Is it time for serious changes at the club

[Legohead]

It does seem odd discussing this when if the current season cannot be finished and the next season cannot be started then the club will do well to survive at all, let alone look for success and progress higher up the league pyramid.

Going forward I believe we will be less inclined of spending money than ever before. This crisis has hit football clubs in the pocket and many clubs could be more conservative about how much they are spending and what on.

 

[geoffwp]

Firstly, I'm not sure which "generation" you're lumping me into. I'm neither yet of the old boys club who remember the pitch when it was a potato field during the war, neither am I a younger lad who's just got into his beers and is following his local team to every away game. In football terms, I'd be a veteran on a pay per play deal (33).

My background is in branding, my expertise is to maximise the selling points of a product/service and tell a story to do that - I can only speak from my perspective - I'm **** with numbers, my organisation skills aren't world-beating and I have little idea of supply chains etc etc. What I am good at is looking at how an organisation is perceived and analysing that - I'm not looking to stir the pot at all, The Trust does come across like a committee of thrown together members, all as Ed says, well meaning but not exactly a bespoke team built for success. This is not the individuals fault, but a structural one. No matter how talented or intelligent people are (and these of course have existed in the 20 years of its existence) with volunteering you're only ever going to get part of someones time (if not a student or a retiree), often when they're tired in the evenings or a weekends.

So, although some might feel insulted - I'm going to stick by the village hall perception. Whether that's true or not it doesn't matter. Everything from the multiple word doc letters through the door to the not being able to vote online (I note that in a recent meeting they're looking to address this, which is good). I have concerns about how people get voted in too - as I've said before, if you know enough people around the ground, such is the turnout. It begs the question - are elections even necessary? Often uncontested, or 8 places for 10 people (or whatever it is) If people want to help and use their expertise, let them help. The current system potentially shuts out "unknowns" or the possibly the marmite characters when they could well bring some energy to it all. Once an election is "lost" (based mainly on votes from mates) that person might not come back again to help. Doesn't make sense to me. It's a small club and an even smaller percentage are willing to give up their time for this stuff.

This may all seem harsh, it's just an honest opinion as to why The Trust fails to engage large sections of our fanbase, no doubt there will be people who feel very differently. Before you ask -- do I have the time to help with any sort of effectiveness? Currently, no. I might in the future, I wouldn't rule it out.

Good post max, trouble is by the time you feel able to get involved you'll be village hall too!

 

[sign of the chimes]

But not like Portsmouth, right? Funny how 80% of the Trust members there voted for Eisner.

Indeed, we did, based on the challenges the club faced at the time and in the light of a credible proposition being presented.

However, my response was to Danny's original post which suggested that your club could/would not progress further under trust ownership.

Given that it's likely that several clubs will not survive the current hiatus, and that a large number of others will find themselves going through painful and long-term restructuring, I'd expect your relative standing to be significantly better coming out of this than it was going in.

 

[Hants_red]

Pizza is probably a good illustration of where I think some of those wanting change are coming from.

Should we sell pizza in the refreshment huts. At another club the person responsible would be asked if it was feasible and if it was would get on and make it happen.

At our club I guess they fear that this would be discussed at length at a TB meeting with a feasibility study being produced to aid that discussion.

Not sure where the truth of this example is.

 

[grecIAN Harris]

It does seem odd discussing this when if the current season cannot be finished and the next season cannot be started then the club will do well to survive at all, let alone look for success and progress higher up the league pyramid.

Going forward I believe we will be less inclined of spending money than ever before. This crisis has hit football clubs in the pocket and many clubs could be more conservative about how much they are spending and what on.

Because it's the sort of discussion that gets lost during a normal season and usually occurs during the close season. We're just in a strange position of sort of being in both at the moment.

 

[Legohead]

Discussing change to how the trust operates etc is fine but discussing the lack of investment / ambition is a bit pointless at the moment because even if we survive as a club after the virus crisis, the confidence and balance sheet will have taken a huge hit and thus any further investment desired by a section of fans is far less unlikely to happen in the near future than it ever was.

 

[Andy Holloway]

It does seem odd discussing this when if the current season cannot be finished and the next season cannot be started then the club will do well to survive at all, let alone look for success and progress higher up the league pyramid.

Going forward I believe we will be less inclined of spending money than ever before. This crisis has hit football clubs in the pocket and many clubs could be more conservative about how much they are spending and what on.

It will depend on where, in their list of priorities, football comes below or above; food, beer, fags, bookies, vaping, nails, National Lottery .... the list is endless.

 

[i8cornwall]

No it isn't is it. I'm obviously not a true supporter like you. I shall strive to learn from an expert. Please PM me details of how to join the Bolton supporters club. Cheers.

It’s BWSA just google it, pretty easy to join.

Not Sure Bolton is the club for you tho, to much drive and forward thinking.

 

[i8cornwall]

Support is going to games win, lose or draw. Whether an individual cares about the result or not is not relevant. I go to watch Exeter for myriad other reasons than simply the outcome of their matches.

I go to watch the games to see us win, surely that’s the point of football?

As I’ve said before all the community stuff is of very little interest to me or a lot of people I know who go to games.

 

[Legohead]

I go to watch the games to see us win, surely that’s the point of football?

As I’ve said before all the community stuff is of very little interest to me or a lot of people I know who go to games.

So people go to the footy for different reasons. It's not all about the win for some but for you it is and that's absolutely fine. You have little interest in the community stuff and I and others feel great pride and great interest in how our club operates within the community.

This is why I imagine making decisions is so difficult for a trust board. You can't please everyone.