davieholt Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 A museum, tarted up old 'new sands' and a brand new main stand would be outstanding. If Budge secures our long term Tynecastle future, I want her as First Minster when she leaves us. I can't believe Ann would want to involve herself in long term major planning which could bind a future fans group. I'd love her to stay long term but someone reported that she wants to hand over to FOH asap so I guess her main aim will be to transfer a self sustaining business without major future overheads. In other words, let the fans make these decisions themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bilel Mohsni Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 I can't believe Ann would want to involve herself in long term major planning which could bind a future fans group. I'd love her to stay long term but someone reported that she wants to hand over to FOH asap so I guess her main aim will be to transfer a self sustaining business without major future overheads. In other words, let the fans make these decisions themselves. Aye, true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJGJ Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Success on the field has increased the feel good factor and meant many have continued to buy in to the FOH vision. No one can g'tee this will continue so it is up to FOH and the current owner to look at all avenues to retain and increase membership if at all possible. The current owner rightly runs matters as she sees fit (as long as she follows the agreement with FOH) but no one should fail to ask questions and seek answers on topics involving the club. She has the trust of the vast majority of fans at present and long may that continue but it is not a blank cheque. There should be benefits for members over and above the clubs survival and regular updates via quarterly e mails for example...this should be as if contributors are members of a club.....which for all intensive purposes we are. As time goes on the reasons for the contributions will not be seen in the same light by many as survival will have been gained and it moves towards purchasing of the club from Ann. The message needs to be reinforced at regular intervals as just what we want to achieve, what we have achieved and just how far we have to go to complete the purchase process. There's no quick fix and funding of football clubs will always be an issue so whilst in charge it's important she gets the finances straight, helps the playing side as much as she can in terms of finance and works towards the issues facing the stadium and training facilities. Within the 5 year ownership those issues will need resolving and cannot be avoided, that may well be her biggest challenge ... delivering a new stand (or stadium ) within the financial restraints of our club whilst also leaving the club in a sound financial position with, as she put it, 'money in the bank'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cardiac Rucksack Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Did anyone ask about the current situation of not commenting on our rivals muttering a in the press? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francis Albert Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 I would disagree. That is a fantastic figure. To put it in perspective, an average health club chain loses 5% of it's members every month. Those members are actually getting a tangible service for what they pay. Foundation members get nothing other than the fact that their club still exists. A better comparison would be charity DD's and it's not my field so I don't have the stats, but I'd be willing to bet that the average charity's retention rate is worse than FOH. To achieve 98.75% retention on a monthly basis is a huge achievement. No doubt a few will disappear at Christmas, but hopefully the planned benefits scheme will counteract this. I don't think anyone is denying the scale of FoH's achievement, just pointing out that it will be a substantial challenge to maintain current levels of funding, especially if (as I think inevitable) everything in the garden is not as rosy as it has been so far and the issue of mere survival diminishes as a factor. I don't think your analogies are great. Both health clubs and charities face competition that FoH does not and lose out to other health clubs and other charities (and gain members from them) - I doubt we lose many members to other clubs' organisations or to other "good causes", and FoH's potential for growth in membership is more limited - there are only so many prospective members of FoH. PS in this context I hope Ann's reference to us electing a marketing expert as a Director is based on inside knowledge that we have at least one such candidate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dagger Is Back Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 I think it would be good for the FoH to introduce a payment holiday option. If a payment has to be stopped for financial reasons, it takes another conversation with the wife, another sign up etc to get it going again. A three or six month payment holiday option would be enough to keep most spouses happy and keep the commitment going so it doesn't become a guilty secret. I think it would be a worthwhile compromise that might help keep the attrition rate down, would it be doable? Seems like a good idea worthy of further consideration. You should add this to the FOH questions thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dagger Is Back Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 i personally hope they don't go down the route of a reward scheme for current/new subscribers i am just happy as many others have said that we have a club to support and am in a position to contribute for as long as i am on this planet. It might be the case that the rewards/incentives could be non or low financial ones. Although, like you, I'm just like a pig in shit that I still have our team to follow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craigieboy Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Once the club is paid for I feel Ann will do a similar thing with the stand redevelopment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francis Albert Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Once the club is paid for I feel Ann will do a similar thing with the stand redevelopment. I think she will deserve a long and happy retirement at that point. If that's what she wants (as other posts have suggested) it will be up to us to take things forward. Which is whatI thought was the whole point of FoH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrambo Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 I think she will deserve a long and happy retirement at that point. If that's what she wants (as other posts have suggested) it will be up to us to take things forward. Which is what I thought was the whole point of FoH. And that's when the anarchy starts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craigieboy Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 I think she will deserve a long and happy retirement at that point. If that's what she wants (as other posts have suggested) it will be up to us to take things forward. Which is what I thought was the whole point of FoH. Not really. The infrastructure should remain in place to some extent. Those on the board who have made things work up until that point should be retained. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francis Albert Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Anarchists don't have a great track record in democratic elections. I don't see them having much success in FoH. There you go, I know I'd soon turn out to be a defender of FoH. I don't think the FoH directors, even when eventually they are all elected, will lightly overthrow HMFC directors if they are doing a decent job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2NaFish Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Anarchists don't have a great track record in democratic elections. I don't see them having much success in FoH. There you go, I know I'd soon turn out to be a defender of FoH. I don't think the FoH directors, even when eventually they are all elected, will lightly overthrow HMFC directors if they are doing a decent job. Every revolution starts off with a prophet and ends with a policeman. You've just gone at it in reverse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
