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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2014 20:16:45 GMT
Here is a little more background to the circumstances of the meeting: Following our two meetings at the Wellie we had put together some questions which we had been assured would be answered at the Nick Higgs' Q & A. We know that none of our specific questions were answered, though of course other answers covered some of the topics. After the meeting I spoke with Chris Jelf and he suggested that I rang him and that we meet up. It took a while to arrange this but eventually we arranged to meet last night. I asked Jon and Bernard to come along, but unfortunately Jon was unable to make it. I thought it a good idea to also ask Richard and Tom from BRISA and they also attended. We were surprised when Ed Ware also turned up. We spoke for about a couple of hours, and we put before them all the concerns raised at our meetings. They were hardly surprised by anything we said. They appeared to be very frank and open. The difficulty is that they often spoke from a personal viewpoint. The best thing to say is that Chris Jelf offered to attend any meeting we should arrange. It then might be a good idea to arrange an open meeting later on in October. The Wellie marquee has gone, so we will look for another venue. We can only stress that they are now fully aware of our concerns and we should go full steam ahead for an open meeting when people can talk directly to them. As I mentioned previously this can potentially be end of October. It is also possible that other directors will come. I hope all of you will welcome this. A chance to continue putting pressure on the board where that's necessary, opportunities to ask questions and hear what the board are currently doing, and as I also mentioned the POSSIBILITY of forming help groups ( nobody HAS TO get involved if you feel the club is not responding to us appropraitely. Finally, I wish to stress that we have been honest in our activities. We only felt (our own idea) that THIS time a smaller group would finally enable THE Wellie GRoup and BRISA to get their concerns over to the club. Even in this small group it was sometimes a struggle to get our views across. I personally would say that I wish they would LISTEN more/allow us time to ask questions/follow -up ones too, during these events/meetings rather than persuing their agenda for conversation, but I can say it was a helpful evening. I hope October's will be even better and also well-attended open to SC members /non-members alike !! But why did you invite Rick and then refuse to let him go when it became clear he wanted to discuss Kevin Spencer. That is a big deal for a lot of fans. Why also make it all a big secret especially when you know people have alleged the wellie group was put together internally by the club? It just makes a rod for your own backs
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Post by timsburygas on Sept 12, 2014 20:17:10 GMT
Wow! What paranoia there is among supporters these days. These lads asked for a meeting to air their questions because none of them were answered at the open meeting. Chris Jelf offered them a chance to meet up and they took it. If you're really feeling left out, why don't you all ask Mr Jelf for a meeting and see what he says? Can't believe there is so much reaction on here. Btw, work prohibits me from going to many games, particularly now I've moved away from Bristol after four years commuting up the M4. Does this mean I've relinquished my right to be a Rovers supporter and ask questions of the board too? Far too much over reaction as Buckripper says, these guys asked for their questions to be answered and directors meet them, Good news all round, the club interacting with fans. If others feel left out they could have got involved with these groups, both have appealed for more fans to take on roles. Large question and answer sessions can be chaos without proper control so it seems sensible if someone can gauge feelings and pass them on to the board. Many of us have lost faith with the SC so another voice is needed. Of course its easier to sit behind your key board and criticise those that are brave enough to get involved then it is to become a spokes person yourself.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2014 20:19:57 GMT
Some of us would be involved but our view points are deemed inappropriate :-)
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2014 20:27:10 GMT
Thanks for taking the time to reply Mark.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2014 20:28:32 GMT
Only because you took it in a different way to intended my favourite troll No trolling here, just as usual it's you who is getting all worked up, probably cause you weren't there. Your rantings are common place, you criticise everything and everyone. and from what i read you do very little. Typical social media little trouble maker and this forum is your chosen arena. But fair do's we're all different i suppose. I just personally think you ruin a lot of what is good on here.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2014 20:29:56 GMT
Mark, does this meeting and your decision to invite BRISA indicate that the Welly group and BRISA are now acting together as one?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2014 20:46:47 GMT
But why did you invite Rick and then refuse to let him go when it became clear he wanted to discuss Kevin Spencer. That is a big deal for a lot of fans. Why also make it all a big secret especially when you know people have alleged the wellie group was put together internally by the club? It just makes a rod for your own backs From what I know of the past situation, Kevin's ban should have been removed by now. It is wrong that somebody who supported the club in so many different ways is still unable to attend matches. However, if you asked the faithful 5,000 to prioritise what is wrong with the club, do you honestly think that a large % would put this near the top of their list? It seems that the ball is firmly in NH's court, and I think that those who attended the meeting last night were right to devote the limited time to discussing wider issues with CJ/EW. If the dynamics in the Boardroom change, I feel that would be the time to lobby other Directors. Kevin stated himself that he did not wish BRISA to take up his cause, as he felt that the group would be "tainted" by association in the eyes of the Board.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2014 20:57:07 GMT
But why did you invite Rick and then refuse to let him go when it became clear he wanted to discuss Kevin Spencer. That is a big deal for a lot of fans. Why also make it all a big secret especially when you know people have alleged the wellie group was put together internally by the club? It just makes a rod for your own backs From what I know of the past situation, Kevin's ban should have been removed by now. It is wrong that somebody who supported the club in so many different ways is still unable to attend matches. However, if you asked the faithful 5,000 to prioritise what is wrong with the club, do you honestly think that a large % would put this near the top of their list? It seems that the ball is firmly in NH's court, and I think that those who attended the meeting last night were right to devote the limited time to discussing wider issues with CJ/EW. If the dynamics in the Boardroom change, I feel that would be the time to lobby other Directors. Kevin stated himself that he did not wish BRISA to take up his cause, as he felt that the group would be "tainted" by association in the eyes of the Board. Good post TT. If those people were indeed representing the Welly group and the concerns raised there then it would not have been appropriate to have gone there to force that one issue.
