As we're unlikely to see terraces again at football, this is the virtual equivalent where you can chat to your hearts content about all football matters and, obviously, Arsenal in particular. This forum encourages all Gooners to visit and contribute so please keep it respectful, clean and topical.
I Hate Hleb wrote:So after 'consulting 'Supporters groups and industry experts' THAT'S the best they could come up with?
C games - Arsenal Ladies v Chelsea, Fa Cup 3rd Round vs Scunthorpe, Arsenal Under 18s vs Liverpool Under 18s, Arsenal vs Arsenal (Pat Rice Testimonial)
one person to whom you should be directing your venom is the apparently saintly untouchable gooner ed and i will explain why.
last summer he on behalf of the gooner readership and forum members unequivocally endorsed the gazidis review of ticketing and pricing policy.
when challenged by me a couple of weeks later he denied remembering doing so but was "reminded" he had done so by one of his loyal followers.
no explanationby him only evasive claiming he is not a campaigner; he along with mike francis also denied that they receive any perks from the club.
as you know gooner ed has become little more than a glorified match reporter in whichhecan indulge in his anti- wenger campaign.
the exception to this was of course his reporting of his arrest for alleged breach of ticket sale rules. suddenly he appeared tobe a campaigner on behalf of badly treated ticket holders but in fact in turns out that was using the website for purely selfish reasons - to drum up support for himself, offers of free advice etc and no doubt some of you may have written to the club on his behalf.
true it was a police arrest and CPS prosecution but a trial with all the attendant publicity would have been highly embarrassing for the club. gooner ed explains he had legal advice to the effect he would be better of accepting a caution- how bloody convenient for him and the club. a caution still appears on a CRB check and in many circumstances has to be declared as much as a conviction. I do not suppose for one moment forthe benefit of other football supporters would gooner ed publish the advice he claims to have received because i do not believe he is telling the whole truth.
fact is had he declined a caution, and subsequently found guilty he would almost certainly have received an absolute discharge and a minimal fine which with costs which would no doubt have been funded by football fans keen to give the absurdity of the law some publicity.
as for the gazidis review , gooner ed justified his support because he says in conducting a review gazidis is acknowledging changes are needed. what crap- a review can just as easily result in no changes to help he fans.
gooner ed has admitted the gooner has done favours for the club and the club favours for the gooner. this after months ago denying such a relationship.
fact is you wont get gooner ed commenting on ticket price increases, membership fees increases, the absurdity that season ticket holders cannot sit with their own children unless prepared to pay full price for kids but silver members can
and he wont do so because he does not want to fall out with his connections at the club.
the arrest of gooner ed and subsequent detention appaent ban from ground was an appalling disgrace but sympathy is tempered by his selfish self indulgent misuse ofthe forum to publicize his own predicament but not for the good of gooners generally but for his own selfish reasons.
gooner ed is clever. he knows criticism of the club in these threads have far less impact that criticism by him in editorials. dont believe me if you wish but remember he is one of those rent a quote merchants to whom the media seek comment from on occasions.
he does not care that many of you are aggrieved; he is a con man, a part of the establishment and partly to blame for your increased fees; after all he as good as told gazidis whatever he does is fineby him and his readership.
gooner ed is a nice enough bloke but he aint any longer fit for purpose.
I'm not sure if anyone has seen this, but it's a letter to Arsenal PLC making some very good points about how ridiculous all the increases are: http://fansonline.net/arsenal/article.php?id=692
Not a very good response from Arsenal after an email of complaint:
Why have we increased membership again?
Silver Membership provides you with a priority window for ticket access two months ahead of the fixture, and one month ahead of Red Membership. Silver Members have a far higher probability of securing a ticket for the match in the location they want than Red Members. Unlike Red membership it is a closed scheme and the maximum number of Silver Members remains the same from one season to the next. It still represents strong value for money, and its price reflects the benefit of the priority access.
I hope the above clarifies any concern you may have had.
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So no reason really, more of a 'because we can' response...
snips1982 wrote:Not a very good response from Arsenal after an email of complaint:
Why have we increased membership again?
