Geoff Brown interview

[Renfrew_Hibby]

Anyone else catch the Geoff Brown interview on the beebs website?

Brilliant piece, I could listen to him for hours. Very wise assesment of the current plight of the Scottish game and his 25 years as chairman. His comments on Hearts are great and the guy posing the questions even hints at Hibs looking for investment! Browns passion for the game but St. Johnstone in particular is almost heartwarming. More people like this in our game is what we need.

[Renfrew_Hibby]

Check it out
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/scotland/15876979.stm

[RickyS]

always had great respect for the man, if scottish football had more of him involved we would have a better league

[Beefster]

Brown's absolutely right about how Hibs should be looking to grow the business rather than looking for outside investment.

[--------]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Brown's absolutely right about how Hibs should be looking to grow the business rather than looking for outside investment.

More like him would do Scottish football no end of good.

Great deal of wisdom in that interview.

[down-the-slope]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Brown's absolutely right about how Hibs should be looking to grow the business rather than looking for outside investment.

Indeed..could start with new contracts for players being based on points / bums on seats rather than appearance.......

[RIP]

A shrewd and successful businessman who is passionate about his team and knowledgeable about fitba

My idea of heaven

[Jonnyboy]

He's a good bloke and he speaks well. "All it's ever been about is smiling faces of fans leaving the stadium after we've won a game" Says it all really

[fatbloke]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

always had great respect for the man, if scottish football had more of him involved we would have a better league

Sorry have to disagree there. Not long after McDiarmid opened we discovered that away fans were paying way more than home fans for admission et al. When speaking to St J by letter and phone was told "if yer no happy stay away" which was difficult at the time as I ran the supporters club. Was told it was GB's decision alone so had to like it or lump it.

[libernian]

probably his fault they only get 2500 fans or something. they used to have much better crowds.

[ozhibs]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

He's a good bloke and he speaks well. "All it's ever been about is smiling faces of fans leaving the stadium after we've won a game" Says it all really

To me he made a loy of sense but this was the bit that really stuck for me, because at the end of the day that is all we ever want.

[Part/Time Supporter]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

probably his fault they only get 2500 fans or something. they used to have much better crowds.

Not really. Saints were averaging <2000 in a crumbling Muirton in the old Second Division when he took over. The crowds went unsustainably high (like 6,000+ average in a town of <50,000 people) in the first couple of years at McDiarmid because the team was being promoted and then doing well in the top division for the first time since the 1970s reconstruction. They've stabilised at a more realistic average now.

BTW, Brown was criticised by some Saints fans in the mid-90s for much the same reasons Petrie is by Hibs fans now (appointing duff managers, not putting his hand in his pocket enough, not focusing enough attention on the field, etc).

[Barney McGrew]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

BTW, Brown was criticised by some Saints fans in the mid-90s for much the same reasons Petrie is by Hibs fans now (appointing duff managers, not putting his hand in his pocket enough, not focusing enough attention on the field, etc).

He certainly seems to have developed an ability to pick a good manager since then

[greenlex]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Brown's absolutely right about how Hibs should be looking to grow the business rather than looking for outside investment.

They are. That's what the new East Stand is ultimately about.

[TornadoHibby]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Indeed..could start with new contracts for players being based on points / bums on seats rather than appearance.......

Any business which has ambition to be financially successful must have, apart from a product for which there is healthy demand, a great team ethos and ensure that it's employee team, particularly those that have most direct customer influence such as first team players in a football business, are appropriately incentivised for effective performance levels which enhance the business both present and future.

Anything else only leads to those employees looking after themselves rather than the team and the business of which the team is part which inevitably means that the business comes off worst!

[NORTHERNHIBBY]

It is one thing to talk about growing the business once the basics are all in place and costed, but when Saints sold Muirton to the supermarket chain, they did not need to spend any of the receipts on land to build a new ground as that came as gift from a local. For a lot of teams, the land they own is their biggest/most expensive asset, so getting it free of charge is a bit of a leg up. From all accounts, the fives pitches behind the main stand are a decent regular source of income.

[snooky]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

He's a good bloke and he speaks well. "All it's ever been about is smiling faces of fans leaving the stadium after we've won a game" Says it all really

Somebody stick that on RP's door .... please!

GB comes over as a top guy, BTW.

[Sioux]

Pretty intelligent and realistic critique. Wouldn't do for some on this board who only see investment and investment as the way forward. Additionally, he says that a football club must be run as a business. RP has done just that for years. But that's not good enough for some on here. Tom Farmer's taken stick for not ploughing more money in.

So its good to see that Brown's comments have been mainly accepted as being in the 'real world.