bigtruck
Frank Worthington Terrier
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Posts: 1,829
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Post by bigtruck on Jan 9, 2023 8:41:37 GMT 1
I think the Working Class Club was Phils mantra and was just a gimmick that didn’t have any link to reality at the time. DH and Wagner was more of the fight in the dog not the dog in the fight. Which at the time was exactly what was needed and worked fantastically. As for Jarvis been full of gimmicks, that’s what marketing is. Some of the community based stuff may have seemed gimmicky but it didn’t half get the community and fans engaged. Can you imagine open training sessions today? And I know we mocked the “major announcements imminent posts” that told us the new official toothpaste supplier to Town but can’t argue that Sean brought a large amount of new and lucrative business to the club. Investment not really seen since his departure despite 2 new “specialist” marketing people in. Paddy Power was a gimmick that backfired but brought a spotlight to the club that is still talked about today and been replicated so can even that be deemed a failure. Where we struggled was that vast amount of outside investment when we hit the PL and maybe where the small club mantra worked against us. But what Dh and SJ brought at the time from L1 onwards was engagement and made fans feel it was our Club again. That’s gone. And any new philosophy has to get that back. For me there are two ways of achieving that. One way is what Sean did and worked. But also see how quickly communities get engaged with a club when a Saudi Prince says there’s millions to spend. I’d prefer the former.
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Post by runner76 on Jan 9, 2023 9:43:45 GMT 1
Would you drop the ‘terrier’ mascot if it meant sustaining us in the Premier League?
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Post by hthp on Jan 9, 2023 9:49:18 GMT 1
Would you drop the ‘terrier’ mascot if it meant sustaining us in the Premier League? Yes. |
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Post by Sio on Jan 9, 2023 9:50:51 GMT 1
I think the Working Class Club was Phils mantra and was just a gimmick that didn’t have any link to reality at the time. DH and Wagner was more of the fight in the dog not the dog in the fight. Which at the time was exactly what was needed and worked fantastically. As for Jarvis been full of gimmicks, that’s what marketing is. Some of the community based stuff may have seemed gimmicky but it didn’t half get the community and fans engaged. Can you imagine open training sessions today? And I know we mocked the “major announcements imminent posts” that told us the new official toothpaste supplier to Town but can’t argue that Sean brought a large amount of new and lucrative business to the club. Investment not really seen since his departure despite 2 new “specialist” marketing people in. Paddy Power was a gimmick that backfired but brought a spotlight to the club that is still talked about today and been replicated so can even that be deemed a failure. Where we struggled was that vast amount of outside investment when we hit the PL and maybe where the small club mantra worked against us. But what Dh and SJ brought at the time from L1 onwards was engagement and made fans feel it was our Club again. That’s gone. And any new philosophy has to get that back. For me there are two ways of achieving that. One way is what Sean did and worked. But also see how quickly communities get engaged with a club when a Saudi Prince says there’s millions to spend. I’d prefer the former. Did it work? In League One and our earlier Championship days, probably; and for bringing in local sponsorship money, yeah, no arguments. But on a bigger picture, we left the Premier League with essentially zero development or progress in terms of our image. I still come across football 'fans' who legitimately don't know if we've spent time in the Prem, and certainly have no idea what division we're in now, who our recent managers have been, etc. People have recollection of David Wagner and that's it, because he was charismatic and needed no marketing. I got asked by a genuine football fan the other day 'do you have a Premier League team to support as well?'. We have absolutely no presence, and marketing is a key area designed to change that. How we managed to spend two years on the global stage and leave it with no sense of improvement is some achievement. We were so honoured to be there that we just went with the ride. Embarrassing. |
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Post by hthp on Jan 9, 2023 9:59:45 GMT 1
