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Does Bristol City have an SLO?


Mr Popodopolous

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23 minutes ago, ChippenhamRed said:

In the interests of balance I feel compelled to share my recent experience of the SLO.

As some of you may recall from the Swansea match thread, my son Daniel and I (both members) had bought tickets for the match, but had to miss the game as he was admitted to hospital that weekend for urgent surgery to remove his appendix, having become very poorly.  He was actually in the operating theatre while the match was in progress.  Thankfully he is now on the mend and returned to school this week.

The following Monday after the Swansea match I emailed the SLO, Ryan, to explain the circumstances.  Ryan was exceptionally helpful and polite in his correspondence.  He arranged for our tickets to be transferred to a future match at no cost (we are now coming to the Reading game).  He then said he would make sure they give Daniel a shout-out over the tannoy at the Reading game.  Most impressive was that we also got a video message for Daniel from Callum O'Dowda, wishing him well in his recovery and saying he hoped to see him at Ashton Gate again soon!  You can imagine how much that meant to a City-mad 8 year old!  It was a lovely gesture.

So my experience was a very positive one.  Ryan went above and beyond to help us.

I am sure he does a good enough job in terms of things like this- and I am certainly glad to hear of that. Hope he is on the mend.

A key problem is specifically well IMO anyway, his lack of presence- this being seemingly directed by the club for reasons unknown- on various platforms- (most notably here) but does anyone know how active he is with fans on FB- where he can best liaise with fans.

Hands tied somewhat?

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The statement below interests me. Therefore can anyone help with these questions... Who is the SLO, where is he from, how long has he been a season ticket holder, how many away games has he been to, where has he sat in the stadium, what supporter groups has he been associated with, where does he live, has he been involved in the community trust, does he know the words To "My old man" ... can we establish credibility?

 • The SLO must be credible with fans and therefore should have experience and contact with the networks in the club’s fan base. 

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25 minutes ago, Bristol Rob said:

I can't believe the suits consider this place to be a contemptible hive of irrelevance.

An insight into the mood of the fan should be of great interest to them. 

If anyone does write to the club about the Lord Lucan of SLOs, what odds do you think we'll get on the club asking 'Downsy' to make a statement about it on Saturday, safe in the knowledge that no bugger will hear it in the 42mil stadium because they are still using a PA system they got in the Tandy closing down sale back in '92.

I think in a lot of cases this place is antagonistic, as we saw when DaveL was doing the job, and yes there are a few odd balls... but yeah, the answer isn’t “ignore at all costs”.

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15 minutes ago, Robin1988 said:

I think in a lot of cases this place is antagonistic, as we saw when DaveL was doing the job, and yes there are a few odd balls... but yeah, the answer isn’t “ignore at all costs”.

Will agree @Dave L had a rough ride at times, but that is why we brought in the Q&A section, following discussions with Mark Kelly (I think it was).

So the mods etc on here could at least check there was nothing rude etc being posted, but in turn when Matt Parsons was on this board it became clear that it was often easier to ask a question within a thread that was already being discussed - that meant that we were not able to check all questions etc

I am sure there is a solution that could work for all parties, I personally think Twitter alone is probably the worst social media platform that could be used

I honestly have no idea if our SLO is on Facebook, I wouldn't even know if there was a group etc where I could find him

In addition I think we should be mindful that it is not a case of the lad not doing his job well, it is clearly that he doesn't have the time (due to current job) and in addition he has had a clear directive from his employers to steer away from this forum

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4 hours ago, phantom said:

Will agree @Dave L had a rough ride at times, but that is why we brought in the Q&A section, following discussions with Mark Kelly (I think it was).

So the mods etc on here could at least check there was nothing rude etc being posted, but in turn when Matt Parsons was on this board it became clear that it was often easier to ask a question within a thread that was already being discussed - that meant that we were not able to check all questions etc

I am sure there is a solution that could work for all parties, I personally think Twitter alone is probably the worst social media platform that could be used

I honestly have no idea if our SLO is on Facebook, I wouldn't even know if there was a group etc where I could find him

In addition I think we should be mindful that it is not a case of the lad not doing his job well, it is clearly that he doesn't have the time (due to current job) and in addition he has had a clear directive from his employers to steer away from this forum

Reading the UEFA handbook it says that a club can employ two SLO's if one is finding the workload too much. It got me thinking perhaps we need two. One doing match duties and one doing social media. They could just earn half each of what one would make.

