Melbourne Heart FC buy out - Man City, Melbourne City FC, etc.

[M13]

Royal tour.. Well I don´t know, it´s not like they where sat down with Soriano or Khaldoon for some serious talks.
Got a feeling that they where guests of CFS* which is headed by Marwood who seems to be the executive most involved with Hearts.
From CFM** there have just been silence.

 *City Football Services
**City Football Marketing

[Kiro Kompiro]

IMO the decision is made, red and white is gone.

 

So what makes this our club, and not an entirely new club.

 

Well our owners have thought of that too for us: re-signing most of the players. See there's your connection.

 

 There that should help keep us peasants happy.

[M13]

I think you´ll have to wait a couple of weeks at least for any decision.. CFG have a board meeting coming up soon

[belaguttman]

Time for some consultation hopefully

[n i k o]

I'm finding it very hard to keep on defending why we should keep the colors and name. After the shit we've served up this season, I'm finding myself more and more detached from the club.

maybe starting from a clean slate wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.

That's your opinion and your obviously entitled to that. But, what have our colours got anything to do with us winning football matches. You want to disconnect yourself from the club and don't want to associate with losing and poor results. But that can change and we can still keep our colours. And that's where you will feel most loyalty and passion for the club. If we turn into sky blue and we are successful I have no doubt in your mind you will wish we were still red and white and enjoying the success.

Agree somewhat with your opinion, but the red and white to me atm just symbolising losing and being shit. Outside of selling a couple of youth players (with most of them ending up coming back to the a-league) what has Melbourne heart really achieved/ stand for? Community work? Sure as hell ain't nothing to do with being successful football wise, breaking even is about our biggest achievement so far as a football club.

 

I was talking with my mate yesterday about the color change, and even though we are against it, would it really stop us from coming to the soccer if the name and colors were to change? There would be a large percentage of people who would keep going to heart games, simply just to catch up and have a drink with mates. I just don't believe the drop off would be that significant tbh, if the name and colours were to change and even than, those people would be back eventually.

 

Would it be the worst thing in the world to just bury this 4 years of history in the dirt, never to be seen again? At least if we were Melbourne city i know they will deliver on their promises of playing attractive football and giving us success, rather than the lie Melbourne heart have told me for four years.

Ok I understand you feel red and white is associated with losing etc. but you haven't quite answered my original point and that is why don't you think from this point onwards us keeping red and white can't involve us playing attractive football and being successful?

[silva10]

 

 

I'm finding it very hard to keep on defending why we should keep the colors and name. After the shit we've served up this season, I'm finding myself more and more detached from the club.

maybe starting from a clean slate wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.

That's your opinion and your obviously entitled to that. But, what have our colours got anything to do with us winning football matches. You want to disconnect yourself from the club and don't want to associate with losing and poor results. But that can change and we can still keep our colours. And that's where you will feel most loyalty and passion for the club. If we turn into sky blue and we are successful I have no doubt in your mind you will wish we were still red and white and enjoying the success.

 

Agree somewhat with your opinion, but the red and white to me atm just symbolising losing and being shit. Outside of selling a couple of youth players (with most of them ending up coming back to the a-league) what has Melbourne heart really achieved/ stand for? Community work? Sure as hell ain't nothing to do with being successful football wise, breaking even is about our biggest achievement so far as a football club.

 

I was talking with my mate yesterday about the color change, and even though we are against it, would it really stop us from coming to the soccer if the name and colors were to change? There would be a large percentage of people who would keep going to heart games, simply just to catch up and have a drink with mates. I just don't believe the drop off would be that significant tbh, if the name and colours were to change and even than, those people would be back eventually.

 

Would it be the worst thing in the world to just bury this 4 years of history in the dirt, never to be seen again? At least if we were Melbourne city i know they will deliver on their promises of playing attractive football and giving us success, rather than the lie Melbourne heart have told me for four years.

 

All I can say is that since I moved to Manchester from Glasgow in 1982, when my brother took me to Maine Road too watch City, I have had plenty of reasons to bail out from supporting City.

 

What kept me going is that when every season finished I always believed the next season would be better.

 

Up to 2008 it never did.

