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HMSA dinner with Budge (Q&A from last night)
Started by Herzog




9 posts in this topic
Herzog
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11-01-2019, 07:16 AM -
#1
Om a guy across the road. She done not bad, all things considered. But still cosying up to Hibs, FFS.

There were 28 questions asked and I've taken notes as best I can but I apologise in advance for an typos or anything I've missed.  Here are the first 8 questions, I'm up at 5am and will post the other 20 questions tomorrow:

Q1 – Have we made a profit this year?

AB – It’s been a fantastic year financially up to 30 June 2019 and I think everyone will be pleasantly surprised.  They are so good that I think we will really struggle to match them during the next year.  We are due to sign off the accounts tomorrow and they will be issued before the AGM in the first week in December.  Some highlights are our turnover which was £12m last year is £15m this year and that was thanks to making it to the League Cup Semi Final and the Scottish Cup Final. We’re in the semi final again this year and hopefully we can make it  to the Scottish Cup Final again.

 We have also made a handsome profit this year and have received money from our benefactors to help complete the main stand and also to help with player signings.

Q2 – Can we get an update on the main stand?

AB – The stand is amazing and I’m really pleased that the top floor is now completed and hopefully many of you have been up to have a look.  We are using it on matchdays for the directors to use and all of them have said that it is the best in Scotland bar none.  The players are also blown away with the changing rooms which you can use for Hospitality of you fancy a more unusual event or gift.

We had a visit yesterday from Leanne Dempster and Ronald Gordon who wanted to see how you do it properly ?.  As we rent out the suites during the week to maximise revenues we couldn’t actually show them round any of the suites as they were all being used.

We still need to complete the second floor and work has stopped.  There is pipework and toilets in, however, as we are renting out the other rooms it was causing issues with joiners / electricians etc working in the rooms above both due to noise and tradesmen working.  We therefore took the decision to stop the work so our sales team could rent out the existing suites knowing there won’t be any work going on.  Plus we also stopped due to money pressures and cash flows and we are replenishing the coffers.

The plans are finished and we are looking to start the final phase ensuring that it doesn’t impact with the leases of the other suites. It’s amazing the number of people who have commented on the finished stand not realising that it’s not yet finished
 

Q3 – How does our league position impact on hospitality and our finances?

AB – As far as the league positions go it’s about £100k per place, therefore last season we were budgeting for 4th and came 6th which cost us around £200k. When supporters are disenchanted as they have been recently this also has a huge impact the number of sales.

We are up against budget this season but only due to the BetFred Cup, walk ups in the league are down due to performances on the pitch.

Most of the main stand suites are pretty full during match days with most tickets sold out, however, the Gorgie Suite which is our biggest has seen a very slow start to the season with sales down.

Our Quarter one sales of hospitality are down v budget and our quarter one sales in the shop are down v budget, however, we are hopeful that the new 3rd kit being back in stock will help improve that.

Q4 – Last year you said the doors at the back of the mainstand would be open for the Hibs game and they are not. It takes an age to vacate the stand after a game which is frustrating and this is surely a safety hazard.

AB – One door will not be open due to the position of the TV Studio, however, the door at the North end of the stand should be open on match days to allow fans to leave. She will check to ensure this is the case.  We have a safety certificate for the stand an if there was an emergency the door at the south end of the stand could also be used going through the TV studio.

Q5 – I think that a lot of Gorgie Suite Hospitality regulars have moved to the Main Stand and as it’s £170/£140 for hospitality in the Gorgie that will be having an impact.  IN addition Season Ticket holders used to get a £25 discount on Hospitality but now we don’t and we are effectively paying for our seat twice, could this be brought back?

AB – She will speak to the Head of Hospitality to see if something can be done.

Q6 – I’ll ask the question as nobody else seems to be, it was the correct decision to get rid of Craig Levein (round of applause), the football we have been watching has been eye watering, when you look to recruit a new manager can you make sure that they look to play entertaining football.

AB – We’ll be starting the recruitment process tomorrow and there are a number of criteria that we’ll be looking for and I’ll be looking to add entertaining football to this.  I was there last night and it was dire and wasn’t good enough.

Q7 – Who’ll be helping to search for a new manager?

 AB – 6 board members, 2 FoH directors, two non exec directors and a sub committee of these will work together and decide tomorrow if we need any outside help.  A few years ago I would have said yes, but now I believe we know what we are looking for and know what we want.

Craig Levein will not be involved in this process.

Q8 – What took you so long to get rid of Craig Levein?

AB – I can be stubborn if I think I’m right, we have had a number of discussions in the board room without Craig and felt that due to the unusual injury problems that it was fair to give him one round of games and I was hoping that he could improve the team and get to a point that when the inured players came back we could kick on.  However, the last few weeks it’s been a case of we should have this and that player back by then and it wasn’t happening and the players weren’t coming back and the results weren’t improving.  But after last night, it was time.  We wanted to give him a chance to turn it around but it was clear that it wasn’t working.
This post was last modified: 11-01-2019, 07:17 AM by Herzog.

Shanklands Fivehead
Seize the memes of production

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11-01-2019, 08:20 AM -
#2
Showing Dempster round Monty LewLew
Ray Winstone
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11-01-2019, 10:34 AM -
#3
(11-01-2019, 08:20 AM)Picards Forehead Wrote: Showing Dempster round Monty LewLew

Respect the rivalry Monty Ha
No rep, no problem Shitwine
Steven Toast
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11-01-2019, 12:51 PM -
#4
Cant wait till that sleekit witch is out of our club.
Zizou
Drunk Cretin & Hassle Magnet

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11-01-2019, 12:55 PM -
#5
The list of folk that are recruiting doesn’t look too promising. None of them have a clue about the ‘football department’.
Hung S.J.
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11-01-2019, 01:01 PM -
#6
(11-01-2019, 12:55 PM)Alan Partridge Wrote: The list of folk that are recruiting doesn’t look too promising. None of them have a clue about the ‘football department’.

Agreed. We aren’t getting any young, hungry German manager like Norwich or Huddersfield Town did.

It will be what and who they know.
This post was last modified: 11-01-2019, 01:02 PM by Hung S.J..
Winston Churchill
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11-01-2019, 01:25 PM -
#7
Do any of her family fancy a stint as manager Monty Umm
fan owned but not fan run Warnock
Hendricks
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11-01-2019, 01:33 PM -
#8
We've got rid of Levein which is fantastic but I have very little confidence that Budge or anyone she will involve in the process have anything like the expertise in recruiting the best candidate. It's got easy option, someone they are familiar with written all over it. Totally lacking in ambition and imagination, it really is a shit state of affairs that we have such clueless individuals running the football side of the club.
rojo
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11-01-2019, 04:34 PM -
#9
There are more Q&A answers posted over the road
Hendricks
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11-01-2019, 04:50 PM -
#10
Q23 – Have you had any enjoyment over the last six months in your role?

AB – You sometimes forget what enjoyment is in this role, it’s been a difficult few months and it always will be when the team is underperforming.  However, the concert as part of the Festival was fantastic, the fireworks display was great and I was especially happy to see the top floor completed.


  Monty Ha



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