Q&A session with CEO Ann Budge - ANSWERS.

[Ron Burgundy]

25 minutes ago, Ryder said:

See this sectarian singing thing, it really annoys me. Budge absolutely cannot win here and it ****s me off that Hearts supporters are using it as a topic to attack her with.

 

After the first Celtic game on her watch, Budge went after the Celtic support and lambasted their behaviour in the media. In order to try and do this successfully, she also had to address the sectarian singing from our own fans. Result:

 

The Scottish media formed a ‘huddle’ and concentrated only on her daring to criticise the Celtic support, while apparently Tynie is full of bigots. Nicholas, Walker and Proven were all over it like the tramps they are on chips.

 

The Hearts supporters who enjoy a wee bit of offensive singing themselves started screeching about how unfair it was to criticise them when Celtic and Rangers are much worse. This then evolved in to Budge wanting to turn Tynie in to a “library” and not wanting fans to sing or create an atmosphere.

 

At least one or two on here are honest and just admit that they like the mutual hatred and enjoy that atmosphere at games v certain clubs. The others who act all offended at her trying to keep her own house clean in order to tackle the OF and Hibs supporters behaviour at Tynecastle are just doing more damage than good.

 

 

Who needs Walker, Provan and Nicholas?

Some of our own fans are far worse at blowing our own tiny (in relation to the old firm & possibly the vermin) problem up.

See this sectarian singing thing, it really annoys me.  It ****s me off that Hearts supporters are using it as a topic to attack their own fans with in order to appear as holier than thou.

[Maple Leaf]

4 hours ago, Chaps said:

The sun already taking info from the meeting regarding contracts for the youth players.

 

https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/sport/football/2431422/hearts-ann-budge-harry-cochrane-anthony-mcdonald/

 

 

 

It was good to see that they acknowledged the source of their story.  They also had an article about Ann's answer to the Rangers question, and acknowledged the source for that too.

[Beast Boy]

9 minutes ago, Ron Burgundy said:

Who needs Walker, Provan and Nicholas?

Some of our own fans are far worse at blowing our own tiny (in relation to the old firm & possibly the vermin) problem up.

See this sectarian singing thing, it really annoys me.  It ****s me off that Hearts supporters are using it as a topic to attack their own fans with in order to appear as holier than thou.

 

Her criticism of the Celtic support met almost universal support from the Hearts fans.

 

Our own sectarian problem WAS tiny, but off the back of Budge criticising them, it has grown much larger.

 

Your last paragraph is nothing other than an obtuse effort to ignore what happened and pretend Budge wants to only attack Hearts supporters when they act like bigoted arseholes.

 

I’m happy to bump the threads from the time?

 

 

[Buffalo Bill]

To be honest, I don’t think the time allowance we had with AB justified the topic of sectarianism.

 

By the time we got started, we had about one hour fifty minutes to rattle through 40 questions. That particular question came up with about 20 minutes remaining and we still had about another eight or nine questions to get through. We could’ve easily have spent an hour on that particular subject but would that’ve been the very best use of time? 

 

The question was was there to be asked but by that stage in the meeting, it was little more than a soundbite. 

 

Questions about the SFA and Rangers, I wasn’t too fussed about personally. I wanted to find out the latest stuff about Hearts, the business, developments, plans and how we were going to improve next season and the season after that. 

 

.

[Ron Burgundy]

4 minutes ago, Ryder said:

 

Her criticism of the Celtic support met almost universal support from the Hearts fans.

 

Our own sectarian problem WAS tiny, but off the back of Budge criticising them, it has grown much larger.

 

Your last paragraph is nothing other than an obtuse effort to ignore what happened and pretend Budge wants to only attack Hearts supporters when they act like bigoted arseholes.

 

I’m happy to bump the threads from the time?

 

 

You must have more time on your hands than me so do whatever floats your boat.

FWIW nothing at a football match offends me, I take it for what it is. I just don't want to see Hearts fans given ''special treatment'' over everyone else.

[Francis Albert]

48 minutes ago, Ryder said:

See this sectarian singing thing, it really annoys me. Budge absolutely cannot win here and it ****s me off that Hearts supporters are using it as a topic to attack her with.

 

After the first Celtic game on her watch, Budge went after the Celtic support and lambasted their behaviour in the media. In order to try and do this successfully, she also had to address the sectarian singing from our own fans. Result:

 

The Scottish media formed a ‘huddle’ and concentrated only on her daring to criticise the Celtic support, while apparently Tynie is full of bigots. Nicholas, Walker and Proven were all over it like the tramps they are on chips.

