Have always purchased the magazine from the old days and including the resent restart but is it just me that is finding it more and more uncomfortable to read?Last season I was thinking it's just constant negatives against the new ownership and have just finished the latest one and have thought I'm not buying it again as even for every positive it will find a negative.I know my not buying it will not bother anyone or I doubt these comments but I was just wondering is it just me that feels this way?Up until recently I have always enjoyed this excellent magazine and was excited when it returned.
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Always seems to come across as negative and always thought it was just me.
Glad I'm not alone.
Just noise at this stage.
Worth reading irrespective of whether or not I am in complete agreement.
Always interested in feedback, positive or negative, from people who read the Voice. Not interested in the views of those who don't, since by definition they don't know what they're talking about.
There's a five page article in the current issue which concludes that RD is the best owner the club has ever had - yet we're told above that no counter argument is given much credence. That would seem to be untrue?
Personally, I think it's a pretty balanced issue and that the six issues last season were by a distance the best issues ever - bar the lack of letters. Never perfect, always capable of improvement, but in general I am very happy with them.
If people don't want to read it they won't, but I think it would have been surprising if last season's issues had been full of positivity given what was going on.
People won't always agree with the line we take. Indeed the nine contributors to the last issue don't agree with each other, but that's the point of a fanzine - or indeed a message board.
Hugely draining and demoralising imo
I don't see it as sniping or contempt. The question was asked and people answered it .
I can't see a problem with that myself.
It's what i think ( as do many others ) it's not being snide but If that the way it comes across then , so be it.
However, partly because I was a student when it was out the first time and I'm now a single parent, I don't seem to find the time to read most of the articles and because blogs and CL are immediate in terms of news I often find that I give up before I've read much of it. There comes a point where the articles just don't seem topical any more.
Back in the day the Voice was where I got the vast majority of club news, that is not the case, for me, any more. I know we joke about if it's not on the OS.... But these days if you come on here and you don't read about it, it hasn't happened!
Incidentally Baheback and Delorts are valued at €1.5M - this is very relevant for this is clearly the type of player which M. Duchatelet is acquiring for us and Liege.
So when Bulot turns up valued £2.2M I'm thinking feck this, he's really going for it! Meanwhile you are banging on about Nego and Koc ... so last season don't you think?
I think you accused me of taking happy pills in one post and of "mindless optimism" in another - thing is that if we win at home to Watford then there's a good chance we stay top six for the whole of September. Why don't you back the club instead of talking it down all the time? The average home gate for 2012/13 is published at 18,499. I have not defined how that can be achieved but I think it reasonable that the club and fans aspire to return to this level and I agree it won't happen overnight. It would be helpful to know how that number was made up in terms of season tickets, match day walk ups, away fans and comps.
Trust between club and the supporters Trust will have to be built for there to be fans participation in all of the legwork outlined above. I'm glad we agree that success on the pitch will help - I wonder how fast and to what extent? On the other hand one option for the club is to simply continue acquiring players and pace their way into the Premier League where we all know the Valley should sell out again... then again without all of the ground work perhaps it won't. I don't pretend to know all the tricks but as you state, it's not rocket science. One thing I would say is that attacking club personnel in charge of delivery is not going to get the door open to a discussion.
Perhaps the club are busy and perhaps the staff experience of the last 12 months suggest to them that they simply don't need the potential grief of engaging with fan leadership - or self appointed gurus. Every time I read criticisms of CAFC staff on here I wince... for the staff are working for our club trying to get it moving in the right direction on all fronts. They really don't need to waste time with game players and politicians who will be all friendly one month and then snarl at them the next from behind their keyboards! This message board is read by 35% of the fans of all persuasions and it is also read by staff at the club. After March, April and all the allegations posted on here one would question their sanity if they did engage... after all the definition of corporate insanity is same people, same culture but expecting a different result.
So Airman you can publish articles about Duchatelet being the best owner ever but I'm afraid it's too little too late!
These days, of course, the Internet has changed everything and VOTV has to be more reflective than offering merely reportage because people have instant access to information and there is no point telling people stuff they heard about three weeks ago.
However, what most people don't have is the inside knowledge and contacts that Rick Everitt and some of his contributors have, and that is why VOTV holds such value for me because it offers insights and analysis that are not available elsewhere.
From what I have seen Rick offers contributors from across the range to express their views in VOTV and unlike many Editors publishes stuff that is critical of him personally, if people have a differing view to those published in VOTV then drop Rick a line and write an article or submit a letter yourself.
Namely a valid opinion on content together with a "dig." It's the "dig" I surmised AFKA was referring to. There are other comments in similar vein too but yours summed it up best for me.
The Voice is superbly written, informative, topical and authoritative. Few of its peers could match it in the old days, and the modern re-incarnation is as relevant, considered and interesting as ever.
VoTV has ever been, and remains, a campaigning journal - it is a magazine that has always needed a Cause. Charlton's return to The Valley was naturally the classic cause celebre, followed by the steady build-up of interest and support in all things CAFC after decades of neglect and then exile. However, there has often been an undercurrent, a feeling that Rick is travelling at times on personal business. In the early days (and he will correct me if I'm wrong) he made no bones about his fervent wish for the club to dispense with Messrs Andy Bryant, Arnie Warren and Chris Tugwell. "Two down, one to go !" No opportunity was lost to vilify the individuals concerned, frequently in pretty personal terms.
The targets these days are rather more senior, but there remains an element of vituperation that makes me. for one, rather uneasy. I can't say that the Bradshaws, Protheros and Waggotts matter/ed greatly to me, but I am disturbed to see the creeping revisionism regarding the Murray contribution and even the previously untouchable Roger Alwen. It is regrettable that because Rick's official business was understandably concluded with a non-disclosure agreement, maybe he has to resort to merely sour comments and somewhat contrived jibes that impart the wrong tone to an otherwise splendid publication.
No-one wants a tepid or anodyne Voice, but more MW, SD and articles such as Weegie's would be welcome indeed. accompanied by a bit of self-restraint on the Editor's part. Who edits the Editor/Owner, eh ? I would particularly like to see guest contributions from our European counterparts - these CL pages have proved that there is no shortage of literate correspondents. There could also be a regular feature on the Museum and/or tales from by-gone days. I am sure that less sniping and a general lightening of tone would have a positive impact on sales and consequently on The Voice's renewed authority and reach. Whatever the injustices, mistakes and insensitivity in the Club's recent past, the real battle lies ahead - to fight our corner when Stratford United open Dolled-Upton Park.
don't agree with everything in it, but then I guess it would be boring if I did