BFC_BFC_BFC
Well-known member
Reading Phil’s post, I can’t help feeling that the Club and Fans are reaching a potential impasse here and we need to find a way to clear the air and move forward, collectively pulling in the same direction.
It’s a time for strong leadership in my view!!
There have been a number of issues that have been festering in both ‘sides’ and I call them sides, because in my opinion, a wall between fans and club has been slowly building since Simon took over.
The first thing in going to say however is not related to Simon, it relates to the fans and our fans groups. We need (in particular) the MSG and BST to sort their shit out, stop the petty squabbling and point scoring, stop competing with each other and come together for the good of this football club. YOU are not helping our cause and the discontent and ill feeling is not good.
Looking at our younger fanbase and what we might refer to as the ‘Lads’ we need to find a way to express our passionate support and coordinate that support without resorting to violence…. We need to rise above that and change… We need to be a force for positive change in football… We have unfortunately lost a fan to violence very recently.. That should motivate us all to make a change for the better. Acts of violence, abusive behaviour and simple things like throwing bottles and generally bringing the club into the spotlight for poor behaviour doesn’t help…. It’s just another problem created for the Club when they are trying to move forwards…, If we want Simon to invest and engage with us, then we have to take responsibility and sort our collective shit our - This is not one way traffic !
From the Clubs perspective or Simon Sadler, we have got to seriously open up and engage and communicate properly with fans. The attitude towards supporters and particularly the appalling letters that have sought to ‘scold’ the fanbase for criticising the club as well as the digs at different fans all needs to stop.
There is absolutely no doubt in my Mind that Simon and his team have gone about their business of developing the club from day 1 and turned the Club into a professional outfit….We have a Stadium to be proud of, better Pitch a much improved training facility. We have the proper staff infrastructure within the Club and we also (if given a proper chance by the fans) have a Manager who has great potential.
However….
The Club has failed miserably to get fans on board…It has failed to communicate a clear plan / ambition, it has failed miserably to create and capitalise on the buzz, it has recruited poorly and seemingly adopted an extremely stand-offish and self-isolating mentality…. There’s very much a ‘Teacher knows best’ mentality, which is great if you are super successful, but not so great when things (on the pitch at least) have been poor….
Great Leaders communicate well and are able to carry people on a journey with them… They understand how to bring people together and recognise the importance of doing so…. As a Club and a community we need to find a way of drawing a line under these numerous issues and moving forward with a collective understanding…. The alternative is that we will continue to pull in separate directions and, in doing so, pull the Club apart…
As a starter for ten, I would like to see the MSG and BST (as well as other relevant groups) to get together, put their differences and egos to one side and lead by example.
We then agree to collectively approach the Club with a plan of how we move forward from here as a combined force and all pulling in the same direction..
For me, this would be a very powerful and positive message to the Club that we (as supporters) are mature enough and capable of starting to work together and get this Club back on track and where it needs to be..
Over to you guys !!
It’s a time for strong leadership in my view!!
There have been a number of issues that have been festering in both ‘sides’ and I call them sides, because in my opinion, a wall between fans and club has been slowly building since Simon took over.
The first thing in going to say however is not related to Simon, it relates to the fans and our fans groups. We need (in particular) the MSG and BST to sort their shit out, stop the petty squabbling and point scoring, stop competing with each other and come together for the good of this football club. YOU are not helping our cause and the discontent and ill feeling is not good.
Looking at our younger fanbase and what we might refer to as the ‘Lads’ we need to find a way to express our passionate support and coordinate that support without resorting to violence…. We need to rise above that and change… We need to be a force for positive change in football… We have unfortunately lost a fan to violence very recently.. That should motivate us all to make a change for the better. Acts of violence, abusive behaviour and simple things like throwing bottles and generally bringing the club into the spotlight for poor behaviour doesn’t help…. It’s just another problem created for the Club when they are trying to move forwards…, If we want Simon to invest and engage with us, then we have to take responsibility and sort our collective shit our - This is not one way traffic !
From the Clubs perspective or Simon Sadler, we have got to seriously open up and engage and communicate properly with fans. The attitude towards supporters and particularly the appalling letters that have sought to ‘scold’ the fanbase for criticising the club as well as the digs at different fans all needs to stop.
There is absolutely no doubt in my Mind that Simon and his team have gone about their business of developing the club from day 1 and turned the Club into a professional outfit….We have a Stadium to be proud of, better Pitch a much improved training facility. We have the proper staff infrastructure within the Club and we also (if given a proper chance by the fans) have a Manager who has great potential.
However….
The Club has failed miserably to get fans on board…It has failed to communicate a clear plan / ambition, it has failed miserably to create and capitalise on the buzz, it has recruited poorly and seemingly adopted an extremely stand-offish and self-isolating mentality…. There’s very much a ‘Teacher knows best’ mentality, which is great if you are super successful, but not so great when things (on the pitch at least) have been poor….
Great Leaders communicate well and are able to carry people on a journey with them… They understand how to bring people together and recognise the importance of doing so…. As a Club and a community we need to find a way of drawing a line under these numerous issues and moving forward with a collective understanding…. The alternative is that we will continue to pull in separate directions and, in doing so, pull the Club apart…
As a starter for ten, I would like to see the MSG and BST (as well as other relevant groups) to get together, put their differences and egos to one side and lead by example.
We then agree to collectively approach the Club with a plan of how we move forward from here as a combined force and all pulling in the same direction..
For me, this would be a very powerful and positive message to the Club that we (as supporters) are mature enough and capable of starting to work together and get this Club back on track and where it needs to be..
Over to you guys !!