Article On Leeann Dempster In Evening News

[Keith_M]

I thought this Interview with Leeann Dempster was quite interesting and worth sharing.

[Ozyhibby]

Early signs are good but success can only be measured in the results on the park and the attendances at matches.
Both need to improve this year before she can say she has 'walked the walk'.

[Ronniekirk]

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Early signs are good but success can only be measured in the results on the park and the attendances at matches.
Both need to improve this year before she can say she has 'walked the walk'.

To be fair she did say we have walked the walk to the best of our ability.Given the position she inherited credit where credit is due .Ultimately we fell short and we now have this season to put that bit right
Improving attendances has proved a hard nut to crack but to ask her to turn seven years of decline around totally in one season ,given we were behind in all aspects of preparing for the season was a tall order and realistically wasn't going to happen

[Ozyhibby]

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To be fair she did say we have walked the walk to the best of our ability.Given the position she inherited credit where credit is due .Ultimately we fell short and we now have this season to put that bit right
Improving attendances has proved a hard nut to crack but to ask her to turn seven years of decline around totally in one season ,given we were behind in all aspects of preparing for the season was a tall order and realistically wasn't going to happen

I agree but we have to show signs of improvement on attendances this season.
And we all know that we have to get promoted.
This season is when the club must start to deliver.

[matty_f]

I think she's done a great job in what is still a relatively short space of time. I don't know what more she could have done to help promote the team back to the SPL, she's clearly backed Stubbs as much as possible in that regard.

A lot of the changes that she has made are not ones that bring about quick wins, but they should lay the foundations for growth over the next however many years.

I think she engages with the fans in a positive way and is comfortable to push back when she doesn't agree, and she takes a pragmatic and honest view to situations as far as I can tell.

Results on the park and attendances at matches are only two of the measures that you can use to gauge success, and Leeann only has so much influence in those measures.

[Geo_1875]

[QUOTE=matty_f;4395478]I think she's done a great job in what is still a relatively short space of time. I don't know what more she could have done to help promote the team back to the SPL, she's clearly backed Stubbs as much as possible in that regard.

A lot of the changes that she has made are not ones that bring about quick wins, but they should lay the foundations for growth over the next however many years.

I think she engages with the fans in a positive way and is comfortable to push back when she doesn't agree, and she takes a pragmatic and honest view to situations as far as I can tell.

Results on the park and attendances at matches are only two of the measures that you can use to gauge success, and Leeann only has so much influence in those measures.[/QUOTE]

Short of dragging punters in off the street she has little direct influence on attendances. Some people will go whether we're winning or not and others will always find an excuse not to go. All she can do is back the manager, hope we are promoted and wait for the crowds to return.

[Ozyhibby]

[QUOTE=Geo_1875;4395481]

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I think she's done a great job in what is still a relatively short space of time. I don't know what more she could have done to help promote the team back to the SPL, she's clearly backed Stubbs as much as possible in that regard.

A lot of the changes that she has made are not ones that bring about quick wins, but they should lay the foundations for growth over the next however many years.

I think she engages with the fans in a positive way and is comfortable to push back when she doesn't agree, and she takes a pragmatic and honest view to situations as far as I can tell.

Results on the park and attendances at matches are only two of the measures that you can use to gauge success, and Leeann only has so much influence in those measures.[/QUOTE]

Short of dragging punters in off the street she has little direct influence on attendances. Some people will go whether we're winning or not and others will always find an excuse not to go. All she can do is back the manager, hope we are promoted and wait for the crowds to return.

I would have thought that the primary goal of anybody in charge of a business would be to increase sales.
I'm hopeful we will start to see some progress this season.

[matty_f]

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I would have thought that the primary goal of anybody in charge of a business would be to increase sales.
I'm hopeful we will start to see some progress this season.

It's going to be one of the measures, but I'll be honest if Hibs won the league with a season ticket base at 6000 then I'd consider her a success. Similarly if we were playing to 15000 in the Championship in two or three years time, I'd question if that was success.

Season ticket sales and attendances are only part of the story.

[Ozyhibby]

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It's going to be one of the measures, but I'll be honest if Hibs won the league with a season ticket base at 6000 then I'd consider her a success. Similarly if we were playing to 15000 in the Championship in two or three years time, I'd question if that was success.

Season ticket sales and attendances are only part of the story.

