MyFootballClub FC — Has the Bubble Burst?
They might be on their way to Wembley in the FA Trophy, but the idea of running a football club and picking the team through the magic of Web 2.0 looks doomed just months after MyFC took over Ebbsfleet United. Their tagline still reads “Own the club and pick the team”, but many now feel that they’ve been duped.
Two articles this week laid into MyFC, as the members considered a poll on whether to take over team selection from manager Liam Daish or not. At Football Media, Ahmed Bilal quoted extensively from the MyFC Web Team’s message to members about the prospect of members taking over team selection. Let me borrow some of the extracts Ahmed cites from the message:
The level of interest in the team selector and general discussion on formations, players, tactics etc has been very low. On average, only about 1% to 1.5% of members are using the team selector to pick a team, and far fewer are watching 90 minutes of matches.
It has therefore been very difficult to design a system that will work based on such low results. The resulting teams from these selections have been reasonable, but fairly predictable and not particularly ground breaking.
In addition, an example where Chris McPhee was used at right back against Aldershot was suggested by no one at all. This was a selection that proved very effective against a talented and speedy winger and yet there is no mechanism that allows Daish the sort of flexibility for this sort of selection.
The web team have invested a lot of time and resources into providing full 90 minute match video either free or as low cost Hi resolution but again the number of members watching these matches is very low and there has been very little comment on the matches or the players performance based on these. The Web Team feel uncomfortable forcing team selection on to the club when it’s not clear whether the appetite is there. The Web Team would appreciate feedback from members on how to improve the popularity and use of the team selector and the full 90 minutes match coverage.
Some have argued that the lack of interest has been due to the lack of training reports and other communications about players. Fair enough, but there has been little effort by members in trying to work with what we have got with a view to refining the whole thing based on practical experience. Some have asked for positions to be assigned to players on the selector, but isn’t this what we are supposed to do? Of course we need to get information from the coach, but until we start practising picking the team, does anyone really know exactly what we want from him.
Most of all though, we have to be sure that we all, or at least most of us, want to do this and are prepared to spend the time researching the necessary information. It has been said many times but this is not football manager, there are no predefined sets of statistics, we are dealing with real people and their livelihoods depend on it. We have to guarantee that many thousands of us will do the research and make the selection and do so week after week.
It is the opinion of the society board that the level of interest in picking the team in the way it is currently constituted, is not sufficient. 300-400 people is not a crowd and if the proper research hasn’t been done, it isn’t wise either. We feel that imposing this on the coach for one of the most important game in Ebbsfleet’s history would be reckless and if it went badly wrong could threaten the whole idea of fans picking the team in the future, let alone spoil the clubs chances in the match.
As Ahmed points out, the fact that thousands of people who have invested only $70 in the team aren’t spending hours pouring over game video and information isn’t exactly a surprise, and it seems to have finally dawned on those running the show that these decisions by distant, disconnected “owners” will actually impact upon real people’s careers and may not be best for the club on the playing field.
But many critics, such as Ian at 200%, have long doubted that many members will sustain a deep interest in the venture over the long-term. He says there is growing disquiet on the MyFC forums about just how ‘democratic’ the whole enterprise actually is: “Accusation and counter-accusation are now commonplace on their forum, and the suspicion is that members are only being allowed to vote on certain issues that suit the ends of the people running the show. Some long term members have already stated that they will not be renewing, and with only just over 2,000 of the 29,000 members having signed up for longer than a year, it’s difficult to see how they’re going to maintain anything like the membership that they currently have.”
As Ian notes, actually picking the team straight out was only one of the five options offered in the poll, which itself seems to be only advisory — it’s not stated that the members decision is binding at all.
The Web Team invites all members to take part in a poll regarding team selection. It will help the manager and members develop a team selection process that reflects the owners’ wishes.
