Coventry City are considering plans to allow fans to vote by text to have players substituted on or off the pitch during matches. One of the shareholders for the cash-strapped club came up with the idea, hoping that fans would jump at the chance to text a premium-rate number to vote for who they want to come on or be taken off. The man who wants to turn the Sky Blues' matches into a sort of sporting X-Factor is Canadian tycoon Leonard Brody - and he hopes that it could be just one of a number of measures to help increase fans' involvement, and thereby bolster the club coffers. Brody blamed the need for such measures on the lack of TV rights cash that filters down from the top tier of the game to the Championship. "Your television income is so low, and the only source of revenue other than sponsors is your fan base," he explained. "And so the question is how do you make a more exciting experience for your fan base so they are willing to do more than just show up at a game? How do you engage them more in the game and get their input in the process, and at the same time derive revenue in a way we were never able to before?" The idea has already drawn stern criticism, with many pointing out that opposition fans could try to scupper Coventry's hopes in a game by texting in to get the goalkeeper replaced by a second-string striker. But Brody admits that his ideas are still at an early stage - though he seemed determined to start the ball rolling by inviting a fans' representative on the board of directors. "Let's be the most progressive club in the country in connecting its fans to the game with a representative on the board and an impact on in-game decisions," he added. "Those plans to do that are still very much in play and it starts, first and foremost, by having some fan representation on the board looking at how you connect the fans to the game but at the same time not cheapening and making it some sort of three-ringed circus. "It is a really delicate balancing act between figuring out how to do that and doing stuff that fans actually care about and are willing to pay for." Eurosport .
Its a ridiculous idea. Surely the managers job is to choose the substitutes. What manager in their right mind would be happy allowing the fans to choose who plays ?
Yeah, I can just see the Glazers sittng SAF down and saying "Hey Alex, we had an idea...." The explosion would be heard from Mars. Lol In all honesty, this is about the worst idea since Abraham Lincoln said to their bella " Get yer coat on hinny, I fancy a night at the Theatre" Will it ever catch on? If it ever does, then this lad will not be part of the footballing fraternity that uses it or watches it any longer. Football has been ****ed about with far too much already (the offside rule is simply ridiculous for instance) and we need less interference not more. ****ing daft Yanks - probably thinks he could sell advertising in the intervals of substiutions as well.
In principle its rubbish if the only reason for it is to make money, but i have just come up with a spinnoff of it. Every seat apart from the away support, has a little electronic keyboard attached, after 60 minutes, the announcer says, "you have 5 minutes to say who needs to be subbed" everyone puts the number of the player they want subbed, and then it gets put up on the big screen, this may make players not even trying pull their bloody finger out if they see their name in big letters with a % of how many fans want the useless buggers off the field. No cash inlay for the clubs, but might give clueless managers an idea lol
Ha! Ha! Now this I bloody love. What a fantastic idea. A kind of motivational tool that I would love to use. Does it include the manager as well?
Well with 5 minutes to go you could give all the players a rating out of 10, and the manager, and that will be the MOTM as well for the home team anyway, but yeah with 5 minutes to go there could be a small rating thing pop up. Manager: Subs-Tactics Team: Style-Excitement-Value for money that type of ****e, not sure how many would actually do it, but would give the boardroom something to digest if nothing else.
I like this a lot. A "little" step further: Instead of the name in lights could the player not get an automatic electric shock. That would make the bugger run.
Yes a totally brainless idea, but what about the Yanks. They seem to think that every game has to have a winner, hence the number of games that go into overtime, and in the case of football they go to penalties. How long before that bunch of brainless bastards headed by Sepp Blunder at FIFA come round to their way of thinking. The game has been in existance well over a hundred years, and is still strong, even as Cest said they've screwed up the offside law. If it aint broke dont tamper with it.
Fantastic idea this. But to be serious I like the idea of having a Supporter representative on the board.