 

The Hearts supporters who enjoy a wee bit of offensive singing themselves started screeching about how unfair it was to criticise them when Celtic and Rangers are much worse. This then evolved in to Budge wanting to turn Tynie in to a “library” and not wanting fans to sing or create an atmosphere.

 

At least one or two on here are honest and just admit that they like the mutual hatred and enjoy that atmosphere at games v certain clubs. The others who act all offended at her trying to keep her own house clean in order to tackle the OF and Hibs supporters behaviour at Tynecastle are just doing more damage than good.

 

 

Good post.

[Beast Boy]

2 minutes ago, Ron Burgundy said:

You must have more time on your hands than me so do whatever floats your boat.

FWIW nothing at a football match offends me, I take it for what it is. I just don't want to see Hearts fans given ''special treatment'' over everyone else.

 

I already knew that was your stance. Your stance however is different to others.

 

The stance that really matters to the club, is the one that is aligned with the rules of the game and the laws of Scotland and Britain. That is the stance that the behaviour that Scott Wilson describes at every game at Tynecastle is unacceptable.

 

If you disagree, then fine. It doesn’t really matter. If you are part of a group intentionally trying to ignore that advice and get the sectarian or racist shit on the go, then it’s increasingly likely that you will find your access to the stadium becoming scrutinised.

[Francis Albert]

11 minutes ago, Buffalo Bill said:

To be honest, I don’t think the time allowance we had with AB justified the topic of sectarianism.

 

By the time we got started, we had about one hour fifty minutes to rattle through 40 questions. That particular question came up with about 20 minutes remaining and we still had about another eight or nine questions to get through. We could’ve easily have spent an hour on that particular subject but would that’ve been the very best use of time? 

 

The question was was there to be asked but by that stage in the meeting, it was little more than a soundbite. 

 

Questions about the SFA and Rangers, I wasn’t too fussed about personally. I wanted to find out the latest stuff about Hearts, the business, developments, plans and how we were going to improve next season and the season after that. 

 

.

Your personal opinion of how important or interesting particular questions were is a bit irrelevant or should be.

The duration of the session surprises me a bit. I assume ann had advance notice of the questions in which case  two hours to say what she said seems a long time.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

1 hour ago, Ryder said:

 

I already knew that was your stance. Your stance however is different to others.

 

The stance that really matters to the club, is the one that is aligned with the rules of the game and the laws of Scotland and Britain. That is the stance that the behaviour that Scott Wilson describes at every game at Tynecastle is unacceptable.

 

If you disagree, then fine. It doesn’t really matter. If you are part of a group intentionally trying to ignore that advice and get the sectarian or racist shit on the go, then it’s increasingly likely that you will find your access to the stadium becoming scrutinised.

So now you are implying I'm trying to encourage racist and sectarian singing/behaviour.

 

[Beast Boy]

1 hour ago, Ron Burgundy said:

So now you are implying I'm trying to encourage racist and sectarian singing/behaviour.

 

 

No, I haven’t done that. Maybe you need to learn how to disseminate the meaning of written words, instead of just getting angry and lashing out.

[Ron Burgundy]

2 minutes ago, Ryder said:

 

No, I haven’t done that. Maybe you need to learn how to disseminate the meaning of written words, instead of just getting angry and lashing out.

I'm honestly not angry in the slightest.

[Beast Boy]

14 minutes ago, Buffalo Bill said:

To be honest, I don’t think the time allowance we had with AB justified the topic of sectarianism.

 

By the time we got started, we had about one hour fifty minutes to rattle through 40 questions. That particular question came up with about 20 minutes remaining and we still had about another eight or nine questions to get through. We could’ve easily have spent an hour on that particular subject but would that’ve been the very best use of time? 

 

The question was was there to be asked but by that stage in the meeting, it was little more than a soundbite. 

 

Questions about the SFA and Rangers, I wasn’t too fussed about personally. I wanted to find out the latest stuff about Hearts, the business, developments, plans and how we were going to improve next season and the season after that. 

 

.

 

I believe (know) that if you had spent more time on sectarianism than the other subjects of the Q&A, then the newspapers would have been spunking out headlines highlighting how Ann Budge is dismayed at how sectarian a club we are, whilst avoiding the Rangers and Celtic problem like the plague. You can see evidence of this in the way the Cochrane and McDonald story is reported in The Sun.