Or maybe someone from the SC&T who has the time and who reads this forum could do the social media side of things. Just an idea would the club allow that?

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On 30/09/2019 at 22:44, BobBobSuperBob said:

What a sad sad reflection on the Club 

How many of these were around in 82 when we dipped into our pockets to save the Club

 

Truly disgraceful

I wonder how long serving the longest serving employees are now, all the stalwarts seem to have retired, died or been moved on.

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27 minutes ago, Badger08 said:

I know I was bantering a bit before, but is it really that big a deal? I know we like to bash the club at every point, but do we really need a SLO to come on here? Really? 

If you have a problem, surely you can just send an email or call? 

Thats the end, surely? Do we need to make a massive deal about it? Or is it that we just want a moan as we haven't had anything to blow out of proportion for a while.

I don't get it either...do fans need someone to hold their hand all the time. Bit embarrassing really.

Watch the game, have some banter with fellow reds, get on with our lives. What else do people want? I don't get it ?

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14 hours ago, Badger08 said:

I know I was bantering a bit before, but is it really that big a deal? I know we like to bash the club at every point, but do we really need a SLO to come on here? Really? 

If you have a problem, surely you can just send an email or call? 

Thats the end, surely? Do we need to make a massive deal about it? Or is it that we just want a moan as we haven't had anything to blow out of proportion for a while.

Do we though? I don't think that is fair tbh.

I'd say yes, as a good platform, as a decent cross-section of fans young, old, plenty in between- fairly passionate.

Well yes, but is it not the message it sends out too- as far as I can see, it's not a good one!

14 hours ago, spudski said:

I don't get it either...do fans need someone to hold their hand all the time. Bit embarrassing really.

Watch the game, have some banter with fellow reds, get on with our lives. What else do people want? I don't get it ?

Question for you both tbh- why would the club order an employee whose job it is to liaise with fans to stay off a platform where they can easily liaise with said fans?

It's bizarre at best!

What would be interesting is under whose orders it is and why- based on this news, that individual whoever they are, sounds like they could be a bad apple, in some respects.

Can only assume the club are not taking it altogether seriously too, the role- to say the least. Giving it to people with existing roles a big red flag!

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3 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Do we though? I don't think it is fair that one.

I'd say yes, as a good platform, as a decent cross-section of fans young, old, plenty in between- fairly passionate.

Well yes, but is it not the message it sends out too- as far as I can see, it's not a good one!

Question for you both tbh- why would the club order an employee whose job it is to liaise with fans to stay off a platform where they can easily liaise with said fans?

It's bizarre at best!

What would be interesting is under whose orders it is and why- based on this news, that individual whoever they are, sounds like they could be a bad apple, in some respects.

Can only assume the club are not taking it altogether seriously too, the role- to say the least. Giving it to people with existing roles a big red flag!

I guess as a fan, if you want to liaise with him, you do it directly.

Why do it on a forum, where everyone else gets to know your business?

I certainly get why the Club wouldn't want to interact on here.

On to a lose lose situation every time, as there are always some people who will disagree and like to stir.

The poor guy would be badgered 24/7.

Just my opinion.

Just don't get why if you have a problem and want to liaise with the Club, you would want to do it on a public platform and share with everyone.

Guess it's the world we live in. Everything it seems has to be shared.

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11 minutes ago, spudski said:

I guess as a fan, if you want to liaise with him, you do it directly.

Why do it on a forum, where everyone else gets to know your business?

I certainly get why the Club wouldn't want to interact on here.

On to a lose lose situation every time, as there are always some people who will disagree and like to stir.

The poor guy would be badgered 24/7.

Just my opinion.

Just don't get why if you have a problem and want to liaise with the Club, you would want to do it on a public platform and share with everyone.

Guess it's the world we live in. Everything it seems has to be shared.