 

Just goes to show if you stick with it eventually your dreams come true

[kingofhearts]

I'm finding it very hard to keep on defending why we should keep the colors and name. After the shit we've served up this season, I'm finding myself more and more detached from the club.

maybe starting from a clean slate wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.

That's your opinion and your obviously entitled to that. But, what have our colours got anything to do with us winning football matches. You want to disconnect yourself from the club and don't want to associate with losing and poor results. But that can change and we can still keep our colours. And that's where you will feel most loyalty and passion for the club. If we turn into sky blue and we are successful I have no doubt in your mind you will wish we were still red and white and enjoying the success.

Agree somewhat with your opinion, but the red and white to me atm just symbolising losing and being shit. Outside of selling a couple of youth players (with most of them ending up coming back to the a-league) what has Melbourne heart really achieved/ stand for? Community work? Sure as hell ain't nothing to do with being successful football wise, breaking even is about our biggest achievement so far as a football club.

I was talking with my mate yesterday about the color change, and even though we are against it, would it really stop us from coming to the soccer if the name and colors were to change? There would be a large percentage of people who would keep going to heart games, simply just to catch up and have a drink with mates. I just don't believe the drop off would be that significant tbh, if the name and colours were to change and even than, those people would be back eventually.

Would it be the worst thing in the world to just bury this 4 years of history in the dirt, never to be seen again? At least if we were Melbourne city i know they will deliver on their promises of playing attractive football and giving us success, rather than the lie Melbourne heart have told me for four years. Ok I understand you feel red and white is associated with losing etc. but you haven't quite answered my original point and that is why don't you think from this point onwards us keeping red and white can't involve us playing attractive football and being successful?

I guess we can but if we are successful in blue and white will there be any real drop off in fans? Will you yourself stop supporting Melbourne city if we were to be changed to that? I can never see myself supporting Victory or any other a-league club, so I see myself supporting whatever we are called next season

The new owners have the philosophy that if you make winning football people will come regardless of what you are called. They may lose some diehards by changing the name and colours, but the potential bandwagoners they can pick up will clearly outweigh those losses.

[jw1739]

Looks like Simone Ripamonti has left the club. 

 

 Retweeted by Scott Munn

Simone Ripamonti ‏@simoripamonti  Apr 12

21-11-13 to 12-04-14 with @MelbourneHeart Thanks to all of you that made these 5 months an amazing journey! pic.twitter.com/osKWaaU056

Edited April 14, 2014 by jw1739

[Baresi]

 

Looks like Simone Ripamonti has left the club. 

 

 Retweeted by Scott Munn

Simone Ripamonti ‏@simoripamonti  Apr 12

21-11-13 to 12-04-14 with @MelbourneHeart Thanks to all of you that made these 5 months an amazing journey! pic.twitter.com/osKWaaU056

 

 

Rama Caligiuri ‏@ramacali  Apr 11

@simoripamonti sei qui in Australia per un'altro anno Simone?

 

Simone Ripamonti ‏@simoripamonti  Apr 11

@ramacali lo spero!

Rama asking Simone if he's staying another year, Simone saying he hopes so.

[jw1739]

 

 

Looks like Simone Ripamonti has left the club. 

 

 Retweeted by Scott Munn

Simone Ripamonti ‏@simoripamonti  Apr 12

21-11-13 to 12-04-14 with @MelbourneHeart Thanks to all of you that made these 5 months an amazing journey! pic.twitter.com/osKWaaU056

 

 

Rama Caligiuri ‏@ramacali  Apr 11

@simoripamonti sei qui in Australia per un'altro anno Simone?

 

Simone Ripamonti ‏@simoripamonti  Apr 11

@ramacali lo spero!

Rama asking Simone if he's staying another year, Simone saying he hopes so.

 

Well, I hope so too. He seemed to do a pretty good job getting players back on the field.

[Dylan]

People need to realise, also, that these colours aren't 4 years old, they're over 150 years old!They are not the colours of Melbourne Heart, they are the colours of Melbourne.

The city of Melbourne has, and always will be, represented by red and white.

+!

What logically coherent argument could you make for changing the franchise name to Melbourne City and changing the strip colours away from the colours of the City of Melbourne?

