Thetownend.com

Apologies if people saw this on Twitter last night but I found Jed's tweets regarding the Adver absolutely mind boggling and hilarious in their bullshit at the same time... if this is the reason the club are only releasing news via the OS/Twitter and BBC Wiltshire then it's pretty fucking shameful:

JedMcCoy ‏@JedMcCoy 12h
@Gypsyalex1990 we will get there .. Big changes take time for all to heal ... Just a bit hard for my family to read the advertiser ..!!..
https://twitter.com/JedMcCoy/status/369530853723881473

JedMcCoy ‏@JedMcCoy 12h
@Gypsyalex1990 social media forum beneath the stories ... Negativity affects potential sponsors ..
https://twitter.com/JedMcCoy/status/369539380420939776

JedMcCoy ‏@JedMcCoy 11h
@stfcnickw @Gypsyalex1990 yeah had some issue with companies abroad who have reviewed the advertiser forums ..
https://twitter.com/JedMcCoy/status/369550687706697728


Was it Dave Allen at Sheffield Wednesday who tried to get their fans forum shut down?

I noticed that Jed was Tweeting last night about the negativity of posters on the Thisis site becoming a real issue for him.  His family are (rightly) upset by the amount of personal abuse and he says that potential foreign investors have been put off after reading the posts!

Although I stopped reading the posts on Thisis some months ago (because it became a futile and pointless waste of my time), Jed, his family and any potential foreign investors out there need to remember that there is only a small handful of posters on that site and they almost certainly 'represent' less than 1% of the STFC fanbase!

No comments page under the Cooper either. Jed got to them, he got to them...

Not exactly inspired by this, but theres no point moaning as we can do fuck all about it.

Anyone see Jeds tweets about the adver forum causing us problems with potential sponsors?

Hilarious

Read to me like it was the comments under the articles Jed had/has an issue with, not the Adver themselves.

Why "hilarious"?

As in you don't believe him?

because it's complete bullshit

Perhaps he should read the TEF instead? Oh wait...

Easy to say!

It does. Mostly because that's exactly what he means.

I wondered whether this was why Sam has complained a few times about the club dicking the Adver around when it comes to embargoed news, not getting news on signings and so on.

When things are made worse that they were before, even for good reason, some proportion of people will moan. Its normal human nature. If people think it would be different at another club I believe they are pissing into the wind.

Add to that allegations of  being a feeder club, being dictated on style of play, manager having no say in players coming in, new manager walking out during pre-season, etc, etc.

In summary, they may be unfair comments but what did he expect. Some people are naturally glass half empty in outlook.

I take personal credit for driving away Intel, Burmah and Nationwide with a few choice swear words on here.

What bullshit!

I don't believe in personal attacks though and that cuts both ways...ref the fans being referred to as morons when mcmoan was in charge.

I think it was more the Fredi type allegations he is referring to. It was mentioned a few weeks ago.

I don't think it's the ordinary "armchair manager" type comments that are at issue.  Every club gets these (especially Arsenal at the moment).  It's more likely to be the personal attacks, allegations, etc.  There is no place for those.

Most of which have been aimed at him directly over Twitter. I agree that there's no place for those kind of comments but why place yourself in a position where they're so easily aimed at you?

I'm inclined to believe some of those who suggest he simply likes being in the spotlight

They're using the "Williams welcomes Ranger" article to post.

Yeah maybe, seems a bit petty to take it out on Sam/the paper though - hardly their fault what people comment underneath their articles.

He should take it out on the fans instead, like by appointing Cooper as manager. Oh...

On the 1st June I asked Jed about Fredi on twitter and he directly said then that Fredi's allegations on twitter were scaring away potential sponsors. Those tweets have been deleted since but some of you on here were involved in the conversation and no eyebrows were raised at the time.

Putting it into the context of sponsors being scared of by some of the things Fredi was saying, it's not so difficult to believe at all.

Of course, if they are shutting out Morshead as a result then that is just wrong.

Again, some comment on here surprise me. May be its a generation thing?

I don't have problems with people airing their view, but I can understand that the Thisis fans comments are pretty much in the shop window. On here, for example, the acerbic comments are squirrelled away from 'official statements' and debated under the 80% bollocks marker.

I think there is no place for abusive, personal comments on a public forum (which is intended to inform the masses). To me its just bullying and I wouldn't want my sons or mum reading insulting comments about me posted on any media website.

