As a semi-retired journalist, I can assure the club that the one way to guarantee hostile coverage is to blank the press. They will smell a story, and if you refuse to play ball then there will be a lot of those opposing you who will readily speak.
Agreed. It's hard to see why they wouldn't go on the record saying that the club is not for sale, if nothing else, if that is true.
Maybe they want to sell to another bidder.....
As I've suggested before there IS other current interest and I have no doubt that RM would steer them in that direction if he could, but from RD's perspective I can't see why he wouldn't want a bidding competition if he was open to selling.
I reckon they think we have got a bloody cheek making a fuss over things we just don't understand. Maybe that is why KM looked so aggrieved at Me14 in the lounges when he dared to raise the matter with her. And grassing them up across every media we can find is just the final straw I would imagine. Because they have been exposed by their own words, I think they have decided not to say anything at all. The high handed say nowt approach might be safer in the short term, but ultimately it means you have probably already lost the argument. And when you do decide to start communicating again you have a mountain of disregard to climb. Maybe running a football club and being a flitter flutter CEO is not as straightforward as they imagined. RD did acknowledge it was a "complicated" business as the SL supporters were rioting all about him, but he does not come across as being someone who understands that he may be completely wrong about things sometimes.
I'm actually a she!!! Perhaps that is what she didn't like - another woman speaking to her.
It's weird because if you were the owner of a restaurant let's say and there was a food poisoning outbreak - you would want to publically reassure your customers that things have been cleaned up and your restaurant is clean and open for business.
Good analogy, love it.
Yes it is, I just wonder though if it is more a case of if it was their restaurant, the outbreak of botulism would be the fault of our stomachs for not dealing with it, not chef Roly's cheap cuts and his special half baked way of cooking.
I reckon they think we have got a bloody cheek making a fuss over things we just don't understand. Maybe that is why KM looked so aggrieved at Me14 in the lounges when he dared to raise the matter with her. And grassing them up across every media we can find is just the final straw I would imagine. Because they have been exposed by their own words, I think they have decided not to say anything at all. The high handed say nowt approach might be safer in the short term, but ultimately it means you have probably already lost the argument. And when you do decide to start communicating again you have a mountain of disregard to climb. Maybe running a football club and being a flitter flutter CEO is not as straightforward as they imagined. RD did acknowledge it was a "complicated" business as the SL supporters were rioting all about him, but he does not come across as being someone who understands that he may be completely wrong about things sometimes.
I'm actually a she!!! Perhaps that is what she didn't like - another woman speaking to her.
My apologies Me14! Typically old sexist supporter here....:-(
As a semi-retired journalist, I can assure the club that the one way to guarantee hostile coverage is to blank the press. They will smell a story, and if you refuse to play ball then there will be a lot of those opposing you who will readily speak.
Agreed. It's hard to see why they wouldn't go on the record saying that the club is not for sale, if nothing else, if that is true.
Out of interest Airman were you contacted for comment or did you contact the paper in response to their piece yesterday or neither?
All of the (five) interviews I've done have come out of people contacting me, although I did send out a media briefing note on Saturday morning to try to create some understanding around events about to unfold.
As the trust is not willing to align itself with the protests their board members are not able to act as spokespeople, but there is a dialogue including some of them and various other people involved in the protests and I've already said to them today that other voices need to be heard, which we all agree on.
Absolutely. The trust not getting behind this publicly could be damaging.
As a semi-retired journalist, I can assure the club that the one way to guarantee hostile coverage is to blank the press. They will smell a story, and if you refuse to play ball then there will be a lot of those opposing you who will readily speak.
Agreed. It's hard to see why they wouldn't go on the record saying that the club is not for sale, if nothing else, if that is true.
Out of interest Airman were you contacted for comment or did you contact the paper in response to their piece yesterday or neither?
All of the (five) interviews I've done have come out of people contacting me, although I did send out a media briefing note on Saturday morning to try to create some understanding around events about to unfold.
As the trust is not willing to align itself with the protests their board members are not able to act as spokespeople, but there is a dialogue including some of them and various other people involved in the protests and I've already said to them today that other voices need to be heard, which we all agree on.
Absolutely. The trust not getting behind this publicly could be damaging.
They are dropping the ball a bit at the moment to be quite honest, very disappointed.
That said, I appreciate that they need to gauge member opinion and so on... but these protests started on the 7th November.
