Spot on Johnny. A meeting and establishing dialogue with fan groups should be a bare minimum. The worry is that this most basic of facts seems to be beyond the comprehension of Mr Shi. However, the problem that fan groups have is that I reckon 95 per cent will renew at the increased prices, so Mr Shi can then shrug his shoulders and ask 'what was the problem?' Personally, I reckon the club will keep the prices and perhaps offer the sop of a £30 club shop voucher, which no doubt will cause further public outcry. This is not going to have a happy ending, especially once the club start selling star names in the summer.
Yes, if there is a high take-up of renewals at the new prices then that would certainly undermine the cause of the supporters. It is hard to know how it plays out.
One thing is clear, unless there is some form of concession, whether that concession is just a simple intelligently staged descent from his Ivory Tower by Jeff to meet with carefully selected fan representation this mass discontent is going to continue to snowball on through the summer, gaining pace with the official announcement of the spectacularly poor decision to adopt in house designed cheap kits emblazoned with illegal Vietnamese betting brands. Molineux knows how to do toxic - even Steve Bull and Sir Jack Hayward found this out to their cost at selected times - and this is how next season will start in an incredibly counterproductive manner.
No doubt there has been a minority of the same mindset that spat on Sir Jack and left the note for Morgan that will always see owners of the club as nothing other than charity providers of cash for their own personal entertainment and ambition, and have been looking for an excuse to sloganise now the realities of Chinese States policy on foreign investiment, COVID and FFP have been laid bare. These are many of the same people who assume there a numerous petro states lined up to invest in some more egregious sport washing, which they deem to be a preferable alternative to the current ownership's run for profit model. Look at how the totalitarian Saudi State have so successfully consumed the soul of Newcastle fans enmasse with the dangling of a huge sack of cash. As you say though, this would have happened already if it was a route Fosun wanted to take. This unhappy at all costs underclass now has a firm footing and found allies in those of a more moderate disposition genuinely concerned on the future impact of the local fanbase by these price hikes. With both Fosun and fanbase now seemingly entrenched it's going to take some miracle PR to resolve cleanly by the time that supporters next set foot inside Molineux, and Jeff's bizarre email replies is pretty much the opposite of what is needed at this time.
Its a shame but perhaps inevitable that the Fosun era should descend into this. Why not, every other era of club ownership has descended into varying states of opprobrium since Sir Jack purchased the club from Wolverhampton council. This though is not the same Fosun that took the club into Europe from mid table Championship mediocrity and as each day passes that magical era gets metaphorically turned into ancient history.
Brilliant again, Wolves should get you on board to complete their press statements as I’m sure the bollocks dropped by Jeff would be avoided. The outcry isn’t going to go away and as you said this benchmark crap is irrelevant when you look at the areas and income they refer to. We’ve had rises for the last 5 years and if funds are needed that bad don’t give yourself a large pay rise it doesn’t look good
I think that’s fair Johnny. My concern is that Shi’s response to fans concerns so far has been antagonistic and patronising, and has shown none of the empathy or respect to make a dialogue constructive. An email to Manny where he fails to spell Wolves correctly, and says “Don’t be sad mate” is disrespectful to both Manny and the club he leads. It’s really hard to see a way back for him with fans, and while he stays, for Fosun as owners.
Thanks Jonny. A well balanced and perceptive article. I for one am loathed to reply to any Wolves related article however times have changed. It is immaterial how long I have supported the club. Price increases for concessions are unacceptable but those for other supporters are inevitable. The ‘Fosun Out’ brigade are short sighted and fail to see how far their ownership has brought us. I could go on however my overwhelming thought is ‘be careful what you wish for’,
A great summary of where we are now. I fear that the chances of a change of leadership strategy at the club are nil. After 8 years at the club Fosun have proved that they can learn the price of everything, I’m sure Fabio Silva was a sobering lesson, but they still understand the value of nothing. This year’s transfer business was always going to be a difficult task, selling to buy, and being stronger as a result was always going to be cynically received by many supporters and only proven well into a new season. Patience, loyalty and unwavering support required by everyone for this to be a success. What a way to start this season. I’m sure 85% of season ticket holders will renew, I for one am one of the fortunate ones that can and will afford it. I will however give not a penny more in merch or match day revenue, ironically for Jeff significantly reducing my annual spend at the club. I then will watch with interest how the team perform and how the plan to fill the vacated seats with one off sale’s succeed or fail. Bournemouth at home last season may not be a one off! Of course, a successful, ambitious, team, capable of playing the whole season will make everything go away, but Jeff has already told us that this is not Fosun’s business model. For now they have dug themselves a very deep hole, it’s not an old Chinese proverb, more a bit of old British advice, a wise man would now, at least stop digging. This fan base has proved it’s more than capable of filling this hole in with Jeff still in it.
Thanks for the comments, Mark. Hopefully we can draw a line under the last week or so and the club can start to claw back some of the lost ground. The week ahead will be really important.
