I've kept out of this, but am grateful to Henry and others for their account of the meeting. On a small point of fact in Razil's post the video covers 90 minutes of the meeting and not the last half hour, which is unfortunate but due to battery life rather than any desire to be selective. However, I think the 90 minutes is a fair representation.
In many respects I think Katien Meire comes out of her public appearances well, although talks a certain amount of rot which goes unchallenged. From the beginning, for whatever reason, she has avoided any dialogue with supporters and staff previously involved in running the club from Peter Varney and Steve Kavanagh down. Indeed there is a whole saga of people trying to set up contacts with Varney on her behalf and instigation and then withdrawing them. I have seen Richard Murray's hand in this at times, but she is quite capable of making her own choices so I think she must be regarded as responsible. The Trust, with no disrespect, is at the end of that line, but the question would be why would you not want to understand what all of these people know about the business, because clearly in Varney's case it is a great deal?
The counter-argument might be that from 2006-2012 they oversaw the decline of the club, which in my view is unfair because that decline was really dictated by football decisions. However, for better or worse the person most responsible for the mistakes made is the current chairman, which is not intended to open a debate about RM, who in my view remains in credit overall, but make the point that this explanation would not stand up.
So although KM herself acknowledged to me that there is a big knowledge gap within the club, she has also been determined not to listen to those who could help close it. Now you can say that she and RD have been criticised by some of the people concerned, possibly from the Powell sacking onwards, but those offers were on the table from the outset and she knows that. Using the meeting as a reason not to engage with the Trust is a bit flimsy on that basis - it's been her policy from the beginning not to engage seriously.
As to whether a desire to meet the owner is unreasonable or disrespectful to her, let's consider who attended these meetings from, say, 1995 to 2010, because it was much more often the owner than the chief executive - even though the RM board was much less hands on than RD appears to be.
She positions herself as the decision maker, which may or may not be true, but then says of Riga - if I recall accurately - that she can't be expected to know RD's mind from day to day. That's why I simply don't believe that she appointed Guy Luzon and to be honest I'd be concerned if she did, as I'd expect the owner to appoint the manager, whether in consultation with other directors or not. She may not be a puppet, but clearly she is very dependent on RD's patronage for her position because she would not get a similar job elsewhere if he decided to replace her. That, I think, is why she is here, as well as having other qualities that are more visible.
The main characteristic of the regime for me has been naivety. I suspect it was naive - or reckless - over due diligence, over the quality needed for the Championship, possibly over FFP, over season ticket sales and revenue last year, and I strongly suspect it is now over the training ground development, over growth in attendances going forward and what can be done with the shop.
This is more visible to fans at a lower level of operation in things like the programme sales, the comms around the Luzon appointment, the season ticket publicity this year, the Millwall ticket priorities and not managing the PR firm properly.
That doesn't mean there haven't been good things done and of course we all fit what we see into the narrative that suits ourselves, me included.
There are a number of other issues around player purchase and team selection that interest fans but which they can't reasonably expect to influence and never have - even so they do affect perceptions of trust.
Since we're not going down, a clear credit, the opportunity is there for KM to be inclusve and break down the apparent divisions. She won't do it with a slogan and if she won't do it at all, even at the level of the Trust, then I'd have to assume it's because she thinks they can add no value to the business at all, which is not just arrogant but simply wrong.
I agree with a lot of this.
I'm glad the accusations of KMs "incompetence" have been replaced with "naivety". Partly because it is less absolute as a word and so less likely to be seen as a personal criticism. But also because I think it maybe nearer to the truth. In fact I'd been surprised if a new manager in a new role wasn't sometimes naive. Just as the trust has been, IMHO, often naive in its own comms and relationship building in its early life.
There is no doubt in my mind that the new regime has made mistakes and for some of those KM has held her hands up player recruitment in particular.
And I agree with benefits of working with fans and using their skills, experience and understanding as customers and in many cases former employees.
I said that to KM during the meeting as those that were there might recall.
As to one example KM was asked by a former Valley Party candidate about the £175 ST and why couldn't they be in the lower north which would be a discreet area so no overspill into more expensive seats and where they might help generate an atmosphere. KM said this wasn't possible due to the equivalence required with home and away prices for similar areas. I said my recollection was that that applied to matchday prices not Season Tickets.
But it was been a while since I was involved in T40k, I might be wrong or rules might have changed. or the new Ticket office manager whose come from Palace (boos from audience) and KM have got it wrong. I will, if you can confirm my view, get back to KM. Too late for this season but maybe next.
