Ian Gough's response to lowly attendances at the Liberty...!

How much does it mean to you to meet your fans?


It was a big thing with Newport and the Dragons but at Ospreys with our new stadium we’ve lost our way a bit. They have started the Ospreys Supporters Club (OSC) and there’s a bar where the hardcore supporters go but not easily accessible for the players to pop in and mingle easily - if they put a bar on the side of the stadium where we change, eat and do commercial duties that would be a winner, our fans need to be more involved


https://www.606v2.com/t8066-q-a-ian-gough-of-the-ospreys-and-wales

Seems we have already found our first candidate to replace some of the muppets that run the Os!

Just the sort of common sense missing from so many of our Welsh sporting clubs run by what passes for "businessmen" in this part of the UK (Glamorgan CCC anyone?).

Ian Gough to be appointed Commercial Director and to receive that salary on top of his players wage!

ML wrote:Seems we have already found our first candidate to replace some of the muppets that run the Os!

Just the sort of common sense missing from so many of our Welsh sporting clubs run by what passes for "businessmen" in this part of the UK (Glamorgan CCC anyone?).

Ian Gough to be appointed Commercial Director and to receive that salary on top of his players wage!

Would get my vote, always liked Goughie, came across as great bloke in the interview...

Cheers 606V2 for hooking that up..

Every player is different on this issue, Mike Phillips apparently had an attitude of "Don't you dare come near me" when it came to Ospreys supporters.
The O's fans love Goughie though, I hope he can keep going because there aren't many like him about.

AlynDavies wrote:Every player is different on this issue, Mike Phillips apparently had an attitude of "Don't you dare come near me" when it came to Ospreys supporters.
.

Interesting anyone with that mind set at Ulster woud be out of their ear.

That speaks volumes about Mike Phillips, Alyn.

AlynDavies wrote:Every player is different on this issue, Mike Phillips apparently had an attitude of "Don't you dare come near me" when it came to Ospreys supporters.
The O's fans love Goughie though, I hope he can keep going because there aren't many like him about.

Totally agree with that. Some players have absolutely no problem engaging with the public even if they happen to be recognised in their own time out and about. Other players will only bother when they're on official duties which can be a bit dull and too quick at times, and refuse to bother with people if they're recognised "off duty".

Cari wrote:Totally agree with that. Some players have absolutely no problem engaging with the public even if they happen to be recognised in their own time out and about. Other players will only bother when they're on official duties which can be a bit dull and too quick at times, and refuse to bother with people if they're recognised "off duty".

Yes I agree though to be fair there could possibly be nothing more annoying than an old man stopping you in the street while your out with your family, for him to give you his opinions on rugby when he is clearly clueless about the modern game. I can imagine that happening a lot to players! Especially Welsh ones.
Or some drunken idiot trying to cuddle and shake your hand while your trying to have a couple of drinks with your friends. Which probably happens all the time in Swansea!

The low attendances at the Liberty are due to the Ospreys stupid ticketing policies.

The Ospreys are in an odd situation where they seem almost as unpopular with their own fanbase as with everyone else.

Anyone there got Max Clifford on speed-dial?

geoff998rugby wrote:

AlynDavies wrote:Every player is different on this issue, Mike Phillips apparently had an attitude of "Don't you dare come near me" when it came to Ospreys supporters.
.

Interesting anyone with that mind set at Ulster woud be out of their ear.

Seems to be the same at the Ospreys...

Mind you fair play to Mike Phillips after some of the abuse he has rightfully taken on 606 I am not sure I would want to face the fans either if i was him...

SafeAsMilk wrote:The Ospreys are in an odd situation where they seem almost as unpopular with their own fanbase as with everyone else.

Anyone there got Max Clifford on speed-dial?

Thats not true at all.

The Fans really like a lot of the players, they only have a temporary dislike for the ones that aren't playing well, same as any club...

Where do you get your perspective from?

I commentd on the original Q&A thread about how he mentioned the O's didn't have the same 'bond' with the fans as they do down at Dave.

Its great down at Dave is great and maybe if the O's can now develop on this their fan base will grow.

SafeAsMilk wrote:The Ospreys are in an odd situation where they seem almost as unpopular with their own fanbase as with everyone else.

Anyone there got Max Clifford on speed-dial?

Are they?

Coaching staff - yes
One or two playing staff entirely based on them not being good enough - yes

But in the main they are far from unpopular I would say

bedfordwelsh wrote:I commentd on the original Q&A thread about how he mentioned the O's didn't have the same 'bond' with the fans as they do down at Dave.

Its great down at Dave is great and maybe if the O's can now develop on this their fan base will grow.

The Ospreys have a huge Fan Base, especially with the kids. The adults, long time rugby lovers who have had a shakey ride through welsh rugby's last thirty years just get frustrated with the lapses in performances.

When the performances are good, as against Munster in the HEC, or Leicester in the LV= etc the fans are very proud of the team.

It would be nice though for the fans to have the opportunity to mingle with players post match.

