Surely the elephant in the room is the buck stops at Todd. Now I think Todd has done amazing things for the Devils and will continue to do so in the future but of all his seasons in charge I think this one he took his eye of the ball and got complacent across a broad range of subjects. Fan engagement is poor. PR content is poor. Match night experience is stale and repetitive. Appointment of head coach wrong. Some of his signings were poor (O’Connor). All leads you to question his motivation which no doubt is unfair but in the spirit of constructive criticism the issues this year have been more root and branch than just on ice. The whole culture of leading and not following has been eroded. This season is a rocket up the hoop as Steelers and Giants have moved away at the top in a lot more ways than purely on ice.
New coach: who should it be?
- Thread starter Hedd Wyn John
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Surely the main focus this season has been to encourage as many ticket sales as possible with the aim to reach the pre COVID heights of regular sell outs, if not permanent sell outs. The Club is now achieving this.
Never mind 'stale match night experience' and more fan engagement...unless a business can generate or (and after COVID lockdown) replace lost income streams, none of the progression some fans want to see will happen because the Club won't be able to invest to develop. The Owners don't have a bottomless pit of revenue to invest either as their businesses will also have been affected during lockdown.
As for recruitment, coach and players, we don't know all the circumstances of budgetary and roster constraints, the impact of CHL scheduling etc. We were told Skalde wanted to make many of the recruiting decisions. Prior to that under Lord, wasn't this process different?
As for questioning Todd 'motivation'....I don't think anyone is in a position to understand the pressures and challenges he's been under. Anyone who uproots themselves and their Family from a place they have been settled (Belfast) to take a leap of faith into the unknown leading a new club, it's future development and meeting all the challenges head on must have incredible stamina and commitment.
Put it one way, when Todd engages with fans, sponsors, business people around the IAW on match day, he looks pretty damn motivated to me.
So one difficult and disappointing season and fans think everything is falling apart?
Never mind 'stale match night experience' and more fan engagement...unless a business can generate or (and after COVID lockdown) replace lost income streams, none of the progression some fans want to see will happen because the Club won't be able to invest to develop. The Owners don't have a bottomless pit of revenue to invest either as their businesses will also have been affected during lockdown.
As for recruitment, coach and players, we don't know all the circumstances of budgetary and roster constraints, the impact of CHL scheduling etc. We were told Skalde wanted to make many of the recruiting decisions. Prior to that under Lord, wasn't this process different?
As for questioning Todd 'motivation'....I don't think anyone is in a position to understand the pressures and challenges he's been under. Anyone who uproots themselves and their Family from a place they have been settled (Belfast) to take a leap of faith into the unknown leading a new club, it's future development and meeting all the challenges head on must have incredible stamina and commitment.
Put it one way, when Todd engages with fans, sponsors, business people around the IAW on match day, he looks pretty damn motivated to me.
So one difficult and disappointing season and fans think everything is falling apart?
Unfortunately we don't really compare to Belfast, Sheffield and Nottingham when it comes to pre match build up, music, lights, sound system etc. But that is understandable when you compare what their arenas are capable of in that capacity compared to ours.
Our intro is quite a good one, but it has been the same for a number of years now. I do slightly agree with the description of 'stale', but it's certainly not a priority at the moment. Let's get the on ice product right first, thats the number 1 contributer to the match night experience.
Our intro is quite a good one, but it has been the same for a number of years now. I do slightly agree with the description of 'stale', but it's certainly not a priority at the moment. Let's get the on ice product right first, thats the number 1 contributer to the match night experience.
Back to new head coach for a second. From a first impressions perspective, DuPont making all the right noises. Manner and presentation is really professional & whereas Skalde interviews post match and pregame we’re rinsed and repeated, DuPont seems to put some nuance into answers. His playing pedigree is really good, he has experience of multiple leagues including the show. Coaching experience is more limited obviously but seems an intelligent guy. My knee jerk reaction when Skalde went was need to bring someone in, but I wouldn’t be upset if DuPont was the guy next season.
The problem is that Dupont can only be judged on a handful of nothing games. In the interview for the Dundee game Dupont said that he's using the systems that the players already know, so it's not like he's innovating tactically - not that I'd expect him to at this time of year.
One of the things I liked about skalde was if he called a time out, or he pulled the goalie, it actually seemed to make a difference. Under lord, it didn't seem to make make a great impact. Until Dupont has to make some calls in a tough game we won't really see what he's made of.
In terms of him coming back next season, to me he is too much of an unknown quantity, and too much of a risk. I think we need someone with more than just a handful of games behind the bench. I know some people would say that was the case with lord, but I see that as irrelevant. To be blunt, that was then, this is now.
One of the things I liked about skalde was if he called a time out, or he pulled the goalie, it actually seemed to make a difference. Under lord, it didn't seem to make make a great impact. Until Dupont has to make some calls in a tough game we won't really see what he's made of.
In terms of him coming back next season, to me he is too much of an unknown quantity, and too much of a risk. I think we need someone with more than just a handful of games behind the bench. I know some people would say that was the case with lord, but I see that as irrelevant. To be blunt, that was then, this is now.
If we are going with Dupont expect a season or two to get going and probably another few to win anything. Obviously I’m judging by his time playing in Cardiff, which was dire, borderline rubbish & the fact he hasn’t coached at any level worth anything. It’s not impossible, Lord proved that, although Lord played like his life depended on it and gave everything & that translated as a coach, probably too much during training that was pretty intense. Compare to Dupont who played like his life had already ended. Think it needs more than a tv face & words to convince me & l hope I’m wrong because the demanding Inferno princesses that threw their dummies outta their prams at the beginning of this season are going to get pretty vexed in the coming yrs, hilarious though it was to read, over several seasons though, no.
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#153
I wouldn't criticise Todd. He's worked extremely hard to get hockey back in Cardiff this season. We fans only see a tiny fraction lf what goes on to make hockey happen. Todd has busted his gut this year.
Yes there's always room for improvement, yes there have been staffing changes with things like social media and it takes time to bed new staff in.
As for 'stale match night experience' if you'd got suggestions to improve things email Todd. He's an open guy willing to listen to suggestions from the fans.
Personally though the one ice product is the main thing when it comes to match night experience but I'm sure everyone had their own view.
Yes there's always room for improvement, yes there have been staffing changes with things like social media and it takes time to bed new staff in.
As for 'stale match night experience' if you'd got suggestions to improve things email Todd. He's an open guy willing to listen to suggestions from the fans.
Personally though the one ice product is the main thing when it comes to match night experience but I'm sure everyone had their own view.
Wow say it like it is why don't you!!, So you stayed away because of the recruitment but you've only just read Steve's explanation of how the recruitment was disrupted. You must be able to see into the future then?? Let's be fair last season was a total curve ball on every aspect but hey don't let that cloud your vision or opinion
It was easy to take a risk with Lordo as we finished 9th the previous season. It’s been a disappointing season this year and I think Todd will be looking for a “we mean business” appointment. Not a “I’m happy to take a punt with Dupont” appointment. I’ll be very, very surprised if they go with Dupont.