| One gripe from Friday 08:26 - Nov 26 with 4970 views | uefacup81 |
And it's the one that each and every one of us could have predicted...
How the hell does the catering for a match when an attendance of 23,000 is expected still manage to be so bad!?
My mate and I had come straight from work in Norwich and had planned on having a pie at half-time, so left for the concourse on 40mins. Even then there were only five pies left in the warming cabinet, one of which had already been paid for, and two stressed-looking women manning the counter.
Last time I checked, Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ wasn't in the employ of the club, so how in the name of all that is holy did nobody stop to think that, of 23,000 people at a football match on a Friday night, less than 1% of them would want some sort of nourishment at half-time in the form of some sort of meaty comestible. Likewise, with just the two members of staff manning the counter, there was still a queue of at least 20 people about five minutes into the second half.
Oh, if only we were run by some sort of hospitality guru... |  |
| |  |
| One gripe from Friday on 08:30 - Nov 26 with 4651 views | SitfcB |
I’m not sure why people are so surprised/shocked about it. It’s the norm these days, you expect it.
Like they advised everyone to get here early to avoid queues at the turnstiles yet not all the turnstiles were open... |  |
| |
| Milne is a joke much like our squad quality.... on 08:38 - Nov 26 with 4615 views | unstableblue |
....Lambert has been the best thing Marcus has done in his time here. The innovative things he’s been doing at the training ground, are exactly the forward thinking moves all departments at the club need to adopt.
All clubs who have made that sea change improvement to rise the table to the Premier League tend to have a driven and dynamic MD.
Town need one.
As for the playing side - Lambert is trying to heal years of squad depletion and the completely wrong footballing ethos.
If he can turn this around and get some real squad backing; then I hope Marcus also looks at the operational side of the club. |  |
| |
| One gripe from Friday on 08:47 - Nov 26 with 4575 views | uefacup81 |
| One gripe from Friday on 08:30 - Nov 26 by SitfcB |
I’m not sure why people are so surprised/shocked about it. It’s the norm these days, you expect it.
Like they advised everyone to get here early to avoid queues at the turnstiles yet not all the turnstiles were open... |
Agreed, but when the club pay Centerpoint to run the operation, I'm sure there's an argument that their incompetence borders on negligence when their (in)actions actively restrict the club's money-making potential. | |
| |
| One gripe from Friday on 08:48 - Nov 26 with 4579 views | artsbossbeard |
Yep, got talking to a couple of my Vets team mates who don't normally go after our game yesterday.
Both went due to the £10 promotion, they queued up at half time only to be told when 3 from the front that all the lager was gone. Due to it only being a tenner, they left and watched the second half in The Plough.
If people on here are able to calculate that there's a crowd of circa 22k in attendance, why can't the club? |  |
| 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? |
| |
| One gripe from Friday on 08:53 - Nov 26 with 4552 views | uefacup81 |
| One gripe from Friday on 08:48 - Nov 26 by artsbossbeard |
Yep, got talking to a couple of my Vets team mates who don't normally go after our game yesterday.
Both went due to the £10 promotion, they queued up at half time only to be told when 3 from the front that all the lager was gone. Due to it only being a tenner, they left and watched the second half in The Plough.
If people on here are able to calculate that there's a crowd of circa 22k in attendance, why can't the club? |
Likewise, they make the argument that they struggle to get casual staff in for 23 matches a year.
I don't see the club having any problems when it comes to finding the extra staff for Planet Blue for matchdays. | |
| |
| One gripe from Friday on 08:53 - Nov 26 with 4557 views | WD19 |
Was nailed on to happen. Said as much on here when the club put out an announcement to all fans to 'turn up early'. Not that it excuses the behaviour of some people towards the bar staff mind. |  | | |
| One gripe from Friday on 08:57 - Nov 26 with 4532 views | Garv |
| One gripe from Friday on 08:48 - Nov 26 by artsbossbeard |
Yep, got talking to a couple of my Vets team mates who don't normally go after our game yesterday.
Both went due to the £10 promotion, they queued up at half time only to be told when 3 from the front that all the lager was gone. Due to it only being a tenner, they left and watched the second half in The Plough.
