All feels very Butcher & Pre Dempster

[dp00]

The club currently has a very Butcher/pre Dempster feel about it. Fans feeling like they have little to no connection with the club, games boring to watch , a Owner and CEO who are both rookies at owning and running a football club and haven’t yet shown anything which would make us feel comfortable at the helm, an experienced head of recruitment sacked/slated in the press & replaced with the owners son who has no experience to our knowledge in fact his appointment was not announced anywhere he just kinda appeared, a experienced manager sacked and replace with a rookie manager. We have people in all areas of the club either being sacked or moving on. I know things have to change in order to keep improving but we are going backwards. Maybe the reason for Dempster leaving and Jack Ross being sacked is that he could see it and stood up to Gordon & Co and they didnt like it

Regardless … How do we fix it ? There needs to be something changed but what ?

[RIP]

The club currently has a very Butcher/pre Dempster feel about it. Fans feeling like they have little to no connection with the club, games boring to watch , a Owner and CEO who are both rookies at owning and running a football club and haven’t yet shown anything which would make us feel comfortable at the helm, an experienced head of recruitment sacked/slated in the press & replaced with the owners son who has no experience to our knowledge in fact his appointment was not announced anywhere he just kinda appeared, a experienced manager sacked and replace with a rookie manager. We have people in all areas of the club either being sacked or moving on. I know things have to change in order to keep improving but we are going backwards. Maybe the reason for Dempster leaving and Jack Ross being sacked is that he could see it and stood up to Gordon & Co and they didnt like it

Regardless … How do we fix it ? There needs to be something changed but what ?

Between 2010 and 2014, Hibs supporters weren’t happy with the constant managerial merry-go-round and player churn. Under Petrie, the club no longer had the support of the fan base. Fans were fed up aimlessly bumping their gums on the messageboards and decided to get involved in changing the direction of their club.

This revolution started in the stands with Hibees Reunited, the East Stand Singing Section and Hibs12thMan. Many of the same people joined Let’s Work Together which then split into five teams, each pairing a Hibs Board member with a fans working group.

The Sales & Marketing and Communication teams introduced a lot of productive initiatives. But by far the most innovative was the Vision team led by director Brian Houston and prominent members of Hibs.Net, Bounce, Historical Trust, HSA. They produced the ‘Hibernian Way’ template of a CEO, Director of Football, Recruitment Team and Head Coach.

The principles upon which the new model was based was to recruit the best skills, experience and creativity for each of these positions, source players who would fit the club ethos and hire a coach to motivate and train the squad into an effective first team unit.

LWT wanted Rod to go for Dempster and to be fair to Houston and Petrie they moved swiftly. George Craig and later Graeme Mathie and Alan Stubbs followed.

Unfortunately, a few years ago, Tom Farmer’s health was starting to deteriorate and he sought to locate a successor. Much of the Hibernian Way model appears to have been deconstructed, Dempster and Mathie have moved on and we now have a Manager and Assistant Manager like we had with Terry Butcher. Fan involvement in the running of the club is lower than it’s been since 2012. And with it, the connection between supporters and the Hibs Board.

[bookert]

The club currently has a very Butcher/pre Dempster feel about it. Fans feeling like they have little to no connection with the club, games boring to watch , a Owner and CEO who are both rookies at owning and running a football club and haven’t yet shown anything which would make us feel comfortable at the helm, an experienced head of recruitment sacked/slated in the press & replaced with the owners son who has no experience to our knowledge in fact his appointment was not announced anywhere he just kinda appeared, a experienced manager sacked and replace with a rookie manager. We have people in all areas of the club either being sacked or moving on. I know things have to change in order to keep improving but we are going backwards. Maybe the reason for Dempster leaving and Jack Ross being sacked is that he could see it and stood up to Gordon & Co and they didnt like it

Regardless … How do we fix it ? There needs to be something changed but what ?
Good Post, exactly how I feel just now.

[Hibernia&Alba]

Between 2010 and 2014, Hibs supporters weren’t happy with the constant managerial merry-go-round and player churn. Under Petrie, the club no longer had the support of the fan base. Fans were fed up aimlessly bumping their gums on the messageboards and decided to get involved in changing the direction of their club.

This revolution started in the stands with Hibees Reunited, the East Stand Singing Section and Hibs12thMan. Many of the same people joined Let’s Work Together which then split into five teams, each pairing a Hibs Board member with a fans working group.

