I mentioned that I don't understand marketing even though I run my own business. I do very much understand customer relations and that's what makes my business tick. I look after my customers by addressing all their worries and concerns. As a business gets bigger (mine's only small), it does becomes harder to please all of the people all of the time.
On the positive side, Club Doncaster and the Dons do interact with fans. We have the fans' panel where all fans can ask questions, and ideas put forward are always considered. Carl seems pretty good at answering emails that are sent to him, so he doesn't cut himself off from everyone. I doubt many CEO's make themselves available in this way.
Unless we can see spreadsheets showing each club's wage bill, it's impossible for us to know whether one club is spending more than another. We can only guess. I doubt we will ever be able to get conclusive evidence on this. I believe Gavin Baldwin is a very honourable man (and a great asset to Club Doncaster) so I have no reason not to believe him when he says we've got a higher budget this year than last.
The spending of the budget must be the sole responsibility of the coach. From the fans panel meetings I've attended, I do get the firm view from Carl that Richard Horne is the man who decides how to spend the money and has full control over the players who come and go. Once owners give a man the job of managing the team, they should keep well clear of recruitment and retention.
It appears that Richard Horne is happy with the squad he's got; a squad he feels is capable of winning the league, or at least getting promotion. I know the counter argument could be that he would have to say that wouldn't he? I don't honestly believe Richard Horne is the type of person to have his strings pulled by someone else though.
With regards to communications generally, I dislike the 'sound bite' communication world we seem to live in. I miss the old In The Dugouts with Carl as that gave everyone a chance to have their questions answered each week and for us to be kept up-to-date with what was going on generally. I suppose that format did become a bit stale with things getting quite personal between some fans and Carl.
There's probably a limit to the 'hot news' stories the club can put out anyway so there's going to be periods of relative quiet at this time of year, although we're all keen and itching for something to get excited about.
