Villa Park Redevelopment

[Olneythelonely]

I may have this arse about tit, but I could've sworn this guy's specialism was marketing. Like Alan said to Lynn, you couldn't present a cat.

“Some of these people have come from Lichfield.”

[Drummond]

Too many seats too fast. If you had to hazard a guess, what do you think he might mean?

My reading is that he thinks 10000 in one go is too many and that any change would be better being incremental. I don't like the sound of that, as the only real way is by filling in corners.

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

There are known knowns, things we know that we know; and there are known unknowns, things that we know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns, things we do not know we don't know.

[pauliewalnuts]

Too many seats too fast. If you had to hazard a guess, what do you think he might mean?

My reading is that he thinks 10000 in one go is too many and that any change would be better being incremental. I don't like the sound of that, as the only real way is by filling in corners.

It smells a bit of Dougonomics. The cheapest way of doing things.

[PeterWithe]

To my my mind, that we need to improve match revenue whilst taking a 'mend and make do' view of VP means we are on the move, I'd guess after the HS2 enabling works are finished. And, if I were a betting man, to the land where the DAF was above the tunnel to Curzon Street.

[Villan82]

You could not make this up! I just re-watched that cool video they made for youtube, the 'flythrough of our redevelopment plans' one. Guess what date they uploaded it? 22 December 2022 - almost 12 months to the day before Heck poo poos the whole thing.

[TonyD]

It’s a disaster-class in communication, both from what he does say and what he doesn’t.

“Too many seats too quickly” is one of the most stupid things I’ve ever heard. It’s nonsensical.

Yep.  Tripe.   
Scary as he should be good at comms. 
Something stinks. 

[Malandro]

I think he’s convinced the owners that spending big on one stand makes little sense. I think we are looking at either moving (most likely)  or knocking three stands down.

[The Edge]

Too many seats too fast. If you had to hazard a guess, what do you think he might mean?

My reading is that he thinks 10000 in one go is too many and that any change would be better being incremental. I don't like the sound of that, as the only real way is by filling in corners.

It smells a bit of Dougonomics. The cheapest way of doing things.

You read my mind and I hate myself for thinking that given all that NSWE have done for us so far.

[PeterWithe]

  or knocking three stands down.

Cant see that given the notice we'd need to give to CPO all the houses and move the roads. But maybe it is and there is that 'can do' attitude we see in America.

[Villan82]

I think he’s convinced the owners that spending big on one stand makes little sense. I think we are looking at either moving (most likely)  or knocking three stands down.

He's been such a bad influence since the day he walked in. I am convinced he won't be here long but he will have held us back significantly and possibly cost Birmingham the Euros .

[paul_e]

I understand the differing views on it. It wouldn't be an ideal time to knock down a stand if we're playing Champions League football, it would actually be a shame because fans would miss out and we'd lose revenue but like someone else said, we might only last a couple of games in it anyway if we did make it. If that's one of his reasons for halting it, I kind of get it. I'd have liked them to have gone ahead with though personally.

That's about where I am.

There's never an ideal time. But all those grounds with much bigger capacities than ours aren't regretting the decision to build their stands now the increased income is coming in. A football stand in the Premier League is about as guaranteed to give you a return on your investment as it's possible to get. They'll happily spend £50m and £10m a year on wages for a player who might turn out to be shit and worth fuck all in three years, but add thouands of seats on that's going to increase revenue every year for the rest of time, no we won't bother with that. It's madness.

I agree but Heck is as detached as can be from fan base and is making decisions on a completely different basis to us. I suspect there's something in the numbers to suggest that, if we make the top 4 and get into the champions league, we'd be making a massive mistake to then immediately reduce the capacity for 2 years. I suspect what will happen is we'll implement everything we can to make it easier for the current crowd to spend more money, with better food and drink options, an expanded shop, etc so we can ride the wave of goodwill. I'd also expect us to use the time to review the plans and see if there are ways to go ahead with the work but without such an extended drop in seats or if there's any 'quick' fix options to raise capacity elsewhere so we can stay as close to the 40k+ mark as possible.

I don't like it but if you step back and are really cold about it I think it makes sense, if we get CL football. If we fall away it looks like a bad decision.

[Villan82]

Yes Paul but I am almost 35 years watching this club spurn golden opportunities to reach its potential and this Heck announcement has an all too familiar ring to it.

[Clampy]

I dont buy the 'too many seats too soon' line either. I personally think he's reckons we've got a great chance of hosting champions league football and doesn't want to lose any revenue. He'd look a twat if he came out and said that and we didn't qualify.

[TonyD]

He’s a bottler or a bullshitter.