And the regular season is..... done!

So, this past weekend saw the boys play out the regular season, and it was very much a case of mixed fortunes.

On Saturday, we got a hiding from Swindon. 10-2. And by all accounts, TH was pissed off, big time, by the lack of performance put in by the team. And I'm betting a coach with faulty air-con and a arse of a driver didn't help (apparently, he made the people due to be dropped off in town get off at Alty as he 'hadn't been told' there was a drop off in town... which was at odds with what had been booked).

So on to Sunday, and we were faced with a delay. Initially, the game was delayed for an hour, as Bracknell had broken down near Oxford and were waiting for a replacement bus. The game actually eventually faced off 2 hours late, but I guess these things just can not be avoided. And it was niceto get to meet some of the Bracknell fans in the Station pub beforehand. Nice bunch of people.

Now, onto the game...

It finished 10-1. Which was nice.

In all honesty, the game was over within the first 2 mins, by which point Bracknell had conceded 2 quickfire goals. From that point, I just could not see any other result than a Phoenix win. NAd we played some nice hockey, laying 50 shots down on the Bracknell goal. I will freely admit to not really watching the 3rd period, as I was talking to Becky about a few things, but I never enjoy watching 1 sided games anyway.

And we had a damned good crowd in. A contingent of nearly 400 Scouts boosted the crowd to one of a simialr size to the famous MKL game, putting near enough 1200 butts in seats. Which was nice.

And now we get the play offs. 2 games against Peterborough to decide who gets sent to Coventry (hang on... isn't being 'sent to Coventry' normally a bad thing?) for the Finals Weekend. hould be close, but I think we will edge it over the 2 legs.

And a little rant at this point.

Some Phoenx fans, instead of being at the Dome, supporting their own club are insted goign to the EIHL playoffs. WHY? The club needs you here, watching them, not down in Nottingham watching games you have no vested interest in. Priorities somewhat skewed, n'est pa?

Is it possible for a win to be boring?

Of course, the title is purely rhetorical, as the answer is clearly yes.

Poor Romford. They started the game quite brightly, but once they were behind, it was goodnight Vienna. Not that they gave up, far from it, its just that the now Big Ed less Phoenix looked like they really wanted to bury this game stone cold dead. Even Adam Summerfield got some more ice time, once the scoreline was sufficient enough.

And credit to Tony for having the lads lessen the pressure when Romford sent little Frankie Sabine out to man the goal. Nothing would have been achieved by blasting another 7 or 8 past the lad, other than his total embarassment and humiliation.

But it did get boring. Given that the result was pretty much a given by the 2nd period face off, I spent most of the 3rd having a lovely little chat with Mags about how the season has gone.

I alos had a very polite chat with Neil Morris about a few things, including my intention to apply for the new job of Communications Officer at the supporters club. I might get it, I might not, but no harm in trying, eh?

Anyways, back to the action in the rink, and I would say that the crowd was pretty average, being in the 850ish region. And from what I can gather, for our last regualr season home game, there may well be about 400 Scouts in attendance, which will make for a noisy game to say the least!

And thats it. Once more, nowt controversial. I must be loosing my touch...

Well, I wasn't expecting that in my inbox....

Not at all.

Now, whilst I understand that the club needs all the money it can get, to go after loyal Season Ticket holders, and to renege on not 1 but 2 'benefits' is, in my opinion, morally wrong.

For the amount it will gain the club (under/approx £1k extra over what they would have earnt on the gate) makes me wonder why they are bothering? Are finances that desperate?

Clearly so.

And I resent the tone of the email, too. It read to me like it was accusing ST holders of denying the club funds, when many of them have simply been taking advantage of offered incentives.

Personally, I will pay the extra £3, but I resent the way in which it has been asked for demanded. As I said, I understand the reason, but resent the way.

(more) back to back wins!!!!

Yup, for the 2nd weekend on the bounce we have taken all 4 points, and have shown a further improvement on the ice.

So, on to the first of our unique 'double header' home games, being Saturdays visit from the Sheffield Scimitars...

Phew, what a game! A solid 4-1 win, and 3 (yes, THREE) fights!

The standout goal of the game was Adam Walkers sublime shorthanded breakaway, which looked like a quality finish, from a quality forward. Walker is really maturing as the season has progressed, thriving on a line with TH. And we certainly didn't miss EC, indeed, we seemed much more willing to try out different attacks. Which was nice.

And now on to the fights. First fight of the night went to Tony Hand, of all people! The instigator seemed to be a seriously dangerous slash from behind on Tony, who turned around and battered the Scims lad cleanly. 2 punches were all that were required, but fuck me, what a sight! Tony Bloody Hand, fighting. He looked so pissed off. I don't think t helped that shortly before this, James Neil was punched by a player on the Scims bench, which seemed to get the blood up for most of the Phoenix lads.

