Rumour is

[Reg Smeeton]

would he vote to sack himself in the future if everything went tits up?

Not exactly sure how you could have a fully fledged Director as your Manager.

Maybe he's going to be the clubs sponsor next season?

To be fair though, I still seperate the Board largely from the issue, which is ownership and control - Wills and Diamandis.  You could get rid of the Board and we'd still have the same problem, you could get a new owner and remove Diamandis' influence and find the Board members that remain can actually do a half decent job.

So, they could stick my Mum on the Board but it wouldn't stop the need to buy the club in my eyes.

  I can only think of one example of where the manager is also effectively the owner of the club.....Hereford.

  Peterborough were run by Fry both on and off the pitch and he still has the off field input....been a bit of disaster for them.

[Frigby Daser]

IF any announcement was accompanied by an announcement that a) Diamandis was leaving and had no influence

and b) we'd pay the CVA immediately

c) fans rep on board

d) most importantly, we won;t even consider moving to Chippenham, I'd be pretty bloody happy.

I am convinced by him as a manager, and he's level-headed and has football nous, far more so than any board member. BUT, it will end in disaster. It would immediately transmit ill-feeling to a Saturday on the pitch

Paul, please, do not consider it.

I'm 100% behind you and the team right now, but like you we have a long-term vision and concern - and that cannot and will not involve this board . You'll lose my support if you join them.

[Reg Smeeton]

You nailed any of those eastern european waitress's  yet ?

nope. and I think there's only one from eastern europe (well Czech Rep. anyway.) The rest hailing from either Brazil or Spain. I loose track a bit.

 Czech birds  

[janaage]

From what I have been told, I do not believe Mr Sturrock has what it takes to be an active board member.  He should continue to focus solely on the football side of things, leave the long term business strategy to the likes of the new owners!!

[Frigby Daser]

From what I have been told, I do not believe Mr Sturrock has what it takes to be an active board member.  He should continue to focus solely on the football side of things, leave the long term business strategy to the likes of the new owners!!

He's got more capability than anybody else on there, but it just wouldn't make sense.

For a man that walked away from Wednesday saying he didn't want to be involved in the political side of things, it's be one hell of a u-turn to accept a place on the board.

[lebowski]

you're all looking at this the wrong way: i say, get sturrock on the board, he can then slay the tyrannical beast from the inside.

(also, i think blair could do a job in accounts)

[deltaincline]

For a man that walked away from Wednesday saying he didn't want to be involved in the political side of things, it's be one hell of a u-turn to accept a place on the board.

Maybe I could give one example of why I am uncomfortable with Sturrock joining the board, apart from the obvious fan-division angle:

I listened to Luggy on friday night on the phone in. While I like his style as a manager and applaud his intentions to get touchy-feely with the fans and the business community, I was taken aback by his comments about the players win-bonus scheme. IIRC, he said he wasn't happy with it and would change it if he could having agreed that it is very high compared with other clubs (Boston were used as an example by a caller) wage structure, let alone their bonus schemes.

He also hinted that he'll change it next season (presumably fucking slash it more like) I honestly believe that Sturrock shouldn't be commenting on that sort of thing in public. Players hear comments like that themselves or are told what he said by fans, which can only lead them to believe that they are all going to be paid less next season.

Not sure about anyone else, but I do not want our players or their wags and families to be thinking about that sort of shit at this critical stage of the current campaign.

Also, surely any pro football manager would want a big win bonus payment structure for his players anyway, wouldn't he? What better way to motivate players than with tasty lumps of cash if they win matches? Presumably Dennis Wise was OK with it when he set it up with Power and Devlin, so why the fuck would Sturrock not want it too if he wants success on the pitch?

From what he said on the radio, he's already singing the fucking tune of our tight-wad board, who can't live with a bonus scheme created and funded by someone who fucking could afford it! What's he going to be like when he is a director? God, I can imagine the carnage as Luggy starts trying to convince us that Franchise football is the way forwards.

Shit like this really fucks me off. It's indicative of the way we're treated by the cunts still running the club. They seem to think it's all a fucking game to be won by lying, cheating and manipulating fans with moves like this. 5 fucking years of this shit is doing my head in.

And before anyone says anything, I know this is only a rumour at the moment. Luggy has already said enough and hinted enough to convince me that they'll do it though. Cunts.

