Paul Ragan to take over the Steelers
- Thread starter DevilDom
- Start date
a lot of what has been said on this thread is speculation based on how previous owners have treated the Devils or just personal opinions of the poster with nothing to substantiate it. I can under stand why this is, its human nature to fear the unknown and the announcement came out of the blue to most if not all.
There are many questions that need answers so a Q&A forum could go along way to dispel any fears.
As it is I think we should take a minuet to reflect on this and not whip up a mass hysteria because of the unknown.
Lets get the facts before we send the lynch mob to chase PR out of town.
PR has not invested in the Devils as a hobby, we are not his week end play thing. It is another business on his portfolio, with a long term plan to turn a profit and get a return on his investment. to quote PR "I will be utilising the skills of my fantastic team in Cardiff to manage the back office administration so that the staff in Sheffield can actively and heavily market the Steelers".
Do we believe that after such a short time frame and with the leaps and bounds that the devils have come on that PR is going to walk away and if so why would he choose to run the Steelers from Cardiff?
Is sending our best players to play for Sheffield a good way to get a return on the investment already made in the Devils?
Is PI get winning the bid to built the new rink a bad thing? (Let me put my fire proof coat on). We do not fill the current one rink, if PR built a 6-8K seat rink now I suspect it would be a longer turn around on the investment than letting PI built one of 3-4K then building the Devils fan base to fill it before building the Devils there own pad with a high capacity later.
There are many questions that need answers so a Q&A forum could go along way to dispel any fears.
As it is I think we should take a minuet to reflect on this and not whip up a mass hysteria because of the unknown.
Lets get the facts before we send the lynch mob to chase PR out of town.
PR has not invested in the Devils as a hobby, we are not his week end play thing. It is another business on his portfolio, with a long term plan to turn a profit and get a return on his investment. to quote PR "I will be utilising the skills of my fantastic team in Cardiff to manage the back office administration so that the staff in Sheffield can actively and heavily market the Steelers".
Do we believe that after such a short time frame and with the leaps and bounds that the devils have come on that PR is going to walk away and if so why would he choose to run the Steelers from Cardiff?
Is sending our best players to play for Sheffield a good way to get a return on the investment already made in the Devils?
Is PI get winning the bid to built the new rink a bad thing? (Let me put my fire proof coat on). We do not fill the current one rink, if PR built a 6-8K seat rink now I suspect it would be a longer turn around on the investment than letting PI built one of 3-4K then building the Devils fan base to fill it before building the Devils there own pad with a high capacity later.
With the way the Elite League is currently set up,I don't have a major problem with this.In fact I think it will benefit the Devils in the long run.
The Elite League has been a mickey mouse organisation for years and is as poorly run as is possible.However, it is what it is and we are stuck with it or go down the EPL route,Those are the only options. This in my opinion helps to ensure the future of the Elite League.
With Paul Ragan now owning Sheffield,he will have much more clout at the boardroom table and his forward thinking ideas might be taken more positively.It may even lead to a clear out of the old regime allegedly running the league.Could it be any worse without Convery and French?
Both organisations will benefit from economies of scale in terms of back office,marketing and equipment spends and this will benefit the Devils as much as the Steelers.
Players generally play for the coach not the owner and I don't imagine for one minute a haemorrhage of our players to the northern wastelands.Gerad Adams is a winner and as hard-nosed a competitor as you could wish to meet.Can you imagine him throwing a game to benefit Sheffield?
The situation is not ideal but then neither is the sport of hockey in the UK or the Elite League in particular.If you drew up a template for the sport in the UK,you certainly wouldn't start from where we are now.The Elite League continues.Sheffield survives and the Devils continue to strive for success,perhaps on a more level playing field in the boardroom.
The Elite League has been a mickey mouse organisation for years and is as poorly run as is possible.However, it is what it is and we are stuck with it or go down the EPL route,Those are the only options. This in my opinion helps to ensure the future of the Elite League.