Unfortunately, Bela, because the (proposed) "City" is not a connection to the City of Melbourne, but to the "City" in CFG.

 

 

But Man City picked the New York City FC crest and colours, colours which are navy blue, white and orange, from the New York City flag (http://www.nycfc.com/news/latest-news/2014/march/badge).

 

So they have at least gestured that they want each club to represent its own city (and, of course, they have said explicitly about Heart "this will not be a mini Manchester City, this is a Melbourne club" and "so our team here will be a Melbourne team, rooted and developed for the Melbourne fans"). So by their own logic, this club should be representative of Melbourne, and the club colours should be Red and White, in line with the flag of Melbourne (and especially not a colour like sky blue, which has a deep historical connection with NSW and Sydney).

 

 

What's especially frustrating about this rumoured colour change is that Man City have said all the right things. That each club would meaningfully represent its home city, and that each club would be respectably autonomous and would do its own thing. Further, Man City have repeatedly spoken of the "City family", suggesting a kind of equality between the clubs, at least in terms of sovereignty and respect (similar to how countries are all recognised as equal at the UN and under international law, even though the means and power of countries differ significantly).

 

But if the name change and especially the colour change go ahead, against the demands of the majority of Heart supporters, with next to no consultation, then its all been double-talk and BS, and it's all been about the promotion of a global brand from the start. I remember when Soriano did interviews immediately after the takeover, and some journalist asked him "so what's next for the Manchester City empire", and Soriano bristled and shot back "it is not an empire". But I can't think of how else to describe Manchester City or 'the City group' if Heart is completely re-branded, as it's run in a top down manner, run by a small group of powerful elites, there is very little if any popular/democratic input, it pursues its own narrow interests (and above all it wants 'stability'. It doesn't actually care for our interests) and there's a power centre that imposes its whims over its peripheries (Melbourne Australia, America?, Portugal?, Ghana?).

 

And as has been said, there's no actual reason to throw out Heart's colours, so if Man City does so we'll all know how they operate and where their concerns lie.

This will be a controversial comment but how does anyone know what the majority of heart fans actually want? It might be the opinion of the majority on here and at the yarraside end of the stadium (going by the placards displayed on Saturday) but as I was watching on TV and looking for them at the north end and west and east sides there were hardly any? My personal opinion is that we should keep red and white and change to Melbourne City because red and white are the colours of Melbourne. But I get a sense that the majority of fans of the club don't really care all that much and would rather success. So I think if we want to argue to keep the red and the white it should be on the basis that there is a genuine link to the city of Melbourne as a whole not its because it's what the majority want because I just can't see any evidence that the majority of fans thinks that we should keep the red and white. Now I could be wrong but nethertheless, I think the colour link to the city and the cfg comments on creating/continuing a Melbourne club are a much stronger argument that saying there is a perceived majority who think the colours are crucial and if it's taken away the fans will all go.

[MaliMate]

Just a thought. If we become Melbourne City, will there be a new forum? Considering its mhfcsupporters.com?

[FB.]

Just a thought. If we become Melbourne City, will there be a new forum? Considering its mhfcsupporters.com?

The new york redbull fans forum is still called the metro-fanatics, after the club changed from metro stars to red bull.

So i don't see why the name on here cant stay.

[bazzatron]

Just a thought. If we become Melbourne City, will there be a new forum? Considering its mhfcsupporters.com?

 

 

 

Just a thought. If we become Melbourne City, will there be a new forum? Considering its mhfcsupporters.com?

The new york redbull fans forum is still called the metro-fanatics, after the club changed from metro stars to red bull.

So i don't see why the name on here cant stay.

 

 

 

Perhaps a fresh start might be a good thing for all aspects of this club?

[Baresi]

 

 

 

Just a thought. If we become Melbourne City, will there be a new forum? Considering its mhfcsupporters.com?

The new york redbull fans forum is still called the metro-fanatics, after the club changed from metro stars to red bull.

So i don't see why the name on here cant stay.

 

 

 

Perhaps a fresh start might be a good thing for all aspects of this club?

 

No offence to you, Baz, but I hate this line of reasoning.

