Marke No 3 Quote
Quote:
No your comments are probably right but who has a hard training session 24 hours prior to a game - I will be dissapointed if we play like soft cocks tomorrow - either way though I enjoyed it becuase it was carlton and it gave me the opportunity to witness another team train - by the way out session was of probably the same intensity of the geelong practice game here last friday so my expectations may have been less than yours Haz
It's not about how hard they trained Mark; it's much deeper than that.
Prior to 2002, it was all seemingly smooth sailing for CFC and its supporters. I guess we all took each other and our destiny for granted. After all we are Carlton.
Fast forward to 2010 and we know we have just experienced the darkest of dark periods for this club, and hopefully coming out the other end. How many times have we heard since that Black Friday that we will never take anything for granted again?
So, out of the blue, we had supporters come out in the 1000's to become members during the darkest period. We broke membership records. We attended the games, knowing we were going to lose. We patted the players on the backs and cheered them along to give them a sense of belonging to something special.
Many of us supporters whether Victorian or interstate donated more money and time into CFC than at any time prior to Black Friday. That's loyalty. That's not taking anything for granted. That's making things happen...and that was prior to Sir Richard coming along to catapult the club into the new millenium.
Every little bit counted and collectively over time it would be meaningful regardless of the size of the contribution. We slowly built momentum and united we stood to fight our way out of the shit.
The club should never forget the times before Sir Richard, and the importance of the huge supporter base of which most had not really connected with the club hence why only 40,000 of 500,000 supporters are members.
Footy is about the supporters. Every one of them count. Everyone of them are important, no matter where they reside in Australia; after all AFL is a national game, and nationally is where CFC is likely to grow its reach/ brand.
Have a look at the attendance to the training session yesterday and tell me that's the sort of turn out you'd expect from a premier club in Australia? Remember we are one of the big 4.
If you thought the attendance was due to the supporters lacking a bit of heart, or whether it was a lack of effort by the club, it doesn't matter. There's something wrong no doubt. Seriously wrong. It's a cultural issue within CFC and it has to change.
The turnout was pitiful, with a handful of supporters, whilst not welcome with an invitation to dine, attended to make the players feel a little comfortable about their venture into foreign lands which will become part of the parcel for this group over the next decade. Being a Carlton player should mean no matter where they travel there's enough supporters around to make them feel supported and in neutral territory rather than unfriendly hostile opposition territory.
The club is happy to take the handouts from its supporters and lets remember, it's that supporter base which encourages the Sponsors to put money into the club, not the Brownlow Medal and Booze Cruise antics. The players are happy to collect their more than handsome pay cheques for doing something they love...and paid for by the supporters.
And what do the supporters get in return? Just have a look at the what the players have offered its supporter base since the Brownlow Medal. Surely they would be trying to patch up the disappointment and inuendo their supporters have had to endure in the last 2 months with a show of appreciation of their continued support. To show they are not as bad as THe HUN or Caro Wilson reports. That there isn't cultural problems at CFC.
Now, it doesn't matter wheher it's Blacktown, SCG or Princes Park, I have seen enough to know that the club is creating a bigger gap between them and its supporter base. The efforts to connect with their supporter base is pitiful, negligent and it's obvious the club has gone back to an era of taking things for granted. It's a new world CFC. You need to learn about Marketing the brand and have a 20 year plan ahead to expand the brand so we never ever go back to our bankrupt days. Next time there may not be a Sir Richard to help out.
My job is to read people, understand them and move them emotionally, so I had a good read of the situation yesterday: the players trained lightly which was a delight to see, but they had only one intention after the session was complete and that was to head to the change rooms asap. I saw it in their eyes...not all of them...but collectively the message was, "lets get the hell outa here". There was never any intention by the club to attract the Sydney supporetr base, and never was the intention of a meet and greet with their Sydney fan base.
Communication it seems is a huge ongoing weakness at the club. The disappointment is about a lack of communication with its member and supporter base, but I'll go a step further and suggest they have no idea on how to communicate and they should be on the front foot with proactive communication and an intent to move the masses minds, bodys and souls.
Disappointed? Perhaps. More disgusted in those who forget where we come from and appauled to think the club is being run by those who have gone back to taking everything for granted again.
Why did the communication of the open session at Blacktown have to be left to the last minute on their website? There's a lot of reasons, but the most distasteful reason for me is that CFC and its players take its supporters for granted.
The players and CFC officialdom have lost me for now...but I'll always barrack for them, and I'll be there this afternoon with a bunch of Bluebaggers screaming our lungs out in support of the Old Dark Navy Blues (literally supporting what once was great..the good old days before Gen Y).
Put it this way. The club have a long long way to go to understand how a brand is built, what efforts and values they must uphold and there's a lot of room for improvement at CFC. The change for the better has to start at the top: over to you Kerna and Swanny.
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