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Post by brianss on Mar 5, 2016 9:38:19 GMT
A very good morning Gasheads!
Having read some of the comments on Forums, I thought it only right to update you on where Ken and I are as Fans Directors now and perhaps how our roles may change under new ownership.
I will be honest and say that the last few years, after a promising start four years ago, became harder and harder. As you will be aware the previous regime held what they called "equity directors meetings." As time went on, it became clear that board meetings were starting to play second fiddle to the main decision making. It was becoming clear also I was learning more about what was happening at the club through Forums such as this than I did at Board meetings, even though I was accused of believing what I read on the forums. It seems at times some of the comments made, particularly from the Fans Forum for example, were often and are 'spot on' and I appreciate that this really is from my point of view not an acceptable position to be in from a representational point of view.
Although no formal board meeting is yet to be held, I am delighted the AGM is still taking place and I have no doubts that a board meeting will happen very soon once all the players are in place. Nevertheless I and Ken have had conversations with several key directors about things that we believe need to be addressed and I am extremely hopeful that this really is the dawn of a new era. The comments I have made include all pricing, facilities particularly for our disabled and female supporters, catering to name but a few. I have been greatly encouraged by the feedback I have had, and both Ken and I will continue to work on your behalf to do our utmost to meet your expectations. Once the first board meeting has taken place I hope I can come back and provide regular updates. Of course, like you, I am also interested to learn what will be happening about the new stadium plans. I sincerely believe that this is essential if Bristol Rovers FC are to reach their full potential.
As always, I am open to suggestions on my email br467@btinternet.com. I regularly speak to supporters in regard to issues on a one-to-one, either by phone or twitter or on matchday.
I hope this clarifies your concerns and I am sure, as the early evidence suggests, the club is now moving forward in a very positive direction.
For everyone travelling to Notts County today, I hope to see you there and three points to take home!
May I thank you for your comments, positive or otherwise. I do read and I do take on board.
UTG!
Yours in friendship
Brian SS
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Post by seanclevedongas on Mar 5, 2016 9:47:28 GMT
See you in hOOters then Brian..........
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Post by oldgas on Mar 5, 2016 9:48:33 GMT
Fat finger hit the dislike button by mistake!
Quite clearly the old BoD developed a siege mentality and ended up behaving like some kind of Politbureau towards the end of their tenure, not surprising I suppose as it all seemed to be unraveling before their very eyes.
Taking account of the timing of the takeover I feel we will have lost the SAinsburys appeal, and other threads seem to suggest the Mem site has been sold for housing. We live in interesting times, lets home that things develop in the way we have been promised.
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Post by newmarketgas on Mar 5, 2016 9:50:06 GMT
Thanks Brian. Good luck with everything.
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Post by Hugo the Elder on Mar 5, 2016 9:57:58 GMT
Great to have you back on board Brian.
Hopefully this new start can allow for proper and sensible dialogue between fans and the BOD with yourself playing a vital role in that.
I think most will understand the position you found yourself in but it's time to more forward and look back less.
UTG
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Post by gregsy on Mar 5, 2016 10:12:11 GMT
I did notice the other night that you were walking around with a grin like a cheshire cat....
cheers brian
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Post by Captain Jayho on Mar 5, 2016 10:30:58 GMT
Good on you for being so honest about the situation you were in Brian.
I'm sure we all hope that the new board is more receptive to fans and their involvement and they've certainly been making the right noises so far.
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Post by therovers on Mar 5, 2016 10:32:35 GMT
How do we know that the person who posted that was actually Brian Seymour Smith? lol
UTG
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Post by Deleted on Mar 5, 2016 10:32:36 GMT
Great to see you posting on here Brian. I have to concur with Gregs observation but then we've all got more to smile about these days.
Looking forward I hope you are able to fulfil your role in the way envisaged and so far from what I've seen there's reason to be optimistic.
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Post by Cantankerous Gas on Mar 5, 2016 10:38:48 GMT
Fat finger hit the dislike button by mistake! Just click dislike button again to undo.
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Post by oldgas on Mar 5, 2016 10:47:06 GMT
Fat finger hit the dislike button by mistake! Just click dislike button again to undo. Oh yeah!
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Post by dinsdale on Mar 5, 2016 10:57:04 GMT
Brian
Why didn't you speak out when you and Ken were being taken the water out of by Nick and Barry? We could all see it and i feel its a bit off only speaking out now they have gone. It shows a lack of integrity for me. I have to admit the way the supporters club sat back and let the old board take our club to the brink and failed to speak out at the issues around the share scheme and two tier board meetings left a real sour taste for me.
Anyway i'm absolutely delighted the old board have left and every thing i have seen of the new board so far looks fantastic. I hope the supporters club can use this opportunity to evolve and improve as all other areas of the club do.