This in turn lead to Tony very visibly signaling to Andre Payette that it was time to go to work. And Payette did not disapoint, picking out the biggest man on the ice, in the shape of Ben (?) Wilson, a man who looks like he has stolen Pasi Raittenens entire pie allocation fore the season. But a big man does not amke a great fighter, as Wilson proved by being easily battered by Payette, who barely broke sweat. Score that 2 fights to the Phoenix.

The 3rd fight was much less interesting with a bit of rolling around and a few shoert digs between a Scims player and Jaakko Hagelberg just a few minutes later. score that a 3rd fight, 3rd win for the Phoenix.

Following this extremely enjoyable win, came Sundays game against Bracknell.

And score a very solid 7-3 win for the boys, who once again came out and played their hearts out. Goal of the game was Payettes little stunner. I mean who the fuck told Payette he can play hockey? He's just a 'goon' isn't he? No, he bloody well isn't! As on Saturday, Payette had a cracker, bossing the play about on the ice, and playing like a man possessed. Payette has certainly flourished without Ed being in the line up, and on this form could well earn a contract for next season.

No fights, but this was a very physical game, with some monster hits being thrown, especially by young Ben Wood, who has certainly made significant improvements to his game since his benching.

Crowds on both nights were quite consistent, holding at around 800ish for both nights. Good travelling support to, although a big thumbs down to the idiot from Sheffield who refused to listen to the stewards when asked to not stand on the stairs during the game, and became quite abusive about it. Cock.

And that is all for now.

£70k down....

What follows is a quoute of a posting I placed on both Burning Budgies and the Official Forum:

Hmmm, something doesn't add up here....

Supposedly it takes about £7k/week to run the Phoenix (that was the figure mooted in the summer), now to make that [i]from gate receipts alone[/i] requires 778 people @£9 per head (averaged admission figure based on walk up, advance, concession, and ST per game prices), given the team plays for the full 30 weeks of the season. This gives a total gate reciept of £210,000/season.

Now, if we knock £70k off this we have a figure of £140,000, leaving a gate reciept of £4.6k/week, or 511 paying punters.

Our average attendance is somewhere arounf the 750-800ish mark (all paid from what I gather).

So either the £7k figure is erroneous, or something is seriously wrong. (Of course, these figures are a gross oversimplification of the actual cash flow, and ignore any ancilliary incomes such as sponsorship and merchandise, 50/50. etc). I personally think it is a combination of both.

Stick with me here...

I have heard that the magic figure for the season (ie the amount you could run the team on, including all expenses) is £300k, or £10k per week (which sounds more reasonable when you take everything into account).

Now, if all the clubs income currently gets near to this figure, then I would assume that either a large chunk of the clubs existing debt is being paid off, leaving a shortfall on the +/- for this seasons accounts, or the club has a serious inefficiancy somewhere along the line.


Of course, this is all just speculation, and I may be miles wide of the mark, but it does get you thinking, doesn't it...

So, what does this all mean?

Only 1 person has an accurate answer to this, and his name is Neil Morris. Personaly, I think that there is something deeply wrong with the finances of the club at the minute. Wrong, but rightable. I don't think we will be going bust any time soon, but I think that there is a pressing need for some major financial re-organisation. Running at a loss has a historical precendent for the Phoenix (every season AFAIK), but it can not continue indefinately, unless we have some very generous and forgiving creditors.

Sundays game, and more on the Supporters Club....

So, lets start with the game:

Firstly, this was a massively improved performance, when held up against the past few weeks worth. Most notably, the Phoenix were missing Big Ed (back home having a job interview), and Wallace, who is injured. This forced Tony to chnage thigs around mor ethan he might have liked to have done. And it worked. The first line looked pretty formidable, comprising Tony, Adam, and Jaakko, and if they have a few games they could become a pretty effective unit by the seasons end (just in time for the playoffs).

Being honest, Peterborough were still in the game (indeed they lead early on in the game), right up until we went 2 goals clear. This seemed to take the wind out of their sails, and allowed us to take control, and hold it until the final buzzer. Walker was good value for his goals, and seemed happier than he has done for a while. Which is nice.

Now, onto the supporters club...

After listening to the official Podcast, it seems that Neil Morris has taken a fair amount of the criticism onbaord to an extent, and made some changes:

All Members now own a 'nominal share' (although there was no mention of the value of this share).
The board will ultimately be comprised of 9 members (excluding Neil) who all posses 'Voting Shares'.
Members are now invited to applyto fill out the remaining 4 spaces on the board.

So, there does seem to be a reasonable amount of movement on Neils part. Of course, there are still issues. such as the implication from Neil that not being able to put in the '15-20 hours' would make someone 'ineligible' for the board (or at least, thats what I took his comment to mean). If, and thats IF, this is the case, I feel that Neil has fucked up once more. Someone who might only be able to give 5 or so hours up might be invaluable to the board for what they may bring to the table. Of course, Neil says that whoever gets one of the 4 remaining spaces has nothing to do with him, but we shall have to wait and see in this respect.