NMH - I think you've hit on the solution.  The Adver needs a "100% bollocks" marker.   :)

I find it hard to believe sponsors will be scared away from the club on the basis of either a few illiterate morons dribbling over keyboards or an anonymous "mole" posting fuck all of substance but getting everyone in a tizzy. I find it just as hard to believe that Jed wouldn't expect to bear the brunt of people's frustrations as we've very swiftly gone from being a powerful force in League 1 to a middling mid-table side at best with a bunch of players nobody has ever heard of.

My main point was whether this explains the treatment of the Adver and if so then it's fucking nonsense.

Yes it is! If they own the comments section they should responsibly moderate. Furthermore, I don't think the comments should be attached to the articles. By all means have a link to a forum that is in the background, but don't have it so open. (I am uncomfortable sometimes that this isn't a closed forum)

I have to agree with this, it may be a generational thing with us being "oldies".

I had assumed similarly that it was more a case of the lack of moderation/control over the messages after the story, the fact that the Fredi pieces which include a number of quite damning allegations with minimal evidence are allowed to just sit there would anger me if it was my business that the was the recipient of the claims. I don't know whether the still are on-line but after Sam had his put up or shut up conversation with the source (did I imagine that) if he fwelt they were not strong enough to publish it is a bit weak to leave them on the forum in the public domain.

Whilst I have no idea about such matters putting off investors I would not be surprised. In the modern era with social media due dilligence would go a lot further than just the books and if you are reviewing from a far you will look everywhere at what the businesses customers are saying about the business. Imagine if you were plannning to invest in a business, would you be comfortable if customers were spouting off all over the interweb that the business owners were asset strippers?

Its all froth really, football club in preferred media outlet shocker - it happens all the time but has only become an issue here as both parties are on-line whinging about the other.

I saw Jed's tweets last night and don't think he has done himself any favours really in saying that at all. Doesn't sound too feasible really and sounds like the pressure is getting to Jed.

This is fucking priceless.

How many of us said it would just be better if the adver comments were shut down? And now that Jed seems to have a hand in it happening we're unhappy? Good move Jed, shut the whole comment shit down. It's fucking embarrasing to the club and I feel ashamed to be associated with some of the people who comment regularly. Sooner it's gone the better.

Hear fucking hear !

The mongs need removing from Thisis - they are just poison !

Why deny people a platform? The issue is the moderation of a small percentage of the comments and shutting it down entirely isn't really an appropriate solution.

Posters like fredi ought to have been handled more sensitively. Those individuals who post nothing but abuse and negative comments about the club are more than likely rival fans who enjoy watching the responses.

As often as people on here refer to the commenters on thisis as mongs, I can't recall anyone calling for them to be shut down

Don't take this personally Bob but why don't you think it's feasible?

If I was abroad (presumably a foreign investor would be) and I was offered an investment opportunity then the first thing I would do is Google the business. I'd then see (near the top) the local paper website and see what it had to say. Oh look...there's a comments section...might get to see what the fans think...oh dear! I'm out!

Jed I think you could say is an acquired taste and I get why he's not everyone's cup of tea but I really don't think he's making this shit up!

THIS

I can, but I think we then all came to the conclusion that it had better stay open as we had more than our fair share of cunts on here as it is.

I don’t see why the comments section on Thisis should be shut down, if it bothers you that much don’t read it.
There are just as many negative comments on Facebook, Twitter and even on here sometimes.

For the love of god, please don't close the comments section.

1) They provide a good source of humour first thing in the morning which sets me up nicely for the rest of the day.

2) They make me realise that as shit as life can seem sometimes, there's always worse.

3) They'd all end up over here.

Possibly Paolo, but have you read the comments of these people? Pretty sure a bona fide investor isn't going to look at the Adver comments and be put off by 'Paolo's meatballs' et al and their nonsensical comments.

However, its not beyond the realms of possibility that you could be right. I'm all for giving Jed a fair crack of the whip but I dunno, this bit to me doesn't sit right.

I'd be up for the THISIS mongs to come on over here. We could all moderate the fuck out of them. And by moderate I mean hurl abuse at until they fucked off again.

Fair enough Bob. I know what you're saying but I expect its a hard task to convince money men to part with their cash (especially in a league one football club) at the best of times. We all know that the Adver comments board is full of drivelling idiots who represent about 1% of our fan base but when there's very few places to read positive opinions to counteract these then guys with no knowledge of what they're are reading would give them credence at the very least.

They won't get shut down and probably shouldn't anyway but maybe they should be "hidden away" on a proper forum as has been suggested.