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Post by aghast on Sept 12, 2014 21:14:23 GMT
i'm about to get f**ked on stella.... happy days Lol stay away from your wife then !!! No no. Her name is Stella.
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Post by parsonstgas on Sept 12, 2014 21:54:06 GMT
I've lost the plot on this thread tbh. I mostly think that it's some Rovers fans who organised a group that all want the best for the club had a meeting with two club reps. Anything more or less? Exactly this Parsons !! I am sad to read some fellow Gasheads throwing their toys out of their prams and others continuing to have a go at me - Are you not grown up people FFS !!! Mark keep doing what you think is right, people will always have an opinion on it. Were you the guy asking questions from the back of the room at the first forum in the summer?
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Post by parsonstgas on Sept 12, 2014 21:58:13 GMT
Here is a little more background to the circumstances of the meeting: Following our two meetings at the Wellie we had put together some questions which we had been assured would be answered at the Nick Higgs' Q & A. We know that none of our specific questions were answered, though of course other answers covered some of the topics. After the meeting I spoke with Chris Jelf and he suggested that I rang him and that we meet up. It took a while to arrange this but eventually we arranged to meet last night. I asked Jon and Bernard to come along, but unfortunately Jon was unable to make it. I thought it a good idea to also ask Richard and Tom from BRISA and they also attended. We were surprised when Ed Ware also turned up. We spoke for about a couple of hours, and we put before them all the concerns raised at our meetings. They were hardly surprised by anything we said. They appeared to be very frank and open. The difficulty is that they often spoke from a personal viewpoint. The best thing to say is that Chris Jelf offered to attend any meeting we should arrange. It then might be a good idea to arrange an open meeting later on in October. The Wellie marquee has gone, so we will look for another venue. We can only stress that they are now fully aware of our concerns and we should go full steam ahead for an open meeting when people can talk directly to them. As I mentioned previously this can potentially be end of October. It is also possible that other directors will come. I hope all of you will welcome this. A chance to continue putting pressure on the board where that's necessary, opportunities to ask questions and hear what the board are currently doing, and as I also mentioned the POSSIBILITY of forming help groups ( nobody HAS TO get involved if you feel the club is not responding to us appropraitely. Finally, I wish to stress that we have been honest in our activities. We only felt (our own idea) that THIS time a smaller group would finally enable THE Wellie GRoup and BRISA to get their concerns over to the club. Even in this small group it was sometimes a struggle to get our views across. I personally would say that I wish they would LISTEN more/allow us time to ask questions/follow -up ones too, during these events/meetings rather than persuing their agenda for conversation, but I can say it was a helpful evening. I hope October's will be even better and also well-attended open to SC members /non-members alike !! But why did you invite Rick and then refuse to let him go when it became clear he wanted to discuss Kevin Spencer. That is a big deal for a lot of fans. Why also make it all a big secret especially when you know people have alleged the wellie group was put together internally by the club? It just makes a rod for your own backs Dins, always like what you say on here and Twitter but I'm not sure the KS issue is a big issue for a lot of fans. I see it as an issue for a few, maybe 50 people tops? Most fans couldn't care, many won't even know who is is! Tbh I'm bored hearing about it, if a grown man can't sort his own problems out then blimey what's it all about. From my POV and many other fans, I see at least 25 issues at the club which to me are all far, far more important.
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Post by gasincider on Sept 12, 2014 22:14:35 GMT
Strange that Marks response tells us nothing, not even the questions that were not covered at the original meeting.
Would one of them have been how soon can the directors in question get rid of the chairman? I ask this as we all know that the board are split down to NH and TW against the rest.
Strange how this only came out because someone saw them at the Welly.
I thought the supporters club was the official organ representing the fans on behalf of the club. So why weren't they invited? Many of us had questions not answered. How do we get them answered?
Can I suggest that if you have another meeting with the directors, you let everyone know and make it on a match day. That way our two invisible directors will have no excuse in failing to attend yet another home game.
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Post by RD on Sept 12, 2014 22:39:12 GMT
Not sure I should really reply to this thread, but the two bottles of wine I've seen off are impairing my judgement somewhat.
A part of me thinks this is a bit of a storm in a teacup, but another part of me wonders why a group set up as a representation of the fans, is holding a secretive meeting (not saying it's a conspiracy, but it was a secret to all bar a few people which makes that factually correct) and then not feeding back the outcome?
