Crawley Town CEO and co-owner Preston Johnson faced the Crawley Town fans in a forum held at the stadium – and it was a lively evening.
Here are the full highlights
Here are the full highlights
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00:00:00I think Ben will be kind of emceeing and handing off the mic for people that have questions
00:00:26throughout and we can really just jump straight into it.
00:00:30I just wanted to say one thing before we hand you guys the microphone.
00:00:37I'm going to be very open and honest and candid tonight and I hope you guys appreciate that
00:00:45that comes from a place of love and respect and a goal to find an aligned vision to continue
00:00:54to find success for this club, whether it's on the pitch or off with everything else.
00:00:58Because I think we all ultimately do have the same goals in mind.
00:01:02So yeah, feel free to just kick it off wherever you want to start.
00:01:06Raise your hand and then Ben will bring you the microphone.
00:01:09So how do you go about finding players?
00:01:14We've seen Tanulu sign from Nigeria, we hear rumours about a player going out to Argentina.
00:01:22How are we making all these contacts?
00:01:25And this guy, Mr Phoenix, what does he have to do with the club?
00:01:31What is his role in the club?
00:01:34Sure, Tobias is a recruiting consultant for the club.
00:01:38He has a pretty good network outside of just England as well.
00:01:41He's worked with clubs in the past.
00:01:43So he helps with that, a lot of discussions with agents and anything that I can't get to just by myself.
00:01:51As far as our process for recruitment, I think I actually referenced this.
00:01:58I don't know if it was in a podcast that I did with Sam, if it was in the Last Fans Forum.
00:02:04But a lot of what we did last year was trying to find advantages in non-league for players that we thought were undervalued.
00:02:10Or maybe they were bench players that didn't get too many minutes for other League Two clubs that we could jump in and bring into our squad that we thought could make a real impact.
00:02:18And it's all based on a maths model and analytics that essentially assess the impact a player makes in creating XG or limiting XG if you're a defensive player.
00:02:28And so luckily we were able to find some success with that last year.
00:02:34Going into this season, since it was our first in League One as an ownership group or management team,
00:02:41we wanted to obviously try to duplicate that strategy but also open up to looking internationally to potential assets for the club and players that we could either make an impact immediately or long-term.
00:02:55Sort of a purpose to kind of help push our entire recruiting model along, which is find undervalued players no matter where it may be.
00:03:04And then ultimately if it means moving them on for a bigger price than we pay, that's good football business.
00:03:10So we try to redeploy back into the squad to get even better players and it's this cycle that we hope can provide some sort of sustainability for the club that otherwise loses money every single year.
00:03:22And so it's kind of that thought process and that strategy and we're open to talking to anybody from any country.
00:03:29We would be too close-minded not to in some ways.
00:03:31So, yeah.
00:03:33Next question.
00:03:35You said that you're buying undervalued players and then selling them on for a profit.
00:03:41Where is that profit going?
00:03:44Back into the squad, like I was referencing.
00:03:46So I don't mind.
00:03:47I can walk you through every season I've been here that we've been here.
00:03:52You know, the first season, a lot of people were frustrated with a lot of the older, experienced players that we were moving on from because we didn't feel like we were good enough.
00:04:01We brought in a lot of younger players, again, from non-leagues, some people hadn't heard of.
00:04:06You know, there's an ungodly amount of receipts of fans that hated our recruitment window two summers ago, right?
00:04:13Fortunately, again, we brought in Scott Lindsey prior to that.
00:04:16He did a great job developing the players.
00:04:18We earned promotion, got to go to Wembley.
00:04:19There's a great story there.
00:04:21But as we spoke about, I believe at the end of the summer before the season started, a few of those players had clauses and contracts where they were allowed to go to a different club for a fee.
00:04:31There were others that had the opportunity to make, you know, four to eight times as much money as they were making with us to go elsewhere.
00:04:36And we were getting, you know, paid a sum that we thought, like, if we can take this money and redeploy it into the players to give us a better chance in League One, we feel like it was the best decision.
00:04:47Because at the end of the day, contrary to some belief out there, my sole purpose is to try to win football games.
00:04:53That's why I said I want to try to get promoted in two years.
00:04:56Like, I just want to win.
00:04:58And so every decision we make is pretty mathematical, but it is about giving us the best chance to find success, in this case, this season in League One against budgets that are two to ten XRs.
00:05:10And so that every decision, every move with players is going right back into the squad to try to give us reinforcement for maybe our weaknesses are relative to what we expected before the season.
00:05:19Or maybe we have injuries we've suffered we need to reinforce here.
00:05:22So it's kind of a game that is changing every day, and we're assessing and analyzing.
00:05:27But that's our general strategy, kind of, from the start until where we're at now.
00:05:31You touch on finding success, and what I'd love to know is what is deemed as acceptable when it comes to results, performances, relationships from manager to team, team to owners, fans included as well?
00:05:50What is deemed as acceptable and where is the bar at, because when you talk about finding success, it's hard to buy in.
00:05:58Does that happen at the minute this season?
00:06:01Totally.
00:06:03Let me think about how I want to answer this one, and it'll probably be a longer answer, but I think it's an okay time to get into.
00:06:17So I'm going to start where I just ended, and then I'll answer the question.
00:06:20So for example, my sole purpose is trying to win football games.
00:06:24I came back this season after I thought I was going to be done after the first two years.
00:06:29I was sitting on the sidelines, and I was recognizing over the summer how difficult this League One campaign was going to be.
00:06:36And I was sitting there also thinking, I don't know if I can live with myself if I'm just sitting on the sidelines watching things play out, and we don't have success.
00:06:45I can live with myself if I go and give it my best shot, because I have been giving it my best shot.
00:06:49I've made so many mistakes, far from perfect this year, but I promise I've given it my best shot like I did the prior two years.
00:06:57And I can live with that personally.
00:06:58I'm at peace.
00:06:59That was why I made the decision to come back ultimately, is I want to give us the best chance to again find success.
00:07:04So to answer your question a little bit more directly, I came here and I told the entire office staff and team,
00:07:13our sole purpose is trying to stay up in League One so that we can really utilize the revenue that gets generated from League One relative to League Two
00:07:21to make a better impact next season on the infrastructure at the club.
00:07:26I'll go into that a little bit more.
00:07:30Right now, we're putting every pound into the squad, because like I said, my whole purpose is to try to win and then find success on the pitch at the detriment of our office staff.
00:07:40And you can ask any of them.
00:07:43I fail them every day because we don't put enough into what they're capable of doing.
00:07:48And they are working way over hours.
00:07:51They're doing three or four roles at a time.
00:07:53And it's because we're trying to win football games.
00:07:55And so it's really hard for me at the start of the season to say, hey, we have this goal.
00:07:59Or at the start of the year in 2025, we had an event together down in Reds Bar, like a team day.
00:08:05And we're setting goals and trying to create a vision of what is success?
00:08:09What does that even mean?
00:08:10What does it mean for us off of the pitch?
00:08:13And it's great to have those discussions, but it's really hard to do without the fans.
00:08:20And so what's really interesting about the timing of this is if we have this vision, then we can correctly invest in what that vision looks like.
00:08:27But we need to do it with the fans.
00:08:29That's not my skill set at all.
00:08:31I am a maths, analytics, game theory strategy guy.
00:08:35I have no idea what brand identity and marketing and monetizing fans on game day and food and drink.
00:08:41I am not good at that.
00:08:43We have other people in the office that really are.
00:08:45We also thought, hey, it might be worthwhile to bring on a brand identity firm that creates questions and works with football clubs in the UK regularly that will give us an idea of what each subset of this fan base wants and believes in and what they think their club is.
00:09:01Yeah, there was some really weird outside-the-box thinking questions about animals or food or films or whatever.
00:09:07But the idea was to try to figure out what our fan base wants and then align our vision as an office staff when we start making investments.
00:09:15Because here, think about it this way.