[Jestr]

Just a thought. If we become Melbourne City, will there be a new forum? Considering its mhfcsupporters.com?

The new york redbull fans forum is still called the metro-fanatics, after the club changed from metro stars to red bull.

So i don't see why the name on here cant stay.

Perhaps a fresh start might be a good thing for all aspects of this club?

No offence to you, Baz, but I hate this line of reasoning.

But we have just started!!!!

Foundations of this club are in place. Lets build up from here

[bazzatron]

Look, I DO NOT WANT this clubs identity to change. Its gut wrenching to think we might become blue.

 

But each year as far as the team is concerned has been a fresh start on the pitch(new look squads etc) and nothing has really worked. Our membership base hasn't exactly flourished(not that many new supporters, at least the foundation members kept coming back). Yet somehow the club only made a loss on the first season. How can we expect success when the club is run with minimal staff on a shoestring budget?

 

I want to see us win, I want to see success, but how long do we have to wait? When do we get to the point of, "fuck it, do what you gotta do, i'm sick of losing"?

[KD.]

If the club does decide to change all aspects of our identity, then I think it's only right for us as supporters and a supporters forum to keep everything on here as is.

It may sound stupid, but I don't want to forget about the last 4 years on and off the field. And if this is one way of remembering and keeping a bit of the past, then it's what I'd like to keep

[Jestr]

Look, I DO NOT WANT this clubs identity to change. Its gut wrenching to think we might become blue.

But each year as far as the team is concerned has been a fresh start on the pitch(new look squads etc) and nothing has really worked. Our membership base hasn't exactly flourished(not that many new supporters, at least the foundation members kept coming back). Yet somehow the club only made a loss on the first season. How can we expect success when the club is run with minimal staff on a shoestring budget?

I want to see us win, I want to see success, but how long do we have to wait? When do we get to the point of, "fuck it, do what you gotta do, i'm sick of losing"?

You rise a very good point

Shoe string budget.

This is now behind us and new ownership will not repeat the same mistakes.

You could have added players list which was not overwhelming either.

Again.... Cash is there to fix it

Desire is there from city group to be the best

Now it's our turn to match it....

We can unite and make this club something to be admired by all or we can bicker, quarrel and BLAME !!

Choice is in our hands

[Deeming]

As someone who has not gone to anywhere near the amount of games as I'd like to have (its hard with a young family) this is my 2 cents:

 

A club is made up of its name and its colours. Supporters, players and coaches come and go as the years go on. If we were to lose our colours and our name it will be a new team. Some players, coaches and support staff will remain but everything that identified MHFC will be over. The City Group would have bought the Melbourne licence but not the Melbourne Heart Football Club.
 

I was never a fan of the name 'Heart' it was never going to win over people (except my 5 year old daughter) so I'd be happy for that to go. City was one of my favourite names in the early planning days. But the colours then are all that remain so I think they need to stay. Otherwise there will be no connection with the last 4 years. I'm ok adopting the sky blue as an away strip as a compromise.

[babislak]

Many of us that grew to love this club, we joined in for a variety of reasons. Many of us - including myself- joined in because of the colours as I'm a passionate fan of Olympiacos FC. After our first year though, I have stopped associating the colours with Olympiacos and now these are the Melbourne Heart colours. Now the club has established an identity that I love- and I don't think in any league of the world you'll see a team finish last and the crowd to be so passionate and noisy- and that passion and love is strongly associated with the MELBOURNE HEART colours. People might say that even we change the colours people will get used to it. Yes they will. Yes HEART will be forgotten. But....you have lost a set of fans that actually LOVE the club and the culture behind it. This culture has been build on the mediocre 4 seasons that we had so far.It has built the character of the HEART supporters that in the long term reflects to the club. I hope we keep the colours, be successful.... but I had leaved some wonderful moments from the last position. I don't think I have celebrated more that our second goal against Adelaide a few weeks back in Hindmarsh. I remember in Perth on our first final appearance the 20 of us that were there, the look in our faces after the loss. I can safely say that HEART supporters get upset not of the losses but when the team doesn't show heart. And that is the true face of a HEART fan.

For me personally I don't think I will follow a club with different colours. Not because they won't be red and white but because they won't be HEART colours.

