Edinburgh Rugby Supporters Club

[Lee Massie]

FridayKnight - yep 100% disjointed....

However - look at it in context - I was referring to jrp's comment about change shirts (not away strip! see above!) making more appearances since the marketing people got more involved in the running/promoting the club.

Q. Wahts the purpose of marketing?
A. To promote sales.

Q. How do you promote sales?
A. Greater attendances, sponsorship and merchandise.

Greater attendances - a free ticket to anyone (not just kids - your gonna have to get your facts right!) buying an internation ticket - great idea. Show the 60K people in Edinburgh who turn up at the big games but cant get off theirs 'bums' to support their local team what they are missing. Lets hope it works - cause support from the stands equates to more success on the field (generally) and wouldnt we like to see Embra get the support like the big Irish teams? 12,000 a week attendance?

Sponsorship - ok this is serious backroom stuff and I dont know squat about it but as I'm rambling... what the heck I'll give it a stab..... lets just say that there must be enough mututal back scratching (and money!) for a company called Aberdeen to sponsor a team from Edinburgh. Not the most obvious link and a little strange that a company with more in common with Edinburgh didnt want to front the money - but I guess you get it where you can.

Merchandise - my favourite topic. As a remote Embra supporter I dont get to many games so I wear my merchanise all the time..... So when I see new shirts in all sorts of colours and flavours at £60 a piece I recognise these shirts arent sold at cost, nor out of the goodness of the clubs heart. They are sold for profit. Fair dos - you dont have to buy them but fans generally do. They buy more than one as they want to look the part in every situation. Then you sell hats and scarves and tshirts - get the picture... a little cynical maybe but a realist too....

Now look at my comments with a touch of irony, sarcasm and humour. Not quite as mad? Dunno and Dont care!

I do ramble a little/lot but dont shoot me down for it buddy.... no one likes friendly fire.

[Oldsalt]

Lee my man, just keep posting! You have your views the same as anyone else - what's the point of the forum if people did not put their views across.

There is one thing I've learned over the years at sea is that the Captain is always right. He's right because he's experienced and has his own fund of knowledge but he always knows a good idea when he hears one whether that's from his 1st Mate or the galley boy.

The free tickets for the Wasps match worked. One of the guests I gave the ticket to is taking his son and self along on a friday evening. We do need the support and like you Edinburgh should be putting out a support of 10,000+ for a city and area of it's size.

Hope the weather is good and you enjoy the game

[Lee Massie]

Cheers Oldsalt - nice to feel part of the crew.

I think free tickets is a great idea - the more the better (even if the motivation at some level in the club is money there are loads of us fans who welcome more fans in attendance!)

Another cracker of an idea was the odd game elsewhere in Edinburgh (at old grounds etc - Meggetland?) with free admittance is an awesome idea!

On a similar note I'm pleased to see that Season tickets are nearly at 1500! Come folks only a handful to go!

I wish I lived close enough to come along on Friday nights! but I dont! So I'll have to contend with being part of the Away crowd. Its quite fun being a lone voice in the crowd... if a bit lonely ... (worlds smallest violin) lol.

Weather - hope its better than the Warriors game - it hammered down all night and made the play really hard going - ball just stopped dead if it touched the ground and players slid all over the place.... if its dry - thats good enough...

[Lee Massie]

The Zen Buddhists strive to hear the sound of one hand clapping. This ancient philosophy pretty much summed up the game at Rodney Parade for a small but enthusiastic band of Embra fans out numbered almost 1000/1!

Hearing one hand clapping was more likely than Embra putting 5 points on the board... lots of opportunities but all stopped short of getting the points by some good defence from the Dragons, some sloppy mistakes by the men in White and some 'unfortunate' refereeing decisions...

The saying also sums up the amount of noise you could hear when Chris slotted home his 3 penalties.... as apart from the 5 of us I counted 3 other Scots fans in the whole stadium....

My personal highlights from the match...

1) Hugo Southwell's little behind flick pass to Andy Turnball inside the Dragons 22 which nearly ended up a try... (2nd half and 10 ft away) - Very "All Black"esque. Keep up the good work Hugo!

2) meeting Chunk to congratulate him on his 200th appearance for the club... What a nice bloke! Although he did get picked up and carried backwards 10 yards by 3 Dragons about 70 mins in....

3) my dad making it into a press photo (unfortunately of Fussell's try) http://www.welshrugbypics.co.uk/events/1396-dragons-v-edinburgh-260908/pictures/30347

4) Met some really nice Welsh fans who were very friendly. Met a few gobby ones too – as you do... “I like your skirt” & “Can you drop the ref off on your way home?” ... yep – ya got me! Nice one lads – never heard those little pearls of wit before!