Silver Membership provides you with a priority window for ticket access two months ahead of the fixture, and one month ahead of Red Membership. Silver Members have a far higher probability of securing a ticket for the match in the location they want than Red Members. Unlike Red membership it is a closed scheme and the maximum number of Silver Members remains the same from one season to the next. It still represents strong value for money, and its price reflects the benefit of the priority access.
I hope the above clarifies any concern you may have had.
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So no reason really, more of a 'because we can' response...
Exactly my point from earlier i.e. there is no difference in the benefit this year to any other year. The scheme has been around for years. Isn't it funny how the change of ownership seems to have triggered the staggering increases. Must be that 'trustworthy' Gazidis who told the BSM that a full review of ticketing arrangements would be conducted. Well at least we know what they spent the past year doing.
Funny but I thought Usmanov was the root of all evil whilst Stan and his 'sustainable model' were in the best interests of the club.
snips1982 wrote:Not a very good response from Arsenal after an email of complaint:
Why have we increased membership again?
Silver Membership provides you with a priority window for ticket access two months ahead of the fixture, and one month ahead of Red Membership. Silver Members have a far higher probability of securing a ticket for the match in the location they want than Red Members. Unlike Red membership it is a closed scheme and the maximum number of Silver Members remains the same from one season to the next. It still represents strong value for money, and its price reflects the benefit of the priority access.
I hope the above clarifies any concern you may have had.
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So no reason really, more of a 'because we can' response...
Exactly my point from earlier i.e. there is no difference in the benefit this year to any other year. The scheme has been around for years. Isn't it funny how the change of ownership seems to have triggered the staggering increases. Must be that 'trustworthy' Gazidis who told the BSM that a full review of ticketing arrangements would be conducted. Well at least we know what they spent the past year doing.
Funny but I thought Usmanov was the root of all evil whilst Stan and his 'sustainable model' were in the best interests of the club.
Exactly, no change in benefits, so there shouldn't be a change in price, maybe occasionally with inflation, but this is well above that in a time of recession, so sure, silver members might be able to pay the increase in the membership fee, but what good is it if you can't afford a ticket. I'm only a red member, and I would love a silver membership, but if the ticket prices go up, I'd rather not pay an inflated membership price, especially since I've gotten a ticket for every home match I've wanted to see and it doesn't offer much of an advantage for away tickets.
Contrary to the popular myth that it gets you everything you want:
a) when there is a massive game you don't get a ticket guaranteed. I missed out on the CL semi final home leg against the Mancs and that was not the only occasion
b) no chance of any cup final tickets
c) no priority on away tickets
Its a nice flexible membership but it does not justify the huge increases the club have proposed for the past 2 years. It is marketing which is Gazidis's skill set. He can say "ticket prices have remained below inflation this season".....but makes up the difference lost in match tickets by a one-off rise in membership. So hard to spot - don't kid a kidder Ivan
SteveO 35 wrote:It is marketing which is Gazidis's skill set.
I'd say talking bollocks and being a smarmy, patronising *word censored* is his skill set.
Exactly.......marketing !
I work in marketing. It's a pretty accurate description.
Ahhh.....that explains the megaphone thing
I find it really motivates the whole office to have me yell at them all day.
My next plan is to suggest we take a leaf out of Ivan's book by simply charging all our customers 73% more for exactly the same product that they've always received, rather than implementing plans to boost income through other channels, as in my job description. I might then request a payrise for coming up with such a genius scheme.
silver membership is not a closed shop. there is a loophole i may readily exploit next year. cannon club members automatically qualify for silver membership. anyone with kids should make sure they are registered as junior gunners in last two years of qualifying cos leads to cannon club then silver.
so the ridiculous thing is while my son is at uni i can use his silver and take my daughter who is a junior, as a season ticket holder i cannot get concession for her to sit with me - how mad is that.
another gazidis trick - ending marketing concessions to supporters clubs - used to be worth 20% of merchandise.
AND ALL THIS IS SUPPORTED BY GOONER ED who gave his unequivocal support to the gazidis review - " scratch my back and i'll scratch yours" is the gazidis gooner ed arrangement for sure. thats why he has now gone very very quiet about his arrest and what followed
frankbutcher. the answer is i have never been and never will be a cog in a big wheel whatever the quality of the wheel.
