There were some good articles in the latest TOOFIF fanzine that really hit at the mis-management of the club. Season tickets will be coming up for renewal and a section points out what Khan has said at the start of each season to motivate us to get behind the team, and it is embarrassing for him. The Headline is The Chairman 'talks the talk but - doesn't walk the walk'. then shows 3 quotes from August 2013, 2014, 2015 from the Chairman. 2013...Great things are ahead....Relegation 2014 because we have Felix Magath, I believe in our chances.....17th 2015 trust in me as Chairman ..Fulham to challenge for promotion...Relegation battle & FFP!! Another article in the Guardian just before the MK Dons game sums up the rule of Khan since he took over to the present day: http://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/mar/28/fulham-shahid-khan-league-one-championship Both seem to have hit the nail on the head, The pressure is mounting on Khan to get it right. It will be cringe worthy if he again comes out with the same trust me... Do any of you have a solution to entice Season Ticket Renewal for Shahid
Timely post SuperBri, with clubs across the Leagues already publishing their season ticket prices - cuts (Wigan are a good example) or frozen (mainly premiership clubs which is diabolical given the TV money next year). My TOOFIF arrived in the post this morning and so far I've only read David LLoyd's editorial. As you say, hard hitting but as ever a dissertation that truly reflects the fan view. What can Khan do? Well his first problem is encouraging existing season ticket holders to renew. Frankly I've been quite shocked at the number of empty seats around me for quite a number of weeks now. Apart from throwing money away (they've paid up front after all), I find it hard to understand people who don't turn up to support their team through thick and thin. That said, it's not hard to spot the reason - we've been crap and if the players aren't prepared to put the effort why should the fans bother. So what can Khan do? First off is to cut out all the rhetoric that you and TOOFIF highlight. Not even the most parochial or naive supporter believes it any more. Instead he should do two positive things: 1 Come clean on our current FFP status We've either cleaned up our act and will have the transfer embargo lifted or we haven't and won't. The accounts from last year must be complete by now and the Club must have the relevant expertise to know where things stand (you would have thought!). So he should tell us whether he will invest in playing staff (as per the Middlesbrough's of this world) or why he can't. Even if the message is a negative one, transparency will gain some respect. 2 Revert to the 'Manager' model Khan has cushioned himself by introducing a middle tier of executives to deal with player recruitment; the so-called Director of Football role mainly. I suspect the way he has implemented it however is based on the 'American Business' model rather than the 'Continental Football' one. Won't labour the argument - quite simply he should announce that Mike Rigg has been released from his contract (okay, fired!) and henceforth Slavi will be promoted from Head Coach to Football Manager. In this Slavi will no doubt require support in negotiations with other clubs, agents and so on. For all his faults (and he's carries a lot of the blame for some of the failings in the last three years), Ali Mac is perfectly competent at this. Anyway, from all the evidence (superficial though it might be), he's a darn sight better than Rigg. I'll just site the 7 week delay between firing Kit and appointing Slavi to rest my case. And there absolutely no reason why the Analytics (Khan's son Tony and whatisname Kline) can't have input to Slavi's thinking. Analytics does have a part to play, it's just not the be all and the end all. Mind you, it doesn't probably matter what Khan does. As I said at the beginning, outside of the hardcore support the only thing that seems to get bums on the seats is points on the board.
Guess after 3 wins on the trot, we can now expect a season ticket email on Monday! A word of caution though. The 2014/15 Accounts came out on Friday. To be honest I'm still trying to understand the implications but my reading so far is that we had a net loss of £9m. That being the case, we may again fall foul of FFP and still face a transfer embargo. Will try and post something more specific/definitive tomorrow.
Ah hum ... "Leeds United have promised to give fans who buy a season ticket for 2016-17 a refund of up to 50% - if the club fail to reach the Championship play-offs. Fans who buy a ticket before the end of May will receive 25% of their money back if the club sell less than 15,000 tickets by the end of July or 50% if they sell more than that amount." Full story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36086902 Over to you, Mr Khan!
There was a notice at the Cottage yesterday saying season tickets will go on sale next week. Remember when the Club had no problem shifting them? please log in to view this image