00:09:16We're supposed to hire a new marketing person, maybe someone to help with events, someone to help with how we're going to structure our narrative and how we tell it on social channels versus how we're telling it with sponsors and potential partners.
00:09:29Certain candidates for a job have strengths here and weaknesses here, but we can't make those correct decisions and invest correctly without the vision, right?
00:09:38So we're trying to figure out what that vision should be, like who is Carly Town Football Club?
00:09:42What is our story?
00:09:44And that's where you guys all come in and why we were trying to reach out, which I believe over 400 people actually have to this point.
00:09:51But that's why it's so important, whether there are some funny questions that I probably wasted your time for a few minutes on.
00:09:56But I think for us to find success is to do it together for one, fans plus club, plus office staff.
00:10:03It's not me feeling bad every day that I'm letting my team down because I truthfully tell them, hey, we got this vision, like let's go.
00:10:10And they see every pound go to the football club and players, right?
00:10:13Because we're just trying our best to stay in League One.
00:10:15So I want to try to find a long-term solution that brings us together that we can build on that success.
00:10:21Is it staying in League One this year?
00:10:22Hopefully, right?
00:10:23If it's going back down, but then getting right back up.
00:10:25But we're in a better space where we have three, five, seven more people in the office helping grow and build our brand.
00:10:31I think all of those things contribute to success.
00:10:35But I want to make it clear, like I've made a ton of mistakes.
00:10:38It's been really hard to jump in and be like a formal CEO, leader, chairman, whatever.
00:10:43I mean, I was a co-chairman prior, but being here day to day and seeing how hard everyone works and how much more they need.
00:10:49But I can't give it to them because we're so focused on just winning football games.
00:10:52It's a really tough battle.
00:10:54But I promise them, look, if we can find a vision that we all believe in and invest in together, then I can sell my board and my group on doing it this way.
00:11:02And so that's what finding success is.
00:11:05And I think it's not something that I just choose.
00:11:06This is what it is.
00:11:07It's that we try to formulate together.
00:11:09I hope that makes sense and I articulated it okay.
00:11:12Preston, how do I put this?
00:11:15I don't know.
00:11:17You're not the, well, Wagme and yourself aren't kind of highly spoken about in social media when it comes to quality fans.
00:11:24My question to you would be, how does that motivate you to drive yourself forward with the club knowing that you haven't got the support from the fan network fully?
00:11:34What gets you up to kind of to do the things or suggest the things that you're going to do when there's a lot of stuff going around social media, you know, Wagme out and sell the club and all that sort of stuff?
00:11:47There's got to be a driver there.
00:11:48What is that for you?
00:11:51It's a really good question for different reasons than you probably think, actually.
00:11:55Because I think my wife would ask me the same thing.
00:11:58What am I doing?
00:11:59It's a tough question.
00:12:01But the truth is, I think where you're getting at, I mean, I've gotten the Wagme out stuff for over two years now.
00:12:08I mean, none of this is new.
00:12:10In fact, you know, it's interesting because of the, you know, some of the backlash on the fan survey and Wagme out.
00:12:23It was happening year one.
00:12:24I kind of had to block it out, just put my head down and focus on football.
00:12:29And that worked being pretty quiet and just focusing on football in year two.
00:12:32So I try to just do similar.
00:12:34I don't go online much.
00:12:38I also, you know, I'm told pretty regularly that it's just a fraction of the fan base.
00:12:42It's not everyone.
00:12:43I think most people actually do want to try to give feedback in a way that's positive and impactful.
00:12:50They can actually bring change to the club in a better way.
00:12:53So it doesn't bother me too much.
00:12:55If it gets a little personal, I mean, I'm a human being at the end of the day.
00:12:59I think the timing of the one when the fan survey went out was harder for me because I'll just be completely honest with you guys.
00:13:09Because at the time it went out and then suddenly there were fans that were, at the time, my hometown was on fire.
00:13:18And I was here in Crawley.
00:13:19I'm trying to give my best to figure out how we can try to find success, whether it be via football, the transfer window.
00:13:27Whether it be with the office staff, day-to-day operations we're trying to improve.
00:13:32Whether it be the fan experience.
00:13:33How can we make things better?
00:13:37Never mind, you know, the success we did find last season.
00:13:39And so it was hard for me to read some of those things.
00:13:43And it's like, there's people out there that want to be replaced because of some weird, like, animal questions in a survey.
00:13:49Like, part of me was like, really?
00:13:51Like, it was kind of like, it hurt, right?
00:13:53Like, it doesn't seem fair.
00:13:55Sorry, Preston.
00:13:55I think it goes a bit deeper than that.
00:13:57So go on, man.
00:13:58What is it that goes deeper?
00:13:59Well, I mean, it's not particularly always about the animal questions or whatever it was.
00:14:06I think it's just the historical mistakes that's been an issue.
00:14:09What are some other historical mistakes?
00:14:10We've made plenty.
00:14:11But what are the ones that you guys get really upset about that there's so much to say?
00:14:15Well, I can speak.
00:14:16I mean, I can only speak from just what I've seen.
00:14:19You probably have an opinion, too.
00:14:20You can say what you think.
00:14:21Can you stand up for everyone?
00:14:22Yeah, sure.
00:14:25What's my opinion?
00:14:27I'm quite a level-headed guy, to be honest with you.
00:14:29I'm just witnessing a lot of stuff on social media.
00:14:32I've talked to you before.
00:14:34I know you're realistic.
00:14:36And yeah, it's fine.
00:14:38Yeah, and you know, my general view, just from the observations of the fans,
00:14:41or just because I'm quite high on Twitter, I see everything that's going on at the moment,
00:14:45is that everything that's portrayed or put out by the club is slated.
00:14:49And whether that be questions on animals or direction, sales of players,
00:14:59you know, where this money's going from from these sales.
00:15:01I mean, people actually think that we don't put the money back into the club.
00:15:05I mean, I've answered the question for like multiple years.
00:15:08I think it's pretty because, you know, you see a lot, you see a load of players go out
00:15:12and maybe one or two come in.
00:15:13And so they're thinking, probably, where's the rest of that going?
00:15:17You know, because they're high value players.
00:15:20I don't know.
00:15:21But yeah, you get a lot of undisclosed fees and things like that as well.
00:15:26So now we can see.
00:15:27In America, in sports, they list the figures for salaries and wages and stuff.
00:15:31So that is something that's kind of different here.
00:15:34That it'd be easier if they didn't say undisclosed fee, right?
00:15:37You could say, oh, they paid this for that player and got this for that one.
00:15:40And like, it's more straightforward.
00:15:42But there's regulations they have to follow.
00:15:45I think there's kind of a general bitterness at the moment, Julie, because we've come from
00:15:50that hype from last season.
00:15:51Of course, yeah.
00:15:52And every single thing that could go wrong is going to be picked up by people because
00:15:58they're still in that kind of dream state at Wembley, you know.
00:16:01And we all just want the best decisions made, the best possible players coming to the club
00:16:08that we can have, you know.
00:16:10And that's what's going to make people happy.
00:16:12And, you know, just speaking from my own personal perspective as well, I feel like
00:16:16the place at the moment has got a bit miserable.
00:16:19It really has.
00:16:19Like, the level of the kind of what's going on around the club is steeped in negativity
00:16:26is what it feels like around the club at the moment.
00:16:28Similar to the first year, right?
00:16:30A little bit.
00:16:30I just feel like it needs a bit of a picking up, whether that's better players coming
00:16:34in or better tarpaulin on the East End over there, better colour.
00:16:42But which would you prefer?
00:16:44Probably the tarpaulins.
00:16:45It drives me mad.
00:16:46It drives me absolutely mad.
00:16:47Good luck on Twitter with that one.
00:16:50Yeah, probably, at the moment.
00:16:51I think we're all right at the moment.
00:16:52I think if we could just get, you know, a better colour on that tarpaulin, it'd be fun.
