| We are not a football club. We are not a business. 09:33 - Jan 22 with 3825 views | FinidiCentenary |
I'm really finding it difficult to place exactly what Ipswich Town has become.
You're right Mick. We are not Ipswich Town under Bobby Robson. When we were, we put the community at the heart of everything we did, we tried to please the supporters, we tried to play the right way, bring kids through, spend what money we had wisely and we were run by people whose blood ran blue. We were a community football club in every sense of the word. Local people working for the club, local people running the club and many a local player in the side.
But that version of football was long since replaced. It's how the industry has gone. People like Kevin Bru will end up earning more money in a season than the likes of Kevin Beattie or John Wark, genuine £50m plus players in they were around now, would have earned in their lives. Football is a business. Big business. By and large the owners are not local, the players rarely are. It's about your Marcus Evans' coming in, buying a club and seeing it as a risk with which to potentially make big money.
We seem to be committed to something in between.
We aren't a football club. We don't embrace the supporters, we don't work as one, the fans really aren't valued as supporters, the life blood of the club, the thing you absolutely have to have or the whole thing dies a death. It's quite clear Evans doesn't see us as that. We are viewed surely by him as a business.
In which case, what sort of business are we actually running? Just for a second pretend we are not a football club, but that business, like a hotel or a restaurant. Take the emotion of being a fan out of it and become a customer. Customers are leaving in their droves and voicing their dissatisfaction. What does the owner do?
He puts the prices up. He punishes an age group that represents the longest serving and most loyal customers. Then he allows a man to essentially run this hotel or restaurant and tell these customers they can 'f*** off, he knows what he's doing, they don't and if they don't like it they can go eat / stay somewhere else.
No matter what way you look at us it's a sorry state. If we were a football club in the old sense, nobody would mind Mick telling it like it is from time to time as long as when the heat died down we all realised we all desperately loved the club and wanted the same thing. But we don't. Mick will ride off into the sunset with barely a glance at the Town results in the coming days.
If we were a business, you tell the customers you'll make improvements, you apologise when they feel disgruntled, even when they may be being precious, you do everything you can to entice them in.
I just can't see what our identity is anymore. We are like the worst parts of a club and a business truth be told. |  |
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| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 10:35 - Jan 22 with 3350 views | No9 |
For any real change to take place the first person out the door has to be Mr Milne.
It needs a person with football in their heart and a desire to see the club he is MD of to do well and to engage with the people growing support in the stands not driving it away.
With good man in the MD seat the MM issue would be resolved very quickly | | | |
| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 10:39 - Jan 22 with 3329 views | Herbivore |
| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 10:35 - Jan 22 by No9 |
For any real change to take place the first person out the door has to be Mr Milne.
It needs a person with football in their heart and a desire to see the club he is MD of to do well and to engage with the people growing support in the stands not driving it away.
With good man in the MD seat the MM issue would be resolved very quickly |
Milne? He's just ME's mouthpiece, as his replacement would be too. |  |
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| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 10:40 - Jan 22 with 3325 views | No9 |
| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 10:39 - Jan 22 by Herbivore |
Milne? He's just ME's mouthpiece, as his replacement would be too. |
How do you knw what Mr Milnes roll is in Mr Evans empire other tahn how it is described in Co's House? | | | |
| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 10:41 - Jan 22 with 3317 views | Herbivore |
| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 10:40 - Jan 22 by No9 |
How do you knw what Mr Milnes roll is in Mr Evans empire other tahn how it is described in Co's House? |
By using my eyes and ears since he was appointed by ME. | |
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| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 10:47 - Jan 22 with 3300 views | No9 |
| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 10:41 - Jan 22 by Herbivore |
By using my eyes and ears since he was appointed by ME. |
If you have done that you would surely understand Mr Milne is not good for ITFC & how can he advise Mr E on football - his job is descrined as Legal Counsel. | | | |
| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 10:53 - Jan 22 with 3302 views | Steve_M |
I think you highlight the main problem we have now but I don't entirely agree with your diagnosis: we're a football club who've missed countless opportunities to progress since the Summer of 2001.
