Trouble is despite a new owner we still have the same people at the club (minus Jeff and Robert) - I dont know why people expected it to change,
It was turd before, will be just as bad now. Need to remove the usual culprits for something to change.
I think that’s the most disappointing thing about the Pomlett era so far, while it might be true that sorting the on the field problems out might take some time (although I’m not entirely sure that should be the case being that this league is awful from top to bottom), the fairly simple off the field improvements that could have been implemented from the start of the season are completely non-existant. Approaching the half a year mark that’s really pretty dire.
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This is what I believe is the reason. So scared of losing £1.50 on an out of date pie that they’d rather under stock by ~30% and lose all that profit.
Although kits don’t have a use by date, they do have a shelf life, and I believe it’s the clubs total unwillingness to risk losing a little money that stops them adequately stocking the shop. It’s shocking really as we are talking relatively small amounts of money at risk to stock a kiosk or shop properly, and in respect of the kiosks, there’s the benefit of actually knowing within a few 100 how many punters you’ll likely have. Unfortunately Jeff was the kinda shop keeper who would make 100 punters queue outside in the rain to stop his shop floor getting wet cos he’d have to replace his mop every few months.
Also, main thing to remember is that despite having a new majority shareholder, the financial situation of the club remains largely unchanged. We still pay rent and we still owe money (although we don’t know how much).
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Can tell you that regarding pies on a match day that they used to sell em half price just after half time to the stewards, my mate was a steward and I’ve been talking to him and witnessed this. Suppose it was to ensure no pies were binned and some profit made.
Yet nothing from seasons that people might actually care to rewatch.
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Back in the day they used to walk round second half flogging them for a weird. Unsold they left them on the side for free on the way out
The online club shop, the merchandise it sells & the stock it has are an absolute joke! The merch is poor & old fashioned, the online shop a throwback and lack of availability hilarious.
The girls in the shop are ok if you call them, but the rest is just another reason why supporting Walsall is harder than it needs to be.
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Thing is it’s pretty simple really.
They know roughly how many home shirts/away shirts they sell each season so just get that many in plus 50-100 more.
They know roughly how many pies sell every game so get that many in plus 50-100 more.
The odd occasion is acceptable but every season shirts are sold out by September and every home game we sell out of something. It’s just very poor and very lazy.
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Well I hope the fans will stick all this to Pomlett,and in no uncertain terms,come the next meet the chairman event.
They will sit and listen, nod in appreciation, and do sod all about anything, particularly if it ‘costs’.
The whole retail side of our Club is a joke. Will probably be the worst in the entire League. The good side is, When i need to obtain a previous programme on the phone. Never had a problem there.
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I’m sure there was talk about it being in November? I’m guessing it won’t be too far away now.
I’m done attending them though. It’s the same issues every time and by the end it’s just a joke, people asking the most pathetic things just to drag it on.
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I remember that happening too.
This is one thing that I can potentially side with the club on.
Limited gates = limited demand for food , drink and merchandise. It’s all well and good moaning about the stock in the club shop, but if they’re only getting say 10/20 customers a week then it’s easy to understand the predicament the club is in.
But may I add it’s all the clubs own making, that I won’t sympathise with.
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They can’t even keep up with “limited” demand though can they?
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Agreed , but I’m guessing that’s because there is no profit in doing so.
There’s no profit in a lot of things that all types of companies do,like golfing weekends to their favoured customers, or even Morrisons giving out sweets to people in the queue’s to the checkouts at Christmas…It’s called customer service…The difference being,Walsall have already got money off you before you even get to the catering outlets,if you paid on the way out,they would certainly treat the fans better.
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And this is exactly the point.
We’ve got Pomlett demanding that 5,000 come and watch some bottom of the EFL tat.
However, they cannot corral 5,000 into the stadium in an orderly and safe manner.
There’s little in the way of facilities or merchandise to tempt anyone and now it’s become habit.
He is fortunate we’re not playing well.
Imagine that we were challenging for the top and we were getting, say, 7,500.
Would we see any improvements for these valued customers?
So this is why I didn’t bother against Stevenage.
I didn’t want to get to the Bescot Maracana at 1.30 to queue across the car park.
(note that our players are still arriving and trying not to run us over at this time)
I could have sat in a delapidated stadium with no facilities for an hour before the match.
(note there’s little marchandise, catering or refreshment to enjoy)
Who wouldn’t want to watch Stevenage warming up?
Instead, I stayed at home and fell asleep.
I saved myself £20, felt much better and the biggest danger was missing us score.
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I agree with all that, my only point is I can see why they don’t bother.
I’m not suggesting it’s right.
Indeed, it’s the hallmark of a pure business brain.