Today's protest/late entry

[juleskaren]

So you're now claiming the protest movement is all the City fans who were chanting City?
Glass is always half-full isn't it love?

You are definitely on here just to argue and piss people off. I and lots of other posters are just trying to put our views across sensibly. The singing of the Hull City song was in my opinion supporters expressing their preference to keep the name the way it is. It was not an organised protest and like I said I have not met one person who is in favour of the name change even if they do not want to go on a march. I really don't know why I am bothering even trying to make you understand because you are so just on this board to ridicule people you do not have anything sensible to say, just a wind up merchant.

 

[Leon...]

That would make sense except that you're protesting on here just as much as the rest of us. You're protesting about the people protesting. Whatever you have to do that is more important than caring about the name change clearly isn't important enough to stop you having a go at those of us who do care. You're getting as wound up as anyone, just the reason is different and yours makes no sense. Why does it bother you so much that the rest of us do care and want to protest?

It's an absolute crock of **** of an argument. You're essentially saying that what happens to the name isn't that important to you but seeing people questioning the change pisses you off.

People with your point of view are pissing me off more than anything in all of this. If you've got more important things to do than worry about the name change that's perfectly fine, but if that was true you wouldn't be on here talking about it. That's obviously something you just thought you'd write to justify your pathetic belittling of the people protesting.

Just realised Ben has already made the same point. Ah well I've written it now.

“You're protesting about the people protesting.”

Beyond this forum, City and Hull, this sentence is a fair snapshot of England, 2013.

 

[Diddy]

That would make sense except that you're protesting on here just as much as the rest of us. You're protesting about the people protesting. Whatever you have to do that is more important than caring about the name change clearly isn't important enough to stop you having a go at those of us who do care. You're getting as wound up as anyone, just the reason is different and yours makes no sense. Why does it bother you so much that the rest of us do care and want to protest?

It's an absolute crock of **** of an argument. You're essentially saying that what happens to the name isn't that important to you but seeing people questioning the change pisses you off.

People with your point of view are pissing me off more than anything in all of this. If you've got more important things to do than worry about the name change that's perfectly fine, but if that was true you wouldn't be on here talking about it. That's obviously something you just thought you'd write to justify your pathetic belittling of the people protesting.

Just realised Ben has already made the same point. Ah well I've written it now.

Mission accomplished.

 

[Tubby AKA Ableton (Mwah)]

For me, the definition of a wind-up merchant is someone who says something just to get a reaction and don't really believe what they are saying.

If you refer through my posts I have been consistently in the "Don't like it but will accept it camp".

This is a perfectly valid point of view to have even if you don't like it.

However the "I will not accept the change" seem to think it's perfectly valid to throw insult after insult at this group but then call foul play when the same group comment and take slight amusement in the fact that it dawns on the "I will not accept the change" that they are indeed a minority as the low-turnouts have shown.

I'm fine with being called a c*** or a wind-up merchant, but don't expect to not get a response back from those you choose to ridicule so freely.

 

[Tubby AKA Ableton (Mwah)]

And how silly do these quotes look in retrospect....

The war starts now.

Based on the comments on other boards and on Twitter, I think he's finally got the fence sitters off their arses.

There's something being arranged for Saturday, it may well also involve the Cardiff fans, this is an issue fairly close to their hearts to.

I think you'll find a couple of thousand just got a fresh whiff...

Leave this to those who do care(and that's not the minority, not by a long chalk).

We call on all City fans past and present to up the level of protest on Saturday. Project ‘delayed kick-off’. Those who want to protest visibly please meet at the West Park Gates at 2:30 where a march will slowly make its way at 2:45 to the outer concourse. The AIM is to make noise outside whilst having a half empty stadium on kick off. As the whistle for the game goes we can then noisily make our way into the stadium holding the NO placards that have circulated and make out feelings clear.
Whether you joined the first protest or not ALL will be welcome.

 

[Amin Arrears]

Actually that is the best argument I've heard so far against Mr Allam's marketing philosophy.

