Gekko

I notice that there was another event this weekend, the tenth anniversary of the Scottish Cup win.
The few photographs we have from it makes it seem like a good night, and one which we'd all have enjoyed.
And yet again, unless you're local and in a position to go, you totally miss out on it.
It's the same for the fans forums, the hall of fame nights, etc.
I don't believe that in this day an age there is any excuse for this.
We have a media team who could stream live, or at the very least record the event for those of us who can't make it on the night.
I'd be more than happy to pay a few quid if it was behind a paywall. I already pay for Saints TV.
It has a secret society feel to it, and unless you're on the doorstep, you're being left out.
Those of us who aren't local are no less deserving, and we should get a chance to be included in these events.

I notice that there was another event this weekend, the tenth anniversary of the Scottish Cup win.
The few photographs we have from it makes it seem like a good night, and one which we'd all have enjoyed.
And yet again, unless you're local and in a position to go, you totally miss out on it.
It's the same for the fans forums, the hall of fame nights, etc.
I don't believe that in this day an age there is any excuse for this.
We have a media team who could stream live, or at the very least record the event for those of us who can't make it on the night.
I'd be more than happy to pay a few quid if it was behind a paywall. I already pay for Saints TV.
It has a secret society feel to it, and unless you're on the doorstep, you're being left out.
Those of us who aren't local are no less deserving, and we should get a chance to be included in these events.

I'd much prefer that we took a long term approach to this, rather than think about short term money grabs.
Fair play to clubs like St. Mirren and Kilmarnock who've reduced the amount of OF "fans" who are allowed into their home games and also had an improvement in form against them.
For me, the way forward is to make these games attractive for local supporters, to make them feel that they are safe to bring family members, young and old, along to watch these games.
Maybe have special discounts for families, groups, OAP organisations etc.
Try and make it a real, fun family day out instead of the negative experience that it is now, both inside and outside the stadium.
The only way to do that is to limit them to the away stand and the minimum amount in the GB stand.
I know we have to provide disabled facilities which is of course right, but we could limit away support access in the GB stand to disabled supporters and their carers only .
There's no need to give away the entire end section. The only reason for that is to cash in.
I've mentioned on here before of my own, and my family's experience of being harassed in the then main stand by OF fans, and I know I'm not alone in this. Keep as much of them out of there as possible.
There's a good arguement to be had, that some of our success during lockdown was due to other clubs not having their so called twelfth man.
I'd take every advantage possible away from these two.
Limit their support obviously, also, up the entertainment value on the pitch, which hopefully we're now doing, and give local supporters, groups and families the chance to go to these games and have a positive experience.
The view of Rangers fans with their banners draped all over the east stand was horrendous. That's ours, and it should always stay that way.
I know we've been moved about plenty in the past but with new ownership we should have new attitudes.
St. Johnstone first! Always!
I'd prefer to go this route, rather than bending over and taking the OF pound just so we can get an extra player or two. This attitude makes us small.
Think big, attract new and existing local supporters to these games, and most importantly keep our dignity and respect.
We were rightly a laughing stock for giving our stands to them, let's learn from that.
This would be a bold move, and it would take time to work, but it's one that I believe would benefit the club and supporters in the long term.

First half okay, second half, meh.
I was hoping we would have caused them more problems.
This is a bang average Rangers team and we could've gotten something from them.
Max and McPake. I wish them both well, but it's so blatantly obvious that they're not for this level.

I'd much prefer that we took a long term approach to this, rather than think about short term money grabs.
Fair play to clubs like St. Mirren and Kilmarnock who've reduced the amount of OF "fans" who are allowed into their home games and also had an improvement in form against them.
For me, the way forward is to make these games attractive for local supporters, to make them feel that they are safe to bring family members, young and old, along to watch these games.
Maybe have special discounts for families, groups, OAP organisations etc.
Try and make it a real, fun family day out instead of the negative experience that it is now, both inside and outside the stadium.
The only way to do that is to limit them to the away stand and the minimum amount in the GB stand.
I know we have to provide disabled facilities which is of course right, but we could limit away support access in the GB stand to disabled supporters and their carers only .
There's no need to give away the entire end section. The only reason for that is to cash in.
I've mentioned on here before of my own, and my family's experience of being harassed in the then main stand by OF fans, and I know I'm not alone in this. Keep as much of them out of there as possible.
There's a good arguement to be had, that some of our success during lockdown was due to other clubs not having their so called twelfth man.
I'd take every advantage possible away from these two.
Limit their support obviously, also, up the entertainment value on the pitch, which hopefully we're now doing, and give local supporters, groups and families the chance to go to these games and have a positive experience.
The view of Rangers fans with their banners draped all over the east stand was horrendous. That's ours, and it should always stay that way.
I know we've been moved about plenty in the past but with new ownership we should have new attitudes.
St. Johnstone first! Always!
I'd prefer to go this route, rather than bending over and taking the OF pound just so we can get an extra player or two. This attitude makes us small.
Think big, attract new and existing local supporters to these games, and most importantly keep our dignity and respect.
We were rightly a laughing stock for giving our stands to them, let's learn from that.
This would be a bold move, and it would take time to work, but it's one that I believe would benefit the club and supporters in the long term.