[Jestr]

As someone who has not gone to anywhere near the amount of games as I'd like to have (its hard with a young family) this is my 2 cents:

 

A club is made up of its name and its colours. Supporters, players and coaches come and go as the years go on. If we were to lose our colours and our name it will be a new team. Some players, coaches and support staff will remain but everything that identified MHFC will be over. The City Group would have bought the Melbourne licence but not the Melbourne Heart Football Club.

 

I was never a fan of the name 'Heart' it was never going to win over people (except my 5 year old daughter) so I'd be happy for that to go. City was one of my favourite names in the early planning days. But the colours then are all that remain so I think they need to stay. Otherwise there will be no connection with the last 4 years. I'm ok adopting the sky blue as an away strip as a compromise.

Welcome and a great first post!!!

Especially from someone who maybe considered not a hard core yet still believes in core values of the club.

Ps love your tix with HK sig on them.

[Murfy1]

 

This will be a controversial comment but how does anyone know what the majority of heart fans actually want? It might be the opinion of the majority on here and at the yarraside end of the stadium (going by the placards displayed on Saturday) but as I was watching on TV and looking for them at the north end and west and east sides there were hardly any? My personal opinion is that we should keep red and white and change to Melbourne City because red and white are the colours of Melbourne. But I get a sense that the majority of fans of the club don't really care all that much and would rather success. So I think if we want to argue to keep the red and the white it should be on the basis that there is a genuine link to the city of Melbourne as a whole not its because it's what the majority want because I just can't see any evidence that the majority of fans thinks that we should keep the red and white. Now I could be wrong but nethertheless, I think the colour link to the city and the cfg comments on creating/continuing a Melbourne club are a much stronger argument that saying there is a perceived majority who think the colours are crucial and if it's taken away the fans will all go.

 

 

 

The first big thing I'd disagree with in your post is the sentence 'I get a sense that the majority of fans don't really care all that much [about the colours] and would rather success'. It is not an either/or between colours and success. There is no reason at all why Heart couldn't be both Red and White and successful. Who ever associated sky blue with success before Mansour bought Man City? No one. Now after a billion dollars worth of signings and an EPL title, when you see the sky blue of Man City you associate it with money, quality and success. There is no reason at all why the same thing couldn't happen with the Red and White of Heart, that is, it is very possible that after a few seasons of the club being run very well and gaining success that when people see the Red and White in the A-League they'll immediately think success.

 

On the opinions of the majority, I think there are good and compelling reasons to believe that the majority of supporters like Red and White and want the club to keep its colours (also, I think it's true that very very few Heart supporters actually want the club to change from Red and White to sky blue, and I've seen zero evidence that more than a few percent actually want that change). The survey conducted on this site got a respectable number of participants, and more importantly I judge those survey participants to be sufficiently random and diverse to be indicative of Heart supporters overall. The power of the statistical sample is very strong, as this quote (from the book Big Data [2013] by an Oxford professor) illuminates:

 

Statisticians have shown that sampling precision improves most dramatically with randomness, not with increased sample size. In fact, though it may sound surprising, a randomly chosen sample of 1,100 individual observations on a binary question (yes or no, with roughly equal odds) is remarkably representative of the whole population. In 19 out of 20 cases it is within a 3 percent margin of error, regardless of whether the total population size is a hundred thousand or a hundred million. Why this should be the case is complicated mathematically, but the short answer is that after a certain point early on, as the numbers get bigger and bigger, the marginal amount of new information we learn from each observation is less and less.

 

 

 

So the hang-wringing from a few about the number of opinions formally expressed for keeping or not keeping Red and White is largely besides the point. The much more important question is: is the data any good? That is, is the data sufficiently random (because randomness is the surest way to get a representative sample)? And I'd say that the data from the survey of 300, whilst not perfect, is indeed good enough.

 

More evidence can be gleamed from the widespread support for the Keep the Red and Wide campaign. That so many people got behind the campaign, and got behind it passionately, is more compelling evidence that the club colours are widely liked.

 

Also, there's social media in general. Every time I've seen a lot of social media about Heart, the majority have always expressed that they like and would prefer to keep Red and White.

