In my last meeting with Gavin.....

[silent majority]

…..the obvious question about how we had ended up in this position raised its head, and he dealt with it as honestly as he could. Of course it’s a situation we never expected to end up in and is hurting staff within the club at all levels. Planning for the future is a dual track process until we know exactly where we will be next season.

However, the outcome of all this uncertainty and the inevitable questions that are being asked of the club have led to a redoubling of efforts to ensure that the club gets things right by its supporters off the field. As supporters there’s little we can do to influence the performances on the pitch, but off the field we have often led the way and our approach has been highlighted many times by the football industry as the way it should be done. The very fact that the club won the Football League Family Club of the year for league 1 shows that we are still working hard in these areas.

The club are still 100% committed to fan engagement and trying new things and over the last 12 months or so the club have tried a different way of communicating by using nationally acclaimed experts but fans haven’t always seen that. The club do believe they are trying, reciprocal deals, work with the stewards, the CRM system, the BVB, the concourses are evidence that the work continues.

But it was felt that maybe the message wasn’t getting across in the way it should be and that supporters were beginning to question if the commitment was still there. So, the decision to revert to In Rovers We Trust, a tried and tested method that worked, has been made and will again be the catch all for the fan engagement activities that the club undertakes. When we have a better idea of the division we are in then a new IRWT survey will be launched which will hopefully guide us in the way that we need to go and what priorities our supporters identify.

In Rovers We Trust will work hand in hand with the new Supporters Board to ensure it delivers what the supporters want and drive real improvements. Regular board meetings are now a feature at the club and the ideas will be discussed and honed by those supporters to make sure the outcomes are beneficial for all Rovers supporters. Other clubs are still working out how to communicate with their supporters but we have, as usual, taken the initiative and created a Supporters Board that has the desire to make those improvements and discuss openly the best way forward!

As an example some of the things that the club are including on the agenda are next year’s budget, match day ticket pricing and items such as maintenance budgets and improvements that the concourse areas will undergo. Working with the Supporters Board will drive improvements that we all hope will be beneficial for all DRFC supporters!

Meanwhile the positive contribution that Club Doncaster and the work being done by the community team and the education of Doncaster youngsters will continue to be area the club should be immensely proud of. If we can generate that excellent work through to the work done on the pitch then hopefully the future will be as rosy and successful as we all want it to be.

[RoversAlias]

All good stuff - communication is the key here. Supporters want to feel as if they are kept informed of these matters and included, valued for their input.

I see it said a lot "In Rovers We Trust". What exactly does this involve? What makes IRWT worthy of the name?

When the initiative was first launched, back when Shaun Lockwood was here, I was at the first meeting of fans with club officials and "nationally acclaimed experts" but after that, I'm not sure where it led.

Perhaps this is what fans want - to see tangible, sensible evidence that IRWT and these club initiatives directly lead to improvements.

[Filo]

All great things, but I would suggest that a bold staement of intent for next season is what supporters want to hear right now, especially after our pending relegation. Promotion straight back is the bare minimum, and how we are going to do it is what we want to see and hear

[MrFrost]

Thanks for the insight Martin
I know I'm probably the biggest critic on here but appreciate the update

[RedJ]

All great things, but I would suggest that a bold staement of intent for next season is what supporters want to hear right now, especially after our pending relegation. Promotion straight back is the bare minimum, and how we are going to do it is what we want to see and hear

Tenner that if they came out and said that they'd get accused of talking shite and speaking in soundbites.

[Copps is Magic]

Did he address the pigeon scandal at the club?

[GazLaz]

If you are winning fans are happy, if you play shit fans are unhappy. That's football.

[Filo]

If you are winning fans are happy, if you play shit fans are unhappy. That's football.

Thats it in a nutshell, sort the onfield issues out and the rest will follow

[silent majority]

If you are winning fans are happy, if you play shit fans are unhappy. That's football.

Really? I know lots of fans at Arsenal, Man Utd, Liverpool, etc etc who are terribly unhappy about the state of their club.

[silent majority]

If you are winning fans are happy, if you play shit fans are unhappy. That's football.

Thats it in a nutshell, sort the onfield issues out and the rest will follow

It doesn't work like that Dave. It helps immensely, but fans will always complain that their club doesn't listen to them. That's exactly why this government created the Expert Working Group to instruct clubs how and why they should speak to their own supporters.

[acko]

Supporters will always complain SM as you know,win the league they complain they didn't win the cup as well.Its part of supporting a club cant please everyone,what cant be excepted is the decline that the rovers have gone in since the current ownership took over and passing the blame onto others JR,Dickov and of late DF. you yourself suggested the chairman should be replaced is that still your oppinion

[silent majority]

acko, I dont doubt that supporters will always complain for a second. However my post clearly states that we as supporters can't control anything that happens on the pitch therefore my discussion with Gavin was about our approach to influencing issues off the pitch. Ticket pricing, communication, concourses, stewarding etc are all issues that we can affect, its how we can do that which is important. Even more so is how does the club wish to engage and how motivated they are to do so which matters most.

