Club Update

[wilts rover]

Thanks to both, SLO's whether present at the meeting or not. I appreciate you taking the time to both hold the meeting and post on here about it.

Alick & Hoola, very harsh I think. And as for the point about the 'we', you dont have to look back too many threads to see people commenting on Rovers transfer activity, PR campaigns, team performance, as to how 'we' are doing. Is this wrong and will you be picking up on it in future?

[Sad-Rovers]

The questions were very soft and gentle and nothing like the ones put forward on the VSC, why?

who selected the questions?

Thats why the VSC should be there asking searching questions, they should have been there! Patsy springs to mind!

Utter drivel.

I'm a bit surprised at you AIMH, Lee and Mark devote their spare time to help the club communicate with us fans yet you seem happy to belittle their hard work and accuse them of being patsies.

Perhaps you should be asking the VSC or the club why they were or weren't involved with this meeting, rather than publicly spitting your dummy with Lee and Mark.

[coventryrover]

WhyOwhy does every thread descend into this??

[bobjimwilly]

Lee/Mark - thanks for the info.
Neil - how can anyone from the VSC attend a meeting they had no knowledge of or weren't invited to?
Everyone - the VSC welcome all methods of communication between fans and the club and we look forward to a meeting with the new chairmen when they find the time in their busy schedules.

[Sad-Rovers]

WhyOwhy does every thread descend into this??

Good point.

For the sake of my sanity I think I'll shut up.

[River Don]

Here's a question.

Are the VSC being frozen out of communication with the club?

[IDM]

RD:

and as far as I'm aware a VSC director was present at the club today

[GazLaz]

So they do work for the club then... fancy that.

[Mr1Croft]

So they do work for the club then... fancy that.

I would argue we work for both the fans and the club.

[no eyed deer]

An argument that will go on and on and on. Some people need to get think for 10 mins before posting . In 10 years time when this is all history,   we will still be here .

[GazLaz]

So they do work for the club then... fancy that.

I would argue we work for both the fans and the club.

Yes you could say that, the club recruited you though didn't they? That's irrelevant though really. More relevant is people wanting to have a swipe at your update. Nothing is ever enough for some people, keep up the good work.

[no eyed deer]

Anyone who gives there time up for free ,no matter how little deserves respect.....

[Donnybax]

Until the takeover is completed can we sign a player?

[The Red Baron]

Until the takeover is completed can we sign a player?

The $64,000 question.

[Alickismyhero]

I am a lot clearer on SLO's and their job description and they should not be offended by the questions I posted.

To represent the club and the supporters I thought that was the role of the VSC?

As RD says "Is the VSC been driven out"? Who was the VSC director present? I would like to know why he never took the questions forward that we were asked to formulate.

I never saw any comment made about the strength of questions?

We, on the VSC forum, responded to an article requesting questions that we wanted asking of the new regime. It seems to me that no one took them forward.

If you read back I was not disrespectful to the SLO's I was asking questions thus showing an interest in the workings of the club. You can only be critical when you have the facts and that can only be achieved by asking questions in the particular case.

Sad,
Drivel, really?, some of the questions you pose leave me standing in the area of drivel!

You are making a mountain out of a molehill.  In any voluntary position, such as the SLO's, you must accept questioning and I am sure they accept that when they volunteered.

[ditch_drfc]

Let's be honest, this is absolute b*llocks! Some VSC obsessives are throwing their toys out the pram because they didn't attend a meeting with JR. I've got some news for you - not every meeting JR has will be with the VSC!

If you want to know if the VSC are being frozen out, here's an idea - ask the VSC directors!

As a side note, thanks SLOs for the communication.

[Dagenham Rover]

RD:

and as far as I'm aware a VSC director was present at the club today

However that doesn't say that the vsc were present at the meeting!