Of course, that's why I mentioned results on the park as well.
I'm not criticising Leeann Dempster, I just don't believe measuring her inputs is a way of judging her success. It's outcomes that are important and it won't be till the end of this season that we can really measure them. And there really has to be progress on both fronts.

[blackpoolhibs]

Leeann, APATHY is what you need to attack, and getting rid of Petrie would certainly help in that.

[Dashing Bob S]

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Leeann, APATHY is what you need to attack, and getting rid of Petrie would certainly help in that.

Getting Petrie out the door would shift another 2K season tickets. As long as he's still there, Leanne's positive comments, and even Stubbs's good work, will still seem to many like throwing good seeds onto a field of concrete.

[blackpoolhibs]

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Getting Petrie out the door would shift another 2K season tickets. As long as he's still there, Leanne's positive comments, and even Stubbs's good work, will still seem to many like throwing good seeds onto a field of concrete.

I dont think it would, but it would certainly rid the place of the smell that still lingers while he's there. It would lift a cloud that does hang over the place when i think of him, i bet others feel the same.

It would feel a better place to visit in my opinion if he was gone.

[Brightside]

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Early signs are good but success can only be measured in the results on the park and the attendances at matches.
Both need to improve this year before she can say she has 'walked the walk'.

Night and day compared to what we have had.

[3pm]

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Getting Petrie out the door would shift another 2K season tickets.

It's frustrating if that's the case. She's clearly the gaffer.

[TrinityHibs]

[QUOTE=Ozyhibby;4395492]

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I would have thought that the primary goal of anybody in charge of a business would be to increase sales.
I'm hopeful we will start to see some progress this season.

Might be wrong but I thought the primary goal would be to maximise profit. You can double the sales of your widgets but if each one loses £1 you have just doubled your loss. Leeann is in charge of a football club and a more fitting target would be success both on and off the park. Having sat through some terrible seasons last year, in places, showed huge progress. Its still Work in Progress but the 4-0 humiliation of The Rangers was one of my favourite football moments ever. In off season we seem to be doing things correctly. Getting people in early and securing others. I am seeing progress right now and I am genuinely looking forward to next season which I have not been able to say for a long time.

[mcfly]

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Getting Petrie out the door would shift another 2K season tickets. As long as he's still there, Leanne's positive comments, and even Stubbs's good work, will still seem to many like throwing good seeds onto a field of concrete.

What a load of rubbish - an extra 2k season tickets would be sold if 1 man leaves.?

Supporters back the team regardless who is in the boardroom.

A winning team will sell extra tickets not Mr Petrie leaving

[ancient hibee]

These remarks about Petrie are what Ms Dempster most shakes her head about.Let's look forward for goodness sake.

[Northernhibee]

I don't believe that there would be more than 25 people not attending ER due to Petrie. Leeann is clearly in charge.

[lyonhibs]

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Getting Petrie out the door would shift another 2K season tickets. As long as he's still there, Leanne's positive comments, and even Stubbs's good work, will still seem to many like throwing good seeds onto a field of concrete.

I generally like what you post, but that is total pish. Increasing attendances should not be a specific aim for LD
Supporting AS, improving community links and improving the team are her top priorities. If she does those 3 and crowds don't improve, that'll be the fans fault, not hers.

[Sir David Gray]

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Getting Petrie out the door would shift another 2K season tickets. As long as he's still there, Leanne's positive comments, and even Stubbs's good work, will still seem to many like throwing good seeds onto a field of concrete.

Not unless his departure coincided with promotion, it wouldn't

There is no chance that we would see an extra 2000 people suddenly buying season tickets just because Rod Petrie was gone. As I said in another thread yesterday regarding people who say they stay away at the moment because of the weather conditions, the majority of those who say they won't go back until Petrie is gone would simply find another reason to stay away if he did suddenly leave the club.

And I say that as someone who thinks that Rod Petrie should have left Hibs about five years ago.

[mca]

After the Affects of One Season.. I Don't Think RP is Paying LD Enough !!!!

Much as I would like to see RP Leave Hibs..

And "just before" our Relegation - I cant Help Thinking He Panicked and Bought the Best..