 

Another point is merchandise. Since the first Melbourne Derby, I've always been impressed by the amount of Red and White in the stands. And despite the precious little success the club has seen, I've always noticed a lot of Red and White around AAMI, with Premium A and Premium B seats also having a lot of Red and White among them.

 

On the placards, it should be remembered that there was only 2,500 of them, and there was a crowd of 10,000, so 3/4's of the crowd was always going to be without placards. Even though they probably did cluster behind the goals, I did see a lot of placards in premium seating, where I sit.

 

 

I agree that the link to the City of Melbourne is a very important reason to keep the Red and White. But I'm firmly of the opinion that the demands of Heart supporters are equally if not more important, and the majority do like and want to keep the Red and White. Moreover, a good question to ask is: how many supporters want/would like the club to change its colours from Red and White to sky blue? There's next to no evidence that supporters want to change (especially to sky blue), so rather than asking 'why shouldn't the colours be changed?' the question should be 'why should the colours be changed?', and there really hasn't been a reasonable answer to that question. You're right that 'all' fans will not go if there's a colour change, and on the question of fans leaving I'd say there's insufficient data. But that doesn't mean that many supporters wouldn't buy memberships, and even more supporters could conceivably become less interested in and passionate about this club if it were re-branded to be a clone of Man City. But perhaps above all is the point that there's simply no good reason for a colour change in the first place, and the majority of supporters do seem to want Melbourne to be Red and White, so if Man City cares about Melbourne fans and this being a Melbourne club, then it simply has to keep the Red and White.

[belaguttman]

Certainly not Sydney FC fans

 Who ever associated sky blue with success before Mansour bought Man City? No one. 

[Shahanga]

5 star post Murfy.

 

Couldn't have said it better myself.

 

How the club now acts with all this information available to them will speak volumes about the sort of people who are now running this club.

[schrecky]

Did anyone notice how much red and white was in the stadium on Saturday - Most fans have something red & white!

And there were 5000 (a Guess)  non members there as well wearing our "famous and historic colors" 
Seems like a big waste to alter the passion that comes with those colors by changing... 

 

All still speculation and i still don't know where its coming from. Its like those closest and most passionate are driving some kind of agenda.

Let the subject rest perhaps!

Still have not heard a word from the "storm/city" consortium about change.  

Anyhow I'm not sure id like the purple of storm and a lighting bolt kit (Joke)

[NewConvert]

A few points:

1. I was at the northern end and we had the placards and waved them at regular intervals. As an aside this has been a great effort.

2. Murfy1 love your post but I disagree regarding the statistics. The poll conducted on this site is a self selecting group therefore it cannot be random. Why is it self selecting? Because people have to be committed enough to log on a regular basis (do all 7k+ member read this forum?) and this does not include people who have a pre-disposition to the club but are not season's ticket holders.

3. I agree with your observation in that most people would prefer to keep the red and white and not many are for changing colours. This is anecdotal but it does fit with the conservatism of people as well as those who have suffered the last four seasons. Also when the AFL teams have changed colours there has been a savage reaction.

4. The volunteers who have committed themselves to the club also have a voice, not a big one but it still needs to be heard. If they change the colours then how long will it take for those volunteers that walk to be replaced?

[Dylan]

@davutovic: Heart CEO Scott Munn reveals that John Aloisi's spent the past week at Manchester City & was a late apology for tonight's B&F night

[xXJawsaXx]

I think that AFL culture has influenced football in the country in the sense that most fans in this country are vehemently opposed to any colour changes no matter how minor, especially compared to a lot of other football leagues around the world.

[HeartMillsy29]

@davutovic: Heart CEO Scott Munn reveals that John Aloisi's spent the past week at Manchester City & was a late apology for tonight's B&F night

What the...

[Peter]

Regardless of what happens off field, can we make a pledge to keep the "Heart", "You are in my Heart", "Heart ole, ole" and "Stand up for your Heart" chants going next season?

[Luke]

Brett Holman for aus marquee

[United]

Just had a thought, Westpac should be backing the fans protests, the colours suit us jsut as much as it suits them. New sponsor would most likely follow.