Well done Jonny for giving this issue some thoughtful perspective
Spot on again Johnny 👍🏻
Spot on Johnny. A meeting and establishing dialogue with fan groups should be a bare minimum. The worry is that this most basic of facts seems to be beyond the comprehension of Mr Shi. However, the problem that fan groups have is that I reckon 95 per cent will renew at the increased prices, so Mr Shi can then shrug his shoulders and ask 'what was the problem?' Personally, I reckon the club will keep the prices and perhaps offer the sop of a £30 club shop voucher, which no doubt will cause further public outcry. This is not going to have a happy ending, especially once the club start selling star names in the summer.
Yes, if there is a high take-up of renewals at the new prices then that would certainly undermine the cause of the supporters. It is hard to know how it plays out.
Brilliant article which should be read by all the people involved in this sorry mess we are in.
Thanks, Sharon.
One thing is clear, unless there is some form of concession, whether that concession is just a simple intelligently staged descent from his Ivory Tower by Jeff to meet with carefully selected fan representation this mass discontent is going to continue to snowball on through the summer, gaining pace with the official announcement of the spectacularly poor decision to adopt in house designed cheap kits emblazoned with illegal Vietnamese betting brands. Molineux knows how to do toxic - even Steve Bull and Sir Jack Hayward found this out to their cost at selected times - and this is how next season will start in an incredibly counterproductive manner.
No doubt there has been a minority of the same mindset that spat on Sir Jack and left the note for Morgan that will always see owners of the club as nothing other than charity providers of cash for their own personal entertainment and ambition, and have been looking for an excuse to sloganise now the realities of Chinese States policy on foreign investiment, COVID and FFP have been laid bare. These are many of the same people who assume there a numerous petro states lined up to invest in some more egregious sport washing, which they deem to be a preferable alternative to the current ownership's run for profit model. Look at how the totalitarian Saudi State have so successfully consumed the soul of Newcastle fans enmasse with the dangling of a huge sack of cash. As you say though, this would have happened already if it was a route Fosun wanted to take. This unhappy at all costs underclass now has a firm footing and found allies in those of a more moderate disposition genuinely concerned on the future impact of the local fanbase by these price hikes. With both Fosun and fanbase now seemingly entrenched it's going to take some miracle PR to resolve cleanly by the time that supporters next set foot inside Molineux, and Jeff's bizarre email replies is pretty much the opposite of what is needed at this time.
Its a shame but perhaps inevitable that the Fosun era should descend into this. Why not, every other era of club ownership has descended into varying states of opprobrium since Sir Jack purchased the club from Wolverhampton council. This though is not the same Fosun that took the club into Europe from mid table Championship mediocrity and as each day passes that magical era gets metaphorically turned into ancient history.
Thanks for the comments, Jon. Agree that it’s a huge shame it’s come to this. And it does feel very different to the club of Nuno and co.
Brilliant again, Wolves should get you on board to complete their press statements as I’m sure the bollocks dropped by Jeff would be avoided. The outcry isn’t going to go away and as you said this benchmark crap is irrelevant when you look at the areas and income they refer to. We’ve had rises for the last 5 years and if funds are needed that bad don’t give yourself a large pay rise it doesn’t look good
Thanks Mark, I think you’re right, this one is not going to blow over quickly.
I think that’s fair Johnny. My concern is that Shi’s response to fans concerns so far has been antagonistic and patronising, and has shown none of the empathy or respect to make a dialogue constructive. An email to Manny where he fails to spell Wolves correctly, and says “Don’t be sad mate” is disrespectful to both Manny and the club he leads. It’s really hard to see a way back for him with fans, and while he stays, for Fosun as owners.
Yes Dave, there’s certainly some ground to be made up with communication
I suspect it was a bot (Metal Mickey?) that replied, rather than Shi himself.
Thanks Jonny. A well balanced and perceptive article. I for one am loathed to reply to any Wolves related article however times have changed. It is immaterial how long I have supported the club. Price increases for concessions are unacceptable but those for other supporters are inevitable. The ‘Fosun Out’ brigade are short sighted and fail to see how far their ownership has brought us. I could go on however my overwhelming thought is ‘be careful what you wish for’,
Thanks, Ian. Yes, I wouldn’t wish for new owners.
A great summary of where we are now. I fear that the chances of a change of leadership strategy at the club are nil. After 8 years at the club Fosun have proved that they can learn the price of everything, I’m sure Fabio Silva was a sobering lesson, but they still understand the value of nothing. This year’s transfer business was always going to be a difficult task, selling to buy, and being stronger as a result was always going to be cynically received by many supporters and only proven well into a new season. Patience, loyalty and unwavering support required by everyone for this to be a success. What a way to start this season. I’m sure 85% of season ticket holders will renew, I for one am one of the fortunate ones that can and will afford it. I will however give not a penny more in merch or match day revenue, ironically for Jeff significantly reducing my annual spend at the club. I then will watch with interest how the team perform and how the plan to fill the vacated seats with one off sale’s succeed or fail. Bournemouth at home last season may not be a one off! Of course, a successful, ambitious, team, capable of playing the whole season will make everything go away, but Jeff has already told us that this is not Fosun’s business model. For now they have dug themselves a very deep hole, it’s not an old Chinese proverb, more a bit of old British advice, a wise man would now, at least stop digging. This fan base has proved it’s more than capable of filling this hole in with Jeff still in it.
Thanks for the comments, Mark. Hopefully we can draw a line under the last week or so and the club can start to claw back some of the lost ground. The week ahead will be really important.