00:16:59So here's my question back to you then, because I understand there's more than just animal
00:17:06questions.
00:17:07Have we not earned any of your trust based on the player decisions we made in the last
00:17:12two seasons?
00:17:12I have to say...
00:17:13No.
00:17:14Why not?
00:17:17We've been selling the best players.
00:17:20Some of the players that you've seen, I mean, I could give you an example like Chuck Barker,
00:17:24he's done a fantastic decision.
00:17:26Absolutely fantastic.
00:17:31I understand some of your points of view are that Scott gets all the credit and we get
00:17:35all the blame.
00:17:35Someone said it in the crowd.
00:17:37I get that.
00:17:37That's fine.
00:17:39So you really think it's my fault then that we're struggling in League One?
00:17:44No.
00:17:44Or we don't get any of the credit?
00:17:48Something's backwards, because this is...
00:17:50I'm going to explain it and hopefully you guys can understand, right?
00:17:54Here's how I would phrase it.
00:17:56What do you guys think is an appropriate amount of money for an ownership group to lose per
00:18:01year?
00:18:01And what do they get out of it?
00:18:03No.
00:18:04You think it's appropriate that they lose none, right?
00:18:08If that's the truth, this club, we've lost between two and three every year.
00:18:14So if we were spending on players to lose none, we wouldn't have a playing squad.
00:18:19But if we spend two to three million to try to give ourselves a chance, or at least where
00:18:23we deem we have a chance to be competitive, it's hard to just lose two to three million
00:18:29pounds every year.
00:18:30So we're trying to find ways to increase revenue, whether it be player trading and
00:18:34recruiting and unfortunately getting on from some of them, whether it be trying to build
00:18:39a brand identity and do more marketing or merge.
00:18:42But that's why change is important and positive change.
00:18:46And it's really hard for me to see that you guys, some of them, some of you, I'm not saying
00:18:51it's everyone, are so hesitant to us trying to make change.
00:18:55But at the same time, you hate losing so much.
00:18:58But if we can't make change, we don't have more revenue, we can't get better players
00:19:01all the time.
00:19:02So it's this like, which is it?
00:19:05And so that's what makes it difficult to align perfectly with the fans.
00:19:08But at the end of the day, we all want to just win and try to bring more eyeballs to
00:19:11the club and do better.
00:19:13And so that's whether people believe me or not, that's what I'm here trying to do.
00:19:16I am giving my best in my perfect far from it.
00:19:20But go ahead.
00:19:21There was a question back here I think related.
00:19:22He's been raising his hand for a few.
00:19:24Hello, I'm not going to sit on my hands any longer.
00:19:28I think no one in here, Preston, can criticise you for the time and effort and money you
00:19:33put in.
00:19:34I think the biggest bit for us is, what a lot of people say is, you have the opportunity
00:19:38to hire people who would make less mistakes and make the right decisions.
00:19:43So we're grateful for the money that Wagner put in.
00:19:46Yeah, the last time we were in England, we were losing 6,000 pound a day.
00:19:49Okay.
00:19:50So, but what have we done since Wembley?
00:19:53Commercial.
00:19:54What is the commercial strategy?
00:19:55Where is the commercial manager?
00:19:57We've just hired a commercial individual whose social media is brand damaging.
00:20:02Yeah, we've just hired a kit man in the last 48 hours.
00:20:05Who's hiring these people?
00:20:07What is the plan going forward?
00:20:09And can we hire some people who can make the right decisions leadership wise to go forward
00:20:16to make your life easier?
00:20:17You should be sitting in here sipping champagne like Ryan Reynolds does, really, while other
00:20:21people are making the right decisions.
00:20:24And there's loads of stuff you've done great, but actually, if you say about what can we
00:20:28do to be more sustainable, what is Wagner's plan?
00:20:32Because that's what people are looking for.
00:20:37I kind of went through a lot of it earlier, but I'm happy to go through the details on
00:20:40position by position and then what's our plan to find success.
00:20:44First, everything's my fault at the end of the day.
00:20:53I have to take responsibility.
00:20:58No, at the end of the day, I choose the accountability.
00:21:01It's not all about you.
00:21:02It's a collective as a group.
00:21:03It's not all about you.
00:21:06I make every decision at the end of the day, whether it's financial, whether it's I have
00:21:10people I report to on a board that help me and strategize.
00:21:14I don't want to throw anyone under the bus publicly.
00:21:16Sorry, but I mean, if that's what you're trying to get me to do.
00:21:19No, it's possible that it should be a way to his point.
00:21:28I told you my skill set is in brand identity.
00:21:30So we hired a firm to help us do that.
00:21:32We had people in house that also contributed towards that to his question about if I'm
00:21:38good enough to make some of the other decisions.
00:21:41Sam, remind me what your second one was.
00:21:42It was all commercial.
00:21:43We didn't hire anyone specifically for commercial yet.
00:21:46It's something that Ben's been working on and spending a good portion of his time on,
00:21:49which is one of the reasons we brought him in this summer for day-to-day ops.
00:21:54The person you're referencing, which I won't say a lot of, no longer is here at the club.
00:21:59He was brought on more for marketing and events, which didn't work out.
00:22:04The kid man situation you're referring to isn't real.
00:22:08He's going to be there tomorrow training.
00:22:10That's fine.
00:22:11As far as some of the other things go where I could have better people or better input
00:22:17in and out, the truth is, to get to the main point, if you guys want to have a vote on
00:22:22my behalf at the end of the season, I think you guys should, whether it's just a group
00:22:27or season ticket holders.
00:22:30There's a time and place for it.
00:22:31Right now during the transfer window wasn't the best time, in my opinion.
00:22:34Obviously, it makes our job more difficult.
00:22:37But if it's a matter of me finding the right people that would do better than me,
00:22:40I'm open to it.
00:22:41But at the time last summer, as I was sitting there watching things unfold, I thought, look,
00:22:45I need to give this the best chance I can because I thought that was the best chance
00:22:48we had.
00:22:49I don't think it's you, Preston.
00:22:50I don't think it's you individually.
00:22:52It's a group.
00:22:53In some ways, Sam's asking why haven't I gotten the right people, which he's right.
00:22:56There's, and again, part of it's a little bit financial.
00:22:59It's not for you.
00:22:59It's Wagmere's general.
00:23:00So we talk about commercial and we work on it.
00:23:03So what are the figures last year?
00:23:05What are the figures this year?
00:23:07Because I would guess commercial hasn't gone up when it should do because we've
00:23:10been playing at a higher level.
00:23:12So, and it's not a criticism of you personally.
00:23:13What are Wagmere doing to get the right people in to drive revenue forward?
00:23:18We've held multiple interview processes for commercial, whether it be a manager,
00:23:25whether it be a junior commercial person to help and come in and help Ben with his
00:23:31performances there and trying to bring in more revenue that way because we think it's
00:23:35important.
00:23:35It's also really hard for us, again, to sell what the Carly Tom vision is at League
00:23:42One.
00:23:43We have all this momentum or we didn't.
00:23:45And how are we going to do that together without, because I'll just say in the first
00:23:50season, like if we did stuff without asking the fans, it was met with some backlash,
00:23:54right?
00:23:54So you guys should talk to us.
00:23:55It's one of the reasons we're putting the other Devil's Advocates group together.
00:23:58So we have an actual feedback loop from the fans directly so that we can figure out what
00:24:02our commercial managers should look like, what we should be selling potential companies.
00:24:06We've had multiple ones coming in and Ben can probably speak better to the specifics
00:24:10if you want to reference a few of them.
00:24:12We have a big one coming Saturday to the match.
00:24:14We have a potential five-year deal to be had.
00:24:17There's things in the works.
00:24:18They take time.
00:24:18It's a slow game.
00:24:20But we are trying without being able to tell you every single detail.
00:24:24Ben can give you more if you want to jump in now to kind of answer Sam's specifics on
00:24:28commercial.