The Sales & Marketing and Communication teams introduced a lot of productive initiatives. But by far the most innovative was the Vision team led by director Brian Houston and prominent members of Hibs.Net, Bounce, Historical Trust, HSA. They produced the ‘Hibernian Way’ template of a CEO, Director of Football, Recruitment Team and Head Coach.

The principles upon which the new model was based was to recruit the best skills, experience and creativity for each of these positions, source players who would fit the club ethos and hire a coach to motivate and train the squad into an effective first team unit.

LWT wanted Rod to go for Dempster and to be fair to Houston and Petrie they moved swiftly. George Craig and later Graeme Mathie and Alan Stubbs followed.

Unfortunately, a few years ago, Tom Farmer’s health was starting to deteriorate and he sought to locate a successor. Much of the Hibernian Way model appears to have been deconstructed, Dempster and Mathie have moved on and we now have a Manager and Assistant Manager like we had with Terry Butcher. Fan involvement in the running of the club is lower than it’s been since 2012. And with it, the connection between supporters and the Hibs Board.

Very good post, covering the journey of recent years :top marks

Like you say, a lot of fans again feel alienated from the club and powerless to influence change.

[RIP]

Very good post, covering the journey of recent years :top marks

Like you say, a lot of fans again feel alienated from the club and powerless to influence change.

In 2010 a lot of fans felt powerless. Sometimes all it takes is one person to kick things off, book a room, invite a few like-minded people, brainstorm ideas and present them to club management.

I’ve always felt that the club was lacking an active supporters association willing to act as the voice of Hibs fans. One whose ambitions matched those of the majority of the Hibernian support.

What can we do to get the HSA to step up?

[PatHead]

Take your son. Not fair that it is only you suffering. 😁

[GreenCastle]

Between 2010 and 2014, Hibs supporters weren’t happy with the constant managerial merry-go-round and player churn. Under Petrie, the club no longer had the support of the fan base. Fans were fed up aimlessly bumping their gums on the messageboards and decided to get involved in changing the direction of their club.

This revolution started in the stands with Hibees Reunited, the East Stand Singing Section and Hibs12thMan. Many of the same people joined Let’s Work Together which then split into five teams, each pairing a Hibs Board member with a fans working group.

The Sales & Marketing and Communication teams introduced a lot of productive initiatives. But by far the most innovative was the Vision team led by director Brian Houston and prominent members of Hibs.Net, Bounce, Historical Trust, HSA. They produced the ‘Hibernian Way’ template of a CEO, Director of Football, Recruitment Team and Head Coach.

The principles upon which the new model was based was to recruit the best skills, experience and creativity for each of these positions, source players who would fit the club ethos and hire a coach to motivate and train the squad into an effective first team unit.

LWT wanted Rod to go for Dempster and to be fair to Houston and Petrie they moved swiftly. George Craig and later Graeme Mathie and Alan Stubbs followed.

Unfortunately, a few years ago, Tom Farmer’s health was starting to deteriorate and he sought to locate a successor. Much of the Hibernian Way model appears to have been deconstructed, Dempster and Mathie have moved on and we now have a Manager and Assistant Manager like we had with Terry Butcher. Fan involvement in the running of the club is lower than it’s been since 2012. And with it, the connection between supporters and the Hibs Board.

Thanks for this post.

A good reminder of what was done to give the club its identify back.

Sadly it seems this has been lost and I hope you send this to Ben or he his made aware of the fans feelings through emails or similar.

[ozhibs]

The club currently has a very Butcher/pre Dempster feel about it. Fans feeling like they have little to no connection with the club, games boring to watch , a Owner and CEO who are both rookies at owning and running a football club and haven’t yet shown anything which would make us feel comfortable at the helm, an experienced head of recruitment sacked/slated in the press & replaced with the owners son who has no experience to our knowledge in fact his appointment was not announced anywhere he just kinda appeared, a experienced manager sacked and replace with a rookie manager. We have people in all areas of the club either being sacked or moving on. I know things have to change in order to keep improving but we are going backwards. Maybe the reason for Dempster leaving and Jack Ross being sacked is that he could see it and stood up to Gordon & Co and they didnt like it

Regardless … How do we fix it ? There needs to be something changed but what ?

