Fans' Parliament Meeting 1
11 July, 2006
Below is a précis of the main talking points, independently written by freelance journalist David Instone.
The manager search
Jez Moxey preceded questions from the floor with an update on the pursuit of Glenn Hoddle's successor: "We've had approximately 45 applications and discounted about 20 of them," he said. "We've whittled the others down to about 12 and are going to commence interviews.
"We're looking for a manager who has some experience and who possibly has some experience in winning promotion; one who will at least get the team to perform to the very best of its ability. The successful candidate must show us a track record, I believe, and show in interviews how much he wants the job. Hopefully, he will also be media-friendly. We're definitely hoping to appoint before the season starts but it might take some time."
The top table wouldn't be drawn on names, although Jez described how former Molineux midfielder Paul Simpson had built a 'very good reputation' with back-to-back promotions at Carlisle and was a man he would have recommended Wolves' board to talk to if he hadn't already been appointed by Preston.
Several candidates received support from elsewhere. Phil Kay urged the club to be careful about 'experience' because a wealth of experience in the past hadn't brought success. "The way Paul Ince took Leon Clarke under his wing last season showed he is a leader in waiting," he said. "I urge you to think closely about Paul Ince. There's one key word, desire, and he has shown it."
Chris Cox, from Daventry Wolves, said: "The moment I heard the news about Glenn, I knew who I wanted and I haven't changed - that's Mick McCarthy."
Dan Lavelle, from Molineux Mix, also backed McCarthy, insisting: "He ticks all the boxes. He has international experience, has won promotion and has brought players through from lower divisions."
Terry Brearley argued that Wolves, having just lost an ex-international manager, shouldn't be chasing another. "We're looking for a hungry motivator," he said.
Oscar Harris leant his weight to Hibernian's management duo by saying: "Can I throw in my support if there has been an application from Tony Mowbray and Mark Venus?"
In answer to a question from Tim Spiers, Sir Jack Hayward said he hoped for a manager who could bring 'passion and commitment among players that Reading and Watford have.'
It was a sentiment echoed by Dev Purewal (Punjabi Wolves), who said: "We need a manager who can put fire and pride into the players."
Jez replied to an enquiry from Barry Baker, of London Underground Wolves, by saying the club HAD approached bosses who hadn't applied. He also said two men working in tandem would be considered but warned: "I think it's a recipe for disaster to allow a new man to come in and clear the decks completely."
The CEO summed up: "You're never going to find the perfect applicant but we're optimistic we can find a manager to take the club forward."
Nuneaton Wolves' Bob Adams said of the outgoing manager: "None of us felt comfortable that he had the club at heart. We need someone who can relate to the club and this working-class area."
Jim Heath suggested the parting of the ways should have come sooner: "The feeling among fans is that Glenn wasn't dismissed in May just so we could save a few bob. Why didn't the club take control then?"
Jez replied: "He convinced us then that he was committed and was happy to operate under the financial constraints. I consistently said last season this would be a much different club if we didn't go up."
A new journey
In response to an assertion from Molineux Mix's David Bissell that Wolves should have the ambition to set out to win every game, Jez Moxey said: "There will be no pronouncements from me about where we finish. Our expectation is to win every possible game and, if our recruitment plans for new players drop into place, we could have a successful season."
The root of fans' frustrations, according to Kulbinder Kular, was the quality of football. "We scored one goal per home game last season and that's not good enough. We should ask the new manager how he proposes to play and how the team will be structured."
Jim Heath added: "We pay good money and the fans have every right if they are being served rubbish to let the players know. They will embrace the new era but the worry is that we're losing 6,000 supporters and might see crowds of 14 and 15,000." Jez Moxey countered: "I don't think we'll see attendances that low."
Secretary Richard Skirrow said his new office at the Sir Jack Hayward Training Ground at Compton gave him close access to the players. "Confidence is such an enormous factor," he said. "It's easy to think they aren't committed when confidence is low or when they are at a loss with the system or whatever. We have to be careful that we don't beat every ounce of confidence out of them. In that first half at home to Crewe last season, I've never known a crowd be so much on the back of home players. It's chicken and egg but if we can get behind them and break that cycle?."
Carolyn Skitt claimed: "The fans are as much to blame as anyone else for our lack of success. It's not the majority but the noisy minority."
