Opinion Where has the club gone wrong?

It's highly unusual for things to turn so ugly by mid April. Supporters have had enough and are voting with their feet while the club is desperately trying to hold things together and pretend that everything is gravy.

The co captaincy decision was like the final dagger to the collective hearts of the supporter base by this regime, with the ridiculous rationale used to explain it like the salt to the wound.

If things continue to go south, this club and team will be a hard sell at the end of this year. I suspect they will lean heavily on the 150th year as a means to bring the supporters back into the fold, by looking backwards rather than forwards for inspiration. There's only one thing that would really help though.
 
I just sent a fairly long email to Matthew Richardson outlining my concerns.

I predict it'll be a huge waste of my time, but I have heaps to get off my chest if they're specifically asking.

To recap:

• “Little club from Alberton” [Koch]
• “All of them significantly bigger than us” [Thomas]
• “Port Adelaide has always punched above its weight” [Thomas]
• “No-one was complaining when we won five in a row” [Lade]
• “At 11-4 Ken was a superhero” [Koch]
• “There is absolutely no doubt in my mind. This is the best win I’ve been involved with at Port Adelaide, including finals.” [Hinkley]
• “We’ve got a long way to go to become anything like the Richmond Football Club.” [Hinkley]

There are no doubt more putrid soundbytes I’ve forgotten in the wake of unconvincing wins and dreadful losses.

Just what the hell are they playing at down there?

It’s like a race to the bottom in terms of lowering expectations and overinflating what should be pretty standard scenarios for a club which should be in the upper echelon of the league talentwise.

And they seem surprised that the natives are restless.
 

El_Scorcho

Hall of Famer
Aug 21, 2007
31,570
98,420
AFL Club
Port Adelaide
Other Teams
Aston Villa, San Antonio Spurs
To recap:

• “Little club from Alberton” [Koch]
• “All of them significantly bigger than us” [Thomas]
• “Port Adelaide has always punched above its weight” [Thomas]
• “No-one was complaining when we won five in a row” [Lade]
• “At 11-4 Ken was a superhero” [Koch]
• “There is absolutely no doubt in my mind. This is the best win I’ve been involved with at Port Adelaide, including finals.” [Hinkley]
• “We’ve got a long way to go to become anything like the Richmond Football Club.” [Hinkley]

There are no doubt more putrid soundbytes I’ve forgotten in the wake of unconvincing wins and dreadful losses.

Just what the hell are they playing at down there?

It’s like a race to the bottom in terms of lowering expectations and overinflating what should be pretty standard scenarios for a club which should be in the upper echelon of the league talentwise.

And they seem surprised that the natives are restless.

I covered the onfield stuff, which is literally pointless but I had to cover it because it's everything really.

I also said that the main issues were a lack of accountability and the constant playing down of expectation in the middle of what should be a flag window.

I could handle losses so much more if I thought we'd learn any lessons from them whatsoever. I just want a senior decision maker at the club to acknowledge how poorly we've done over the past 4 years and take some ownership of it. Instead we get smugly talked down to about things like the co-captaincy. I'm sorry but after 4 years of failure you don't qualify to tell us that you know better anymore. Win something and get back to me.
 
Aug 30, 2004
36,051
64,736
Kaurna Land
AFL Club
Port Adelaide
Other Teams
Vikings, Canadiens, Sharks
I just sent a fairly long email to Matthew Richardson outlining my concerns.

I predict it'll be a huge waste of my time, but I have heaps to get off my chest if they're specifically asking.
Can someone who is on the Twitter tweet a link to the HumongousSherrin Ports board to Matthew Richardson.
 
Jun 7, 2015
6,971
13,676
AFL Club
Port Adelaide
Seems very appropriate.

Make the hard decisions Port.