Excellent post,
GGTTH

[FitbaFolkKen]

I know it’s a small sample size but Maloneys win rate in the league is now worse than Butchers. Club has a lot of work to do.


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[franck sauzee]

Between 2010 and 2014, Hibs supporters weren’t happy with the constant managerial merry-go-round and player churn. Under Petrie, the club no longer had the support of the fan base. Fans were fed up aimlessly bumping their gums on the messageboards and decided to get involved in changing the direction of their club.

This revolution started in the stands with Hibees Reunited, the East Stand Singing Section and Hibs12thMan. Many of the same people joined Let’s Work Together which then split into five teams, each pairing a Hibs Board member with a fans working group.

The Sales & Marketing and Communication teams introduced a lot of productive initiatives. But by far the most innovative was the Vision team led by director Brian Houston and prominent members of Hibs.Net, Bounce, Historical Trust, HSA. They produced the ‘Hibernian Way’ template of a CEO, Director of Football, Recruitment Team and Head Coach.

The principles upon which the new model was based was to recruit the best skills, experience and creativity for each of these positions, source players who would fit the club ethos and hire a coach to motivate and train the squad into an effective first team unit.

LWT wanted Rod to go for Dempster and to be fair to Houston and Petrie they moved swiftly. George Craig and later Graeme Mathie and Alan Stubbs followed.

Unfortunately, a few years ago, Tom Farmer’s health was starting to deteriorate and he sought to locate a successor. Much of the Hibernian Way model appears to have been deconstructed, Dempster and Mathie have moved on and we now have a Manager and Assistant Manager like we had with Terry Butcher. Fan involvement in the running of the club is lower than it’s been since 2012. And with it, the connection between supporters and the Hibs Board.

Really good post. Just feels like behind the scenes things aren't where they should be. A small part being the social media position. Surely we could find a Hibs fan to do that. Nothing against the boy that's doing it and we're not expecting perfection just people that love the club

[May21/05/216]

The club currently has a very Butcher/pre Dempster feel about it. Fans feeling like they have little to no connection with the club, games boring to watch , a Owner and CEO who are both rookies at owning and running a football club and haven’t yet shown anything which would make us feel comfortable at the helm, an experienced head of recruitment sacked/slated in the press & replaced with the owners son who has no experience to our knowledge in fact his appointment was not announced anywhere he just kinda appeared, a experienced manager sacked and replace with a rookie manager. We have people in all areas of the club either being sacked or moving on. I know things have to change in order to keep improving but we are going backwards. Maybe the reason for Dempster leaving and Jack Ross being sacked is that he could see it and stood up to Gordon & Co and they didnt like it

Regardless … How do we fix it ? There needs to be something changed but what ?Attention seeker absolute drivel

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[MWHIBBIES]

Attention seeker absolute drivel

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You should point out where it is drivel. You'll really struggle because most of it is correct

[May21/05/216]

In 2010 a lot of fans felt powerless. Sometimes all it takes is one person to kick things off, book a room, invite a few like-minded people, brainstorm ideas and present them to club management.

I’ve always felt that the club was lacking an active supporters association willing to act as the voice of Hibs fans. One whose ambitions matched those of the majority of the Hibernian support.

What can we do to get the HSA to step up?As someone that was a member of the HSA and trust me it's a bit like this place full of different opinions and and in the end you never get agreement for what it's worth I'm ok Ron has guided the club through the pandemic and had a many a trip to hampden and another trip to look forward to at the weekend admittedly this season has been poor but I believe that Ron and the board deserve a bit of loyalty
Feel free to comment that you think I'm a attention seeker and full of drivel

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[RIP]

As someone that was a member of the HSA and trust me it's a bit like this place full of different opinions and and in the end you never get agreement for what it's worth I'm ok Ron has guided the club through the pandemic and had a many a trip to hampden and another trip to look forward to at the weekend admittedly this season has been poor but I believe that Ron and the board deserve a bit of loyalty
Sent from my SM-A908B using Tapatalk

Thanks buddy. I’m also a HSA member but not on the committee. For years I’ve yearned for a leadership that works alongside Hibs management team to represent the views of the supporter base.

In my opinion, the committee appear to be too engrossed in running a licensed premises and entertainment events. The Hibs Club at Sunnyside seems at times to be their focus rather than football club and supporter initiatives.