[HappyAsHellas]

Leeann is certainly walking the walk as far as I can see. There is a semblance of unity amongst the support now which is a minor miracle in itself giving our circumstances in recent years. On a community level we are doing more than we have done for years and she recognises that the club owes the fans big time. She rightly said it's a step forward given everything that happened and I trust she will deliver in the future. I have never been happier talking about Hibs nowadays than for god knows how long in the recent past. I seriously cannot think of any team in Scotland perhaps apart from Celtic with their spending power who are in a better position than us. Yes we're in the wrong league today, but the light at the end of the tunnel appears to me at least, to be a welcome beacon of a great future. This is not happy clapping, but a serious look at where we were in the last 5 or 6 years and where we are going now. If you seriously think Petrie is running this show then to paraphrase blackadder I put you in the following class:

"The man with no brain dips his toes in the cool calm waters of reason, only to return to frolic on insanity beach".

Bigger crowds this year, let's win the league and show people that we will be a force to be reckoned with GGTTH

[Bay Area Hibees]

We're very lucky to have her.
Club doing everything they can to get people back and generate revenue.
Is Rod negative influence? I really don't believe so and hope folks aren't coming go ER as a result. He wasn't robbing us ffs. Some poor decisions but he has hibs at heart. That's what I believe anyway.

[green day]

Pretty positive article and you can't argue that she has been positive for us.

We need promotion this season though - its vital.

p.s. what about the Jambo's on the comments section??????

[CallumLaidlaw]

Good follow up here - http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.co...-say-1-3800074

Gets me excited for the season!

[matty_f]

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Good follow up here - http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.co...-say-1-3800074

Gets me excited for the season!

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I can only say I need to worry about what we can achieve here and I know the group of people I have around me. We are very organised, I have faith in the people who are here so we are going into this Championship with a clear direction – we want to win it.

Am I being foolish in 
saying that? We are in it with a number of other good teams, Rangers are still there and we have to face that fact as well, but we are in good shape – no, I’m going to change that – we are in great shape.

We can only improve and the more people who start to come back to Hibernian, who buy season tickets and participate in other ways puts the club in even better shape and we can then compete, be at the table for players and we can make sure we fund the development of the young players at the academy.

The money that the supporters are generating is helping us do these things. The more we do that the more I feel we can go on and do other things. It’s difficult in the Championship, particularly as we do not get the same distribution as the Premiership and that’s a seven-figure knock straight away.

We’re working hard to get people to buy season tickets. If you are a supporter who can afford a season ticket this is absolutely the year to do it, come and enjoy your football at Easter Road.

IMHO, if we want to have a really good crack at winning the league we as a support need to be backing the team by buying season tickets, buying shares, or buying into HSL.

IF (and it's a big 'IF' at the moment) The Rangers are going to spend their way to the title, giving Dempster and Stubbs the funds to compete as closely as possible is imperative.

That means getting the hands in the pockets and buying the season tickets that will help Stubbs get his first choice players and build a team that can take The Rangers all the way.

Hibs want to win the league, we're not talking about finishing in the play-offs,the noise coming out of Easter Road is the right noise.

They are backing it up with actions - Fyvie, Stevenson, Carmichael, Gray - all signed up early ready to go, and I'd be very surprised not to hear news of Fontaine, Allan, Stubbs, plus new signings in the very near future.

How good those signings are is as much down to us as it is Stubbs and the footballing department at the club. They can get the players that they/we want if we help them. That, for me, is the bottom line.

We all want to go up, but as a support do we want it enough to be prepared to pitch in and make it happen?

[CallumLaidlaw]

And another article -

His arrival at Easter Road raised more than a few eyebrows. Alan Stubbs, of course, was well-known this side of the border after his time playing for Celtic, but while the former defender had built up a formidable reputation in the world of youth coaching, he was untried at first-team level.

To all intents and purposes, it looked something of a gamble by newly-appointed Hibs chief executive Leeann Dempster and George Craig, an equally recent arrival in the post of head of football operations, their recommendation made to the board of the Capital club following a late evening meeting in a Manchester hotel.

Stubbs, who had driven south having attended a cancer charity event in the west of Scotland that day, had impressed them hugely but, nevertheless, the fact remained that he was to all intents and purposes a rookie manager at a time when Hibs were reeling from the shock of relegation and the fall-out which had seen angry protests at the doors of Easter Road.

Hibs had, of course, gone down that route before, appointing Tony Mowbray, a highly-respected youth coach at Ipswich Town and another former Celtic defender seeking his first taste of management, as the surprise successor to Bobby Williamson a decade earlier, a move which caused similar questions to be asked.