00:24:29So from a commercial perspective, our numbers are up this year.
00:24:32Merchandise is doing great.
00:24:33Tickets are doing great.
00:24:34Sponsorship is up.
00:24:36But in order to become a sustainable football club where we break even, assuming our budget
00:24:41stays the same, ticket revenue overall has to jump 40%.
00:24:46Merchandise sales have to jump three times.
00:24:48Hospitality sales have to almost quadruple.
00:24:51So there is a big lift of things that we need to do in order to achieve those revenue targets.
00:24:56Some of those are more longer term.
00:24:59We talked about this in the summer.
00:25:00Who has an enjoyable experience in the shop downstairs?
00:25:04Practically nobody, right?
00:25:06So we've looked at plans of rearranging the shop and the office space downstairs so that
00:25:10we can sell more merchandise.
00:25:11We've considered opening up a shop in the back of the stadium that would be difficult
00:25:16to access.
00:25:17That wouldn't work.
00:25:18We're now looking to containers to have a merchandise shop.
00:25:20A lot of these longer term bigger drivers of commercial take time and investment.
00:25:26Food and drink is a big one.
00:25:28The average pound per head at a match is about three and a half.
00:25:33So for every person in the stadium we make about three and a half pounds on food and
00:25:37drink.
00:25:38That's less than a pint.
00:25:39It's less than a pie.
00:25:41That number needs to go up in order for the club to make more money.
00:25:45I'll come back to you in a second.
00:25:46From a sponsorship perspective, we struggle with what we are selling to commercial partners
00:25:54which is part of the idea of the brand identity work.
00:25:56What is it about Crawley that can attract big brands to be a part of it?
00:26:00This football club, the town, is it Gatwick?
00:26:03Is it the 129 years of history?
00:26:06What is it?
00:26:07That's what we're trying to elicit from the brand identity work so that we can go sell
00:26:11this club to new fans, to new commercial partners, etc.
00:26:16One of the comments that I really appreciate that Preston made is that much to my detriment
00:26:22as I focus mostly on off-field matters, is that every pound that we can goes back into
00:26:27the football.
00:26:29These projects we're talking about in terms of growing our commercial revenue take investment
00:26:33and pounds away from the pitch.
00:26:35It's a balance we try to play every day and that goes into hiring a really good team,
00:26:40which I would love if we could hire three or four more people, but at the detriment
00:26:45of a goal scorer, a defender, etc.
00:26:48Those are the balances we are trying to make.
00:26:51The way to improve the revenue of this football club are more longer term cash heavy injections.
00:27:00Marketing and advertising, we want to build a foundation through this brand identity project
00:27:04so that we can go out and spend our pounds wisely on billboards, on digital ads.
00:27:09So we have messages that resonate with people so they want to be a part of this with everyone
00:27:13in this room.
00:27:14It's not a switch.
00:27:17And I've learned, unfortunately, that the commercial approach from this football club
00:27:24has been very limited for more than a decade.
00:27:27I go out to Manor Royal and I talk to the companies.
00:27:30They haven't heard from the club.
00:27:31There was no attachment to the club or that was lost somewhere along the way.
00:27:34So we have to build that up, but it's not an overnight switch.
00:27:38What is an overnight switch is bringing your friends, bringing your family, having them
00:27:42tag along, maybe coming to get that extra kit that you may or may not need.
00:27:47But every pint that you buy, every shirt that you buy, every bobble hat, which are new and
00:27:53on sale this week, they help the football club.
00:27:57And that helps us get to do the things that I want to do, which is make the East End look
00:28:01better so that we can attract a big sponsor, which is fix the cladding.
00:28:05Those things take pounds away from the football pitch.
00:28:09One thing I will say is I find it astonishing that there isn't a presence in town.
00:28:14I really do.
00:28:14Because it's called a town center.
00:28:16It's just not enough there.
00:28:18We've been looking at advertising, placements, rail stations.
00:28:22Shockingly expensive.
00:28:24And we want to make sure when we go into town, we have the right messaging so that we get
00:28:27the right spend in return on our pounds.
00:28:29When was the last time you guys know that we were in town center?
00:28:32Like regularly?
00:28:34Was that like a long time or if not at all?
00:28:37It was like temporary pop-ups.
00:28:41Evening, Preston.
00:28:44At Wembley, we had 17,000 people.
00:28:48Now, they were there because the football club were winning.
00:28:51And whilst you say that your main goal is to get those winning and every pound's going
00:28:58in, I think, you know, you're saying about marketing and finding a crawly brand.
00:29:04That's the brand will follow.
00:29:06Okay.
00:29:07You've sold more season tickets this year.
00:29:10But how many people are already not attending those matches?
00:29:14Because it's piss poor out there.
00:29:17And then where you've then lost your revenue of your pints at the bar or your pies, it's
00:29:25all down.
00:29:26It has to be when you get the results, you'll get people through those gates.
00:29:32And that has to be your first point, Nicole.
00:29:38That was my exact pitch to all of our office staff in the summer was our number one priority
00:29:43is to win games and try to stay up in league one.
00:29:45And this is why we're not hiring seven new employees to try to better everything infrastructurally
00:29:51is that exact.
00:29:52That was what I tried to pitch them.
00:29:54It's really hard to sell everyone on that.
00:29:56But the truth is, when you're winning football games, everything else falls in place.
00:30:00So who is picking the team?
00:30:03Everyone says it's that other guy.
00:30:06What was it?
00:30:06What's his name?
00:30:09Dan.
00:30:10Who's the other guy that picks the squad?
00:30:14It's the manager.
00:30:15Rob picks the squad.
00:30:18She asked who picks the squad.
00:30:22Because you're one of the ones online talking with the people that think someone else.
00:30:26So I was asking you, who's the person that you guys feel actually picks the squad?
00:30:35Okay, it's Rob Elliot.
00:30:40You don't exactly.
00:30:41So it's how, as I said earlier, about 10 minutes ago, like, you guys have to believe me if
00:30:44you don't want to on anything.
00:30:45Truthfully, I can't.
00:30:46The trouble is, I can ask Rob and if you think he's lying.
00:30:50The trouble is, I think when things go bad, the fans believe that you guys pull back.
00:30:56And it's when things are bad, you guys need to come more forward, be more transparent,
00:31:01be more open.
00:31:02And, you know, hiring people to do questionnaires.
00:31:07Actually, the best people to organize a questionnaire are sat right in front of you.
00:31:13Could be the truth.
00:31:14I may have maybe made a mistake in not bringing in fans prior to sending the questions out.
00:31:19I know there was like 100 of them we went through.
00:31:21It's definitely possible that I should have gone to you guys first.
00:31:27You've raised your hand like three times.
00:31:28I'm sorry.
00:31:28Just you can go ahead.
00:31:30Yeah.
00:31:31Where's the mic been?
00:31:32Sorry.
00:31:33It's quick.
00:31:33Well, that'd be a positive one.
00:31:36Noticed on the ownership disclosure statement website, some new names on there or new look
00:31:43new.
00:31:43So is that new investment coming in or is that existing investors increasing or changing
00:31:49around of shareholding?
00:31:50So just your comments and thoughts on that, really, because it's interesting.
00:31:55Yeah, good question.
00:31:56They're part owners that were always part of the club or ownership group with Wagon
00:32:03United from day one.
00:32:04I know there was a reference to one more recently in a blog that got sent around, but they've
00:32:09been with us since day one.
00:32:11Equity percentage increased over a number where you're supposed to disclose after 10
00:32:15percent threshold, which I believe the blog walked through the regulations there.
00:32:19But yeah, there are people that have been involved with the club since 2023 or even
00:32:27earlier, not just this past summer or this season specifically.
00:32:32Hi, with obviously morale at the moment is very low, you see, the fans and things.
00:32:39So the question is, you see, you've admitted to yourself, the questions on that survey
00:32:45weren't relevant, were a bit silly, a bit stupid.