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Post by Severncider on Mar 5, 2016 11:04:51 GMT
Brian Why didn't you speak out when you and Ken were being taken the p**s out of by Nick and Barry? We could all see it and i feel its a bit off only speaking out now they have gone. It shows a lack of integrity for me. I have to admit the way the supporters club sat back and let the old board take our club to the brink and failed to speak out at the issues around the share scheme and two tier board meetings left a real sour taste for me. Anyway i'm absolutely delighted the old board have left and every thing i have seen of the new board so far looks fantastic. I hope the supporters club can use this opportunity to evolve and improve as all other areas of the club do. Perhaps BSS and KM thought that they would receive a "white envelope letter" at halftime if they voiced their feelings publically.
I would edit that to Nick and Toni, as I do not think Barry had any input on this matter, just my opinion.
As far as I recollect the Supporters Club Directors are only allowed on the Board at the behest of the Chairman.
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Post by dinsdale on Mar 5, 2016 11:09:49 GMT
The share scheme money bought us two fans positions on the board did it not?.
As i said easy to post this now they have left, perhaps if they were honest during the last few years about the issues when they were happening it would have changed things.
Anyway lets hope we never have to worry about being run but such types of people ever again.
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Post by Antonio Fargas on Mar 5, 2016 11:11:53 GMT
Brian Why didn't you speak out when you and Ken were being taken the p**s out of by Nick and Barry? We could all see it and i feel its a bit off only speaking out now they have gone. It shows a lack of integrity for me. I have to admit the way the supporters club sat back and let the old board take our club to the brink and failed to speak out at the issues around the share scheme and two tier board meetings left a real sour taste for me. Anyway i'm absolutely delighted the old board have left and every thing i have seen of the new board so far looks fantastic. I hope the supporters club can use this opportunity to evolve and improve as all other areas of the club do. I don't know about a lack of integrity. They were getting abuse on the boards, and around the club from many fans. It would have been p**s easy for them to blame the other directors. But what would that have achieved? Istm, although whether it was the right decision or not is entirely debatable, they took the more difficult option, and that, to me, shows integrity.
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Post by dinsdale on Mar 5, 2016 11:22:11 GMT
Brian Why didn't you speak out when you and Ken were being taken the p**s out of by Nick and Barry? We could all see it and i feel its a bit off only speaking out now they have gone. It shows a lack of integrity for me. I have to admit the way the supporters club sat back and let the old board take our club to the brink and failed to speak out at the issues around the share scheme and two tier board meetings left a real sour taste for me. Anyway i'm absolutely delighted the old board have left and every thing i have seen of the new board so far looks fantastic. I hope the supporters club can use this opportunity to evolve and improve as all other areas of the club do. I don't know about a lack of integrity. They were getting abuse on the boards, and around the club from many fans. It would have been p**s easy for them to blame the other directors. But what would that have achieved? Istm, although whether it was the right decision or not is entirely debatable, they took the more difficult option, and that, to me, shows integrity. The difficult option of doing absolutely nothing? The same thing was happening when Kim Stuckey was in the role and at least he had the balls to tell them where to stick it. The worst thing of all was all the promises after relegation that went unfulfilled and they said nothing not a thing. I would happily see the supporters club sell their shares back to the club and re-invest the money as they see fit and the current board just hire a fans director or club ambassador. No point whatsoever in fans directors who sit silently whilst the club goes down the swanny.