I think the Working Class Club was Phils mantra and was just a gimmick that didn’t have any link to reality at the time. DH and Wagner was more of the fight in the dog not the dog in the fight. Which at the time was exactly what was needed and worked fantastically. As for Jarvis been full of gimmicks, that’s what marketing is. Some of the community based stuff may have seemed gimmicky but it didn’t half get the community and fans engaged. Can you imagine open training sessions today? And I know we mocked the “major announcements imminent posts” that told us the new official toothpaste supplier to Town but can’t argue that Sean brought a large amount of new and lucrative business to the club. Investment not really seen since his departure despite 2 new “specialist” marketing people in. Paddy Power was a gimmick that backfired but brought a spotlight to the club that is still talked about today and been replicated so can even that be deemed a failure. Where we struggled was that vast amount of outside investment when we hit the PL and maybe where the small club mantra worked against us. But what Dh and SJ brought at the time from L1 onwards was engagement and made fans feel it was our Club again. That’s gone. And any new philosophy has to get that back. For me there are two ways of achieving that. One way is what Sean did and worked. But also see how quickly communities get engaged with a club when a Saudi Prince says there’s millions to spend. I’d prefer the former. Did it work? In League One and our earlier Championship days, probably; and for bringing in local sponsorship money, yeah, no arguments. But on a bigger picture, we left the Premier League with essentially zero development or progress in terms of our image. I still come across football 'fans' who legitimately don't know if we've spent time in the Prem, and certainly have no idea what division we're in now, who our recent managers have been, etc. People have recollection of David Wagner and that's it, because he was charismatic and needed no marketing. I got asked by a genuine football fan the other day 'do you have a Premier League team to support as well?'. We have absolutely no presence, and marketing is a key area designed to change that. How we managed to spend two years on the global stage and leave it with no sense of improvement is some achievement. We were so honoured to be there that we just went with the ride. Embarrassing. There were a few of us who were completely against all that nonsense but were shouted down by the majority. The amount of times I heard, "enjoy the ride", during those two seasons, particularly when we were losing, was unbelievable. I heard people saying "I don't care if we lose all 38 games as long as we can say we've been there", or the classic "I'd rather go down with Wagner, than stay up with another manager". Even the Commercial Director was tweeting, "so what if we get relegated?". The attitude of the club and the majority of fans stank in those two seasons. We got relegated in March and what did our fans do? Stood there at Selhurst Park singing Bob Marley songs. Then at Southampton, the final match of the season, they cheered the players off, Jan Siewert was conducting the crowd, players throwing their shirts into the crowd. The fans seemed more bothered about the free away shirts they'd been given than the fact we'd been relegated with a whimper. I walked out in disgust after seeing all that. Our attitude in the Premier League was an absolute embarrassment, but there's too many people who now, in hindsight, are stating this, but at the time were happy to buy all that crap and were happy to go along with it. The few of us that tried to challenge it were given stick and told, amongst other things, to "go and watch Man City" or some other nonsense. |
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Post by 3Pipe on Jan 9, 2023 10:19:49 GMT 1
We have absolutely no presence, and marketing is a key area designed to change that. How we managed to spend two years on the global stage and leave it with no sense of improvement is some achievement. We were so honoured to be there that we just went with the ride. Embarrassing. But we were THE YORKSHIRE CLUB for 2 seasons. |
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Post by space hardware on Jan 9, 2023 10:23:15 GMT 1
We have absolutely no presence, and marketing is a key area designed to change that. How we managed to spend two years on the global stage and leave it with no sense of improvement is some achievement. We were so honoured to be there that we just went with the ride. Embarrassing. But we were THE YORKSHIRE CLUB for 2 seasons. Which was also completely cringeworthy. |
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Post by dugnet on Jan 9, 2023 10:56:01 GMT 1
Some really good points on this thread. The sooner we have a change the better now is evident to most.
I think it is important that those of us who do believe in the potential of Huddersfield Town keep banging that drum. The mindset, that others have highlighted in this thread, that we aren't/can't be any better or our success was "something we could only dream of", a "moment in time" if you like, must be challenged.
The media created in those good times should be being used to sell the club right now. In fact if it isn't someone isn't doing their job. In truth those times were when the club should have been sold, noting there would be no guarantees of that being successful. What we now have is a entirely negative narrative that is not helping the club.
I think this is my overall frustration, along with many other decisions and outcomes, that we seem to be resigned to the club not being really capable of being better. If that is allowed to happen the club will never be any better.
Those who do believe in our club need to keep championing the cause. What happens on the pitch matters but that doesn't change the potential of Town. It's important we keep telling whoever in charge that despite whatever challenges there are that potential is still there. If we lose that belief then we are done for as a club, but I have faith that those of us who do believe will keep that potential alive.
Here's hoping for a positive future.