[bigwheel]

As someone that was a member of the HSA and trust me it's a bit like this place full of different opinions and and in the end you never get agreement for what it's worth I'm ok Ron has guided the club through the pandemic and had a many a trip to hampden and another trip to look forward to at the weekend admittedly this season has been poor but I believe that Ron and the board deserve a bit of loyalty
Feel free to comment that you think I'm a attention seeker and full of drivel

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Ron has booted the guys who got us many trips to Hampden and sent us into decline ….there is nothing on the footballing side that he can be proud of .

[Steve20]

As someone that was a member of the HSA and trust me it's a bit like this place full of different opinions and and in the end you never get agreement for what it's worth I'm ok Ron has guided the club through the pandemic and had a many a trip to hampden and another trip to look forward to at the weekend admittedly this season has been poor but I believe that Ron and the board deserve a bit of loyalty
Feel free to comment that you think I'm a attention seeker and full of drivel

Sent from my SM-A908B using Tapatalk

Going to Hampden means nothing if you don't win the trophy. This mentality of as long as we get to semi finals/finals, then it's fine needs stamped out the club. Meaningless if we keep losing.

We are in serious decline under Ron Gordon and the board, the past 3/4 transfer windows have been a disgrace as well. Why exactly does he deserve our loyalty? Because he put in big screens, which are frankly nonsense? No, it's time he started moving us forward as a FOOTBALL CLUB. Talks a good game but delivers very little.

[superfurryhibby]

Attention seeker absolute drivel

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The irony is that replies like this are actually attention seeking drivel. The OP made some valid points and was voicing there feelings. They are also undoubtedly spot on with regard to Dempster and then Ross leaving.

There is a disconnect. You’re asking fans to show loyalty to Gordon, who has of course launched some very good Hibs people from the club. Where was the loyalty then?

Who really knows why Ron Gordon is here or what motivated him to buy Hibs? He must believe there is money/ opportunity and potential here, otherwise why would you bother?

The people brought in, like Gordon jnr, Kensall, Maloney, are all inexperienced. He has pretty much carte blanche to do as he pleased and, and I don’t care what the accountants say, the dilution of HSL/ small shareholdings at the time of the takeover was a disgrace, a blemish on the deal made with the people who bought those shares.

However, facts are facts and he has shaken the place up big time, gone down the whole nepotistic route by appointing his son to a senior role in the club, which he seems completely unqualified for, whilst attempting to implement some transfer strategy that hasn’t actually improved the team.

[Pretty Boy]

In any business a new owner or boss will come in and throw a lot of stuff around and see what sticks. A lot will quickly be binned but there will inevitably be some good ideas that will hang around. Stuff like big screens, pre match entertainment, pop up food options and so on are just part of a new guy trying to find his feet. Even the stuff we as individuals don't like is generally harmless and if it's not for you then you move on.

However one thing that is a rule at every football club is that both the football team and the business lives or dies by the performance of the team on the park. Ron Gordon is about to learn a very harsh lesson about how fans will react to the mess we are in. The 1st lesson will be when the team run out to thousands of empty seats at Hampden on Saturday and the point will be hammered home by our crowds in whatever home fixtures we still have left and then ST sales for next year. In many ways I'm a dream supporter for Hibs. My ST for next year is already renewed, my HSL DD comes out every month, my kids get strips every season, stones on the stadium wall, tiles in the tunnel etc etc I'll buy them because it's Hibs. On Saturday for the 2nd time in my life I chose to leave a Hibs game early. I've left early on occasion due to other commitments but Saturday after 70 minutes I saw so little from the team wearing the Hibs shirt and all it represents that I made the decision through choice to just walk out. The total lack of connection I feel to the club, the apathy and the disengagement is disconcerting. If that's me who has renewed my ST for next year how does a semi regular walk up or someone undecided about renewing feel?

I totally understand that a new owner would want to put his stamp on things but whatever we are doing now seems to lack any kind of coherent thought. We seem to have handed absolute power back to the manager and CEO again by removing the Director of Football/Sporting Director/Head of Football Operations role. The whole point of such a role at any club is to ensure a level of consistency and continuity when, given the short term nature of the other positions, people move on. Our transfers have been scattergun and have largely failed to improve the product on the park. Everything is easy in hindsight but sacking a manager with no obvious succession planning was madness. Our communication and engagement is lacklustre. Everything feels either off the cuff or half arsed.