[GazLaz]

If you are winning fans are happy, if you play shit fans are unhappy. That's football.

Really? I know lots of fans at Arsenal, Man Utd, Liverpool, etc etc who are terribly unhappy about the state of their club.

People are too precious.

[RobTheRover]

I think that's true too. Or invested,  maybe thats a better term to use?

We all invest a lot of time and money into this club we love. We want it to succeed. Arsenal fans moan and groan because they can see how close they are but the key to he safe appears to have been lost. Had they bought another striker in January,  then I'm certain they would have won the league.

[Chris Black come back]

What frustrates supporters is the inability or unwillingness of managers to remedy the obvious.

One fan is an idiot. Two fans are idiots. Ten, twenty, thirty, two hundred fans can be idiots. But when thousands of fans can see what he problem is then you have to trust the wisdom of crowds - even if the manager is a professional with specific experience and expertise.

For Arsenal it is the lack of players with backbone and the lack of a goal scorer.

For us it was the clear need to bring in experienced defenders or at the very least drop the fantasy 5/3 at back which clearly doesn't work or at least doesn't work with players available.

When the obvious is being ignored then fans rightly get pissed off. 

[GazLaz]

Managers can only really be judged if you know the restraints they are working to though.

[MrFrost]

I agree with filo about a big statement of intent. However it needs to have substance to it. That's been the problem in the last couple of years

[godlike1]

…..the obvious question about how we had ended up in this position raised its head, and he dealt with it as honestly as he could. Of course it’s a situation we never expected to end up in and is hurting staff within the club at all levels. Planning for the future is a dual track process until we know exactly where we will be next season.

However, the outcome of all this uncertainty and the inevitable questions that are being asked of the club have led to a redoubling of efforts to ensure that the club gets things right by its supporters off the field. As supporters there’s little we can do to influence the performances on the pitch, but off the field we have often led the way and our approach has been highlighted many times by the football industry as the way it should be done. The very fact that the club won the Football League Family Club of the year for league 1 shows that we are still working hard in these areas.

The club are still 100% committed to fan engagement and trying new things and over the last 12 months or so the club have tried a different way of communicating by using nationally acclaimed experts but fans haven’t always seen that. The club do believe they are trying, reciprocal deals, work with the stewards, the CRM system, the BVB, the concourses are evidence that the work continues.

But it was felt that maybe the message wasn’t getting across in the way it should be and that supporters were beginning to question if the commitment was still there. So, the decision to revert to In Rovers We Trust, a tried and tested method that worked, has been made and will again be the catch all for the fan engagement activities that the club undertakes. When we have a better idea of the division we are in then a new IRWT survey will be launched which will hopefully guide us in the way that we need to go and what priorities our supporters identify.

In Rovers We Trust will work hand in hand with the new Supporters Board to ensure it delivers what the supporters want and drive real improvements. Regular board meetings are now a feature at the club and the ideas will be discussed and honed by those supporters to make sure the outcomes are beneficial for all Rovers supporters. Other clubs are still working out how to communicate with their supporters but we have, as usual, taken the initiative and created a Supporters Board that has the desire to make those improvements and discuss openly the best way forward!

As an example some of the things that the club are including on the agenda are next year’s budget, match day ticket pricing and items such as maintenance budgets and improvements that the concourse areas will undergo. Working with the Supporters Board will drive improvements that we all hope will be beneficial for all DRFC supporters!

Meanwhile the positive contribution that Club Doncaster and the work being done by the community team and the education of Doncaster youngsters will continue to be area the club should be immensely proud of. If we can generate that excellent work through to the work done on the pitch then hopefully the future will be as rosy and successful as we all want it to be.

All of that means nothing if, as a fan on the outside, all you can see is the club dropping down through the leagues from a lack of investment or poorly directed investment in managers and on players.

I openly try to keep an interest in what happens back stage and what awards the club gets and is something I am pleased about for them

But........................

For the couple of thousand that watch us in the conference it will be great as we are currently a better run version of Darlington at the moment before we go bust due to an oversized stadium that the club cannot afford to operate

I appreciate the info SM but for the fans on the outside who just go to watch the games and hope to get the results and see some forward planning to keep the club at a level it can sustain

is this division 4? at the moment it looks like it is and we should get any ideas of grandeur that clearly run through the club out of their heads as the only thing that matters in football ultimately are the results on the pitch.  Based on this the club and all involved will be seen as failing miserably by the majority of footballing folk in Donny and the wider footballing community and therefore not even entertain the idea of going to support them   

[arkseyrover]

Nice update SM but it seems to me to say nothing. Just words and propaganda. And it's much too late. The fans are the lifeblood of the club. Without them it wouldn't exist. Have we heard anything from 'Gavin' and the Board? No. Until now when 'Gavin' gets you to throw a few crumbs to the fans when on the field all is lost. I think you are being used and the fans are being shafted. And you SM are now a part of that shafting. Those in charge should take responsibility for what has happened. Get real. Back to our roots and the bad old days are here again. Division 4 here we come.

