laukat Posted June 2 Report Share Posted June 2 No idea who prepared Bestall for the interview but he doesn't come across as very relaxed or confident. Felt very much like he felt he had to help defend recent events but without actually anything full thought through to tell us. For example the new season ticket still sounds more idea than firm proposal. He cleared had prepared lines for 1 or 2 of the questions (Brian's a legend, my kids have his name on their shirts) but hadn't really fully thought through what he was trying to say (does he want Graham to stay? Are doing anything to convince him or just waiting until he chaps the door and asks for a move? what are we doing to prepare if he does go?) Seems to be in both Wilson and Bestall's interview a portion that is all about defending the need for a sporting director and no mention of our new head of recruitment. All jars with the idea that we are a fan run club with budget constraints and a small cohort of staff that's suddenly going to make good on player trading when everyone else has struggled by the addition of 2 staff but without explaining what pays for those 2 staff other than less players. Whats Barraclough doing different on recruitment that will make this work? Summer transfers being a slow burner worries me. Sounds a lot like we will be waiting to see who's available after others in the league have taken their pick or that we are going to rely more heavily on loans and it might leave us thing on the ground for the league cup games and early season fixtures. Also no update on players that have went out of contract or new strips. Not great. All feels a bit disorganised and lacking in any real leadership. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alb Posted June 2 Report Share Posted June 2 35 minutes ago, Dick Dastardly said: I read it as bigging up Mark’s role to justify the appointment. Why would he be lavishing praise on Graham at this point ? Im not saying he should have, but if you put yourself in bg's position, he's a contracted player who we're told they want to keep, has decided the time is not right for him to take on the new role that was offered....and someone senior from the club posts that pretty much everything positive from a coaching pov was down to your previous partner in that role, and you were just the alpha male ( yes I've over simplified and ignored the legend talk etc etc) would you feel valued and want to stay ? If BG's time as part of the caretaker team was so minimal, why offer him a role in it for the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
partickthedog Posted June 2 Report Share Posted June 2 I have seen the odd morsel of information which seems to indicate that there is someone called Lee Turnbull who is now our Head of Recruitment. Is he an employee of the club or is this some sort of outsourcing arrangement? When was he appointed? Is this a new post or a replacement for someone who has departed? Who is he recruiting? I was assuming that for the first team squad, Ian Baraclough was in charge of recruitment? I am doing my best to get my head round the Sporting Director/Head Coach dynamic, and I think that I am just about getting there, and can see how Mark Wilson's particular skillset fits that model. I am puzzled as to what part of the jigsaw the Head of Recruitment is holding, and, in the absence of a contrary explanation, it does seem that we are multiplying off-field staff appointments at the expense of the playing squad. I am very willing to be enlightened and to have this explained to me, since, as always, I want to be positive! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juanito Posted June 2 Report Share Posted June 2 Seems like a fancy name for Chief Scout. If you read his LinkdIn he is pretty experienced in that type of role. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Third Lanark Posted June 2 Report Share Posted June 2 4 minutes ago, Juanito said: Seems like a fancy name for Chief Scout. If you read his LinkdIn he is pretty experienced in that type of role. In England? Does he have any experience up here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
partickthedog Posted June 2 Report Share Posted June 2 16 minutes ago, Juanito said: Seems like a fancy name for Chief Scout. If you read his LinkdIn he is pretty experienced in that type of role. I'm a bit slow here, so please feel free to spell this out for my benefit (and perhaps for the benefit of others!?). Am I right in thinking that Lee Turnbull is not an exclusively PTFC employee? We buy in specific scouting services and expertise. Equally he is offering similar services to other clubs and therefore is not a significant drain on limited PTFC financial resources. You can tell me if I have got that wrong! