Andy b

58 minutes ago, Fruitygoo said:

 

Obviously its very tongue in cheek..

 

The turnaround in opinion is ridiculously quick based on one meeting which we've heard snippets from. All of a sudden he's not so bad... 

 

Listen to the people who have left.... The players, managers, staff... All saying hos actions speak louder than his words. Its time to hold him to account and i dont think this trust is in a position to do this. 

Thumb pressed firmly down, I assure you. We’ve met and our presence has been felt. That will remain the case. That’s the start but it’s only that.

The owner knows our stance and expectations. We will monitor his next steps against those expectations

and follow up. There is still no substance or detail behind his aspirations and so we will keep a watching brief on that. We are really not in a position to make wild demands however. 

Its a process folks. You won’t get the earth shattering news many want overnight. I hesitate to say be patient but the trust is not the principal owner of the club, is not the decision maker and is not in control of the resources needed to make the changes everyone wants to see. 

4 minutes ago, mcfluff1985 said:

One can only conclude relegation is a bad thing with hindsight? Really? Tell me one occasion relegation was anything but a bad thing for anyone?

 

 

Hull, Swansea, Rotherham, Brighton, Doncaster, Bournemouth may not be where there are now had they not nearly gone to the wall. It resulted in a root and branch restructure of those clubs with Local Authorities stepping in to support in some cases.

necessity is the mother of invention and sometimes you need a full blown crisis for change to happen.

please don’t read that as a suggestion than relegation is a good thing. It’s not. It can be the catalyst though.

as I say, I take the view that some good

might come out of all this in the long run.

it also might not.

as such I don’t believe relegation is always an unequivocally bad thing. Doesn’t mean you wish for it. 

13 minutes ago, latics22 said:

Can’t wait till we bottom out in the 10th tier.... then what ? Totally pointless I may as well start supporting chadderton now and save myself the money and heart ache

We are in the eye of a storm and it’s not

great. I tend to take a pragmatic stance and would like to think that some good might come out of this situation in the long term, as is often the case.

Naive? Maybe, but we have to try and build from where we are. It wouldn’t take much to get us out of league 2, and how good would that feel? Getting that winning feeling back and fans would

return. Not sure how I would cope. 

45 minutes ago, Dave_Og said:

Really struggling with that. Relegation is always, unequivocally, a bad thing. 

One can only conclude that in hindsight. 

37 minutes ago, JoeP said:

 

This rhetoric has been spouted out after each relegation we've had and where has it got us in the long-term?  Just another relegation.

 

The "I don't mind getting relegated" take seems to almost be a protest against Corney, because survival in League One is what's perceived he saw as an achievement.

 

If that's what the Trust are going to go to AL with as a suggestion, it's not something I can support.  AL would go away and piss himself laughing.

 

Balls to getting relegated and rebuilding - rebuild now.  The further down we go, the harder it will be to find investors because there'll be more and more attractive propositions above us.

Stand by my position chaps/ladies.

What the trust wants from the club is the six expectations set out in our letter issued in March. Achieve that and we will be content that the club is being well run. That is the focus, not league positioning. 

It’s not the trust’s job to set ambitions for the club and success on the pitch. It’s the trust’s job to do what it can to ensure the club is run properly and viably, with fans listened to and to create the conditions whereby the club can feasibly achieve something. If the trust were able to effect positive change in that regard, it would be doing its job very well and the club would be far better set up for sucess. 

That’s my focus. League position is a symptom of where the club is at. The trust doesn’t have specific ambitions to change that league position but to change the conditions which have created it.

My personal perspective on football as a fan is that want to see my team compete and be in with a chance. Many teams get releagated and it galvanises them. Do I want relegation? No. Do I fear it? Not really.

However, very clearly if we dropped from league two to the conference that would indicate some major issues within the club. To that end, the trust (and me) are trying to take steps to make sure that that doesn’t happen (ie a focus on a well run club). 

Its the off field stuff rather than the on field stuff which is our focus and rest assured i am on the same page as you all there.

No one is advocating relegation to the conference. I agree that would be a step too far. There was a case for relegation to league two being no bad thing in the grand scheme of things though. It won’t kill the club. 

15 minutes ago, JoeP said:

 

No worse in this division?  We've lost out on extra revenue from bigger away followings, higher funds from the EFL and we would be a step further away from the football league trap door.  Plus we'd be more attractive to potential investors in the division above (which really says something about how attractive we must be now!).

 

Our best chance of getting out of this division quickly has just gone - we had some good players who will probably be on their way and replaced by hopeless individuals that no one else in the entire league wants and more of AL's clients..

 

Stuff the fact we are at the right level for the size of the club - we should be aiming to be as high up the ladder as possible.  We're a football club - relegation is the worst thing that can happen to club in a season.  Give me 16th in League One and rebuild from there, rather than where we are now.

We can compete and have a better chance of success on the pitch in this division. That’s a fact.

I like to see wins. Don’t really care what division we are in right now. I am sure I will in the future but after the last 25 years I just want to see some sort of success on the pitch. Whether that’s league 1 or conference doesn’t bother me at this moment in time. Maybe that’s the difference in our respective outlooks.