[Beast Boy]

2 minutes ago, Ron Burgundy said:

I'm honestly not angry in the slightest.

 

Really? I’m pleased. I assumed you must have been to have replied so quickly to my post and missed the point so spectacularly.

 

My bad. Sorry.

[Ron Burgundy]

1 minute ago, Ryder said:

 

Really? I’m pleased. I assumed you must have been to have replied so quickly to my post and missed the point so spectacularly.

 

My bad. Sorry.

Apology accepted. However I'm not so sure I missed your snide insinuation but we will move on.

[niblick1874]

On ‎3‎/‎28‎/‎2018 at 07:52, Yoda said:

Thanks for that.  The airport shop with H1b5 makes perfect sense.

 

Yes it does. Their stuff will make our stuff look even better and our stuff will have their stuff looking like shit. 

 

Let's hope they don't figure that out.

[Nookie Bear]

6 minutes ago, Ryder said:

 

I already knew that was your stance. Your stance however is different to others.

 

The stance that really matters to the club, is the one that is aligned with the rules of the game and the laws of Scotland and Britain. That is the stance that the behaviour that Scott Wilson describes at every game at Tynecastle is unacceptable.

 

If you disagree, then fine. It doesn’t really matter. If you are part of a group intentionally trying to ignore that advice and get the sectarian or racist shit on the go, then it’s increasingly likely that you will find your access to the stadium becoming scrutinised.

 

But it keeps coming around to the fact that Ann admits that Hearts fans are dealt with more harshly than visiting fans. I might even say "targeted". It is accepted the police will do nothing about 1000 away fans, and hearts now admit they will do nothing...so nothing is going to be done about the old firm so we may as well accept that.

 

She says she knows who Hearts fans are, but we know who away fans are - they are collectively celtic and rangers and we deal with this by reducing allocations, and publicly telling everyone why they are being reduced. Stick a camera facing the away fans, let them sing their sh1te, then release it to the media to back up your actions.

 

This comes across like kicking the problem into the long grass and making token efforts in the meantime.

 

Q32. What can be done about sectarian songs sung by visiting fans?

AB: All we can do is attempt to police it and steward it. The reason I get accused of being hard on              our own fans is that I know who our fans are, and we want our fans to promote our club in the best            possible way. If 1,000 away fans start to sing something sectarian or offensive then there is nothing          much we can do other than to let the police do their job. Sectarianism is a societal problem, not              just a football problem.

[Beast Boy]

2 minutes ago, Ron Burgundy said:

Apology accepted. However I'm not so sure I missed your snide insinuation but we will move on.

 

 

*sigh*

[Francis Albert]

19 minutes ago, Ryder said:

 

I believe (know) that if you had spent more time on sectarianism than the other subjects of the Q&A, then the newspapers would have been spunking out headlines highlighting how Ann Budge is dismayed at how sectarian a club we are, whilst avoiding the Rangers and Celtic problem like the plague. You can see evidence of this in the way the Cochrane and McDonald story is reported in The Sun.

True but it will be a sad day if we suppress  discussion because of how the the Sun will report it.

[Beast Boy]

2 minutes ago, Nookie Bear said:

 

But it keeps coming around to the fact that Ann admits that Hearts fans are dealt with more harshly than visiting fans. I might even say "targeted". It is accepted the police will do nothing about 1000 away fans, and hearts now admit they will do nothing...so nothing is going to be done about the old firm so we may as well accept that.

 

She says she knows who Hearts fans are, but we know who away fans are - they are collectively celtic and rangers and we deal with this by reducing allocations, and publicly telling everyone why they are being reduced. Stick a camera facing the away fans, let them sing their sh1te, then release it to the media to back up your actions.

 

This comes across like kicking the problem into the long grass and making token efforts in the meantime.

 

Q32. What can be done about sectarian songs sung by visiting fans?

AB: All we can do is attempt to police it and steward it. The reason I get accused of being hard on              our own fans is that I know who our fans are, and we want our fans to promote our club in the best            possible way. If 1,000 away fans start to sing something sectarian or offensive then there is nothing          much we can do other than to let the police do their job. Sectarianism is a societal problem, not              just a football problem.

 

Mate, I know we disagree on a lot of things, but this post is seriously disingenuous. 

