rocket-fuel

Good performance at the AGM rocket 

Have you put your Clio in for a car wash yet?

 

Milne gave some pretty reasonable answers that night, but I think he should stick to emailing as his voice sounds like a cat being skinned.

Clio? Never had one in my puff. I just ordered a new 3.0 V6 pimpmobile yesterday actually, to replace the last ever 7 seater I will ever have to drive.

Agree, Milne was good at the AGM, as was Miller after I interrupted the usual sneering pisch and got him to change his tune. This was my e-mail.

Mr Milne,

 

I am sorry that I raised my voice to such an extent during the AGM last night that your Director of Football had to tell me to stop shouting at him. You did say that you would be taking our comments on board, so allow me to clarify the issue, as Willie Miller is obviously completely unaware of the probem.

 

The point the New Zealand guy was making - supported by others - was that the PR coming out of he club in recent years has been divisive, and that the continual references to us having unrealistic expectations is counter-productive. It has been seen by many fans as an excuse for under-performance. You will recall that Miller's first response was "What is realistic?", completely side-stepping the direct question and missing the point completely. He immediately took the defensive and was seeking to wriggle his way out of it until I stepped in and offered to go to a show of hands. To be fair to him, he showed humility by backing down, he even apologised if he had been misinterpreted, before going on to explain that we all want the same thing and should all be on the same side.

 

However, it would not surprise me if he is still unaware of the depth of the problem. He is absolutely right when he says that he himself hasn't trotted out the "unrealistic expectations" line for a few months now, but why hasn't he had a word with Mr Calderwood, who continues to shoot himself in the foot on almost a weekly basis, whether on Radio Scotland or in the press?

 

The reason why the crowds are down, whichever way he tried to spin it with Season Ticket sales etc, is not exclusively to do with the football. There is a significant number of Aberdeen fans that will not return in the meantime, having been sickened by the excuses, the blame game and the continuous references to the fans - for not supporting the team properly and for having unrealistic expectations. It is as if Miller and Calderwood have engaged a siege mentality and do not appreciate that the divisiveness that they have engineered - unwittingly, no doubt - has alienated a huge number of fans. Miller obviously learned a few months ago not to continue with this rubbish, but as Calderwood's boss, he should be having a word. Every time that Calderwood opens his gob and has a go at the Aberdeen fans, he drives more and more away.

 

You are right to say that you are down to the real hardcore now. No-one else is prepared to pay their money to be insulted. Some believe that the continuous tinkering with formations and continually picking players who are in severe need of a boot up the arse is insulting in itself, but to blame the fans when things go wrong, and to attempt to explain a garbage performance by saying that we have unrealistic expectations makes the blood boil.

 

Personally, I think that the football mistakes that our manager has made are fairly evident, but as the man in charge, he is free to make these decisions and will be judged on results. The mistakes he continues to make (the same ones Miller has made in the past) in relation to the PR however is not only embarrassing to him and the club, it's costing you money.

 

This should not be new to you, and begs the question as regards how effective the lines of communication are between the club and its customers. This has been on-going for years, and for Lee Miller to come out with what he did in the P & J yesterday, suggests that they don't have a clue what the problem has been. Miller's unexpected show of humility and apology would also suggest that they are simply unaware. It is very difficult to support a manager and a Director of Football - whether we believe the team is under-perfoming or not - when we have to endure them directing some of their blame at us. If the stay-away Aberdeen fans believed that they (team and management) were genuinely working hard to pursue the same goals as them, I am sure that you will see the numbers return. For some however, this divisive PR has been going on for too long.

 

Finally, thank you for your open-ness and honesty in your response to my question. Whilst I believe that you genuinely want the best for the business, you need to convince your customers that your football manager and Director of Football also want the best for the club. The arrogance of their stances, the continual pointing of the fingers of blame, and the many PR mistakes they have made over a long period of time, has suggested otherwise. There is a perception that they're not that effective as managers anyway, and are delighted just to be receiving a wage. As I said already, my personal view is that their competence or otherwise should be judged on results only.

 

Regards,

Our chairman went up hugely in my estimation with this response to my e-mail after the AGM.

Thanks for your email, I hear what you and others are saying, we clearly see

there are issues that the Club need to deal with in respect of certain

aspects of it's communications with our fans, this has been picked up and we

will be working on these areas over the coming weeks and months.

 

As Willie said at the meeting, there is a very strong desire for everyone to

be working together, towards the same common goals for our Club, it is

evident that certain aspects of our current approach is building barriers

rather than bridges, and we accept that the onus is on us to deal with this.

 

Stewart

We won't hear the same criticism coming from Miller and Calderwood to the fans in the future, I feel.