As a semi-retired journalist, I can assure the club that the one way to guarantee hostile coverage is to blank the press. They will smell a story, and if you refuse to play ball then there will be a lot of those opposing you who will readily speak.
Agreed. It's hard to see why they wouldn't go on the record saying that the club is not for sale, if nothing else, if that is true.
Out of interest Airman were you contacted for comment or did you contact the paper in response to their piece yesterday or neither?
All of the (five) interviews I've done have come out of people contacting me, although I did send out a media briefing note on Saturday morning to try to create some understanding around events about to unfold.
As the trust is not willing to align itself with the protests their board members are not able to act as spokespeople, but there is a dialogue including some of them and various other people involved in the protests and I've already said to them today that other voices need to be heard, which we all agree on.
Absolutely. The trust not getting behind this publicly could be damaging.
They are dropping the ball a bit at the moment to be quite honest, very disappointed.
That said, I appreciate that they need to gauge member opinion and so on... but these protests started on the 7th November.
There is only one reason the press are getting behind this imo. And that is because of the excellently attended protest on Saturday.
For the SUPPORTERS trust to say they are not 100% behind it is very disappointing. It may even give credence to the Belgian witches 2% claim.
I count four articles/links of the six on the home page which detail the protests/invite ideas or criticise the regime, the fifth is a match preview for the Forest game and the sixth announces a competition winner.
Quite how that is sitting on the fence is beyond me and I'm not sure what people would realistically want supporters trust to do instead, unless they fundamentally misunderstand that the point of a supporters trust is to try and increase fan involvement and representation in the running of their football club in order to preserve it for generations to come.
Is there a way for us members to get new board members for the Trust? I am concerned they may weaken the protests by behind the scenes appeasement with Miere and Murray
Is there a way for us members to get new board members for the Trust? I am concerned they may weaken the protests by behind the scenes appeasement with Miere and Murray
Prospective board members are invited to stand at the AGM, you've just missed this years (November). There might be some sort of mechanism for an EGM but I've got no idea what that entails.
their position has been made clear many times in my view
Actually @razil, with all due respect and sincerety, I've been entirely unaware of their position until about 5 minutes ago. I've been on CharltonLife pretty much constantly recently what with the protests and various bits of news, and similarly I've been monitoring a lot of social media - i.e Twitter. Something tells me I may actually be keeping my finger on the pulse a bit more than the average fan at the moment.
I'll let you know how I found out their position 5 minutes ago; I checked their website. To be completely fair, - there are a few articles on the main page, and I've bookmarked them and will read them when I'm on the train home. Then again, perhaps I shouldn't have to go on to their website and purposefully check for their position though?
Maybe I'm wrong, but when thousands of supporters of a given football club are protesting - and many individual fans have given their views on the radio - I expect to know the position of their Supporters Trust without having to dig it out myself on their website? I really would've expected to have been made aware in other ways; how come I know the views of individual fans (Olly, Mike and others from the radio for instance) but not our own Supporters Trust? (I may remember an article from around Boxing Day - I'm not sure if that was from The Trust. However, I certainly cannot remember its content.)
I understand the Trust are no doubt running another survey or something similar to gauge member feelings: but given the extremity of this situation I still find the silence and lack of action to be deeply disappointing.
Now isn't the time for starting an argument internally, that plays in to the hands of the regime, so I'm not trying to start one. However, I'm offering my personal point of view - not only as a concerned Charlton fan, but a lapsed trust member who didn't renew his membership because.. well, he found it relatively easy to forget the trust even existed.
The Trust, as an idea at least, is a very important concept and organisation. However I fear it could be doing a bit more to be relevant and providing a voice.
their position has been made clear many times in my view
Actually @razil, with all due respect and sincerety, I've been entirely unaware of their position until about 5 minutes ago. I've been on CharltonLife pretty much constantly recently what with the protests and various bits of news, and similarly I've been monitoring a lot of social media - i.e Twitter. Something tells me I may actually be keeping my finger on the pulse a bit more than the average fan at the moment.
I'll let you know how I found out their position 5 minutes ago; I checked their website. To be completely fair, - there are a few articles on the main page, and I've bookmarked them and will read them when I'm on the train home. Then again, perhaps I shouldn't have to go on to their website and purposefully check for their position though?
