jw1739 Posted January 22 Report Share Posted January 22 13 hours ago, belaguttman said: That's the job of consultants: work to get as much money from your organisation without taking responsibility for the outcomes I think most people will be unable to comprehend how so much could be wasted on so little, so they will get away with it. Garcia sacks 50+ people and then jets off to watch the tennis - we probably paid for that as well. It's no different with the Big Four audit scandals and government. Incomprehensible. The human brain can't cope so shuts off. You'll know the technical term for it @belaguttman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw1739 Posted January 23 Report Share Posted January 23 And you can see why APL is broke. Questions for the City FRG are being received and processed by this mob https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asana,_Inc. or its Australian subsidiary. How much is being paid for that? Why not just receive questions and comments direct? Just money being wasted in every possible direction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belaguttman Posted January 23 Report Share Posted January 23 29 minutes ago, jw1739 said: And you can see why APL is broke. Questions for the City FRG are being received and processed by this mob https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asana,_Inc. or its Australian subsidiary. How much is being paid for that? Why not just receive questions and comments direct? Just money being wasted in every possible direction. Everything outsourced, nobody takes responsibility 1 hour ago, jw1739 said: ou'll know the technical term for it @belaguttman. corruption Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haz Posted January 23 Report Share Posted January 23 3 hours ago, jw1739 said: And you can see why APL is broke. Questions for the City FRG are being received and processed by this mob https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asana,_Inc. or its Australian subsidiary. How much is being paid for that? Why not just receive questions and comments direct? Just money being wasted in every possible direction. Asana isn't expensive, it's just software no different to something like Google Forms, Survey Monkey, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw1739 Posted January 23 Report Share Posted January 23 55 minutes ago, haz said: Asana isn't expensive, it's just software no different to something like Google Forms, Survey Monkey, etc. I doubt that you get it for nothing...not with 1,782 employees... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw1739 Posted January 30 Report Share Posted January 30 Incidentally I've just read that the Melbourne Rebels RU team is A$9m in the red and about to go into administration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingofhearts Posted January 30 Report Share Posted January 30 4 hours ago, jw1739 said: Incidentally I've just read that the Melbourne Rebels RU team is A$9m in the red and about to go into administration. I'm surprised they've lasted as long as they have. They're even less popular then us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewConvert Posted February 1 Report Share Posted February 1 And now, they had player data stolen as well as members info stolen not because a malicious user used some cunning way to break into their system but because they left clear text passwords on their web page. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.B. Cooper Posted February 1 Report Share Posted February 1 17 minutes ago, NewConvert said: And now, they had player data stolen as well as members info stolen not because a malicious user used some cunning way to break into their system but because they left clear text passwords on their web page. Crikey. They are making the A League look like a professional outfit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belaguttman Posted February 1 Report Share Posted February 1 3 minutes ago, D.B. Cooper said: Crikey. They are making the A League look like a professional outfit Yep, right up there with Optus, Medibank... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw1739 Posted February 1 Report Share Posted February 1 26 minutes ago, NewConvert said: And now, they had player data stolen as well as members info stolen not because a malicious user used some cunning way to break into their system but because they left clear text passwords on their web page. That's Football Australia rather than APL. What defines a "member" of FA? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.B. Cooper Posted February 1 Report Share Posted February 1 35 minutes ago, jw1739 said: That's Football Australia rather than APL. What defines a "member" of FA? So not the Melbourne Rebels? (confused myself there) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewConvert Posted February 1 Report Share Posted February 1 22 minutes ago, D.B. Cooper said: So not the Melbourne Rebels? (confused myself there) No - definitely us. 59 minutes ago, jw1739 said: That's Football Australia rather than APL. What defines a "member" of FA? The way I read it that if you have ever registered with a local football club or just to check in on the socceroos, you are a member. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw1739 Posted February 1 Report Share Posted February 1 1 hour ago, NewConvert said: No - definitely us. The way I read it that if you have ever registered with a local football club or just to check in on the socceroos, you are a member. That figures. That's like Medibank. I think when I relocated to Melbourne I enquired about changing my health insurer, but didn't change to Medibank after all. But I was caught up in the data breach. It's ridiculous. None of this information should be being kept. I recently received a letter from a well-known charity, addressed to my late wife at our previous home. It upset me, four year after she passed away. I called them and asked what the hell were they doing - they admitted to purchasing the database from a third party - and then told me it was my job to contact the database owner and have my late wife's name removed. I won't write what my response was. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw1739 Posted February 7 Report Share Posted February 7 The new a-leagues website. https://aleagues.com.au/ https://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/we-re-a-football-business-not-a-media-business-a-leagues-bosses-explain-job-cuts-20240205-p5f2gb.html Behind a paywall but someone will be able to post the article I hope? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw1739 Posted February 7 Report Share Posted February 7 (edited) New club website. https://melbournecityfc.com.au/ A great improvement IMO. At least the home page looks as though it belongs to a football club. Great to see City in the Community back. However, the Membership link is hidden behind the three horizontal lines in the top left-hand corner of the page. Not so sure this is a good thing. Took me a while to find it. Edited February 7 by jw1739 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw1739 Posted February 7 Report Share Posted February 7 One thing I haven't found so far is the Fan Representative Group page. Can anyone find reference to FRGs? Not so long ago there was a call to submit questions to the City FRG, and I did so. A bit tongue in cheek (it was about the membership thereof), but I did so. Apart from the automatic acknowledgment, no further feedback. Surely any question deserves the courtesy of an answer? Did the City FRG raise anything at the A-Leagues FRG meeting - if it was ever held? If so, what was discussed, what were the outcomes, and what are the actions to be taken, and when are they to be taken by? My view is that if APL wants fans to be engaged and come to the stadium on matchday then it better start engaging them. And likewise the clubs. Osmosis is a pretty slow process at the best of times. Unless you engage the fans then rearranging the deckchairs on the upper deck will have no effect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewConvert Posted February 7 Report Share Posted February 7 1 hour ago, jw1739 said: The new a-leagues website. https://aleagues.com.au/ https://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/we-re-a-football-business-not-a-media-business-a-leagues-bosses-explain-job-cuts-20240205-p5f2gb.html Behind a paywall but someone will be able to post the article I hope? ‘We’re a football business, not a media business’: A-Leagues bosses explain job cuts By Emma Kemp February 5, 2024 — 7.49pm Listen to this article 4 min A-Leagues bosses have broken their silence on last month’s mass staff redundancies, taking responsibility for the lack of public communication and pledging to get back to basics by serving “core A-Leagues fans” while slowly building a financially sustainable organisation. Three weeks after the Australian Professional Leagues made almost half of its 80-odd workforce redundant, new A-Leagues commissioner Nick Garcia and independent chair Stephen Conroy have outlined the latest vision for the future of the country’s top-flight domestic soccer competitions. 0:31 Arsenal blow Premier League title race wide open Arsenal's 3-1 win over Liverpool has blown the Premier League's title race wide open, as wild celebrations ensued. “The overarching point here is we’re a football business, not a media business,” Garcia told this masthead on Monday. “We exist to create a great competition that our clubs thrive in and fans love to watch. The first thing about the A-Leagues strategy is it leads with a football strategy, and that is about being really clear about the sort of league you are. “In the men’s we’re a development league, first and foremost. In the women’s league we are potentially a destination league in Asia, but much more focused on retaining the great national team players rather than attracting international players. But over everything, we’re about developing stars of the future. ”That’s possible because seven years ago all the clubs implemented academy systems, and we’re seeing the crop of that come through right now. So Garang Kuol going to Newcastle United, [Nestory] Irankunda is going to Bayern Munich, and I think we’ve got some other exciting transfers coming up.