General enshittification of the club?

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Green
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Re: General enshittification of the club?

by Green » 04 Jun 2026 10:14

Marcel wrote: 04 Jun 2026 10:12
katweslowski wrote: 04 Jun 2026 09:24
Clyde1998 wrote: 03 Jun 2026 19:40 There are basic things which should've been done to improve fan experience, which hasn't been done. Things like cleaning the toilets; fixing the taps; replacing faded/damaged/missing signage; ensuring staff are actually knowledgeable; etc. These things have an impact as to whether people would want to return to the stadium and shouldn't cost very much.

Most of what they've done so far in 'improve fan experience' seems to be based on gimmicks or low priority things: the fireworks; safe standing; the training ground visit.

Arguably the only major thing the current owners are doing is relaying the pitch and I believe that was required to be done due to the subsidence and unevenness. If I'm remembering what I was told by a member of the ground staff a couple of years ago correctly, we were having to get special dispensation from the EFL to keep playing on the pitch and we were only getting that due to our ownership situation.
I kind of see your point but I do think (and this is crazy to say because of how he basically saved our entire club), he can't win.

He does all the things I mentioned, recruited new and innovative people, tried to engage and speak to fans, and still people will moan about toilets, signage and staff.

Had he started out by fixing the bogs, educating staff and putting signs up, people would say "all he's done is put some signs up"

I agree with another poster that people are expecting too much. Poeple think the club and business revolve around the 90 minutes we spend there but it's obviously far greater than that. From the 100s of staff working from HR to Finance, Legal, etc, to the vehicles they own, youth staff, the training sites, the funds for equipment, the maintance of all aspects from the office space, to Bearwood, to the ground.

Yet fans are focussing on the taps being shit, and the signs being dull/removed.

As I said, I get your point, I really do - but I think fans need to be realistic and also reasonable.
People complaining about taps and toilets or bathrooms as the yanks call them, are relevant.
They are the basics that any customer would expect from a supposedly modern sports stadium.
faucets

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URZZZZZZZZ
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Re: General enshittification of the club?

by URZZZZZZZZ » 04 Jun 2026 10:15

katweslowski wrote: 04 Jun 2026 09:50
URZZZZZZZZ wrote: 04 Jun 2026 09:29
Millsy wrote: 03 Jun 2026 16:25 Not sure what people have been expecting tbh.

Reclining padded seats?
VR enhancement headsets?
Prawn sandwiches delivered by topless staff?
10 different 5 star restaurants on the concourse?
FIreworks before and after every game?
Red arrows for every half time?


Not enough that he's saved the club from ruin and is taking time to sort things out in a sound and sustainable way?

ffs
He didn’t save the club from ruin. He strong armed himself into a position where only he could by it, knowing that he didn’t have enough money. His only intention here is to strip back costs as much as possible to show the club to be artificially profitable.

Other buyers were there with more money and more prowess, but he just couldn’t let it lie. Now, we’re struggling to pay the bills because he took on a project he cant afford.
What in God's name are you talking about? How can he not afford it? He's paying the wages, he's installing new speakers, he's upgrading the pitch, he's got food back in the training ground, hotels for players before games, new investors and partnership deals, investment in Royals TV and social media, and AI.

I will never understand fans like you at all. He agreed to buy the club a year before he did but DY f.cked him about and so rightly took legal action.

Either way, he did save the club from ruin. How can you even argue that. We were mere days from league expulsion.
He’s had to borrow money to do all of the improvements to the stadium. We also have a huge amount of suppliers who aren’t paid in a timely manner.

What partnership deals are you referring to?

What investment has there been into social media? And what tangible differences have you seen from the use of AI?

He was going to buy the club a year earlier than he did, but Howe knew he didn’t have the funds to be able run the club so determined there were better suitors out there. He was paid back his loan with interest but didn’t return the security he had of the club.

We had the opportunity to be taken over by billionaires with a good track record in football, but his ego or his urge to try and make a quick profit (or both) wouldn’t let the club move onto much better solutions.

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Re: General enshittification of the club?

by Marcel » 04 Jun 2026 11:24

URZZZZZZZZ wrote: 04 Jun 2026 10:15
katweslowski wrote: 04 Jun 2026 09:50
URZZZZZZZZ wrote: 04 Jun 2026 09:29

He didn’t save the club from ruin. He strong armed himself into a position where only he could by it, knowing that he didn’t have enough money. His only intention here is to strip back costs as much as possible to show the club to be artificially profitable.

