Pre-Season Pre-Season 25/26

[SirAndyOfCrosby]

To be fair Colin, I don't think this pre season trip is anything to do with the fan base

Many thanks Steve.

Going forward, perhaps you'll be so kind as to continue to update us all as to which other facets of OUFC have nothing to do with us?

 

[Steve Gilbert]

Many thanks Steve.

Going forward, perhaps you'll be so kind as to continue to update us all as to which other facets of OUFC have nothing to do with us?

Notice where I put ‘I think’, meaning that is my thoughts, my opinion, you might have a different one.
It is allowed to have a different opinion to each other.

 

[billyturleyscurlywurly]

No Steve, it was just a comment full of utter tripe.

Everything is for the fans, we are the club.

 

[SteMerritt]

No Steve, it was just a comment full of utter tripe.

I'm considering this for my forum signature. Seems quite apt, and would save others a bit of time thanks to the warning.

 

[pommy80]

It's clear the club do not care about OUFC UK based fans attending this. The opening ceremony starts in just 23 days (days after the possible stadium decision). This is not enough time for fans to book time off work, book flights and accommodation etc...

It is a shame, could have made a real link between OUFC fans and Indonesia.

And it's not just UK based fans. There are a few of us (on this forum as well) who live in Aus / NZ, and would have planned a trip there if we had a bit more notice. Zero chance I'll get the time off now which is a shame.

 

[WRox]

To be fair Colin, I don't think this pre season trip is anything to do with the fan base here in the UK, it is purely to build an overseas market in Asia. As @Scotchegg has alluded to, this will bring in much more money to the club than playing a Premier League reserve team at home.

Just like when Marselino came on agains't Swansea, it was more for the marketing impact than for footballing reasons.

Agree that it’s about expanding the fan base and maximising commercial opportunities, so makes sense that the club’s priorities for this trip will first and foremost, be around driving interest and revenue in Indonesia.

It’s a country of nearly 300m people - you could fit Oxford in it about 1500 times - so the financial benefits for the club could be enormous if we can sell ourselves over there as Indonesia’s club.

What’s disappointing is that the local fans that have always been the lifeblood of the football club haven’t been thought about much at all. Early promotion and supporters travel packages would have been lovely, but even any notice and confirmation at all when we’re about three weeks out and it’s been widely reported is extremely poor from the club.

 

[Orkney Islands Yellow]

Agree that it’s about expanding the fan base and maximising commercial opportunities, so makes sense that the club’s priorities for this trip will first and foremost, be around driving interest and revenue in Indonesia.

It’s a country of nearly 300m people - you could fit Oxford in it about 1500 times - so the financial benefits for the club could be enormous if we can sell ourselves over there as Indonesia’s club.

What’s disappointing is that the local fans that have always been the lifeblood of the football club haven’t been thought about much at all. Early promotion and supporters travel packages would have been lovely, but even any notice and confirmation at all when we’re about three weeks out and it’s been widely reported is extremely poor from the club.

How many would've genuinely made the trip to Indonesia?

We've got an ownership group that fund us fantastically well so we perhaps need to take the rough with the smooth and look at the bigger picture.

 

[Steve Gilbert]

How many would've genuinely made the trip to Indonesia?

We've got an ownership group that fund us fantastically well so we perhaps need to take the rough with the smooth and look at the bigger picture.

Don't talk absolute tripe!!

 

[WRox]

How many would've genuinely made the trip to Indonesia?

We've got an ownership group that fund us fantastically well so we perhaps need to take the rough with the smooth and look at the bigger picture.

I’m not criticising the ownership group - I think they’re doing an incredible job of growing the club, and really excited about the potential that their investment and their credibility over in Indonesia gives us.

I’m criticising the club’s marketing and communications. The aim here has to be to grow the international interest without disconnecting the club from local supporters. Nail that, and we could end up with something special on and off the pitch.

Regardless of whether 50 or 500 would’ve travelled, it’s about giving people the opportunity. Telling local fans they matter. I’m fine with the primary effort being invested in making the tour a success, but at least send a few updates and let people know what’s going on.

 

[ZeroTheHero]

Having had a look, I cannot see a single mention of this tournament on the OWS (although they have mentioned the Mansfield PSF) and have had no email from the club about it. OK, perhaps not many of us would have gone out there, but you would think there would have at least been a mention and some indication of whether we can watch the games in some way?