I'm sure Ron Gordon is a very successful businessman in his field but I'm yet to see much evidence that translates to being any good at running a football club. If I run a chain of successful garages it doesn't mean I'd be any good at running a hotel. The club feels every bit as listless as it did when we lurched from disaster to disaster in the early 2010s, the incumbents at the time were roundly hounded for that, sometimes with great vitriol. As detailed above they worked to find a way to sort the problems out. Ron Gordon seems to still have a placid audience for now but he may find that changing if he doesn't get the mess he helped create sorted sharpish.

[Liberal Hibby]

The people brought in, like Gordon jnr, Kensall, Maloney, are all inexperienced.

Maloney yes but Kensall? Three years at Norwich says you're wrong.

[matty_f]

Between 2010 and 2014, Hibs supporters weren’t happy with the constant managerial merry-go-round and player churn. Under Petrie, the club no longer had the support of the fan base. Fans were fed up aimlessly bumping their gums on the messageboards and decided to get involved in changing the direction of their club.

This revolution started in the stands with Hibees Reunited, the East Stand Singing Section and Hibs12thMan. Many of the same people joined Let’s Work Together which then split into five teams, each pairing a Hibs Board member with a fans working group.

The Sales & Marketing and Communication teams introduced a lot of productive initiatives. But by far the most innovative was the Vision team led by director Brian Houston and prominent members of Hibs.Net, Bounce, Historical Trust, HSA. They produced the ‘Hibernian Way’ template of a CEO, Director of Football, Recruitment Team and Head Coach.

The principles upon which the new model was based was to recruit the best skills, experience and creativity for each of these positions, source players who would fit the club ethos and hire a coach to motivate and train the squad into an effective first team unit.

LWT wanted Rod to go for Dempster and to be fair to Houston and Petrie they moved swiftly. George Craig and later Graeme Mathie and Alan Stubbs followed.

Unfortunately, a few years ago, Tom Farmer’s health was starting to deteriorate and he sought to locate a successor. Much of the Hibernian Way model appears to have been deconstructed, Dempster and Mathie have moved on and we now have a Manager and Assistant Manager like we had with Terry Butcher. Fan involvement in the running of the club is lower than it’s been since 2012. And with it, the connection between supporters and the Hibs Board.

There’s definitely some merit in what you’ve said here, what I would say is that the vision that Ron Gordon presented at his first (and subsequent) AGMs was broadly aligned to a lot of stuff that we had in the Hibernian Way plan, and a bit more.

Some key differences - the structure, we had pushed the DoF/Sporting Director model because of the benefit of consistency and long term planning that the role brings. We do still appear to have a long term recruitment strategy under the current set up, and the evidence of this is in the age profile and potential of the signings that have been made. I am yet to be convinced that the lack of a specific DoF is critical to the consistency bring eroded, but if I was giving my opinion I would rather that role was filled at the club and someone was joining the various aspects of youth/reserve/first team/recruitment/player sales and contract renewals.

I believe much of that responsibility now sits with Ben Kensell, however I could be wrong.

The other notable difference was that the Hibernian Way had a significant and essential focus on the community impact that the club has. Although we can see evidence of this sort of thing with “greenest club”, I think we’ve dropped the ball on initiatives that resonate with the people whose lives the club impacts most.

This is a big deal if you’re talking about having a connection with the support, and I’d point to Motherwell as an example of a club who get this spot on, and although they scraped into the top 6, their season has been much like ours, yet they’ve retained engagement and the support of their fans base, whereas we (like it or not) have ditched the club in huge numbers.

Above everything though - none of that matters if the team doesn’t function ina Saturday afternoon (or whenever). The absolute fundamental is to win games of football, do that and the rest is just icing on the cake. Wins and success will paper over a multitude of cracks and give the board time to deliver their objectives.

When you have a team functioning like ours, crap football, no fight, failing to meet the minimum targets and expectations not just of the fans but of the board, then everything is more difficult for the club.

We are in an awful position at the moment on and off the field. Missing top 6, European football, and the revenue that brings in season ticket sales, prize money, sponsorship etc will be a huge setback.

It’s absolutely criminal that we’ve found ourselves in this position. We’ve been hugely unlucky with injuries but we’ve also mismanaged the balance of the squad, and dropped the ball off the pitch so while there is some small amount of mitigation, there are no excuses and we absolutely should be a top 6 side based on spend.