The poll, which you can take part in here, asks the following question:
Which statement best describes your view on “Pick the team”?* I want to pick the team but I don’t want the manager to make any changes to the members’ selection
* I want to pick the team and I’d like the manager to have some flexibility to make changes to the members’ selection
* I want to pick the team and I’d like the manager to consider, but not necessarily follow, the members’ selection
* I am not interested in picking the team
* I abstain
Team manager Liam Daish sent a message out to members last week, in which he said “I’m concerned about going from a standing start to members picking the team straight away.” The MyFC Society Board — chosen by under 7,000 members — seconded this, stating that “There is the additional point that Liam Daish has guided the team to this Wembley final. Do we really want to steal his thunder by picking the team for such an important match Won’t it be a betrayal of his efforts in getting us this far and robbing him of his well deserved moment of glory?”
But many members feel otherwise, and are baffled by the obfuscation surrounding what picking the team actually means. One wrote on the forum that “I joined to have my vote on picking a starting 11 + subs for each game. If this is not going to be forthcoming neither will be my membership next year!!!!” So far, only just over 2,000 members have pledged for another year of membership.
And another asks, “Let alone worrying about renewals, what about the refunds?”
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Tom Dunmore is the founder and editor of Pitch Invasion. Follow him @pitchinvasion on Twitter.
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Democracy in all it’s beauty.
It’s been an interesting experiment, and I guess that it had to be done in order to see whether it was workable. Is it really such a surprise though, to learn that the project’s long -term future is in jeopardy?
Playing ‘Football Manager’ on the computer and messing around with players’ careers for fun is one thing. Doing it in real life introduces more serious issues. It’s evidently not as enjoyable as people initially thought, judging by the lack of interest in certain features of running the club.
I still find myself very interested in what’s going on down at Stonebridge Road – enough to stump up for the HD video option, listen in on Saturday mornings, etc. But the last couple months have been a particularly hectic period of my life, and I haven’t been able to be as hands-on as I, as an “owner” would like to be.
There’s definitely a shake-out going on, but would you expect any less? I’m not sure it’s even a bad thing.
Hmmm, I think it was all rather inevitable. What put me off signing up for it was the issue of interactivity. How can I really decide on a team just by watching a hi res videos of a game or something. Living in Switzerland meant I would be unable to go watch them and get a real understanding of how they play etc. Also i was a little sceptical of how much influence mine and the x number of other members would really have on team selection due to our limited view of the team and the media from which we can make decisions from
http://www.footballfilter.com
I actually kinda love that this is failing. It’s the most blatant case of commercialism masked as a grass roots movement that has ever been foisted on the sporting public.
Anyone who read the run up to this thing and didn’t think/suspect they might get burned by a scheisster as some point deserves their current state of dissapointment.
I’d be delighted that this looks likely to fail if it wasn’t for the proper fans, players and other employees of the football club who are being messed around so much. What happens to the club now if only a small percentage sign up for another year? I can’t help feeling that this has all been an elaborate con, that someone will have made a pocket full of cash whilst putting the long term future of a football club in grave danger.
“It’s the most blatant case of commercialism masked as a grass roots movement that has ever been foisted on the sporting public.”
I’m really not clear how it could be construed as more blatantly, insidiously commercial than, say, RBNY.
/kicking spurs into my hobby horse
This was an interesting experiment, but I don’t think it was entirely thought through properly. It seems like the “owners” are not sure how exactly their ideals should be implemented with the reality of a football club.
As a proud co-owner the fleet, I felt that I should add my two penny worth here.
Whilst picking the team was the basis on how MyFc was sold, only foolish people and scare mongorers like to point out that this is not happening yet. How practicle would that be !.
Alot of people are looking to see this peoject fail, but I am here to tell you that there are alot of folks who are in this for the right reasons. MyFc is not here to destroy a football club, it is here to give any loving football fan a chance and a means to actually own part of a club. It will take some time to work out the kinks and anybody who doubts that is wrong and should not have entered the project.
Long live Ebbsfleet United, free enterprise and most imprtantly….the beautiful game.