Mowbray, as we know now, proved to be an inspirational appointment. Back in the summer of 2004, however, circumstances were entirely different. Hibs were in the SPL and Mowbray was about to inherit that “golden generation” of Garry O’Connor, Derek Riordan, Scott Brown, Steven Whittaker and Kevin Thomson, augmenting them with signings such as Dean Shiels and David Murphy.

It was a scenario strikingly different to that confronting Stubbs, a club in the second tier of Scottish football and one with barely enough players to field a team.

However, like Mowbray, Stubbs has proved the sceptics wrong. Granted he may have missed out on his primary target of immediate promotion, but there’s no doubt the Liverpudlian has caught the fans’ imagination, re-introducing an entertaining style of play and displaying a shrewd eye for a player. Having brought the likes of Scott Allan, Dominique Malonga, Liam Fontaine, Farid El Alagui and Fraser Fyvie to the club those signings have been augmented in the past couple of weeks by the arrival of James Keatings and Dan Carmichael.

But none of this has surprised Dempster, who told the Evening News: “I never ever viewed it as a gamble if I’m to be perfectly honest. I was very aware of Alan and his career, of what he had done at Everton and the structures he worked within.

“There he was essentially running the core development squads at Everton, was used to the structures that George and I had built into our football plan, having individual key support staff around you to help you make decisions and for you.

“He was really familiar with that. It was a huge bonus for him if you like because he had been embracing everything we wanted. We knew he had been a terrific footballer, had played at the highest level, had captained and I think when you meet somebody you know.

“I used to work in advertising and you’d go and pitch for business and knew within 60 seconds whether you had won the business or not, whether the person liked you or not.

“When George and I met Alan I think we knew almost immediately that he was absolutely the type of person who knew what we wanted to do. I’m sure he had to think long and hard because it was a huge challenge. He was in an excellent environment at Everton and I’m sure he had many opportunities.

“Whether we were just very persuasive on the day I’m not quite sure, but it’s worked out tremendously well for everyone. I don’t think I could be happier with his contribution both on and off the field, there’s been nothing we’ve asked him to do that he has shied away from.

“I’m happy that he has come up to Scotland. He’s very committed to Hibernian and the group of players and that’s important getting players to sign again.”

However, as key a figure as Stubbs has proved to be in the revitalisation of Hibs, he stands in the centre of a strong support team, not only consisting of his assistant Andy Holden, first-team coach John Doolan and goalkeeping coach Alan Combe, but figures such as Craig Flannigan, head of sports science and fitness, Paul Green, strength and conditioning coach, physios John Porteous and Kitty Mackinnon and Graeme Mathie, head of player identification and recruitment.

And, as far as Dempster is concerned, recruiting these individuals is as important as finding the players who take to the field each Saturday.

She said: “Players come and go, managers come and go, but we are trying to build something here with longevity. We want to make every player here as good as he possibly can be. We give them, Alan and his coaches the tools they need to do their job. Many clubs are moving in this direction now.

“The head coach ultimately make decisions about who is coming in, he decides the attributes they are looking for and we go and find them. Alan is sitting in the middle of the technical side of things but he absolutely needs those tools and these guys. That’s what they are there for.

“This is about building the plan over an initial three-year period. We are 140 years old this year, we already have our eyes on what is going to happen in the next five, ten years.

“Sports science, strength conditioning and scouting does not just apply to the first team, it trickles all the way down. There’s been pretty significant changes across the whole club. They are there, too, in the Academy where Eddie May is really putting his own stamp on it.”

And tangible proof of how it’s all working came, Dempster believes, with Fraser Fyvie’s decision to sign a new two-year contract. The midfielder arrived in Edinburgh on a short-term deal after cutting short his contract with Wigan following an unhappy spell with many expecting the highly-rated former Aberdeen player to move on rather than continue his career in the Championship.

Dempster said: “It shows we are doing more things right than wrong. When it comes to the football side of things the feedback from Fraser and others who have come to the club is that they are enjoying their day-to-day here, really enjoying Hibernian.

“To get someone like Fraser to commit to the club demonstrates that ambition.”

[jacomo]

Good stuff Leeann. Still a long way to go, but we are travelling in the right direction.

[southsider]

Did anyone read the pathetic comments by those deluded yams in the EEN after the article ? Get a life ya sad,sad lowlife.

[3pm]

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Did anyone read the pathetic comments by those deluded yams in the EEN after the article ? Get a life ya sad,sad lowlife.

Hertz dicks.