There is a fair amount of frustration in the ranks at the moment. Squad rebuilding, pre-season friendlies, Valley Express and now supporter prioritisations are unsettling diehards.
Our squad rebuilding plans are going slowly, with the attendant concerns that we are some way yet off looking like having a squad better than the one we finished the season with. Whilst there can be few complaints with the business we have done - it's primarily been about working to replace what we had. Stockley has been signed permanently and Famewo's loan deal renewed, albeit with an option to buy. MacGillivray was a competent replacement for want-away Amos and George Noble should help fill the gap caused by Forster-Caskey's injury lay-off. Trouble is, we all know we need a significant uplift across the side to be confident of going one better than missing out on the play-offs. This will be Year 2 of Sandgaard's 5 Year Plan and we need to be heading into Year 3 in the Championship. I support the main man and am confident we will get there - Sandgaard and Adkins both have too much to lose if we don't - but I can see the frustration in the ranks when clubs like Ipswich are concluding deals with the likes of Joe Piggott, who should be the sort of player we are targeting.
The new pitch at the Valley may have prevented us from hosting a pre-season home game but we do at least have the opportunities now to see the current squad play this evening in the hastily rearranged Welling match and, hopefully, the new look team at Fulham at the end of July. Going ahead with the Palace friendly with our fans being excluded still rankles though.
The running of Valley Express continues to cause concern and is, in some way, a barometer of our fanbase health. Clearly, numbers travelling and the associated viability of the service are closely linked but the club shouldn't lose sight of the fact that a bolder positioning of Valley Express, once saw it paying it's way by bringing fans to games and getting them to buy match tickets (all incremental profit) that would otherwise have gone unsold. It was a key part of hugely successful gate-building plans that accompanied our success twenty years ago. Looking to simply increase pricing to cover the cost of the service is short-sighted and is likely to lead to a further reduction in customers that will again threaten the longer term viability of the service. It should all be about bringing fans to games who wouldn't otherwise bother, not about simply persuading regulars to use the coach instead of other forms of transport, as those supporters will come regardless and are even more likely to choose the coach if it's cheaper still.
Finally, the club really needs a clear plan of how it prioritises supporters, rewards loyalty and encourages spending. The new Membership scheme has looked ill-conceived. £35 for a jamboree bag of not a lot, looked like poor value for money to me. 'Lucky socks' might have been amusing but a fiver off an annual TV package, a handful of additional loyalty points and free entrance to watch a pre-season training session all looked like a justification exercise. The club should prize it's season ticket holders above all others, including those who might choose a Membership instead of an annual commitment. Looking now to charge them £10 to watch a training session is counter-productive in my mind and using the Membership Scheme as a justification (they paid for it, so you should too) wasn't thought through properly.
The club really needs a clear and transparent hierarchy of supporter spend, loyalty and reward. At present it's mismatched - the £35 Membership scheme may infer some priority over Valley Gold members (£120 a year) and Season Ticket holders should always be top of the list. Loyalty points for buying televised games should also be part of the scheme. It can't be that difficult to put a structure together, kick it around with fans and settle on a best fit to ensure supporters stay on board.
Good post very fair comments.
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