If people on here are able to calculate that there's a crowd of circa 22k in attendance, why can't the club? |
If they were only going for the booze why didn't they go straight to the pub in the first place? |  |
| |
| One gripe from Friday on 09:02 - Nov 26 with 4511 views | artsbossbeard |
| One gripe from Friday on 08:57 - Nov 26 by Garv |
If they were only going for the booze why didn't they go straight to the pub in the first place? |
I've re-read my post and can confirm that I've not said within that they were only going for the booze. | |
| 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? |
| |
Login to get fewer ads
| One gripe from Friday on 09:05 - Nov 26 with 4498 views | ElephantintheRoom |
All those extra tickets went to poor people who cannot afford pies. Perhaps Fuller will do a holier than thou campaign for more pies next time. |  |
| |
| Milne is a joke much like our squad quality.... on 09:10 - Nov 26 with 4460 views | davblue |
| Milne is a joke much like our squad quality.... on 08:38 - Nov 26 by unstableblue |
....Lambert has been the best thing Marcus has done in his time here. The innovative things he’s been doing at the training ground, are exactly the forward thinking moves all departments at the club need to adopt.
All clubs who have made that sea change improvement to rise the table to the Premier League tend to have a driven and dynamic MD.
Town need one.
As for the playing side - Lambert is trying to heal years of squad depletion and the completely wrong footballing ethos.
If he can turn this around and get some real squad backing; then I hope Marcus also looks at the operational side of the club. |
The whole club is crying out for change from top to bottom, it's rotting slowly.
Evans might have saved the club 10 years ago but he certainly hasn't enhanced it. |  | | |
| One gripe from Friday on 11:53 - Nov 26 with 4289 views | Guthrum |
Not such a simple problem, when you start to consider logistics, as perhaps first appears.
The first issue is one of supply. It was only a few days, not more than a week, beforehand that it became evident there would be a very high turnout for the game on Friday. Excluding the Norwich derby, attendance was over 4k more than the next highest home games. Barely 15k had turned up for Lambert's first game in charge. That's before considering the vexed question of how many season ticket holders (counted anyway in the total) actually turned up. If a higher proportion than usual do, that can make a big difference to real numbers in the ground.
So, in just a few days, the caterers had to source and acquire at least 20% extra stock - taking the financial risk (if budgets allowed) that it would actually sell and not go to waste. That is assuming their suppliers themselves were able to fulfil the additional demand within the time available. Where are you suddenly going to get 4,000 Portman Pies and a thousand gallons of beer between Wednesday and Friday?
Then you have the issue of staff. Extra bodies can be got in quickly through agencies (if the workers are available on a Friday night when there's a home football match on). But they are both very expensive and also not trained in our caterer's particular systems. Not being able to operate the tills properly places extra burden upon regular staff and slows down processing the queues.
Yes, they got it wrong, but there are logical reasons why it happened, not just carelessness, lack of foresight or stupidity. |  |
| |
| One gripe from Friday on 12:16 - Nov 26 with 4246 views | SouperJim |
| One gripe from Friday on 11:53 - Nov 26 by Guthrum |
Not such a simple problem, when you start to consider logistics, as perhaps first appears.
The first issue is one of supply. It was only a few days, not more than a week, beforehand that it became evident there would be a very high turnout for the game on Friday. Excluding the Norwich derby, attendance was over 4k more than the next highest home games. Barely 15k had turned up for Lambert's first game in charge. That's before considering the vexed question of how many season ticket holders (counted anyway in the total) actually turned up. If a higher proportion than usual do, that can make a big difference to real numbers in the ground.
So, in just a few days, the caterers had to source and acquire at least 20% extra stock - taking the financial risk (if budgets allowed) that it would actually sell and not go to waste. That is assuming their suppliers themselves were able to fulfil the additional demand within the time available. Where are you suddenly going to get 4,000 Portman Pies and a thousand gallons of beer between Wednesday and Friday?
Then you have the issue of staff. Extra bodies can be got in quickly through agencies (if the workers are available on a Friday night when there's a home football match on). But they are both very expensive and also not trained in our caterer's particular systems. Not being able to operate the tills properly places extra burden upon regular staff and slows down processing the queues.
Yes, they got it wrong, but there are logical reasons why it happened, not just carelessness, lack of foresight or stupidity. |
If only the catering was run by a company experienced in dealing with such matters.