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ram
Andy Booth Terrier
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Post by ram on Jan 9, 2023 11:36:36 GMT 1
My New Year predictions:- We will not get a new owner,the stadium takeover will fail,we will get relegated and Dean Hoyle will be stuck with having to prop the club up to the tune of £5 million a season and with Fotheringham and Bromby as he mates....Good job My predictions never materialise innit!  |
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Post by townarentbest on Jan 9, 2023 12:23:30 GMT 1
Spot on pozza. Stop the "working class club" cliched crap and get on with re-engaging with the public and business. Since wagner and jarvis left the communication has worsened and theres been a disconnect. The fans never took to phil for a variety of reasons and DHs decision making is rightly being questioned. We as supporters may have to swallow financial pain on this - weve had cheap tickets and this may need to change - but it cant until new owners sell a better proposition than the current ownership. Hopefully 2023 will see more positivity. 'Working Class Club' was without a doubt a Jarvis introduction, though. Yes he was great at chatting with fans, and an absolutely lovely bloke, but he was full of base-level marketing gimmicks and another example of us being amateur when it came to capitalising on our time in the Prem. But wouldn't, " Off the field we should continue our good work in the community. Keep helping those that need it and attracting fans of a young age through more of the initiatives we already have (schools promotions, links with grassroots clubs etc) and try build the fan base that way." describe a 'working class club' anyway? One that has that community spirit, is hard working, and engages with the fans on their level. A working class club. How many fans of other Championship clubs could name the kit man or the ticket office manager or know the percentage ownership of the ground the club play in? As supporters we're fully invested as part of this club, and the club operates (or operated) on a level with us. Agree wholeheartedly on the lack of capitalisation on the Premier League opportunity. I always felt that we didn't capitalise properly even on the Championship opportunity - lots of local partners offering services in return for being associated with the club, but no real tangible £££. |
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Post by townarentbest on Jan 9, 2023 12:26:49 GMT 1
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Post by hthp on Jan 9, 2023 13:00:28 GMT 1
Changing the badge, selling out to the Chinese sponsors, waving Chinese flags in all four corners of the ground when we scored (was it the Bournemouth match?). It was disgraceful, but hardly anyone cared at the time... |
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Post by Porrohman on Jan 9, 2023 13:15:11 GMT 1
Changing the badge, selling out to the Chinese sponsors, waving Chinese flags in all four corners of the ground when we scored (was it the Bournemouth match?). It was disgraceful, but hardly anyone cared at the time... Except we didn't sell out to Chinese sponsors, they weren't Chinese. Sean Jarvis posted about it, on here I think, after he'd gone to Leicestershire |
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Post by hthp on Jan 9, 2023 13:29:11 GMT 1
Changing the badge, selling out to the Chinese sponsors, waving Chinese flags in all four corners of the ground when we scored (was it the Bournemouth match?). It was disgraceful, but hardly anyone cared at the time... Except we didn't sell out to Chinese sponsors, they weren't Chinese. Sean Jarvis posted about it, on here I think, after he'd gone to Leicestershire Why were we waving Chinese flags at the Bournemouth game then? |
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Post by Porrohman on Jan 9, 2023 13:57:11 GMT 1
Except we didn't sell out to Chinese sponsors, they weren't Chinese. Sean Jarvis posted about it, on here I think, after he'd gone to Leicestershire Why were we waving Chinese flags at the Bournemouth game then? No idea why you were, I wasn't waving one. |
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bigtruck
Frank Worthington Terrier
[M0:0][N4:#bigtrucktone#]
Posts: 1,829
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Post by bigtruck on Jan 9, 2023 14:04:25 GMT 1
That’s a good find BUT I guarantee you it was a mantra Phil brought to the club from day one and had it plastered all over the office walls etc. from the Feb/March when he took over. So SJ is just reiterating Phils message in that article from June 2019. Yes I think SJ and the marketing department could and probably should have done better in the 2 premier league years, but we did try with image changes like the digital terrier badge etc. that everyone hated but was supposed to stretch us in other digital markets and China etc. put it this way I’d rather have SJ back now doing the job than the shower of shite PH employed and currently at the club. |
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Post by Ginger Ogre on Jan 9, 2023 14:12:41 GMT 1
I think one key thing the new owners could do is have some sort of fan representation on the board, or at least a sub-board (for want of a better phrase) to assist them in what the fans want to see and how improvements can be made.
I know we have to ATT, but that doesn't really tackle any major issues. HTSA are there but aren't really at the forefront anymore (although recently they are becoming more vocal and challenging which is great to see) so some sort of input from fans would help massively in the club getting back to how it was a few years ago.
Its amazing that as a customer you get bombarded by surveys, feedback forms etc from pretty much any company you use, but I don’t think I've ever had anything of a similar nature from Huddersfield Town in all my years of attending.