I'd much prefer that we took a long term approach to this, rather than think about short term money grabs.
Fair play to clubs like St. Mirren and Kilmarnock who've reduced the amount of OF "fans" who are allowed into their home games and also had an improvement in form against them.
For me, the way forward is to make these games attractive for local supporters, to make them feel that they are safe to bring family members, young and old, along to watch these games.
Maybe have special discounts for families, groups, OAP organisations etc.
Try and make it a real, fun family day out instead of the negative experience that it is now, both inside and outside the stadium.
The only way to do that is to limit them to the away stand and the minimum amount in the GB stand.
I know we have to provide disabled facilities which is of course right, but we could limit away support access in the GB stand to disabled supporters and their carers only .
There's no need to give away the entire end section. The only reason for that is to cash in.
I've mentioned on here before of my own, and my family's experience of being harassed in the then main stand by OF fans, and I know I'm not alone in this. Keep as much of them out of there as possible.
There's a good arguement to be had, that some of our success during lockdown was due to other clubs not having their so called twelfth man.
I'd take every advantage possible away from these two.
Limit their support obviously, also, up the entertainment value on the pitch, which hopefully we're now doing, and give local supporters, groups and families the chance to go to these games and have a positive experience.
The view of Rangers fans with their banners draped all over the east stand was horrendous. That's ours, and it should always stay that way.
I know we've been moved about plenty in the past but with new ownership we should have new attitudes.
St. Johnstone first! Always!
I'd prefer to go this route, rather than bending over and taking the OF pound just so we can get an extra player or two. This attitude makes us small.
Think big, attract new and existing local supporters to these games, and most importantly keep our dignity and respect.
We were rightly a laughing stock for giving our stands to them, let's learn from that.
This would be a bold move, and it would take time to work, but it's one that I believe would benefit the club and supporters in the long term.

I'd much prefer that we took a long term approach to this, rather than think about short term money grabs.
Fair play to clubs like St. Mirren and Kilmarnock who've reduced the amount of OF "fans" who are allowed into their home games and also had an improvement in form against them.
For me, the way forward is to make these games attractive for local supporters, to make them feel that they are safe to bring family members, young and old, along to watch these games.
Maybe have special discounts for families, groups, OAP organisations etc.
Try and make it a real, fun family day out instead of the negative experience that it is now, both inside and outside the stadium.
The only way to do that is to limit them to the away stand and the minimum amount in the GB stand.
I know we have to provide disabled facilities which is of course right, but we could limit away support access in the GB stand to disabled supporters and their carers only .
There's no need to give away the entire end section. The only reason for that is to cash in.
I've mentioned on here before of my own, and my family's experience of being harassed in the then main stand by OF fans, and I know I'm not alone in this. Keep as much of them out of there as possible.
There's a good arguement to be had, that some of our success during lockdown was due to other clubs not having their so called twelfth man.
I'd take every advantage possible away from these two.
Limit their support obviously, also, up the entertainment value on the pitch, which hopefully we're now doing, and give local supporters, groups and families the chance to go to these games and have a positive experience.
The view of Rangers fans with their banners draped all over the east stand was horrendous. That's ours, and it should always stay that way.
I know we've been moved about plenty in the past but with new ownership we should have new attitudes.
St. Johnstone first! Always!
I'd prefer to go this route, rather than bending over and taking the OF pound just so we can get an extra player or two. This attitude makes us small.
Think big, attract new and existing local supporters to these games, and most importantly keep our dignity and respect.
We were rightly a laughing stock for giving our stands to them, let's learn from that.
This would be a bold move, and it would take time to work, but it's one that I believe would benefit the club and supporters in the long term.