00:32:48And you've aired that tonight and live on YouTube and here in front of everyone.
00:32:52Why was it not right for Carol, who gave up a lot of her time to volunteer for the club,
00:33:00helps my son bring him on in his confidence to phone her and end it?
00:33:06Like, do you regret doing it?
00:33:08Do you think you should have changed anything?
00:33:11Do you think that was the right thing to do?
00:33:12Because I saw on social media there was a lot of not just fans, but from other teams,
00:33:18fans as well.
00:33:18Like, what made you think that was the right thing to do?
00:33:22The reason that we thought it was the right thing to do was.
00:33:29I took like a day thinking on it, because I mean, it's not like she hasn't said anything,
00:33:34you know, negative in the past, like it's happened before.
00:33:37But she had never singled anyone out that worked for the club.
00:33:43Until that moment, we also have this code of conduct for anyone, whether they be a volunteer
00:33:49or a paid employee or a player or a coach.
00:33:53You can't publicly disparage the club, or in this case, leadership, I guess.
00:34:00So, I mean, the truth is when she got called from my head publicly online, it just,
00:34:04I don't know if there's many companies that would stand for that.
00:34:08We didn't think it was appropriate, and that's why we made the decision.
00:34:11I think in my statement or the club statement,
00:34:13we referenced that we do appreciate our time and our volunteer hours.
00:34:17So, it was one of those where we're trying to, you know, set a tone.
00:34:24If you're a representative or ambassador of the club, what does that mean?
00:34:28And it was a really difficult decision.
00:34:31And I understand some people, go ahead.
00:34:33Total overreaction.
00:34:34Total overreaction.
00:34:35Yeah.
00:34:37So Preston, can I just confirm that your statement that Carol has signed a code of conduct?
00:34:43She didn't sign one.
00:34:45You just said she had to abide by a code of conduct.
00:34:48Everyone, everyone at the club.
00:34:50You've not just confirmed that Carol's seen that, is that okay?
00:34:52And you've got a copy of proof that she's seen it.
00:34:54I do not know if she's seen it or not.
00:34:56She's been here for multiple years.
00:34:56She hasn't seen a code of conduct, she hasn't signed one.
00:34:58So what you're saying is incorrect.
00:35:00The code of conduct that the club produced since was following Carol's instructions.
00:35:03Do you think that it's not, do you think it's appropriate for her to single me out
00:35:07and call from my head publicly online and represent the club the next day and do the mascots?
00:35:11Do you want me to answer that?
00:35:12Yes, I asked you.
00:35:13You are a paid employee of this football club.
00:35:15You are the chairman of this football club.
00:35:17You are running this football club and you call people out on social media.
00:35:21Carol didn't use any swear words, any derogatory comments,
00:35:23and was voicing an opinion that she's had for two years that a lot of people in this room have had.
00:35:27And she hasn't breached any code of conduct, she never has.
00:35:40The biggest mistake you've made.
00:35:42It's possible that was the biggest mistake I've made apparently, because it's possible.
00:35:53What do you mean?
00:35:53Sorry, it came out?
00:35:54The club put out something like you want to know what makes the fans tick, what gets the fans going.
00:36:00People like Carol get the fans going.
00:36:03She's an incredible person and the way she's been treated is so poor,
00:36:08considering she's been so much back.
00:36:09Her first reaction to when she put the fan down to bed was going,
00:36:13what about the mascots tomorrow?
00:36:14What am I going to do about the mascots tomorrow?
00:36:16You've made such a mistake.
00:36:19Seriously.
00:36:19And like Sam said, she didn't swear.
00:36:21She shared an opinion that was shared by everybody.
00:36:25I want everybody, 90% of people.
00:36:27Okay, did she overstep the mark?
00:36:30I don't think personally she did.
00:36:32She didn't swear at you.
00:36:34She is what this club is about.
00:36:36And I know you've referenced mistakes in the past.
00:36:39People make mistakes.
00:36:40I've made enough in my time.
00:36:42You have to learn from it.
00:36:43Learn from this mistake.
00:36:45Okay.
00:36:45You know, I would apologize to her.
00:36:52A warning maybe would have been better.
00:36:54It's possible.
00:36:55It felt like maybe in my own personal head, reaction is like almost like a last straw moment for me.
00:37:05But ultimately, I had other people that I spoke with.
00:37:09And technically, it wasn't the first time.
00:37:11And we have evidence of her even alluding to that where she's like,
00:37:15oh, they're going to try to sack me again, which I guess it happened before I arrived.
00:37:20Meaning multiple years ago, not just this season.
00:37:23So from people I spoke with and discussed it with, it didn't seem like it was a first time thing.
00:37:29Whether or not someone's signed a code of conduct, to Sam's point, I think it's fair
00:37:32that the timing of making that evident in public to everyone is completely fair.
00:37:38It also just seems like common sense that you shouldn't be, you know,
00:37:41slagging off someone that's kind of your head of command in some ways
00:37:45that she indirectly reports to the foundation.
00:37:48She's a volunteer.
00:37:49So she's a volunteer, of course.
00:37:51So we just want people that are volunteering or paid.
00:37:54And I've never said I wouldn't bring her back.
00:37:56She can request to come talk to me and we can meet privately and have the discussion.
00:37:59I'm totally open to it.
00:38:01But I, at the time, and still currently, I'm trying to get through the transfer window.
00:38:05And things escalated to the point where I was like, all right, let's do this fans forum,
00:38:08because people do want to be heard and want to talk and have this discussion.
00:38:11So that's why we're doing it today.
00:38:12But I originally thought it was best to try to get to February 3rd.
00:38:16And I was also probably wrong about that, which is why we tried to do this now.
00:38:20But I wanted to add some more context.
00:38:22And then go ahead.
00:38:22Yeah, you're good now.
00:38:24And obviously, Rob's mentioned a few times about trusting the process
00:38:28in getting things right on the pitch.
00:38:30And like you said, you want us to win football matches.
00:38:33Right.
00:38:34What is the process?
00:38:36And what is it you saw in Rob that made you think this guy's, you know, worth the risk in hiring?
00:38:46Trying to decide if I should give you guys like the nerdy answer.
00:38:50I guess I'll just walk you through every detail.
00:38:52Hopefully I explained this well.
00:38:57First and foremost, with the personnel we had recruited in,
00:38:59and we had done since last season, this season, even partly that first season
00:39:03with someone like Dion Conroy, we wanted someone that actually played some football, right?
00:39:07Plays out of the back, tactically is different than just bringing in someone that wants to go
00:39:11long and we don't necessarily have the physicality or size to play that way.
00:39:14So that was, you know, the list of all the managers available.
00:39:19That knocks a good portion out.
00:39:20So we're looking at the rest.
00:39:22We referenced this model or math's model for how we recruit players.
00:39:29We built something similarly.
00:39:32Hopefully I can explain this in a way you guys can digest.
00:39:36We built something that would grade managers based on how much possession they have,
00:39:43which again, with the way we want to play, is a certain amount of managers.
00:39:48And then how frequently with that possession they're making threats in the final third
00:39:53and creating XG in the final third.
00:39:55And Rob graded really, really well and very highly amongst like the top names you would
00:40:01think of internationally coaching at the highest level in the amount of threat and XG he's
00:40:06creating relative to that possession he has.
00:40:08So he was someone that we initially were like, let's go talk to him.
00:40:12He's young, he's bright.
00:40:14He's also a very genuine, like heartfelt person, which is important when we're trying to keep
00:40:21a culture that was something that we had to kind of change year one into year two and
00:40:26get the right people in for that.
00:40:27And so that was important for us too.
00:40:29And so we met with Rob a couple of times and we ended up going with him.
00:40:33Even with some of these players and a lot of the player transition, it's definitely
00:40:37risky, right?
00:40:38It's definitely risky going with inexperienced players or potentially a manager.