Nick. Any “loving football fan” could buy shares/membership in any of an increasing number of clubs owned by fans trusts all over the country. See the Supporters Direct website for details. These fans/ owners are in it genuinely for the love of their clubs, not the ludicrous prospect of acting out a football management computer game in real life. Speaking as one of these members/owners I fully understand the special feeling to be involved in the decision making process (our AGM, where issues such as playing kits, admission prices etc…., takes place in a couple of weeks) of a club. But picking the team?!!!!! Like it or not the majority of Ebbsfleet’s new wave of fans will only be in it for this gimmick and boy do I feel sorry for the long standing matchgoing fans who may see one of their better players dropped due to the whims of a internet managers who have only seen a set of highlights on a small screen, have never seen the reserves or what players attitude/play is like in training.
Seriously, if you want to be involved in a football club why not buy shares/ membership in a Telford/ AFC Wimbledon/ FCUM/ Stockport or one of many others?
The mantra was “own the club, pick the team”
The folkks whor signed up and paid their money – the “members” do NOT own the club at all – it is owned primarilly by the guys who set the whole thing up, and the “members” are just that – members of a society.
They are now told they will NOT have the option to pick the team after all.
WyreForestRed – speaking as a UnitedStatesian MyFC member, I can tell you that my friend and I did in fact consider buying “shares/ membership in a Telford/ AFC Wimbledon/ FCUM/ Stockport or one of many others” before signing up with MyFC. (Stockport County seemed like a better bet than FCUM since the latter was founded by anti-Glazer folks before the Glazer family even had a chance to screw up. If AFC Wimbledon had hired Dave Bassett, we’d be there
The fact is, that none of these Supporters Direct groups appeared to be in the least bit interested in having – or appealing to – a foreigner who would have to learn to be a supporter. The Stonebridge Road folks – for all the understandable upset/concern about internet yahoos like me – were genial hosts, and made sure I enjoyed my two matches there last month. If I misread any of the Supporters Direct websites or misinterpreted any of their opinions, I apologize…but then I got an FA Trophy today!
Carl Miller:
I have to agree with you but the more I think about it, the more unworkable it would be if every team position and selection was voted by each and every owner. As the articles suggests, most people don.t even watch 90 mins of the game……many people don’t even live in the UK.
I was going to let Carl Miller’s comments slide, but if “soccer” is going to take them seriously…
the club is *not* “owned primarily by the guys who set the whole thing up”. It’s owned by the society. And if the society sells the club, “the guys who set the whole thing up” don’t get any money. And the guys don’t get any future money, assuming the new owners don’t want to use the website owned by “the guys who set the whole thing up”. How the society is going to choose a charity to get the sale proceeds, that’s a question.
The society has *not* been told “that they will NOT have the option to pick the team after all”. Some English journalists have written that, but it’s simply not the case. Members are still discussing how to do it. After all, the society is still paying good money for a manager’n'coaching staff that has been doing an excellent job on a below-average budget, and more members are getting less excited about picking the team. (I’m hoping the society will vote to postpone picking the team until the manager chooses to leave, but I’m in a minority so far.)
And “soccer”, you should explain why you believe it’s unworkable. The team picked by the members usually has nine or ten members in common with the manager’s picks. The difference for some of the matches has been whether players were deemed fit or not at the last minute (and in some cases, the members were not even told the players were questionable for the game). The big differences have occurred when the manager and the members disagreed on the importance of a particular game. There have been some discussions about using different formations than the manager, but the manager himself has used three different formations so the discussion isn’t unreasonable. And this was with the manager providing little or no input before the games; if he wanted to get a certain selection, he could justify it with a paragraph or two (yeah, I know – not his favorite thing to do), and members would roll with it.
The leader of “the guys who set this all up” was watching his side at home (Fulham at Craven Cottage) several years ago, wondering why a group of fans couldn’t do just as good a job as picking the team. Now deeply engrossed in a club and his group’s website, he’s learning why. We’ll see how this goes.
The mantra was “own the club, pick the team”
The folkks whor signed up and paid their money – the “members” do NOT own the club at all – it is owned primarilly by the guys who set the whole thing up, and the “members” are just that – members of a society.