I agree with Goughie that there needs to be a players bar at the Liberty. It always used to be the case with the old rugby clubs and it meant a huge amount to the fans, who actually rarely bothered players more than a shake of the hand when they played well, and a polite "hows the family...!".

If you meet players from the older generations, Rob Jones or Scott Quinnell or the late Ray Gravell they always had time to chat and a big smile on their face while they did it.

I had a lovely afternoon in Paris once with Gareth Edwards who I had bumped into at Gare d'Nord, I helped him buy a train ticket as his french wasnt up to much, we got chatting and I asked if he would like to join my friends and me for lunch. He was going to the same restaurant anyway and we all joined tables. He told some fantastic stories, I especially remember he told one from the previous years Five Nations where he had been teasing Ray Gravell about putting on a few pounds around the waste line. At half time Phill Bennett said to Edwards that he had to tell Grav he was just teasing because he kept asking Bennett if he thought he looked fat and it was getting really annoying...!

It was a tongue-in-cheek comments lads and mainly aimed at the management rather than the players

There does seem to be a bit of a divide not present at many other clubs, whether that is perceived or real it still needs to be sorted out. There just doesn't seem to be the same fan/club/player camaraderie that there is at, say, the Dragons or Scarlets. Maybe it's because the players have been higher profile in the Welsh squad or just a few bad eggs give off the wrong impression. The "galacticos" tag (yes, not invented by the Ospreys) needs to be shifted and maybe the players/management need to make more of an effort.

Fans also need to get out there and support rather than watch on telly. Ospreys shift an awful lot of shirts, don't they?

Goughie's one of the old breed. It's important to him to speak with the fans. When the dragons played the ospreys he was the only ospreys player who came into the club house after the players bar. I know this i's because Newport is his club, but it's a great tradition that players should be made to mingle. They may get stick from idiots in the streets which has happened to cough himself, but people in rugby club houses are true fans who would love to ask their player a question or two.
I wouldn't want rugby to follow football. Where players think they're untouchable and the fan has no connection with them.

SafeAsMilk wrote:It was a tongue-in-cheek comments lads and mainly aimed at the management rather than the players

There does seem to be a bit of a divide not present at many other clubs, whether that is perceived or real it still needs to be sorted out. There just doesn't seem to be the same fan/club/player camaraderie that there is at, say, the Dragons or Scarlets. Maybe it's because the players have been higher profile in the Welsh squad or just a few bad eggs give off the wrong impression. The "galacticos" tag (yes, not invented by the Ospreys) needs to be shifted and maybe the players/management need to make more of an effort.

There doesn't seem to be a divide any different to at any other club that has not taken home the silverware that the fans expected them too. The expectations of the fans and of the media for the Dragons and Scarlets are lower than at the Ospreys.

SafeAsMilk wrote:Fans also need to get out there and support rather than watch on telly. Ospreys shift an awful lot of shirts, don't they?

Fans will go out and watch more rugby when they can afford to do so. South Wales is not wealthy area and people can not afford the price of season tickets. They can afford to go to occasional matches not all of them. It is an economic situation and little more.

AlynDavies wrote:Every player is different on this issue, Mike Phillips apparently had an attitude of "Don't you dare come near me" when it came to Ospreys supporters.

Maybe he still has a bit of Turk in him after all

To be honest I can see exactly where Gough is coming from. Mixing with the fans is the major difference between our sport and football.

I don't know if the Ospreys already do it but with the Scarlets about ten mins after the full time whistle the players come back onto the feild to sign autographs etc. Something like that would be quick and easy to with no real cost implications at all.

ScarletSpiderman wrote:To be honest I can see exactly where Gough is coming from. Mixing with the fans is the major difference between our sport and football.

I don't know if the Ospreys already do it but with the Scarlets about ten mins after the full time whistle the players come back onto the feild to sign autographs etc. Something like that would be quick and easy to with no real cost implications at all.

The Ospreys do that as well, they even did it at the PYS when i saw the derby this season, there were plenty of young TURKs hunting the autographs of key Ospreys... (dont regularly smile my posts but seemed juvenilely appropriate to do so...)

maestegmafia wrote:

ScarletSpiderman wrote:To be honest I can see exactly where Gough is coming from. Mixing with the fans is the major difference between our sport and football.

I don't know if the Ospreys already do it but with the Scarlets about ten mins after the full time whistle the players come back onto the feild to sign autographs etc. Something like that would be quick and easy to with no real cost implications at all.

The Ospreys do that as well, they even did it at the PYS when i saw the derby this season, there were plenty of young TURKs hunting the autographs of key Ospreys... (dont regularly smile my posts but seemed juvenilely appropriate to do so...)

That is true, but i think they were taking photos of them before they headded to france (sorry I will not start being a WUM honest).

I think ospreys attendances will grow when the current economical climate improves, however their attendances are poor when you consider the talent on view.
I also remember Swansea getting just 900 spectators in a league game before it becomes regional and that was with a team with the likes of Gibbs, charvis and mark Taylor. I's Swansea mainly a football area? And will Swansea city's promotion to the premier league and the ospreys losing stars make attendances even worse?

manofgwent wrote:I's Swansea mainly a football area? And will Swansea city's promotion to the premier league and the ospreys losing stars make attendances even worse?