I'm off to get bladdered and calm down a bit

[Mark D]

I have stated this before, but I'm going to repeat it. The bonus scheme in place this season, is basically the one that was in place last season. I tried to reduce the amounts we paid, but in the end the players were happy to accept one fundamental change, namely, that whilst the amounts remained the same, the players only received a bonus if they were in either an automatic promotion place, or a play off place. Last season the bonus went down to cover 12th position in the table. According to last season's bonus contract, the amounts could only be changed up or down by 10%, dependant on promotion or relegation. You can, of course attempt to revamp the whole scheme, in agreement with the players. But remember, in the close season, everyone, the Manager particularly, was focused on gaining promotion, and the scheme ended up reflecting that ambition. It was also felt that the bonuses would be self funding, because with the team up around the top of the table, the additional attendances would provide the necessary monies.

[deltaincline]

I have stated this before, but I'm going to repeat it. The bonus scheme in place this season, is basically the one that was in place last season. I tried to reduce the amounts we paid, but in the end the players were happy to accept one fundamental change, namely, that whilst the amounts remained the same, the players only received a bonus if they were in either an automatic promotion place, or a play off place. Last season the bonus went down to cover 12th position in the table. According to last season's bonus contract, the amounts could only be changed up or down by 10%, dependant on promotion or relegation. You can, of course attempt to revamp the whole scheme, in agreement with the players. But remember, in the close season, everyone, the Manager particularly, was focused on gaining promotion, and the scheme ended up reflecting that ambition. It was also felt that the bonuses would be self funding, because with the team up around the top of the table, the additional attendances would provide the necessary monies.

Thanks for clarifying that Mark. I wonder what the fuck Luggy was on about on the radio then? He majored on the bonus scheme being very high. Listen to him and make your own minds up, but that was my take on it.

Reading between the lines then after Mark D has made things clearer, I don't suppose that our truthful speaking board could be trying to cast more suspicion on Mark, Bill and co, could they? Using Sturrock to add weight to their nasty little smear campaign? Surely not....

I hope you're doing OK Mark and are still recovering well.  Regards to you and young Stan. Hopefully you'll be back here one day

[fatbury]

I think its safe to say Sturrock is in with the current board and no doubt a cut of the Chippenham move profits

[Nomoreheroes]

I'll tell you what I think......To be honest I don't care about whats in place behind the scenes. I don't care what the players get paid. I don't care what bonus scheme they are on. I don't care whether Sturrock is on the board or not (Although I agree that I don't see any successes that would suggest it was a good idea). I don't care if Diamandis is there or not. I dont care if the Trust have a seat on the board. I don't care who the financial backers of the club are (Although I wish we had someone who had unlimited resources to throw at the club). I don't care for friday statements from the board or rebuttles from the consortium (who's telling the truth ? I dont know !).

What I do care about is that the club picks up and turns from a 'losing team' to a winning team. This season for me is far far better than I can remember for a long while. Its a crying shame that all that everyone seems to be focussing on is back room stuff that we shouldn't necessarily be aware of.

Football was once such a simple game ! As a fan it was all about turning up on a Saturday afternoon (or midweek evening) to watch your heroes on the pitch pit themselves against other teams (who often had better players, rising stars or waning heroes). Then it was down to the pub for a celebration or post mortem.

Times have changed and maybe not for the better !  

NMH

[sonic youth]

Football was once such a simple game ! As a fan it was all about turning up on a Saturday afternoon (or midweek evening) to watch your heroes on the pitch pit themselves against other teams (who often had better players, rising stars or waning heroes). Then it was down to the pub for a celebration or post mortem.

Times have changed and maybe not for the better !  

A total fallacy.

I've been reading issues of Bring The Noise from nearly 20 years ago and there are so many similiarites that it's uncanny. It's certainly not the walk in the park you make it out to be, coincidentally it was also one of our more successful periods.

This is modern football and it's all part and parcel of being a fan of a lower league football fan.

[Maverick]

Great post NMH .......

The future's bright .. the future's ... getting back to being a fan!  

[sonic youth]

Oh and that's all well and good until there's no fucking club left to support!

[deltaincline]

What I do care about is that the club picks up and turns from a 'losing team' to a winning team. This season for me is far far better than I can remember for a long while. Its a crying shame that all that everyone seems to be focussing on is back room stuff that we shouldn't necessarily be aware of.

Take the rose tinted specs off pal. I give a fuck about the club and how it is run as much as I do what goes on on the pitch. Without one, we might not have the other to enjoy or bitch about.

Sitting with your fingers in your ears, your eyes tight shut and pretending that as long as we're winning matches everything else will follow is bollocks.

I appreciate that the politics may bore you. Fine, but why slate those who don't find it boring and can see through the constant stream of shit that emanates from SN1 and Newbury?

Oh, and by the way, remind me why you logged on to a discussion forum in the first place? Was it to swap stories about how green the fucking grass is looking at this time of year, or to observe, debate, and get involved a bit?  Or maybe you can think of another reason?

First bottle of New world cabsav safely put away. On to the chillean stuff now. Hic