Man City (A) players' gesture

[bobby1413]

We aren;t in serious trouble.

It's November, we are 12th.

Derby are in a bit of trouble... everyon else is in less trouble

Correct. This thread is an accurate representation of HNA? as a whole. Anything remotely positive is always discussed in the most negative way possible.

A gesture by the players to thank and encourage support is questioned and critisised for not being that great, and being a bad move, etc...

Maybe we should just appreciate their gesture.

[T.R.O.L.I.]

A gesture by the players to thank and encourage support is questioned and critisised for not being that great, and being a bad move, etc...

Maybe we should just appreciate their gesture.

TBF, I think the majority on here are appreciative of the gesture but not overenthused in the way the club / STAR has chosen to use the money as it only applies to a small minority of supporters (i.e. 350). As I (and Schards) have said - this gesture of thanks won't benefit those who travel the length and breadth of the country to support Reading FC but do so under their own steam (i.e. train or car) rather than the STAR coaches.

[Behindu]

A gesture by the players to thank and encourage support is questioned and critisised for not being that great, and being a bad move, etc...

Maybe we should just appreciate their gesture.

TBF, I think the majority on here are appreciative of the gesture but not overenthused in the way the club / STAR has chosen to use the money as it only applies to a small minority of supporters (i.e. 350). As I (and Schards) have said - this gesture of thanks won't benefit those who travel the length and breadth of the country to support Reading FC but do so under their own steam (i.e. train or car) rather than the STAR coaches.

Look at it another way.

The amount given would make no difference to me (or many others). Rather than people immediatley get their calculators out and work out how much in cash the deal is or isn't worth to them personally how about looking at it as something a bit more symbolic. Rather than it just being a comment post match or a brief clap from the pitch it's another way of the players saying thanks to the fans who support them. Any way of doing that would be flawed, so why not just take it for what it is and stop picking fault !
Perhaps the players would have been better not doing something that could be interpreted as 'favouring' on set of people, perhaps they could have donated the money to a suitable charity in the name of the fans but publically said it was an acknowledgement of the support ?

[STAR Liaison]

A gesture by the players to thank and encourage support is questioned and critisised for not being that great, and being a bad move, etc...

Maybe we should just appreciate their gesture.

TBF, I think the majority on here are appreciative of the gesture but not overenthused in the way the club / STAR has chosen to use the money as it only applies to a small minority of supporters (i.e. 350). As I (and Schards) have said - this gesture of thanks won't benefit those who travel the length and breadth of the country to support Reading FC but do so under their own steam (i.e. train or car) rather than the STAR coaches.

Whilst I understand where you are coming from think about it from the players point of view. How are they to know who comes to away games other than by coach? Don't say that the club knows who it has sold tickets to as the players don't and legally should not be allowed access to that information unless it was covered by the Data Protection entry and as it is an unusual gesture that is very unlikely.

Subsidising the coaches is a rough and ready way but at least it does benefit some of the right people and the number of places is based on the number of coaches STAR has reserved and is less than the number we took to Man City last year - so the number of people to benefit without having supported the club away in this and the previous season will be very small. This is one reason why the announcement was delayed until after the Fulham game; so that we could announce it to those travelling on the 6 coaches to Fulham and give them a chance to book then and there and hence benefit those actually travelling first.

We know the players cannot subsidise everyone so it will never be 'fair', but we have done our best to make it as fair as we can. There are still sufficient places available that it looks as if there will still be places when we allow people to join STAR and book a £5 fare so it will be open for those who had not got around to joining to do so but as the membership is £10 we are unlikely to get a lot joining to save £15 unless they intend to anyway.

[AF1]

Whilst I understand where you are coming from think about it from the players point of view. How are they to know who comes to away games other than by coach? Don't say that the club knows who it has sold tickets to as the players don't and legally should not be allowed access to that information unless it was covered by the Data Protection entry and as it is an unusual gesture that is very unlikely.

Subsidising the coaches is a rough and ready way but at least it does benefit some of the right people and the number of places is based on the number of coaches STAR has reserved and is less than the number we took to Man City last year - so the number of people to benefit without having supported the club away in this and the previous season will be very small. This is one reason why the announcement was delayed until after the Fulham game; so that we could announce it to those travelling on the 6 coaches to Fulham and give them a chance to book then and there and hence benefit those actually travelling first.

We know the players cannot subsidise everyone so it will never be 'fair', but we have done our best to make it as fair as we can. There are still sufficient places available that it looks as if there will still be places when we allow people to join STAR and book a £5 fare so it will be open for those who had not got around to joining to do so but as the membership is £10 we are unlikely to get a lot joining to save £15 unless they intend to anyway.

For once I agree.


And perhaps if there's any money left over it could be spent on fitting the STAR coaches with some non-lickable windows.