 

The only way we are dealt with more severely, is by Budge stating what is unacceptable in our stadium. As we play there more frequently than any given opponent, then naturally our own supporters will be more under scrutiny. All we had to do was stop singing sectarian songs and making stupid chants against races, religions and minorities.

 

From the very first Celtic match at Tynecastle she went for them. She also had to highlight the issues from our own support. Maybe she is too normal and decent-minded, but what happened was she ended up getting flak from the OF-minded media and the Hearts support. How dare she be smart enough to realise that in order to build a case for tackling the OF supporters’ behaviour in our stadium, she would need to make sure the same wasn’t happening in our own support!

 

Also, she did reduce the Celtic allocation. She trumpeted this at the time and was attacked by the Scottish media because apparently when things aren’t going so well, we will be begging OF supporters to help us fill the stadium. She made it abundantly clear that this was going to cost the club money at first, but as long as the fans turned up in numbers, then we could justify it and keep their allocation down... next Celtic match at tynie? Yep... you guessed it... 

 

She probably is kicking it in to the long grass... she tried to tackle it, the fans didn’t back her. 

[Beast Boy]

2 minutes ago, Francis Albert said:

True but it will be a sad day if we suppress  discussion because of how the the Sun will report it.

 

I’m not suggesting we do. I was replying to Bill’s explanation of why they did not spend more time on that particular question.

 

The Sun are pretty similar to you posting on here tbh, same M.O; jump on the fine detail provided by the club and spin it in to a negative. 

 

 

[Francis Albert]

4 minutes ago, Ryder said:

 

I’m not suggesting we do. I was replying to Bill’s explanation of why they did not spend more time on that particular question.

 

The Sun are pretty similar to you posting on here tbh, same M.O; jump on the fine detail provided by the club and spin it in to a negative. 

 

 

The Sun deals in tired clichés and sweeping generalisations about people based on unthinking prejudice.

[Beast Boy]

4 minutes ago, Francis Albert said:

The Sun deals in tired clichés and sweeping generalisations about people based on unthinking prejudice.

 

As do certain online posters when they fantasise about being a guardian of honesty for us mere plebs who clearly don’t have the intelligence to read, digest and understand things in the public arena. 

[Boab]

51 minutes ago, Buffalo Bill said:

To be honest, I don’t think the time allowance we had with AB justified the topic of sectarianism.

 

By the time we got started, we had about one hour fifty minutes to rattle through 40 questions. That particular question came up with about 20 minutes remaining and we still had about another eight or nine questions to get through. We could’ve easily have spent an hour on that particular subject but would that’ve been the very best use of time? 

 

The question was was there to be asked but by that stage in the meeting, it was little more than a soundbite. 

 

Questions about the SFA and Rangers, I wasn’t too fussed about personally. I wanted to find out the latest stuff about Hearts, the business, developments, plans and how we were going to improve next season and the season after that. 

 

.

 

Of course, BB, and you and the others are to be commended for a very good effort.

As it was me who questioned Ann's response to the singing issue earlier in the thread, I feel that I have to repond again to her answer.

To state there's nothing we can do re. old firm behaviour is not what many fans want to hear. It opens up accusations of taking the old firm coin at the expense of the very thing she wants to clamp down on in the stadium.

I'm sorry, but clamp down then and reduce allocations if it continues.

Is that really an unreasonable response and do you not think it's what the vast majority would applaud ?

[Notts1874]

6 minutes ago, Ryder said:

 

As do certain online posters when they fantasise about being a guardian of honesty for us mere plebs who clearly don’t have the intelligence to read, digest and understand things in the public arena. 

The Sun also makes up stories.

[Beast Boy]

3 minutes ago, Notts1874 said:

The Sun also makes up stories.

 

Absolutely.

[Hendricks]

The way to rid Tynecastle of masses of Celtic and Rangers fans singing sectarian and other unpalatable ‘party’ songs is very simple.....get the team into a position whereby demand for tickets is high from Hearts supporters and cut their allocation accordingly. Drown them out! It’s been done on a number of occasions before and worked and it’s by far the best solution. However financially it is impossible without Hearts fans bums on seats, there is no way Budge will allow the revenue they guarantee to be lost unless the seats are filled by home supporters. To make that happen she and Levein have to put a team on the park that excites and that our support and especially our non ST holding support want to see. 

