In an attempt to address some recent comments that the Fans' Forum appears to have gone a little cold over the holiday, let me offer some insight into the sorts of things we have been discussing during these last few weeks.
I sent the following e-mail (reflecting the strength of feeling that has been expressed to me by several of you) to Steve Waggott a few hours before Phil Parkinson's permanent appointment was announced on 31st December:
I have spent a miserable last couple of weeks fending off comments of increasing anger and frustration from fellow supporters. The current situation is dominating everyone's thoughts and things are getting really quite ugly amongst normally level-headed fans. Quite simply, no-one really seems to care a jot about catering, stewarding, smoking etc while the playing side of the Club seems to decline more and more on a daily basis.
The questions I asked at our December meeting (about managerial appointments, transfer plans, medium and long term financial strategies for the Club) remain uppermost in people's minds. The Board are being charged with a lack of urgency, and a failure to learn from previous mistakes (for example, the selling of Andy Reid, the appointment of a caretaker manager as the low-cost option). Phil Parkinson is clearly not working out and has arguably wasted the opportunity that an additional eight games may have provided to any new manager. History and statistics tell us that we are already almost certain to be relegated - unthinkable a few months ago, but our fate could be decided in as few as five or six more games.
It is vital now that the Club issues a statement of intent. Is Parkinson to stay? What is the selling strategy (Varney, Zheng, Ambrose etc)? Is Richard Murray's strategic review designed to address League One football next season and how to get out of it, or is the plan to appoint a White Knight (with funding) ready to try to save our skins this season?
Action is needed - if only action in terms of making the plans clear and communicating accordingly. Currently the Board has lost the majority of the fans and this is where the repair work must begin. The Fans' Forum (laughingly called the Fans' Club by one notoriously vocal pundit) has to be part of that. It would help if any public statement of intent could refer to the input provided by the Fans' Forum in the form of this e-mail. There has to be management of expectation now. Fans will not give up on Championship status until relegation is mathematically certain. The Board needs to be way ahead of that - and that time is now. If we think we have a chance (a real chance), the Board needs to explain what that confidence is based on - not just wishful thinking. Conversely, if the strategic review is designed to cut our losses (and player sales in January coupled with the formal appointment of Parkinson will demonstrate that), then the fans have a right to share that view, and the Club will have to deal with the consequences in terms of declining support.
I think discussions around logos and Q&A sessions fall a little by the wayside in the current climate. We run the risk of being a laughing stock at the moment.
Steve Waggott provided a specific response to this e-mail a couple of days later, obviously after the appointment of Parkinson had been announced, and here is a summary of that response:
§ Steve thanked me for the appraisal of the current situation from the supporters' perspective and undertook to circulate to the Directors at the club. He praised the performance and behaviour of the fans, given the present circumstances we find ourselves in.
§ The anger and frustration from supporters is very well understood. All connected to the club are hurting deeply due to the present predicament. Steve agreed that the more operational issues do pale in to insignificance when the core product of the first team is underperforming.
§ Supporters are asked not to forget the amount of personal money the Directors have put in to the club. Everything must be put in to the bigger context of the current economic climate and both the Board of Directors and the football industry are not immune to it. If fans think it is a lack of urgency then they must consider all aspects of the wider financial issues impacting on the Directors at present and they must never forget that all the Directors are first and foremost fans of the club and want to do what is best for the future of the club.
§ The January window will be used to bring players in and move players out as it is recognised that we need to strengthen in certain areas to give us a chance of removing the threat of relegation that currently hangs over us.
§ Whether a football club is a buying or selling club is a key point and, once again, it is all about balancing the books whilst balancing the expectations of the fans.
§ Steve undertook to discuss the e-mail with the Directors and will try to get a combination of Derek Chappell, Richard Murray and Bob Whitehand along to the next Fans' Forum meeting. That meeting would be likely to answer and discuss a range of issues from the fans’ representatives. Obviously the AGM at the end of January, with the Chairman’s report, will cover the financial aspects of the club.
Although it would be naïve to expect everyone to be happy with each and every detail of this long posting, I hope that the tone of the questions and the responses indicate that we really do have an excellent vehicle for communication between ourselves as fans and those who are the caretakers of the Club we love so much.