It would be a marketing disaster if future replica kits designated to be sold in Hull had the name Hull Tigers. They simply wouldn't sell with feelings as they are and that could scupper the whole name change thing.
Overseas sales certainly wouldn't compensate and I doubt foreign fans would even be interested in a different shirt to the ones we wear.

So the best way for the 'AFCs' to win isn't with protests, you should organise a petition where fans sign up to not buying new kits unless the name Hull City AFC is clearly emblazoned.
The threat of a huge drop in replica kit sales couldn't be risked by the club and the whole idea would collapse like a house of cards.

No need to thank me.

These are the kind of tactics that need to be taken, I'm not sure even this would put an end to it though, Dr. Allam seems very stubborn when he wants his way and I think it would have to be drastic to stop him.

Personally I think ticket sales would have to take a significant drop, specially season ticket renewals, before it could be thought about being put off. Once the rebrand is in place though, it will take years of failure for it to revert.

I think the whole stadium could turn up 5 minutes late for every home game and Mr. Allam wouldn't give a flying ****. I think he'd look at it like this "they've bought the product they can use it when they like, turning up 5 minutes late doesn't devalue the ticket price". Anyone doing that protest just pointlessly missed 5 minutes of football for nothing.

 

[PLT]

And how silly do these quotes look in retrospect....

See again you're wasting energy on looking to criticise another City fan for protesting. If you're really in the 'don't like it but will accept it' camp as you just said in the previous post to this one, why are you so keen to ridicule those who agree with you that it's a stupid idea, but are willing to stand up and do something about it? Surely those people are fighting your cause on behalf of people in your camp who will just 'accept it'. That doesn't add up does it?

 

[PLT]

These are the kind of tactics that need to be taken, I'm not sure even this would put an end to it though, Dr. Allam seems very stubborn when he wants his way and I think it would have to be drastic to stop him.

Personally I think ticket sales would have to take a significant drop, specially season ticket renewals, before it could be thought about being put off. Once the rebrand is in place though, it will take years of failure for it to revert.

I think the whole stadium could turn up 5 minutes late for every home game and Mr. Allam wouldn't give a flying ****. I think he'd look at it like this "they've bought the product they can use it when they like, turning up 5 minutes late doesn't devalue the ticket price". Anyone doing that protest just pointlessly missed 5 minutes of football for nothing.

I agree with this. We need more creativity and to hit Allam in the pocket and show him he doesn't pay the bills on his own. He's talking about an £11m deficit, well I think it would be about double that if no one bought a season pass.

 

[Sir Cheshire Ben]

And how silly do these quotes look in retrospect....

It's comments like this & your previous one that make you a ****.

You do not want the name change, yet you openly ridicule those who are trying to stop it. Can you not see how much a a pathetic **** this makes you look?

If you put a little effort into questioning what you don't want rather than ridiculing & belittling those who have the same view as you but are willing to ask the questions you wished you had the balls to ask then your sad, yes man of a life would be less empty.

A sad little yes man.

Edit: PLT Snap

 

[....]

I agree with this. We need more creativity and to hit Allam in the pocket and show him he doesn't pay the bills on his own. He's talking about an £11m deficit, well I think it would be about double that if no one bought a season pass.

funniest post of the year .. good luck convincing 17k people to not renew if we stay in the league .. Im sure you wont renew however ... true ????

 

[Amin Arrears]

funniest post of the year .. good luck convincing 17k people to not renew if we stay in the league .. Im sure you wont renew however ... true ????

Which is kind of the point I've been trying to make. I don't think anything we can realistically do will change Dr. Allams mind in this. 'He wants he gets' seems to be the way he's used to. I've come around to accepting this is 99% going to happen now, doesn't mean I have to like or agree with it, but I'm not going to cut my nose of to spite my face in protest.

Who knows, it may even work. I personally don't see how it's going to attract a new international fan base or anything remotely like it, but Dr. Allam is the multi-millionaire entrepreneur not me, and I'm sure his decision to go through with it is not just on a whim but on the back of market research and advice from marketing professionals also.

There is one instance I can see it working though, which may be a while down the line, but I think it will be a big hit with young children. I reckon they will find the whole tigers thing cool and if we're in the premier league spotlight, I reckon a lot of those trying to choose their own team to support could catch on to it, whether they're from the UK, America or a small mountain village in Tibet.