portobellojambo1 Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Not really. The infrastructure should remain in place to some extent. Those on the board who have made things work up until that point should be retained. Given what has happened to date I wouldn't imagine many would question any of the appointments made. I get the impression that what is happening at the moment is part of a watch and learn period for the FoH members. At the moment Ann Budge is making all of the appointments. My rough interpretation of how things will function, and it is only an interpretation which could be wrong, is that the FoH will elect board members for FoH. Once elected those board members will then be charged with appointing the main director on the club board, whatever title said person has. The FoH board will also set the parameters, financially for the running of the club and the main director will be responsible for making the management/director (whatever terminology is used) appointments to the club, and within that framework it is very possible that some existing personnel may be retained, or at least offered the chance to stay in place. Only time will tell I suppose if the FoH members/FoH board have the power of veto in terms of any potential club board members selected by the main director appointed by the FoH Board, on behalf of its membership. I think some semblance of continuity of sorts would be a good thing, but we'll just have to wait and see (and in the end my interpretation may be miles away form the reality of how it actually works in practice). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamboinglasgow Posted November 1, 2014 Share Posted November 1, 2014 Was at Tynie not to long ago for a business shindig and she was a guest speaker and from the way she was speaking seemed like she won't be sticking around. I'd love her to stay and I was disappointed because after how well things have been going (purely based on off field matters) it seems like the right choice would be asking her to stay but she did give the impression that she won't stay longer, and she doesn't want it to. She was very reluctant to invest in the first place but my god the things she's doing for our club are just amazing. She's getting this club back to where it belongs and then she'll ride off into the sunset with some great memories, which is exactly the way to do it IMO. Although still sceptical that fan ownership is a viable option but we need to make it work. To be fair to her, she is currently 66. If it is five years then she hands over to FoH then she will be 71 by then. She is working at Hearts full time. So she may feel that she wants to just relax and enjoy what she has done and let others take the role full time. I would put her similar to Fergus McCann, coming and saving a club, rebuilding the foundations and maximising its revenue raising (as seen through her comments about looking to sort out the commercial side and when she said in her statement on Tuesday that they are improving the IT at the club particularly in the suites so they can attract more businesses to hire them and thus generate greater revenue.) And when its rebuilt and FoH raises all its required money to buy the club completely she will get her money back and the club can move on having been rebuilt on a strong base. There will be ups and downs over her time in charge but having a strong leader with a clear vision surrounded by people who know what they are doing will make us a better club than we have ever been. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazzas right boot Posted November 1, 2014 Share Posted November 1, 2014 The old main stand must be a concern. People that think it's ok to look it at 4/5 years time, might have a piont, however if for any reason it is closed for a sustained period of time then it could actually cost the club dearly. My season ticket is there, and that place must struggle to pass of the H&S criteria every year, not too mention a one offf bad winter could easliy cause problem i.e rain/ wind/ snow/ ice. The place is "rustic and homely " at best, a accident waiting to happen at worst!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francis Albert Posted November 1, 2014 Share Posted November 1, 2014 I'd say snow and ice are more of a problem in the other stands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francis Albert Posted November 1, 2014 Share Posted November 1, 2014 I'd say snow and ice are more of a problem in the other stands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorgiewave Posted November 1, 2014 Share Posted November 1, 2014 A bit bemused that they said there was no interest from any Bookmaker in taking on the betting franchise in the stadium. Thats contrary to what I heard from a Scotbet employee a few weeks ago who said they were in negotiations and hoping to strike a deal imminently. Cant both be right. In any case why not take it in house for a season as a trial. Taking bets on our own results? There's potential for fraud there (not saying anybody at Hearts would do anythng fraudulent but there would be some logic in it). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naeclue Posted November 1, 2014 Share Posted November 1, 2014 I was very impressed by Ann and Eric Hogg at the dinner. They are focused on building a long term sustainable future for Hearts, challenging as that will be. I would imagine that their forecasts have been conservative in terms of levels of funding from FOH. Similarly for budgets for the playing staff, and I believe we are comfortably ahead of plan for both. There are a few years left to get to fan ownership,but they are building foundations and a structure that is made to last. The environment around football is different now - no more spending to keep up with EBT fuelled Rangers (the root of so much trouble), not least as no credit is being given by the banks. It sounds like FOH almost have their ducks in a row and will start to announce benefits for pledgers, and begin to promote themselves properly any day now. What has been achieved thus far has been via a web page and word of mouth. We are Hearts, it doesn't do for us to be over-confident, but the club is aligned from the bottom to the top and high levels of professionalism are extending out from the playing staff and the board and will grow over the years. Somehow, we've landed on our feet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jambos are go! Posted November 1, 2014 Share Posted November 1, 2014 Taking bets on our own results? There's potential for fraud there (not saying anybody at Hearts would do anythng fraudulent but there would be some logic in it). Good point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paolo Posted November 1, 2014 Share Posted November 1, 2014 Good point. It won't happen anyway. You can't just simply open up a bookmakers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pettigrewsstylist Posted November 1, 2014 Share Posted November 1, 2014 i personally hope they don't go down the route of a reward scheme for current/new subscribers i am just happy as many others have said that we have a club to support and am in a position to contribute for as long as i am on this planet. Agreed ,,but they seem to have bottomed/topped out around the 8K average now. The figures must show no real new "growth" then, and they obviously think something is required to either stop the bleed ( which for many reasons may be impossible) or , i suspect, more likely, increase the new members. The status quo is just that and it sounds like , from this thread , it needs a wee incentive boost. Contrarily, its good new that 100 a month new pledgers are still out there!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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