1555365279878.png
 

Greymatter

Senior List
Jan 27, 2019
207
334
AFL Club
Port Adelaide
Can someone who is on the Twitter tweet a link to the HumongousSherrin Ports board to Matthew Richardson.
They all read this forum. Probably half the reason they're going out on twitter. Though it's a bit rich to feign interest in fan opinion on social media when you're simply going to rebuff what fans say anyway
 
Aug 30, 2004
36,051
64,736
Kaurna Land
AFL Club
Port Adelaide
Other Teams
Vikings, Canadiens, Sharks
They all read this forum. Probably half the reason they're going out on twitter. Though it's a bit rich to feign interest in fan opinion on social media when you're simply going to rebuff what fans say anyway
If they read this forum then they should not need to ask the questions they are asking on Twitter unless they have every one except DonnaHinkleyUBewdy and Thunderpants on ignore.

It is hypocritical for Matthew Richardson to say that the club takes no notice of member and supporter opinions expressed in online polls when making decisions but is then on Twitter asking ex-members their opinions.
 

Jason K

Premium Platinum
Mar 1, 2014
2,815
6,825
Henley Beach
AFL Club
Port Adelaide
I just assumed some of the 'new and interesting defenders' on here were PAFC employees.

The defending of Ken & his mates on here at times has been breathtaking.

Yep, anyone who can't see we're flogging a dead horse is super niave. I have thought the same thing about all these new pro club accounts
 

Greymatter

Senior List
Jan 27, 2019
207
334
AFL Club
Port Adelaide
If they read this forum then they should not need to ask the questions they are asking on Twitter unless they have every one except DonnaHinkleyUBewdy and Thunderpants on ignore.

It is hypocritical for Matthew Richardson to say that the club takes no notice of member and supporter opinions expressed in online polls when making decisions but is then on Twitter asking ex-members their opinions.
I say that, given the commentary on here that club officials read the forum over the years. As far as I can tell from the material the club has put out recently and in the media, Richardson is clearly pretty senior, if not the senior after thomas. If he doesnt have an idea or have staff giving him feedback I'd be very surprised. Asking on twitter is just weird.
 
Sep 11, 2014
1,204
4,104
AFL Club
Port Adelaide
It is hypocritical for Matthew Richardson to say that the club takes no notice of member and supporter opinions expressed in online polls when making decisions but is then on Twitter asking ex-members their opinions.

This!!!

Not gonna do what the members overwhelmingly want and ignore them, so members don’t renew. Then they have the audacity to come out and say that they’re trying to understand why people haven’t renewed. Hmm... I wonder...
 
Apr 6, 2014
6,644
9,635
AFL Club
Port Adelaide
If they read this forum then they should not need to ask the questions they are asking on Twitter unless they have every one except DonnaHinkleyUBewdy and Thunderpants on ignore.

It is hypocritical for Matthew Richardson to say that the club takes no notice of member and supporter opinions expressed in online polls when making decisions but is then on Twitter asking ex-members their opinions.

They should be contacting those former members directly to gather their evidence.

lol .... DonnaHinkleyUBewdy ... had me giggling like our Kochie.
 

rumoursofwinter

Norm Smith Medallist
Nov 7, 2008
5,148
6,703
melbourne
AFL Club
Port Adelaide
I dont know what richo was expecting lol. He's making it a fair bit worse.

He's doing his job. He probably has a bonus with membership numbers as one of his kpi's. If he doesn't reach his kpi's then he doesn't get a bonus. The more engagement with lapsed members, the more they will renew their memberships and improve the numbers. You can't really complain about about someone trying to do their job. I hope the club gets some renewals as a consequence. I also wish that Hinkley was judged on his KPI's and treated accordingly. There should be accountability for poor results especially from those in highly paid positions who are making poor decisions which are causing the poor results.

Sack Hinkley.
 
Koch has been nothing if not consistent at insulting the members. His speech at the Insider day was no different.

He brought up 3-captains with that s**t-eating grin of his just to piss off supporters. In my time supporting Port, I don't think the relationship between the senior coach and the supporters has ever been this toxic. Ken needs to GTFO.

