The Poolie Bunker

https://decxe.r.sp1-brevo.net/mk/mr/sh/ ... aKK-ux6ora

He'll be backing Nicky Feartherstone as manager "throughout the January window and beyond" and Jeff Stelling "might play a role for Pools in the future".

He is clicking all my switches so far and I like his request to Pack the park for home games. He is obviously seeking to learn from decent sources and is willing to listen. I expect a football man installed as CEO sooner rather than later.

Sounds very measured and realistic. Can we also get Simmo back? The vibes would be immaculate.

Brilliant - the only thing missing was confirmation of the lifetime ban for our Fans Rep.

It all sounds very positive, I like the part where he mentions finishing the season strongly and a push for a play-off position. Hopefully the atmosphere can get back to how it was when we had Challinor here!

it does, but not overkeen on pools being a long term project. do not expect us to go up this season and the next as well but patiance is not a vertue of the football fan anywhere in 2026. without seeing real improvement on the pitch the feel good factor going around the place will quickly go. i,m sure we all remember promotion last time and a 17th finish being unacceptable to some.

thats up to the players. if we get a rochdale performance and result in the next two home games the place will be rocking with that and the new owner.

I suppose it is very easy to produce negatives as might be's and if they are promoted enough they are believed as probabilities.
This guy is the chance we have all been hoping and praying for and so far is making sensible noises without promising anything but his enthusiasm to do the job right. His aims are sound and sensible without any over dramatisation. If there are any negatives lurking under the surface they will soon become evident so it might be a good idea that we refrain from over emphasising their possibility and let the ball bounce and see where it takes us. I think we've had enough of negativity and doom mongering to satisfy the most ardent of doom mongers amongst us.
We have a chance to unite behind this new chapter in the life of a Poolie. Let's put our collective shoulders behind it and you never know.
Excitement is brewing, let it reign for now eh.

Very enthused & thankful this day has arrived. But this is Pools... surely there will be a rabbit away, something will go wrong or we'll still be sh!!!!te.

Hear, hear!

Well he's certainly done his homework on the club, the town, and us fans. That's an excellently put together letter which should give us all hope that he and the club can live up to our aspirations. I expect he'll get a great reception next weekend and hopefully Fev can get a similar tune out of the side as he did against Rochdale.

Spot on! Derwent.
We have got what 37% of us wanted and thats a future.
Anybody can look for negatives and probably secretly wish them to come true, Otherwise why say them after the bloke has just spent a small fortune
Giving us what we have craved for so long.

Everbody jump on board and enjoy the ride, I know i will!!

You talk about everyone jumping on board but also infer that only 37% wanted a future. Obviously the other 63% also wanted a future and by keeping Raj a bit longer we got it. Who knows what would have happened if the majority said bugger off to Raj at the time, we will never know.

So the only percentage that matters is that 100% of and, as you say, jump on board now, and lets try to forget the ridiculous and divisive stunt that Raj played.

Have any of the stayaways renewed their tickets yet? I got my half season ticket today.

Spot on.
No more divisions of fans thinking there better than other groups of fans.

100% all the same from now on. (which is how it should be).

Cheers Mr Smith.
The future seems a lot more optimistic.
UTP.

I’ll be getting mine before the Altrincham game…

Clearly the new owner has listened to Jeff Stelling and is saying all the right things.
Despite the Rochdale result, I think Fevs has to raise his game and employ more attacking tactics, particularly at home. Whilst I want us to beat Altrincham and Gateshead in front of Landon Smith, I would hate him to believe that the current squad without additions is adequate to fulfill our dreams.

This ^

All day long

Well done sir!

The 37% was tongue in cheek by me, Surely no one believed the 63% Shite.
And as you say the 100% is what we are aiming for.

I'm very encouraged by Mr Smith's opening gambit - I read it, as he sees us a long term commitment, which I think is commendable as oppose to someone who will disappear fairly quickly.
If he does the things he's set out- mainly bringing the fanbase/ town and the club back together as one with openness and honesty, then the success will follow as we build up a head of steam.

