[WakeyTerrier]

Not sure this has been posted elsewhere but Clibbo has been answering many questions tonight....some easy...some not so easy so if you've time to spare have a watch.

Part one is about 55mins long



Part two about 75mins long

[Mitzi]

I'd be really grateful if someone could do a precis...

[WakeyTerrier]

I'll make notes of it all tomorrow when I should be working

[Lord Snooty]

Nice post, Wakey. Really can't be arsed watching it though.

[WakeyTerrier]

Quick round up of Part 1, if anyone else has watched it and I've missed something then please add to the thread

Are the Club happy with the business they've done over the summer.

NC- it was a difficult period, they've known the areas they've needed to strengthen since before the end of last season. Some of the players they've got, some they've just missed out on. Overall happy and believe the squad is now better.

Is the transfer window a good idea

NC- would personally like to see the window shut before the first game of the season.

Have you filled all the areas you wanted to.

NC- Centre back was a top priority, we are always looking to improve the team and we would possibly like to have more depth up front especially with Paterson being injured.

Expectations for the season.

NC- refused to give a answer, quoted Dean saying that if we do and then fail to hit those targets they get shot down. The only thing he did say is he wants the player to out perform.

Why are fees always undisclosed

NC- usually because at least 1 of the clubs involved in the deal don't want the figures to get out for one reason or another.

What happened after the Bournemouth game.

NC- after every game the manager meets Dean,Clibbens and Ross Wilson, obviously Dean wasn't there but they still met in Marks office. Mark was low and they all had a chat together, NC went back out to report the day back to Dean as per usual at the end of the call Ross Wilson told NC that Mark wants a chat, so he went back in and spent 40mins with him. He says MR was shell shocked and that if anyone had watched that game they would have thought 'they had not worked on anything all summer'. He(MR) thought he had lost the fans.
NC rang Dean back and they agreed to meet again on Sunday morning. Sunday arrived and MR stated he could see no way back and it was agreed to part company.

Did MR loose the players

NC- No, at no point did he but he was worried that he could. NC states that is was probably best all round that we parted company when we did.

Clayton Transfer saga.

NC- Adam stated that he wasn't going to sign a new contract and wanted to leave on a free transfer at the end of the season. He wanted to play at a higher lever or at least at a club that was 'really going to go for it'
Obviously this wasn't in Towns best interest so they circulated his name and got the best deal they could for the club.
Things were complicated with Butterfield coming the other way as swap deals very rarely happen.
Butterfield week before signing was pretty much MON- I'm going to be a star player for Boro, TUES- we don't want you, WED- HTAFC want you, THURS- discuss terms, FRI- prepare for Town debut, SAT- deal didn't go through, spent Saturday in IKEA, SUN- the manager who wants me has left, MON- you still want me?

Mark Hudson

A real coup by the club, we got in before others new he was available. Another club tried to hijack the deal while he was driving to Hudderfield. NC wouldn't name the other club because it would embarrass them

All our managers have been very similar, is Chris Powell something different?

NC- Powell is completely different to the others, he a players manager. The main attraction was his man management skills and his ability to get the best out of players and get them to be better players as at Charlton.

How did the process of appointing a new manger come about.

NC- Days 1 & 2 were spent fire fighting with the press and the media as well as talking to the players and staff assuring them that everything was under control at the club.
Day 3 was match day away at Chesterfield as well as sorting out the Butterfield deal.
Management is a cut throat industry, even before the news had broke on Sky Town had phone calls from managers offering to take the job, not just 1 or 2 but lots..the phone was ringing off the hook.
Overall we had 50/60 applicants, they spent time narrowing that list down and met with a few eventually getting it down to 4 or 5. Mark Lillis had steadied the ship and bought the board a bit of time to make a new appointment. They held talks with Powell on and off for 2 weeks.
All candidates were told they were allowed to bring 1 new member of staff with them and it could be anyone for any position within the club but they would all have to work within the current structure of the club, Powell was happy to do that.

Sean Scannell.

NC- Sean Scannell was the first player Powell wanted to talk about, he likes him a lot and was informed that Millwall had made a bid, Powell wanted to keep him so we didn't sell. The club think it's a risk worth taking that Powell can unlock the key to bringing the best out of him and hope if he does he won't walk away on a free in the summer.

Transfers.

NC-The manager has final say on all transfers.
The manager reports back to Ross Wilson what he needs, so if he wants a centre back who is right sided, over six foot, has played in the championship, is over 25 then it's Ross Wilson job to find them and give him some options to look at. The manager then decides if they are good enough or not

Programme-

NC- the old  format was loosing money, the feedback the club got was it was too expensive,poor value,full of adverts and had poor content.
The new programme however is cheaper, has less adverts, more content and fits in your pocket(Nigel must have much deeper pockets than me)
It's being trailed until Xmas and then they'll look at it again but if this format doesn't work and the sales of the old format continue to drop then the likelyhood is we'll have no programme at all(it's all about cash)

Away Fans, should we charge them what they charge us.