“ Garcia believes the APL’s digital and content arm KeepUp, which featured content ranging from the domestic leagues to the European leagues and national teams, “did work, to a degree”. “I don’t think it was whether it worked,” he said. “I think, just at this time, it’s not commercially sustainable.” A-Leagues commissioner Nick Garcia (right) with Bill Foley, the owner of the incoming Auckland franchise.Credit: Getty Instead, the recently launched aleagues.com.au will focus on “talking to core A-Leagues fans, engaging them more and bringing them to our ecosystem”. “That new digital strategy will be about converting people,” he said. “KeepUp was always about circling the global football economy, and it did that to a degree. But now we’ve got these fans who want to be talked to through an A-Leagues product, and we have engaged them throughout what we’re doing.” Garcia said a 33 per cent increase in the average number of pages users clicked on during a single site session on aleagues.com.au proved fans were already responding. Garcia conceded he “probably should have engaged the media sooner” after closing down KeepUp, which sat at the core of its strategy under previous chief executive Danny Townsend. Stephen Conroy (right) in 2009 during his days as a minister in the Rudd government.Credit: Glen McCurtayne But both he and Conroy were bullish about the financial feasibility of the organisation, having “realigned parts of our business” to stem the bleeding after the $140 million cash injection provided by US private equity firm Silver Lake was almost entirely spent on KeepUp, the upheaval associated with COVID-19, loans to clubs, taking over Perth Glory (not to mention the Newcastle Jets, now owned by a group of individual club owners) and underwriting distributions to struggling clubs. They were equally adamant the $200 million, five-year broadcast deal with Network Ten and Paramount would not be abandoned until its expiration at the end of 2025-26, insisting the network was serving the leagues well despite criticism around its lack of promotion. Conroy said the APL had put off making positive announcements around flagged new Glory and Jets ownership, and the addition of a Canberra team to join the already-announced Auckland team in an expanded 14-team league next season, in favour of first trying to “deal with some of the more negative perceptions that have been out there”. Related Article EPL Ange versus the A-League? Tottenham in talks over glamour friendly The former federal minister referenced the NBL as an example of successfully finding its niche in a crowded Australian sporting landscape. “Part of what Nick talks about is what Larry [Kestelman] has been able to successfully do - create local superstars picked up in the NBA draft,” Conroy said. “And we’re starting to see that [with transfers overseas]. “I think we can learn from what Larry’s done at NBL - it was a basket case and he turned it around. Every football fan understands that we’re the global biggest sport, so they want to see it as the biggest sport in Australia. So we’ve just got to be patient.” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw1739 Posted June 11 Report Share Posted June 11 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-11/footballnomics-suggest-a-league-and-football-australia-reunion/103960928 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewConvert Posted June 11 Report Share Posted June 11 2 hours ago, jw1739 said: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-11/footballnomics-suggest-a-league-and-football-australia-reunion/103960928 Read that and it makes perfect sense. As Steve Lowy said upon his departure, be careful in what you wish for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewConvert Posted July 17 Report Share Posted July 17 And now The Age is reporting that the mooted second division is a stillbirth without sufficient clubs able to meet the financial requirements: https://www.theage.com.au/sport/soccer/failure-to-launch-football-australia-s-mooted-national-second-division-in-doubt-20240716-p5ju20.html And just in for kicks it looks like the FAA will need to rescue the APL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw1739 Posted July 17 Report Share Posted July 17 (edited) That was carried by the SMH yesterday. For the life of me I cannot see why the various parties cannot sit down and work out once and for all what it is that we are trying to do and what the game can afford. Or more sensibly, what it is that the game can afford in the worst case scenario and fit within that. "Cut the coat according to the cloth." At a time when the A-League is tottering due to mismanagement by APL, which likely will have to go begging to FA for forgiveness and cash, this NSD or NST just appears to me to be a looming financial disaster for someone if FA goes ahead with it. Will it be the proposed new league, or the A-League, or both? Football in this country just does not have sufficient support of any type to mimic the strongholds of football, Europe and South America. If our administrators think we do they are deluded. Our own Australian Football League does not have a national second tier, and neither does Rugby League, and Rugby Union is struggling to have a even a national competition of any kind. Even the description "The World Game" can be misleading. Sure, football is played in most countries, but even in the football-mad strongholds there are plenty of people who never go to football and have little or no interest in the game except for televised major tournaments. Football in this country needs a reality check. Stop wasting money, cut the bloated administration, and do well what you can reasonably expect to be sustainable. Edited July 17 by jw1739 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewConvert Posted July 17 Report Share Posted July 17 10 hours ago, jw1739 said: That was carried by the SMH yesterday. For the life of me I cannot see why the various parties cannot sit down and work out once and for all what it is that we are trying to do and what the game can afford. Or more sensibly, what it is that the game can afford in the worst case scenario and fit within that. "Cut the coat according to the cloth." At a time when the A-League is tottering due to mismanagement by APL, which likely will have to go begging to FA for forgiveness and cash, this NSD or NST just appears to me to