I can assure you we hold the club and CM to account having attended many of the AB meetings I can confirm many times we have disagreed , argued and given the club feedback not in line with what the club want to do, certainly no nodding yes by default as you describe. I have actual real experience and evidence of this so perhaps back up your claim ??
I can also assure you the AB is not a tick box exercise, half of the really positive changes made would not have occured without this vehicle which is always very open, honest and certainly not the Trust or OSC just nodding in agreement! There is alot of great work done through the AB and lots of hard work completed by both the Trust and OSC. I would not regularly take time off my day job to attend and contribute if it was a waste of time box ticking exercise. What would be the point?
There is alot being made that things are not quite as they seem, its simply not true.
Yes an ex trust board member is CEO but would you rather have an intelligent and successful passionate swindon fan running our football club who cares desperately that our club improves on and off the pitch, than just another money man CEO who is driven by spreadsheets and no attachment or genuine love of the club?
Things are never perfect and yes mistakes have been made and the club have learnt from these and perhaps they may have done some things differently , but I would 1000% rather have what we have now than what we have had previously. I genuingly know and feel Clem and Rob etc have the best interests of STFC in what they do, I have seen it at first hand many times, they might not always get it right but what human being can state they always get everything right.
I think if people have evidence to prove their general negativity and a general what appears to be unhealthy undertone to some of these unevidenced comments please share with us and we will assess it. If you dont then just get behind the club and let's get promotion and stop this silliness which is stated but not ever evidenced?
I appreciate the response James albeit a little defensive...
I will remind that I did open with
'Why do I feel like the Trust has become more of a sort of "yes man" to the club? Just a hunch, don't slaughter me for it but it seems all rather nodding of heads and all is rosy when it really isn't.'...so with that opening context, it's important to note I didn't actually say that I was claiming those things as fact - merely a feeling due to the possible previous inconsistencies/jiggery pokery/shitshows (please feel free to delete as appropriate for any era of ownership that comes to mind).
It is very honourable indeed that you do continue to take time off work (as do others) and contribute; as well as not seeing it as a waste of time regarding the ABMs. Again, it is only how I feel it "seems" rather than what it "is" - often our own instincts on things can be accurate even when we truly think they are totally off kilter from our normal and logical thought process. Sometimes only hindsight and the passing of former future events actually reveal if that instinct was accurate or not. There's no personal ill towards yourself.
Actually, you've flipped the "RA being a bad/good thing" there on it's head. What I meant is, that whilst I'm pretty certain that RA is incredibly passionate and professional about what he does I think you/we could agree that sometimes professionally it isn't best to mix business with pleasure (I say that word lightly regarding Town as any lifelong fan will know, "pleasure" is a completely different term when pertaining STFC
). It can sometimes cloud our judgement or mean we make decisions based on our heart rather than our head. I'm not saying RA is/has/will do this at some point but I think it's a very clever move from Clem. Having a well known (to fans and Trust) figurehead as his company mouthpiece, means people will indeed instantly warm to that person. Sometimes regardless of what has to be said. Situations can be easier to smooth over with some clever PR/Spin. Again - this isn't to detriment of the Trust or RA just that I have a lingering concern that when thing goes south/sour some of these things could come back and hit us like a kipper! I'm not sure if you'll see my reasoning there but people who own large businesses/football clubs often have some unsavoury methods of getting what they want. Does anyone think that Jeff Bezos got where he was by being incredibly ethical and caring what was bulldozed to the side? Even with a charm offensive - these people do get what they want in some way or another.
I wouldn't mind a CEO who actually isn't connected to either party or very pally with either and is totally independent from any previous influence or those that employ them. That to me is a better model. People don't have to love a football club to do their job well and also be focused on getting that remit completed. So that RA loves the club part is moot regarding his role. We all love the club (I think
) when we strip everything back go simplicity.
I still feel the way the club tried to ignore everyone else's financial situation when it came to stalling on ST refunds was pretty disgusting (and yet fans still came out in numbers, big numbers for this particular season); it's as if non one else was/is struggling and only STFC had/seemingly still has money problems. Would that not leave a bad taste with several? Even if they could afford to defer - the principle and approach was pressured and repetitive until several keeled over. Almost like dealing with Scottish Power!
Your closing statement again is quite defensive and yet again leans more in support of the club than that of the concerned fan. That still feels odd to me. Note "feels". Mainly because evidence isn't needed to portray in writing how one feels about a situation. I'm not directly claiming that these things are true, I'm purely reiterating that there is a lingering concern due to past owners over several decades. No one needs evidence to put down in writing their thoughts and feelings - not such on a forum that is representative of a fairly small demographic of the Town fanbase (still important nonetheless of course) - to ask/infer they do seems a bit "off" really James and it only further drives hat defensive leaning of your stance towards club and away from fans.
That isn't the Trust I originally knew and once again I will state it is just a "feeling" from myself and isn't representative nor tries to be representative of anyone else (although some may find that they agree with some of the above).
I will end with a positive note that the renewed comms is very welcomed, across all parties and it is a far cry from what once was. However, I'm sure you will agree that whilst uncertainty linger for many fans then we can always strive to get better and better; until it becomes an ingrained culture that feels more organic. At present it feels (to me) a little forced/inauthentic but I do get that and I understand the reasons why.
Here's to great weekend and for a positive 1st Leg result v Port Vale in the Play-Off Semis; some great opportunities to make some more money for the club