Session chairman Stuart Cain asked: "How forgiving do you think you will be as supporters? How will we allow a younger team to develop?"
Bob Adams replied: "Leon Clarke was unfortunate last season because some supporters were very unfair to him. Now we are out of the era when we expect to go up every season, the fans will be more forgiving to the younger players."
Roger Fellows' view was: "We're now talking about reality. We have had the so-called top managers and we've had the expensive players and they have not worked. Reading had 39 points more than us last season. Unbelievable! I believe the message should be that the new Wolves are going to be younger and hungrier."
Sir Jack Hayward added: "The support of the fans is absolutely essential; worth 10-12 points a season. In the last few weeks, one of our players has said to me the support was fantastic at his former club and he doesn't see it here."
And Jez added: "We're at the beginning of this new journey. The best support I've known in my six years here was in the second half of the Premiership season but the players need support now more than ever."
Strategy and planning
Jon Lockley said Molineux goings-on resembled a crisis rather than a strategy, arguing that more detailed planning - maybe over five years - was needed.
But Jez Moxey responded: "Planning like that just doesn't work in football because of change. Managers go and that throws things out. It may look like crisis now but, if the greater support stick with us, it (the financial reshaping) could be the best thing that has happened to us for a while.
"At various times, we have seen Sir Jack spend loads of money, then spend not so much, then spend a lot, then not so much again. He has bankrolled the club to the tune of £50m. If he had said: 'Here's £5m every year and that's your lot, it would have been easier.'
Helen Thomas asked: "Who has the final say on buying players?" Jez: The manager chooses who the club pursue but we have discussions first and tell him not to ask for four 38-year-olds or anyone on £5m a year. It has never been my remit to sign players. The board say yes or no to the manager's proposals and we proceed. Of course, with Premier League and international players come high-level wages. If we sign young, lower-division player, the opposite is true - but we've only signed Tony Dinning and Ivar Ingimarsson in the last six years from divisions below us.
Stadium
Jez Moxey revealed a vision for a rebuilt Steve Bull Stand curving round to join the Jack Harris Stand.
He conceded to James Fielden that it wasn't ideal to have away fans beneath home fans on that side of Molineux, explaining: "I would like the family enclosure over there and I'd like away fans in the corner (by the subway). We have even debated with the authorities about having only away supporters in the Jack Harris. From a cost point of view, it's the right thing to do but we said we wouldn't do it because we didn't want to upset Wolves fans. We had nightmares about the thought of displacing 2,000 season ticket holders!"
Roger Fellows asked why opposition fans were often at the front of the Steve Bull Stand, from where they might influence match officials. Secretary Richard Skirrow answered: "It has long been considered an advantage to have vociferous Wolves fans behind both goals."
Muriel Bates, from the Official Wolves Supporters Club, said half-time congestion under the Billy Wright Stand was a big problem while officials promised to look at complaints about floors becoming slippery on wet days - and also at how barriers were used to keep opposing fans apart on their way out of the ground.
Pre-match entertainment
Georgina Savage said: "Normally, the supporters are our 12th man. Last season, they were the opposition's 12th man. The wind-up we have for matches is more like a wind-down. We must be the only club with a famous composer as a former fan (Elgar) and he wrote some very rousing music that we could play."
Richard Skirrow referred to Norwich officials who still praised the build-up to the 2001 play-off semi-final second leg but admitted the routine immediately before kick-off 'was a bit tired.'
Bob Adams suggested an entertainment expert be commissioned to look at pre-match and half-time packages.
Georgina and Rob Fuller (Evesham Wolves) said the PA system was awful in the Stan Cullis Stand - information the club said they would investigate.
Fixture scheduling
Richard Skirrow described the traditional concept of games kicking off at 3pm on a Saturday as a thing on the past. He told Jim Heath that he couldn't see those days returning.
"We have no control over Sky but the police can overrule them," he said. "Sky would like to have had the game at Albion on a Monday night but the police were very much against that."
Roger Fellows believes Wolves have had a rough deal, with their first, last and Boxing Day games in 2006-07 all away. He asked if the club could have made representations to avoid the long midweek trips to Southampton, Norwich and Ipswich but was told by the secretary: "There is a working party on fixtures and it's the luck of the draw. As for home games on certain days, it won't be far off 50-50 over the years."