23 minutes ago, adamoafc said:

Believe it is

Yes it is. 6 trust directors in attendance. I can’t make it.

The meet is obviously a follow up to recent exchanges.

Trust board meet on 13th and will be inviting fans in for first hour to raise issues, questions, concerns, feedback etc and generally have a chat with the Trust about ongoing issues. Details to be confirmed in the next day or so. 

Thanks

22 minutes ago, JoeP said:

 

I doubt anyone was adamant that yo-yoing was no better than finishing 16th every season.  But the fact is, if you go down there's absolutely no guarantee we'll come back up. 

 

Next season we're going to be well and truly ingrained in this woeful division with loads of other also-rans, who will be in a more "stable place" than we are now.  I'm excited about a time we can not look negatively on this relegation (and maybe the other two that went before it..) but at the moment that seems ridiculously far away..

But we have a damn sight better chance of getting out of league 2 than we had of getting out of league 1. Shortern the odds and it’s more likely to happen my friend. Doesn’t guarantee it but it’s a hell

of a lot more likely. We can compete.

In any case being ingrained in this division is no worse than being ingrained in league one as far as I can see. Not that I think that will happen.

We are at the right level for the size of this club. Am afraid that after about 2006, we were well and truely out of our depth in league one in all senses.

Good work that. There are many that were content that we were not getting relegated from league one and were adament that yo yo ing was no better than the constant shit of 16th. I couldn’t disagree more. Even this season we were in it until the last two weeks. When was the last time that happened?

Get the club into a stable place off the pitch and we will get out of this league and we won’t look negatively on our relegation in the grand scheme. It might go tits up but that won’t be because of our relegation to league two. 

SC fooled so many in to thinking that he was doing a good job in keeping us in league one and that league two was to be feared. Utter bull shit 

I would rather have had bury, tranmere and Rochdale’s hand over the last 20 years. With Luton, tranmere and Leyton O back up there are few ‘well at least we aren’t...’ teams left

22 minutes ago, wiseowl said:

Well.... I certainly got confused, Glossop. I was all ready to support the (Trust endorsed) peaceful fans' protest against Tranmere. With the match being postponed, many people I spoke to saw the TV game as the ideal platform for that to be resurrected. It wasn't and the stance has changed - and the season will be over - and issues will peter out.

 

To be honest, I`m also getting past caring any more (and never thought I`d say that). The Trust, undoubtedly, has some committed individuals and I can't knock them. I just feel it needs to re-invent itself and communicate better, so we know what it stands for. If you think, after a recent surge in recruitment, that circa 300 members represents success; that's fine. I don't and it gives the owner carte blanche i.e. at present, he can legitimately say that the Trust does not represent the fans because of its low membership.

 

Someone else commented on here recently that it seems like "our way or the highway" - that's sometimes true - the Trust can come across as defensive and resistant/dismissive to suggestions/ideas from fans outside of it.

 

Good luck - I`m logging off now - and won't be on again until next season. 

 

Think I`ll attend the last home game and maybe do a lone protest for maximum effect lol! (you can come and throw bad eggs at me) 

 

No hard feelings to anyone - we just remain hopelessly divided as fans.

 

 

For the benefit of others, wiseowl and I met about two weeks ago and I have urged him to get involved in the trust, drive the changes he wishes to see and put his energies and ideas to good use. The trust is a group of people. Those people and the trust’s approach can change if you want it to. You need to get involved though. Shouting from the sidelines won’t really cut it.

i haven’t yet heard back.

i won’t be logging off over the summer nor will the rest of the trust board. We have work to do. 

11 minutes ago, Worcester Owl said:

It was the first five.

Wolves away W 3-2

Leicester home W 2-0

Portsmouth home W 3-1

Barnsley away W 1-0

Oxford home W 3-0

Marshall scored six of those including a hat-trick against Wolves.

We didn't lose any of the first 16 league games, winning 11 and drawing 5. What a team. First defeat came in the 17th on 17 Nov, 1-0 away to Port Vale. We did lose our first game in the League cup, 2nd round 1st leg, 1-0 away to Notts County, but won the return 5-2, before losing in the 3rd round away to Leeds 2-0 at the end of October.

Lost 18th game as well at Bristol rovers.

8 hours ago, rudemedic said:

It was the first 8 league games wasn't it? Seem to recall the streak ending at home via a 0-0 and the Granada Soccer Tonight piece on the game, which focused on Hallsworth. 

Won first four I think. Ended with 1 all draw at home to Charlton I think 

24 minutes ago, NewBlue said:

Let’s be honest, this club will be run to the ground before fans are mobilised again

 

Abdallah will be pissing himself: supposed boycott, he drops the price and we get the highest attendance of the season

 

Trust might as well get their nose out of it now, he and everybody else knows they don’t have the active backing of the vast majority of fans

 

Hopefully Abdallah isn’t such a bellend, we can only hope

The Trust will continue on its current path. We have a louder voice if we are backed but have legal rights which we will draw on if the majority remain silent and do not engage. 

