RevidgeBlue

From memory Three thousand and odd for a League game.

My operative words were "We won't pay them".

If he did that without expressing any form of opinion of his own then not sure that's actionable at all and Gestede's legal advisors will know that. Bit of sabre rattling.

Just for the avoidance of doubt, when I say that imo the Club aren't REALLY bothered at this stage that's not a criticism of the boycott, I view the boycott as a necessary and suitable first step of any protest effort. It's a comment on the Club's lack of good faith. When I see not the usual meaningless soundbites about how committed they supposedly are, but a stellar last week of the transfer window and/or some positive action like VI getting potted, then I'll believe they're rattled. In the meantime with crowds so low anyway Im not expecting miracles out of the boycott but if there is a noticeable reduction in the already pitiful crowds that would be an added bonus. And like I've said if the boycott evolves organically into a collapse in ST sales I think that WILL rattle them greatly.

Nonsense. If a player has a straight choice between a Club at the top or one at the bottom on the same money then obviously he's usually going to choose the one at the top. Otherwise pay them and they will come. The problem is we won't pay them. (The going rate)

If you feel like you're crossing a picket line on Saturday then it'll probably be your guilty conscience nagging away at you. I hope there isnt anyone stood outside the ground or turnstiles encouraging you not to go in and I havent seen any indication anywhere that will be the case. I've no real objection to a Venky's out protest match and personally Id gladly attend for that. As others have said if the overall strategy is to starve them out probably best left for the time being.

Id say it's the other way round. I read nothing at all into them issuing a "statement" They have to put out a response of sorts otherwise it looks bad. It's whether the response is genuine and from the heart or offers any hope of improvement that is relevant from our point of view. Imo it's just the usual meaningless platitudes and lip service. If anyone thinks they're genuinely worried, fair enough, Im not going to try and dissuade them. If season ticket sales were to fall off a cliff, THEN I think they'd be worried and have to make a genuine effort. It all has to start somewhere!

Can't imagine the person in question would have any sort of case to defend. Why would RG be picking on this one particular individual? He certainly wouldn't be spoilt for choice!

Not really a genuine statement though is it? Generic AI inspired waffle which roughly translates as: "We know there's a boycott planned for Saturday and we really couldn't give a **** but we have to pay lip service to it and say something" Bit naughty to hint there might be trouble or a nasty atmosphere. Ironically that might persuade a few more to stay away.

Yeah, Im very uneasy about these alleged phone calls. I've only heard an extract from one of them on here which sounded like a prank call trying to make Suhail sound stupid. Are they prank calls or are they recordings of genuine business transactions? If the latter, why would they be recorded in the first place, who recorded them and and did both parties know they were being recorded and agree to it? Either way the Coalition has put in a lot of hard work (seemingly at their own expense) and at the moment the way results have fallen we have them on the ropes. Imo care has to be taken not to undermine that by doing anything that allows the Club to take the moral high ground.

Yes, you might have solved it there.

Can't see it. I can see us losing but something going against us at some point during the game giving the excuse factory license to go full steam into overdrive again. It always used to happen with Mowbray, even in the midst of the various death spirals there usually seemed to be something that happened in most games he could point to to deflect blame away from himself.

Ah, interesting thanks. To me then, it seems they've no way of knowing whether your mate will actually be needed, they're guessing it might be a poor turn out and gambling that they can get away without him and a few others in an effort to save relative pennies in the general scheme of things.

Ah ok - thanks. They must be anticipating a low crowd then - but I still can't see how they can rely on guesswork - unless your mate works in a section of the stadium where there's a higher proportion of walk ons because it's cheaper -say the Riverside- and those walk on tickets simply haven't been sold. What if the boycott didnt take off and there was some kind of incident and they were understaffed? They'd be in all sorts of bother.

It'd be good to know the truth of it. I can't see how the Club could arbitrarily partially reduce staff numbers across the stadium without knowing exactly how many are going to be missing and what parts of the stadium they're going to be missing from. If they did take food and drink completely off the menu for this fixture, it gives the Coalition an angle that they're punishing the fans who ignored the boycott.

Im a bit confused by these messages. Does that mean concessionary outlets will be closed altogether because they're worried about the possibility of a really low crowd? Other than walk on sales I've still no idea how the Club can have any real clue in advance about how effective the boycott is going to be. Surely from their point of view they SHOULD staff as normal in case the boycott call has little effect - and if it is a really low crowd, well then, c'est la vie. That's what you'd imagine would happen at a normally run Club anyway.

Normally I'd agree, but it's a bit difficult to get these occasional pressure cooker type wins when you're generally not even registering a shot on target!

And look how well he did!

Well, we lose when we play Toth as well, but I know what you mean.

👍

You've been predicting we'd pull out a result to save Ismael's skin (not that he probably needs one) for at least half a dozen games now based on some non existent ability you think we have to pull off a result when we need one. Well it hasnt happened so far and I can't see it happening either. As you say, results aren't a priority here, so whether or not it they will leave him in situ regardless whilst we drown I've no idea. On the other hand, it would be a very odd look even for us and pile even more unwanted attention on the owners and the stooges they would probably rather do without.

Your complacency is absolutely breathtaking.

We won't be out again. Well not unless we sack the fraud of a Head Coach, then we MIGHT have a chance.

Be worth it for the entertainment value

Is that right though? Not wanting to diss the boycott but at this stage it can only really affect walk on sales which presumably won't be very high to begin with. How can the Club have any idea whatsoever whether it will be really well observed, completely ignored, or somewhere inbetween?