[Elm Park]

We know the players cannot subsidise everyone so it will never be 'fair', but we have done our best to make it as fair as we can. There are still sufficient places available that it looks as if there will still be places when we allow people to join STAR and book a £5 fare so it will be open for those who had not got around to joining to do so but as the membership is £10 we are unlikely to get a lot joining to save £15 unless they intend to anyway.

Firstly, please let me apologise as I didn't think that this would last as long.

As I will need to get membership for my wife and daughter and then four tickets for the coach, can I get these after the Arsenal match or when?


Later...... just looked at the official site to see about getting tickets and see that the details are on the away tickets section. Cheers

[The 17 Bus]

This does give an insite into the cost of the coaches as well, cant be arsed to do the maths exactly, but for the run to Manchester it works out at around £1000 per coach, and that is without the STAR subsidy, how much that is I have no idea, and dont think is for discussion.

[STAR Liaison]

As I will need to get membership for my wife and daughter and then four tickets for the coach, can I get these after the Arsenal match or when?


Later...... just looked at the official site to see about getting tickets and see that the details are on the away tickets section. Cheers

After the Arsenal game the STAR Base will be open for new members but I would suggest that if you intend to go then that you download the membership form from http://www.star-reading.org and take it completed as that will speed matters up tremendously and the volunteers in the STAR Base still need to go to work early Tuesday morning

[STAR Liaison]

This does give an insite into the cost of the coaches as well, cant be arsed to do the maths exactly, but for the run to Manchester it works out at around £1000 per coach, and that is without the STAR subsidy, how much that is I have no idea, and dont think is for discussion.

TBF STAR does not necessarily subsidise coach travel as it depends on how full the coach is - a full one should not need subsidy but a half empty one does.

and I am not telling where the tipping point between these 2 are as each journey is different as we keep prices to multiples of £5 to keep the giving of change straightforward

[T.R.O.L.I.]

Whilst I understand where you are coming from think about it from the players point of view. How are they to know who comes to away games other than by coach? Don't say that the club knows who it has sold tickets to as the players don't and legally should not be allowed access to that information unless it was covered by the Data Protection entry and as it is an unusual gesture that is very unlikely.

Who pays the player's wages? The club

Who sells the tickets to fans? The club

So where's the problem with the club diverting £5K from the players wages to the Ticket Office? No different to my payroll department deducting money from my salary for my student loan. No need to break Data Protection laws there.

The only issue I can see (which Dirk has mentioned) is the possiblity of it going against the FLA's regulations - but you've pinned your whole arguement on Data Protection laws. And in any case, those Reading fans who wouldn't benefit from discounted tickets will at least appreciate the fact that they had a chance of benefitting - unlike those who will never travel on STAR coaches (like the poster who's flying in from Belfast or perhaps the Northern Royals).

At no point did I say that I didn't appreciate the sentiment of the gesture just that it is solely being offered to a very small minority of fans.

[Behindu]

At no point did I say that I didn't appreciate the sentiment of the gesture just that it is solely being offered to a very small minority of fans.

No it's not. A small minority may be able to take it up but it's being offered to the vast majority.

Even if you did something with tickets it wouldn;t be 100% fair. I'll be at the game but in circumstances that don;t require me to buy a ticket. Could i have my share in cash ?

[Schards#2]

At no point did I say that I didn't appreciate the sentiment of the gesture just that it is solely being offered to a very small minority of fans.

No it's not. A small minority may be able to take it up but it's being offered to the vast majority.

Even if you did something with tickets it wouldn;t be 100% fair. I'll be at the game but in circumstances that don;t require me to buy a ticket. Could i have my share in cash ?

Are the vast majority of travelling fans Reading based STAR members?

[Behindu]

At no point did I say that I didn't appreciate the sentiment of the gesture just that it is solely being offered to a very small minority of fans.

No it's not. A small minority may be able to take it up but it's being offered to the vast majority.

Even if you did something with tickets it wouldn;t be 100% fair. I'll be at the game but in circumstances that don;t require me to buy a ticket. Could i have my share in cash ?

Are the vast majority of travelling fans Reading based STAR members?

Why ?
The vast majority will be Reading or local to Reading based.
The entire number will be eligible for STAR membership.
I don;t think it's unsustainable to say that the vast majority would be able to take advantage of the offer, obviously many chose not to join STAR, or not to travel by coach and only 350 can get the travel. But the vast majority being offered the opportunity.

[Stranded]

At no point did I say that I didn't appreciate the sentiment of the gesture just that it is solely being offered to a very small minority of fans.

No it's not. A small minority may be able to take it up but it's being offered to the vast majority.

Even if you did something with tickets it wouldn;t be 100% fair. I'll be at the game but in circumstances that don;t require me to buy a ticket. Could i have my share in cash ?

Are the vast majority of travelling fans Reading based STAR members?