I'm glad the accusations of KMs "incompetence" have been replaced with "naivety". Partly because it is less absolute as a word and so less likely to be seen as a personal criticism. But also because I think it maybe nearer to the truth. In fact I'd been surprised if a new manager in a new role wasn't sometimes naive. Just as the trust has been, IMHO, often naive in its own comms and relationship building in its early life.
There is no doubt in my mind that the new regime has made mistakes and for some of those KM has held her hands up player recruitment in particular.
And I agree with benefits of working with fans and using their skills, experience and understanding as customers and in many cases former employees.
I said that to KM during the meeting as those that were there might recall. As to one example KM was asked by a former Valley Party candidate about the £175 ST and why couldn't they be in the lower north which would be a discreet area so no overspill into more expensive seats and where they might help generate an atmosphere. KM said this wasn't possible due to the equivalence required with home and away prices for similar areas. I said my recollection was that that applied to matchday prices not Season Tickets.
But it was been a while since I was involved in T40k, I might be wrong or rules might have changed. or the new Ticket office manager whose come from Palace (boos from audience) and KM have got it wrong. I will, if you can confirm my view, get back to KM. Too late for this season but maybe next.
Absolutely correct. There are no rules about season tickets because they don't bear on away fans. That said, it's not a question you would ask of the Football League since it won't have occurred to them.
There is, of course, potential for people to relocate from the lower north to the upper north, but that is much easier to manage than the situation in the lower east and lower west.
I much regret dragging this wonderful discussion back to a terribly mundane level, but my sister Dolly says that from what she has heard there are few places on this planet that are less DISCREET than The Covered End, and possibly what the writer means is DISCRETE.
Possibly, too, this explains why sadly Dolly never married ....
I'm glad the accusations of KMs "incompetence" have been replaced with "naivety". Partly because it is less absolute as a word and so less likely to be seen as a personal criticism. But also because I think it maybe nearer to the truth. In fact I'd been surprised if a new manager in a new role wasn't sometimes naive. Just as the trust has been, IMHO, often naive in its own comms and relationship building in its early life.
There is no doubt in my mind that the new regime has made mistakes and for some of those KM has held her hands up player recruitment in particular.
And I agree with benefits of working with fans and using their skills, experience and understanding as customers and in many cases former employees.
I said that to KM during the meeting as those that were there might recall. As to one example KM was asked by a former Valley Party candidate about the £175 ST and why couldn't they be in the lower north which would be a discreet area so no overspill into more expensive seats and where they might help generate an atmosphere. KM said this wasn't possible due to the equivalence required with home and away prices for similar areas. I said my recollection was that that applied to matchday prices not Season Tickets.
But it was been a while since I was involved in T40k, I might be wrong or rules might have changed. or the new Ticket office manager whose come from Palace (boos from audience) and KM have got it wrong. I will, if you can confirm my view, get back to KM. Too late for this season but maybe next.
Absolutely correct. There are no rules about season tickets because they don't bear on away fans. That said, it's not a question you would ask of the Football League since it won't have occurred to them.
There is, of course, potential for people to relocate from the lower north to the upper north, but that is much easier to manage than the situation in the lower east and lower west.
Comments
I'm glad the accusations of KMs "incompetence" have been replaced with "naivety". Partly because it is less absolute as a word and so less likely to be seen as a personal criticism. But also because I think it maybe nearer to the truth. In fact I'd been surprised if a new manager in a new role wasn't sometimes naive. Just as the trust has been, IMHO, often naive in its own comms and relationship building in its early life.
There is no doubt in my mind that the new regime has made mistakes and for some of those KM has held her hands up player recruitment in particular.
And I agree with benefits of working with fans and using their skills, experience and understanding as customers and in many cases former employees.
I said that to KM during the meeting as those that were there might recall.
As to one example KM was asked by a former Valley Party candidate about the £175 ST and why couldn't they be in the lower north which would be a discreet area so no overspill into more expensive seats and where they might help generate an atmosphere. KM said this wasn't possible due to the equivalence required with home and away prices for similar areas. I said my recollection was that that applied to matchday prices not Season Tickets.
But it was been a while since I was involved in T40k, I might be wrong or rules might have changed. or the new Ticket office manager whose come from Palace (boos from audience) and KM have got it wrong. I will, if you can confirm my view, get back to KM. Too late for this season but maybe next.
There is, of course, potential for people to relocate from the lower north to the upper north, but that is much easier to manage than the situation in the lower east and lower west.
Godfrey here again
I much regret dragging this wonderful discussion back to a terribly mundane level, but my sister Dolly says that from what she has heard there are few places on this planet that are less DISCREET than The Covered End, and possibly what the writer means is DISCRETE.
Possibly, too, this explains why sadly Dolly never married ....