"You've got to weed out people who breed an atmosphere of non-professionalism.

They're there for the bloody joke, for the social life, for the prestige. They're not there to win!!"
 
Mar 1, 2014
9,037
17,180
AFL Club
Port Adelaide
KT's absolutely pathetic email, and Richo's indignant responses to supporters, who have done no more than point out the bleeding f****** obvious that the vast majority of us have had a gut full, have me shaking my head in disbelief at their amateur theatrics.

KT's condescending bull s**t which basically compared our once great club to a minnow fighting for survival in a school of barracudas should have NEVER seen the light of day, and Richo has obviously lost the plot, what the f*** did he expect? :rolleyes:

I can see the fall out from this will result in blood being spilt, but regardless, the first head on the chopping block needs to be Koch, he is the one who has been in charge of f****** the club's traditions backwards and sideways.
He needs to stay in Sydney and go back to supporting the swans because he knows as much about what makes a traditional football club tick as blind Freddy's grandmas canary.
 
Oct 12, 2007
30,503
52,055
The Hills
AFL Club
Port Adelaide
As MrMeaner said all the responses are just defensive rather than understanding the supporters point of view which is meant to be the point of the exercise.

It's just another case of the club telling us we are wrong and they'll continue to do what they think is right rather than what the members believe is right.

They are fighting a battle they will not win.
This is pretty much it.

I'm sick of the club telling us we are wrong when we have lived and breathed what a successful PAFC looks like and they are failing dismally to replicate it.

On SM-G960F using BigFooty.com mobile app
 
Oct 12, 2007
30,503
52,055
The Hills
AFL Club
Port Adelaide
He brought up 3-captains with that s**t-eating grin of his just to piss off supporters. In my time supporting Port, I don't think the relationship between the senior coach and the supporters has ever been this toxic. Ken needs to GTFO.

"You've got to weed out people who breed an atmosphere of non-professionalism.

They're there for the bloody joke, for the social life, for the prestige. They're not there to win!!"
Everyone needs to reply with that quote from the Creed.

I have barely been able to read footy stufff this week I have been so pissed off an disenchanted.

The thing that disappoints me the most is that at the moment it looks like I am not going to be able to share with my kids the PAFC I got so much enjoyment out of growing up. We have a responsibility to the next generation of Port fans and we are ******* it up.

Richardsons comments about not running the club by poll go to the core of the issue.

The club should be run by a poll of the members. It should be a member based club with a board voted in by the members.

The ultimate poll would be the one where we get to kick the board out on their arse.

Imagine a board spill right now where George Fiachi and Tim Giniver were running a platform with some well known business heads. They would romp it in by a mile.

So yes Richardson there should be a poll.

In fact do the right thing and run a poll of whether the board has the support of the membership.

If 2/3 vote no then do the right thing and resign as should be enforced by the constitution of the PAFC of we were still a real football club.



On SM-G960F using
BigFooty.com mobile app
 
May 9, 2014
2,233
6,246
Perth
AFL Club
Port Adelaide
This is pretty much it.

I'm sick of the club telling us we are wrong when we have lived and breathed what a successful PAFC looks like and they are failing dismally to replicate it.

On SM-G960F using BigFooty.com mobile app
If you ask me the club have stepped away from what made us successful for whatever reason, it's to much weight of pressure on this board or whatever the case may be.

I actually don't understand it. Koch is quick to throw out the line we are a small club from Alberton etc whenever it suits him, the board should tell him to jam that line and put it away. I'm sure I'm not the only one who cringes whenever he says it. Though it does suit the narrative of the product they push out. I don't think Koch and co have read the competition they are in. The Western Bulldogs won a flag in 2016 for godsake. I don't hear their president saying they won that for the little guy etc. Doesn't happen.

It's time they were more ruthless, and became who we are, not hid from it or step away from our tradition which is what they've done.
 
Back