be a looming financial disaster for someone if FA goes ahead with it. Will it be the proposed new league, or the A-League, or both? Football in this country just does not have sufficient support of any type to mimic the strongholds of football, Europe and South America. If our administrators think we do they are deluded. Our own Australian Football League does not have a national second tier, and neither does Rugby League, and Rugby Union is struggling to have a even a national competition of any kind. Even the description "The World Game" can be misleading. Sure, football is played in most countries, but even in the football-mad strongholds there are plenty of people who never go to football and have little or no interest in the game except for televised major tournaments. Football in this country needs a reality check. Stop wasting money, cut the bloated administration, and do well what you can reasonably expect to be sustainable. Don't forget all the members and fans who formed the chorus that the APL was going to be better because they knew what they were doing, had skin in the game, etc. Steve Lowy was right. Too many petty "warlords" thinking that they are kings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HughJass Posted July 17 Report Share Posted July 17 15 hours ago, NewConvert said: And now The Age is reporting that the mooted second division is a stillbirth without sufficient clubs able to meet the financial requirements: https://www.theage.com.au/sport/soccer/failure-to-launch-football-australia-s-mooted-national-second-division-in-doubt-20240716-p5ju20.html And just in for kicks it looks like the FAA will need to rescue the APL. Not surprised at all as soon as FFA got involved was never going to happen and the fact that it was only clubs from Melbourne and Sydney that got in shoukd have raised eyebrows and its 3 Sydney clubs who are wanting it postponed/pulling out Have enjoyed the south Melbourne Twitter meltdown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw1739 Posted July 18 Report Share Posted July 18 7 hours ago, NewConvert said: Don't forget all the members and fans who formed the chorus that the APL was going to be better because they knew what they were doing, had skin in the game, etc. Steve Lowy was right. Too many petty "warlords" thinking that they are kings. I confess to being one of them, not anticipating in my wildest nightmares that APL could make such a hash of it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewConvert Posted July 18 Report Share Posted July 18 7 hours ago, HughJass said: Not surprised at all as soon as FFA got involved was never going to happen and the fact that it was only clubs from Melbourne and Sydney that got in shoukd have raised eyebrows and its 3 Sydney clubs who are wanting it postponed/pulling out Have enjoyed the south Melbourne Twitter meltdown I'm not blaming the FFA. I just don't believe that Australia has a viable market for a national second division. Australia is bigger than the entire landmass of Europe excluding Greenland. Yet with about 25M people vs 400M people. If we are to have a second division, it will need to look and be different to the current model. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw1739 Posted July 18 Report Share Posted July 18 (edited) 16 hours ago, NewConvert said: I'm not blaming the FFA. I just don't believe that Australia has a viable market for a national second division. Australia is bigger than the entire landmass of Europe excluding Greenland. Yet with about 25M people vs 400M people. If we are to have a second division, it will need to look and be different to the current model. Indeed. Sydney to Perth by air - 3,290 km. London to Moscow by air - 2,500 km. Football in Australia needs to look at facts and not fantasies. Edited July 18 by jw1739 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KSK_47 Posted July 23 Report Share Posted July 23 (edited) On 18/07/2024 at 5:14 PM, NewConvert said: I'm not blaming the FFA. I just don't believe that Australia has a viable market for a national second division. Australia is bigger than the entire landmass of Europe excluding Greenland. Yet with about 25M people vs 400M people. If we are to have a second division, it will need to look and be different to the current model. Absolutely! Not to mention how australians are only interested in football if its at the highest level. I mean even our top flight is only just keeping its head above water ffs Edited July 23 by KSK_47 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw1739 Posted July 24 Report Share Posted July 24 14 hours ago, KSK_47 said: Absolutely! Not to mention how australians are only interested in football if its at the highest level. I mean even our top flight is only just keeping its head above water ffs If these "second tier clubs" and FA are so confident that they can not only survive but also prosper in a "national competition" why don't these clubs apply for an A-League licence?? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw1739 Posted July 25 Report Share Posted July 25 One serious problem that football faces in Australia that there is so much money sloshing around in Asia that we simply cannot compete with the other senior leagues. Perhaps we have to think up a different way of structuring our football altogether? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewConvert Posted July 25 Report Share Posted July 25 9 hours ago, jw1739 said: One serious problem that football faces in Australia that there is so much money sloshing around in Asia that we simply cannot compete with the other senior leagues. Perhaps we have to think up a different way of structuring our football altogether? The biggest hurdle are all the fiefdoms, poor management and governance. The APL blew $140M of which $50M went to KeepUp and so little to show for it. Melbourne Heart was started by someone who wanted to make a quid (which he did) and ran the club on a string. Further, Australians love a good story of youth becoming champions - imagine if O'Neill or Bos got a transfer to the EPL for say 20M Euros. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattyh001 Posted August 2 Report Share Posted August 2 On 18/07/2024 at 6:23 AM, NewConvert said: Don't forget all the members and fans who formed the chorus that the APL was going to be better because they knew what they were doing, had skin in the game, etc. Steve Lowy was right. Too many petty "warlords" thinking that they are kings. exactly the way i feel about it; now and then. sucks that we are in this position, i just hoe people now realise the value the FA (and by extension the Socceroos / Matildas) bring to the table. the early day success of the aleague was bankrolled by the fact the Socceroos were doing so well in getting to World Cups. the FA benefits from having a solid local league which enables a constant supply of players. to strip away that financial support for the aleague is bonkers. On 25/07/2024 at 10:15 AM, jw1739 said: One serious problem that football faces in Australia that there is so much money sloshing around in Asia that we simply cannot compete with the other senior leagues. Perhaps we have to think up a different way of structuring our football altogether? On 25/07/2024 at 7:27 PM, NewConvert said: The biggest hurdle are all the fiefdoms, poor management and governance. The APL blew $140M of which $50M went to KeepUp and so little to show for it. Melbourne Heart was started by someone who wanted to make a quid (which he did) and ran the club on a string. Further, Australians love a good story of youth becoming champions - imagine if O'Neill or Bos got a transfer to the EPL for say 20M Euros. and yet people sulk about a salary cap and some bullshit need for local transfers. i dont see how changing either will help. taking away restrictions on spending will only encourage clubs to take gambles on things with no major predictable returns - particularly at a time when our clubs are strapped for cash. and dont get me wrong here either; there are times where you can take calculated gambles (thinking Del Piero or Cahill) that do bring eyeballs. that press coverage and community does bring revenue down the line. i just think you have to be careful to not throw good money away on something with unpredictable returns. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw1739 Posted August 3 Report Share Posted August 3 6 hours ago, mattyh001 said: exactly the way i feel about it; now and then. sucks that we are in this position, i just hoe people now realise the value the FA (and by extension the Socceroos / Matildas) bring to the table. the early day success of the aleague was bankrolled by the fact the Socceroos were doing so well in getting to World Cups. the FA benefits from having a solid local league which enables a constant supply of players. to strip away that financial support for the aleague is bonkers. and yet people sulk about a salary cap and some bullshit need for local transfers. i dont see how changing either will help. taking away restrictions on spending will only encourage clubs to take gambles on things with no major predictable returns - particularly at a time when our clubs are strapped for cash. and dont get me wrong here either; there are times where you can take calculated gambles (thinking Del Piero or Cahill) that do bring eyeballs. that press coverage and community does bring revenue down the line. i just think you have to be careful to not throw good money away on something with unpredictable returns. Some good points. But is it the League's responsibility to restrict what clubs can do if they wish to do it? Especially since I see no sign of anyone in the upper levels of administration taking the rap for their own mismanagement and throwing good money away on something with unpredictable returns? Because that is precisely what APL has done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewConvert Posted August 3 Report Share Posted August 3 34 minutes ago, jw1739 said: Some good points. But is it the League's responsibility to restrict what clubs can do if they wish to do it? Especially since I see no sign of anyone in the upper levels of administration taking the rap for their own mismanagement and throwing good money away on something with unpredictable returns? Because that is precisely what APL has done. There is a whole new operational team but I haven't heard whether the directors fell on their swords. And although I do recognise that gravity of the situation, lets not forget that Barcelona FC went from being a massive financial and footballing powerhouse to teetering on the brink because of one chairman who was a businessman in his own right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw1739 Posted August 15 Report Share Posted August 15 IMO one challenge that APL faces about which I can see no evidence of any action is to extend the season to that fan/spectator interest is sustained for a much longer period. As it is the A-League basically dies for almost 6 months. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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