Pretty amazing that they have just sent out a questionnaire including a section on marketing and communication!!!

 

[Steve Gilbert]

I’m not criticising the ownership group - I think they’re doing an incredible job of growing the club, and really excited about the potential that their investment and their credibility over in Indonesia gives us.

I’m criticising the club’s marketing and communications. The aim here has to be to grow the international interest without disconnecting the club from local supporters. Nail that, and we could end up with something special on and off the pitch.

Regardless of whether 50 or 500 would’ve travelled, it’s about giving people the opportunity. Telling local fans they matter. I’m fine with the primary effort being invested in making the tour a success, but at least send a few updates and let people know what’s going on.

I think where the club have let themselves down with is yet again, communication of the tour. Now it might be due to ET only just announcing it officially but they could have let UK fans know the plan is to go over to Asia for a pre season tour, dates and times of games TBC, games will be available to watch on these platforms...

My original point, which I think people took the wrong way, was that this tour is purely about marketing the club to an overseas audience rather than doing something for the UK based fans. It's a bit like when you get the Premier League clubs touring America, China, Asia etc. They are there for marketing reasons rather than a trip for UK fans to go over and watch them.

 

[Colin B]

How many would've genuinely made the trip to Indonesia?

We've got an ownership group that fund us fantastically well so we perhaps need to take the rough with the smooth and look at the bigger picture.

I remember a conversation with a former chairman (who liked handing out hotdogs and free pints) before our pre-season trip to Austria. He asked whether fans really would travel there for just one pre-season friendly? When he was told, yes they would, he said "How many? 20 or 30?" We told him it could be as many as 200 and he was both amazed, and sceptical. Over 500 eventually went!

The point being that nobody knows how many would go, but if you give people the information and the opportunity, you may be very pleasantly surprised. It's a total no lose situation to the club to have communicated to us fans about this trip, and yet they choose not to. Just what conclusions are we supposed to draw from this? It's either that they're useless at reading the room or that they don't care. Neither is a good look.

 

[Foley]

I’m not criticising the ownership group - I think they’re doing an incredible job of growing the club, and really excited about the potential that their investment and their credibility over in Indonesia gives us.

I’m criticising the club’s marketing and communications. The aim here has to be to grow the international interest without disconnecting the club from local supporters. Nail that, and we could end up with something special on and off the pitch.

Regardless of whether 50 or 500 would’ve travelled, it’s about giving people the opportunity. Telling local fans they matter. I’m fine with the primary effort being invested in making the tour a success, but at least send a few updates and let people know what’s going on.

You are criticizing the ownership.
It sounds as if the arrangeme is have yet to be finalised. I assume that ET is behind this whole thing.

 

[ZeroTheHero]

The problem with the club not announcing this *yet* for some reason, is of course the fact that inevitably information has leaked out elsewhere, and quite comprehensive information a few days ago at that.

An initial 'this is what the club is looking at doing but it is not finalised' news story followed by a 'this is now arranged and this is how you can watch it' post would have been a better way to do it of course.

 

[WRox]

You are criticizing the ownership.
It sounds as if the arrangeme is have yet to be finalised. I assume that ET is behind this whole thing.

The only responsibility the ownership could possibly have here would be comms sign-off on a subject they’d be particularly interested in. The people who run the club day to day are the ones primarily responsible for support engagement.

It doesn’t need every last detail to be finalised to be able to say the club are considering a pre-season tour of Indonesia in early July. Even if it did, it should still be possible to issue an update to the fans to say that there is the potential but that arrangements are still being confirmed and details will be shared as soon as possible.

 

[holdsteady]

The only responsibility the ownership could possibly have here would be comms sign-off on a subject they’d be particularly interested in. The people who run the club day to day are the ones primarily responsible for support engagement.

It doesn’t need every last detail to be finalised to be able to say the club are considering a pre-season tour of Indonesia in early July. Even if it did, it should still be possible to issue an update to the fans to say that there is the potential but that arrangements are still being confirmed and details will be shared as soon as possible.

Depends if the owner would allow them to say though? If he didn’t want anything coming out about it till he made the announcement then nothing they can do, he is the boss.