Problem is the press generally need all the interaction than can get with all their customer base, idiots included. Their business model has changed/is changing and they are struggling to cope with the new world where everyone expects their news online for free. I expect they would rather keep all interaction open wherever possible - No publicity is bad publicity etc.

And anyway, more than anyone else, the press believe in freedom of speech etc, and I am sure that do not want censorship by Jed. I do think they need some sensible level of moderation though.Tricky position for the Adver to be in.

Adver comments are open on the Cooper appointment article. There is some classic mongness at its best. Few decent posters though

Louis Cassius is priceless.  I like the way he always signs off his posts with his name and an emoticon.

Rusty :-)

So let me get this straight some of you are actually supporting, agreeing with and believing Jed's claim that sponsors are interested in doing business with STFC but are turned off by a few moaning fans on a newspaper website?

The man who has just signed a player who is due in court to be convicted of rape is now suddenly concerned over sponsors and laying the blame on the fans?

I want to shake and slap some sense in to some of our fans. Are you really being taken in by this colossal level of bull shit?

No

Some people are suggesting that quite serious accusations from the likes of Fredi can be enough to make a potential investor/sponsor think twice. If you are going to try to cast aspersions upon other peoples' intelligence then you should try learning to read properly first.

And 'due in court to be convicted of rape'? So you have judged him as guilty already then?

Well picked up on.


"The fans" are not always a collective as you can see from numerous varying opinions on here. I believe he laying the blame at the doors of the people who continue to spout negative and sometimes abusive stuff on thisis no matter what. They're a very small minority of "the fans" and many of us have often distanced ourself from them.


That's nice. I often have urge to do similar to people who disagree with me. Unfortunately i'm a bit of a weakling. :-)

The idea that potential sponsors etc are turned away by comments on Adver articles is risible..almost as stupid as saying fans would be turned away by the Chairman posting shite on Twitter.

I just don't see it happening.

Due to him being a massive cunt I would be leaning towards believing the verdict will be guilty. What that should have said is 'signed a player accused of rape' but as far as sponsorships go, the point still stands. Which do you feel is more damaging to the club?

Neither if you drill down. One's a load of bollocks as being hear say and tittle tattle off a social media site with no hard evidence to substantiate anything typed. The other would have been run by the main club sponsors and before that both the clubs legal teams would have been in deep and meaningful discussions to tick all the boxes before going to said sponsors for their opinion.

Sponsors unlikely! Foreign investors whose only source of knowledge of STFC is Google and the internet then possibly, that's all my point is really.

Not even saying it is true. Just that it could be.

Yeah maybe Gregory Hall and his Nigerian carbon crew, were put off by reading some of the comments on here...a shocking waste to STFC.

Lets be honest for a certain percentage of our fan base Jed could say the sky is blue and they would disagree accuse him of lying/asset stripping/not wearing a tie (delete as appropriate).

For whatever reason he is persona non grata and always will be, not sure why as he bought the club when no one else wanted it but I do wonder whether many still link him to the exit of the italian messiah and for that reason even though they are dealing with the financial mess they were left with its all their fault.

But hey ho we move on, up or down no one knows, but I have a club to support and Jed is to thank for that in whatever small way.

Sorry, I just don't get this scaring off of sponsors thing.

If someone was thinking of investing, whether in STFC or any other business, they would do their due diligence on that business and decide if they can make a profit or not - based on the financial evidence put before them.

To think that a sophisticated business or individual is going to take any notice of a public forum is bollocks.

It's the same as someone thinking of investing in Hilton Hotels and being put off by looking at a few comments on Trip Advisor.

What about if 80% of those reviews were 1 stars and people were accusing the current owners of all sorts? Not sure I'd be up for that if I had a few mill. to invest. Rather take it down the road and stay/invest somewhere else.

Yeah, but what I'm saying is that I very much doubt a sophisticated business would even bother looking at forums.

They would get all the information they need from the business itself not make decisions on hearsay

If it was me I'd still be quite interested in what my customer base had to say but fair enough.

Well Jed and Co didn't before they invested in us, if you believe their tale.

There's a track record here isn't there? First Murrall apparently "threatening" the Adver editor, now Jed blaming the Adver comments section for their failure to secure investment. It's all a bit Bob Holt isn't it?

Someone made a good point on Twitter earlier. How can Jed claim the adver comments section is making us loose potential sponsorship when we have signed a player who is accused of rape? Surely the latter would be much more damaging to the clubs rep and potential sponsors?

With Orange hat on sitting in the CGH, what a complete arrogant cretin that bloke was!

