Improvement both on and off the field
While our clubs communication could be better the club do seem to listen. Spurs TV has changed dramatically since the first of several emails to the club. Those emails suggested improvements to the delivery, content and general professionalism of the clubs official Twitter feed, news and video content produced by Spurs TV.
One such request was, indeed the overriding theme of the suggestions was to bring the club closer to the fans through the use of the content produced, particularly showing a training session to allow fans a greater understanding of what goes into being a professional footballer at Tottenham Hotspur. I'm was delighted to see that Spurs TV were showing a training session which my, and no doubt other fans correspondence, had called for. Unfortunately for me it is the anniversary of my father's passing so was something I had to miss.
Where previously we seemed to have a bunch in awe of the players and run to suit themselves, now we have content where the viewer receives greater consideration. We have upgraded from star struck content. The Tweets are no longer offensive, dragging the club name down, there is the also social media and game area section of the official website.
The interviews are not so bland, previously the same old tired questions were asked which were naturally answered in the same tired old way, nothing was ever new. If you dubbed the name of one club out and substituted another club you wouldn't have noticed. Interviewing someone is not as simple as you might think. An interview with no thought produces a bland filler, now we are allowing fans to understand more about a footballer. The mentality of a player is vital and there is a lot more emphasis on helping people understand the important role it plays.
The training session helps to bridge the gap between players and fans although shouldn't stop there. The club has captive stars who could once a week spent 30 minutes on social media answering questions or offering advice. I'd like to see a video training series teaching youngsters various skills, various training drills.
It would make an ideal Christmas gift for many football-mad children, especially if you have Hatty Kane demonstrating shooting technique as he and a coach teach youngsters how to improve their game. A star-studded training series in DVD or downloadable form, one designed for players, one designed for coaches showing and explaining how to run various drills. We have a whole youth academy so you could have a first team player taking part in a specific skill coaching drill with them.
Design the product and create it ready for next Christmas. Players will get injured and while they are recovering could be incorporated into the series. There is so much that could be done with the resources (players) the club has available.
I called for a more fans eye view for those who couldn't get to a home game and to hear from the fans outside the ground. We now see Spurred On has taken that mantle on. I'd like to see a tour around outside the stadium on a match day to show those supporters around the world what happens at The Lane, give them a match day experience in the comfort of their own homes, whether that be a man with a microphone, or a head mounted camera I don't know.
I'd like to see an away day experience, Spurs TV travelling with an official supporters coach to a game or an overseas trip, not just via a pampered private jet, but from the supporters point of view as well. Some journeys the supporters make are horrendous. We have a travel agent as a partner, travel along with one of their trips. It sells more trips which in turn would lead to a larger commercial deal with them, it gives fans an idea of what travelling to see Spurs is all about.
I'd like to see interviews with the coaching staff (since this was written we now have a six-part series with Toni Jimenez our goalkeeping coach), not just Mauricio Pochettino, let's hear what the other guys roles are. Interview the trainer, the medical staff, explain about rehabilitation. Again we could produce a video series, how to treat common injuries at home, regular interviews with a player recovering from injury, not specifically to monitor his progress, although you would, but to discuss his treatment and the mental side of being out of action.
A course on diet and healthy eating showing what the players eat and why will encourage school children away from obesity. Again use the players, the club chefs, create a piece for Spurs TV, a series of pieces that create a training course, link that to job skills, the actual requirements of becoming a chef or customer service roles and you now have a potential employment project for the Foundation to apply for funding for.
Groundsman roles, physiotherapist, coaching roles, there are so many job education opportunity videos the Foundation could create and use. The club should be looking to improve in all areas, the Kaizen approach as I have written before, we have started and it is an ongoing process, there is so much that can be done though. We are not going to lose sight of the football, but the club could certainly work even closer with the local community to have a positive impact on them.
Every aspect is not going to appeal to everyone, but you are not trying to. Interview other figures within the club over their role, talk to the press office and senior staff over their role and communication with fans. There are plenty out there who want to know more about how the club is run.