As far as I remember Donny was one of the first if not the first that appointed fans as opposed to club employees to the SLO positions.
But surely it would be advantageous for representives of ALL supporter groups to attend these meetings TOGETHER plus it would save the club time having half a dozen different meetings

[DearneValleyRover]

So they do work for the club then... fancy that.

No Gaz they don't work for the club but work with the club there is a big difference despite the wording, they are not and should never be employees of the club as this would ditract from their role. The VSC helped create the role along with the club and it's an important one as pointed out earlier, it appears far too many wish to score points or have an axe to grind which takes away all the good work IRWT which includes the creation of the SLO role has done

[Sad-Rovers]

AIMH, questioning by all means, I'm sure Lee or Dave would welcome your questions but why accuse them of being Patsies?

Their role is communication between fans and the club. I'm sure they'll welcome your apology for your little outburst.

[DonnyOsmond]

We, on the VSC forum, responded to an article requesting questions that we wanted asking of the new regime. It seems to me that no one took them forward.

The meeting was today, perhaps someone from the VSC went and hasn't had the chance to write them up and post them up yet, as they may have lives away from this forum? A few hours is a bit quick to be jumping to conclusions.

[silent majority]

As it happens I was the director present at the club today, but it was something totally unrelated to this particular issue.

For further clarification SLOs were born out of an FSF initiative that was adopted by the annual conference held by Football Supporters Europe (FSE). They elected to lobby UEFA to implement SLOs throughout Europe based on the German model which they did. For PL clubs who want to compete in Europe they must utilise SLOs so they all agreed to do so. However the Football League, as a direct result of the Select Committee hearings into football governance instructed all clubs to appoint SLOs.

As has been noted on previous occasions, because of IRWT we decided to appoint supporters into that role, unlike virtually all other football clubs who took the easy option and used a member of their existing staff. It's not necessary for an SLO to be an employee, and I know of plenty who aren't, but I do believe we decided that they should be for insurance purposes etc.

As part of my role with the FSF I am one of the people who head up the SLO project in partnership with the Football League (just in case anybody asks!)

[Mr1Croft]

I am a lot clearer on SLO's and their job description and they should not be offended by the questions I posted.

To represent the club and the supporters I thought that was the role of the VSC?

As RD says "Is the VSC been driven out"? Who was the VSC director present? I would like to know why he never took the questions forward that we were asked to formulate.

I never saw any comment made about the strength of questions?

We, on the VSC forum, responded to an article requesting questions that we wanted asking of the new regime. It seems to me that no one took them forward.

If you read back I was not disrespectful to the SLO's I was asking questions thus showing an interest in the workings of the club. You can only be critical when you have the facts and that can only be achieved by asking questions in the particular case.

Sad,
Drivel, really?, some of the questions you pose leave me standing in the area of drivel!

You are making a mountain out of a molehill.  In any voluntary position, such as the SLO's, you must accept questioning and I am sure they accept that when they volunteered.

Alick,

No offence has been taken by your comments, of course such a role is not without scrutiny and we try and be transparent in everything we do.

As stated above the VSC played an active role in getting the DRFC SLO to be a supporter (and we ended up with two), but the VSC is a Supporters Trust, they have a different role to play than SLOs. Of course there are overlaps and boundaries and we as SLOs aren't trying to fulfil the VSC's role. The main difference is that the VSC is independent organisation set up to benefit the community that is wholly separate from the club whereas the SLO role isn't, we can be impartial and neutral but never independent.

[IDM]

I am a lot clearer on SLO's and their job description and they should not be offended by the questions I posted.

To represent the club and the supporters I thought that was the role of the VSC?

As RD says "Is the VSC been driven out"? Who was the VSC director present? I would like to know why he never took the questions forward that we were asked to formulate.

I never saw any comment made about the strength of questions?

We, on the VSC forum, responded to an article requesting questions that we wanted asking of the new regime. It seems to me that no one took them forward.