I was boycotting the club shop and home games (admittedly slightly easier when in exile) this season- after the debacle in the summer. I'm now (weather permitting) going to Woking on Saturday, hoping to be present at the Altrincham Home game and plan to invest my hard earned back into the merch from the club shop. I'm sure many will do the same.

If you're reading this Mr Smith- could we also look into the feasibility of the reintroduction of at least ONE pay on the day Cash turnstile for each stand. Think we're missing out on quite a bit of revenue, as I know/knew plenty of fans who would turn up on the day- that couldn't necessarily guarantee they'd be able to go days in advance- people working unsociable hours/ exiles like myself or friends of friends who'd had a pint or two beforehand and we're talked into turning up?

Definitely a good idea for the cash turnstiles, if you try buying on the day either at the ticket office or the kiosks it's horrendous with customers being served at a rate of maybe 2 - 3 minutes each. Heard loads of people queuing saying they wouldn't come back because of the slow ticketing process and the fact that usually you come out of the ticket queue to join another one because all of the turnstiles are not open. You really couldn't have a better model for customer deterrent.

Whilst the current ticketing situation isn’t ideal returning to cash at the turnstiles is open to abuse, before I was able to buy a concession ticket I paid the full admission price. My mate pointed out once we had been given a concession stub meaning the turnstile operator pocketed the difference.
In this day and age an electronic ticket like they do for trains, flights etc could be sent to your phone, the turnstile would only need a reader to scan your electronic card and open the gate, whilst not every one is tech savvy it would reduce the queues at the ticket office on match days.

Everything's open to abuse, but when your measures to minimise it means you're driving custom away you're doing things wrong imo.
Even the fully electronic system is open to abuse, what's to stop anyone who should pay full price from buying a concession for instance?
Our current system is obviously the cheapest of the cheap options dependent on a handful of printers and turnstiles dependent on WiFi, which went down on the MH side at 1 game last season (might have been the season before) meaning everything came to a standstill until a kid on the turnstile decided to use his mobile as a hotspot.
Many away grounds I've been to at NL level have some cash turnstiles, but even the ones which are all ticket have systems that process things far quicker, and why when large crowds are expected don't we open all the turnstiles?
We should be making it easier for casual supporters to attend games not harder, and it's not rocket science or expensive to sort it.

only problem going back to a cash turnstile is more and more will use it for many different reasons. ok have one but charge extra like many clubs do for paying on the day. what i,d like to see on top of this is all seats and not numbered on the ticket and you can sit where you like unless a sticker says its a seat for a season ticket holder. that will get fans into the ground earlier to pick the seat of their choice.

totally true and i,m 100% behind the guy. big problem could be from those who are the most excited about the takeover who might expect overnight changes in the club and will lose patiance if they cannot see it happening. pools are not an overnight fix thanke to previous ownership and not just the last one.

Numbers on tickets never made a difference before, you went to the seat number and some one was sitting on it, their reply, i always sit here.
We live in a cashless society, how many people pay cash in the shops etc nowadays, cash cost businesses money as the banks charge them to deposit it.

It might be cashless in Thailand, but I know plenty of people who only use cash and I've never been in a shop that's refused to take cash.

Up until a couple of years ago it was definitely cash only here but now the majority of people use their phone even for the food carts who have QR codes for payment hanging on them, you can also use your phone to withdraw cash from an ATM instead of a card, saves it getting skimmed at an ATM. My Thai bank is closing branches and online banking, the only access is through their app which tbh is easy to use and comes in built with a scanner, i scan the electricity and water bills using the app to pay them.
When people say they only use cash I have no idea why, you have to withdraw the money initially from the bank anyway.

It's called preference, a lot of the older generation over here would be lost in a cashless society, many don't use smartphones for anything other than calls.