Andy b

I. That’s i. Trust his judgement. I have no reason not to and having been hand picked by owners and a board I trust my default is to trust him also

I trust unsworth’s judgement. Nothing more to say

The trust has not even begun to debate whether it should be trying to purchase the ground so don’t hold your breath. Granted we don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes with blitz etc but it baffles me that the trust has not asked fans whether it should be looking to raise funds to buy the ground, club or both (in part or full).

I’ve tried that. He’d rather snipe from the sidelines without offering a single bit of constructive guidance.

Sorry. Time spent yes broadly relevant. How much personal money put in is not

I 100% reject any suggestion that trust directors need to answer this question. Irrelevant.

You say that as if rushing something out will get us more money in a shorter timeframe. How so? More speed less haste is, I think, the term.

It benefits the credibility of the appeal for contributions if time is take to get the pitch right

Fairly sure that could be managed through clear provisions which allow funds to be directed elsewhere should the need arise and as long as certain conditions are met. It’s woefully over simplistic at the moment and needs some proper legal input

Just finished listening to the pod from after the Exeter game a few weeks back. Matt talks openly about the shortcomings of a ‘contingency fund’ as being far too generic and uninspiring to incentivise people to invest. I couldn’t agree more. I have considered setting up a significant monthly direct debit but won’t do so until there is some more clarity as to what we are raising money for. What’s the end game? A rainy day fund won’t cut it. I emailed the trust months ago and asked them to go out to fans and get a mandate from them around the idea of fan ownership (be for some of the club or ground or both) which is the logical purpose of any fund raising initiative. This would give the fund a clear objective which people can get behind. Fans may reject that aim but otherwise the trust has no authority to be asking for money without significant clarity as to its objective. I received no response whatsoever. i ask again. Why is money being raised?

Its not good is it. This needs far more energy than is going into it. It’s playing second fiddle to I don’t know what within the trust. Shame.

Thank you for the swift response

May I ask what the lottery is achieving by way of monthly net income at the moment?

Well done all.

Great listen again chaps. Adult conversations about the issues and future effort to reclaim the faith. Thank you for sticking your necks out. One takeaway. Yes press the club for change and bemoan the fact that it can’t do simple things right - Billy’s insights were enlightening and those things need airing to get all fans (especially those still sitting on the fence) to see the regime for what it is. But do realise that the key reason for all of that is that the owner doesn’t give a shit about such things and never will. It’s disheartening to hear good people come up with good ideas which the owner is too stubborn and blinkered to listen to. He’s entrenched and is a lost cause. The basic administration of the club will fall apart further without Barry around who am sure held a lot together to ensure it could open on a match day, pies were available, the electricity stayed on etc - the absolute basics. I foresee a time fairly soon when even that won’t happen. We have to badger and appeal to AL as a tick box exercise and so he has got nowhere to go should he try and defend himself. But do so knowing that it won’t affect anything. The real cause is much bigger than that.