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Supporter Protests
NorthStandUltra
Posts: 2,540
I read today that Villa fans are leaving the Holte End empty for 8 minutes tomorrow v Liverpool as a protest against Randy Lerner and his 8 years of owning Aston Villa.
My question is as a fanbase who are unhappy with the owner & board, are we prepared to do anything similar or have we reached the point where we are too apathetic & depressed about the situation.
is this something the trust would get involved with, yes it would p!ss the board off, but isn't the trust the voice of the fans? I read somewhere that KM doesn't see the trust as a true reflection of the fans as it only represents one opinion, if something widespread was organised & trust members & non-members were both involved then surely this must be seen as the opinion of the fanbase.
This isn't a dig at the trust by the way, just a genuine question.
My question is as a fanbase who are unhappy with the owner & board, are we prepared to do anything similar or have we reached the point where we are too apathetic & depressed about the situation.
is this something the trust would get involved with, yes it would p!ss the board off, but isn't the trust the voice of the fans? I read somewhere that KM doesn't see the trust as a true reflection of the fans as it only represents one opinion, if something widespread was organised & trust members & non-members were both involved then surely this must be seen as the opinion of the fanbase.
This isn't a dig at the trust by the way, just a genuine question.
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I'm going to boycott and not get a half season ticket!!!5
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Are we really in that bad of a position to do that? He pulls his money out where do we go? Before he took us over we were on the brink of administration and getting our knickers in a twist over the old regime, he saved us and we're not doing that badly. We're protesting over being 14th in the Championship?15
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Not for me. I wouldn't want to leave my blanket unattended, so sorry, I'm out.1
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@Its_Hamer_Time I actually agree with you on a lot of points, but there is clearly some dissatisfaction amongst the fanbase & I've seen people saying Duchatelet out etc - Id rather have him that Slater & Jimenez mind you0
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How can they protest against an owner who spent £20m+ on one player not so long ago?NorthStandUltra said:I read today that Villa fans are leaving the Holte End empty for 8 minutes tomorrow v Liverpool as a protest against Randy Lerner and his 8 years of owning Aston Villa.
My question is as a fanbase who are unhappy with the owner & board, are we prepared to do anything similar or have we reached the point where we are too apathetic & depressed about the situation.
is this something the trust would get involved with, yes it would p!ss the board off, but isn't the trust the voice of the fans? I read somewhere that KM doesn't see the trust as a true reflection of the fans as it only represents one opinion, if something widespread was organised & trust members & non-members were both involved then surely this must be seen as the opinion of the fanbase.
This isn't a dig at the trust by the way, just a genuine question.7 -
Personally I was unhappy with how it was going under Bob. It appears that RD thought so to, so in that way I am not dissatisfied with his decision to move Bob on. He,s choice of replacement, does not install any confidence, but at this stage, do we need protests. Let's see what players come in, and how Guy performs before we start protesting.4
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I'm sure someone else would have came along and bought the club had RM not. So I hate it when people keep saying he saved us, he saved us. Administration didn't do Southampton any harm did it? I'm glad we didn't go into admin but it wouldn't have been the end of the world. Fair enough Roland has laid a new pitch with undersoil heating which we can't use until we go up anyway I might add, but he knew he had to do this before he bought the club. That would have been in his mind when negotiating the price im sure. This whole situation is not just about how well Charlton are doing in the league it's about losing the identity of the club... Anyway I wouldn't do anything like a protest yet I'd wait another ten games see how things go.1
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Things are nowhere near as bad at the moment as in the recent past, I can't sense any great ground swell of rebellion in the air, as some of us can remember worse boards (ie Glickstien, Marman, Sunley, Slater & Co etc).2
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Thing is RD has been owner for one year. How can you assess his performance and management of the club in such a short space of time?
If we are still being lied to and things aren't improving in a couple of years then maybe start assessing what to do, but for now be patient and let him work his magic.0 -
Tomorrow afternoon will be a good indication of how people are feeling about the soap opera over the last 7 days.0
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This is the first time I've heard our pitch has undersoil heating! Yes!jakecafc said:I'm sure someone else would have came along and bought the club had RM not. So I hate it when people keep saying he saved us, he saved us. Administration didn't do Southampton any harm did it? I'm glad we didn't go into admin but it wouldn't have been the end of the world. Fair enough Roland has laid a new pitch with undersoil heating which we can't use until we go up anyway I might add, but he knew he had to do this before he bought the club. That would have been in his mind when negotiating the price im sure. This whole situation is not just about how well Charlton are doing in the league it's about losing the identity of the club... Anyway I wouldn't do anything like a protest yet I'd wait another ten games see how things go.