 

[Brahma]

We're now in a cooling off period, obviously.

 

[Foley]

The only responsibility the ownership could possibly have here would be comms sign-off on a subject they’d be particularly interested in. The people who run the club day to day are the ones primarily responsible for support engagement.

It doesn’t need every last detail to be finalised to be able to say the club are considering a pre-season tour of Indonesia in early July. Even if it did, it should still be possible to issue an update to the fans to say that there is the potential but that arrangements are still being confirmed and details will be shared as soon as possible.

It is not impossible that ET said that the club can't announce it until he agreed and he wanted the arrangements finalised first.
You may be right, but have no idea of whether other things were going on

 

[WRox]

It is not impossible that ET said that the club can't announce it until he agreed and he wanted the arrangements finalised first.
You may be right, but have no idea of whether other things were going on

Not impossible at all and that may well be true, but in that instance it should have been made clear that as soon as public announcements were made, it was vital that the club communicated to its fans in the earliest instance rather than us finding out through translated media snippets.

 

[RgYellows]

No Steve, it was just a comment full of utter tripe.

Everything is for the fans, we are the club.

Right now the club would continue for a lot longer without any of us than it would without those writing the cheques.

 

[holdsteady]

Right now the club would continue for a lot longer without any of us than it would without those writing the cheques.

Dunno, might have trouble convincing the council about the need for a new stadium if no one is going to be there, some of the locals might prefer that though.

 

[RgYellows]

Dunno, might have trouble convincing the council about the need for a new stadium if no one is going to be there, some of the locals might prefer that though.

I rate Erick Thohir’s chances of getting planning permission through without my help more than I rate my chances of paying for a new stadium without Erick Thohir’s help.

 

[SteMerritt]

Dunno, might have trouble convincing the council about the need for a new stadium if no one is going to be there, some of the locals might prefer that though.

Well it would certainly ease their worries about traffic and parking.

 

[Colin B]

Right now the club would continue for a lot longer without any of us than it would without those writing the cheques.

Hello Tim. Or is it Adam?

By the way, do you think this is a good thing? I'd say it's everything wrong with modern football and is a very unhealthy situation. The fans ARE the club, and that should never be forgotten.

 

[RgYellows]

Hello Tim. Or is it Adam?

By the way, do you think this is a good thing? I'd say it's everything wrong with modern football and is a very unhealthy situation. The fans ARE the club, and that should never be forgotten.

I’ve said our dependence on the owners makes me uncomfortable since at least the start of Covid, but I appreciate you calling me out for toeing a club line before understanding my position on the matter.

Nothing in the post you quoted implied support for the state of affairs, simply a comment on the reality of our club and the state of the game.

 

[Colin B]

I’ve said our dependence on the owners makes me uncomfortable since at least the start of Covid, but I appreciate you calling me out for toeing a club line before understanding my position on the matter.

Nothing in the post you quoted implied support for the state of affairs, simply a comment on the reality of our club and the state of the game.

Somebody's touchy......

You made a statement, which I responded to with a little light hearted comment at the start. By making a single line statement like yours it reads as something you endorse, as you've supplied no context, nor anything saying you find it a disagreeable state of affairs, hence my reply.

 

[RgYellows]

Somebody's touchy......

You made a statement, which I responded to with a little light hearted comment at the start. By making a single line statement like yours it reads as something you endorse, as you've supplied no context, nor anything saying you find it a disagreeable state of affairs, hence my reply.

I don’t see why a comment that includes no specific endorsement or condemnation implies endorsement. I think you made an assumption and it was wrong. It happens, I’m happy to have corrected you and we can now move on.

 

[Colin B]

I don’t see why a comment that includes no specific endorsement or condemnation implies endorsement. I think you made an assumption and it was wrong. It happens, I’m happy to have corrected you and we can now move on.

Now you're sounding like a conceited person who has to have the last say..............

 

[RgYellows]

Now you're sounding like a conceited person who has to have the last say..............

And you’re sounding like someone who could work on their self awareness…

 

[Colin B]

And you’re sounding like someone who could work on their self awareness…

Man gets accused of wanting to have last say. Man posts one liner in attempt to close discussion and have last say.

Over to you to "win" and have the last say, as I'm done with this exchange, it's going nowhere..............