has been a major success raising around £50,000 per annum - they keep us going - as do men like Eddie Prentice who set up the Fund and can justifiably claim credit for itThe fans who regularly purchase their season tickets whatever the state of the football because, when all is said and done, it is their teamand
The young supporters who have yet to be hit with the pain of disillusionmentRemarkable.
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We've already seen three clowns quit the club this week. Time, if he has any shred of dignity left, for a fourth to go.
The team had no drive, no impetus and after the first goal went in, no shape. Seriously - can anyone tell me what formation we were playing in the second half? It seemed to be some-some-blah.
There was no imagination about the team. Same ball from Paton every time - and once Dunfermline worked that out, he wasn't getting a sniff. Rowson's distribution was poor, and Kinniburgh's positional sense and tackling were absent. Donnelly provided one or two neat touches but little else. Flannigan's delivery was good but there was no physical presence in the box to get on the end of it.
By the time the second goal was in, we might as well have given up. Where was the impact player coming off the bench to try and turn things about? Hodge? What promise he showed when he arrived is now long gone. Erskine doesn't look like a footballer, let alone someone who can turn a game.
It was summed up for me by some lad a couple of rows behind, as Thistle were lining up a free kick, shouting 'Halliwell, are you ready for this?". Every breakaway we got caught flatfooted.
The team is stale. It needs not only freshening up, but ripping up and starting again. On recent performances, it's hard to make a case for keeping anyone in today's starting XI on the payroll.
And yes, McCall's hands may have been tied in the transfer market but he brought half these players in - so he must have seen something in them. Buck stops with him. If this is the start of a bright new dawn off the field for Thistle, it's got to be replicated on the field - and that means starting from scratch.
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Very good question. I would hope whoever does take the chair would agree to a Q&A, and we will certainly approach them about one, but obviously it's difficult to gauge until the appointments are made etc. I don't have an answer at the moment, but as soon as I do I'll update the forum.
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"we will select the best 10 to put to the Jags chief."
That, or the ten Cowan agrees to answer?
I've asked that question of chapwithwings, but have yet to see a reply.
Have you? Where, because I've not seen you ask it and you haven't DMed me with it.
But to answer - no, the club have no control over the questions. If they refuse to answer one, it will be made clear they refused to answer it.
We did exactly the same last year.
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I'm a Thistle-supporting journalist in Edinburgh (though not a sports one) and have been thinking a bit about the coverage Thistle get in the media.
Match reports aside, there's very little, even in the Evening Times and Herald, which thousands of Jags fans must buy.
The daily coverage across the board seems to be quotes lifted from the official site, or a player saying nothing very interesting at all.
I wonder what other Thistle fans make of this, and the reasons for it. Perhaps the local Glasgow press is scared to get on the wrong side of the club for fear of not getting regular access to the staff and players and the usual "we need to work with them ever day" excuse.
It seems there is a lot going on behind the scenes at Firhill, none of which is ever reported, and instead fans have to rely on gossip and information on websites which could be posted by anyone (even imposted Clyde fans).
Well, The Glaswegian does a online video interview with one of the players usually every other week, plus has news throughout the week from Firhill, and it's a damn site more accessible and local than the Evening Times. The website's also doing a Q&A with the Chairman soon, for which it will shortly be inviting questions from supporters.
New Kit
in Main Jags forum
Posted
Oh dry up, you tiresome gammon.
Thistle showing solidarity with a cause isn't a bad thing. It's the club using its position of visibility and privilege in the public eye to provide support and exposure to people or organisations that need it. Having the rainbow flag on the shirt last season was no different to us giving over shirt space to the Beatson a couple of years back, or having a pink breast cancer ribbon front and centre of the away kit a couple of years before it. We're not the first club to do it, we won't be the last, thankfully.
Frankly, I wish we'd do more in this vein. When we have the ugly sisters and their venal tribalism and sniping dominating the city, anything which makes us stand out above that as better members of the community should be applauded. Even on a basic publicity level, do you honestly think we'd have had all the folk at the Women's World Cup plugging our away shirt last summer if it was just plain white? We probably sold a couple hundred more shirts than we would have previously because we had Eilidh Barbour, Hope Solo et al plugging it on their social media accounts.
It's 2020. The only mindset that sees a club doing something to support the communities that support it and surround it is one that belongs in the 1970s along with repeats of Mind Your Language and Bernard Manning.