It's not really good business strategy to wind up the one major news outlet that makes news about stfc accessible to the fans who live outside of the borough. It's a bit cowboy ish.

Personally I think the comments on Twitter from dubiously intelligent people who can't spell and make ludicrous claims probably should be cut down on.

Although that would leave Jed without an account.

Jed shouldnt be on twitter anyway in my opinion. He opens himself up for criticism and makes himself look unprofessional. No wonder he has a bad rep amongst a lot of fans.

Maybe potential sponsors have seen how the club appears to be run currently and have read Jed's tweets and comments which imo are on a par with the This is buffoons?
Maybe he needs to look at himself? His tweets at times are like a teen schoolboy's, not a man running a professional football club.

I don't agree with abusing the bloke on Twitter etc but he aint no saint is he? Internet squabbles with fans, contradictory comments and dodging of questions aint gonna win him many fans. The guy should delete his twitter account and stop acting like a child.

THIS

Yep, I'd agree with that too.

I'd also add that the manager walking out in pre season,board members coming and going and the shambles of the concerts looks bad too. Do people honestly think the current board look good enough to give money to?
A few nob heads on the internet is the least of their problems.

In theory a chairman being on Twitter is a good idea, embracing social media to interact with fans etc

Unfortunately Jed's illiterate best mate lad-down-the-pub style just comes across as totally unprofessional and embarrassing to read at times

If someone like Jezza had gone down the twitter route I imagine he would have come across very well seeing as communication was his most successful (possibly only as it turns out) part of his job.

As it stands no one is coming out of this very well as Jed's engagement on Twitter is met by abuse and a general level of twattishness from many of the fans, it is just now perpetuating itself into factions forming and battle lines being drawn.

I honestly think that anyone endorsed by the board will not get the support of an element of the fanbase, its reaching the stage that the only way forward would be a clean start with new owners so hopefully one of the plethora of other bidders for the club in January will come forward and galvanise the fan base.

If Fredi's allegations are really untrue and detrimental then the club should sue. Closing down one's Twitter account would be a good start to ending personal abuse.

Arriba's spot on about the sponsors. I don't care about the adver comments section, I never read it anymore.

Yeah, but it's always good distraction tactics to have a spat with the Adver.

CG press conference at 4 pm, apparently.  Apart from confirmation of MC's appointment (and a vote of confidence in him), I doubt they'll have much to say.

I'm still not aware of a spat.

This.

But no, definitely that damn Adver comments section is the root cause of all of our problems.  :headhurts:

But sue who, the Adver? Or do they track down Fredi and go to the expense of trying to pin that down - not saying its right, but is it worth it in the long run and why should they when the Adver could just atke it down if it cannot be proven.

I don't get the whole he could close his account argument (although I think he should but thats another matter)! Its just letting the trolls win isn't it, its like that lass who killed herself the other week as she was being bullied on line (not saying Jedders is being bullied BTW), rather than going after those who perpetrate the trolling its the victim who loses out by not being able to use the social media anymore.

And can you imagine the uproar is Jed closed his Twitter - 'bloody board refuse to engage with fans, just shows how dodgy they are..'

Come on Sam, what would you know you are only directly involved, we are speculating and thus know better!

Which sponsors have we lost out on then?

We can't possibly be the only team with a less than brilliant comments section and twitter army. Are other clubs having the same issue?

St Tropez massage parlour - it had to close down, I wore them out

When are you changing your username to DV Cooper?

It would go with my avatar at least....

Not to mention the comments section has been there and been very very negative for as long as I can remember....yet we're currently sponsored by Adidas, Four Four Two, Samsung and EA Sports.

Brilliant post.

100% this. Ive got no problems with this board but my perception of Jed as a person is tarnished by Twitter.

I used the term "spat" to refer to Jed's tweets slagging the paper off. Sorry if that doesn't meet your definition.

But the reason people are suggesting Jed should close his twitter account is not because he's being victimised by trolls. It's because he continually makes an arse of himself and by extension the club.

This!

Well it didn't take the boys in blue long to find the creator of TUMDFC. There are things such as IP addresses and it should kind of be obvious who fredi is.

If the abuse is that much to take then you've got to make a personal decision. Twitter probably isn't the best way of communicating with the fans anyway.

There are some mongs on thisis, BUT, most of them have more knowledge and experience of watching Swindon than most on here :sofa:

Easy to look up from WHOIS records.

So you're saying that the thisis mongs are of better quality than the TEF mongs...controversial.

Yes, as most of the thisis mongs attend the county ground