New beginnings - 25% Truth, 80% Bollocks

[horlock07]

or it is concerning because the independence of Rob A and the finance guy have gone.

What do you mean, as often stated on here and Twitter Rob A was deeply involved in the management of the club and by not coming out and publicly slating his employers on social media was part of the problem.  I see he has got another job as well, so good luck to him!

on paying into the Trust, I'm still doing so for two reasons

1. I don't think they are doing anything conspirital. I'm hoping what they say in public and what they think in private are different. Not saying Clem is 'the enemy', but keeping him close may be best for them

2 I'm too lazy to cancel

2b. a The trust isn't a closed shop. Anyone can put themselves up for election. Maybe change will evolve them.

Pretty much this, not sure what people actually want them to do, release a statement every other day making accusations and demands, no doubt there is a hell of a lot going on in the background that we never hear about?

[RobertT]

I just had a quick look, and as far I can tell, that last News on the Trust STFC site about the CG was April.  Now, I'm not privy to the stuff going on locally and may have missed other publications, but that seems a bit poor.

I do think the Trust remains the right vehicle though.  I respect the fact they are volunteers - I did suggest a while back that they should have hired someone, a consultant or even full time person, to lead the project on their behalf.  They are a not for profit, doesn't mean everything has to be volunteer led.

[horlock07]

@Horlock

I think the fans would give some space if a properly detailed "Master Plan" was shared, not just some vague ambitions, but a detailed plan about what we intend to achieve and what we need to do get there and some flesh on the bones about how, including the financial aspects.

I'm not going to come up with that plan in 5 minutes, but I am sure there are plenty of areas of Swindon and it's surrounds that could be utilised for development - I mean, go speak to the Council about assuming the lease on the Oasis land for example (one of many, just throwing stuff out there).

Youth Academy and Recruitment & Sales - package it with the training ground we need, a combined facility and approach to how we make the club a success on the pitch and fund it going forwards.  Identify the investment needed and ongoing costs to support.  Identify options for financing  - you know what, Fitton is well regarded and he openly took money from the Austin sale.  Fans will tolerate a good plan that see people get a return.  Lets say, again this is just spit balling, we finance it by essentially selling bonds - investors/companies/people invest in the deal to set-up the facilities and systems needed, they then get a % return on profit for any player sold who was brought in through that investment.  Fuck, even the fans could chuck their cash at that, like betting but on something you actually care about.  Creativity is key - but having a plan in the first place with clear targets is needed.  Right now we have a winding timeline on a PPT talking about working towards T2 Academy status and some scaffolding.

I know this sort of stuff takes time and money, but you do not get the latter without working on the plan, and we've had over two years to flesh something out.

Agree with all of this and I honestly hope you are right, possibly my cynicism stems from writing many such plans and then finding them damn near impossible to actually deliver.

I am possibly just suffering from misery fatigue with the consent stream of (basically the same) stuff being said over and over and over again!

[Batch]

What do you mean, as often stated on here and Twitter Rob A was deeply involved in the management of the club and by not coming out and publicly slating his employers on social media was part of the problem.  

Nah, he was a chess prawn [sic].
======
it's not lack of plans that worry me the most. Its the characters around the club. If this were just Clem I'd be worried, but less so.

[Cookie]

I'm paying in to the trust and generally always will because they're the mitigation for should things go tits up. So to keep them going strong is important in my opinion.

Regarding their performance, not great but as per Nemo, I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt because of the voluntary nature of their roles. I'd like a professional supporters trust but that's nonsense, subs would be huge.

[Bob's Orange]

on paying into the Trust, I'm still doing so for two reasons

1. I don't think they are doing anything conspirital. I'm hoping what they say in public and what they think in private are different. Not saying Clem is 'the enemy', but keeping him close may be best for them

2 I'm too lazy to cancel

2b. a The trust isn't a closed shop. Anyone can put themselves up for election. Maybe change will evolve them.

This pretty much sums up why I contribute also.

[Ƭ̵̬̊: The Artist Formerly Known as CWIG]

Pretty much this, not sure what people actually want them to do, release a statement every other day making accusations and demands, no doubt there is a hell of a lot going on in the background that we never hear about?

Well they are supposed to be looking at the books. Need an update on that.

[Mooneyraker]

I just had a quick look, and as far I can tell, that last News on the Trust STFC site about the CG was April.  Now, I'm not privy to the stuff going on locally and may have missed other publications, but that seems a bit poor.

I do think the Trust remains the right vehicle though.  I respect the fact they are volunteers - I did suggest a while back that they should have hired someone, a consultant or even full time person, to lead the project on their behalf.  They are a not for profit, doesn't mean everything has to be volunteer led.

This is what I mean. What are they doing? It's fine saying they are volunteers but if 1500 people are paying even only an average of a couple of quid a month, its enough that the answer should be "something."

[STFC_Manc]

This is what I mean. What are they doing? It's fine saying they are volunteers but if 1500 people are paying even only an average of a couple of quid a month, its enough that the answer should be "something."

You could volunteer to help them, given your intense interest in all of this.

[Mooneyraker]

You could volunteer to help them, given your intense interest in all of this.

Right on cue as expected.





 

[Bennett]

You could volunteer to help them, given your intense interest in all of this.

I've previously volunteered to help on an inflight project the trust have on with the AB questions but haven't heard back. bloody lazy volunteers

[STFC_Manc]

Right on cue as expected.

So you are all talk, what a surprise!




 

[STFC_Manc]

I've previously volunteered to help on an inflight project the trust have on with the AB questions but haven't heard back. bloody lazy volunteers

Well done for trying

[Nemo]

Fwiw, the Trust AGM is in March each year, and the nominations for new board members usually open in early January, so it's probably a good time to start considering if it's something you might be interested in. I know assorted TEF members are Trust board members past or present (even after the recent account deletion) who can no doubt advise interested parties. I think it's pretty clear that the Trust could probably do with more shoulders to the wheel at least, although I'm not really clear whether there are roles to help them with stuff that don't require you to stand for election (bennett has perhaps proved that they're not particularly set up for that!)

[Mooneyraker]

So you are all talk, what a surprise!




 

It's a forum. It's about talk.

I take my hat off to anyone that volunteers their time for the club and I have never doubted that people's intentions are sound. As I say, I'd like the Trust to be thriving. I think it is a bit confusing at the moment in terms of 'membership' vs 'shares', which strikes me as a barrier to entry, and I think they have made a well meaning but major strategic error in hitching their wagon to Clem in the way that they did, that they are now compounding with sheepish silence. Not sure those are outrageous views.