As I have indicated on another thread (‘Valley forum ready to make a difference’), we are developing links with the branches of the Supporters Club and will be providing a dedicated website for communication in the very near future.
Please be assured that, despite the stated remit of the Fans' Forum (that it does not include "on-pitch football matters”), we have been able to bring your strength of feeling regarding football matters to the table, and will continue to do so. Remember, though, that the Forum is not about Youga versus Basey or Moo2 versus Murty. But it can be about harnessing all of our energies, whether that be on the field, in the Boardroom, and from your seat in whichever stand you sit, to help get us out of this horrible, horrible mess.
Trust me - that is what all of us want.
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And the 2nd last para
Please be assured that, despite the stated remit of the Fans' Forum (that it does not include "on-pitch football matters”), we have been able to bring your strength of feeling regarding football matters to the table, and will continue to do so. Remember, though, that the Forum is not about Youga versus Basey or Moo2 versus Murty. But it can be about harnessing all of our energies, whether that be on the field, in the Boardroom, and from your seat in whichever stand you sit, to help get us out of this horrible, horrible mess.
clears up very neatly the misapprehension that the forum can't raise anything at all to do with football as you have done so and have got a response.
:)
It seems to be as if you are doing everything possible to make the forum work positively.
Yeah much better than that Rothko fella :-)
If I wasn't paying attention and was about to fall down a manhole and somebody shoved me out of the way, I might be mildly irritated at them, but in the end I'd thank them.
opps smiley thingy
Thats a contradiction in terms is it not, surely they are all anarchists?
The FF must ensure that it continues constructively to make the points that you are making. I'd hate for it to become the clubs mouthpiece as the old Supporters Club did back in the Sellout Park days, which just became an apology for the cataclysmic decision to take the club away from it's home. Remember John Fryer was also a long standing supporter as well as a Director yet he came up with the plan, offered no alternative, and the rest is history.
I am encouraged from your correspondance.
The new Fans' Forum website should be operational over the weekend. I'll post the link when it is up and running - and once we have something posted there!
I have just read the above posting on the O/S in the "Your Views" section and then found it on here, it is good to see we are being represented and hopfully it will not fall on deaf ears.
Whilst writing I would like to offer my apologies becuase I posted a sarcastic remark on here a few days ago refferring to the fans forum discussiing trivial things such as smoking, catering and CAFC TV, I can see now that is not the case and that you are attempting to get our true feelings across.
Please keep up the good work.
The Forum is still going, IMHO at least, to spend time on other matters which while never as exciting or urgent as the team are still of interest to many fans.
Yes, Henry has it right. The fans' dissatisfaction with the current 'football' situation is clearly dominating our thoughts, and discussions around catering etc seem pointless against that backdrop. However, when we eventually get into less troubled times, these less exciting issues will assume their normal importance, so we must ensure that they do not get forgotten during this current tidal wave of tribulation.
A good example is tomorrow's minute-long applause. Lots of people at the Club have been actively working to ensure that this provides a fitting remembrance of departed loved ones. It would unforgivable if something like this had been overlooked simply because we were all focussed on playing issues.
We plan to keep a balance. Different issues will always assume different levels of importance for each of us. Please tolerate the views and priorities of others, and they might do the same for you.
Now, about that home win tomorrow .......
Thanks.
We've never had undersoil heating so nothing has happened to it. :- )
Was that not a prerequisite for being in the Premier League? Or was it deemed not necessary because we filled the requirement with that inflatable dome?
whatever we don't have undersoil heating and never will have as the pitch is too shallow.
Should have been put in when the underground car park was built at the same time as the East Stand re-development but it wasn't.
Another opportunity missed some will say but to be fair to Peter Varney and Richard Murray there was limited money for the East Stand build and something had to go.
The underground car park is a valuable income generator every match while the number of games called off is maybe one a decade, if that.
Footballing issues indeed dont you lot realise we only go to shelter under the roof and smoke
This.
Here Here but it wont happen as a collective not enough people have the balls to keep the pressure up