OK so here are some of the top points as I remember them from last night. Very much paraphrasing from memory, so please don't take any of these as direct quotes.
Fran came across as very positive and spoke a lot about us being 'one club, one city, one community' and as such there will be new branding for the club that feeds into that. This includes a refreshed version of the badge that was shown last night and will be shared with the wider fanbase soon. It was all received positively in the room and I think people are going to like it. It's basically the same design as the current badge but with a few tweaks to make it feel a bit more modern and make it easier to print on merch. The club has never really had its own consistent branding and they're trying to address that (at last!). A new website will also be coming soon. In general a lot was said about being open, improving communication with fans, having positive, energetic people at the club and making it a happy place to work (I got the impression it wasn't before!). Several of the new board members were there and were introduced to the fans. A big part of why Simo stood out in his interview was his enthusiasm, which was in line with the new culture they want to have at the club. Recognised that there has never been much diversity on the board and steps are being taken to address that. Two women are being spoken to about joining the board - one of whom is experienced in football, and the other has a lot of knowledge of Perth & Kinross. The club are far down the line with taking on the old Visit Scotland shop on the High Street, and the plan is to turn it into a Saints museum with a small shop area. The Muirton Suite is going to be redesigned and made bigger, so that it can be open through the week. They want to bring the women's team home and have them playing on the astroturf, but to do that they need to build a stand and make other improvements. They want to change people's mindset from just "Saints are playing on Saturday", to recognise that there are two Saints teams, one playing on Saturday and one playing on Sunday. Mixed views from Simo, Fran and the board on VAR but general consensus seemed to be that it's here to stay but needs to be improved. Acknowledged that much of the frustration comes from fans seeing games on TV at the Euros, Champions League etc where it all happens much faster. Fran mentioned that in one game there was a 7-minute delay because the ref was having a disagreement with what VAR wanted to do. At the moment there is no plan to let fans buy shares. If fans want to back the club financially, one thing they could do is help with funding/sponsorship of the women's team which would grow that side of the business and help with the effort to bring their games back to McDiarmid. Old Firm ticketing was spoken about for a long time. Fran stressed that when OF fans are in the home ends, it's because home fans have bought tickets for them. The only way to deal with this is for us, as fans, to report it when we see it and make sure we're not giving them tickets. Some fans caught buying tickets for them have already had their ticket-buying privileges revoked. By not giving the OF fans as many seats as possible and trying to fill the ground, we lose £75,000 per home match against the OF. That's the equivalent of one player for a year with each of these games. The club has committed to trying to let home fans have these areas instead but it doesn't make financial sense as fans aren't filling these areas. They're going to give it two more games to see how it goes, but if it's not working it'll have to be assessed again. One fan said we should just give the OF the stands, cash in, sign better players and use it towards getting back to Europe and winning Cups. Fran said personally he saw it that way too (and personally I have to agree). One of the things being considered is a season ticket option that doesn't include OF games, as so many home fans aren't going to those games.  
Simo's bit ...
As you'd expect, Simo was very engaging, funny and charismatic. Very likeable. (Basically I think we all got lost in his eyes.) Most importantly, enthusiastic about the club and the city. He said he loves that Perth feels like one city with one team that everyone can get behind and that makes it feel like home, whereas Motherwell felt like a bit of Glasgow (or words along those lines - I can't remember exactly how he said it). When asked where we'd finish this season, he said we'll be pushing for Top 6 and wants cup finals. After we achieve something we should always be aiming higher. Unlike previous managers he seemed very happy to state his ambitions. But he stressed we need to get the short-term stuff right first. Having a big striker is an important part of how he wants to play, so that they can hold the ball up and knock it down to fast strikers. Sounds like Uche is still a while away from being back and ready. He's impressed with how Kyle Cameron and Nicky Clark have responded to the captaincy change. It was too much pressure on Kyle's shoulders to deal with being captain at the same time as trying to impress as a loan player. He's seen a big difference in him since the change and it'll help how he plays. Also said Nicky Clark was previously a selfish player who only cared about scoring goals, but as captain he's embracing having to care about the whole team and that is showing in his performances. He's been impressed with our young players and particularly mentioned Fran Franczak. Younger players and fringe players will get their chance, but as an immediate priority he wanted to stick with a core group for his first few games.  
On the subject of streaming future meetings online - the club has no issue with doing that, it's up to the people running the forum to decide as it's their meeting. Sounds like they're going to try it out for the next one, but there was a concern raised that fewer people might show up in person if they do it this way.
I've probably forgotten loads of bits, but that's just a brain-splurge of what I remember!