[Buffalo Bill]

32 minutes ago, Boab said:

 

Of course, BB, and you and the others are to be commended for a very good effort.

As it was me who questioned Ann's response to the singing issue earlier in the thread, I feel that I have to repond again to her answer.

To state there's nothing we can do re. old firm behaviour is not what many fans want to hear. It opens up accusations of taking the old firm coin at the expense of the very thing she wants to clamp down on in the stadium.

I'm sorry, but clamp down then and reduce allocations if it continues.

Is that really an unreasonable response and do you not think it's what the vast majority would applaud ?

 

Hendricks has summed it up for me in his post above. 

[shaun.lawson]

33 minutes ago, Ryder said:

 

As do certain online posters when they fantasise about being a guardian of honesty for us mere plebs who clearly don’t have the intelligence to read, digest and understand things in the public arena. 

 

Christ. Francis does not "fantasise about being a guardian of honesty". Francis asks questions and makes his own mind up. He holds each and every board to account. Good for him.

 

To *******ise Mrs Thatcher's quote about Lord Whitelaw, every forum needs a F(r)anny. 

[Buffalo Bill]

1 hour ago, Francis Albert said:

Your personal opinion of how important or interesting particular questions were is a bit irrelevant or should be.

The duration of the session surprises me a bit. I assume ann had advance notice of the questions in which case  two hours to say what she said seems a long time.

 

 

My personal opinion was irrelevant to the Q&A during the time of the meeting but like anyone else, I’m entitled to express it here, particularly as it was in relation to a specific point made. 

[Beast Boy]

1 minute ago, shaun.lawson said:

 

Christ. Francis does not "fantasise about being a guardian of honesty". Francis asks questions and makes his own mind up. He holds each and every board to account. Good for him.

 

To *******ise Mrs Thatcher's quote about Lord Whitelaw, every forum needs a F(r)anny. 

 

Christ. You can interpret things however you like Shaun. Cheers.

[kila]

54 minutes ago, Ryder said:

 

Mate, I know we disagree on a lot of things, but this post is seriously disingenuous. 

 

The only way we are dealt with more severely, is by Budge stating what is unacceptable in our stadium. As we play there more frequently than any given opponent, then naturally our own supporters will be more under scrutiny. All we had to do was stop singing sectarian songs and making stupid chants against races, religions and minorities.

 

From the very first Celtic match at Tynecastle she went for them. She also had to highlight the issues from our own support. Maybe she is too normal and decent-minded, but what happened was she ended up getting flak from the OF-minded media and the Hearts support. How dare she be smart enough to realise that in order to build a case for tackling the OF supporters’ behaviour in our stadium, she would need to make sure the same wasn’t happening in our own support!

 

Also, she did reduce the Celtic allocation. She trumpeted this at the time and was attacked by the Scottish media because apparently when things aren’t going so well, we will be begging OF supporters to help us fill the stadium. She made it abundantly clear that this was going to cost the club money at first, but as long as the fans turned up in numbers, then we could justify it and keep their allocation down... next Celtic match at tynie? Yep... you guessed it... 

 

She probably is kicking it in to the long grass... she tried to tackle it, the fans didn’t back her. 

 

 

Some articles to go with your post:

 

http://www.heartsfc.co.uk/news/4010

 

https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/teams/celtic/ann-budge-blasts-hearts-celtic-sectarian-behaviour-1-3623734

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/30312462

 

Celtic statement sweeping it under the carpet - http://www.celticfc.net/news/7220

[Francis Albert]

1 minute ago, Buffalo Bill said:

 

My personal opinion was irrelevant to the Q&A during the time of the meeting but like anyone else, I’m entitled to express it here, particularly as it was in relation to a specific point made. 

Fair enough. Apologies for misinterpreting your post.

[shaun.lawson]

34 minutes ago, Notts1874 said:

The Sun also makes up stories.

 

It does - but how powerful are the Sun or the Record in Scottish football coverage nowadays? Newspapers are dying everywhere. Tabloid sports coverage is (or should certainly be) an irrelevance.

[Beast Boy]

Just now, kila said:

 

 

Some articles to go with your post:

 

http://www.heartsfc.co.uk/news/4010

 

https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/teams/celtic/ann-budge-blasts-hearts-celtic-sectarian-behaviour-1-3623734

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/30312462

 

Celtic statement sweeping it under the carpet - http://www.celticfc.net/news/7220

 

Thanks for that Kila. I genuinely appreciate it. All too often folk just rely on a poster’s lack of enthusiasm for actually searching for the references. I probably wouldn’t have bothered searching all that out in response despite the fact I know the person debating with me knows these things themselves.