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laukat Posted June 2 Report Share Posted June 2 On the plus side at least we're not Dundee. Sacking Docherty for Pressley seems a bit wild. Neither us or Dundee have so far shown the value of having a sporting director/director football role in the last few weeks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juanito Posted June 2 Report Share Posted June 2 35 minutes ago, partickthedog said: I'm a bit slow here, so please feel free to spell this out for my benefit (and perhaps for the benefit of others!?). Am I right in thinking that Lee Turnbull is not an exclusively PTFC employee? We buy in specific scouting services and expertise. Equally he is offering similar services to other clubs and therefore is not a significant drain on limited PTFC financial resources. You can tell me if I have got that wrong! Probably, he has been hired to scout specifically in England or be a sounding board for younger loan players coming from down south. Doubt he is a full time employee as these guys seem to have multiple hats as its niche job. 57 minutes ago, Third Lanark said: In England? Does he have any experience up here? Would also think we have a network up in Scotland so probably he is just part of casting the net wider. I think there will be a few trialists joining us for pre-season and maybe a game on the Saturday left free by the Premier Cup fixtures. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Kenny Posted June 2 Report Share Posted June 2 The whole interview on second viewing just seems odd. This narrative of a fantastic end to the season has been pushed a few times, they must think we're easy pleased. A couple of hard fought wins to get in to the playoffs followed by 1 win in 4 playoff games can hardly be deemed fantastic. I wasn't expecting the interviewer to give Beastall a tough ride but it would have been nice to perhaps push him further on a couple of key points, namely, why our Sporting Director seems to have gone on honeymoon at the most important stage of his role and if this was known prior to him starting, did we have any contingency plans in place for recruitment/player release/pre season etc? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javeajag Posted June 2 Report Share Posted June 2 3 hours ago, King Kenny said: Having watched the Chairman's interview, I can't say I'm full of confidence for the season ahead. Hard to judge on an edited 10 minute video but I think it failed to really clear up any issue around the management selection and our way of improving revenue seems to be the tried and trusted "You're the supporters, get your hands in your pocket please". We've started a lot of backroom staff with the premise of generating more commercial revenue I believe. They'll need to do well to justify adding these costs to the overheads and taking away from the playing pot. I think I heard him say we have 9 staff not connected with playing squad … Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChiThistle Posted June 2 Report Share Posted June 2 We’re seeing the challenging side to fan ownership, which offers a dose of reality: - We can’t overspend - Big cash injections probably won’t happen unless they are gifts from wealthy supporters or, in the case of DM, paid for with shares. - We likely wont have access to emergency credit lines (they require fees and it helps to have a big financial backer) - But those won’t be issues if we don’t overspend - Budgeting is even more critical under fan ownership. Otherwise we can run into more situations like Tranche 1 and 2. - This means we need to maximize revenue however we can. Yeah, supporters may be asked to pay more but they are trying to find cost effective value in return. Doesn’t cost a thing to have fans attend a training session, for example. - This also means we need to ramp up “production” at the academy. This means playing the kids way more than we have and selling them later. If we don’t play the kids, fan ownership wont work. If we play the kids but they leave on a free, fan ownership will only get us so far. - I give our elected board a little bit of grace, as fan ownership means leadership by community. I don’t think anyone in our fan base has ever run a football club, and the only person with CEO experience is busy running a semiconductor company in America. So I can understand if interviews don’t seem as polished. I’m not even positive that if Richard Beastall ever stepped down that there would be people champing at the bit to take his place. (Do we even know for a fact that it was a competition to see who would lead the board??) It’s a high profile, very involved position and even the business leaders among us might not be used to the kind of exposure it brings. At any rate, I think these are just the realities of fan ownership and what we are seeing are a lot of speed bumps and an impatient (understandably) fan base. I think we will know within a couple seasons whether this can work for us. And by “work”, I mean “deliver both stability and success”. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Gekantawa Posted June 2 Report Share Posted June 2 Just now, ChiThistle said: We’re seeing the challenging side to fan ownership, which offers a dose of reality: - We can’t overspend - Big cash injections probably won’t happen unless they are gifts from wealthy supporters or, in the case of DM, paid for with shares. - We likely wont have access to emergency credit lines (they require fees and it helps to have a big financial backer) - But those won’t be issues if we don’t overspend - Budgeting is even more critical under fan ownership. Otherwise we can run into more situations like Tranche 1 and 2. - This means we need to maximize revenue however we can. Yeah, supporters may be asked to pay more but they are trying to find cost effective value in return. Doesn’t cost a thing to have fans attend a training session, for example. - This also means we need to ramp up “production” at the academy. This means playing the kids way more than we have and selling them later. If we don’t play the kids, fan ownership wont work. If we play the kids but they leave on a free, fan ownership will only get us so far. - I give our elected board a little bit of grace, as fan ownership means leadership by community. I don’t think anyone in our fan base has ever run a football club, and the only person with CEO experience is busy running a semiconductor company in America. So I can understand if interviews don’t seem as polished. I’m not even positive that if Richard Beastall ever stepped down that there would be people champing at the bit to take his place. (Do we even know for a fact that it was a competition to see who would lead the board??) It’s a high profile, very involved position and even the business leaders among us might not be used to the kind of exposure it brings. At any rate, I think these are just the realities of fan ownership and what we are seeing are a lot of speed bumps and an impatient (understandably) fan base. I think we will know within a couple seasons whether this can work for us. And by “work”, I mean “deliver both stability and success”. But aren't all of these things equally applicable to private ownership? I've never really understood the difference in the need to budget and live within your means (i.e., money raised through revenue, donation and prizes) if your private owned or public owned. We've come very close to going under (or at least admin) at least 3 times in the past 30 years due to not living within our means, all under private ownership. I tend to feel that people equate private ownership with having a wealthy benefactor. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChiThistle Posted June 2 Report Share Posted June 2 24 minutes ago, Duke Gekantawa said: But aren't all of these things equally applicable to private ownership? I've never really understood the difference in the need to budget and live within your means (i.e., money raised through revenue, donation and prizes) if your private owned or public owned. We've come very close to going under (or at least admin) at least 3 times in the past 30 years due to not living within our means, all under private ownership. I tend to feel that people equate private ownership with having a wealthy benefactor. Absolutely. But I think under private ownership you are at least more likely/able to take chances where you need to. Spend a little extra the season Livi drops down, for example. I think the reality that is hitting people now is that we can’t do that anymore. We probably couldn’t afford to do it when we did! It all feels like a bit less of a home renovation and more like tearing the home down to the studs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Gekantawa Posted June 2 Report Share Posted June 2 8 minutes ago, ChiThistle said: Absolutely. But I think under private ownership you are at least more likely/able to take chances where you need to. Spend a little extra the season Livi drops down, for example. I think the reality that is hitting people now is that we can’t do that anymore. We probably couldn’t afford to do it when we did! It all feels like a bit less of a home renovation and more like tearing the home down to the studs. But why would this be? Where does the additional money come from to take chances which isn’t available under fan ownership? What I don’t understand (and this may be something I’m overlooking) but what is it about private ownership which provides more opportunity to take chances compared to fan ownership? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChiThistle Posted June 2 Report Share Posted June 2 5 minutes ago, Duke Gekantawa said: But why would this be? Where does the additional money come from to take chances which isn’t available under fan ownership? What I don’t understand (and this may be something I’m overlooking) but what is it about private ownership which provides more opportunity to take chances compared to fan ownership? Private owners with deeper pockets or connections to people with deeper pockets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Gekantawa Posted June 2 Report Share Posted June 2 13 minutes ago, ChiThistle said: Private owners with deeper pockets or connections to people with deeper pockets. Do they? We’ve never been able to find them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChiThistle Posted June 2 Report Share Posted June 2 16 minutes ago, Duke Gekantawa said: Do they? We’ve never been able to find them. I think we have, but not on the level of the Haugheys, the Easdales, etc. Colin Weir made a huge financial investment. Even last season, if rumors are to be believed, the loan deal for Megwa was privately funded. Even without sustained deep pockets and some private funding, we seem to have trouble generating a profit. I think that changes now. As we settle into the reality of fan ownership, I don’t think we will see that much anymore. My original point is that, based on what I’ve seen lately on socials, a number of fans don’t recognize this. They see a lack of “splashing the cash” on certain targets (players OR managers) and instead promoting from within as having a lack of creativity. It’s not a lack of creativity - it’s strategic. I think it’s PTFC “right-sizing”. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lambies Lost Doo Posted June 2 Author Report Share Posted June 2 I thought the interview was fine. With only 9 full time staff members and lots of volunteers including the chairman what are people expecting? Sporting Director oversees all football including Youth, women and men. Deals with agents, contracts, £ and the board. Recruitment & scouting is shared between him, head coach, (prob assistant) and scouts. Head coach deals with training, matchday, squad. Sporting Director role in other clubs can be called Chief Exec, Director of Football, Technical Director all depending on size of club and ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fawlty Towers Posted June 2 Report Share Posted June 2 38 minutes ago, Lambies Lost Doo said: I thought the interview was fine. With only 9 full time staff members and lots of volunteers including the chairman what are people expecting? Sporting Director oversees all football including Youth, women and men. Deals with agents, contracts, £ and the board. Recruitment & scouting is shared between him, head coach, (prob assistant) and scouts. Head coach deals with training, matchday, squad. Sporting Director role in other clubs can be called Chief Exec, Director of Football, Technical Director all depending on size of club and ideas. I take the point that we might not have the biggest staff in terms of off field areas compared to others but that just means we need to really be extra efficient and, unfortunately, there are too many examples of that not being the case. Elevenone's post about his son not getting a response when enquiring about the 71 Club for example. I have been told a new commercial manager is due to start soon and I really hope that they can bring a freshness and stay for longer than a season (if thjey are good) as we seem to have a high turnover rate in the off field part of the club. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellow & Redneck Posted June 2 Report Share Posted June 2 Disappointed that we couldn't land Charlie Gilmour from Inverness. Off to Dunfermline on a 3 year deal. Would be exactly what we needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChiThistle Posted June 2 Report Share Posted June 2 31 minutes ago, Fawlty Towers said: I take the point that we might not have the biggest staff in terms of off field areas compared to others but that just means we need to really be extra efficient and, unfortunately, there are too many examples of that not being the case. Elevenone's post about his son not getting a response when enquiring about the 71 Club for example. I have been told a new commercial manager is due to start soon and I really hope that they can bring a freshness and stay for longer than a season (if thjey are good) as we seem to have a high turnover rate in the off field part of the club. Something that could potentially be remediated with a cheap service desk type ticketing system, a knowledge base, and some interns. i say potentially because I don’t know the finances or the current setup (other than “everyone wears a lot of hats”) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javeajag Posted June 2 Report Share Posted June 2 The solution to our financial challenges is the not easy task of increasing revenue whether through commercial or supporters. a key strategic imperative must be to increase our Fan base - more fans, more revenue - as quickly as we can. despite nice noises I don’t see much evidence that this getting the attention it needs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChiThistle Posted June 2 Report Share Posted June 2 13 minutes ago, javeajag said: The solution to our financial challenges is the not easy task of increasing revenue whether through commercial or supporters. a key strategic imperative must be to increase our Fan base - more fans, more revenue - as quickly as we can. despite nice noises I don’t see much evidence that this getting the attention it needs. Unfortunately that’s harder to do if the product on the pitch isn’t great. It already seems like a tall ask, given ticket prices are £22 per adult. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlsarmy Posted June 2 Report Share Posted June 2 6 hours ago, Duke Gekantawa said: Do they? We’ve never been able to find them. We did with Colin Weir but the fantastic chance he gave us was totally messed up. It should have been the foundation of our Club for the foreseeable future but the BOD blew it big time with financial mismanagement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaggernaut Posted June 2 Report Share Posted June 2 15 hours ago, Fawlty Towers said: An interview the Chairman had with the press: https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/thistle-chairman-beastall-wilsons-appointment-075127142.html I thought that was a pretty good interview. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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