It really is about time the club started to record these.
So that supporters who don't happen to be local, or can't attend on the night, get a chance to watch and listen.
The way they're conducted at the moment, they have a secrecy about them.
There's no excuse in this day and age, to at the very least publish them afterwards.
It's also not difficult to set up a system where supporters from anywhere in the world can join by Zoom, or something similar, when it's actually happening.

Yeah, I was never a great fan of the tippy tappy football that emerged about fifteen years ago.
It can be good to watch, but sometimes lacking in goalmouth action.
You could tell that as Spain ended their dominance and other sides learnt how to counter act that style of play.
I'm much more of a fan of the Klopp style of fast, direct attacking.
His Dortmund team was excellent. Then the Liverpool of around five years ago was outstanding.
I remember Klopp saying that if his side won possession in their own box, he wanted them to have a shot at goal within 7 seconds. Turning defence into attack in super quick time.
A mixture of both is what I think we need. Possess and dominate play, then be ruthless when the opportunity arises.
I'm not asking for much, am I? 😂

Bozo looks absolutely massive!
If his skill matches his height, we're onto a winner.

Been busy and just got back in, so missed the first half.
Should I bother with the second?
70% possession is some stat, but it's a bit pointless if we're two down.

It’s 300am down here, I’m going to bed I can’t be bothered watching the second half.
 

Rae should have saved one or both. He, I’m afraid, is utter mince.
Just played through for both goals.

It really is about time the club started to record these.
So that supporters who don't happen to be local, or can't attend on the night, get a chance to watch and listen.
The way they're conducted at the moment, they have a secrecy about them.
There's no excuse in this day and age, to at the very least publish them afterwards.
It's also not difficult to set up a system where supporters from anywhere in the world can join by Zoom, or something similar, when it's actually happening.

Spot on mate, technology should be embraced and utilised for these meetings 

It really is about time the club started to record these.
So that supporters who don't happen to be local, or can't attend on the night, get a chance to watch and listen.
The way they're conducted at the moment, they have a secrecy about them.
There's no excuse in this day and age, to at the very least publish them afterwards.
It's also not difficult to set up a system where supporters from anywhere in the world can join by Zoom, or something similar, when it's actually happening.

It really is about time the club started to record these.
So that supporters who don't happen to be local, or can't attend on the night, get a chance to watch and listen.
The way they're conducted at the moment, they have a secrecy about them.
There's no excuse in this day and age, to at the very least publish them afterwards.
It's also not difficult to set up a system where supporters from anywhere in the world can join by Zoom, or something similar, when it's actually happening.

It really is about time the club started to record these.
So that supporters who don't happen to be local, or can't attend on the night, get a chance to watch and listen.
The way they're conducted at the moment, they have a secrecy about them.
There's no excuse in this day and age, to at the very least publish them afterwards.
It's also not difficult to set up a system where supporters from anywhere in the world can join by Zoom, or something similar, when it's actually happening.

It really is about time the club started to record these.
So that supporters who don't happen to be local, or can't attend on the night, get a chance to watch and listen.
The way they're conducted at the moment, they have a secrecy about them.
There's no excuse in this day and age, to at the very least publish them afterwards.
It's also not difficult to set up a system where supporters from anywhere in the world can join by Zoom, or something similar, when it's actually happening.

It really is about time the club started to record these.
So that supporters who don't happen to be local, or can't attend on the night, get a chance to watch and listen.
The way they're conducted at the moment, they have a secrecy about them.
There's no excuse in this day and age, to at the very least publish them afterwards.
It's also not difficult to set up a system where supporters from anywhere in the world can join by Zoom, or something similar, when it's actually happening.

I noticed that Airdrie are having a bad season to put it mildly.
I'm very glad that we didn't go down the McCabe route.
I thought he was untested and it seems that this might be the case.

I noticed that Airdrie are having a bad season to put it mildly.
I'm very glad that we didn't go down the McCabe route.
I thought he was untested and it seems that this might be the case.

If Uche is fit, we might get something from that game.
I felt we needed more urgency and directness at the end there, and we don't have the personnel to do that.
Getting better though.

Just posted something similar on P&B. In fact, to save me time, I'll copy and paste it.
"I genuinely never get the dislike of Griffin as a co commentator.
I suppose it's all a personal opinion, but I've always thought he was really good and explains a lot of what's going on that the non pros can't.
I think it's far better to have a player co commentating, rather than the "two mates in the pub giving their opinion" style, that you often get without a professional."