It was good to be part of a panel yesterday evening for the Sports Business Club, a joint venture between Sports Business Insider and FFDU on fan engagement. Congratulations to the guys for organising it: a really good initiative.

The theme of it was 'Who do we sing for?'. The other speakers included Lyall Gorman, Executive Chairman of Western Sydney Wanderers; Shane Harmon, Deputy CEO of the Asian Cup Organising Committee; and Bonita Mersiades.

The presentations were varied and interesting. Lyall spoke about what he had done to create Western Sydney Wanderers and Central Coast Mariners. Shane gave an overview of how the Organising Committee intends getting bums on seats for the 2015 Asian Cup; and Bonita gave a very thoughtful presentation which set out a strategic framework for fans and mapped that against attendance at Socceroos games over the past 7 years and also pointed to what it may mean for the Asian Cup. 

I talked about how I've seen the relationship with fans evolve over the 30 years I've been involved in the game professionally by giving some case studies and anecdotes from my experience. It ranged from 1985 to the present day with the case studies including:

• the famous (or infamous?) Pratten Park 'riot' at Sydney Olympic v Sydney City. Incidentally, Terry Antonis' dad took part in that incident!
• oranges being thrown at us (Socceroos) in Tel Aviv
• the dart that was meant for me at a match for Club Brugge, but instead got the goalkeeper of the opposing team (who happened to be the Belgian goalkeeper)
• Brisbane Strikers - good example of fan engagement, especially for its day - a 'multicultural' club in the NSL
• the dead fish in the Danube in Budapest being smuggled into the ground and then thrown at us (Socceroos) in 2000 - worth asking Arnie about this one
• the experience we had in Montevideo in 2001, in the days when there was no money to deal with some of the things thrown at us. I did a SWOT analysis and report on this campaign and I'm pleased to say all my recommendations were picked up and implemented for 2005 which helped the guys enormously
• the current day and my biggest 'on again/off again' fan at Sydney FC. 

My main point was that fans have evolved, as has fan engagement, but fans have always made the experience. I said in my book years ago that you can have a poor quality game but a great match because of the atmosphere and the experience, and that counts for players as well as fans. Here's my presentation here if you're interested in taking a look with links to two films (including one already on this site at my Gallery).

Looking forward to another great Sydney Derby experience on Saturday night. For those fortunate enough to have tickets, see you there. For others, watch it on FOX Sports. 

And go Sydney FC! :)


Frank

I want to let everyone know who tweets or sends me comments via this website that I read them all. Many of you have valid points; some of your comments are intended to give me a laugh and I thank you for them.

But what the comments also prove is just how true the saying is about football being a game of opinions. If I took notice of all the comments I received, there may be only one player left in the Sydney FC squad. Some people think Player X should go, others thing Player X works hard and deserves a chance; some think Player Y is not worth the money, others think it’s only a matter of time till Player Y puts in a blinder; some think Player Z should have more game time, others think he shouldn't ever wear a sky blue shirt. And so on.

So, in reading all these comments, I think it’s important to clarify something.

Players have contracts that are heavily weighted in the favour of the player. Organisations like the PFA, of which I am proud to be a Life Member and Alex Tobin Medal recipient, have worked hard to give players greater certainty and stability in earning their livelihoods. From a player perspective, it’s very welcome.

However, from a football management perspective it limits flexibility especially if there’s been no stability in coaching ranks and, therefore, player recruitment policy. It's part of the challenge of working with a roster.

Let me give you an example.

A new coach comes in and finds a player has two years to run on a four-year contract. But there are safeguards in that contract – the key one of which is that the player is paid out for the rest of his contract. If you want to move the player on, that’s two years payout. If a Club decides to pay out the contract, that payout comes from the salary cap. That might be acceptable and affordable if there’s three months to run, but not if there’s two years, as in my example.

In other words, a Club can have a player on the books who is going to get paid regardless of whether he plays or not and who is part of the salary cap.

What do you do?

You talk to the player of course. You work with the player and hope he can adapt. But that’s not always the case with every player. So then you tell him he’s not in your plans. Some players appreciate that that’s the way the cookie can crumble and look around for another position to progress their career and everyone’s happy - the Club isn’t paying money to someone who is doing nothing except training; the coach moves out a player he knows he isn’t going to play; the player gets a new Club and contract. But some players don’t do that; and a coach can have an immediate limitation in terms of the number of players in the squad and how much is available under the salary cap.

I can tell fans now that there won’t be much change in playing personnel next season. There are 19 players who are on contract for next season, which leaves six positions to fill, each on less money than the A-League average salary.

What do you do? Spend the money on two gun players that you need to shore up key positions, run the squad four players short and rely on injury protection from the NYL squad? Or bring in young players with potential to fill the roster and make sure you have player flexibility in terms of numbers?

I’m not the only coach/manager thinking around these issues, and it’s a key part of the job - and why we love it.

In the meantime, I’m focussed on the next four weeks. Despite the last two results, finals football is still within our grasp, as it is with other clubs, so it makes for an exciting finish for fans and the media even if – as I joked to a friend the other day – it might be handy to have a cardiologist travel with us for we older guys on the coaching bench. 

There are four big games ahead starting with next Saturday’s match against Central Coast Mariners. Last time we met them at home, just after Christmas, we beat them 1-0 – a shock to many, but not to the boys and me. It’s also Lucas Neill’s first home game. Get along to Allianz Stadium at 5.30pm.

The following week we meet our old nemesis, Melbourne Victory, at home after they lived up to their namesake yesterday. That match kicks-off at 7.45pm.

Hope to see you at both matches.

And keep all those tweets and e-mails coming! I enjoy your passion greatly, even if not all of us share a point-of-view.

Frank
P.S. You can buy tickets to the next two home games here.

This might be a bit different for me, but a friend showed it to me yesterday and I thought it was terrific.