Maybe I'm wrong, but when thousands of supporters of a given football club are protesting - and many individual fans have given their views on the radio - I expect to know the position of their Supporters Trust without having to dig it out myself on their website? I really would've expected to have been made aware in other ways; how come I know the views of individual fans (Olly, Mike and others from the radio for instance) but not our own Supporters Trust? (I may remember an article from around Boxing Day - I'm not sure if that was from The Trust. However, I certainly cannot remember its content.)
I understand the Trust are no doubt running another survey or something similar to gauge member feelings: but given the extremity of this situation I still find the silence and lack of action to be deeply disappointing.
Now isn't the time for starting an argument internally, that plays in to the hands of the regime, so I'm not trying to start one. However, I'm offering my personal point of view - not only as a concerned Charlton fan, but a lapsed trust member who didn't renew his membership because.. well, he found it relatively easy to forget the trust even existed.
The Trust, as an idea at least, is a very important concept and organisation. However I fear it could be doing a bit more to be relevant and providing a voice.
A little bit harsh to criticise an organisation for being silent on the subject of the protests when by your own admission they have a number of links / articles / opportunities to contribute to the protests on the first page of their easily accessible website. That sounds like hypocrisy to me.
As a founder of the Trust alongside @razil I completely agree with you that supporters Trusts are incredibly important, and increasingly so as English football continues to change, however as a board member until very recently I appreciate there really is a complicated role to play and I think they're playing it fairly well.
About time the trust got off the bloody fence and I say this as a trust member.
I believe that the mandate given to them by members was for dialogue ...until they meet KM, I assume that stays in place.
Having said that, I have no idea when or if a meeting has yet been agreed.
I think the general feeling is that the trust are at risk of making themselves irrelevant to the fan's direction. Fair enough some time ago people voted for dialogue, but circumstances change, and if an organisation can't pull themselves together and change course when they do, well then they are irrelevant.
Strange, I thought I stopped receiving them when my membership lapsed I thought. I must've unsubscribed.
Please don't think I'm anti trust by my previous posts, I just genuinely think they should be playing a more active role in all of this and communicating their thoughts a bit wider.
The effort of the trust is appreciated, or would be if we knew more about it!
People can get ill or die of food poisoning can't they ?
But Katrien's restaurant has become so infamous for terrible service even the national press are discussing it. How much longer would a restaurant stay in business after that if they did not respond? Customers would go elsewhere and also slag it off to people they know, especially if the restaurant manager was changed 4 times and still service did not improve. All consumer based businesses depend upon keeping their customers happy by listening to and responding to their concerns.
As it happens, the fact that we as fans do not go elsewhere (except maybe stay at home) shows how ridiculous her restaurant analogy actually is.
About time the trust got off the bloody fence and I say this as a trust member.
I believe that the mandate given to them by members was for dialogue ...until they meet KM, I assume that stays in place.
Having said that, I have no idea when or if a meeting has yet been agreed.
I think the general feeling is that the trust are at risk of making themselves irrelevant to the fan's direction. Fair enough some time ago people voted for dialogue, but circumstances change, and if an organisation can't pull themselves together and change course when they do, well then they are irrelevant.
Is there a way for us members to get new board members for the Trust? I am concerned they may weaken the protests by behind the scenes appeasement with Miere and Murray
I know you are on the Radical wing of the Charlton 2% but i guess if the trust talk now,they are doing it from a power base and not a weak position; but maybe the time for peace talks may be over.
For the first time in 2 years thou, we have not only the moral high ground, we are empowered and have the support of the football world and i'm not sure if a 180 degree turn now would make any difference as Katrien Meire as spokesperson is a spent force.
KM greatest achievement so far seems to be uniting the Charlton fanbase.
May that be on her epitaph in 60 years time,or on her CV sometime in 2016.
Strange, I thought I stopped receiving them when my membership lapsed I thought. I must've unsubscribed.
Please don't think I'm anti trust by my previous posts, I just genuinely think they should be playing a more active role in all of this and communicating their thoughts a bit wider.
The effort of the trust is appreciated, or would be if we knew more about it!
not sure but you can resubscribe as a subscriber only I believe
their position has been made clear many times in my view
Actually @razil, with all due respect and sincerety, I've been entirely unaware of their position until about 5 minutes ago. I've been on CharltonLife pretty much constantly recently what with the protests and various bits of news, and similarly I've been monitoring a lot of social media - i.e Twitter. Something tells me I may actually be keeping my finger on the pulse a bit more than the average fan at the moment.
