The Bigger Picture

[TommyC]

I must be honest that whilst I've commented on the DS and Copps situation, I find myself not really giving much of a toss about whether they are sacked or not because I genuinely believe that we're at a point where it wont make any difference who the Manager is. We'll only replace them with more inexperienced dross. The club appears to be in terminal decline and something is very wrong behind the scenes. I cannot however put my finger on specifically what it is. Oh we know that the board have stopped funding the club out of their own pockets but that in itself is their prerogative. However, they as experinced business people will see that we're going down the pan and that doesn't make sense to me that they appear content with that. So I ask the question, what exactly is going on? What is the end-game for our current owners? I'm genuinely stumped.

Multipe posters are beginning to compare this to the Richardson era and whilst that may initially seem a very alarmist comparison, one cannot argue with the fact that the club at present seems to be being run into the ground albeit not quite as deliberately as brazenly and as vindictively as it was in the mid-90s. This time it's more a case of apathy and neglect. Death by a thousand cuts as opposed to the scorched earth policy of Richardson.  But I still think we're headed in the same direction. Not as quickly and not as spectacularly, but make no mistake, we're going out the league unless something changes at the top. Lets not forget that even under Richardson, we had a spell at the top of Division 3 before he went and sold all the best players. But we still knew the club was rotten and going nowhere but down. I have the same feeling now.

We receive nothing in the way of substantive reassurance from the Board as to what the actual aims and ambitions of the owners actually are. Is it survival as a football club and nothing more? Is it promotion from League 2? Do they still have the aspirations to own a Championship Club as they trumpeted in the 5 year Plan? It's all smoke and mirrors and something is clearly playing out behind the scenes here of which we're not being made aware. Whilst Silent Majority has flatly refused on five occasions (and counting) to confirm where exactly our current budget would place us in the football pyramid, he has however very recently confirmed that Blunt and Baldwin are very much equal owners in the truest sense of the word alongside Bramall. Nobody has ever been told how they came to be owners, what they have paid into the club and what they receive in return for their valuable equity stakes. The only comment we have on that from Silent Majority is "it's complicated". I'm afraid that's not good enough from a fans representative.

The simple fact is that Baldwin, Blunt and Bramall are presiding over a decline of significant proportion which we're going to struggle to reverse. I cannot for the life of me work out what their end game is here and why they are even bothering when they clearly have no current interest in providing the level of financial support required for us to have a club competing at League 1/Championship level. They seem barely interested in having a League 2 club....

If they want out, running the club down like this seems a funny way to go about it as presumably we're worth less as an asset now than we were when we were a League 1 club.  So what on earth are they actually playing at? Is it jobs for the boys and a nice pay packet Baldwin forevermore? Is it instead this truly pure altruistic motive to ensure that the good folk of Doncaster always have a club of some capacity, even if it is a tin-pot non-league outfit with no fans in scruffy stadium? Do they actually want to sell the club, in which case it might help to come out and say so? Is there a boardroom squabble playing out? Is it linked to how Blunt and Baldwin suddenly became one third owners in the club?! Who knows.

If only we had someone on the board who could ask the difficult questions. Silent Majority assures us that he does indeed ask those questions and he does hold the board's "feet to the fire". Lovely to hear.  Unfortunately however,  he never shares answers to the difficult to questions, or at least not ones that may show the board in a negative light. The concept of the VSC was established to prevent the club ever finding itself in the position it was in back in the late 90s and to provide a level of transparency and reassurance that had been sadly lacking in the past. I don't believe that it is working in that way at present.

[Alan Southstand]

Will they be only the second lot of owners to have taken us out of the EFL?

It’s hard not to think of the appalling Richardson years’ when we’re experiencing the same, albeit slower, decline.

Desperately sad.