I do think local marketing should be the priority though and be looking to be having the KC sell out each time with extra demand to move in to a stadium expansion in the future. I guess that would also depend on continued success though.

 

[Sir Cheshire Ben]

funniest post of the year .. good luck convincing 17k people to not renew if we stay in the league .. Im sure you wont renew however ... true ????

Which is kind of the point I've been trying to make. I don't think anything we can realistically do will change Dr. Allams mind in this. 'He wants he gets' seems to be the way he's used to. I've come around to accepting this is 99% going to happen now, doesn't mean I have to like or agree with it, but I'm not going to cut my nose of to spite my face in protest.

Who knows, it may even work. I personally don't see how it's going to attract a new international fan base or anything remotely like it, but Dr. Allam is the multi-millionaire entrepreneur not me, and I'm sure his decision to go through with it is not just on a whim but on the back of market research and advice from marketing professionals also.

There is one instance I can see it working though, which may be a while down the line, but I think it will be a big hit with young children. I reckon they will find the whole tigers thing cool and if we're in the premier league spotlight, I reckon a lot of those trying to choose their own team to support could catch on to it, whether they're from the UK, America or a small mountain village in Tibet.

I do think local marketing should be the priority though and be looking to be having the KC sell out each time with extra demand to move in to a stadium expansion in the future. I guess that would also depend on continued success though.

For kids to latch onto a name nowadays Bob it'd have to be Hull Halos or maybe more appropriate Hull CODs

 

[WhittlingStick]

maybe it would be better to allow Allam the benefit of the doubt Throw support towards his crackpot idea , and i dunno make it clear that
the protest group (if it has any organisation) will support it a season & in the unlikely event that financially it improves the clubs standing then
Grrrreat !! if not - then a quiet return to the AFC is made . no real harm done .

there is no way a bloke in Singapore is gonna spend a months wages on a City shirt coz we drop the AFC and the The .
Ive not been to the far east , but i expect the only shirts on sale are bootleg and of the big six teams in the PL .
I bet its a struggle finding a Stoke or Fulham shirt !

 

[GLP]

It's not subtle to me, it's hideous & bastardizes both our name & our nickname.

I've long defended our owners on here from abuse & criticism that I believed wasn't necessary. I'll also have no problem doing so in the future if I believe it to be warranted. On this occasion, I believe, the underhand way this has been handled, by the owner, shows him to be bit of a megalomaniac. He appears a little short sighted of any long term goals or how to achieve them. He needs advice from a professional in the field of marketing football clubs, unfortunately his personality won't allow this to happen. There is nothing wrong in challenging his decisions, it creates a healthy relationship & he should welcome it. What is wrong is standing by every word he says & believing he can do no wrong, solely because he bought the club & has mainly made the right choices previous to this one.

Short term we, as a club, need to focus on retaining our Premier League status, this in itself will generate more interest abroad then any name change ever could. The distraction of changing our name will not help the club in achieving this goal.

The club have provided no evidence to back up the suggestion that shortening the name (albeit by one letter) will bring financial success abroad. Neither, have they provided evidence which confirms our current name, Hull City AFC, will not produce the same or even increased income in it's own right? To me, this appears a strange business decision. Surely, you would only consider re-branding a product when it has been proven the current brand is failing. To me the decision to re-brand could only be considered after a prolonged stay in the top flight with some sustained success which has produced little or no success into the foreign markets despite continued attempts.

If we pretend he's being genuine about his business plan then why has he still not revealed this great plan to the world? He announced it to the HDM, Calandar & Look North, hardly the international media outlets needed for the onset of world domination.

If he believes fully that this name change is right then he should of come out from day one and said as much. Instead he has bled it in little by little, denying it was happening & subsequently piece by piece admitting it was. To me this insults both the supporters & the club.

They still have my support as owners but I believe quite strongly that on this occasion the decision to change the name of our club is wrong in terms of both football & business. Challenging these changes is not disrespectful as has been suggested, neither is it wrong.

Absolutely spot on.