Very good point. It's bound to have an impact. Wasn't that one of the questions put forward for Gough to answer? I don't think that one made it through...

Safe, he answered it and admitted its something that could affect Ospreys support.

It was my question to him. <self-satisfiedsmile>

red_stag wrote:Safe, he answered it and admitted its something that could affect Ospreys support.

Ah, thanks. I must have missed it.

ScarletSpiderman wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:

ScarletSpiderman wrote:To be honest I can see exactly where Gough is coming from. Mixing with the fans is the major difference between our sport and football.

I don't know if the Ospreys already do it but with the Scarlets about ten mins after the full time whistle the players come back onto the feild to sign autographs etc. Something like that would be quick and easy to with no real cost implications at all.

The Ospreys do that as well, they even did it at the PYS when i saw the derby this season, there were plenty of young TURKs hunting the autographs of key Ospreys... (dont regularly smile my posts but seemed juvenilely appropriate to do so...)

That is true, but i think they were taking photos of them before they headded to france (sorry I will not start being a WUM honest).

I know mate dont worry...

These guys no matter the club are the heros of the players. I remember loosing my kid at a game, back in the days when everyone used to run on the pitch after the final whistle. I think it was his first rugby match as a spectator and he ran on to get an autograph in his match day rag. Scared the bejesus out of me as I couldn't find him for twenty minute and I was worried sick of what his mother was gonna say.

SafeAsMilk wrote:

red_stag wrote:Safe, he answered it and admitted its something that could affect Ospreys support.

Ah, thanks. I must have missed it.

Swansea is a generally big sport orientated community from surfers to rugby and soccer fans. I myself follow plenty of sports, luckily I have enough in the bank to afford to watch whatever my missus allows me to go to.

But that itself alludes to the other issue, if you have a young family despite all the deals offered by clubs it is a huge effort to take the kids and a few of their mates down to watch a match. And a big expense that your missus might rather had been spent on a trip to a museum or a weekend away.

God hopes that the Economy in South Wales will improve, it has been destitute for far too long.

I agree with you re. the economics maesteg. It's a problem that rugby has and more exposure to a premier league football team will only make it more important for the Ospreys to reach their fans.

Oh, and please stop sending me private messages, maesteg!

maestegmafia wrote:Seems to be the same at the Ospreys...

Mind you fair play to Mike Phillips after some of the abuse he has rightfully taken on 606 I am not sure I would want to face the fans either if i was him...

Yes but he doesn't help him self though does he?
Phillips is basically disliked by almost everyone player and fan alike.
If Philips get involved in a scuffle on the field, do you see his team mates rushing in to defend him?
When he got flattened at McDonald's were players queuing up to defend him?

Look at Gough's comments in his recent 606V2 interview.

What’s your opinion the whole Mike Phillips "scandal" and other similar stories and what can be done to combat it?

Well one thing is don’t go out on the beers if you can’t handle it! I think on this occasion Mike was stitched up a bit but past misdemeanors have caught up with him, at least he didn’t get knocked out this time :-). We are grown men and we should know how to behave in public when we’ve had one or two beers, if you can’t you have to take the consequences.

Hardly a ringing endorsement, as if your defending someone you care about is it? And this is from one of his team mates!

SafeAsMilk wrote:
Oh, and please stop sending me private messages, maesteg!

Stop stirring then mate...!

AlynDavies wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:Seems to be the same at the Ospreys...

Mind you fair play to Mike Phillips after some of the abuse he has rightfully taken on 606 I am not sure I would want to face the fans either if i was him...

Yes but he doesn't help him self though does he?
Phillips is basically disliked by almost everyone player and fan alike.
If Philips get involved in a scuffle on the field, do you see his team mates rushing in to defend him?
When he got flattened at McDonald's were players queuing up to defend him?

Look at Gough's comments in his recent 606V2 interview.

What’s your opinion the whole Mike Phillips "scandal" and other similar stories and what can be done to combat it?

Well one thing is don’t go out on the beers if you can’t handle it! I think on this occasion Mike was stitched up a bit but past misdemeanors have caught up with him, at least he didn’t get knocked out this time :-). We are grown men and we should know how to behave in public when we’ve had one or two beers, if you can’t you have to take the consequences.

Hardly a ringing endorsement, as if your defending someone you care about is it? And this is from one of his team mates!

Having seen Goughie in interviews I would say that is a tongue in cheek comment...

maestegmafia wrote:Having seen Goughie in interviews I would say that is a tongue in cheek comment...

Yes he does clown around to a certain extent but the question was very serious, involving serious issues. He possibly used a little humor to get across a serious message.

AlynDavies wrote:He possibly used a little humor to get across a serious message.

Like Tufty?

AlynDavies wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:Having seen Goughie in interviews I would say that is a tongue in cheek comment...

Yes he does clown around to a certain extent but the question was very serious, involving serious issues. He possibly used a little humor to get across a serious message.

Who knows...!