[anton123]

Great post mate but like you say SM will only answer your question from a defensive approach!
And that always gets me asking why ? Although this is probably the wrong forum to ask on as all his little foot soldiers will be all over this post asap

[Donny Exile in York]

I must be honest that whilst I've commented on the DS and Copps situation, I find myself not really giving much of a toss about whether they are sacked or not because I genuinely believe that we're at a point where it wont make any difference who the Manager is. We'll only replace them with more inexperienced dross. The club appears to be in terminal decline and something is very wrong behind the scenes. I cannot however put my finger on specifically what it is. Oh we know that the board have stopped funding the club out of their own pockets but that in itself is their prerogative. However, they as experinced business people will see that we're going down the pan and that doesn't make sense to me that they appear content with that. So I ask the question, what exactly is going on? What is the end-game for our current owners? I'm genuinely stumped.

Multipe posters are beginning to compare this to the Richardson era and whilst that may initially seem a very alarmist comparison, one cannot argue with the fact that the club at present seems to be being run into the ground albeit not quite as deliberately as brazenly and as vindictively as it was in the mid-90s. This time it's more a case of apathy and neglect. Death by a thousand cuts as opposed to the scorched earth policy of Richardson.  But I still think we're headed in the same direction. Not as quickly and not as spectacularly, but make no mistake, we're going out the league unless something changes at the top. Lets not forget that even under Richardson, we had a spell at the top of Division 3 before he went and sold all the best players. But we still knew the club was rotten and going nowhere but down. I have the same feeling now.

We receive nothing in the way of substantive reassurance from the Board as to what the actual aims and ambitions of the owners actually are. Is it survival as a football club and nothing more? Is it promotion from League 2? Do they still have the aspirations to own a Championship Club as they trumpeted in the 5 year Plan? It's all smoke and mirrors and something is clearly playing out behind the scenes here of which we're not being made aware. Whilst Silent Majority has flatly refused on five occasions (and counting) to confirm where exactly our current budget would place us in the football pyramid, he has however very recently confirmed that Blunt and Baldwin are very much equal owners in the truest sense of the word alongside Bramall. Nobody has ever been told how they came to be owners, what they have paid into the club and what they receive in return for their valuable equity stakes. The only comment we have on that from Silent Majority is "it's complicated". I'm afraid that's not good enough from a fans representative.

The simple fact is that Baldwin, Blunt and Bramall are presiding over a decline of significant proportion which we're going to struggle to reverse. I cannot for the life of me work out what their end game is here and why they are even bothering when they clearly have no current interest in providing the level of financial support required for us to have a club competing at League 1/Championship level. They seem barely interested in having a League 2 club....

If they want out, running the club down like this seems a funny way to go about it as presumably we're worth less as an asset now than we were when we were a League 1 club.  So what on earth are they actually playing at? Is it jobs for the boys and a nice pay packet Baldwin forevermore? Is it instead this truly pure altruistic motive to ensure that the good folk of Doncaster always have a club of some capacity, even if it is a tin-pot non-league outfit with no fans in scruffy stadium? Do they actually want to sell the club, in which case it might help to come out and say so? Is there a boardroom squabble playing out? Is it linked to how Blunt and Baldwin suddenly became one third owners in the club?! Who knows.

If only we had someone on the board who could ask the difficult questions. Silent Majority assures us that he does indeed ask those questions and he does hold the board's "feet to the fire". Lovely to hear.  Unfortunately however,  he never shares answers to the difficult to questions, or at least not ones that may show the board in a negative light. The concept of the VSC was established to prevent the club ever finding itself in the position it was in back in the late 90s and to provide a level of transparency and reassurance that had been sadly lacking in the past. I don't believe that it is working in that way at present.

Top post and pretty much sums up eloquently how alot of us feel. I have said for a couple of years now that our representative is no more than a mouth piece for the board and the past 12 - 18 months have supported that view. Where is our Bounce back decisively that Blunt spelt out after relegation last season? For me the Bramall phase 'we can win every day in the community' but not on the pitch sums up our plight and the apathy, as long as they are doing their bit for the wider community they will continue, justify the self sustainability and it doesn't matter that we are in significant decline as a football team. Ran out of ideas, not interested in financially supporting the team so for me i hope by some miracle someone new can be found interested in a successful football team that the fans, infrastructure, and CITY deserve.

[TheFunk]

I would imagine SM reports the answers to the tough questions he asks to VSC members. Don't forget this is a forum they provide free to Rovers fans and isn't the right area for reporting VSC business. I could be completely wrong of course.