 

[thistimetigers]

I posted several weeks ago about an experience I had here in Melbourne about 15 years ago, where I was directly involved in a protest movement regarding the change of name of a football club (Aussie rules) that has a remarkably similar history and culture to Hull City.
In the end, the only way the matter was "resolved" (not everyone was happy because it involved COMPROMISE), was via direct negotiation between us (the protest group - which then split anyway due to differences in approach) and the club officials.
Along the way, there was simply disappointment after disappointment that our fellow supporters could not muster the necessary outrage to participate in various forms of protest that were arranged and publicised by the protest committee.

For what it's worth, I still feel that opposition to the name change is worth pursuing but the more unsuccessful events you have, the more you actually entrench the change you oppose.
Watching yesterdays game on the telly over here (we should have won), the singing of "City 'til I die" came over loud and clear. In my humble opinion, the protest needs to take a form that will guarantee MASS involvement, therefore my suggestions are -

1. Don't buy any merchandise that has been "wrongly" branded - and advertise this as a major objective,
2. Keep singing "City 'til I die",
3. Try and organise a banner - a really, really big one - with something simple and very much to the point, i.e, HULL CITY AFC - The Tigers (if you can get it into the ground) AND don't unfurl it until City score. The message being, happiness/success equals Hull City,
4. Keep e-mailing your opposition to the club EVERY DAY and
Finally - Someone has to find a way to have a sit-down with Dr. Allam at the point where it is felt that protest is succeeding.

I'm going to apologise in advance again if this sounds like a distant relative telling you what to do. I really do believe that opposing the name change is worthwhile and that those who claim the "no changers" are in the majority are correct. I am simply trying to share my experience on this very issue as well as a lifetime of activism in other areas. The challenge for those opposing the name change is, as I see it, twofold -
a) how to transform passive resistance into something tangible and
b) can you get your head around the notion of compromise and if so what is your bottom line? (I realise that people's bottom lines are going to be different but I think an honest assessment of the comments made by many different people in this forum over the last several weeks will tell you what an acceptable outcome might be to a broad spectrum of supporters).

 

[Calamty Jane]

Please grow up and stop assuming meaning in the actions of others.I sang most of the songs today.I could not give a monkeys about the name change.
Most people may not care about the name change .I do not know-neither do you.
People are entitled to their own opinion
Not agreeing with a mob does not make someone a fence sitter.

 

[John. Walkington.]

I heard the crowd singing 'Hull City' and 'Tigers'.
Also heard them chanting 'Steve Bruce'.

Does that mean they want the club to be named Steve Bruce?
Would it make some posters on here happy if we maintain out link with the past by becoming Steve Bruce AFC?

 

[Isa Kite]

It was noticeable that the "City 'til I die" and "We're Hull City" song are being sung more often, and more loudly, than in previous seasons - some matches last year, for instance, you might not have heard either. Even some of the South stand were singing yesterday. And absolutely no-one is singing "We're Hull Tigers"

Personally, whilst I am against the name change, I will support my team whatever some arrogant egotist calls it, and I will always call it "Hull City". For that reason I will be there for the kick-off each match, and renew my season ticket next year. But for the first time in years, I have not bought a replica shirt, and I now bring a bottle of juice to the game rather than buying a drink there. It's a small protest - but it could be big if enough people do the same.

Assem Allam makes a much of his business experience, and to be fair, many principles apply to all kinds of businesses: proper debt management is a case in point the previous owners have got wrong. But AA seems to have forgotten that, just as in his own manufacturing business, the customer is always right. And in his new role as owner of an entertainment business, giving the public what it wants is a key rule.

 

[Sir Cheshire Ben]

Please grow up and stop assuming meaning in the actions of others.I sang most of the songs today.I could not give a monkeys about the name change.
Most people may not care about the name change .I do not know-neither do you.
People are entitled to their own opinion
Not agreeing with a mob does not make someone a fence sitter.

One man protest against the protesters?

"I'll sing the songs the day after the game, that'll show them people who do give a monkeys about the name change"

 

[PattyNchips2]

yawn.. if protesting makes you feel more of a fan. do it.
I will look on whilst you all piss in the wind.
AA owns the club - he hates the council.
nuff said