00:40:43And uncertainty is really, really hard to grasp.
00:40:47And in some ways, it's what we felt, even though it's uncertain and risky, would give
00:40:53us the best chance to have success this season in League One.
00:40:56So I hope that kind of made some sense.
00:40:58But there was some mass to it and actual like, granted, it was only about one season total.
00:41:04But what's interesting, I'll give you an example.
00:41:08Actually, I'm not sure if I'm allowed to say this.
00:41:10It's not like that crazy.
00:41:13I'll just say it if I get in trouble.
00:41:15So without using names, when he took over at Gateshead, they were performing, we'll
00:41:20say, at this level.
00:41:22Gateshead lost their manager somewhere else, as well as I think their top goal scorer,
00:41:27one of their best players.
00:41:28And their actual underlying metrics improved despite that, which was another sign that,
00:41:35OK, he's getting quite a bit out of not so much.
00:41:38And the Gateshead, I can't say.
00:41:40I don't even know their exact numbers, but they're working on a budget that's one of
00:41:43the lowest in the National League.
00:41:45So it's like a similar comp to where we're at relative to the other League One clubs.
00:41:49So a lot of things lined up, and that's what we want to throw out.
00:41:54Preston, you say how you put money into the football club, but you're buying this brand
00:41:58identity firm, and it's not worked.
00:42:00You've lost trust from every fan, just from this sermon.
00:42:03No, no, no.
00:42:04It's not fair.
00:42:06I think it's fair.
00:42:07It's fair.
00:42:08You've got to say it for me.
00:42:10What would you like us to do to try to rectify it or improve that?
00:42:15Look, you paid money for this brand identity firm when we've got players leaving.
00:42:19And the response to this, especially among social media, has been that you've lost faith
00:42:26from me personally at least.
00:42:27And I don't get where it's coming from.
00:42:30I still have the same question.
00:42:31What would you like us to do to try to make it better?
00:42:33We've lost volunteers.
00:42:35Yeah, so to put it simply, I don't want Mark Mehan.
00:42:39OK, well, that's not something we can do on February 3rd, but I understand.
00:42:44Especially after Wembley, we were at such a high, and it's gone.
00:42:48There's no, it doesn't look like you care.
00:42:51It doesn't look like Wembley care.
00:42:56I obviously care whether you guys want to believe me or not.
00:43:00Of course, that's up to you guys.
00:43:01I'm just not sure who is next.
00:43:03I think that one of the issues with that is the timing.
00:43:06The fact that this has come out when we're at a low on the pitch hasn't helped.
00:43:10If it had been closed season, probably people wouldn't have noticed.
00:43:13I think the timing is an issue.
00:43:15Yep, I agree.
00:43:17We should have done better on that.
00:43:18Steve, go ahead.
00:43:19Can I just say that for people to stand up and say every fan that's lost confidence in
00:43:25you is wrong.
00:43:26Not every fan has.
00:43:28It seems to me that people who are perhaps a little bit younger than me have perhaps
00:43:33had a bad time.
00:43:35We had a bad time two years ago, and then we went to Wembley under Wake Me.
00:43:40Under Wake Me.
00:43:41Thank you for doing that.
00:43:49Thanks, Steve.
00:43:50Go ahead, and then there's one on the left, but go for it.
00:43:52Yeah, you just alluded to about the stadium, and you alluded at the start of the season
00:44:00you were trying to talk to the council to either purchase it or improve the size of
00:44:06the site.
00:44:07That's the only way we're going to sustain League One football going forward, even if
00:44:10we survive this year.
00:44:12Have you made any progress on that?
00:44:15We have made progress.
00:44:17I wish I could speak more detail to what that is.
00:44:21I can't yet.
00:44:22What I will say is that if there were three things that I think contribute the most to
00:44:28this club, having more revenue, pathways, sustained success at the end of the day, that's
00:44:35one of them for sure.
00:44:36That is a key ingredient, we think, to there being a reason for investment that leads to
00:44:43actual revenue long term.
00:44:44So I agree with you 100% working with the city to try to work something out at the end
00:44:49of the day.
00:44:50I wish it was quick.
00:44:54Do you guys call it a city council, though, or no?
00:44:57Town council, for sure?
00:44:58I will not mess that one up again.
00:45:04Hello.
00:45:05I'm a very positive person, very happy, and you and Ben look like shell-shocked budgies
00:45:13tonight.
00:45:16What everybody's got to come to terms with, in fact, is that it doesn't suit a business
00:45:20model to fail or to be unsuccessful.
00:45:24Your desire is to win, the same as Ben's.
00:45:27There again, equally, everybody here, their desire is to win.
00:45:30That's what we all want.
00:45:33You've not long been a father.
00:45:35Some other people seem to be a father.
00:45:39I'm a father as well.
00:45:41Children make mistakes, and the idea of children making mistakes is they learn from those mistakes
00:45:47and they get better, and they don't make the same mistakes again.
00:45:51I think Wagley have made some tremendous positive moves and really dragged this club
00:45:58to where it is.
00:45:59They've also made some disastrous moves.
00:46:02I don't like seeing you on your own alienated.
00:46:06You should have support staff behind you.
00:46:08That should be down to, in my own opinion, Wagley to support you.
00:46:12If you need more resources, whether it be in advice staff or finances, then they should
00:46:17be coming to help you.
00:46:18I think you don't need to hire a merchandising manager.
00:46:21I don't think you need to hire a commercial manager.
00:46:23I don't think you need to hire anybody else at all, but sweet Jesus, do you need help
00:46:28at your public relations?
00:46:32That's what my PR friend keeps telling us.
00:46:34It's a disaster.
00:46:35You're a nice fella, but this club's weight meets PR is a disaster.
00:46:42If you want to move forward, you're going to have to sort that out first, because everybody
00:46:47in here only wants one thing from this whole club, and that's three points on Saturday,
00:46:52and then three points the week after, and three points the week after that.
00:46:55That's all they're interested in.
00:46:57If I gave you the choice of a better colour tarpaulin, or you could win every week, which
00:47:02would you choose?
00:47:03I'd choose the right colour tarpaulin.
00:47:04Two!
00:47:07Roman Darcy's one of the greatest players, certainly one of the most popular players
00:47:11that's ever been here.
00:47:15Your PR advisor would have advised you to announce that Roman Darcy was going tomorrow.
00:47:20Yeah.
00:47:21Okay?
00:47:23The Carroll thing, you're totally right with the Carroll thing, okay?
00:47:27But you have an opportunity, and it's squarely in your lap.
00:47:32You have the power, you have the authority to get Tom to go out and redraft the code
00:47:36of conduct, and get every single person associated with this club to sign it tomorrow.
00:47:42You have a clean slate, okay?
00:47:45And you need to recognise the fact that that person is very well thought of by the community,
00:47:52which is a word that you use a lot.
00:47:54She's very well thought of by the club before this issue.
00:47:58But more importantly, how many other people in this club have been recognised by the crowd?
00:48:04So it doesn't matter what way you dress it up, that was a mistake.
00:48:09That needs to be rectified, and that will galvanise opinion towards helping you, okay?
00:48:16Recognising that you make mistakes, the same as your kid makes mistakes, the same as my
00:48:20kid makes mistakes.
00:48:22We learn by them, okay?
00:48:23I don't even know what this fella's issue is.
00:48:25It was years ago.
00:48:27Sorry.
00:48:32All right?
00:48:32It's about being able to close the door and move forward.
00:48:36These people want to see you let rid of Jay Williams and Roman Darcy and replace them
00:48:41with better people, okay?
00:48:43That's good.
00:48:44But if you galvanise the public to be on your side, PR drives that.
00:48:50And if you don't ever hire anybody again, please hire a PR manager.
00:49:01So I just want to ask a related question.
00:49:04I actually kind of agree with that, but kind of disagree, because I think that...
00:49:08What?
00:49:11I think all of these issues are downstream of vision.