Why not have Paul Mitchell and his team show us how we assess a player from the beginning of the process or a senior figure giving us an insight into the factors that have to be taken into account prior to a transfer negotiation. What about an interview with the Director of Football/Technical Director discussing his role and a piece on the Foundation.
I know what goes into starting a community project and I also know the job satisfaction it can bring. Discuss that, show how a project is put together, use it as an educational piece and encourage people into community work. Link that to specialist recruitment agents in the sector and you have an innovative project.
There is no reason why the Foundation has to stop at charity work, that could be done in all sorts of fields. Apply for some European money for a three-year trial project with its own project coordinator. During an international break, you take a player who is not away with his country, Kieran Trippier or Michel Vorm perhaps and have them learn about what it takes to do a specific job, have them have a go on camera.
You are linking the football club, the Foundation and the community to encourage employment and training. The art of devising a project is to devise something innovative, unique, something that will encourage others to invest in. They want outcomes so you are looking for methods of making projects a success and finding permanent employment is a tough one to tackle.
The club is in a unique position, with unique resources which quite frankly are under utilised. The are not enough ideas people, people who can see a concept and build on it to create a vision. Not every idea is going to be feasible, the important thing is that constant flow of ideas though. You have to build something and hand it across to someone to run while you come up with the next project. If you don't you'll have a gap between projects and a gap between funding which can cause a community group to go bankrupt.
The Tottenham Foundation could employ someone who has the vision to imagine and create projects for local community groups. The group come to the Foundation he or she works with them to devise projects and then project manage them, not on a day-to-day basis, that is the role of the individual charity, but liaising with the funders and providing reports on project outcomes. His salary comes from a fee he builds into each funding application Community groups need to operate in a more joined up fashion rather than the separate entities as they do now. The Tottenham Hotspur Foundation could be at the forefront of bringing them all to work more closely together, which again is an innovative project for which you apply for funds for.
There is so much the club can do for itself, for it's fans, for the community, for the Foundation, that as an ideas man, frustrates me that aren't being done. We are moving in the right direction though it needs to continue.
If you have ideas for content you would like to see on Spurs TV or ideas what the club could be doing off the field leave a comment. I'll note them down and email the club with your suggestions, they do appear to take note.
One such request was, indeed the overriding theme of the suggestions was to bring the club closer to the fans through the use of the content produced, particularly showing a training session to allow fans a greater understanding of what goes into being a professional footballer at Tottenham Hotspur. I'm was delighted to see that Spurs TV were showing a training session which my, and no doubt other fans correspondence, had called for. Unfortunately for me it is the anniversary of my father's passing so was something I had to miss.
Where previously we seemed to have a bunch in awe of the players and run to suit themselves, now we have content where the viewer receives greater consideration. We have upgraded from star struck content. The Tweets are no longer offensive, dragging the club name down, there is the also social media and game area section of the official website.
The interviews are not so bland, previously the same old tired questions were asked which were naturally answered in the same tired old way, nothing was ever new. If you dubbed the name of one club out and substituted another club you wouldn't have noticed. Interviewing someone is not as simple as you might think. An interview with no thought produces a bland filler, now we are allowing fans to understand more about a footballer. The mentality of a player is vital and there is a lot more emphasis on helping people understand the important role it plays.
The training session helps to bridge the gap between players and fans although shouldn't stop there. The club has captive stars who could once a week spent 30 minutes on social media answering questions or offering advice. I'd like to see a video training series teaching youngsters various skills, various training drills.
It would make an ideal Christmas gift for many football-mad children, especially if you have Hatty Kane demonstrating shooting technique as he and a coach teach youngsters how to improve their game. A star-studded training series in DVD or downloadable form, one designed for players, one designed for coaches showing and explaining how to run various drills. We have a whole youth academy so you could have a first team player taking part in a specific skill coaching drill with them.
Design the product and create it ready for next Christmas. Players will get injured and while they are recovering could be incorporated into the series. There is so much that could be done with the resources (players) the club has available.