Ask the SLO sub forum?

Have him on here regularly but for personal matters do it by DM? For announcements and general matters, do it by sub-forum, or if appropriate, main forum.

There are ways around it certainly. Stirring can be mitigated by the above, disagreement is normal and can better promote open dialogue IMO.

Badgered 24/7? Perhaps it can go OTT at times, but on balance I'd call that necessary accountability and scrutiny tbh.

Get the feeling the club don't like that very much...and let's be fair they aren't unique in this, most professional football club, perhaps all, would rather not I suspect!

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4 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Ask the SLO sub forum?

Have him on here regularly but for personal matters do it by DM? For announcements and general matters, do it by sub-forum, or if appropriate, main forum.

There are ways around it certainly. Stirring can be mitigated by the above, disagreement is healthy and promotes open dialogue.

Badgered 24/7? Perhaps it can go OTT at times, but on balance I'd call that necessary accountability and scrutiny tbh.

Get the feeling the club don't like that very much...and let's be fair they aren't unique in this, most professional football club, perhaps all, all would rather not I suspect!

I guess I'm old fashioned and prefer such conversations to be private and direct.

I don't need a forum to discuss such matters.

I guess it's positive when people share the good things the guy does.

Imo the forum tends to be very polar and for 'Fanatics' for want of a better word.

I don't think it's a true reflection of the average City fan.

Most go to the game, have a beer with mates, and chat with mates. They don't feel the need to divulge their thoughts with anonymous people they don't know.

Not knocking the forum or those on it...as I use it a lot. But most City fans I know don't use it.

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14 hours ago, Badger08 said:

I know I was bantering a bit before, but is it really that big a deal? I know we like to bash the club at every point, but do we really need a SLO to come on here? Really? 

If you have a problem, surely you can just send an email or call? 

Thats the end, surely? Do we need to make a massive deal about it? Or is it that we just want a moan as we haven't had anything to blow out of proportion for a while.

It's because it's within their obligations and shuts down a useful communication channel. 

Email and telephone are all very well - but if you want to reach as many fans as possible as SLO; it makes sense to utilise social media and other popular websites. Otib is a really popular forum with loads of readers who aren't even members. If you're an SLO and want to share important information or answer a FAQ, Otib is a logical place to do it.

It just seems a bit odd because over the years we've had David Lloyd, Mark Kelly and Matt Parsons on here and it's largely functioned well. The vast majority of the time the discussion was mature, sensible and fair and everyone benefited. The club were able to share info, appeared interested in fan questions/concerns and allowed people to get to know the people behind these roles.

To suddenly come out and stop all that, with no clear reason or incident as a cause, seems a bit strange and counterproductive to the SLO role.

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An explanation should be provided by BCFC/Bristol Sport why the club no longer communicate with fans on forums when it is something they have done on Otib, Ziderheads, and WTMS on and off for well over a decade. Think about it a means of open communication that existed for fans over a decade has gone.  The opportunity to ask the club questions via a moderated sub forum on Otib came about because of the above. it was an improvement to some where possibly thousands of fans could read the information shared.   

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On 30/09/2019 at 22:20, Blagdon red said:

My understanding is that our SLO is under instruction NOT to engage with fans on OTIB.

Of course, if I'm mistaken, I'd be more than happy to stand corrected and engage with him in lively debate on here.

Disgusting. Maybe I should just post his telephone number here so people can phone him direct... 

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4 hours ago, spudski said:

I guess I'm old fashioned and prefer such conversations to be private and direct.

I don't need a forum to discuss such matters.

I guess it's positive when people share the good things the guy does.

Imo the forum tends to be very polar and for 'Fanatics' for want of a better word.

I don't think it's a true reflection of the average City fan.

Most go to the game, have a beer with mates, and chat with mates. They don't feel the need to divulge their thoughts with anonymous people they don't know.

Not knocking the forum or those on it...as I use it a lot. But most City fans I know don't use it.

Fair enough, but typically club issues affect the many and not the few. 

There should always be scope for "community" dialogue. 

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5 hours ago, spudski said:

I guess as a fan, if you want to liaise with him, you do it directly.