Other buyers were there with more money and more prowess, but he just couldn’t let it lie. Now, we’re struggling to pay the bills because he took on a project he cant afford.
What in God's name are you talking about? How can he not afford it? He's paying the wages, he's installing new speakers, he's upgrading the pitch, he's got food back in the training ground, hotels for players before games, new investors and partnership deals, investment in Royals TV and social media, and AI.

I will never understand fans like you at all. He agreed to buy the club a year before he did but DY f.cked him about and so rightly took legal action.

Either way, he did save the club from ruin. How can you even argue that. We were mere days from league expulsion.
He’s had to borrow money to do all of the improvements to the stadium. We also have a huge amount of suppliers who aren’t paid in a timely manner.

What partnership deals are you referring to?

What investment has there been into social media? And what tangible differences have you seen from the use of AI?

He was going to buy the club a year earlier than he did, but Howe knew he didn’t have the funds to be able run the club so determined there were better suitors out there. He was paid back his loan with interest but didn’t return the security he had of the club.

We had the opportunity to be taken over by billionaires with a good track record in football, but his ego or his urge to try and make a quick profit (or both) wouldn’t let the club move onto much better solutions.
And this led to him installing an inexperienced CEO who in turn landed the club with a clown of a manager with no ambition to even attempt to play any form of watchable football.

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Re: General enshittification of the club?

by morganb » 04 Jun 2026 11:49

What's more important - shiny taps or a decent manager
What's more important - new signs or an experienced CEO
What's more important - fireworks or promotion
Sounds simple doesn't it?
Or perhaps we can have a mixture of both?

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Re: General enshittification of the club?

by Green » 04 Jun 2026 13:50

morganb wrote: 04 Jun 2026 11:49 What's more important - shiny taps or a decent manager
What's more important - new signs or an experienced CEO
What's more important - fireworks or promotion
Sounds simple doesn't it?
Or perhaps we can have a mixture of both?
:|

Seems you've missed the nuance of the conversation entirely.

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Re: General enshittification of the club?

by katweslowski » 04 Jun 2026 14:00

Marcel wrote: 04 Jun 2026 10:12 People complaining about taps and toilets or bathrooms as the yanks call them, are relevant.
They are the basics that any customer would expect from a supposedly modern sports stadium.
FFS, I didn't say they weren't relevant. In fact, I said I completely got the point but people need to be patient and realistic.

The club was in a complete state and some fans seem to be thinking that what they see and experience for a single 90 minute visit is the most vital. Forgetting the debts, the messed up admin, the basics just not being there at all.

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Re: General enshittification of the club?

by Green » 04 Jun 2026 14:11

What would Dave Brailsford say about the lustre of the taps.

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Re: General enshittification of the club?

by Marcel » 04 Jun 2026 14:36

katweslowski wrote: 04 Jun 2026 14:00
Marcel wrote: 04 Jun 2026 10:12 People complaining about taps and toilets or bathrooms as the yanks call them, are relevant.
They are the basics that any customer would expect from a supposedly modern sports stadium.
FFS, I didn't say they weren't relevant. In fact, I said I completely got the point but people need to be patient and realistic.

The club was in a complete state and some fans seem to be thinking that what they see and experience for a single 90 minute visit is the most vital. Forgetting the debts, the messed up admin, the basics just not being there at all.
I and most fans only visit for a 90 minute football match so that should be a priority to the owners if they expect people to come back and purchase season tickets. We are customers after all.
The debts and messed up admin is not the supporters problem

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Re: General enshittification of the club?

by SouthDownsRoyal » 04 Jun 2026 15:11

morganb wrote: 04 Jun 2026 11:49 What's more important - shiny taps or a decent manager
What's more important - new signs or an experienced CEO
What's more important - fireworks or promotion
Sounds simple doesn't it?
Or perhaps we can have a mixture of both?
Think we’ve on,y got fireworks out of all that so far

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Re: General enshittification of the club?

by Marcel » 04 Jun 2026 15:36

SouthDownsRoyal wrote: 04 Jun 2026 15:11
morganb wrote: 04 Jun 2026 11:49 What's more important - shiny taps or a decent manager
What's more important - new signs or an experienced CEO
What's more important - fireworks or promotion
Sounds simple doesn't it?
Or perhaps we can have a mixture of both?
Think we’ve on,y got fireworks out of all that so far
Yeah and definitely no shiny taps or decent manager :lol:

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