PR Lessons required

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GB10

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Is it just me or does anyone else think that what the club come out with on web site or interviews could be put over better ??
Obviously the whole ched thing was a PR disaster but It's happening so often when what I think they mean to say comes out wrong .., eg NIgel CLoughs latest interview when he says " ... All we need is one clean sheet from our last two games... Factually that's correct of course but if worded "... We know what we've got to do and we are going to go down to orient and get a result as we want it sorted before the last game " ... That sounds more business like to me .
Another one where the club said Collins had a calf strain that was going to keep him out 3 months and then he signs and goes straight into port vale side ( forget whether he's any good or not ).... There's been loads of such examples and not just the manager. Small points but I think they need to think more carefully about what they say and the way the say it ... Hence the title of the thread !
 

GB10 said:
Is it just me or does anyone else think that what the club come out with on web site or interviews could be put over better ??
Obviously the whole ched thing was a PR disaster but It's happening so often when what I think they mean to say comes out wrong .., eg NIgel CLoughs latest interview when he says " ... All we need is one clean sheet from our last two games... Factually that's correct of course but if worded "... We know what we've got to do and we are going to go down to orient and get a result as we want it sorted before the last game " ... That sounds more business like to me .
Another one where the club said Collins had a calf strain that was going to keep him out 3 months and then he signs and goes straight into port vale side ( forget whether he's any good or not ).... There's been loads of such examples and not just the manager. Small points but I think they need to think more carefully about what they say and the way the say it ... Hence the title of the thread !
Click to expand...

Clough doesn't do politics or PR . Bit like his dad . Talks straight off the top , except when asked about Centre backs.

UTB
 
GB10 said:
Is it just me or does anyone else think that what the club come out with on web site or interviews could be put over better ??
Obviously the whole ched thing was a PR disaster but It's happening so often when what I think they mean to say comes out wrong .., eg NIgel CLoughs latest interview when he says " ... All we need is one clean sheet from our last two games... Factually that's correct of course but if worded "... We know what we've got to do and we are going to go down to orient and get a result as we want it sorted before the last game " ... That sounds more business like to me .
Another one where the club said Collins had a calf strain that was going to keep him out 3 months and then he signs and goes straight into port vale side ( forget whether he's any good or not ).... There's been loads of such examples and not just the manager. Small points but I think they need to think more carefully about what they say and the way the say it ... Hence the title of the thread !
Click to expand...


I do think that it shows the interviews are not scripted as some suggest. The wording Nigel used was unfortunate, some will see it as negative Nigel because he is just chasing a point and a clean sheet. I don't believe that his intention at all, merely the fact that we only need a point.
 
GB10 said:
Is it just me or does anyone else think that what the club come out with on web site or interviews could be put over better ??
Obviously the whole ched thing was a PR disaster but It's happening so often when what I think they mean to say comes out wrong .., eg NIgel CLoughs latest interview when he says " ... All we need is one clean sheet from our last two games... Factually that's correct of course but if worded "... We know what we've got to do and we are going to go down to orient and get a result as we want it sorted before the last game " ... That sounds more business like to me .
Another one where the club said Collins had a calf strain that was going to keep him out 3 months and then he signs and goes straight into port vale side ( forget whether he's any good or not ).... There's been loads of such examples and not just the manager. Small points but I think they need to think more carefully about what they say and the way the say it ... Hence the title of the thread !
Click to expand...

Agree. Communication from the club is not a strong point at all. That said sanitized PR non-information would be much worse.

Jim Phipps's fb posts and tweets - which I think are a major plus - would never get past a PR firm I imagine, kobc of the way they are, er, creatively interpreted. There's a loss of control.

So is it Communications rather than PR?

The distinction being that the role of PR is to present the client in a favourable light. Communications is just getting the message across clearly.

Whatever, I do think OP has a point.
 
QUOTE="Deej, post: 749523, member: 12736"]Harry missing a friendly after getting sunstroke playing golf and then being sold off to Hull just after was my personal favourite porky pie this season.

Far more creative than Beattie having flu.[/QUOTE]

I think people on here quoting half truths as facts is even worse..........;)
 
I always liked the one where McCabe waffled about signing Leroy Lita, and Reading dropped him in it :)
 
Most managers say one thing but really mean something else. they rarely tell us the truth
 
I'm not really talking about NC Lying .. That's not his way In my opinion but as posted above the club have done .... And Deffo agree WHF that its communication more than PR you're right there but here's 2 more for you...
Jim PHipps with # speechless immediately after the final whistle a couple of weeks ago
And
NC complaining we have a tiny midfield ... That's just going to attract comments to the effect that he brought those players in!!
 
Dalelane01 said:
Most managers say one thing but really mean something else. they rarely tell us the truth
Click to expand...

And this is exactly what they should do.

Their job is to get the best out of the team, not to provide objective analysis for the media.

These are two different roles. Sometimes they are complementary. Sometimes they are in conflict.

For instance, in some places Wenger gets ridiculed for his "I didn't see it" stance, but afaics what's ridiculous is asking the question in the first place and expecting a truthful answer. That simply is not the manager's job. If, say, there's been a controversial incident then he will protect the player, and by extension the club, in public and deal with the issue internally.
 
One of the refreshing things with Clough is his interviews, he generally tells it how he sees it and particularly his pre match and mid week interviews are informative. His post match interviews are often a little emotive, which is also good to hear, even if we don't always agree with him.