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Hi, @NorthStandUltra
This is just my personal opinion here. I fully understand your frustration, and you want to do something rather than be apathetic. And that is part of Charlton fan history, to do something, rather than sit in the pub moaning.
I'd like to ask you to give this some thought;
Most protests, in football, and more widely in society, are very good at making clear what they are against. They are usually far less clear about what they are for, or what they want to happen which did not happen.
It seems to me that a protest might have two goals:
1. To persuade RD to sell the club. The question is, are we - the protesters - going to find anyone better?
2. To persuade RD to do something differently. The question is, what? And is a protest the best way to persuade him?
We have to answer those questions, ourselves, before we can think of any kind of protest.
One thing I can assure you is that the Trust will not just sit in the pub moaning. But we need more members, in order for RD and KM to accept that they should talk to us.
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It wasn't easy to find a new owner under the old regime, sometimes it's better the devil you know.1
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we leave the North Lower empty for 90 mins every game!8
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No chance of this from me, whilst we're mid-table in the Championship and not on the brink of admin I'm happy.4
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Protests a bit early for that i think, lets see how things progress first, things are not that bad at present far from ideal, but not bad enough to protest.
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Maybe we should fill it in protest. That'll teach him to mess with us!!Elthamaddick said:we leave the North Lower empty for 90 mins every game!
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@PragueAddick Very good post, option 2 is definitely the way forward - have the club given any indication that they would listen to the trust, my fear is that the trust will be toothless in terms of being listened to because of RD's attitude or arrogance towards the fan base - the Liege fans rioted but have things changed for them??0
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Villa fans are obviously angry at the lack of investment, as much as they want rid of Lerner, no one is buying the club off him, obviously he wants out as much as the fans do.
Back to us, not worried about admin and sitting mid table in the championship not arguing about Danny Green, Waggy or Pritch at right midfield is a good place to be. We have distanced ourselves from the uncertainty which surrounded us a year ago and although some hate the way we have turned, it is safer than admin and certainly better than a Blackpool situation.
Thing is there is always going to be discontent somewhere in a fan base, that's football and that's life.1 -
I just think we haven't got too much to moan about really..... yes the manager merry go round is a pain in the arse, and having an unknown manager doesn't feel good........but remember Riga? We all moaned when he came in, then when he went we all had the hump. Give the new guy a chance, and RD more to the point. Villa fans have had 8 years of it, we've had 1. Hardly time for him to stamp his authority on the club and please us.
We've planned for an amazing academy development centre (can't remember what they call it), so he's looking to the future and we're within the financial regulations so in a healthy position off the field too.
If RD hadn't have sacked off Powell or lost Poyet would we really be this upset over the way the club was being run?2 -
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No your all right thanks it's only been a year and there is lots of work to do on and off the pitch. So I'm still supporting Roland and Charlton1
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I'm sorry, as a matter of course, I will do the opposite of anyone who uses the term "ultra" in their screen name.
Far too Palace...2 -
The east and west stands have been on a silent protest for some years now, fair play.9
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One can assess where we are now compared to 12 months ago and for many it's a no brainer that M.Duchatelet has been good for the club. Players, pitch, financial stability, cheaper tickets, academy plans. And now mid-table.Brendan_O_Connell said:Thing is RD has been owner for one year. How can you assess his performance and management of the club in such a short space of time?
If we are still being lied to and things aren't improving in a couple of years then maybe start assessing what to do, but for now be patient and let him work his magic.
I'm pretty sure the issue is that he doesn't signpost where he wants to take the club. Couple that with the fear and anxiety that many feel and it's not surprising that many assume the worst.
My own view is to go to Watford and Rotherham at home to see how Luzon starts out. And to wait and see what the squad looks like when we kick off in August.
If people are really interested in what he might do then take a look at Liege over the last four years. Given they've had Riga and Luzon as coaches for 27 out of the 42 months he has owned them and it gives an insight. Liege aren't world beaters but they could probably turn us over so they're not too bad.
There has been a lot of turbulence and four coaches in a year is spectacular! But the difference between now and 2006-07 is that the owner has cash and we have a number of players who can clearly play in this division.
