Words Fail Me

[Paddingtonwolf]

To further state my point. Say there are elections, who gets to vote? Make it a free for all, or just based on membership and you leave yourself wide open to a load of fans of other clubs signing up to skew results and "fuck Wolves up". Put a monetary value you on it to prevent that, and it is "going straight in Morgan / Moxey / insert other convenient pantomime villain's pocket". And those that won't pay or can't pay will demand the same enfranchisement, and will moan like fury if they don't get it.

Then the next question, what powers do these fans have? What are they voting for? They can have no direct control over first team recruitment or affairs, it just isn't going to be like the absolute power of an elected president such as in the Barcelona or Real Madrid model. So what decisions would the fans be able to influence? Frankly, not an awful lot. Plus, confidentiality means that most of the reasoning behind a lot of the decision making isn't going to be public, and a fans rep isn't going to be able to discuss it, leading to them being accused of being a lapdog and a lame duck by those that demand all of the information, all of the time (and they will be the loudest voice as they always are).

I don't see how it would actually engage the fans any more, if at all. It would become a fop, and probably about as popular as the Parliament, which seems to be the object of derision and seen as nothing more than a privileged few getting a few free pints in order to deliberately not ask the difficult stuff (despite the fact that tough questions have been asked at the parliament, and reps get little or no thanks for that as it doesn't fit a certain agenda).

 

[Penk Wolf]

The vote would be for the CEO or President and that would be the only vote by those fans who bought shares. Fans Parliament would be more open as the club would be accountable to the stakeholders, which would mean that fans were more inclined to believe what came out of the club.

Confidential stuff would be exactly that and not open to fans until a time it no longer becomes confidential.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Fan representation can work, Swansea's Trust have a permanent seat on the board and a 20% stake in the club. Though that said, it hasn't helped prevent this season's confusing maelstrom of decisions there so how effective is it really when things are going badly?

I have little faith in it working here for various reasons. Unless you appoint me obviously.

 

[Penk Wolf]

Fan representation can work, Swansea's Trust have a permanent seat on the board and a 20% stake in the club. Though that said, it hasn't helped prevent this season's confusing maelstrom of decisions there so how effective is it really when things are going badly?

I think you have to look at the fan club relationship rather than what's happening on the pitch. Things will always go wrong on the pitch regardless who the club is, but it's whether the fans and club are united or at loggerheads.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

The vote would be for the CEO or President and that would be the only vote by those fans who bought shares. Fans Parliament would be more open as the club would be accountable to the stakeholders, which would mean that fans were more inclined to believe what came out of the club.

Confidential stuff would be exactly that and not open to fans until a time it no longer becomes confidential.

But I can't afford shares. Where is my voice? Am I a lesser fan because I won't pay for the right / put money directly in Morgan's pocket (delete as appropriate). It is just the club diddling me for more money again (cue moan about card charges). Frankly, you could do a TV broadcast of every board meeting and large chunks of the fanbase still won't believe anything. It is too fractures a relationship. If anything, it will go the other way and then the fans can really complain about being kept in the dark.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

I think you have to look at the fan club relationship rather than what's happening on the pitch. Things will always go wrong on the pitch regardless who the club is, but it's whether the fans and club are united or at loggerheads.

Simple folk though, most fans. And I don't mean that in a condescending way, they just are. How many Pompey fans were questioning that house of sand between 2006 and 2008? Not many, they just liked seeing top players in a blue shirt and winning the FA Cup.

You're asking the fanbase as a whole to become conversant with the inner workings of football economics and it just won't happen here. It only tends to work at clubs where they have come very close to extinction recently (as in, ironically, Pompey) so they understand the pitfalls of 'pushing the boat out', 'showing ambition', 'signing two more' and 'just another £4-5m'.

Most fans work on the basis of new signings = good, win a few games = good (with our lot to the point of ignoring we were in League Bloody One), lose a few = bad, don't sign players = bad. It's entirely binary, there is no nuance.

 

[Papper]

All I ask for is transparency and in a strange way I feel they are but they need to be a bit more tactful how they communicate their position. Much of what Moxey and Thelwell said last night completely resonates with me but I'm not impressed with how they described the situation with ' Afobe' - that should not be public. It's embarrassing for Danny Baath who 'really isn't good enough' and nobody at the club seems to recognise this. Wonder if KJ ever saw those 'Wallace' tweets before the cup game.

However much we question these people they should not be made to feel they are in the dock because whenever the football on the pitch is failing they will always be in a lose-lose position. The love-in with Sako and the desperate sentimentality and grief over the very average Stearman is very short sighted but they will never appease these people.

I strongly feel that it would be better that Moxey and Thelwell were replaced but I still buy into the overall ethos of the club. That thankfully appears stronger than ever. No supporter representation is necessary to change that ethos but ideally we need an owner who can recognise when those tasked with carrying it forward aren't up to it. Given the dynamics of a club only that person and maybe one or two confidantes can make that decision and definitely not the likes of us who type our feelings on a forum.