What I continually went on about was some sort of published pricing strategy and structure. Pretty well all other clubs do that, whether as a one-price-per-seat basis, regardless of the opponent (Liverpool & united) or based on a category A, B, C-type structure (Chelsea, Arsenal & Spurs). We sort of have the latter but it's not publicised and it seems to be flexible, with £68 for some A games and £72 for others as far as I can see.The club do need to be careful with their pricing, not the greatest comparison but I remember Wigan doing season tickets dirt cheap when in the PL, they got relegated and the club wanted to raise prices, all those turning up to watch PL football (I knew a few) disappeared, and their gates/ST sales plummeted.
Obviously that won’t happen to us, but Guardiola & Haaland won’t be around forever, and all those priced out at City will be doing other things with their pennies, if there’s ever a drop off and the tourists move on. There’s no guarantees in football, and it does seem those at the top are basing everything on being ultra successful on the pitch with big stars plying their trade on the hallowed turf, All great if it’s going to plan I suppose
People like you & Prophet of Doom come over as right whingers to be brutally honest. Happy to knock anyone going above and beyond for their fellow fans, from the comfort of your armchairs. Get off your arse and do it yourself. I put a lot of my time and effort into City Matters, as do all the current committee. And that includes Fran Lever.
Having said that and got it off my chest, the problem is that we have a CEO who doesn't give a fuck about us, and who is just interested in squeezing every last penny out of the fans. If that means historically loyal fans are displaced in favour of someone paying a single visit then he's fine with that. He's never made any attempt to understand us, communicate with us. or be visible in any way. He's far more interested in his self-aggrandising vision for CFG, which brings in minimal benefit to City as far as I can see, but sucks in a load of cash. I know for a fact that a few seasons ago, price increases were discussed at a board meeting and there was no appetite for them. The board felt fans were paying as much as they could stand. Yet Soriano's view is that we should expect to pay more for watching the football we watch, despite the minimal impact on revenue and the negative outcome on our pockets. That sums him up for me.
They call us"customers" but don't treat us as customers and there's always been a faction at the club who aren't interested in what fans want, or wouldn't take even a minimal risk on doing something that might not work out. I'd certainly exclude Danny Wilson from that criticism, who's always been really constructive. But I know there have been times where a suggestion or outcome we thought had been agreed was vetoed by those above him.
The new COO instituted a major programme to look at and improve all aspects of fan experience but, as far as I know, no fans are actually involved in that. How the hell can you have do that without involving your key stakeholders? My employer is at the start of a major transformation programme and our customers will be involved in that, because they're the people who need to be happy with the outcome, not the people in the back-office.
The issue over publishing minutes is just fucking ridiculous. If CM is representing fans, then the fans have the right to know what's being discussed, subject to commercial and other matters of confidentiality. If I was still on CM, I'd be pushing hard for us to publish our own.
But having said all that, with all the frustrations I'd still much rather have a channel of communication open with the club than not. We have achieved things and we've got them to move more towards our way of thinking in some areas. Ultimately, they will do what they want but at least there'll be a group there chipping away at them.
Because of where the women's game is at in terms of development and public profile, it's not uncommon for fans to get behind other teams to some extent depending on who plays for them and what the wider community is like around the club. This is especially true when you support a club that hasn't yet put any meaningful resource into developing their women's team (although you can't really say that about City). There's also a wider social aspect around it for LGBTQ fans.
That said, she seems to have fully thrown her lot in with Chelsea now and that obvs conflicts with her position on the City Matters committee. So she probably should step down.
However, I don't think there was any really need for CSB to post her photo and tag her twitter handle. Football twitter can be a pretty brutal place and even more so for women and LGBTQ fans. I think they could have just said that they were aware of information that brought the suitability of the LGBTQ rep into question and that they would like a new person to be appointed to role. That tweet just looks like it's designed to instigate a pile on and they should know better really. She should be able to post whatever she wants on her own social media (if it's not hurting anyone) without someone else publicly weaponising that against her. It's all a bit needless.
Hard to disagree with any of that. Soriano didn't want City Matters but was forced into it when the Parliamentary Football Expert Working Group insisted that clubs should have meaningful fan engagement forums. But he's love us all to walk away, then claim that the fans don't really want meaningful engagement.I'm not doubting you. Neither are many others. Sadly for all your previous hard work, including the work of the current CM Reps, that isn't coming through to the fans. That isn't the fault of the CM Reps, it's the fault of the club. End of!
