Is Fitton Incompetent?

[gasha1]

yes we're all grateful to AF for saving the club, etc etc. blah blah blah

However, as i see it, the honeymoon period is now well and truly over.

Since the take over we've had:

1) Malpas
2) The "delusions of grandeur" outburst
3) losing out on all our summer signings
4) the new manager fiasco.


Is this board fit to run a football club...?

[Peter Venkman]

Fitton is not free from criticism but he does not deserve that shit.....fuck off.

[gasha1]

An intelligent response i thank you.

[Arnold.J.Rimmer]

oh dear. fuck off back to thisis

[flammableBen]

We've also got a stable football club not in danger of going under next week.

On the pitch, all football clubs go through periods of ups and downs, it would be boring if they didn't. It's a shame that the new board's honeymoon period didn't coincide with a nice big up, but that's football, especially at this level.

[Reg Smeeton]

 Very little of what this Board has done, has been outside of their stated objective.

 We'd got used to the previous regimes who didn't live in the real world...so take on a high profile management team promise them this and that, then not be able to fund wages after a while...not be able to pay creditors..including the tax man.

 Of course in their world none of this mattered as a period of admin could wipe out large chunks of debt...and as a football club isn't like a proper business, you'd probably get away with it.

 This Board have made it plain from the outset...finances would be kept on a very tight rein...quite rightly so, otherwise a Looton or Bormuff and the Coinference loom.

 Fans need to realise that we're still in a precarious position, as far as making progress goes....it will take time to undo the damage of the recent past.

 

[gasha1]

ok in anticipation of further neanderthal abuse, can I just say I haven't expressed a view here. I have heard
a number of our supporters express a worry about the football decision making ability of the current board so I thought I'd put it to the wider audience.

Can we have a grown up debate please?

[Rich Pullen]

yes we're all grateful to AF for saving the club, etc etc. blah blah blah

However, as i see it, the honeymoon period is now well and truly over.

Since the take over we've had:

1) Malpas
2) The "delusions of grandeur" outburst
3) losing out on all our summer signings
4) the new manager fiasco.


Is this board fit to run a football club...?

Fitton in not perfect shock.

List the minus' from the previous regime - I think you'll find that the list goes on for longer. The transfer point is harsh. Malpas was a risk and it didn't work out, I'm sure in your life you've done the same.

Let's wait and see who Fitton appoints before we slate him for this!

So in conclusion, Fitton can take some criticism because he's the chairman and has allowed this to go on and unsettle an already unsettled fanbase. However, I disagree with most of your points, if not all

[gasha1]

I think I've only made one point, namely that the honeymoon period is over. Hardly controversial.

The other points i listed were factual or semi factual.

ie Malpas was appointed and was less than a success.
The delusions of grandeur rant was an outburst, perhaps justified, perhaps not.
The current manager search is a fiasco.
We did lose out on all our summer signings, which ultimaltely is down to the board.

Which point do you not agree with?

[alanmayes]

Fitton is far from incompetent,he's an idealist,but in todays football world you probably have to have

a much tougher edge, as a football club chairman.

[flammableBen]

Carrying on this sorry thread a bit. Since the takeover we seem to be entering a new footballing realm of fan ideas, where chairmen have become the new football managers.

Does this mean we want really hands-on chairmen who get involved right down to the on the pitch stuff, or do we want the back-room figure who sets things in motion behind the scenes in terms of finance and negotiations and then watches everything play out?

Fitton hasn't done himself any favours with the blowing off big socks comments, or this overly lengthy appointment process as a whole. Saying that, it's difficult to judge the full details from the snippets of press releases and piles of rumour. It'll be interesting to see if we get more of an honest, "transparent", account of what's gone on once the whole affair is over.

On the other side there was always pressure on the new board to be open right from the off, and they have been to an extent, certainly a contrast to the nonsense fridays of the old board. Having given it some thought, I think you can some up Fitton's mistakes in the current appointment process in one wonderfully witty phrase.

He counted his socks before putting them on.

[Samdy Gray]

yes we're all grateful to AF for saving the club, etc etc. blah blah blah

However, as i see it, the honeymoon period is now well and truly over.

Since the take over we've had:

1) Malpas
2) The "delusions of grandeur" outburst
3) losing out on all our summer signings
4) the new manager fiasco.


Is this board fit to run a football club...?

Typical cynical Swindon fan's view. Why not look at it from an open-minded, future building point of view.

1) Malpas - Fitton appointed him on the basis that he was a very good coach, talked a good game and fitted in with Fitton's future ambitions. Ok, it didn't work out but it was Fitton's first dabble in the managerial recruitment process and he got his fingers burnt.
2) The "delusions of grandeur" outburst - I don't see anything wrong with that. Fitton's right, some Swindon fans think we have a god given right to be winning every game and that we should be back in the Premiership within two seasons. They need bringing back down to earth and that's exactly what Fitton's tried to do. Just because you and other people don't agree with it doesn't mean you're right.
3) losing out on all our summer signings - Fitton's a shrewd businessman and has already proven he won't pay above market rate for players and managers. If a player or his agent is holding us to ransom over his wages stating he can get higher elsewhere then Fitton's right in letting them go. From the club's point of view, we want players who will come and play for Swindon for the sheer want of it - not because we offer the highest wages going. We're never going to progress on the pitch with a squad made up of overpaid "I'll jump ship to the highest bidder" primadonnas.
4) the new manager fiasco. - As point 1), Fitton got his fingers burnt first time round and wants to get the right man. Yes, it's taking a long time and yes, it's getting quite frustrating (and I include myself in that) but for the good of Swindon Town Football Club and it's future then if Fitton needs to take another 2 weeks to get the right man then so be it.

[Rich Pullen]

Fitton and his consortium saved this club for oblivion - that deserves more than a honeymoon period, that deserves our full and eternal gratitude. Yeah, it's a sappy-happy-clappy comment but it's what I believe.

I ask thee - has any board ever got things totally right? I doubt it.

As chairman and as the public face of the consortium, yes there are questions about the current situation that need answering but Fitton has gone on the record and said that his reputation is on the line. This is not a fiasco, well I don't think so. In comparison to previous mishaps that has occurred at STFC, it's far from the state some think we're currently in.

It's not ideal, especially for STFC's nervous punters but as I've said, let's wait and see who he brings in.

[gasha1]

Thank you for your views. I am sorry you regard this thread as a "sorry" thread.

Ultimately, the board - as all boards do - hold the future of the club in their hands and in a liberal democracy should be accountable and open to scrutiny; they themselves would not dispute that.

The fact that without AF the club would have folded is now an argument that is starting to wear a little thin and I for one do not believe that that should make the board above criticism. They have made serious mistakes and it is worth discussing that.

Fitton's statement todat that his "reputation is on the line" is tacit admittance that he has failed miserably over the last year. Let's hope he reaches the top of the learning curve sooner rather than later.

[Samdy Gray]

How have they made mistakes? In commparison to what? Don't forget this club's been subject to years and years of mismanagement. I think some people just can't recognise the difference of a club being run properly and business like.