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Post by phillistine on Mar 5, 2016 11:33:24 GMT
You can understand why an equity Directors group existed as they are effectively the ones putting their hands in their pockets to either finance or guarantee the decisions being made. Sometimes this can be almost dismissed without people realising the full implications of what the Directors were being asked to do. At my old Company the Chairman was involved in running a football club and had a 20% stake in the club. Whilst on paper he was not putting much money into the club , he was severally guaranteeing the Clubs loans, the inland revenue payments and even transfer fees. The Club was a Ltd Company but the Bank would only lenmd them money if the Directors gave personal guarantees to cover the loans. Severally means that he wasnt just guaranteeing his 20% of the money but that if the club was discovered to be insolvent - as has happened a few times over the last few years with various clubs- the creditors could come after him for 100% of the money as they could with any of the Directors who made such guarantees. In fact they would chase the person who had the easiest money to put their hands on. If a major problem occurred then he may be called upon for £6 million and that could only have been raised by selling the business that he founded with the knock on affect that would have to over 50 employees and their families. Other Board members of the Company he founded asked him to resign from the Football club for this reason and over the course of a year he did so. I am only pointing this out as equity directors are often seen as greedy individuals deliberately contriving to take advantage of their situation. The reality is that many are just footie fans who become Directors and get dragged in a lot further than they ever intended. They give these guarantees which will only be released by creditors if someone comes in to take over the guarantees or pay off the loans. They stand to lose a fortune. Maybe NH needed the new owners more than we knew. I am not making any judgement on the old Rovers Board because I do not know the individuals concerned. All I am trying to point out is that sometimes it is not as clear cut as it might seem. The new owners have made it clear that they appreciated the confidentiality over the sale of the club and one suspects they may have pulled out had it become common knowledge. At the end of the day BSS and KM are representatives of the fans group and if they became aware of the takeover then maybe they would have felt the need to tell the people they represent about such a potential major development within the club. There is an expression on major projects that you only involve people on a " need to Know" basis and maybe this was one of those instances. To repeat I know nothing other than I have been involved in the running of a fairly major institution and know the politics that go on behind the scenes. Nothing is ever quite as it seems
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Post by Antonio Fargas on Mar 5, 2016 11:35:39 GMT
I don't know about a lack of integrity. They were getting abuse on the boards, and around the club from many fans. It would have been p**s easy for them to blame the other directors. But what would that have achieved? Istm, although whether it was the right decision or not is entirely debatable, they took the more difficult option, and that, to me, shows integrity. The difficult option of doing absolutely nothing? The difficult option of staying quiet while people who didn't know what the f**k they were talking about slagged you off willy-nilly. I'm not saying it was the right option, necessarily, but istm it is reasonable to consider it a judgement call rather than an integrity issue. But, hey, you know what was in his head, so you know all about his integrity, right?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 5, 2016 11:36:19 GMT
I don't know about a lack of integrity. They were getting abuse on the boards, and around the club from many fans. It would have been p**s easy for them to blame the other directors. But what would that have achieved? Istm, although whether it was the right decision or not is entirely debatable, they took the more difficult option, and that, to me, shows integrity. The difficult option of doing absolutely nothing? The same thing was happening when Kim Stuckey was in the role and at least he had the balls to tell them where to stick it. The worst thing of all was all the promises after relegation that went unfulfilled and they said nothing not a thing. I would happily see the supporters club sell their shares back to the club and re-invest the money as they see fit and the current board just hire a fans director or club ambassador. No point whatsoever in fans directors who sit silently whilst the club goes down the swanny. By remaining in post I guess that Brian was able to raise issues from supporters, even if responses were not forthcoming from the Board. Kim Stuckey was true to his principles, however did this achieve anything more for the fans than Brian and Ken have done?
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Post by Henbury Gas on Mar 5, 2016 11:38:18 GMT
You can understand why an equity Directors group existed as they are effectively the ones putting their hands in their pockets to either finance or guarantee the decisions being made. Sometimes this can be almost dismissed without people realising the full implications of what the Directors were being asked to do. At my old Company the Chairman was involved in running a football club and had a 20% stake in the club. Whilst on paper he was not putting much money into the club , he was severally guaranteeing the Clubs loans, the inland revenue payments and even transfer fees. The Club was a Ltd Company but the Bank would only lenmd them money if the Directors gave personal guarantees to cover the loans. Severally means that he wasnt just guaranteeing his 20% of the money but that if the club was discovered to be insolvent - as has happened a few times over the last few years with various clubs- the creditors could come after him for 100% of the money as they could with any of the Directors who made such guarantees. In fact they would chase the person who had the easiest money to put their hands on. If a major problem occurred then he may be called upon for £6 million and that could only have been raised by selling the business that he founded with the knock on affect that would have to over 50 employees and their families. Other Board members of the Company he founded asked him to resign from the Football club for this reason and over the course of a year he did so. I am only pointing this out as equity directors are often seen as greedy individuals deliberately contriving to take advantage of their situation. The reality is that many are just footie fans who become Directors and get dragged in a lot further than they ever intended. They give these guarantees which will only be released by creditors if someone comes in to take over the guarantees or pay off the loans. They stand to lose a fortune. Maybe NH needed the new owners more than we knew. I am not making any judgement on the old Rovers Board because I do not know the individuals concerned. All I am trying to point out is that sometimes it is not as clear cut as it might seem. The new owners have made it clear that they appreciated the confidentiality over the sale of the club and one suspects they may have pulled out had it become common knowledge. At the end of the day BSS and KM are representatives of the fans group and if they became aware of the takeover then maybe they would have felt the need to tell the people they represent about such a potential major development within the club. There is an expression on major projects that you only involve people on a " need to Know" basis and maybe this was one of those instances. To repeat I know nothing other than I have been involved in the running of a fairly major institution and know the politics that go on behind the scenes. Nothing is ever quite as it seems Quality Post !
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