With Paul Ragan now owning Sheffield,he will have much more clout at the boardroom table and his forward thinking ideas might be taken more positively.It may even lead to a clear out of the old regime allegedly running the league.Could it be any worse without Convery and French?
Both organisations will benefit from economies of scale in terms of back office,marketing and equipment spends and this will benefit the Devils as much as the Steelers.
Players generally play for the coach not the owner and I don't imagine for one minute a haemorrhage of our players to the northern wastelands.Gerad Adams is a winner and as hard-nosed a competitor as you could wish to meet.Can you imagine him throwing a game to benefit Sheffield?
The situation is not ideal but then neither is the sport of hockey in the UK or the Elite League in particular.If you drew up a template for the sport in the UK,you certainly wouldn't start from where we are now.The Elite League continues.Sheffield survives and the Devils continue to strive for success,perhaps on a more level playing field in the boardroom.
http://www.britishicehockey.co.uk/news/ ... -3961.html
Some quotes from Paul Ragan at the end that are quite good and might help set aside some worries ?
"And Simon is the first target for Ragan’s future planning. “Ben has done a fantastic job of providing entertaining hockey for the fans. The team has performed exceptionally well on the ice in a challenging season and it is my strongest desire to secure his services for next season, and work with him to build the roster for next year, starting with key players he identifies from this season.”
Some quotes from Paul Ragan at the end that are quite good and might help set aside some worries ?
"And Simon is the first target for Ragan’s future planning. “Ben has done a fantastic job of providing entertaining hockey for the fans. The team has performed exceptionally well on the ice in a challenging season and it is my strongest desire to secure his services for next season, and work with him to build the roster for next year, starting with key players he identifies from this season.”
Thank you..........or maybe not.
Are you suggesting that this one move by Paul Ragan has suddenly brought about the death of th Devils? Are we really that reliant on one person that if they go we collapse?
I've already said I'm nervous and a bit worried about this - but let's not over-react and at least take some time to see how it all plays out.
I do find it rather ironic that a lot of the biggest critics of the current Devils management are those who are now most worried he will leave and the Devils will die. I could be really spiteful and suggest that those people who have done nothing but moan and criticise have caused Paul Ragan to re-evaluate his position at the club and make him look into other possibilities. If I was spending hundreds of thousands of pounds propping up a sports team only to have my business practicise and actions criticised by people - I might wonder what the point was.
Then you look at Sheffield where their owner basically used people's ticket money to pay off his own debts, sack popular members of off-ice staff and not afford to bring in replacements - and yet incredibly the majority of fans still support him.
Perhaps some people need to be careful what they wish for.
Are you suggesting that this one move by Paul Ragan has suddenly brought about the death of th Devils? Are we really that reliant on one person that if they go we collapse?
I've already said I'm nervous and a bit worried about this - but let's not over-react and at least take some time to see how it all plays out.
I do find it rather ironic that a lot of the biggest critics of the current Devils management are those who are now most worried he will leave and the Devils will die. I could be really spiteful and suggest that those people who have done nothing but moan and criticise have caused Paul Ragan to re-evaluate his position at the club and make him look into other possibilities. If I was spending hundreds of thousands of pounds propping up a sports team only to have my business practicise and actions criticised by people - I might wonder what the point was.
Then you look at Sheffield where their owner basically used people's ticket money to pay off his own debts, sack popular members of off-ice staff and not afford to bring in replacements - and yet incredibly the majority of fans still support him.
Perhaps some people need to be careful what they wish for.
Why would such comments 'set aside some worries'? Far from it. It tells you that he will be looking to recruit the best players, and as we have most of the top points scoring players in our roster at the moment plud very good D men do you honestly think none will be approached by Sheffield ? I must also add that anyone who believes that both teams will operate from the same budget - despite what Paul Ragan says - is deluded. There will be no wage cap - it might look that way - but the higher revenue income teams will always get around that and pay the better players the old fashioned way with their 'brown envelopes'