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Name change is a great idea, even if PR has been poor ; Would fans have reacted differently with more evidence? [Hull Daily Mail (England)](Hull Daily Mail (England) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) I LISTENED with interest to Radio Humberside's interview with Ehab Allam last week, and my initial thoughts were, and continue to be, that we are in very safe hands. An honest and transparent explanation of Hull City's recent financial results were given by Ehab, and it all seemed to make sense that the books are beginning to balance after many years of financial farce by predecessors. In recent times, the KC Stadium, City's rise through the Football League to the pinnacle of English football and my own personal circumstances have seen my visits to watch the Tigers increase and re-ignited my lifelong interest. The offering we now have is certainly worth the money. I travel through from Malton to home games and genuinely love every minute of the adventure we are currently on. I respect totally the 3,000 to 5,000 diehards who can say they have not missed a home match for 25 years, you do genuinely deserve a medal as you have spent a lot of hard-earned money over the years with little or no return at times on your cash. But, football is now big business and cannot survive on the diehards. You need another 20,000 hangers-on like me, the vast majority that fill the KC every week. Yes, Allam's PR people could have done a better job over the reasons behind the name change. I feel we would all have agreed 100 per cent that a lucrative multi-million pound sponsorship with Tiger Beer, and worldwide recognition of our club and brand through shirt sales and marketing in Asia, would be a financially-rewarding route. If it had been put across correctly, I feel we would all be accepting of a tweak of the name and be agreeing such a name on the shirt might be a better image for us all than another pay day loan company. After all, we will all continue to call our club whatever we personally want. The vast majority have referred to the team as 'The Tigers' for many years previous to Allam's involvement. We can all sing our own songs and gloat about how many matches have been attended over the years, and wear that badge of honour with pride. The passion of the 'City 'Till We Die' group has got to be applauded, and long may that passion burn. However, I feel we have got bucket loads more to be thankful for with the Allams at the helm, than we have to complain about. Allam has shown in his dealings with the Council that he will not back down and will cut off his nose to spite his face. Let's not take that risk; men like Allam come along once in a lifetime. So, let's get behind the name change 100 per cent. There was life after Boothferry Park, which is actually quite sweet at the minute. What could life be like after the Allams? We actually don't have to look very far along the M62 to Leeds, down the M6 to Cardiff or further north to Newcastle to see that life could be very dull in Hull again. Robin Kellock, Malton GARETH SAYS... WE'RE only a matter of weeks away from learning the FA's appeal decision on the Hull Tigers saga, but Robin puts across a valid point when saying the whole situation could have been handled much better. If transparency and communication with the fans was done from the outset, I reckon the outcry with the No To Hull Tigers campaign, and in-house bickering amongst supporters, would've been far less. Personally, I don't think the FA's stance on the matter will change, but we shall wait and see. Who knows? Thankfully, over the last few weeks, City's success on the field has managed to take the attention away from this off-field debate. (c) 2014 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved. |