Oh. |  |
| |
| One gripe from Friday on 12:18 - Nov 26 with 4232 views | Swansea_Blue |
"Last time I checked, Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ wasn't in the employ of the club"
You're quite right of course - Pablo left some time ago. |  |
| |
| One gripe from Friday on 12:22 - Nov 26 with 4204 views | Guthrum |
| One gripe from Friday on 12:16 - Nov 26 by SouperJim |
If only the catering was run by a company experienced in dealing with such matters.
Oh. |
But even experienced caterers can get caught out. Worked in that field in my youth and remember having to rush out to try borrowing extra supplies from elsewhere for a bigger than expected rush.
Another aspect is storage. Wouldn't surprise me if they have to park refrigerated trailers/beer tankers somewhere for expected large turnouts like the derby. They have to be organised, too. | |
| |
| One gripe from Friday on 12:24 - Nov 26 with 4190 views | uefacup81 |
| One gripe from Friday on 12:16 - Nov 26 by SouperJim |
If only the catering was run by a company experienced in dealing with such matters.
Oh. |
Precisely.
Centerplate market themselves as being experts in stadium catering, so surely they should be used to tailoring supply to meet demand in an area where attendances can vary wildly from one week to the next. | |
| |
| One gripe from Friday on 12:29 - Nov 26 with 4165 views | SouperJim |
| One gripe from Friday on 12:22 - Nov 26 by Guthrum |
But even experienced caterers can get caught out. Worked in that field in my youth and remember having to rush out to try borrowing extra supplies from elsewhere for a bigger than expected rush.
Another aspect is storage. Wouldn't surprise me if they have to park refrigerated trailers/beer tankers somewhere for expected large turnouts like the derby. They have to be organised, too. |
I get what you're saying but the £10 ticket promotion had been known about for some time and the charity ticket thing put less than 500 extra on the gate. We have another home game on Wednesday night, surely we already have the stock in for that game?
Isn't the point of having a catering company run the catering is they're able to deliver better/cheaper than the club could running the show themselves? Instead they barely seem fit for purpose. | |
| |
| One gripe from Friday on 13:13 - Nov 26 with 4058 views | Guthrum |
| One gripe from Friday on 12:29 - Nov 26 by SouperJim |
I get what you're saying but the £10 ticket promotion had been known about for some time and the charity ticket thing put less than 500 extra on the gate. We have another home game on Wednesday night, surely we already have the stock in for that game?
Isn't the point of having a catering company run the catering is they're able to deliver better/cheaper than the club could running the show themselves? Instead they barely seem fit for purpose. |
Nearly 23k is considerably more than have attended for most of the recent £10 ticket promos. Plus if, say, an extra 10% of ST holders actually turned up, that's another thousand people.
I agree, they messed up. But it's not quite as simple as nipping down to Booker to buy a few more pies and some beer. | |
| |
| One gripe from Friday on 14:02 - Nov 26 with 3940 views | Whymarkmariner |
| One gripe from Friday on 13:13 - Nov 26 by Guthrum |
Nearly 23k is considerably more than have attended for most of the recent £10 ticket promos. Plus if, say, an extra 10% of ST holders actually turned up, that's another thousand people.
I agree, they messed up. But it's not quite as simple as nipping down to Booker to buy a few more pies and some beer. |
Perhaps they were 1st Division pies, not very tasty, very salty and hard to swallow ? | | | |
| One gripe from Friday on 14:09 - Nov 26 with 3920 views | SouperJim |
| One gripe from Friday on 13:13 - Nov 26 by Guthrum |
Nearly 23k is considerably more than have attended for most of the recent £10 ticket promos. Plus if, say, an extra 10% of ST holders actually turned up, that's another thousand people.
I agree, they messed up. But it's not quite as simple as nipping down to Booker to buy a few more pies and some beer. |
I worked for a well known burger chain as a yoof while studying, the manager mucked up the order for buns one week and that's exactly what we did - nipped down to the wholesalers and picked a load up.