I also await the updated articles of this company (whose name we don't yet know, but the most prevalent assumption is that it is a re-activation of the FOMIH holding company), confirming these chages. If they don't, then its all moot, as NM will maintain final say (although part of me feels he still will anyways). But, as I will state once more, I am prepared to give this Supporters Club a go, and see what happens with it.

And yes, I am going to apply to be on the board. It would be rude not to.

The Phoenix and Me.

Some folks wonder why I get so involved with the club, and what goes on around it. I've been told that I should just 'pay my money and watch the game', or that if I don't like what goes on I should stop following the team.

But I just can not do either of those things.

I was there when it all started. I remember reading on 'Into The Storm' about the Storms home game against Nottingham being cancelled by the arena. At the time we all believed that SMG were trying to force the clubs hand and increase the per game rental cost, so I, along with a handful of other Storm supporters arranged for a protest to be held outside the Arenas box office (aka 'The City Room').

As it transpired, we were all duped by Gary Cowan, who took everyones money and bailed, leaving the fans without a team. From this, a number of meetings were held at Manchester Town Hall, and out of this grew FOMIH (Friends Of Manchester Ice Hockey). I was one of the founding members, serving on its board for a number of months, until I was removed in my absence. I hold no grudges about this. A decision wa smade that my post was extraneous, and I abided by that decision, although it would have been nice to have been there when it was decided.

From there, I became one of the original 'Block Reps' at the MEN, looking after new fans, and generally helping whenever I was asked to. Shit, I nearly got banned from the arena for doing the job of a steward when a visiting supporter was being verbally abused by some scrotes, then having the nerve to call the duty supervisor out over it. Fun times.

After the MEN season is topped volunteering on a match night for personal reasons, but have still been involved with the club as intimately as possible. I have attended a number of meetings at Comtec at the request of Neil Morris, and enjoyed quite a cordial relationship with him until lately.

These days, I am seen by some as a bit of a troublemaker. I have never been afraid to question the club over some of its activites, which hasn't helped me win any popularity contests. I like to believe though that I have the best interests of the club and my fellow fans at heart, which is why I have been, and still am so critical of the current situation regarding the supporters club.

Sometimes, I do wish I could just turn up and watch the game... but it just wouldn't be the same.

Weekend musings, and stuff from Tuesday...

So, lets begin at the beginning (as it were) with Sundays game.

Well, despite another defeat, there was a significant improvement on the ice. Sure, we still looked worryingly weak at the back (indeed, we nearly gave up a goal straight from the opening face-off), but going forward the boys certainly showed much more invention. This was probably helped by TH splitting himself and Ed up, running with Ed on the 2nd line. Sadly, lady luck wasn't on our side, with a number of chances that earlier in the season would have been bankers just not faling our way.

And thats it really. The team improved, and the crowd was lower than normal (if a little quiet, which is quite understandable) in my opinion. I would say there were about 700-750ish in the Dome. A number of whom left early to go and watch some other hockey game being played on Sunday evening).

Now, to the Supporters Club meeting on Tuesday.

Now, I, along with a number of others expected to attend this meeting to discuss the make up and operational parameters of the newly formed Supporters Club. However, Neil Morris clealry had other ideas. The Offical Manchester Phoenix Supporters Club is now a limited company, with a sole shareholder, namely Neil Morris. He has picked the board of directors, and he retains the sole right to remove or replace them at any time.

This caused a certain amount of consternation amongst a number of attendees at the meeting, most notably Tony Jones, owner of Synergy Interiors, one of the Phoenixs sponsors. What followed was a debate which appeared to become an arguement as Tony sought to get a full explanation as to why Neil had taken the steps that he did.

And thats it really. Plenty of folks were convinced by what Neil said, even if most didn't really understand the implications of his actions. equally so, there were a number of individuals (myself included) who left the meeting with grave misgivings about the self same actions. There is still not an adequete answer as to why Neil needed to set the supporters club up in this manner, as it appears to be unnecessary. Inded, as it stands, the supporters club does not have a constitution, but company articles, which we as members cannot vote upon or ratify, something I am deeply unhappy with.

It must alos be noted that Neil appeared to turn up in a combatative mood, indeed, upon his arrival to set up for the meeting, he came over to a group of us who were already there, and only acknowledged 1 member of this group, who is a part of the current S.C. board. Not even a simple 'hello' or 'good evening'. Nowt.

I will state this now, and I wish there to be no confusion: I have kept my membership of the supporters club, but I have deep misgivings about the way in which Neil Morris has gone about the setting up of the s.c.. I feel that there are issues to be resolved, and that we (the fans) have been deeply let down by not being given a say in how our own supporters club ahs been constructed. I also apportion no blame whatsoever to the current board members, who appeared to be as surprised as the rest of us. The fault for this lies solely at the feet of Neil Morris.

That is all.

This weekends update...

...WIll have to wait until Wednesday, so I can include details from the Supporters Club meeting taking place Tuesday @ Walkabout.