real

You seem to think that just because people can look at everything from all perspectives that they blindly follow Corney and think everything he has done is wonderful.

 

I can see the mistakes he's made, some like most chairmen in the world have made. You or anyone else will not convince me that these decisions have been made because he wants to hurt the club.

 

Until there is a better option with regards to running the club then he is in charge and you'll either like it or lump it.

 

Like I've said before, if you have any better suggestions make them known

That's almost perfect - BHS had "no better option" than Green. Their employees had to like it or lump it too. And Green always said he'd do his best for BHS.

But in fact he was taking funds/cash out whilst the core business declined.

There might not be an alternative right now, at the price SC wants, but we as fans can influence things and can prompt change if we act in sufficient numbers.

You agree he's made many mistakes, not from malice, but don't you want to see the club run more effectively? Could it really be any worse?

Tracey - for clarity the trust should probably be asking the club to change the statement, it currently says it's in conjunction with the trust.

re the steping back and looking stratigickley i wonder if that is exactley what they did after Sheridan did a bunk with the coplete clear out only to get messed about by there target manager and than be left scrabbling about resulting in robinson having no time to recruit and build .think the whols steve evens saga did a lot more damage than we thought at the time

How many times has there been a plan that has unravelled?

Failing to get things properly in place and having no back up plan, it's happened too many times to not look where the problem is.

The scoreboard fund was failing and got moved to the trust.

The ticket offer is only 5 games, not a strategy.

The stand was £4m but then £6m and still isn't finished.

Your 3 examples are all flawed. SC is demonstrating his incompetence repeatedly.

I'll stick my neck out and say I don't think the trust has earned the right to be involved.

I've challenged the trust a few times and got some stick for it, but it promised a fans meeting back in June - it hasn't happened.

I asked how many members it has (real members that are active) to gauge how many people care about it - no response.

The trust should end up involved but I think it's not in the right place currently.

Hasn't Corney turned the North Stand into a five year plan?

Unlikely as there's not a snowballs chance in hell that it will be repaid in 5 yrs

However, from where I'm sitting, we are certainly no worse off than many other lower league clubs.

 

Not so long ago, these pages were filled with posts bemoaning our "3 sided :censored:-hole". Then when the North Stand went up, (and against all expectations, was far more than the bus shelter predicted by the cynics) it was suddenly labelled a white elephant.

 

Similarly, we had nostalgia threads about the old scoreboard and how any progressive board would entertain a modern version. Lo and behold, when the club hold a survey and crowdfund one, it's a "daft little initiative" (sorry, your words).

 

And when the club slash ticket prices (after perennial laments on here about overpricing), it's "too little, too late";

 

The ever-increasing vitriol towards OAFC by the fans, whipped-up by a few tenacious provocateurs with an axe to grind may well lead to a precocious exit by Mr. Corney, which could be hugely detrimental to the club.

 

People want him out without knowing what they really want instead and your proposed protest group (pressure group?) would need to be very canny indeed to avoid the shortfalls of previous efforts.

 

To challenge the running of the club you will need your own manifesto. For example, what would be your own plan for the season? or your 2 year/ 5 year plan? (given that Mr. Corney is not rich enough to give us the required impetus and no other investor appears to be on the horizon? What ticketing structure would you propose without alienating the fans, at the same time keeping up cash-flow? what would you do differently to generate off-field income? How can we (afford to) keep players on longer contracts etc; etc?

Sorry but I think some of your comments here distort the views of many.

Whilst we are all glad we're not in Tranmere's position, we have still lost half the gate and there's no real likelihood of this changing. we lose more each year and moved closer to relegation over the last 6/7 years. People want this to be reversed.

The new stand was never described as a white elephant when it started, it was unanimously seen as a positive step, bringing in 7 day income. A few questioned the pace and the viability of escalating cost from £4m to over £6m (rightly so it now seems). The fact that it has not been funded directly and has never been shown to bring in 7 days income is what people resent. they were sold one thing and got something different. In any situation that type of behaviour will lead to discontent.

The scoreboard campaign was launched when we were in the bottom 4, and with a target of c£130k. We've hit c£27k some time ago and it's not there yet. No proposals, no dates. People haven't expressed discontent, but they have asked questions, is that a bad thing? Hopefully it will deliver what people wanted and quickly, but lessons about creating false expectations are clearly not being learned.

People said ticket prices were too high last season, so the club put them up. Few (none) criticised the move to drop them, but calling it as too late is all too familiar.

As for the idea that people have "an axe to grind" - who are these people? i think you mean fans that care about the decline that is actually happening under corney. there's no need for him to go for detrimental change, he's achieving it - check our league position for the last 6 years and our attendances.