 

Anyway, a genuine thanks for actually taking the time.

[Beast Boy]

1 minute ago, shaun.lawson said:

 

It does - but how powerful are the Sun or the Record in Scottish football coverage nowadays? Newspapers are dying everywhere. Tabloid sports coverage is (or should certainly be) an irrelevance.

 

Scotland-wide, a lot more influential than a fans’ forum.

[Hendricks]

1 hour ago, Ryder said:

 

Also, she did reduce the Celtic allocation. She trumpeted this at the time and was attacked by the Scottish media because apparently when things aren’t going so well, we will be begging OF supporters to help us fill the stadium. She made it abundantly clear that this was going to cost the club money at first, but as long as the fans turned up in numbers, then we could justify it and keep their allocation down... next Celtic match at tynie? Yep... you guessed it... 

 

She probably is kicking it in to the long grass... she tried to tackle it, the fans didn’t back her. 

 

 

Pretty much on board with your thoughts regards this issue and can tell its something that frustrates the hell out of you. I have a lot of sympathy for Ann Budge with regards this as I genuinely think she has tried to tackle it in the best way she knows how.

 

Can I just ask about this particular point in your argument though? Are you saying the fans didn't back her because we didn't sell enough tickets to home supporters? If so that's where I would disagree because quite simply we have not made it attractive enough for our non ST holders or category B ST holders to attend these matches. The irony of course being that we produced a once in a generation result against Celtic and lots missed out seeing it but thats reality. Our sleeper fans or occasional fans are not going to pay sky high prices for matches v Rantic to witness the sort of guff we've seen all too often this season. Most people are not, not turning up for these matches due to them being offended by whats being sung from the Roseburn but because the team is not very good!  They are not going to prioritise ensuring we retain half the Roseburn over their money when there is little hanging on a match or the team isn't worth coming to watch. Its one of these chicken and egg situations whereby on field success will help eradicate this ongoing issue as we can then say to Rantic we are only giving you 1400 or imagine the day if we are really competing 700 tickets.

[Bad Religion]

18 minutes ago, shaun.lawson said:

 

Christ. Francis does not "fantasise about being a guardian of honesty". Francis asks questions and makes his own mind up. He holds each and every board to account. Good for him.

 

To *******ise Mrs Thatcher's quote about Lord Whitelaw, every forum needs a F(r)anny. 

 

How would you know Lawson?

 

You haven't been on here in 3 years?

[Boab]

38 minutes ago, Hendricks said:

The way to rid Tynecastle of masses of Celtic and Rangers fans singing sectarian and other unpalatable ‘party’ songs is very simple.....get the team into a position whereby demand for tickets is high from Hearts supporters and cut their allocation accordingly. Drown them out! It’s been done on a number of occasions before and worked and it’s by far the best solution. However financially it is impossible without Hearts fans bums on seats, there is no way Budge will allow the revenue they guarantee to be lost unless the seats are filled by home supporters. To make that happen she and Levein have to put a team on the park that excites and that our support and especially our non ST holding support want to see. 

 

I don't think anyone would disagree with that scenario.....if it came to pass. The problem is, if our form meant that the numbers weren't enough to justify cutting allocations, would we have to just put up with it for the sake of business ?

I'm sorry if I come across a bit cynical here but it seems a bit hypocritical to me.

If our support doesn't increase, we just get on with it ?

 

[Hendricks]

1 minute ago, Boab said:

 

I don't think anyone would disagree with that scenario.....if it came to pass. The problem is, if our form meant that the numbers weren't enough to justify cutting allocations, would we have to just put up with it for the sake of business ?

I'm sorry if I come across a bit cynical here but it seems a bit hypocritical to me.

If our support doesn't increase, we just get on with it ?

 

 

 

Its a very difficult one, for sure. Do Hearts take the approach that we simply can't afford not to take the guaranteed revenue.

 

This is back of a fag packet math and I think I've been conservative but say its an average of 25 a ticket x 3500 bodies x 4 games that equals 350k. If we only sell them 25 ticket x 2100 bodies x 4 that equals 210k and if its 25 a ticket x 1400 bodies x 4 games its only 140k.