They are now told they will NOT have the option to pick the team after all.
Tony B – are you kidding me?
EUFC is not owned by the “guys who set the whole thing up”; 75% of the club is owned by the society.
And the society *is* picking the team now. A solid majority of voters is doing that by voting for Liam Daish to use his best judgment. After all, we pay the guy all that money and he led the club to an FA Trophy…That’s very different from “NOT have the option”.
Get your facts right Alex. The tagline of “own the club and pick the team” is downright false. The members do NOT pick the team. The society does NOT pick the team. The manager picks the team, and he doesn’t give two hoots about what any member would like the team to be.
There is only one person who is going to pick the team for all the matches this season, and that’s the incumbent manager.
Harry, I have my facts right.
Four hours ago, I cast a vote to ask “the incumbent manager” (as you call him) to pick the team for me for the Oxford United match on Saturday. I don’t care whether or not he cares what other members like the team to be – I want him to use his best judgment. I vote that way because given the options, I believe it’s the most responsible thing for me to do as a society member.
So far, for every match a majority of the voters have agreed with me. When a majority disagree with me, then a compilation of the majority’s picks (formation and personnel) will start the game. Maybe my trust in the vote counters is misplaced, but perhaps you ought to instead ask yourself why, in spite of the tagline, a majority of voters would agree to have Daish pick the team for them.
Yeah, if we had it to do over again, I might have posted more forcefully that the website owner should have used our money to buy a club that wanted its manager to go to hell (instead of one where the life-long Gravesend and Northfleet – aka Ebbsfleet – supporters appear to want him on a ten-year contract) but this is the club we bought. And I intend to use the limited input I have as a society member responsibly.
Should be interesting to see the results of the consultation vote for selling Akinde.
If the majority of members, ahem, voted, and didn’t want the manager to pick the team, it woudn’t make a scrap of difference – *the manager would still pick the team.*
The whole thing is a sham – the members *cannot* pick the team.
As for the “vote” for selling Akinde, the vote doesn’t offer anything to the members but participation – there is NO decision making authority, so it’s a pointless exercise.
Well, Harry – you’re half right.
“anything but participation” is an ironic phrase – gee golly, where else does one even get participation – but you’re correct: the Akinde vote is merely consultative. I wrote that in my previous comment. Consulting the same people who can vote for new board members and thus indirectly shorten the CEO’s and manager’s contracts, that is, so not entirely pointless.
Your emphasis on the alleged sham puzzles me, however. Do you know the manager? Have you heard him say that he’ll fill out the lineup card (please excuse the Americanism) however he wishes? Have you read the 18-month contract he signed after the society acquired the rights to 75% of the club in November (not the actual 75% – that didn’t happen until February)? What is your evidence that he won’t fulfill his contract?
Parts of the MyFC story have been disappointing – even to the website founder – and we’ve lost some good members because they were so disappointed that they would agree that MyFC is a sham…but Daish *possibly* refusing to follow voting results isn’t even on the list of reasons.
Where are your facts, Harry?
To alexgloc:
I totally agree with you.
For the article, its very nice written
R. Vinello
I think MyFC’s been on a downhill slide for sometime now. You only have to look at the number of members that have voted on important issues recently. There has been a significant decline from two-thirds voting on the Ebbsfleet (in January) to about one fifth voting (in March) on the composition of the new board.
Is it any wonder only a small number are now trialling the team selection feature? You could argue that they’d already ‘lost’ a third of the membership before ever taking over Ebbsfleet.
That said, I think a great opportunity has been lost. I don’t think the main attraction to MyFC was the ability for members to pick the team. It was more to be a part of a (global) community, the social networking it promised, and the sense of both belonging to, and being able to influence the direction of a football club.
I think this is something that has been largely overlooked. Instead, there’s been a concerted push to finalise the team purchase, set up the new board, and get the team selection process in place, as quickly as possible.
While this has been going on, there was little formal communication, to the membership, on where things were headed. Consequently, I think many members either feel alienated or have simply lost interest.