If you read back I was not disrespectful to the SLO's I was asking questions thus showing an interest in the workings of the club. You can only be critical when you have the facts and that can only be achieved by asking questions in the particular case.

I may have misinterpreted the OP, and if so, I apologise.

But, I understood that the info from the SLO today was just about their meeting with the club, ie nothing to do with the VSC, and certainly not to represent the questions to the new owners that the VSC invited?  Correct me if I am wrong, but are you not going off at a tangent?

[hoolahoop]

Where is the VSC in all of this, is it now a defunct organisation ?
Noting that this meeting included the SLOs , which other bodies were invited to this meeting Lee ?

Before everyone villifies me , I just wanted to clarify who had been invited to the meeting and perhaps more to the point who might NOT have.
There was no attack on Lee and I wasn't aware that these meetings still took place out of season.
I am fully aware that SLO's have an important function to perform for both sides.
However I'm still aware that all supporters organisations should have had this information supplied to them at the same time and been able to table their questions together.
We now seem to have the 'A' team, the Supporters club and last but not least the VSC bringing up the rear. I wished we could have just one representative body looking after everything but no we have to do it the difficult way.

[godlike1]

Can we not just take this as some positive news for the first time in weeks and that it does seem some good stuff is still going on behind the scenes

I for one will welcome a bigger club presence in the town itself and am intreagued to see what the further roverisation bits of the stadium will be

[Alickismyhero]

AIMH, questioning by all means, I'm sure Lee or Dave would welcome your questions but why accuse them of being Patsies?

Their role is communication between fans and the club. I'm sure they'll welcome your apology for your little outburst.

One question answered:

http://www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk/sport/doncaster-rovers/doncaster-rovers-takeover-not-dependent-on-crowdfunder-1-6698591

If the new regime were planning to use this income stream to purchase the club I don't think the football authorities would have accepted it. I wonder if they only just found that out?

Sad,
Read my comments again! I did not say he/they were Patsy's did I? I voiced my concern at the level of questions.

You are jumping to conclusions and note that Lee never took offence at my comments.

There are bucket loads of good questions that remain unanswered just read back but just one concerns me at the moment

 "Will Ryan pay off the debts at the end of the season"?

Personally the mission statement of Prem league is not really that important to me and I won't hold Ryan to it. The only objective I would put on the new regime is I want the team to be competitive and the club kept out of crippling debt.

One more question Lee "why did you not use the questions the forum posters asked"?

[Filo]

AIMH, questioning by all means, I'm sure Lee or Dave would welcome your questions but why accuse them of being Patsies?

Their role is communication between fans and the club. I'm sure they'll welcome your apology for your little outburst.

One question answered:

http://www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk/sport/doncaster-rovers/doncaster-rovers-takeover-not-dependent-on-crowdfunder-1-6698591

If the new regime were planning to use this income stream to purchase the club I don't think the football authorities would have accepted it. I wonder if they only just found that out?

Sad,
Read my comments again! I did not say he/they were Patsy's did I? I voiced my concern at the level of questions.

You are jumping to conclusions and note that Lee never took offence at my comments.

There are bucket loads of good questions that remain unanswered just read back but just one concerns me at the moment

 "Will Ryan pay off the debts at the end of the season"?

Personally the mission statement of Prem league is not really that important to me and I won't hold Ryan to it. The only objective I would put on the new regime is I want the team to be competitive and the club kept out of crippling debt.

One more question Lee "why did you not use the questions the forum posters asked"?

Why could n't the trust say what they've said in that free press article when the trust was launched?

[GazLaz]

It wouldn't surprise me if the club never talk to the VSC again.

[Filo]

It wouldn't surprise me if the club never talk to the VSC again.

Why would that be?

[bedale rover]

It wouldn't surprise me if the club never talk to the VSC again.

Why would that be?

We are shareholders they have to talk to us
Wouldn't look good if the ignored a valid organisation that has the CLUB's longterm interests as its raison d'etre