 

Can Hearts afford, at this time, to be throwing away anywhere between 140-210k if we are unable to sell out those tickets to our own fans?  Or do they make a stance on 'moral' grounds and say you know what we aren't going to allow this in our stadium regardless often being a couple thousand empty seats. As I say I have sympathy for this situation though my hope is that the finger is pulled out and a side is pit on the park that will see Jambo's want the seats as that is the best case solution! 

 

 

[redjambo]

8 minutes ago, Hendricks said:

 

 

Its a very difficult one, for sure. Do Hearts take the approach that we simply can't afford not to take the guaranteed revenue.

 

This is back of a fag packet math and I think I've been conservative but say its an average of 25 a ticket x 3500 bodies x 4 games that equals 350k. If we only sell them 25 ticket x 2100 bodies x 4 that equals 210k and if its 25 a ticket x 1400 bodies x 4 games its only 140k.

 

Can Hearts afford, at this time, to be throwing away anywhere between 140-210k if we are unable to sell out those tickets to our own fans?  Or do they make a stance on 'moral' grounds and say you know what we aren't going to allow this in our stadium regardless often being a couple thousand empty seats. As I say I have sympathy for this situation though my hope is that the finger is pulled out and a side is pit on the park that will see Jambo's want the seats as that is the best case solution! 

 

 

 

Take their money, beat them on the pitch, and send them home with their tails between their legs. That'll do me.

[Boab]

13 minutes ago, Hendricks said:

 

 

Its a very difficult one, for sure. Do Hearts take the approach that we simply can't afford not to take the guaranteed revenue.

 

This is back of a fag packet math and I think I've been conservative but say its an average of 25 a ticket x 3500 bodies x 4 games that equals 350k. If we only sell them 25 ticket x 2100 bodies x 4 that equals 210k and if its 25 a ticket x 1400 bodies x 4 games its only 140k.

 

Can Hearts afford, at this time, to be throwing away anywhere between 140-210k if we are unable to sell out those tickets to our own fans?  Or do they make a stance on 'moral' grounds and say you know what we aren't going to allow this in our stadium regardless often being a couple thousand empty seats. As I say I have sympathy for this situation though my hope is that the finger is pulled out and a side is pit on the park that will see Jambo's want the seats as that is the best case solution! 

 

 

 

It is difficult.

For the record, i've never been overly fussed by party songs but in relation to the question asked at the session and the answer given, it's given some a stick to beat her with. 

As you say, let's hope we can get to a place where we stick them in a corner as happens when we go to their places.

[Francis Albert]

47 minutes ago, Ryder said:

 

Scotland-wide, a lot more influential than a fans’ forum.

Hesitate to ask given your excitable response to a post you agreed with but how influential do you think the Sun and Record are with Hearts fans as a body?

I think most of us know what to expect from the Sun and Record and how much attention to pay to it.

 

Speaking as a guardian of honesty!

[Mikey1874]

4 hours ago, Ron Burgundy said:

Who needs Walker, Provan and Nicholas?

Some of our own fans are far worse at blowing our own tiny (in relation to the old firm & possibly the vermin) problem up.

See this sectarian singing thing, it really annoys me.  It ****s me off that Hearts supporters are using it as a topic to attack their own fans with in order to appear as holier than thou.

 

 

Sectarian singing has become par for the course at away games this season

 

Tv games included so people must have noticed. 

 

It doesn't particularly bother me. I prefer to look at reality and whether discrimination affects peoples' lives eg in employment. But if Celtic are being criticised then understand we can be pointed out too. 

[JamboAl]

2 hours ago, Hendricks said:

 

 

Its a very difficult one, for sure. Do Hearts take the approach that we simply can't afford not to take the guaranteed revenue.

 

This is back of a fag packet math and I think I've been conservative but say its an average of 25 a ticket x 3500 bodies x 4 games that equals 350k. If we only sell them 25 ticket x 2100 bodies x 4 that equals 210k and if its 25 a ticket x 1400 bodies x 4 games its only 140k.

 

Can Hearts afford, at this time, to be throwing away anywhere between 140-210k if we are unable to sell out those tickets to our own fans?  Or do they make a stance on 'moral' grounds and say you know what we aren't going to allow this in our stadium regardless often being a couple thousand empty seats. As I say I have sympathy for this situation though my hope is that the finger is pulled out and a side is pit on the park that will see Jambo's want the seats as that is the best case solution! 