Why do it on a forum, where everyone else gets to know your business?

I certainly get why the Club wouldn't want to interact on here.

On to a lose lose situation every time, as there are always some people who will disagree and like to stir.

The poor guy would be badgered 24/7.

Just my opinion.

Just don't get why if you have a problem and want to liaise with the Club, you would want to do it on a public platform and share with everyone.

Guess it's the world we live in. Everything it seems has to be shared.

One reason - things barely get a look in, unless you share it on here and shame them into doing something. 

Even then, on some issues they are shameless. 

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19 hours ago, Badger08 said:

I know I was bantering a bit before, but is it really that big a deal? I know we like to bash the club at every point, but do we really need a SLO to come on here? Really? 

If you have a problem, surely you can just send an email or call? 

Thats the end, surely? Do we need to make a massive deal about it? Or is it that we just want a moan as we haven't had anything to blow out of proportion for a while.

I'm going to revisit your post.

Two words- frankly bollocks.

Actually, the club 'bashing' to which you refer is probably exacerbated by club stances such as this- they are giving people a reason to 'bash' them- rod for their own back basically.

They don't help themselves at times.

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10 minutes ago, CotswoldRed said:

I won't do that. I'll contact him and give him the (further) opportunity to come one here first. 

Seems fair- I wasn't being entirely serious about sharing the number but it would be a big boost for transparency! Still not altogether sure I'd advise it.

Maybe best to let SC&T do their thing before any drastic moves like that?

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11 minutes ago, CotswoldRed said:

One reason - things barely get a look in, unless you share it on here and shame them into doing something. 

Even then, on some issues they are shameless. 

You've obviously had run ins with the Club?

Why not phone them direct...or email.

Tbh...I can't think of anything the Club are doing massively wrong.

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It's not so much that the club evidently want to disengage as far as the Forum is concerned that bothers me, it's more a case of the club posting useful information on here will likely reduce the pressure on the ticket office/customer services.

It would just make the lives of everyone a bit easier.

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16 hours ago, spudski said:

You've obviously had run ins with the Club?

Why not phone them direct...or email.

Tbh...I can't think of anything the Club are doing massively wrong.

Yep. 

I won't go over it again, but let's just say when I've spoken to them it normally boils down to "we're looking into it" . Or "it will be discussed at the next meeting". That sort of thing. 

Generally, you know you'll have to chase again and again. 

They want us to be customers, not fans, yet they don't treat us like customers in my view either. 

Your last point underpins the sentiment on here. The very reason they don't come on to OTIB is because knowledge of issues is confined to small numbers of people. If it's kept quiet then they're less likely to have to do anything about it!

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24 minutes ago, CotswoldRed said:

Yep. 

I won't go over it again, but let's just say when I've spoken to them it normally boils down to "we're looking into it" . Or "it will be discussed at the next meeting". That sort of thing. 

Generally, you know you'll have to chase again and again. 

They want us to be customers, not fans, yet they don't treat us like customers in my view either. 

Your last point underpins the sentiment on here. The very reason they don't come on to OTIB is because knowledge of issues is confined to small numbers of people. If it's kept quiet then they're less likely to have to do anything about it!

Fair enough.

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23 hours ago, spudski said:

I guess I'm old fashioned and prefer such conversations to be private and direct.

I don't need a forum to discuss such matters.

I guess it's positive when people share the good things the guy does.

Imo the forum tends to be very polar and for 'Fanatics' for want of a better word.

I don't think it's a true reflection of the average City fan.

Most go to the game, have a beer with mates, and chat with mates. They don't feel the need to divulge their thoughts with anonymous people they don't know.

Not knocking the forum or those on it...as I use it a lot. But most City fans I know don't use it.

Spudski, you have a point there.

@TomF How many active posting members does the forum have? It would be interesting to see even as a % agaisnt season ticket holders for example.