[danumdon]

Excellent points Tommy, it is very frustrating that we have someone on the inside but the messages that emit are in some cases worse than not knowing because every evaded question just produces another even more fraught question.

Like you said, its not working the way it was originality envisaged, much to the annoyance of supporters who only want good things for the club and are not here to agitate.

Frustrating, this whole period, as there seems no rhyme nor reason for it which then results in supporters thinking up even worse scenarios.

[BillyStubbsTears]

I must be honest that whilst I've commented on the DS and Copps situation, I find myself not really giving much of a toss about whether they are sacked or not because I genuinely believe that we're at a point where it wont make any difference who the Manager is. We'll only replace them with more inexperienced dross. The club appears to be in terminal decline and something is very wrong behind the scenes. I cannot however put my finger on specifically what it is. Oh we know that the board have stopped funding the club out of their own pockets but that in itself is their prerogative. However, they as experinced business people will see that we're going down the pan and that doesn't make sense to me that they appear content with that. So I ask the question, what exactly is going on? What is the end-game for our current owners? I'm genuinely stumped.

Multipe posters are beginning to compare this to the Richardson era and whilst that may initially seem a very alarmist comparison, one cannot argue with the fact that the club at present seems to be being run into the ground albeit not quite as deliberately as brazenly and as vindictively as it was in the mid-90s. This time it's more a case of apathy and neglect. Death by a thousand cuts as opposed to the scorched earth policy of Richardson.  But I still think we're headed in the same direction. Not as quickly and not as spectacularly, but make no mistake, we're going out the league unless something changes at the top. Lets not forget that even under Richardson, we had a spell at the top of Division 3 before he went and sold all the best players. But we still knew the club was rotten and going nowhere but down. I have the same feeling now.

We receive nothing in the way of substantive reassurance from the Board as to what the actual aims and ambitions of the owners actually are. Is it survival as a football club and nothing more? Is it promotion from League 2? Do they still have the aspirations to own a Championship Club as they trumpeted in the 5 year Plan? It's all smoke and mirrors and something is clearly playing out behind the scenes here of which we're not being made aware. Whilst Silent Majority has flatly refused on five occasions (and counting) to confirm where exactly our current budget would place us in the football pyramid, he has however very recently confirmed that Blunt and Baldwin are very much equal owners in the truest sense of the word alongside Bramall. Nobody has ever been told how they came to be owners, what they have paid into the club and what they receive in return for their valuable equity stakes. The only comment we have on that from Silent Majority is "it's complicated". I'm afraid that's not good enough from a fans representative.

The simple fact is that Baldwin, Blunt and Bramall are presiding over a decline of significant proportion which we're going to struggle to reverse. I cannot for the life of me work out what their end game is here and why they are even bothering when they clearly have no current interest in providing the level of financial support required for us to have a club competing at League 1/Championship level. They seem barely interested in having a League 2 club....

If they want out, running the club down like this seems a funny way to go about it as presumably we're worth less as an asset now than we were when we were a League 1 club.  So what on earth are they actually playing at? Is it jobs for the boys and a nice pay packet Baldwin forevermore? Is it instead this truly pure altruistic motive to ensure that the good folk of Doncaster always have a club of some capacity, even if it is a tin-pot non-league outfit with no fans in scruffy stadium? Do they actually want to sell the club, in which case it might help to come out and say so? Is there a boardroom squabble playing out? Is it linked to how Blunt and Baldwin suddenly became one third owners in the club?! Who knows.

If only we had someone on the board who could ask the difficult questions. Silent Majority assures us that he does indeed ask those questions and he does hold the board's "feet to the fire". Lovely to hear.  Unfortunately however,  he never shares answers to the difficult to questions, or at least not ones that may show the board in a negative light. The concept of the VSC was established to prevent the club ever finding itself in the position it was in back in the late 90s and to provide a level of transparency and reassurance that had been sadly lacking in the past. I don't believe that it is working in that way at present.

This argument is predicated on the assumption that our finances aren't enough to get promotion from this division .Whereas there's a perfectly reasonable counterargument that they are, but have been grossly mis-spent.