Now isn't the time for starting an argument internally, that plays in to the hands of the regime, so I'm not trying to start one. However, I'm offering my personal point of view - not only as a concerned Charlton fan, but a lapsed trust member who didn't renew his membership because.. well, he found it relatively easy to forget the trust even existed.
The Trust, as an idea at least, is a very important concept and organisation. However I fear it could be doing a bit more to be relevant and providing a voice.
The very fact that the trust aren't at the forefront of protests etc is actually a bonus imo having read what they share with us on here.
Surveys, lip-service, courting Katrien for 'dialogue' TWO YEARS AFTER it was obvious what was going as soon as they sold our best player and bought in that non-league keeper when we already had two, and started PLAYING him! No rollicking whatsoever at the 'powerpoint' meeting.
One of them is even mates with Murray FFS. We would be a lot weaker (and not in as half as strong a position as we are now) with them at the helm.
Comments
That said, I appreciate that they need to gauge member opinion and so on... but these protests started on the 7th November.
For the SUPPORTERS trust to say they are not 100% behind it is very disappointing. It may even give credence to the Belgian witches 2% claim.
the huge protest shows exactly why it isn't the problem you make it out to be
not saying its an ideal situation, but there are many strings to the supporters bow including this site
Having said that, I have no idea when or if a meeting has yet been agreed.
Here's the Trusts homepage;
http://www.castrust.org
I count four articles/links of the six on the home page which detail the protests/invite ideas or criticise the regime, the fifth is a match preview for the Forest game and the sixth announces a competition winner.
Quite how that is sitting on the fence is beyond me and I'm not sure what people would realistically want supporters trust to do instead, unless they fundamentally misunderstand that the point of a supporters trust is to try and increase fan involvement and representation in the running of their football club in order to preserve it for generations to come.
I'll let you know how I found out their position 5 minutes ago; I checked their website. To be completely fair, - there are a few articles on the main page, and I've bookmarked them and will read them when I'm on the train home. Then again, perhaps I shouldn't have to go on to their website and purposefully check for their position though?
Maybe I'm wrong, but when thousands of supporters of a given football club are protesting - and many individual fans have given their views on the radio - I expect to know the position of their Supporters Trust without having to dig it out myself on their website? I really would've expected to have been made aware in other ways; how come I know the views of individual fans (Olly, Mike and others from the radio for instance) but not our own Supporters Trust? (I may remember an article from around Boxing Day - I'm not sure if that was from The Trust. However, I certainly cannot remember its content.)
I understand the Trust are no doubt running another survey or something similar to gauge member feelings: but given the extremity of this situation I still find the silence and lack of action to be deeply disappointing.
Now isn't the time for starting an argument internally, that plays in to the hands of the regime, so I'm not trying to start one. However, I'm offering my personal point of view - not only as a concerned Charlton fan, but a lapsed trust member who didn't renew his membership because.. well, he found it relatively easy to forget the trust even existed.
The Trust, as an idea at least, is a very important concept and organisation. However I fear it could be doing a bit more to be relevant and providing a voice.
Katrien is really talkative at the moment isn't she? She just loves engaging with different fans..
http://www.castrust.org/news/subscribe/
As a founder of the Trust alongside @razil I completely agree with you that supporters Trusts are incredibly important, and increasingly so as English football continues to change, however as a board member until very recently I appreciate there really is a complicated role to play and I think they're playing it fairly well.
Please don't think I'm anti trust by my previous posts, I just genuinely think they should be playing a more active role in all of this and communicating their thoughts a bit wider.
The effort of the trust is appreciated, or would be if we knew more about it!
As it happens, the fact that we as fans do not go elsewhere (except maybe stay at home) shows how ridiculous her restaurant analogy actually is.
Precisely; incredibly succinctly put.
For the first time in 2 years thou, we have not only the moral high ground, we are empowered and have the support of the football world and i'm not sure if a 180 degree turn now would make any difference as Katrien Meire as spokesperson is a spent force.
KM greatest achievement so far seems to be uniting the Charlton fanbase.
May that be on her epitaph in 60 years time,or on her CV sometime in 2016.
Surveys, lip-service, courting Katrien for 'dialogue' TWO YEARS AFTER it was obvious what was going as soon as they sold our best player and bought in that non-league keeper when we already had two, and started PLAYING him! No rollicking whatsoever at the 'powerpoint' meeting.
One of them is even mates with Murray FFS. We would be a lot weaker (and not in as half as strong a position as we are now) with them at the helm.
'A fork can have more than one prong, yet it is still one fork' .
I made that up.