Very few clubs are community clubs of the ideal you describe, all in the top two divisions have had to change with varying degrees of success. Those where the fans are happier are those where there is current success, relative or otherwise, on the pitch.
Without success on the pitch then any identity drifts as fans engage less, for all that the repeated play-off failure in the late 90s was disappointing, in terms of matches won we were fourth in the country over several seasons (behind Manchester United, Arsenal and Sunderland). Would the memories of Burley's good football endure without the wins and eventual promotion?
There is no easy solution but certainly Marcus Evans has eschewed some sensible options that might have allowed fans to re-engage (last year's pricing fiasco being the most notable) let alone any more complicated thinking to avoid relying on the manager to lift the club above it's financial weight. |  |
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| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 10:55 - Jan 22 with 3284 views | Herbivore |
| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 10:47 - Jan 22 by No9 |
If you have done that you would surely understand Mr Milne is not good for ITFC & how can he advise Mr E on football - his job is descrined as Legal Counsel. |
But the issue with Milne is not Milne himself. ME hasn't employed him to advise on footballing matters and if Milne went he'd simply employee another Milne type to do a similar job. I can't understand how anyone thinks that Milne going will make any real difference whilst ME is still here. | |
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| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 10:57 - Jan 22 with 3273 views | artsbossbeard |
| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 10:55 - Jan 22 by Herbivore |
But the issue with Milne is not Milne himself. ME hasn't employed him to advise on footballing matters and if Milne went he'd simply employee another Milne type to do a similar job. I can't understand how anyone thinks that Milne going will make any real difference whilst ME is still here. |
Milne will also be seen in reasonably high regard with ME after helping secure the £2m sponsorship deal, I'd envisage. |  |
| Please note: prior to hitting the post button, I've double checked for anything that could be construed as "Anti Semitic" and to the best of my knowledge it isn't. Anything deemed to be of a Xenophobic nature is therefore purely accidental or down to your own misconstruing. | | Poll: | Raining in IP8 - shall I get the washing in? |
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| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 10:57 - Jan 22 with 3269 views | No9 |
| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 10:55 - Jan 22 by Herbivore |
But the issue with Milne is not Milne himself. ME hasn't employed him to advise on footballing matters and if Milne went he'd simply employee another Milne type to do a similar job. I can't understand how anyone thinks that Milne going will make any real difference whilst ME is still here. |
Observe other clubs | | | |
| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 10:58 - Jan 22 with 3264 views | No9 |
| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 10:57 - Jan 22 by artsbossbeard |
Milne will also be seen in reasonably high regard with ME after helping secure the £2m sponsorship deal, I'd envisage. |
£ 2mn over a period of circa 3 seasons would get many in his postion a derisory note if not the bag | | | |
| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 10:58 - Jan 22 with 3261 views | Herbivore |
| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 10:57 - Jan 22 by No9 |
Observe other clubs |
How obtuse. | |
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| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 11:00 - Jan 22 with 3255 views | artsbossbeard |
| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 10:58 - Jan 22 by No9 |
£ 2mn over a period of circa 3 seasons would get many in his postion a derisory note if not the bag |
I presume the Leeds version of Milne has departed then as their sponsorship deal with a betting company is nowhere near as good as Towns? | |
| Please note: prior to hitting the post button, I've double checked for anything that could be construed as "Anti Semitic" and to the best of my knowledge it isn't. Anything deemed to be of a Xenophobic nature is therefore purely accidental or down to your own misconstruing. | | Poll: | Raining in IP8 - shall I get the washing in? |
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| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 11:00 - Jan 22 with 3253 views | No9 |
| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 10:58 - Jan 22 by Herbivore |
How obtuse. |
Not at all. | | | |
| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 11:00 - Jan 22 with 3252 views | Herbivore |
| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 10:58 - Jan 22 by No9 |
£ 2mn over a period of circa 3 seasons would get many in his postion a derisory note if not the bag |
And how do you know this exactly? Our deal is worth 50% more than the deal Leeds have got (also with a gambling firm) which suggests we did well. Seriously, you do not live in the real world. | |
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| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 11:03 - Jan 22 with 3229 views | Herbivore |
| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 11:00 - Jan 22 by No9 |
Not at all. |
How many other clubs have ME owning them? What other clubs' MDs do is somewhat irrelevant, whilst we have ME in charge the MD is always going to have a similar role to Milne, it's a business role as opposed to a footballing one and the little Milne has to say about the footballing side of things is essentially acting as ME's mouthpiece. That won't change unless ME goes. | |
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| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 11:04 - Jan 22 with 3228 views | No9 |
| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 11:00 - Jan 22 by Herbivore |
And how do you know this exactly? Our deal is worth 50% more than the deal Leeds have got (also with a gambling firm) which suggests we did well. Seriously, you do not live in the real world. |
Calm down.