[May21/05/216]

Thanks buddy. I’m also a HSA member but not on the committee. For years I’ve yearned for a leadership that works alongside Hibs management team to represent the views of the supporter base.

In my opinion, the committee appear to be too engrossed in running a licensed premises and entertainment events. The Hibs Club at Sunnyside seems at times to be their focus rather than football club and supporter initiatives.I would like to apologise for my remarks on your post let's just to much drink spoils my judgement your point the HSA I agree with them that's why I'm not a member anymore as there were to to many different opinions to get change and its the same with this site

To which I haven't got a problem with varying opinions is good but it's Ron Gordon's club now and I'm ok with the way he's running the club for what he's been dealt with especially the pandemic but if folk think he's not then that's fine its all about opinions have a good day
And hopefully we win at weekend

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[Tully]

In any business a new owner or boss will come in and throw a lot of stuff around and see what sticks. A lot will quickly be binned but there will inevitably be some good ideas that will hang around. Stuff like big screens, pre match entertainment, pop up food options and so on are just part of a new guy trying to find his feet. Even the stuff we as individuals don't like is generally harmless and if it's not for you then you move on.

However one thing that is a rule at every football club is that both the football team and the business lives or dies by the performance of the team on the park. Ron Gordon is about to learn a very harsh lesson about how fans will react to the mess we are in. The 1st lesson will be when the team run out to thousands of empty seats at Hampden on Saturday and the point will be hammered home by our crowds in whatever home fixtures we still have left and then ST sales for next year. In many ways I'm a dream supporter for Hibs. My ST for next year is already renewed, my HSL DD comes out every month, my kids get strips every season, stones on the stadium wall, tiles in the tunnel etc etc I'll buy them because it's Hibs. On Saturday for the 2nd time in my life I chose to leave a Hibs game early. I've left early on occasion due to other commitments but Saturday after 70 minutes I saw so little from the team wearing the Hibs shirt and all it represents that I made the decision through choice to just walk out. The total lack of connection I feel to the club, the apathy and the disengagement is disconcerting. If that's me who has renewed my ST for next year how does a semi regular walk up or someone undecided about renewing feel?

I totally understand that a new owner would want to put his stamp on things but whatever we are doing now seems to lack any kind of coherent thought. We seem to have handed absolute power back to the manager and CEO again by removing the Director of Football/Sporting Director/Head of Football Operations role. The whole point of such a role at any club is to ensure a level of consistency and continuity when, given the short term nature of the other positions, people move on. Our transfers have been scattergun and have largely failed to improve the product on the park. Everything is easy in hindsight but sacking a manager with no obvious succession planning was madness. Our communication and engagement is lacklustre. Everything feels either off the cuff or half arsed.

I'm sure Ron Gordon is a very successful businessman in his field but I'm yet to see much evidence that translates to being any good at running a football club. If I run a chain of successful garages it doesn't mean I'd be any good at running a hotel. The club feels every bit as listless as it did when we lurched from disaster to disaster in the early 2010s, the incumbents at the time were roundly hounded for that, sometimes with great vitriol. As detailed above they worked to find a way to sort the problems out. Ron Gordon seems to still have a placid audience for now but he may find that changing if he doesn't get the mess he helped create sorted sharpish.

Im like yourself, i walked out with 10 minutes to go, ast holder who has no intention in going to anymore away league games this season, 4 season tickets not renewed yet, totally pissed of with hibs from top to bottom, we have 1 game left this season to keep the interest going , can we do it only time will tell, but one thing for sure lose it and season ticket sales will be under 10k and that will really affect the budget along with top 6 losses

[superfurryhibby]

Maloney yes but Kensall? Three years at Norwich says you're wrong.

Not in a CEO position though. He has no experience of doing that job, much like Maloney and his role.

[Brightside]

Maloney yes but Kensall? Three years at Norwich says you're wrong.

He didnt run the football club.

[jacomo]

The club currently has a very Butcher/pre Dempster feel about it. Fans feeling like they have little to no connection with the club, games boring to watch , a Owner and CEO who are both rookies at owning and running a football club and haven’t yet shown anything which would make us feel comfortable at the helm, an experienced head of recruitment sacked/slated in the press & replaced with the owners son who has no experience to our knowledge in fact his appointment was not announced anywhere he just kinda appeared, a experienced manager sacked and replace with a rookie manager. We have people in all areas of the club either being sacked or moving on. I know things have to change in order to keep improving but we are going backwards. Maybe the reason for Dempster leaving and Jack Ross being sacked is that he could see it and stood up to Gordon & Co and they didnt like it

Regardless … How do we fix it ? There needs to be something changed but what ?