This argument also ignores the comment made by SM several times, that or sustainability model will actually work better in L1 than in L2.

[StocksArmy]

All we are all doing is complaining thread after thread after thread about the negativity surrounding the club. We may all have our disagreements on different subjects but, realistically we all know that nothing will change without there being changes at the very top. I find myself doing the same thing purely because i am as passionate as any of us about the club i grew up supporting however, until there is a takeover whether its in the near future or not i just think we are all keyboard bashing for no reason as there is no conversation to be had anymore. We are sh!t with no ambition and that is the be all and end all for what i can see is the forseeable future. It hurts badly.

Also I use "no ambition" loosely, i dont expect the owners to be throwing huge lumps of cash to fund the playing side of the club. You just have to appreciate that nobody lives forever and not one of us would get to their age and be launching cash into a football club. It would be utter stupidity. These guys will have sons, daughters, grand children, great grandchildren that their fortunes will make a better life for. Im sure if this situation was 20yrs ago we would see drastic changes. What we should really be asking for, is that the club be publicly put up for sale and genuine offers (if there are any) be listened to. And if they dont feel the club would be in safe hands then fair enough but, right now we are not in safe hands. The club is a failing, sinking ship and i just feel that everybody associated with the club is at a loose end without taking charge before we are back in a position we worked so hard to get out of.

[danumdon]

I must be honest that whilst I've commented on the DS and Copps situation, I find myself not really giving much of a toss about whether they are sacked or not because I genuinely believe that we're at a point where it wont make any difference who the Manager is. We'll only replace them with more inexperienced dross. The club appears to be in terminal decline and something is very wrong behind the scenes. I cannot however put my finger on specifically what it is. Oh we know that the board have stopped funding the club out of their own pockets but that in itself is their prerogative. However, they as experinced business people will see that we're going down the pan and that doesn't make sense to me that they appear content with that. So I ask the question, what exactly is going on? What is the end-game for our current owners? I'm genuinely stumped.

Multipe posters are beginning to compare this to the Richardson era and whilst that may initially seem a very alarmist comparison, one cannot argue with the fact that the club at present seems to be being run into the ground albeit not quite as deliberately as brazenly and as vindictively as it was in the mid-90s. This time it's more a case of apathy and neglect. Death by a thousand cuts as opposed to the scorched earth policy of Richardson.  But I still think we're headed in the same direction. Not as quickly and not as spectacularly, but make no mistake, we're going out the league unless something changes at the top. Lets not forget that even under Richardson, we had a spell at the top of Division 3 before he went and sold all the best players. But we still knew the club was rotten and going nowhere but down. I have the same feeling now.

We receive nothing in the way of substantive reassurance from the Board as to what the actual aims and ambitions of the owners actually are. Is it survival as a football club and nothing more? Is it promotion from League 2? Do they still have the aspirations to own a Championship Club as they trumpeted in the 5 year Plan? It's all smoke and mirrors and something is clearly playing out behind the scenes here of which we're not being made aware. Whilst Silent Majority has flatly refused on five occasions (and counting) to confirm where exactly our current budget would place us in the football pyramid, he has however very recently confirmed that Blunt and Baldwin are very much equal owners in the truest sense of the word alongside Bramall. Nobody has ever been told how they came to be owners, what they have paid into the club and what they receive in return for their valuable equity stakes. The only comment we have on that from Silent Majority is "it's complicated". I'm afraid that's not good enough from a fans representative.

The simple fact is that Baldwin, Blunt and Bramall are presiding over a decline of significant proportion which we're going to struggle to reverse. I cannot for the life of me work out what their end game is here and why they are even bothering when they clearly have no current interest in providing the level of financial support required for us to have a club competing at League 1/Championship level. They seem barely interested in having a League 2 club....

If they want out, running the club down like this seems a funny way to go about it as presumably we're worth less as an asset now than we were when we were a League 1 club.  So what on earth are they actually playing at? Is it jobs for the boys and a nice pay packet Baldwin forevermore? Is it instead this truly pure altruistic motive to ensure that the good folk of Doncaster always have a club of some capacity, even if it is a tin-pot non-league outfit with no fans in scruffy stadium? Do they actually want to sell the club, in which case it might help to come out and say so? Is there a boardroom squabble playing out? Is it linked to how Blunt and Baldwin suddenly became one third owners in the club?! Who knows.