Mr Milne is not very good for ITFC but a 'Football man' might be?
I don't see how that is related to Leeds or any other football outfit. | | | |
| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 11:06 - Jan 22 with 3219 views | Herbivore |
| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 11:04 - Jan 22 by No9 |
Calm down.
Mr Milne is not very good for ITFC but a 'Football man' might be?
I don't see how that is related to Leeds or any other football outfit. |
Observe other clubs. [Post edited 22 Jan 2018 11:06]
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| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 11:13 - Jan 22 with 3194 views | No9 |
| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 11:06 - Jan 22 by Herbivore |
Observe other clubs. [Post edited 22 Jan 2018 11:06]
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OK, apart from rumours I don't see how Mr MIlne is related to any other clubs - the rumours being, he is a Chelsea fan | | | |
| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 11:17 - Jan 22 with 3187 views | artsbossbeard |
| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 11:13 - Jan 22 by No9 |
OK, apart from rumours I don't see how Mr MIlne is related to any other clubs - the rumours being, he is a Chelsea fan |
Well I, for one, hope that he declared this major conflict of interest on his CV and that due diligence was done prior to him starting.
Clegg out. | |
| Please note: prior to hitting the post button, I've double checked for anything that could be construed as "Anti Semitic" and to the best of my knowledge it isn't. Anything deemed to be of a Xenophobic nature is therefore purely accidental or down to your own misconstruing. | | Poll: | Raining in IP8 - shall I get the washing in? |
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| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 11:27 - Jan 22 with 3158 views | BlueBadger |
| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 11:00 - Jan 22 by No9 |
Not at all. |
Oh please, this is up there with 'go and look it up' in the 'trying to support my tissue-thin argument' stakes. |  |
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| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 11:36 - Jan 22 with 3140 views | Herbivore |
| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 11:27 - Jan 22 by BlueBadger |
Oh please, this is up there with 'go and look it up' in the 'trying to support my tissue-thin argument' stakes. |
I like that a mere two posts later he's also decided that what's happening at other clubs isn't of any relevance. | |
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| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 11:52 - Jan 22 with 3107 views | BlueBadger |
| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 11:36 - Jan 22 by Herbivore |
I like that a mere two posts later he's also decided that what's happening at other clubs isn't of any relevance. |
It's almost like he's making this up as he goes along. | |
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| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 12:12 - Jan 22 with 3071 views | noggin |
Football is dead, unless you love the obscene riches, tourist and corporate fanbase and showtime football of the bigger Premier League clubs. Because at the end of the day, that is what success is, winning trophies. We can all enjoy a last minute winner to move us up to 10th in the Championship but it's short lived euphoria and not exciting enough to entice a new generation of fans who will follow town because they are the local club. RIP ITFC. |  |
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| This on 12:45 - Jan 22 with 3007 views | Dyland |
| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 12:12 - Jan 22 by noggin |
Football is dead, unless you love the obscene riches, tourist and corporate fanbase and showtime football of the bigger Premier League clubs. Because at the end of the day, that is what success is, winning trophies. We can all enjoy a last minute winner to move us up to 10th in the Championship but it's short lived euphoria and not exciting enough to entice a new generation of fans who will follow town because they are the local club. RIP ITFC. |
And balls. |  |
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| We are not a football club. We are not a business. on 13:12 - Jan 22 with 2969 views | Benters2 |
*we are a local club for local people* | | | |
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