For what it’s worth I believe we do have the general backing of fans and can credibly speak for fans. The general course of action we are pursuing is supported by most imo even if there is disagreement on some points of detail.

Most see that there are major problems at our club. A few wins numb the pain and help people forget that for a while. It’s a short term hit.

57 minutes ago, HarryBosch said:

 

Does he not have certain obligations to The Trust given the 3% shareholding that, by law, have to be met? 

This brings the trust certain rights yes, including the right to have a seat on the Board. 

It doesn’t mean he has to meet fans, though EFL regs require the club to hold 3 fan forums per year. Clearly not satisfied this year.

54 minutes ago, kowenicki said:

 

I didn’t say that he shouldn’t engage with the fans, I said he shouldn’t turn up to a ‘fan meeting’ with a “crowd”.  Not in the current climate.  

 

If you want to go that way then fine.  I suppose the more vocal (abusive) here and elsewhere might be all talk and shrink in person (that type usually are) and it will be fine. 

 

A properly managed and coordinated meeting, yes.

A mob with pitch forks, no.

21 minutes ago, kowenicki said:

The language barrier is obviously real to a degree, as it isn’t their first language. 

 

However, that’s not really the issue. There is no way he should be meeting a crowd. Would be farcical. The Trust rightly recognises that.

That may be acceptable in normal circumstances but as he appears to be the only person with any authority and strategic influence within the club, we have a bit of a problem don’t we. How does ‘the club’ engage with fans and build a relationship if it’s not through the owner. There is no one else.

Therein lies the problem.

15 minutes ago, latics22 said:

Totally agree! No way he should be expected to meet a crowd, suppose you could look at a translator. But don’t think it would be fair.

We are starting with a trust meet and will take it from there. That would be a start! 

19 minutes ago, Steve_R said:

I'd be asking where does he see the club being in 'x' years time, how does he expect to achieve that goal, and how does he see the role of the fans in helping him achieve this, other than just turning up every week. Obviously there's a lot more to it than that, but It's more important that he can come up with convincing answers this rather than seeing a copy of the receipt for the gas bill.

Thanks. The issue of what his future long term plan is is given attention in our letter- see the six expectations. The very specific questions are supplementary to these. We have a right to ask these additional questions but i assure you we are very much driven by a focus on the big picture points, which is I think what you want to see.

As stated in the letter, we will all judge the owner against the six ‘strategic’ expectations we set out and our engagements with the owner will be structured around those expectations.

A big part of this is what his long term plan is.

You will see that this issue comes up again in our brief to fans following receipt of the response where we express our disapointment that the owner is not opening up about his long term vision. We will be picking this up with AL if and when he agrees to meet 

2 hours ago, HarryBosch said:

 

No it hasn’t 

Depends what your expectations are I suppose.

we have done better than I expected generally.

doesnt mean I am happy 

51 minutes ago, Jimbooth said:

100% agreed. The last few years these have been celebrating mediocrity. This time we're at least still in the fight (albeit barely). 

 

I don't think this is a bad season, we're up there. If someone had offered me our current position in preseason I would have snapped their hand off. It was unrealistic to expect us to bounce straight back up. 

I agree. It’s been a relatively successful season on the pitch (relative being the key word). 

13 hours ago, Londonboy said:

I've joined the Trust this week and urge as many fans as possible to do the same. 

Like it or not it's the best vehicle we have to communicate with the owner. 

Huge respect to Andy and the rest of the trust team for making the effort in what is unpaid and voluntery. 

Out of interest Andy how many trust members are there currently? 

Around the 300 mark. Not close to where we need to be but a significant increase on where we were at the beginning of the season. 

Our short term aim is for four figures. 

7 hours ago, Steve_R said:

I'll join the trust when I think that they are worth joining, and not when I get urged to. At the moment I don't think anyone is coming out of this mess with much credit. Just because the owner is a dickhead doesn't mean the Trust is the answer, especially when I've no idea what their question is yet

Honest point, what do you think the Trust’s question should be and what do you want to see from it?

2 minutes ago, laticsmarra said:

Not convenient for the fans who will have to stump up more than £20 extra to get to Manchester and back.Presumably more convenient for some of the players and others at the club that live in Manchester. Local community,employment,identity etc,etc...need I go on anymore.

This defines where the club is at the moment I am afraid 

24 minutes ago, al_bro said:

That's what I was thinking. Why go all the way to Manchester and pay £45 for something cheaper at the ground, with a MasterChef winner.

Isn’t this a great illustration of the mess we would appear to be? 

A brand new stand with decent function facilities at our ‘own ground’ yet we hold our awards ceremony in a different location and not even in a 

venue which will support oldham businesses/people. 

Don’t blame anyone as such and clearly the reasons are not straightforward but it’s just a ridiculous situation to be in.

3 hours ago, Jimbooth said:

You're right about finding a balance. Perhaps an alloted monthly Q&A session on social media would stem the tide? Could be done prior to trust meetings so responses could be discussed, then released to the baying masses in the following days... 

Not a bad idea. Have been thinking along similar lines actually. Will take this back to others

we also need to work out how the access the silent majority via match day visibility.