If only we had someone on the board who could ask the difficult questions. Silent Majority assures us that he does indeed ask those questions and he does hold the board's "feet to the fire". Lovely to hear.  Unfortunately however,  he never shares answers to the difficult to questions, or at least not ones that may show the board in a negative light. The concept of the VSC was established to prevent the club ever finding itself in the position it was in back in the late 90s and to provide a level of transparency and reassurance that had been sadly lacking in the past. I don't believe that it is working in that way at present.

This argument is predicated on the assumption that our finances aren't enough to get promotion from this division .Whereas there's a perfectly reasonable counterargument that they are, but have been grossly mis-spent.

This argument also ignores the comment made by SM several times, that or sustainability model will actually work better in L1 than in L2.

I don't think too many are arguing about the level of investment as such. And its right that in itself its not the answer, we can all see what clubs like Rochdale, Accrington, Carlisle ect have achieved with arguably a smaller cash injection than us.

I see it more the way the club has set itself up, its supposed business plan, with the rookie head coach, HOF, players who are of a particular type (no pace, strength or grit)and the rigid playing style that is obviously struggling to perform due to the "wrong type of players"

I'm quite sure we could have got in a job lot of "typical league 2 players" for probably less outlay but we wanted to stick to our "principles"

The thing now is agonising over what the future holds, we know the club requires to be self sustaining which means we can still only bring in players of a certain standard, will this be enough to rescue the head coach and HOF's management careers? most on here don't hold that view in the positive and time will eventually settle that score.

In the meantime it looks with all the noise coming out of the club it looks like we battle on regardless and we see our baby through to its conception?

[TommyC]

I must be honest that whilst I've commented on the DS and Copps situation, I find myself not really giving much of a toss about whether they are sacked or not because I genuinely believe that we're at a point where it wont make any difference who the Manager is. We'll only replace them with more inexperienced dross. The club appears to be in terminal decline and something is very wrong behind the scenes. I cannot however put my finger on specifically what it is. Oh we know that the board have stopped funding the club out of their own pockets but that in itself is their prerogative. However, they as experinced business people will see that we're going down the pan and that doesn't make sense to me that they appear content with that. So I ask the question, what exactly is going on? What is the end-game for our current owners? I'm genuinely stumped.

Multipe posters are beginning to compare this to the Richardson era and whilst that may initially seem a very alarmist comparison, one cannot argue with the fact that the club at present seems to be being run into the ground albeit not quite as deliberately as brazenly and as vindictively as it was in the mid-90s. This time it's more a case of apathy and neglect. Death by a thousand cuts as opposed to the scorched earth policy of Richardson.  But I still think we're headed in the same direction. Not as quickly and not as spectacularly, but make no mistake, we're going out the league unless something changes at the top. Lets not forget that even under Richardson, we had a spell at the top of Division 3 before he went and sold all the best players. But we still knew the club was rotten and going nowhere but down. I have the same feeling now.

We receive nothing in the way of substantive reassurance from the Board as to what the actual aims and ambitions of the owners actually are. Is it survival as a football club and nothing more? Is it promotion from League 2? Do they still have the aspirations to own a Championship Club as they trumpeted in the 5 year Plan? It's all smoke and mirrors and something is clearly playing out behind the scenes here of which we're not being made aware. Whilst Silent Majority has flatly refused on five occasions (and counting) to confirm where exactly our current budget would place us in the football pyramid, he has however very recently confirmed that Blunt and Baldwin are very much equal owners in the truest sense of the word alongside Bramall. Nobody has ever been told how they came to be owners, what they have paid into the club and what they receive in return for their valuable equity stakes. The only comment we have on that from Silent Majority is "it's complicated". I'm afraid that's not good enough from a fans representative.