NC- in a nutshell NC believes to wrongs don't make a right

[Lord Snooty]

Very interesting, Wakey. Thanks for that. A good insight as to what's been going on.

---

There's a Town special on Radio Leeds tonight at 6 as well.

[Citizen Jeebers]

Good read that Wakey, interesting stuff

[WakeyTerrier]

Okay so a quick summery of part 2

The crowds and fanbase seems to be dwindling, what are we doing about it.

NC- it's a big talking point at the club and they spend a lot of time trying to find the right ways to increase the crowds. It's not rocket science though.
1) The price, they do their best to keep the price down
2) They offer promotions such as this weekend versus Midddlesboro where the club have a schools promotion on, Business partners can buy tickets for £10, SC holders can bring a friend for £10(note I still haven't had my text/email as yet) and the Examiner is running a offer where you collect 3 tokens and exchange them plus £10 at the ticket office for a ticket.
3) people need to enjoy the whole experience....you can't always win but the very least they expect is the team to put a shift in and go down fighting.
NC also praises the efforts of the ATT and NSL groups for working with the club in a attempt to improve matchday atmosphere. He also says you can't expect a big crowd when you get thumped 0-4 at home in the previous game.

Fixtures- Town don't ask to avoid any dates but with Leeds festival being on a Bank Holiday in August it's usually more than likely that Leeds would be away and so we would have a home game.

Sky TV money, NC was asked what we get

NC- £4million

Town Ladies

NCL- this was a board decision, all 5 board members agreed to part ways, given Towns community spirit he accepts it's unusual but they hold no animosity against the Ladies team.
He wouldn't really be drawn into anything further and wasn't posed any real tough questions about it. Wanted to draw a line under it and move on as a club.

Social Media.

NC- Dean hates it.
He wants to be accessible as possible to the supporters.
He gets accused of being a keyboard warrior when he answers and when he doesn't he gets accused of hiding...in his own words you can't win.
When we didn't have a manager or a center back he got a lot of personal abuse, he didn't like it but accepts it happens and if he can't take the stick then he shouldn't be in the job...it works both ways. Very honest of him.

WYP- LUFC 3pm - Town 12:30pm
WYP dictate this and we have to abide by it otherwise if they refuse to police a 3pm KO then we wouldn't be able to play the game
Bob Pepper took issue with this and said we shouldn't just accept it, NC basically said we can't do anything to change it, every game has a risk assessment and we have to abide by that.

Ticket Prices £20sPlenty

As trailed in the Premier League, NC doesn't see it working at this level, when someone pointed out Barnsley and Derby did it NC claimed Derby did in return for being given a huge allocation for the return game at Oakwell.

Ken Davy

NC - he attends once a season.

HD1

NC- he doesn't think it would've gone ahead had HTAFC not been on board due to us being bang in the middle of the whole plan plus the astronomical costs.
Parking whilst HD1 is being built and after it's completed was at the top of Towns concerns and it should not impact on matchday parking and in the end should improve parking and getting in and out quicker.

Agents Fees

NC- we don't have to pay any agents fees but sometimes it helps get deals over the line.

Do we any plans to utilise the loan window.

NC- No talks with CP as yet, he needs time to look at the squad. Dean will be supportive if CP needs to bring players in as he has done with all his managers.

Live Stream/online Video content

NC- watch this space, Town have already started planning to improve things by having stuff like pre and post match comments uploaded. The main problem we've had is the agreement that was made whilst in Admin has limited us to what we can do but deals are changing all the time.

Programme Vote.
A show of hands suggested 70% were against it with just 30% for it although lots didn't vote (roughly 200 in attendance)
Every week someone complains about the programme to Nigel but when he asks did they buy it they say no which kind of points towards Nigel's theory on sales plummeting

Players Community involvement.
This was questioned by 1 fan who thinks they don't do enough. NC thinks the players are good lads and want to be part of it and generally thinks they do alright and much more than many other clubs.

Forieign players/England

NC - too many foreigners and says it will get worse.
No desire at the top level to cap the numbers coming in.
He can see more English youngsters dropping from Prem clubs to Chamionship clubs on loan.
The squads in the top flight are massive, he says Chelsea have something like 33 players out on loan and joked it seems like 29 of them are at Middlesboro.
It depresses him when he sees a good player like Jack Rodwell rot in the reserves at Man City when he should've been playing first team football in the Premier League, thankfully he now gets that chance at Sunderland.
He says it's easier for clubs to recruit players from abroad rather than at home, it's sexier and more exciting plus it eases the pressure on those in academy recruitment to make a impact.

[Mitzi]

Thanks Wakey, much appreciated! Never knew you had such excellent summarising and transcribing skills.

[WakeyTerrier]

I've left out the Bloke called Michael who single handed was trying to bore everyone to sleep.