[Glyn_Wigley]

Nice update SM but it seems to me to say nothing. Just words and propaganda. And it's much too late. The fans are the lifeblood of the club. Without them it wouldn't exist. Have we heard anything from 'Gavin' and the Board? No. Until now when 'Gavin' gets you to throw a few crumbs to the fans when on the field all is lost. I think you are being used and the fans are being shafted. And you SM are now a part of that shafting. Those in charge should take responsibility for what has happened. Get real. Back to our roots and the bad old days are here again. Division 4 here we come.

Would you prefer it if SM didn't meet with the club and then tell the fans of what was discussed? If not, why not?

[bpoolrover]

Good job sm

[DonnyBazR0ver]

I agree when this is over, stay up or not, there needs to be an accountability, a responsibility to say we didn't get it right and somewhere along the line the good intentions didn't transfer down the line to the performances.

We could all look at the January situation however quite ironic that Butler, Alcock & co have looked very capable on the last few games. The big difference for me is the midfield with Tommy Rowe and Luke McCullough making a big difference.

[RedJ]

Nice update SM but it seems to me to say nothing. Just words and propaganda. Have we heard anything from 'Gavin' and the Board? No.

Not being funny but what on earth makes you think that the board coming out and making a statement would make a difference on the pitch? and even when somebody does say something, they get ripped to shreds anyway.

[roversdude]

Good update SM and great that the club are still engaging
Only a few weeks since our board and Gavin were being slagged by the ull fan for not saying anything

[arkseyrover]

Yes SM I am over the moon that I am a supporter of a club that has won an award as the family club of the year and does all that good community work including educating all those Doncaster youngsters while allowing them to be scooped up by other clubs when I am expected to pay my money to watch fourth division football. It's a shambles and a joke! And you listen to and accept the total patronising boll*x that 'Gavin' feeds you when the fat lady is already singing. Are you for real? A good win today yes but it's too little too late.

[DonnyOsmond]

Is his name not Gavin?

[Rovers Return]

Yes SM I am over the moon that I am a supporter of a club that has won an award as the family club of the year and does all that good community work including educating all those Doncaster youngsters while allowing them to be scooped up by other clubs when I am expected to pay my money to watch fourth division football. It's a shambles and a joke! And you listen to and accept the total patronising boll*x that 'Gavin' feeds you when the fat lady is already singing. Are you for real? A good win today yes but it's too little too late.

And what has that got to do with the opening post.? 😒

[silent majority]

Yes SM I am over the moon that I am a supporter of a club that has won an award as the family club of the year and does all that good community work including educating all those Doncaster youngsters while allowing them to be scooped up by other clubs when I am expected to pay my money to watch fourth division football. It's a shambles and a joke! And you listen to and accept the total patronising boll*x that 'Gavin' feeds you when the fat lady is already singing. Are you for real? A good win today yes but it's too little too late.

Which bit of 'things off the pitch' do you not understand? The opening post was about a commitment by Gavin and his team to working with the Supporters Board to delivering positive changes for DRFC supporters. Yet you choose to confuse all that with comments about paying to watch 4th division football. Not only that but you also confuse the 6th form education of Doncaster children with some comments about 'other clubs scooping them up'?? What does that have to do with football?

[Sammy Chung was King]

Things that happen behind the scenes, give a better chance of things improving on the field indirectly!. Us winning a family award doesn't directly give us an extra goal on the pitch!. But it improves the reputation of the club, possibly extra fans coming to games, which could equal an extra player we need.
Plus it is getting more and more kids involved in the game. They can't all be professional footballers but there are other roles they can fill.

Anything that improves opportunities for quite a deprived area is a good thing!. One kid interested in football, is one less kid on a street corner wasting his talent going in the wrong direction in life, or just playing computer games all day long.
You won't reach everybody but it will reach some who could have gone the wrong way!. We are a small club who can't be successful in the way bigger clubs are in certain areas, but we can compete in other areas and become bigger and better in a different way!.

[SydneyRover]

I think that IRWT and the supporters board are great initiatives and help keep channels of communications between fans and owners/players/staff open. It's easy to be a critic, and this is an opportunity for critics of any aspect of how the club is run, on and off the field to step up and throw their hat into the ring.