Good thread and was thinking about one like this.
Fans
First off it would all be about the fans, I know the budget would be small and I can't send them all free shirts but I'd be calling any fans with any sort of "voice" in for a meeting and explain the situation. "Look, its break even so what we need to do is make the revenues go as high as physically possible". Instead of talking like an accountant I'd break it down and explain that CCFC is now on it's own so we need to build it up again. Of course people would want loads of investment but I'd try to explain it isn't going to happen and why.
I'd have decent social media setup, I'd be monitoring everything going on to do with CCFC and making sure that somebody jumps in to nip things in the bud before they get out of hand. If somebody says "Im not renewing" then Id have a message sent to them to say "I am sorry you don't want to renew, would you like to pop in for a meeting" and spend a bit of time talking to them.
Social media is key, that is how things spread in this day and age. One person who had a bad experience turns into 100 angry people and it then turns into a news article that turns into more angry people. I'd make sure I was doing some decent reputation management for CCFC.
It would all be about communication with fans, I would probably have the same aim as Fisher in that I need to make money coming in more than money going out but would play the game a lot differently to make the fans feel part of it.
I'd ban anybody on here who disagreed with me, I'd get their home address off the CCFC system and plant some rent boys and a bag of coke and make sure people knew about it.
Marketing
I'd have 4 or 5 sky blue sam costumes and have them out in town / gallagher / central 6 handing out family ticket vouchers, I'd be speaking with the former players association about sending some of the older ex players round to care homes to have a cup of tea with some of the old boys in there.
I'd still do my OAP days where I send a coach (what are they, 200 quid a day?) around the local care homes and invite as many old boys (and girls) to a game where they would get a free cup of coffee (fuck wasps, id make it myself after Id been to costco) and I'd have some of the older ex players about to talk about their days. If said old person's family members want to go they get a half price ticket to join them. Those old people will have kids and grandkids, if they go to a game for free as 3 generations they will want more of it and the kids and grandkids will see it as time with their grandad, they would also see the grandad happy and tell everybody how great it was the club did that.
I'd be hammering the unis with student offers and linking up with student unions. I'd put on a coach that goes directly from the ground to the colly or whatever it is the kids do now and send them with ccfc branded shit when they go in the nightclubs to tell their mates.
Local big businesses like JLR would get corporate discount, so their workers would get a cheaper season ticket or a cheaper matchday family ticket. Same goes for NHS etc etc.
Thinking of the NHS I'd help with their campaign, come and get your balls checked and you get something in return like a cheap ticket or something. Have a couple of players getting their balls checked showing it isnt scary etc etc.
I'd try to work with business startups, it isn't just people like JLR but if there were bright new businesses that I thought were going to be big I'd give them a bit of a nudge along with a bit of free marketing and exposure in the hope that they would pass it on and return the favour. If there was room I'd setup some sort of shared office space somewhere for local startups so that I the club could make a bit of money from that, and be seen to be helping. Something to work with sbitc on.
Future Fans
I'd be promoting the shit out of the JSBS. What the kids get now is a fantastic deal for £25 so I'd try to make sure any kid that goes into the ground to watch a match is a JSB. I'd put the hard sell on anybody trying to buy a kids ticket with the "Look, it's a tenner for today, sign them up as a JSB for £25 an they can go to every game for free, they also get a gift and the invite to the kids party." I am not sure why somebody would pay a tenner for a kids ticket when they could pay £25 to be a JSB for a year.
I'd put on open training days like we used to have.
I'd keep the links with SBITC as strong as possible and build up links with places like Zoe's place and cov childrens ward with regular events. I'd push the work that SBITC as much as possible so everybody knew exactly what was going on, everything good would be shouted from the roof tops.
Paper
I'd speak to Coventry Today or somebody else and give them exclusive access. I'd say to the telegraph also that Andy Turner can come back but it's football only, the minute they start speaking about SISU and politics while speaking to the manager they would be gone, strictly football. I'd also sort out the media team to sort their shit out and ask Kieren to come back and work for me.
I'd want the inhouse media to be decent, somebody filming the players doing silly tricks in training, filming the players as human beings so the fans can get to know them, things like skill school that soccer am used to have, silly trick competitions or forefits so that the fans get to know the players.
Anybody in the media I didn't like I'd plant rent boys and a bag of coke in their houses and make sure people knew about it
SCG
I'd sack it all off and start again, the trust could have 2 places for chairman and vice chairman and everybody would need to justify their place. Nobody would be there for status or to use it for something on their CV and there would be absolutely no power in it, apart from wanting to make CCFC better. I'd make it clear that it's absolutely pointless going there to rant about SISU as there is fuck all I can do about it. People would be more than welcome to criticise things I was doing or the club was doing as long as it was constructive and they weren't doing it just to be dicks.
Ground
I'd say to Wasps to give me 3-5 years there while I sort my shit, I'd have the city fans on my side then so I'd use that to my advantage as well.
I would seriously explore the Butts option, I'd work with Cov Rugby and do as much listening as possible to fans concerns and try and take them all on board. Anything build would have to be modular in design so that it can be upgraded. Even if we started at 15k it would have to be upgradable to 25k as easily as possible.
I'd try to make it a good partnership with cov rugby, joint season ticket offers, joint sponsorship and try and bring the 2 coventry teams together and play on the whole coventry thing. Brand it about Coventry, coventry's history and really make things tight with cov rugby. I'd say it isn't just about building up CCFC, we want cov rugby to be successful too.
Again, the key there would be transparency. I'd make sure fans were and felt involved along the way. Hell I'd even put competitions into local schools for kids to draw their dream stadium, the winner gets to train with the first team for an hour and a free kit. It would get all the local schools involved with the club.
Academy and Training.
Not too sure what I could do. I wouldn't want to be having the youngsters look at a wasps branded building day in day out. I would go to places like Warwick Uni and see what they could do. I'd offer some sort of skill share so ccfc's nutrionalist and physios will help out their students and we would offer the students work experience (free labour, bonus) within the club. Build up the best likes I could with somebody like this and use a facility there if possible.
I'd be open and honest with the fans, say look we have to share but we have high class facilities and here are the benefits. I'd also hope that somebody there has a rich relative who could plough some money into the club for me.
I'd use the Ryton money to go towards the stadium in the point above.
Manager
I'd be open and frank with a decent lower league manager, I'd tell them the situation and say the budget isn't great but what they will get is chance to build on something.
If they were rubbish I wouldn't want to pay them off so I'd plant rent boys and a bag of coke and make sure people knew about it.
Listen, just to be crystal clear if anybody gets caught with rent boys and a bag of coke it isn't actually me!