So - we didn’t get the result we all wanted. “If only one of the 3 drop goal attempts had made it” ... “If only Southwells pass to Turnball hadn’t been deemed forward we’d have got our deserved try” well of course “if only’s” make for different stories. The long and short of it is - you can’t win games when you can’t turn pressure into points.... and we certainly owned the game with the amount of pressure we put the Dragons under!

Anyway in summary: there were some great individual moves, some nice flowing plays from the back line, a few poor decisions (from the ref, lino’s and players), a fairly decent kebab from Best Kebabs on the high street! and lastly.... Who said that the host team plays in their alternate strip when the visitors have a matching colour strip? "There are No away strips in Rugby" lol.... we live and learn!

[val3]

Hi Lee

We're normally on the Argus terrace but the OH , in his infinite wisdom, booked tickets for the Hazell terreace (on the grounds that that is the side where the Embra fans generally congregate). You stood out well (got to say the flags did help!) - I was the one waving the Embra flag like a loony almost opposite.

Have to say that some of the passing was sublime and it was gut wrenching to see a sequence of superb passes let down at the last with a knock on or the like.

In my opinion Hugo was definitely man of the match for us whilst, if anyone is dropped for the next match, please let it be Mossy. I really didn't think I'd be saying this - but he was just not 'there' last night. This is not American football - we cannot have a guy on the pitch purely to take kicks - we need a tackling, in the opposition face, full back - and sadly Mossy is not that man. (Not at the moment certainly.)

As for the shirts - there was an announcement before the match that there had been a 'problem' with our shirts and that some players would be in numberless shirts and others wearing replacemnt numbers to start. Anyone know what that was all about??

Home and away shirts have defeated me entirely. Living where I do, my 'other' team is Bristol - who have worn tbeir 'away' shirts at home to Bath and Sale and away to Quins and Newcastle (cos of colour clashes, although how anyone can calsh with Quins is beyond me ) so 4 games into the season and the 'home' shirt not worn yet.

We live in a mad world my friend. Hopefully the Cardiff game should see us in the black and red - I hope

[Jon]

Lets hope there is something to play for at the Cardiff game (in May!)

[val3]

Hope so too Jon - for those of us down south there's only 3 more chances to see the boys in action and that's one of them!

[Lee Massie]

DONT FORGET - All US southern fans - We've also got Wasps - down near Maidenhead.... thats closer for me that any of the Welsh games.... already got myself a corporate hospitality ticket for that match with Wasps sponsors EMC - AND they know I'll be in Embra kit!

[Eildon]

[Loops]

[jamiet]

Sacrilige!!

Mossy dropped or critisised surely not - this forum is only for those who regularily pinpoint and say how bad people are in a game , except don't mention the Mossy word - remember Hugo is dreadful , the other wingers are dreadful , if he is contention for a 10 place then the encumbent 10 is dreadful etc etc.

[Lee Massie]

My piccies from the night: http://picasaweb.google.com/leemassie/EdinburghDragonsSept2008?authkey=K0PGg3xtQk8

Well - I cant comment on individual performances as we were at the side line by the 22 - so very flat view. I thought that Mossy made the wrong call on a couple of occasions - trying to run out of trouble when he was on his own and not kick up field - but if he'd made it through he'd have been a weaving/jinking genius.... Southwell had some nice moves - covered the pitch well and was quite involved although he was over ambitious on a penalty kickup field and left it in play by 10ft (ie not into touch if you understand my poor description)

I though Andy Turnball was good.

Jim Hamilton looked a little slow - but he's a giant so his movements look slow to us meer folk...

Chunk had a mixed night - a nice little break into the 22 in 2nd half but also got lifted by the collars by 3x dragons and marched 10 ft backward.

DeLuca was ok - drop goal would have been nice tho.....

At least Mossy kept us within 2 points....

[Derrick Lee's #1 Fan]

[Lee Massie]

Cheeky!

I dont pick the squad - but I do like Mossy!

Maybe he (like the rest of the squad) are still getting used to being back 'in term time' and competing....

Its still only 4 games in everyone likes to chip away at Mossy - I dont think Frank Hadden did him any favours - moving him all over the shop. He was originally picked cause of his running and not his kicking but he's been marginalised and he had a poor time down at Kingsholm.

Patience is a virtue...

[Derrick Lee's #1 Fan]