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Apologies, this went on a lot longer than expected - a summary of my points is: If a BCFC official posted on here, you would read "a spokesman for bcfc said" before you actually read every post. They can't be on top of everything & I think we're moving to a world (hyper-critical, increased accountability) that doesn't make it possible to cover all bases, unfortunately otib looks like it will be an uncovered base. Otib is no where near as extreme but could you imagine the Royal family or the BBC commenting on the Daily Mail website, regularly, it would add fuel to a fire they have no control over.

First of all, I hold the forum in very high regard, it is a great place to hear the views of other fans. Occasionally there are some ridiculous posts and some posters revel in the "wind up merchant" role which can be tedious. For a platform run completely outside the club it is fantastically run, it is an established place for City fans (and rival fans) to discuss football, mainly. But, as previous posters have mentioned, it doesn't represent the majority of City fans &, just because there is a lot of good debate, it doesn't make it any better than any other platform. I'm saying OTIB is still a relevant target group, but most otib users will be on social media, we are part of a much larger target group that are engaged with, on the clubs terms.

BCFC, Bristol Sport or the SLO have no control over the forum (and what is said on it) & I can totally understand why there is no official representation on here. In representing the club on here, it makes this platform a go to place to contact the club - I don't think there is time for 1 individual to be engaging with fans on all the official platforms as well as the (better) unofficial ones. Besides, there is an implied responsibility for what is said in a discussion when you are a party to it.

Forgive the metaphor but isn't this the equivalent of City sending an official, Mr X, to chat to fans in one pub [otib] pre-match, when there are 3/4 other pubs [Ziderheads, WTMS, unofficial facebook groups] they "could" attend but have chosen the better one. They will do all the meet & greets in the 'supporters bar' [bcfc facebook, bcfc twitter & bcfc Instagram], they don't control entry but they will deal with anything that happens under their watch and can ask people to leave if they are acting inappropriately.

I think this is a sign of the times, a reflection of social media and the responsibilities of the club as a trusted, public facing organisation. Because they control the facebook page, Instagram page & the twitter account there is an implied responsibility for what is said on them, for example, you would expect the club to report & act on any racist abuse posted on these platforms before it is reported to them. Being an active user on the forum, they have to trust the goodwill and expertise of the admins to keep people in line - that trust would not be misplaced right now but (as you are volunteers) they can't devolve the accountability for what is posted - ie. they are not going to re-organise otib high-command if there is a faux-pas.

Whether we like it or not, the club has to operate as a business off the field, for me it makes more business sense to focus on the official "pages" in wider used sites [facebook/twitter/instagram] than expecting people to stumble across otib. There is an elitist mentality among the otib users "it could be worse, you should see the rubbish that is posted on facebook". I think it is justified in most cases but at the end of the day, any nutters could be running the (or setting up their own) forum and the club.

The lines of communication are very open and very public. I do prefer forum discussion to social media, I expect a lot of posters do, but it is much less efficient way of engaging with supporters. I think a lot of posters have taken this as a personal attack on them, we have benefited from a special relationship with the club on here, and have an equally special relationship with the police through Julie (policing is one element of football, the club could be considered responsible for 10x the activity the police are). I think we've lost sight of the good will that this gesture was meant with.

My final point is that, under no circumstances should a job description contain "going above and beyond". It's a ridiculously vague statement wide open to abuse and misinterpretation. By all means recognise people for going above and beyond but it encourages really petty behaviour in the workplace (I genuinely experienced someone being nominated for a £20 voucher once, from work, for going above and beyond - they had gone to the chip shop, at lunch time to collect the team's order. I'm glad the manager that nominated them wasn't approving these nominations).

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On 02/10/2019 at 10:12, Norn Iron said:

It took me a few posts to realise that SLO didn't stand for Steve Lansdown Organisation!

Thing is that’s exactly what we’ve become. Almost by stealth we are part of the Lansdown empire. 
 

@BobBobSuperBob has it spot on. Where was the ****** in 82? I don’t recall him riding across the Downs on his white charger then....

The club so many support is simply a cash cow to ultimately increase the family’s wealth. Be that financial or emotional and everlasting gratitude from they who he made proud.

The man at the top sets the tone throughout the organisation. And sadly we’re only engaged with when the organisation wants something. Rarely for any other reason.

Shameful. 

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