If things don't improve in 2015-16 then he's wasting his and our time! So let's see how we do now in the second half of the season and who we buy and sell.
In the meantime fans don't have to sit back and wait. For there is a supporters body whose role is to analyse and question what is happening. Join the Trust, for the bigger it gets, the harder it will be to ignore.
Perhaps then there might be some more meaningful communication?0 -
Both are good questions. Currently we've understood - she has not told us directly - that she does not want to "favour one group over another" so up to now she thinks the Fan Forum is the only one. The argument against that is that our membership is way way bigger than any of the other groups in the FF. But Katrien may still, understandably, think we are "only 1000". In fact most Trusts are 1000 or less. Even the famous Swans Trust now has less than 800, even though membership gives them an effective share in the Swansea ownership. Trusts are really big only when things get critical, like at Portsmouth.NorthStandUltra said:@PragueAddick Very good post, option 2 is definitely the way forward - have the club given any indication that they would listen to the trust, my fear is that the trust will be toothless in terms of being listened to because of RD's attitude or arrogance towards the fan base - the Liege fans rioted but have things changed for them??
So for this reason we really need people to renew, and more to join. Help us show Katrien that we really represent a big block of fans.
The question about the effect of Liege fans rioting is very interesting. I have to be honest here, as someone else will otherwise soon point this out: this season the Liege fans rioted, and soon afterwards Luzon did lose his job. However it may be a trap to conclude that rioting forces RD to make decisions. Liege and its fans are a bit complicated. The Trust has developed good links to the Socios who are the biggest formal grouping and do have official representation. And believe me, they are not a bunch of pussies.They have already told us exactly what they think about Guy Luzon, and it is not complimentary. We will be talking to them about tactics, and we hope they will help us understand how RD thinks, and why he does what he does. It would of course be much better if he would tell us himself, but you can understand that if he thinks we are going to trash his office if we don't like what we hear, he's unlikely to agree. We have to try and show we are better than that.
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@East_Stand_Loopy Good point! Account created in 2006 while drunk & for what it's worth I'm not actually saying we need to protest, I was simply asking what people thought0
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Couldn't agree more. We're mid table (albeit dropping, hence the managerial change), and mid transfer window.Its_Hamer_Time said:Are we really in that bad of a position to do that? He pulls his money out where do we go? Before he took us over we were on the brink of administration and getting our knickers in a twist over the old regime, he saved us and we're not doing that badly. We're protesting over being 14th in the Championship?
If old Roly Poly gets us 2-3 more decent players to get us through to next summer (where I would hope we'd see similar improvements to last year) then surely the overall trend is positive rather than negative.
Yes he's a bit of a twat, and yes the heavy reliance on the network may feel unusual and at times insufficient, but a few years of mid table building might be just what we needed to recover from those horrible years in L1.
Sometimes I feel as though people have very short memories. We've not been good for a fair few years.3 -
This.Addicted said:
Couldn't agree more. We're mid table (albeit dropping, hence the managerial change), and mid transfer window.Its_Hamer_Time said:Are we really in that bad of a position to do that? He pulls his money out where do we go? Before he took us over we were on the brink of administration and getting our knickers in a twist over the old regime, he saved us and we're not doing that badly. We're protesting over being 14th in the Championship?
If old Roly Poly gets us 2-3 more decent players to get us through to next summer (where I would hope we'd see similar improvements to last year) then surely the overall trend is positive rather than negative.
Yes he's a bit of a twat, and yes the heavy reliance on the network may feel unusual and at times insufficient, but a few years of mid table building might be just what we needed to recover from those horrible years in L1.
Sometimes I feel as though people have very short memories. We've not been good for a fair few years.
After this Summer was the most positive I have felt in a long time.1 -
Personally, I suspect that Katrien Meire and Richard Murray will have been surprised and a little shocked by the shitstorm on here and other social media about their handling of the head coach appointment. The possible "leaking" of stories about what led to Peeters' departure and the sudden, more illuminating than most article with KM in the Standard seem to indicate an acknowledgement that they needed to repair some damage.
Anyway, I hope that is the case - because it would indicate that a much needed lesson has been learned.1 -
Protest?? Jesus.
It's not too bad, we were destined for the crap heap before Roland took over and now we demand to be in the play-offs?
Well said Addicted.1