If the purpose of the meeting was to ask the questions the people you represent were so disappointed not to get a response to during the open forum, why then fail to report the answers to those questions back immediately?
Just seems a bit odd to be honest.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2014 2:22:44 GMT
I have no idea who Mark or anyone else is who met these two directors to discuss, whatever. But this has always been the way the club, or should I say the BoD operates, isolate and divide & rule whenever the noise gets a bit loud. No need to attack anyone really, but it is important to see it for what it is, meaningless.
Whats also a bit laughable is that in a situation like that, the BoD meeting self appointed fans, its frankly amazing that the two directors who are (cough) supposedly on the board to represent the fans viewpoint are not there and who actually should be at the forefront of any such initiative. It speaks volumes of those two individuals, Masters and Bss, does it not. I see, from the post by gasincider, that the SC are indignant, which is hugely ironic. Ironic given their role the last time any real noise emerged from the fans at BRFC and their general complete inertia. Hard to believe that they own shares paid for by £1,000,000 of other peoples money and that they are clueless in how to manage that, but that was always the case. Personally I do know Rick and not surprised at all that he took the stance he has, in fact I admire him for doing so. Tillys Thighs is dead right about Kevin Spencer as an individual (and yes I know him to) but the misconception here is that the issuing that arose around him is about him only. Its not. The issue is about the BoD banning a fan, any fan, for being openly critical over the way they operate. Extrapolating this issue out the supine reaction to this from the supposed "fans reps" Masters and Bss is unusual given their role, and then staggering when BSS openly admits he voted for the ban based upon the arguments made at a board meeting which he refuses to disclose, despite his role as our representative.
And the reaction from the SC committee to whom BSS and Masters are supposedly reporting back to on board decisions etc(Stop laughing at the back)? Nothing, dead from the neck up.
Finally, and just my viewpoint, I am not interested in board "splits" etc, if any one of them is unhappy, that unhappy, at the way the BoD are managing the club then if they had an ounce of integrity they would resign, especially BSS and Masters. But they have not, because they do not.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2014 3:39:51 GMT
Only because you took it in a different way to intended my favourite troll No trolling here, just as usual it's you who is getting all worked up, probably cause you weren't there. Your rantings are common place, you criticise everything and everyone. and from what i read you do very little. Typical social media little trouble maker and this forum is your chosen arena. But fair do's we're all different i suppose. I just personally think you ruin a lot of what is good on here. Well in my defence i got involved with the agenda for change, produced thousands of booklets at cost to myself and distrubuted them at matches. I went to the welly meeting and the q and a and all the council stadium meetings from the first one to develop the mem in about 2005 and provided twitter or live forum streams to all of the above so disagree i have done nothing. I had talks about being involved with brisa but my views didnt fit but will stay a member and help as i can. I agree im negative about the board but i try and be fair. I join other discussions and praise victories and success and as i said provide twitter feeds to the forum because i believe in getting information out there to the fans. Hopefully this in part makes up for me ruining the forum as you say. Ultimately watching Rovers is a small but important aspect of my life but i dont view this forum as a popularity contest. Outside of Rovers im lucky in having a fantastic life so i dont use this forum as a means of taking out frustrations from elsewhere. Im lucky enough that circumstances in my life have given me the chance to know a lot of people who have been involved in the club and i just try and get things out there. Im not always right and where i make mistakes i always try and apologise or speak to people face to face. Its hard to know what a person is like or how typed words are intended but happy to buy you a pint sometime to discuss. Sorry you feel i ruin the forum. Not my intention.
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Post by peterparker on Sept 13, 2014 5:42:36 GMT
Not sure I should really reply to this thread, but the two bottles of wine I've seen off are impairing my judgement somewhat. A part of me thinks this is a bit of a storm in a teacup, but another part of me wonders why a group set up as a representation of the fans, is holding a secretive meeting (not saying it's a conspiracy, but it was a secret to all bar a few people which makes that factually correct) and then not feeding back the outcome? If the purpose of the meeting was to ask the questions the people you represent were so disappointed not toi get a response to during the open forum, why then fail to report the answers to those questions back immediately? Just seems a bit odd to be honest. Exactly how i see it.
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Post by Jon the Stripe on Sept 13, 2014 6:55:09 GMT
Weh hey!
It's Match Day!!!!
Cheer up everyone - The Gas are playing away today!!!!!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2014 7:31:46 GMT
Perfectly cheery, wanting openess does not reflect on my level of cheeryness 3 points today i believe then Mark and Bernard can post up the list of questions again from the meetings we had at the welly with the answers given by jelf and Ware and we can all have a jolly time.
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Post by hanham on Sept 13, 2014 7:32:53 GMT
Weh hey!
It's Match Day!!!!
Cheer up everyone - The Gas are playing away today!!!!! Oh yeah, just Change the subject then UTG Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2014 7:53:19 GMT
Weh hey!
It's Match Day!!!!
Cheer up everyone - The Gas are playing away today!!!!! This post has been made under instruction and sanctioned by the BoD to calm the waters. (Joke)
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