So, what could be done?

Firstly create a situation where the owner(s) have to be more realistic about accepting their own losses when considering any offer to buy the club. If the rumoured price is even half true, it isn't particularly great value. There are people out there looking at clubs to buy, but a stupid price will put them off.

Secondly show genuine efforts to build for the future - many thought re-signing Shez was a sign ; then they though

O'Driscoll and Turnbull were signs of this, but it was one illusion after another (sold one thing, got something different). This should more resilience amongst exisitng attendees and limit the decline in gates.

Finally, getting lapsed fans back is the hardest task -hence the suggestions to retain fans - but decent prices, better long term planning and player retention would help.

Overall I think the key issue is repeatedly failing to deliver what has been promised (or at least been alluded to in some cases):

It started with Championship football (no chance now), then a new ground at BP (abandoned), then a new ground at M35 (abandoned), then a new stand with 7 day income in 12 months (3 years and counting, any sign of increased income?), then a bright young manager - LJ (gone), some :censored: managers in between, then Shez (gone), A score board (shifted to the trust whn failing, not there yet) then a proper backroom team (gone).

How many improvements have been delivered to the genuine benefit of the club?

 

We'd hardly need that many really.

But however many/few we need, it would cost 4 times as much as installing a seat. So the club should actually charge extra for standing.

Would people pay extra?

(Dave_Og - any figures for typical cost?)

Can questions be raised in advance for those who can't attend?

 

 

The positive effort on the scoreboard has yet to have any result,still no sign of it!

 

 

These ' scoreboard negotiations ' seem to have been going on for ever.....

 

How long does it take????

 

Until expectations drop low enough to accept whatever is delivered being classed as a major success (even if it's miniscule) in having overcome extreme difficulties - cos no other club has done this in such difficult circumstances

easier said than done

But better to spend time on than pissy little ideas that don't address the core problem

 

Yep, a specific email. At around 4pm on the Friday afternoon. 10 days after the 1st announcement of the new prices. 1 day before the 1st game it relates to. Better late than never I suppose but still.....

Or in my case "never".

I suppose I should email the club to point out that although they have my email address and use it for the newsletter, they aren't using it for others things. Perhaps the robust database is flawed from the start.

True, but if that is the case,it's a somewhat misleading way to present the situation and doesn't inspire trust.

Why is the manager claiming we have a very small budget even though we have been told it has been increased from last season?

Can we trust the statements from the club?

Both

Ok, just wanted to know as I got the newsletter which doesn't specifically mention the new ticket prices but I didn't get anything else.

Email came out today

Is that a specific "£15 ticket" email or the weekly newsletter?

Double post

I think a lot of blame can be put on the current owners but for me, the questions should be asked of the fans that are staying away and the general population of Oldham.

Do they really want a club in the town anymore? When it's gone, it's gone. The fans that are left don't get behind the team from the first whistle. We're even getting away fans now taking the piss out of our support.

If the so called fans continue to stay away, then for me they are as much to blame as the owners. I get it's boring football at the moment but playing in front of our home crowd wouldn't inspire or motivate me to give 110% either.

This is like Gerald Ratner complaining that people don't buy from him anymore. Whilst some fans will spend money regardless, others will only do so if they feel it's worthwhile. It's up to the club to convince them it is.

The Venkys aren't the only foreign owners, there are plenty of clubs doing OK.

People talking about positive change yet when I ask what change nobody can tell me how or what?

 

This was my issue last time.

People can express discontent even if they don't have solutions. Maybe the business owner should take some responsibility for connecting with the fans to explain what their plans are.

Your stance is like saying you can't disagree with the state of a political party if you don't form one yourself.

I suppose someone might ask why the :censored: do you think Corney should answer to anybody on here. He doesn't...

If he wants people to hand over cash they can refuse if he won't answer. It's a choice.

What is the positive change?

 

If you intend to bring about investment please advise how.

 

If not, what change do you intend to bring?

Why don't you ask Corney what positive change he's hoping to effect?

So far he's halved the crowds. Not very positive.

Wow.

TTA paid nowt for the club and about £6m for the land.

They've spent £6m on the new stand (and also lost about £6m in operating losses, but can't expect to recover those anymore than you'd hand over past profit).

The club has lost half its fans and hasn't finished in the top half for 7 years.

For the club and all the land £24m is a joke. Maybe £15m would be fair if the land is included.

We want investment. But not that kind of investment.

 

We want to play at Wembley. But not in that competition.

We want a better stadium. But not in Milton Keynes