 

 

It's inevitable that people will count pennies and want them for financial reasons.  Others may not want them for moral reasons and that too is fair enough.

But surely it is quite simple and the above choices do not need to be made.  The real issue is that rules have been made that should apply to ALL clubs and these rules have either been broken or not.  If they have been broken then the powers that be should have no choice but to impose such penalties as prescribed in the rules.  Honesty and integrity is required and there should be no need for further debate.

[scott herbertson]

13 minutes ago, JamboAl said:

It's inevitable that people will count pennies and want them for financial reasons.  Others may not want them for moral reasons and that too is fair enough.

But surely it is quite simple and the above choices do not need to be made.  The real issue is that rules have been made that should apply to ALL clubs and these rules have either been broken or not.  If they have been broken then the powers that be should have no choice but to impose such penalties as prescribed in the rules.  Honesty and integrity is required and there should be no need for further debate.

 

 

I agree, and we would have to take our share of any such penalties. However it appears the authorities won’t do that. There is no solution from that quarter. To change this I believe (I always have) that we would have to do something radical ourselves and lead the way, by being stricter on behaviour in our rules and stewarding. It would be unpleasant and divisive and would take a while but we might get some traction. To explain further I would have to get into a flag debate but I mean not letting people into the ground inthe first place and identifying those who break the rules using CCTV and not allowing them back (including away supporters).

 

as an example from another setting there is pubwatch, which has been very effective in some areas in reducing trouble.

 

http://www.nationalpubwatch.org.uk/

[1953]

5 hours ago, Hendricks said:

The way to rid Tynecastle of masses of Celtic and Rangers fans singing sectarian and other unpalatable ‘party’ songs is very simple.....get the team into a position whereby demand for tickets is high from Hearts supporters and cut their allocation accordingly. Drown them out! It’s been done on a number of occasions before and worked and it’s by far the best solution. However financially it is impossible without Hearts fans bums on seats, there is no way Budge will allow the revenue they guarantee to be lost unless the seats are filled by home supporters. To make that happen she and Levein have to put a team on the park that excites and that our support and especially our non ST holding support want to see. 

Spot on.

[iainmac]

The timing of the Q&A may have indeed led to less questions about the football department of the club if it was pre our season effectively ending. 

 

The updates  on the off-field stuff / infrastructure are most welcome & show great progress being made there. They also show that the architect seems to have made a right pig's ear of certain elements of the new stand & the club gave had to adjust accordingly. We already suspected that. 

 

My biggest concern (post Q&A timing) is why the team only "turned up" for half the game in the 2 biggest matches of the season. The number of ST's we sell next season will be a better barometer of where the entire fan base think we are, in the footballing sense, rather than any polls on JKB. 

 

I personally think we will need to see some really exciting signings if we want to match this year's numbers. 

 

Over to you Craig! 

[Francis Albert]

9 minutes ago, iainmac said:

The timing of the Q&A may have indeed led to less questions about the football department of the club if it was pre our season effectively ending. 

 

The updates  on the off-field stuff / infrastructure are most welcome & show great progress being made there. They also show that the architect seems to have made a right pig's ear of certain elements of the new stand & the club gave had to adjust accordingly. We already suspected that. 

 

My biggest concern (post Q&A timing) is why the team only "turned up" for half the game in the 2 biggest matches of the season. The number of ST's we sell next season will be a better barometer of where the entire fan base think we are, in the footballing sense, rather than any polls on JKB. 

 

I personally think we will need to see some really exciting signings if we want to match this year's numbers. 

 

Over to you Craig! 

The architect's plans were aproved by the board and ann even took credit for adjusting them as one of the early excuses for the delay in opening the new stand. The pig's ear is ultimately the responsibility of ann and the rest of the board who appointed those responsible for the new stand and establishing  the project management structure which has resulted in cost over-runs, long delays and major redesign and scaling back of the original plans.

[Jambo-Fox]

Let the demand build, plan for the

future, raise and extend the roofs, fill in the corners, extend the Wheatfield, followed by the Roseburn, then perhaps the ‘new’ main stand, followed by the Gorgie if the tenements get demolished!! 45,000??

 

 Perhaps in my lifetime if I live until 110 years old! Well done to the two blokes reached 110 today - what an inspiration!!

[OTT]

See the EEN straight up lifted the Q&A for an article

 

Nothing like quality journalism eh