Internet
Jon Lockley and Roger Fellows both raised questions about the official Wolves website, asking respectively for the introduction of free Internet commentaries for overseas fans and for registration procedures to be minimised.
Stuart Cain replied: "It's difficult to offer it free as the Sky TV model is based on paying extra and we have a certain deal with a company called Football League Interactive (FLi) and PTV, as many clubs do."
Jez Moxey said the registration process helped the club expand its database which was an important part of the club's commercial strategy.
Ticket pricing
Chris Cox told that, due to the number of night games and Wolves' prices - "high compared to some other clubs in the Midlands" - his two children shared a season ticket that sometimes went unused.
Stuart Cain said: "We haven't put (admission) prices up now for two years. This subject is always going to be emotive but we have held prices where we can. Perhaps you could consider the family enclosure."
There was encouragement from ticket office manager Lynne O'Reardon for the students group represented by James Fielden. She said the students' season ticket concept was scrapped several years ago because of abuse but added: "Ask for a young person's season ticket and, if there are enough enquiries, the board will look at it."
Tim Spiers also felt more could be done for those in education as Wolverhampton was a growing student city.
Jez Moxey revealed how it had cost the club millions to run the early bird scheme but said: "It has worked tremendously well. In 2003-04, most of our fans were watching Premiership football at cheap Championship prices."
Chris Cox hoped the no-smoking policy might be extended to all areas of Molineux, although Stuart Cain said that was unlikely until there was further Government legislation.
Lynne pointed out that there were always seats available in no-smoking areas.
Disabled car parking
Roger Chatter asked whether car park space nearer the ground could be given to the disabled to ease the shortage.
Lynne O'Reardon said those areas were already effectively bought as part of corporate packages but said the capacity at one of the two car parks for the disabled, in Camp Street, had increased from 20 to 30 for the coming season. "The one near the ticket office has 46 places," she said. "108 applications have come in and we have 76 spaces, so some people will be disappointed." It was pointed out the criteria for allocating disabled spaces was based upon professional advice from a Wolverhampton Council official.
Kit
Jez Moxey replied to criticism from David Bissell about the playing kits over the last five years by saying they had outsold any previous designs. "There have been record replica kit sales and the merchandising dept have performed fantastically and brought in huge money," he said. "That disproves the theory that people haven't liked the design of the kit." He called the recent kit launch 'a disaster in terms of timing.'
Members who were timed out at the end of the session were encouraged to e-mail questions to the relevant departments.
LIST OF MEMBERS:
Name Areas of interest E-mail address Telephone Number Barry Baker official supporters clubs (London Underground Wolves); long distance fans Bob Adams official supporters clubs (Nuneaton Wolves); youth teams and the academy Bob Crockett Ticketing, TPS members,official supporters clubs (Nuneaton Wolves) Carolyn Skitt Jack Harris stand; female fans; season ticket holders Chris Cox official supporters clubs (Daventry Wolves); season ticket holders (home and away) Dan Lavelle Molineux Mix David Bissell Molineux Mix Dev Purewal season ticket holders; official supporters clubs (Punjabi Wolves; ethnic supporters Georgina Savage Stan Cullis stand; female supporters; season ticket holders (home and away) Helen Thomas female fans; season ticket holders James Fielden Jack Harris stand; students Jim Heath season ticket holders; reserve team football; fanzines Jon Lockley overseas fans; long distance fans; season ticket holders Judy Williams female supporters; season ticket holders (home and away); travel club Kevin Richards football finance; board governance Kulbinder Kular disabled supporters; ethnic supporters Mark Farnell disabled supporters; season ticket holders 07838 395614 Muriel Bates season ticket holders; official supporters clubs Oscar Harris Jack Harris Stand; season ticket holders Peter Bagley season ticket holders Phil Kay season ticket holders; Wolves links with the city Robert Anslow corporate supporters Robert Fuller Stan Cullis stand; season ticket holders; official supporters clubs (Evesham Wolves) 07887 503413 07974 546487 Roger Fellows Billy Wright stand; season ticket holders; football finance Terry Brearley corporate supporters; season ticket holders (home and away); long distance supporters Tim Spiers students; young supporters Wilf Hadley family enclosure; season ticket holders