It’s not really the same scenario at all.

Back then we were drifting, and had no sense of direction or ambition.

Now we have ambition and investment. The plan might not be working right now, but there is a plan.

[degenerated]

Not in a CEO position though. He has no experience of doing that job, much like Maloney and his role.He was chief operating officer at a club with nearly 6 times the turnover of Hibs. Now, whilst he takes his share of the blame for where we are your suggestion he doesn't have the experience isn't really accurate.

[lugz]

It really is a bad time on and off the pitch at the moment, never felt so disconnected from the club than I do now. To have made so much progress under dempster/stubbs/lennon where there was a buzz back in the club, we had a team to be proud of now back to this. The club feels like a shadow of its former self and that's only within a 5 year period.

[bigwheel]

It really is a bad time on and off the pitch at the moment, never felt so disconnected from the club than I do now. To have made so much progress under dempster/stubbs/lennon where there was a buzz back in the club, we had a team to be proud of now back to this. The club feels like a shadow of its former self and that's only within a 5 year period.

This …except the players who were around then are doing some very “Hibernian” things - the Hanlon Stevenson foundation for example - wonderful community impact —and spend any time with these players and you know they are hurting every bit much as us . It’s the leadership and strategy that is way off…terrible decisions creating backward momentum. Even in the bad times , I always felt there was a good “soul” to our club - not as sure these days …

[GreenCastle]

Some really good posts here - Pretty Boy especially should be emailed to Ben.

I said this on another thread but I doubt Ben even knows about the Butcher / Fenlon / Calderwood days but similar mistakes are being made probably because they are oblivious to what happened before them.

Where as the fans have been here before and the warning signs are there for all to see even the local punter who does need a UEFA coaching qualification to see the team aren’t performing.

[NAE NOOKIE]

The big deal is that under Butcher we practically sleep walked into the Championship, with a board who simply shut their eyes closed their ears and hoped for the best until the inevitable happened. I don't think we will go down, but if the gap was 5 points instead of 8 between us and 11th I wouldn't be anywhere near as confident of that.

Ron Gordon has had a lot of stick for the big screens and the numerous small sponsorship deals we seem to announce once a week. But I have no issue with that, the idea is to bring money into the club and he is the first owner or CEO I've heard publicly state the idea is to enable the club to significantly increase it's ability to pay higher wages. That is without doubt the way to go, for a club like us it isn't what we can pay in transfer fees, it's what we can pay in wages that will make us competitive with Aberdeen, Hearts and Dundee United in the long run.

But signs are starting to show that what he is failing to get a grip of is the demographic that supports this club. You simply cannot squeeze the fan base until the pips squeak financially, to ask £32 for any Scottish premier league match is overpricing and it's showing in empty seats, even when you factor in a poor product on the park. How can the club say they don't recognise that after themselves complaining about the price of semi final tickets, which are in fact only £3 more expensive than that for the better seats and £25 for the east at Hampden. £25 is the maximum we should charge for all but the best west stand seats.

I know it's the old chestnut of infrastructure, but the failure to address the behind the goals issue hardly shows a willingness to bring fans into the body o' the kirk as it were. With somewhere in the stadium fans could congregate pre match for a few hours it helped with the fans / club connection. Now every penny is being sunk into a massive revamp of facilities in the west stand where no doubt prices will be prohibitive for most ordinary fans, while the FF previously used by every day fans is left to rot.

Then we have the issue of the FF lower. I watched Dundee United v Dundee at the weekend, at every crowd shot it was clear that kids were spread all around the stadium, their parents didn't seem to feel the need to have a dedicated area even at a derby match. Meanwhile United had filled the shed end with it appeared a load of the folk who had made up their away support at Easter Road who sang and cheered for most of the game. Meanwhile at ER we shove our young enthusiastic fans up in the gods where they have little impact but a perfect view of the part of the ground they want half empty at every game. In this country it's colour and atmosphere and wanting to be part of it that enthuses kids to want to come back, not face painting and vegan burgers. If Hibs want folk to come to Easter Road the atmosphere in my opinion is secondary only to the product on the pitch.