I called for a more fans eye view for those who couldn't get to a home game and to hear from the fans outside the ground. We now see Spurred On has taken that mantle on. I'd like to see a tour around outside the stadium on a match day to show those supporters around the world what happens at The Lane, give them a match day experience in the comfort of their own homes, whether that be a man with a microphone, or a head mounted camera I don't know.
I'd like to see an away day experience, Spurs TV travelling with an official supporters coach to a game or an overseas trip, not just via a pampered private jet, but from the supporters point of view as well. Some journeys the supporters make are horrendous. We have a travel agent as a partner, travel along with one of their trips. It sells more trips which in turn would lead to a larger commercial deal with them, it gives fans an idea of what travelling to see Spurs is all about.
I'd like to see interviews with the coaching staff (since this was written we now have a six-part series with Toni Jimenez our goalkeeping coach), not just Mauricio Pochettino, let's hear what the other guys roles are. Interview the trainer, the medical staff, explain about rehabilitation. Again we could produce a video series, how to treat common injuries at home, regular interviews with a player recovering from injury, not specifically to monitor his progress, although you would, but to discuss his treatment and the mental side of being out of action.
A course on diet and healthy eating showing what the players eat and why will encourage school children away from obesity. Again use the players, the club chefs, create a piece for Spurs TV, a series of pieces that create a training course, link that to job skills, the actual requirements of becoming a chef or customer service roles and you now have a potential employment project for the Foundation to apply for funding for.
Groundsman roles, physiotherapist, coaching roles, there are so many job education opportunity videos the Foundation could create and use. The club should be looking to improve in all areas, the Kaizen approach as I have written before, we have started and it is an ongoing process, there is so much that can be done though. We are not going to lose sight of the football, but the club could certainly work even closer with the local community to have a positive impact on them.
Every aspect is not going to appeal to everyone, but you are not trying to. Interview other figures within the club over their role, talk to the press office and senior staff over their role and communication with fans. There are plenty out there who want to know more about how the club is run.
Why not have Paul Mitchell and his team show us how we assess a player from the beginning of the process or a senior figure giving us an insight into the factors that have to be taken into account prior to a transfer negotiation. What about an interview with the Director of Football/Technical Director discussing his role and a piece on the Foundation.
I know what goes into starting a community project and I also know the job satisfaction it can bring. Discuss that, show how a project is put together, use it as an educational piece and encourage people into community work. Link that to specialist recruitment agents in the sector and you have an innovative project.
There is no reason why the Foundation has to stop at charity work, that could be done in all sorts of fields. Apply for some European money for a three-year trial project with its own project coordinator. During an international break, you take a player who is not away with his country, Kieran Trippier or Michel Vorm perhaps and have them learn about what it takes to do a specific job, have them have a go on camera.
You are linking the football club, the Foundation and the community to encourage employment and training. The art of devising a project is to devise something innovative, unique, something that will encourage others to invest in. They want outcomes so you are looking for methods of making projects a success and finding permanent employment is a tough one to tackle.
The club is in a unique position, with unique resources which quite frankly are under utilised. The are not enough ideas people, people who can see a concept and build on it to create a vision. Not every idea is going to be feasible, the important thing is that constant flow of ideas though. You have to build something and hand it across to someone to run while you come up with the next project. If you don't you'll have a gap between projects and a gap between funding which can cause a community group to go bankrupt.
The Tottenham Foundation could employ someone who has the vision to imagine and create projects for local community groups. The group come to the Foundation he or she works with them to devise projects and then project manage them, not on a day-to-day basis, that is the role of the individual charity, but liaising with the funders and providing reports on project outcomes. His salary comes from a fee he builds into each funding application Community groups need to operate in a more joined up fashion rather than the separate entities as they do now. The Tottenham Hotspur Foundation could be at the forefront of bringing them all to work more closely together, which again is an innovative project for which you apply for funds for.
There is so much the club can do for itself, for it's fans, for the community, for the Foundation, that as an ideas man, frustrates me that aren't being done. We are moving in the right direction though it needs to continue.
If you have ideas for content you would like to see on Spurs TV or ideas what the club could be doing off the field leave a comment. I'll note them down and email the club with your suggestions, they do appear to take note.
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