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Post by Sio on Jan 9, 2023 14:23:27 GMT 1
'Working Class Club' was without a doubt a Jarvis introduction, though. Yes he was great at chatting with fans, and an absolutely lovely bloke, but he was full of base-level marketing gimmicks and another example of us being amateur when it came to capitalising on our time in the Prem. But wouldn't, " Off the field we should continue our good work in the community. Keep helping those that need it and attracting fans of a young age through more of the initiatives we already have (schools promotions, links with grassroots clubs etc) and try build the fan base that way." describe a 'working class club' anyway? One that has that community spirit, is hard working, and engages with the fans on their level. A working class club. How many fans of other Championship clubs could name the kit man or the ticket office manager or know the percentage ownership of the ground the club play in? As supporters we're fully invested as part of this club, and the club operates (or operated) on a level with us. Agree wholeheartedly on the lack of capitalisation on the Premier League opportunity. I always felt that we didn't capitalise properly even on the Championship opportunity - lots of local partners offering services in return for being associated with the club, but no real tangible £££. Absolutely we should continue the community work, that's never in doubt. It's a tremendous part of our club, or certainly was when in full swing. But, and this applies to your comment about the kit man, ticket office etc too, I think we overestimate our uniqueness in that regard. I think avid fans of any club will do their research and understand their team inside out. I don't deny that the chains of communication used to be excellent at Town (e.g. you could probably land a meeting with Jarvis or DTS if you wanted, which is fantastic), and probably a level above most. But on the community stuff, or the understanding and sharing of how the club works, we aren't alone. I do a fair amount of work at Man City, one of the best footballing sides in the world, and they're absolutely first class at giving fans constant insight into the inner workings of the club. It doesn't need to be one or the other. A club can grow and expand its horizons without losing those charming community-based values. |
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Post by dugnet on Jan 9, 2023 14:27:20 GMT 1
I think one key thing the new owners could do is have some sort of fan representation on the board, or at least a sub-board (for want of a better phrase) to assist them in what the fans want to see and how improvements can be made. I know we have to ATT, but that doesn't really tackle any major issues. HTSA are there but aren't really at the forefront anymore (although recently they are becoming more vocal and challenging which is great to see) so some sort of input from fans would help massively in the club getting back to how it was a few years ago. Its amazing that as a customer you get bombarded by surveys, feedback forms etc from pretty much any company you use, but I don’t think I've ever had anything of a similar nature from Huddersfield Town in all my years of attending. With DH and PH didn't we have a "fans representative" on the board? As fans, appreciating they will see things slightly differently, surely they can't be so out of touch (point made not to be in anyway facetious). I do think anyone in control would benefit from trusting the fans and communicating with them better. Although reactions on social media may suggest otherwise many who follow the club are entirely reasonable and welcome issues being explained clearly and sensibly. By doing so you build trust and relationships. I take the view you might not be happy with a decision but you respect a honest explanation. It is something the club has lost in the past few seasons. |
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Post by hthp on Jan 9, 2023 14:44:51 GMT 1
Why were we waving Chinese flags at the Bournemouth game then? No idea why you were, I wasn't waving one. I wasn't, but the club were. |
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Post by Porrohman on Jan 9, 2023 15:00:00 GMT 1
No idea why you were, I wasn't waving one. I wasn't, but the club were. I don't even know if OPE were foreign but it was the "in" thing to have far eastern betting companies as partners so they made the logo look like the Chinese ones. I've seen Sean write about them, and I'm sure it was on here, maybe 18 months ago 🤔 |
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Post by Junior & Onuora on Jan 9, 2023 15:07:32 GMT 1
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Post by harris on Jan 9, 2023 15:23:30 GMT 1
Except we didn't sell out to Chinese sponsors, they weren't Chinese. Sean Jarvis posted about it, on here I think, after he'd gone to Leicestershire Why were we waving Chinese flags at the Bournemouth game then? Wasn’t it to do with Chinese New Year? Thought it was just a one off |
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Post by space hardware on Jan 9, 2023 15:27:31 GMT 1
😂 'kin hell, that was some weird shit going on there. |
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Post by 3Pipe on Jan 9, 2023 15:34:02 GMT 1
But we were THE YORKSHIRE CLUB for 2 seasons. Which was also completely cringeworthy. Totally. |
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Post by hthp on Jan 9, 2023 16:04:37 GMT 1
Why were we waving Chinese flags at the Bournemouth game then? Wasn’t it to do with Chinese New Year? Thought it was just a one off Not sure, but it was a bit weird. |
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Post by townohiofan on Jan 9, 2023 17:25:12 GMT 1
The biggest thing I'd like to copy from Brentford is to have our future owner(s) own another club where we can leverage relationships and resources.
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bigtruck
Frank Worthington Terrier
[M0:0][N4:#bigtrucktone#]
Posts: 1,829
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Post by bigtruck on Jan 9, 2023 21:23:31 GMT 1
Changing the badge, selling out to the Chinese sponsors, waving Chinese flags in all four corners of the ground when we scored (was it the Bournemouth match?). It was disgraceful, but hardly anyone cared at the time... Except we didn't sell out to Chinese sponsors, they weren't Chinese. Sean Jarvis posted about it, on here I think, after he'd gone to Leicestershire Stop coming on here with your facts and ruining things for people 😉 |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2023 11:12:56 GMT 1
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Post by Big Ern on Jan 10, 2023 11:34:17 GMT 1
At least their current owners actually own the club. |
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