[jw1739]

Regardless of what happens off field, can we make a pledge to keep the "Heart", "You are in my Heart", "Heart ole, ole" and "Stand up for your Heart" chants going next season?

We should always be "The Heart of Melbourne." If we keep referring to the club as that as a subheading, on tifos etc. it will catch on. It amuses me to see journos pick up ideas they read on here and then start to bring them forward as their own ideas and thoughts. They all do but it don't realise it!

Edited April 14, 2014 by jw1739

[hedaik]

Just had a thought, Westpac should be backing the fans protests, the colours suit us jsut as much as it suits them. New sponsor would most likely follow.

 

Keep in mind who owns this brand

 

[belaguttman]

@davutovic: Heart CEO Scott Munn reveals that John Aloisi's spent the past week at Manchester City & was a late apology for tonight's B&F night

Heart Best & Fairest will be a short event this season.

[Tbitm]

@davutovic: Heart CEO Scott Munn reveals that John Aloisi's spent the past week at Manchester City & was a late apology for tonight's B&F night

Heart Best & Fairest will be a short event this season. It's a farce that we even have one this season.

[jw1739]

JA Golden Boot: David Williams

Clubman Award: Jason Hoffman

NYL Player of the Year: Ross Archibald

Coaches NYL Award: Alex Dao

Supporters' Player of the Year: David Williams

Player of the Year

1. David Williams

2. Orlando Engelaar

3. Massimo Murdocca

4. Mate Dugandzic

5. Robbie Wielaert shared with Jason Hoffman

Edited April 14, 2014 by jw1739

[Murfy1]

A few points:

1. I was at the northern end and we had the placards and waved them at regular intervals. As an aside this has been a great effort.

2. Murfy1 love your post but I disagree regarding the statistics. The poll conducted on this site is a self selecting group therefore it cannot be random. Why is it self selecting? Because people have to be committed enough to log on a regular basis (do all 7k+ member read this forum?) and this does not include people who have a pre-disposition to the club but are not season's ticket holders.

3. I agree with your observation in that most people would prefer to keep the red and white and not many are for changing colours. This is anecdotal but it does fit with the conservatism of people as well as those who have suffered the last four seasons. Also when the AFL teams have changed colours there has been a savage reaction.

4. The volunteers who have committed themselves to the club also have a voice, not a big one but it still needs to be heard. If they change the colours then how long will it take for those volunteers that walk to be replaced?

 

 

Pretty much agree with what you've written.

 

I was waiting for someone to mention your second point. Yes there is a self-selection bias, which means that the sample isn't perfect or ideal. Nonetheless I still judge the posters on this forum to be a pretty good cross-section of Heart supporters in general (active supporters, GA supporters, premium supporters like myself, young, old, etc etc.), so I reckon the data and the survey is good enough. Samples normally have a few blemishes or limitations anyway, and are still sufficiently usable (for example, many or perhaps most studies in psychology have samples full of psychology students [who not uncommonly have to participate in the studies to pass their classes!]).

 

But your 3rd point is what I was really trying to say, and the details of establishing that point aren't as important as the truth of that point itself. Most supporters like and want to keep the Red and White, and scant supporters want a colour change (yet alone a colour change to sky blue). If Man City respect the supporters and this club as a Melbourne club, and if they want supporters to be committed to this club and to volunteer their time to support it, then it's clear what they should do with regards to the club colours, keep the Red and White. 

[jw1739]

I don't doubt the validity of your proposition at all Murf. People are rarely enthusiastic for change unless they can see some direct benefit or advantage to themselves in that change. I've seen that so many times in those endless re-organizations I endured whilst working for some big companies.

 

IMO in the end it will all come down to a business call. If CFG see it as in their longer-term best interests to make the change, they will make it.

 

Actually, I see some mild moderation in the comments from Davutovic on this colours issue. I don't think he had audience in Manchester other than with Marwood, and I doubt that Marwood would be empowered to comment on the issue anyway.

 

NYCFC is a start-up club, so CFG can do what they like there as there is no established sponsorship, partner or supporter base. We are different. What CFG do here will set the tone for any other club that enters the family down the track. I'm still hopeful we will retain enough red-and-white to feel that the Heart lives on.