Would I want him PR trained? Absolutely not. I like his approach
 
William Henry Foulkes said:
And this is exactly what they should do.

Their job is to get the best out of the team, not to provide objective analysis for the media.

These are two different roles. Sometimes they are complementary. Sometimes they are in conflict.

For instance, in some places Wenger gets ridiculed for his "I didn't see it" stance, but afaics what's ridiculous is asking the question in the first place and expecting a truthful answer. That simply is not the manager's job. If, say, there's been a controversial incident then he will protect the player, and by extension the club, in public and deal with the issue internally.
Click to expand...

The Villa manager Tim Sherwood speaks exactly how it is . However unfortunately he will come unstuck and get the sack , sooner rather than later , or when he is pat is sell by date .The overriding factor ,is that you can say what you think and want , with one proviso - You win more football matches than you loose IMO.

UTB
 

GB10 said:
Jim Phipps with #speechless immediately after the final whistle a couple of weeks ago
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This is open to interpretation - especially if you're willing to use your imagination
  • I think most of us were speechless or something similar so he's just saying what we're thinking - for me this is what happened: He's letting us know that he knows how we feel. I like this. He gets being a fan. This is in keeping with all his other public pronouncements. Long may it continue.
Alternatively
  • I am speechless. Finally I realise I have been wrong all this time. I will enact the darkest desires of the most vociferous posters on the S24SU forum: sack Clough and everyone he's ever met, appoint <pet manager> and entourage, demand we rush headlong into attacks every game. provide limitless resources etc etc
Quite often on Twitter and fb prominent figures take a break when there are some noisy, negative, hostile reactions.

I hope Jim can see those for what they are and keep communicating with the more, er, balanced views.

(And balanced might be anti-Clough - but making a case rather than spouting vitriol.)
 
SwissBlade said:
One of the refreshing things with Clough is his interviews, he generally tells it how he sees it and particularly his pre match and mid week interviews are informative. His post match interviews are often a little emotive, which is also good to hear, even if we don't always agree with him.

Would I want him PR trained? Absolutely not. I like his approach
Click to expand...

I warned you a few weeks ago Nigel, give Swiss his account back.
 
Of course the problem with any written communication (facebay, twatter etc) is that it's one dimensional and therefore open to interpretation - you don't get the facial expressions, hand gestures and other non-verbal signals which are so important when communicating with your voice. So JP's speechless quote can be interpreted in a number of ways (he could have been trying to say he had laryngitis ...)

I like how Clough is straight with us. I like how his emotions don't fluctuate massively win, lose or draw (remember Kevin keegan as Newcastle manager) and I don't particularly feel this needs to change.
 
William Henry Foulkes said:
For instance, in some places Wenger gets ridiculed for his "I didn't see it" stance, but afaics what's ridiculous is asking the question in the first place and expecting a truthful answer. That simply is not the manager's job. If, say, there's been a controversial incident then he will protect the player, and by extension the club, in public and deal with the issue internally.
Click to expand...

You need to sort your dog out WHF ;)
 
Communication is better with the new regime than before, even if some of it is 'spin'
I prefer an attempt at dialogue, however flawed, than stoney silence....problem with more dialogue and social media is that some (all?) fans will analyse and rip apart every syllable to suit their own agenda's.
 
The OP's view that managers should consider what they say would have some mileage if.....the only questions asked by reporters immediately after a game, when emotions run high, expect a glorious soundbite that makes for a back-page headline. By all means tailor a reply to the point where it's anodyne. Talk without saying anything if that's what you'd prefer. Surely the point of football, or at least one of them, is to listen to refreshingly honest opinions. If managers were tutored in the art of PR we'd never see another Nicky Holloway or Sherwood or whoever was inclined to state those 'truths' they believed in the moment.

There's a thread on here that claims Clough lies through his teeth. A complete nonsense of course, lacking the awareness of what a manager has to do in order to ensure that his primary objective, to produce something that resembles a successful team, is achieved. Often it's a necessary function of management to relay whatever's felt is necessary, when this happens the slur of telling a lie comes across as a cheap shot, riddled with the sort of self-righteous evangelism of someone who pontificates without ever having shared the experience of managing a shopping list, let alone something as organic as a professional football club.

By all means ask away, expect something close to a text book response, but do try and show you appreciate why a managerial response may contain something close to necessary caution. Does anyone believe that the so-called contemporary greats such as Ferguson, Wenger, or Mourinho, haven't withheld facts, or molded a situation to their liking? Yet they've enthralled and entertained. Who says that men can't multi-task? You'd think that this was a new phenomenon where managers are expected to act like politicians. Going way back managers like Nicholson, Sexton, Shankly, and Robson would offer what they felt was appropriate, so it's not as if this is a new trend.

More than at any time football is as much about being in the entertainment business as it is a business with football at it's core. Give me a personality who happens to be knowledgeable about the game, someone who can add a little spice to an otherwise dreary office, who realises that supporters are the lifeblood of any club (I must add, income at the gate, at least for the more successful clubs, is often an income stream that shrinks by comparison) and will always attempt to cater to their needs, with the proviso that there are sometimes reasons why certain facts are withheld. Conclusion? It's not always a good idea to wash your dirty laundry in public.
 
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