00:49:16I think when you run a business, the guy in charge should stand up and he should lay out
00:49:22a clear vision that will unite us all behind it.
00:49:25I want to know what your three-year vision is for this club.
00:49:27I want to know what your 10, 15-year vision is for this club.
00:49:30I want to know where we're going.
00:49:32And then we can start to put the components in place, whether that's staff or strategy,
00:49:37and build towards that vision, and all of us can get behind it.
00:49:40At the moment, forgive me if I've missed bits that you've said and I haven't seen,
00:49:45but there'll be components of a vision.
00:49:48What we want is we want you to be your Winston Churchill for us and tell us what the solution
00:49:54is as you envisage it, so we can get behind you and support you.
00:50:00Can you do that?
00:50:01I can do that.
00:50:01I understand that.
00:50:02I think Saturday there's going to be a new group of people helping us push to that direction
00:50:07and goal at the end of the day.
00:50:08And Ben, is it eight total people that are coming?
00:50:12It's nine now.
00:50:13Okay.
00:50:13Nine people.
00:50:16Yeah, I have three questions related to the EASTAD.
00:50:19First question is, what's your assessment of this current condition?
00:50:23Second question, how long before it becomes unsustainable from a financial perspective
00:50:31to maintain the current structure?
00:50:33And the third question being, do you have any offers from external investors to build
00:50:38your new structure?
00:50:40Yeah, so that's the safety check I know, and Tom can probably speak better to the details
00:50:45on this than I can, truthfully.
00:50:47But we have a safety inspection every year to assess it.
00:50:51It passes that test, but it definitely doesn't look good.
00:50:55And it's definitely on its, like, this could be the last year it passes the test state,
00:50:59which is one of the reasons why we're trying to, you know, acquire the grounds or partner
00:51:04with the council to do something where we can build something that people are proud
00:51:09of and give us a chance to modernize and progress the club.
00:51:14As far as safety, game to game, like, were you referencing, was it Stevenage the first
00:51:20one where the wind, we had to postpone the game because of the wind?
00:51:24Just on the other side, there was a tree that had fallen over into the street or motorway.
00:51:31So that's something we never want to see again, to have to postpone.
00:51:34Charlton was another one that we had a late postponement.
00:51:39That's discouraging, right?
00:51:40And we were, I think we had some good momentum from a football perspective before that Stevenage
00:51:43game, unbeaten in four or five, going into it and having to postpone because of wind
00:51:48and safety concerns.
00:51:49Truthfully, it's not acceptable.
00:51:51So we have to, we have to sort that to make a point of, do we have external investors
00:51:55that have reached out to try to do something with us here on the grounds?
00:51:58The answer is yes.
00:51:59And it's about, I think, for us trying to speak with the town council and pitch is the
00:52:06wrong word, but kind of pitch them on like, this is what out of town in Broadfield Stadium
00:52:11can be, like, let's do this and getting them on board, which I think we're close to something
00:52:18there, truthfully.
00:52:19It still takes time and effort, but we're going to get there because I agree that the
00:52:23extent could be some help.
00:52:27Nice.
00:52:27Well, to be fair, I'm going to follow on to those, but just a nice simple one person.
00:52:32Are any players due to go out and are any players used to come in anymore?
00:52:38Currently, there are none due out, but that obviously could change while I've been doing
00:52:43this right now in real time.
00:52:44I might actually have missed a message on my phone.
00:52:46So anything could happen the next few days and the intent is definitely to bring in a
00:52:50few more to help bolster the squad and get more reinforcements to keep us up.
00:52:56Hi there.
00:52:58It seems that, from my point of view, that Wagner don't learn the lessons.
00:53:04In the first season, you went and employed a very inexperienced manager and then you
00:53:11had to get rid of him.
00:53:12We've now got another...
00:53:14You then go and repeat the process and he's got the same sort of win ratio and I don't
00:53:25feel that you're giving him the tools to make it even better.
00:53:30I mean, you go on about we want to do possession football, but the only stat that most of the
00:53:37people in here are interested in is how many goals we score.
00:53:42It's not how many times we pass it around the back and everything else and strut around.
00:53:48We want to get, you know, we need to increase, you know, you get rid of the good players
00:53:56and try and bring in these unknowns and yes, you might get a gem one day, but there's a
00:54:04lot of duds that you get as well.
00:54:06Anyway, what are you going to do about improving, really, the match day experience?
00:54:14You know, it's winning.
00:54:16I think you would agree, or I may be assuming incorrectly, but it would be hard to change
00:54:23stylistically based on our personnel completely, how we played football.
00:54:26So that was like I referenced earlier, one of the reasons that we liked Rob.
00:54:30To Rob's credit, he's performed well above the first manager we appointed, who I think
00:54:35had six points in 12 games before we sacked him.
00:54:39Doing that off the top of my head, someone could correct me if I'm wrong on that, but
00:54:42I'm pretty sure it's better than that.
00:54:4813 games?
00:54:49I try to remember it as few as possible in my head.
00:54:54So yeah, less than half a point per game is tough.
00:54:59So Rob has done better.
00:55:00And to Rob's credit as well, everyone has injuries, but Josh Flynn and Junior were two
00:55:09of our most impactful players that, when Rob took over within a few games, both went out
00:55:13for significant time.
00:55:14And he's still done a pretty good job, all things considered.
00:55:18I didn't need to necessarily bring up exact details, and I know everyone has injuries
00:55:23and every club's trying to survive.
00:55:24To your point on how are we going to get better, we've gotten off of some players.
00:55:28We're trying to bring in new ones.
00:55:29But it's really hard because I think it's what I was trying to say earlier with risk
00:55:34and uncertainty.
00:55:36And I maybe didn't describe it well.
00:55:39But that first two summers ago, before our second season, it was a lot of the same sentiment.
00:55:45Like we're taking shots on guys that maybe haven't proven themselves or not at this
00:55:49level yet.
00:55:51And we're just, you know, Rob says it trusts the process.
00:55:54Our process is to basically do the best, do what the math says, and implement it in the
00:56:01best way we can, the best strategy we can every day, every week.
00:56:05And Rob understands that, and he believes in that too.
00:56:08But I wouldn't be as discouraging.
00:56:10And I know the results at the end of the day are all that anyone cares about.
00:56:13But I think he's done a much better job, and he deserves a lot more credit than the
00:56:18first appointment, to be fair.
00:56:20I just wanted to split those two.
00:56:22Go for it.
00:56:23Yeah, hi Preston.
00:56:24It's just two questions.
00:56:26Why is Evan Smith's involvement?
00:56:28Because on Darren McCartney's podcast, it was mentioned that he spoke to himself and
00:56:33Evan at the Peterborough game.
00:56:35First of all, how is he involved?
00:56:36Because you said he stepped down, but lots of things swell that he's still pulling the
00:56:40strings.
00:56:42And then I've got another one after that.
00:56:44Peterborough, that was you in there.
00:56:45It wasn't Evan.
00:56:46It was Ben Levin who spoke to me and Ben.
00:56:49He might have just misspoke, and he said Evan instead of Ben.
00:56:52But it was Ben and I that were there.
00:56:54That wasn't Evan.
00:56:57Still love him.
00:56:58But yeah, I know his podcast is great because he's like, in some ways, I wish we were able
00:57:03to just do what he does and speak so openly and transparently and give the fans what you
00:57:08guys want more often than not.
00:57:10So I should do a better job of that, truthfully.
00:57:13But Evan, in general, you see how he stepped down from his co-chairman position, and he
00:57:19consults and provides us with all of the data and modeling stuff for recruiting that he
00:57:26was doing last year for us, along with the data scientists that we hired, along with
00:57:30Tobias, and us, and then the coaching staff.
00:57:32We're all looking over names.
00:57:33But Evan does contribute in that way, but nothing more.
00:57:39Okay, and then secondly, you mentioned the blog post which spoke about shareholdings.