As you know there have been no minutes posted on the OS for over *9 months*. When was the last meeting? And when the questions and minutes have been posted, which the club vet first, it's pretty basic stuff.
You've said it yourself all the confidential discussions will never see the light of day outside the meeting. So minus those discussions, what's left to discuss? We never get told what questions will be asked before the meetings, either. Or what the topics of discussion are
Danny stated today that the CM Reps have asked the club to publish the minutes on the OS on numerous occasions and the club hasn't. Or the person at the club who should be posting the minutes can't be arsed. Why is Danny Wilson not making sure the minutes are published on the OS?
The club are undermining the City Matters Reps regardless of how much work and effort they put in. And making them look amateurish, which they aren't.
Sad post in many ways when people like yourself Prestwich are dissolutioned with the way the club is run.People like you & Prophet of Doom come over as right whingers to be brutally honest. Happy to knock anyone going above and beyond for their fellow fans, from the comfort of your armchairs. Get off your arse and do it yourself. I put a lot of my time and effort into City Matters, as do all the current committee. And that includes Fran Lever.
Having said that and got it off my chest, the problem is that we have a CEO who doesn't give a fuck about us, and who is just interested in squeezing every last penny out of the fans. If that means historically loyal fans are displaced in favour of someone paying a single visit then he's fine with that. He's never made any attempt to understand us, communicate with us. or be visible in any way. He's far more interested in his self-aggrandising vision for CFG, which brings in minimal benefit to City as far as I can see, but sucks in a load of cash. I know for a fact that a few seasons ago, price increases were discussed at a board meeting and there was no appetite for them. The board felt fans were paying as much as they could stand. Yet Soriano's view is that we should expect to pay more for watching the football we watch, despite the minimal impact on revenue and the negative outcome on our pockets. That sums him up for me.
They call us"customers" but don't treat us as customers and there's always been a faction at the club who aren't interested in what fans want, or wouldn't take even a minimal risk on doing something that might not work out. I'd certainly exclude Danny Wilson from that criticism, who's always been really constructive. But I know there have been times where a suggestion or outcome we thought had been agreed was vetoed by those above him.
The new COO instituted a major programme to look at and improve all aspects of fan experience but, as far as I know, no fans are actually involved in that. How the hell can you have do that without involving your key stakeholders? My employer is at the start of a major transformation programme and our customers will be involved in that, because they're the people who need to be happy with the outcome, not the people in the back-office.
The issue over publishing minutes is just fucking ridiculous. If CM is representing fans, then the fans have the right to know what's being discussed, subject to commercial and other matters of confidentiality. If I was still on CM, I'd be pushing hard for us to publish our own.
But having said all that, with all the frustrations I'd still much rather have a channel of communication open with the club than not. We have achieved things and we've got them to move more towards our way of thinking in some areas. Ultimately, they will do what they want but at least there'll be a group there chipping away at them.
Does seem like pricing is algorithm based, with the only near hiccup (for them) being this Saturday, which for this season had an unprecedented level of returns. In their defence there was some cracking pricing for the Brentford Brighton Fulham games early on, but I’d attribute those to aiding membership take up. You’re then left with the choice of paying a massive increase to watch live PL football for the rest of the season, or simply missing out, by then you are hooked, it’s a bit like getting free bets from a bookieWhat I continually went on about was some sort of published pricing strategy and structure. Pretty well all other clubs do that, whether as a one-price-per-seat basis, regardless of the opponent (Liverpool & united) or based on a category A, B, C-type structure (Chelsea, Arsenal & Spurs). We sort of have the latter but it's not publicised and it seems to be flexible, with £68 for some A games and £72 for others as far as I can see.
I thought the whole idea of twatter was to instigate 'pile ons'.
This is the modern world. A bullshitter is a bullshitter. She seems to have blagged her way onto CM and was most likely very pleased with herself when she was appointed.
The moral of this story...? Dance with the devil, expect to get your toes trampled.
CSB should just tell her to fuck off and move on.
In many ways, the club is run very, very well. Our ownership sets strategy but doesn't interfere. Our trophy haul is another. And I don't expect the club to be run for the sole benefit of its fans. I even accept that there will be decisions where the interests of the club have to take precedence over that of the fans, where there's a divergence. I've been in numerous discussions at CM where there's been no perfect solution.Sad post in many ways when people like yourself Prestwich are dissolutioned with the way the club is run.