The simple fact is that Baldwin, Blunt and Bramall are presiding over a decline of significant proportion which we're going to struggle to reverse. I cannot for the life of me work out what their end game is here and why they are even bothering when they clearly have no current interest in providing the level of financial support required for us to have a club competing at League 1/Championship level. They seem barely interested in having a League 2 club....

If they want out, running the club down like this seems a funny way to go about it as presumably we're worth less as an asset now than we were when we were a League 1 club.  So what on earth are they actually playing at? Is it jobs for the boys and a nice pay packet Baldwin forevermore? Is it instead this truly pure altruistic motive to ensure that the good folk of Doncaster always have a club of some capacity, even if it is a tin-pot non-league outfit with no fans in scruffy stadium? Do they actually want to sell the club, in which case it might help to come out and say so? Is there a boardroom squabble playing out? Is it linked to how Blunt and Baldwin suddenly became one third owners in the club?! Who knows.

If only we had someone on the board who could ask the difficult questions. Silent Majority assures us that he does indeed ask those questions and he does hold the board's "feet to the fire". Lovely to hear.  Unfortunately however,  he never shares answers to the difficult to questions, or at least not ones that may show the board in a negative light. The concept of the VSC was established to prevent the club ever finding itself in the position it was in back in the late 90s and to provide a level of transparency and reassurance that had been sadly lacking in the past. I don't believe that it is working in that way at present.

This argument is predicated on the assumption that our finances aren't enough to get promotion from this division .Whereas there's a perfectly reasonable counterargument that they are, but have been grossly mis-spent.

This argument also ignores the comment made by SM several times, that or sustainability model will actually work better in L1 than in L2.

 Fair point. But they won't answer the question about finances. Baldwin himself stated that broadly speaking, budget equates to league position. He also stated previously that we had a budget that places us in the top 6 of League 1. Perhaps if someone could answer the question as to where our budget currently places us, that would put this to bed very easily. But nobody "in the know" will answer it.

[BillyStubbsTears]

TC
Agreed

[normal rules]

I must be honest that whilst I've commented on the DS and Copps situation, I find myself not really giving much of a toss about whether they are sacked or not because I genuinely believe that we're at a point where it wont make any difference who the Manager is. We'll only replace them with more inexperienced dross. The club appears to be in terminal decline and something is very wrong behind the scenes. I cannot however put my finger on specifically what it is. Oh we know that the board have stopped funding the club out of their own pockets but that in itself is their prerogative. However, they as experinced business people will see that we're going down the pan and that doesn't make sense to me that they appear content with that. So I ask the question, what exactly is going on? What is the end-game for our current owners? I'm genuinely stumped.

Multipe posters are beginning to compare this to the Richardson era and whilst that may initially seem a very alarmist comparison, one cannot argue with the fact that the club at present seems to be being run into the ground albeit not quite as deliberately as brazenly and as vindictively as it was in the mid-90s. This time it's more a case of apathy and neglect. Death by a thousand cuts as opposed to the scorched earth policy of Richardson.  But I still think we're headed in the same direction. Not as quickly and not as spectacularly, but make no mistake, we're going out the league unless something changes at the top. Lets not forget that even under Richardson, we had a spell at the top of Division 3 before he went and sold all the best players. But we still knew the club was rotten and going nowhere but down. I have the same feeling now.

We receive nothing in the way of substantive reassurance from the Board as to what the actual aims and ambitions of the owners actually are. Is it survival as a football club and nothing more? Is it promotion from League 2? Do they still have the aspirations to own a Championship Club as they trumpeted in the 5 year Plan? It's all smoke and mirrors and something is clearly playing out behind the scenes here of which we're not being made aware. Whilst Silent Majority has flatly refused on five occasions (and counting) to confirm where exactly our current budget would place us in the football pyramid, he has however very recently confirmed that Blunt and Baldwin are very much equal owners in the truest sense of the word alongside Bramall. Nobody has ever been told how they came to be owners, what they have paid into the club and what they receive in return for their valuable equity stakes. The only comment we have on that from Silent Majority is "it's complicated". I'm afraid that's not good enough from a fans representative.