00:57:43Now, I'm assuming that we're probably thinking about the same one by Martin Calladine.
00:57:48Now, Ben was speaking about how he wanted to get more people locally to the club, attract
00:57:53sponsors, etc.
00:57:55Now, that blog post referenced tweets that could have been from the Kalili Brothers account.
00:58:02Has anyone spoken to the Kalili Brothers to confirm whether or not that was their account?
00:58:07I don't know if it is for sure or not.
00:58:09I expect that it is.
00:58:11I imagine it is.
00:58:13As far as the actual, I mean, I won't speak to anybody's political views at the end of
00:58:19the day, whether it's them, whether it's an employee here or a sponsor.
00:58:25I don't think that's appropriate.
00:58:27It doesn't feel like it's the correct policy.
00:58:29Personally, and I actually think I might have said this on a podcast I did with Sam in November
00:58:34or something, but like my personal view is I think politics generally bring out the worst
00:58:41in people and I just try to stay away from them.
00:58:43So I hate them.
00:58:44But I'm not going to speak to other people's views.
00:58:47It's just I don't dispute that about politics.
00:58:50I am in agreement with you on that.
00:58:51However, this is a town with a lot of people from South Asia.
00:58:56It's their heritage.
00:58:57Now, for him to outright call out people from Pakistan in a tweet, that's not political.
00:59:03That's racial.
00:59:04How does that stand with your diversity, inclusion and this code of conduct that you released
00:59:10just a week ago in relation to Carol's?
00:59:14That's a good, that's a good one.
00:59:15I didn't prepare for that one mentally prior.
00:59:18I think that he has, shoot, I don't know how I'm supposed to answer this one truthfully,
00:59:25but I think the people in question have more to say or to do with that than just like one
00:59:34of us saying it.
00:59:35I don't know how else to explain it without getting in trouble or defaming someone or
00:59:39speaking out of turn, but it's a fair point.
00:59:42Obviously, we don't want things based on when we took over the club.
00:59:46You guys remember the racial scandal nine days into our takeover.
00:59:49I mean, that's part of the culture we've tried to change and we need to stick to that.
00:59:53I understand where you're coming from, great question.
00:59:59Just two more questions here.
01:00:03Hi, I actually did speak to Ben about this at Christmas, but I personally enjoyed the
01:00:08matchday experience at the Fan Zone.
01:00:10I personally think it's great and it could buzz before the game and the music and the
01:00:14food and everything.
01:00:15I'm just wondering if you're going to do the same or get an outdoor bar for the away fans,
01:00:20because certainly at this level, we're getting a lot of clubs bringing 1,000 plus fans, thirsty
01:00:25fans, and talk about maximizing revenue and getting some more money.
01:00:28And I think if you had a bar area and something like that down at their end, you might get
01:00:33some more revenue from it.
01:00:35Your thoughts on that?
01:00:37I'll speak to what I think I know, and if I'm wrong, Ben, I'll add to it.
01:00:42What's great about that opportunity and why we would love to do it is because the EFL
01:00:46will actually give you a grant to help contribute towards putting up an away fan zone.
01:00:51So it's obvious we should do it if it doesn't cost us much money.
01:00:54It also makes the experience for the home fans easier.
01:00:57It's less hectic and crazy, especially on the days where we're full.
01:01:02The main issue right now on that side of the stadium and the car park is the draining is
01:01:09broken.
01:01:10And when it rains or the weather is poor, it floods and you can't actually use it even
01:01:14if it was built.
01:01:16And so our first goal would be to fix the draining issue, whether that be with the town
01:01:20or if we were to own the grounds ourselves, hopefully sooner rather than later, make that
01:01:26adjustment, make that fix, and then we can put an away fan zone there that's actually
01:01:30used.
01:01:30So that's kind of the steps or processes to get that sorted.
01:01:33Ben, I don't know if you wanted to add anything there.
01:01:40Last question here.
01:01:42Hopefully we're going to end on a high note.
01:01:45The player business model is a very good one in principle.
01:01:55Identify a younger player with fantastic potential.
01:02:00You buy him in cheap, you develop him, you sell him for a huge profit.
01:02:06The problem is if you look at the clubs who do that successfully, they tend to have a
01:02:10first team, an under 23 team, an under 21 team, and an under 18 team.
01:02:15You bring the new young player in, he goes into the under 23s, under 21s, he's taught
01:02:21to play in the style of the first team.
01:02:24So as soon as he's ready, he progresses into the first team, he knows exactly what he's
01:02:29meant to be doing and he slots in seamlessly.
01:02:33With Crawley, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think there's a reserve team.
01:02:36So you get the new players coming in and they're thrown in, I don't think they get any other
01:02:42match experience.
01:02:43They're just thrown straight into the first team, into a League One game.
01:02:48And a lot of the games I've watched, it seems that they start off, a lot of the players
01:02:52don't quite know what they're meant to be doing.
01:02:56First halves are generally pretty poor.
01:02:59As the game goes on, in the last 15 minutes, we've seen some fantastic performances.
01:03:05So the question is, if you keep bringing all these new players in, where do they get the
01:03:10match experience before going into the first team?
01:03:14That's a good one.
01:03:16Truthfully, I mean, I think speaking of Peterborough, that's like their whole model, right?
01:03:19Is they bring youth in well younger than even under 23s or under 21s.
01:03:25I believe before we took over, there was an academy here with the prior ownership group.
01:03:29They got rid of it.
01:03:30It was too costly.
01:03:31They didn't want to lose the money it takes to put in.
01:03:33It's part of our longer term vision of how can we bring more revenue and money to the
01:03:39club at the end of the day?
01:03:40Because if you were able to recruit at a youth level and we owned our own training
01:03:44facility or our grounds here, then it's an investment.
01:03:48We can actually have a place for them to train every day or every other day or whatever it
01:03:51may be.
01:03:52We have that connection with the first team and the managing staff and coaching staff
01:03:56with the under 21s or whatever staff.
01:04:00It's like a domino effect of possibilities and upside.
01:04:04Eventually, if you're recruiting well, it's one of the bigger conversations we had as
01:04:07a board, truthfully, over the summer.
01:04:11More again, this is more of the three to ten year scope as opposed to we can't just
01:04:15implement it immediately now that we're in league one.
01:04:17But if we feel like we have an edge and we can recruit pretty well, whether it be locally
01:04:24or internationally, then we should be doing it at every age to try to maximize our edge
01:04:29that we have or our ability to try to recruit.
01:04:33Again, it's a process.
01:04:34It's not a switch, which I think is the hardest part.
01:04:37Even for me sometimes where I get impatient with some of these guys, it's tough, but
01:04:42that's one that would definitely be.
01:04:43I think when I referenced before three key ingredients of how you could really build
01:04:47a sustainable model, one being acquiring the grounds in some form or fashion, one of the
01:04:54others would be an academy or some sort of development program with youth that give us
01:05:01a chance to really recruit outside the scope of just the first team and gives them more
01:05:05of an opportunity.
01:05:06Because it's like, to your point, I think at the end of the day, it's hard to, we only
01:05:12have 46 matches at this level and to give that's X amount of minutes, right, times 10
01:05:17outfield players.
01:05:18Like, it's really hard to give a good portion of those minutes to guys that maybe aren't
01:05:23experienced enough.
01:05:24But at the same time, they need to get some experience.
01:05:26Like, you know, for example, Lolo's last year who didn't play as regularly early on, grew
01:05:31into the role and was amazing for us down the stretch for most of the second half of
01:05:34the season when I think he started more regularly in January, February on.
01:05:38So it's a give and take of like, how are we going to develop while also give us the best
01:05:42chance to win while also giving them the experience without having all the matches and ability
01:05:46to do it because we can't play under 23s.
01:05:48But you're spot on.
01:05:50That would be one of those three main things, I think, for us to really build something.
01:05:55All right.
01:05:55Thank you guys.
01:05:55I appreciate it.