Chris Heck - President of Business Operations

[VILLA MOLE]

Interviewed by Gabby? Bet he had him on the ropes.

Proper paxman stuff

[London Villan]

How does Gabby continue to get work from Villa - he is up there in the Steve Hodge territory for being a twat.

[Dogtanian]

To be fair, it would be nice if they could get more ex-players doing things on Villa TV. Gabby is always in the media, but there are well-spoken and knowledgeable ex-players that we would be excited to hear from in the official videos.

Especially some of the older ex-players who never had the income of the more recent ones.

I do think there is a lot of room to improve Villa TV if they wanted. At the minute it's like any other PR thing, but if you look at the number of podcasts people listen to for clubs, there's a market for more discussion and analysis stuff they could do. It's also an opportunity to more foreign language stuff if they really want to broaden our global appeal.

[sid1964]

I would imagine some on here would be hoping that they would attach a lie detector to Mr. Heck whilst he was being interviewed!.

Heck is here to raise revenues for the club as per the remit he has been given by the 2 owners.

I thought he came across well in the interview, and it is good news about the club staying at Villa Park.

[Villan82]

I do get the feeling that whatever this guy says or does folk on here and afar will find fault.

I am as traditionalist as the next guy but unfortunately the world has changed, especially in media and entertainment. I have used this before but i try to watch a lot of live music and everytime you try to buy a ticket nowadays it is accompanied by the option to "upgrade" to the premium pack , meals, meet the band, etc etc.

If you are a massive fan of a certain band it is sometimes the only way to secure tickets.

I know a woman who paid £600 to see Pink at VP, A guy who paid £400 to see Springsteen and we and my missus paid £300 to see Pulp in Sheffield a while back.

Even cinema tickets are offering "premium packages"

I know guys from the old days that when all seaters came in got priced out of VP and never came back yet we are not short of people paying todays prices.

Its inevitible i suppose

I 100% agree with the need for us to make more money. I 100% agree we are playing catch up and must bridge that gap. I agree we need more types of offering at the stadium

Now, I don't agree with his plan for doing these things. Surely the new stand was the best plan for doing these things but that looks dead and buried so instead he is going to tweak bits and bobs and cram it all into an already creaking structure.  That's my problem with him.

[RamboandBruno]

To be honest words are wind as they say in Game of Thrones, but an ok interview. When me and the kids season tickets rocket up he can feck right off though

[Risso]

Now, I don't agree with his plan for doing these things. Surely the new stand was the best plan for doing these things but that looks dead and buried so instead he is going to tweak bits and bobs and cram it all into an already creaking structure.  That's my problem with him.

Same here. It's all a short term sticking plaster approach, that's only going to have a small affect on revenue. He talks about the next couple of years and the new shop and the extra premium seating. I can't see how that's going to materially affect our ability to compete at the top table in the medium term. What's the big plan? LED lights, I mean who on earth gives a chuff about that?

[Dogtanian]

He said not leaving Villa Park. He said nothing at all about knocking it down and rebuilding it in future!

In business, no decision is final while there is still time to change it.

[CT Villan]

Lots of tidbits in that rather forced interview. I'm happy we're staying at VP (during Heck's lifetime), though intrigued by what wasn't said, ie rebuilding and increasing capacity beyond the Holte.

I swear Heck looks like Alex McLeish's chubby brother in that video.

[Dogtanian]

Lots of tidbits in that rather forced interview. I'm happy we're staying at VP (during Heck's lifetime), though intrigued by what wasn't said, ie rebuilding and increasing capacity beyond the Holte.

I swear Heck looks like Alex McLeish's chubby brother in that video.

Big Eck and Big Heck.

[CT Villan]

Big Eck and Big Heck.

[applause]

[Villan82]

Now, I don't agree with his plan for doing these things. Surely the new stand was the best plan for doing these things but that looks dead and buried so instead he is going to tweak bits and bobs and cram it all into an already creaking structure.  That's my problem with him.

Same here. It's all a short term sticking plaster approach, that's only going to have a small affect on revenue. He talks about the next couple of years and the new shop and the extra premium seating. I can't see how that's going to materially affect our ability to compete at the top table in the medium term. What's the big plan? LED lights, I mean who on earth gives a chuff about that?

Absolutely mate. Or put it another way, 2026 will mark 20 years since Ellis sold up and because of the decision to cancel/pause the new stand, the stadium will look the exact same as it did the day Ellis sold to Lerner.

Three changes of ownership and no material improvement beyond more premium, a new shop, etc. I mean how much of our merch is sold online anyway? Will a bigger shop make a difference?

[algy]

Seems like a perfectly reasonable interview to me, not sure there's much to get anyone's back up about.

There's a lot of complaints for the sake of it.

Complain that transport isn't good enough, but then complain that we're not trying to add 10,000 people on top of it trying to get away without having done anything to ameliorate the situation.

Saying Heck doesn't get the club, then complaining because he wants to stay at Villa Park and leave the Holte End as is bar basically turning it back in to a terrace again.

Complaining that the club was run like a corner shop, then also complaining because the club want to operate in exactly the same way that a proper business would.

I mean, the whole thing makes no sense.  Finding fault for the sake of it.

--

Anyway, glad it looks like we're staying at Villa Park for the foreseeable, and installing rail seating in the Holte is a sensible move IMO.  Expecting there to be more sponsorship "opportunities", putting corporate logos in stands and whatnot.  The LED lights ... be interesting to see what the plan is there. Makes sense though, it's part of taking it from a football stadium in to a proper general purpose entertainment venue.

[Brend'Watkins]

Lots of tidbits in that rather forced interview. I'm happy we're staying at VP (during Heck's lifetime), though intrigued by what wasn't said, ie rebuilding and increasing capacity beyond the Holte.

I'm a titbits man myself.

[eamonn]

YES! Staying put, baby. All the thousands of words written about moving, people being persuaded it's the right thing, all for nowt. Villa Park 4eva!