Sir, I have had some correspondance with Andy Simpson at the Guardian and he says that you are unwilling to talk to the paper at the moment. I have said you are a fair man and would be willing I am sure to listen to his argument as to why you should chang your mind if this really is the case. The Guardian have been unfair in their coverage in the past but if they are now willing to give us a fair hearing I think we should give them the benefit of the doubt, good publicity could put 50 to a 100 on the next home gate which is surely a good reason to give him another chance. I hope you don’t think I am out of order interferring in this way, I am just a loyal Wittoner who wants the best for the club.
WHS.[br][size=1]Posted on: March 20, 2007, 05:11:22 PM[/size][hr]Sorry for the "typo" Mr. JIM Vince!!! I am rushing to get to the Burscough game.
WHS.
I am really sorry to butt in WHS but what is wrong with talking to Jim face to face ?
Maybe he now wants to give us a fair crack because Vics season ended on Saturday!
Quite right Picko - the guardian have had several chances and let us down when they had the best opportunity we’ve had for years in a 7-2 win and publicising the Telford game. Tough.
Try ringing up connett and see if he has anything worthwhile to say this week - may about the state of refereeing perhaps?
Speaking to Mr. Vince face to face over the issue is something I decided against as I did not feel it was right to disturb his preperation for tonights game. Anyway, I am just a supporter, nothing more, nothing less and I do not get the opportunity to talk to Mr. Vince that often, in fact, as I do not get down to the club except on match days the chances of him finding time to talk to me are pretty limited and i am sure he has much better things to do.
WHS.
WHS, I am sure that Jim would be happy to give you his thoughts on this if you spoke with him, my experience is that the man is very approachable and is happy to take any opinion - whether he chooses to use this or not is his choice, we pay him to make decisions.
As for The Guardian, we have been more than prepared to welcome them with open arms, however they appear to be only interested in Witton when Mr Connett has no new revelations! There treatment of us has been second class throughout the season and to be frank actions (or in their case column inches) speak louder than words! At key times of the season when we have had high profile important games or good stories (30 goals in seven games, top scorers across any league, new signings, etc), they have chosen to ignore us and provide very little coverage of Witton.
There comes a point where you have to stop bending over backwards to assist them, did they have a reporter at Burscough last night and did they have one across the canal, I can guess on the answer!
I disagree that it will put 50 to 100 on the gate, at this level that is too big a number, however I share your view that any coverage and promotion would be of use. We will simply have to look at other forms of promotion and initiatives to encourage more fans, we certainly cannot rely on The Guardian. Fergie has not spoken to the BBC for years, Big Sam will not speak with them (following the Panorama bung programme); it has not affected their league positions.
If The Guardian want a closer working relationship with club then let us see some evidence of this, it’s a two way street. I feel sure that Jim would talk with them personally and grant them access to players, however to date it has been a waste of his time.
I agree there are other ways to advertise the club, we are doing a leaflet push soon according to Neil, but whether we like it or not we need the local newspaper to highlight our push for promotion. I have not been happy with them anymore than anyone else but I think we should give them one more try for our own sake.
WHS.
No chance.
Guardian have ignored us for a very long time and it hurts.
Guardian will continue to give NVFc2004 the coverage even when Mr.con man oh sorry Mr.connett has upped and gone.
Let Guardian come to us and not the other way around.
According to Alex Simpson the Guardian have come to us and we have turned them away, which given waht has gone before I totally understand. But Vics lost today to Cambridge at home 0-4 and now is our chance to dominate the headlines and draw in more support for the final push to the title whilst Vics may wel drift into the relegation battle. Mr. Connett will go, and quite soon I think.
WHS.
where were the guardian reporters on Saturday? :-
No rentboys game at all, anohtter top of the table clash, a game to get our championship challenge back on track…(unless we turned them away then I’ll stand corrected)
What a fantastic result on Sat. I was unable to attend due to a hernia operation, but my wife, Elaine and dog Olive were in attendance. I nearly did myself a serious injury when she rang me after the game with the result. Good gate of 397 as well, which brings me to the point of this message. I hope that the club have kept up the ban on speaking to the Guardian for the following reasons. WHS, we don’t just want a short-term jump in attendances, which good local coverage provides (sometimes). If we get an extra 100 on the gate because of cheap publicity, they will not return for the next game, they are fly by night supporters, and although the money generated is welcome, it would be much better to have the team do all our talking and word of mouth the advertising. If we get an extra 10 on the gate because of this, odds are, that 8 of these will return and keep coming. Build the fanbase slowly by playing good football and they will stay with us. Solid, honest fans, who appreciate good attacking football is all the publicity we need. Secondly, the Guardian need us more than we need them ! Having boycotted the Guardian for the much fairer Chronicle, I can honestly say that their reporting is much more in depth and praiseworthy. The Guardian is full of shallow and lazy journalism, much more meat to a story in the Chronicle. I said I would pay ?5 to GE and I did so at the Ilkeston game, and I will give him ?5 at every home match for every week we maintain the ban on players or staff speaking to this boring rag.
Sorry if this is a bit rambling and incoherent, but I think I’ve got my main point across.