I do think these things can be painted as overly-complex. Are they interested in providing a good service, or are they just going to do what they do because that's how they do it? | |
| |
| One gripe from Friday on 16:13 - Nov 26 with 3794 views | stantheman |
I was more concerned that we lost tbf. |  | | |
| One gripe from Friday on 19:04 - Nov 26 with 3666 views | britbiker |
Not that its the biggest problem on my list. but as a veggie I dont normally bother with the catering. I went to get a pie five minutes before half time and the middle unit below the north stand didnt even have the pie ovens on. They dont just lose that sale but in the future I wont even consider using the in house catering and will eat before I get to portman road. Did feel sorry for the staff as they only served chocolate and coffee. |  | | |
| One gripe from Friday on 19:20 - Nov 26 with 3622 views | Superfrans |
| One gripe from Friday on 13:13 - Nov 26 by Guthrum |
Nearly 23k is considerably more than have attended for most of the recent £10 ticket promos. Plus if, say, an extra 10% of ST holders actually turned up, that's another thousand people.
I agree, they messed up. But it's not quite as simple as nipping down to Booker to buy a few more pies and some beer. |
I’m sure you’re right. There is no benefit to anyone, running out of stock and having too few staff.
But, on the beer front. We serve mostly Greene King, don’t we? And Greene King is a sponsor? Presumably that would give us something in the way of preferential treatment.
Also, unless the pies go out of code within four days of the games, surely we’ll have them in stock for this Wednesday? Why not utilise the additional stock and reorder for Wednesday?
It is a consistent problem and has been for years. Given that football, food, beer and merch are the only things we sell, it’s hard to understand why it hasn’t been fixed.
To be honest, I’d rather we moved to beer in cans/bottles, if it meant we’d have more chance of a sneaky half time drink. I know they’d still take time to pour, but at least stock wouldn’t be a problem. |  |
| |
| One gripe from Friday on 21:22 - Nov 26 with 3486 views | HARRY10 |
Another area in which we fail miserably.
Using an outside provider means they have no other obligation than the bottom line. Hence a crap service being provided. It should be run by the club, whose extensive database could easily be utilised to find staff.
Draught beer does not go off quickly. Elsewhere I've seen two or more constantly pouring the stuff whilst others serve. And do they knock out a fair old amount of drink. Because the systems works, and so fans know that they will get a drink.
Same with the pies. Plenty of staff, and have a quick turn round. Any left over can be flogged off at the end of the game at cost price. There's enough hungry gutted gits who will jump at the chance of a cheap pie after the game.
Look at MacDonalds the whole emphasis has been on serving you as quick as possible. So they have a system that does that and enough staff to deliver.
Town................always penny pinching so fans just don't bother. | | | |
| One gripe from Friday on 22:50 - Nov 26 with 3368 views | Geminiblue |
Couldn’t even manage hot drinks. After queuing up for 10 mins for tea and a hot chocolate could only bear a few sips before chucking both away. Water tasted really off. 🤮 | | | |
| One gripe from Friday on 22:58 - Nov 26 with 3357 views | sparks |
| One gripe from Friday on 11:53 - Nov 26 by Guthrum |
Not such a simple problem, when you start to consider logistics, as perhaps first appears.
The first issue is one of supply. It was only a few days, not more than a week, beforehand that it became evident there would be a very high turnout for the game on Friday. Excluding the Norwich derby, attendance was over 4k more than the next highest home games. Barely 15k had turned up for Lambert's first game in charge. That's before considering the vexed question of how many season ticket holders (counted anyway in the total) actually turned up. If a higher proportion than usual do, that can make a big difference to real numbers in the ground.
So, in just a few days, the caterers had to source and acquire at least 20% extra stock - taking the financial risk (if budgets allowed) that it would actually sell and not go to waste. That is assuming their suppliers themselves were able to fulfil the additional demand within the time available. Where are you suddenly going to get 4,000 Portman Pies and a thousand gallons of beer between Wednesday and Friday?
Then you have the issue of staff. Extra bodies can be got in quickly through agencies (if the workers are available on a Friday night when there's a home football match on). But they are both very expensive and also not trained in our caterer's particular systems. Not being able to operate the tills properly places extra burden upon regular staff and slows down processing the queues.
Yes, they got it wrong, but there are logical reasons why it happened, not just carelessness, lack of foresight or stupidity. |
In fairness- big competent companies have freezers. And Greene King are sufficiently local and large to supply as much beer as needed at any notice... |  |
| The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they've found it.
(Sir Terry Pratchett) | | Poll: | Is Fred drunk this morning? |
| |
| |
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.