There is no dynamism around the club pre match or during it ... changing that is massively down to what's on the park, but changes can also be made that will improve it and the connect between club and fans even without a brilliant team and I don't think as yet this owner or board are making the right ones, in fact entirely the wrong ones when it comes to ticket pricing.

[Crab apple]

The big deal is that under Butcher we practically sleep walked into the Championship, with a board who simply shut their eyes closed their ears and hoped for the best until the inevitable happened. I don't think we will go down, but if the gap was 5 points instead of 8 between us and 11th I wouldn't be anywhere near as confident of that.

Ron Gordon has had a lot of stick for the big screens and the numerous small sponsorship deals we seem to announce once a week. But I have no issue with that, the idea is to bring money into the club and he is the first owner or CEO I've heard publicly state the idea is to enable the club to significantly increase it's ability to pay higher wages. That is without doubt the way to go, for a club like us it isn't what we can pay in transfer fees, it's what we can pay in wages that will make us competitive with Aberdeen, Hearts and Dundee United in the long run.

But signs are starting to show that what he is failing to get a grip of is the demographic that supports this club. You simply cannot squeeze the fan base until the pips squeak financially, to ask £32 for any Scottish premier league match is overpricing and it's showing in empty seats, even when you factor in a poor product on the park. How can the club say they don't recognise that after themselves complaining about the price of semi final tickets, which are in fact only £3 more expensive than that for the better seats and £25 for the east at Hampden. £25 is the maximum we should charge for all but the best west stand seats.

I know it's the old chestnut of infrastructure, but the failure to address the behind the goals issue hardly shows a willingness to bring fans into the body o' the kirk as it were. With somewhere in the stadium fans could congregate pre match for a few hours it helped with the fans / club connection. Now every penny is being sunk into a massive revamp of facilities in the west stand where no doubt prices will be prohibitive for most ordinary fans, while the FF previously used by every day fans is left to rot.

Then we have the issue of the FF lower. I watched Dundee United v Dundee at the weekend, at every crowd shot it was clear that kids were spread all around the stadium, their parents didn't seem to feel the need to have a dedicated area even at a derby match. Meanwhile United had filled the shed end with it appeared a load of the folk who had made up their away support at Easter Road who sang and cheered for most of the game. Meanwhile at ER we shove our young enthusiastic fans up in the gods where they have little impact but a perfect view of the part of the ground they want half empty at every game. In this country it's colour and atmosphere and wanting to be part of it that enthuses kids to want to come back, not face painting and vegan burgers. If Hibs want folk to come to Easter Road the atmosphere in my opinion is secondary only to the product on the pitch.

There is no dynamism around the club pre match or during it ... changing that is massively down to what's on the park, but changes can also be made that will improve it and the connect between club and fans even without a brilliant team and I don't think as yet this owner or board are making the right ones, in fact entirely the wrong ones when it comes to ticket pricing.

Nothing wrong with offering up vegan burgers! Apart from that I agree with a lot of your post.

[superfurryhibby]

He was chief operating officer at a club with nearly 6 times the turnover of Hibs. Now, whilst he takes his share of the blame for where we are your suggestion he doesn't have the experience isn't really accurate.

Yep, so he has no experience of his current role then?

Much like Maloney has no experience of the responsibility of management, no matter that he coached at Belgium. He must have been a good coach to be employed at Belgium, but he's showing he's rubbish at managing at Hibs.

[degenerated]

Yep, so he has no experience of his current role then?

Much like Maloney has no experience of the responsibility of management, no matter that he coached at Belgium. He must have been a good coach to be employed at Belgium, but he's showing he's rubbish at managing at Hibs.Aye, whatever

[SickBoy32]

Aye, whatever

I think the poster raises a valid question on BK's experience or lack of.

The most important job for the Hibs CEO, by some distance, is the appointment of a good manager.

Was he involved in recruiting managers at all at Norwich? I can't see anything online - this was what his bosses had to say on his departure, seems to be mainly commercial based:

Joint majority shareholders, Delia Smith and Michael Wynn Jones, added: “We arevery sad that Ben has decided to move on. He has made an outstanding contribution torestructuring the club. He has also transformed our commercial activities and is highly regarded by all who have worked with him - staff, supporters and sponsors."