Why ?
The vast majority will be Reading or local to Reading based.
The entire number will be eligible for STAR membership.
I don;t think it's unsustainable to say that the vast majority would be able to take advantage of the offer, obviously many chose not to join STAR, or not to travel by coach and only 350 can get the travel. But the vast majority being offered the opportunity.

This is where I agree, this offer IS available to the vast majority of Reading fans.

Every Reading fan can choose to join STAR at any moment, if you've chosen not to and don't get the discounted travel then so be it.

Seems a very similar arguement to those people use when their kid has an ST so miss out on the Kid for a Quid deal.

[Dr Hfuhruhurr]

Every Reading fan can choose to join STAR at any moment, if you've chosen not to and don't get the discounted travel then so be it.

Is the STAR membership fee being waived for this game?
If not then if the money was to go to all Non-STAR members, then two thirds of it will actually get diverted to STAR. No wonder they are happy to promote this.

Maybe Ive missed this in this thread, but this offer would be available to the "vast majority of fans" if you could book this coach ticket without STAR membership. Otherwise, its merely a five pound off - and you have to ponder whether travelling on a coach to City is worth only 5 pounds.

[Behindu]

Maybe Ive missed this in this thread, but this offer would be available to the "vast majority of fans" if you could book this coach ticket without STAR membership.

No, it is available to the vast majority. If it was available without TSAR membership then existing STAR members would only be getting the £5 and non TSAR members would be getting an extra subsidy.

Anyone who joins STAR gets all the other rights of membership (whether they chose to use them or not).

[Stranded]

Every Reading fan can choose to join STAR at any moment, if you've chosen not to and don't get the discounted travel then so be it.

Is the STAR membership fee being waived for this game?
If not then if the money was to go to all Non-STAR members, then two thirds of it will actually get diverted to STAR. No wonder they are happy to promote this.

Maybe Ive missed this in this thread, but this offer would be available to the "vast majority of fans" if you could book this coach ticket without STAR membership. Otherwise, its merely a five pound off - and you have to ponder whether travelling on a coach to City is worth only 5 pounds.

But the fact is the "vast majority of fans" in fact all fans are eligible to join STAR at any given time, not just now - to have the ability to take advantage of the offer.

If you haven't chosen to join until now (and I haven't) then that's life. You can possibly join under the same terms as all other members and get the £5 of travel and miss out. Personally I won't bother as I wasn't going anyway.

[Dr Hfuhruhurr]

Maybe Ive missed this in this thread, but this offer would be available to the "vast majority of fans" if you could book this coach ticket without STAR membership.

No, it is available to the vast majority. If it was available without TSAR membership then existing STAR members would only be getting the £5 and non TSAR members would be getting an extra subsidy.

Anyone who joins STAR gets all the other rights of membership (whether they chose to use them or not).

Whereas under your model, Non-STAR members get the full subsidy, whereas non-STAR members not only get only one third of the subsidy, but STAR gets the other two-thirds of it. The difference between the two models is that the money 'lost' by STAR members under my model isnt going to Non-Members.

No matter, how you dress it up, the players subsidy is being used as a STAR subsidy.

You should also realise that at this stage. That many dont want to join STAR, so suggesting that the 10 pound isnt lost is a moot point.

[Behindu]

No matter, how you dress it up, the players subsidy is being used as a STAR subsidy.

.

In one specific situation then there is an element of that.

Which is of no real relevance to whether the offer is available to the vast majority. Which it is.

It's bizarre that whenever something is done of this nature (kid for a quid, Family Block, multi buy offers, even the whole Royals Family effort) the main focus is on how 'unfair' it all is. I'd advise a few people writing to Murts and putting him straight on a few things before he gets involved in this sort of nonsense again....

[rob the royal]

[quote="Behindu"]It's bizarre that whenever something is done of this nature (kid for a quid, Family Block, multi buy offers, even the whole Royals Family effort) the main focus is on how 'unfair' it all is.[quote]

i'm actually really sorry i started this thread. as i've already said several times i don't stand to gain as i've already decided which away games i'm going to go to this season, and would only have been tempted to go to man city if lots of people i knew were going to go as well. but despite the fact i won't gain i still think it's a great thing for them to have done. i just thought perhaps with the away following not being so great this year they might have done it another way to encourage a big turnout at man city. i think most people who are posting and getting tarred as 'moaners' would agree with that. i can't see why everyone has to make out that we're moaning that not enough money was donated. it's just a fact that if they want to get more people to go it would have cost them more. generally it seems to me people on this thread aren't 'getting their calculators out' and working out whether they'll gain or not and saying it's unfair. we're just discussing what other alternatives there are.

i know by saying this i am moaning, but it would help a lot of the discussions on here if people didn't just automatically brand things as 'here we go again - more royals fans having a moan'