The simple fact is that Baldwin, Blunt and Bramall are presiding over a decline of significant proportion which we're going to struggle to reverse. I cannot for the life of me work out what their end game is here and why they are even bothering when they clearly have no current interest in providing the level of financial support required for us to have a club competing at League 1/Championship level. They seem barely interested in having a League 2 club....

If they want out, running the club down like this seems a funny way to go about it as presumably we're worth less as an asset now than we were when we were a League 1 club.  So what on earth are they actually playing at? Is it jobs for the boys and a nice pay packet Baldwin forevermore? Is it instead this truly pure altruistic motive to ensure that the good folk of Doncaster always have a club of some capacity, even if it is a tin-pot non-league outfit with no fans in scruffy stadium? Do they actually want to sell the club, in which case it might help to come out and say so? Is there a boardroom squabble playing out? Is it linked to how Blunt and Baldwin suddenly became one third owners in the club?! Who knows.

If only we had someone on the board who could ask the difficult questions. Silent Majority assures us that he does indeed ask those questions and he does hold the board's "feet to the fire". Lovely to hear.  Unfortunately however,  he never shares answers to the difficult to questions, or at least not ones that may show the board in a negative light. The concept of the VSC was established to prevent the club ever finding itself in the position it was in back in the late 90s and to provide a level of transparency and reassurance that had been sadly lacking in the past. I don't believe that it is working in that way at present.

Before we make comment about the Shadow Board, it’s prob best we understand who is, and more importantly who isn’t, on the SB.
If you care to take a look at its current membership on the official rovers website, you will see that SM is no longer a member.

[GazLaz]

We missed the boat not implementing a smart structure when we were top 6 in L1. Recruiting for that level is probably the easiest section of the EFL to recruit for, in terms of player pool and potential value. It’s a little more difficult in the position we are in now due to the drop in resources and the pool of players playing for clubs below us in the pecking order is smaller.

As a club what are we doing off the pitch that is smarter than our rivals? Absolutely nothing that I can see. Coppinger’s praising the fact that we sign players that are good at going into schools and patting kids on the head probably sums the whole situation up. That’s about as good as it gets.

[silent majority]

I started reading this post thinking it was about the club, but it's not, its more about me and the VSC than a genuine attempt to discover the goings on in the club. When questions are asked in a respectful manner I usually try and answer them, however most of the questions from certain posters are there to poke me with a stick rather that elicit an answer, for that reason I choose to ignore certain ones. I'm not refusing to answer, I'm choosing to ignore them, there's a difference.

I'll try and keep my responses short here, but I guarantee that some of what you're asking will need a lot of explanation. Firstly, let me clear about who and what I represent as I'm always being told by certain posters that I don't represent them, fair enough, but don't get annoyed when I then choose to ignore your question, you can't have it both ways. I'm a board member of the VSC and also it's secretary. There are other board members too, I'm not alone.

I'm not on the Shadow Board, I resigned from there some months ago after a dispute with the club and the Chair. I'm not going into details and I've never mentioned it on here but the news was posted in the VSC members section some time ago, and was also part of my plan to try and retire from football related organisations as best as I can.

The VSC by the way is a supporters trust that was set up to ensure that we can ask the tough questions to make sure that we don't suffer the fate that we did under the Richardson years and also be a legitimate body that can step in as owners if that was ever required. As you know many clubs are in supporter ownership, either partly or fully, and we would be ready to step up if this was the case. Meanwhile we'll support ownership that we believe is ensuring the club doesn't go out of business. We were John Ryans biggest supporters and the relationship was very strong between both parties. Andy Liney saw through the Keepmoat project and was also a supporter director of DRFC, raising funds as best we could and handing that over to JR when asked. We stopped supporting JR when his activities threatened the clubs future. By the same token we've supported TB and DW when they steered the club in the right direction.

As part of that process we see that the club is functioning financially and that there are no threats around the corner which causes us major issues. The playing budget is not part of that process. However we do ask that question as committed DRFC supporters. Its not something that I like to expand on, however its important to note that the difference between LG2 and LG1 is quite massive when it comes to solidarity payments and our share of TV revenue. For that reason its easier to balance the books in LG1 than it is in LG2. As we suffer a reduction in revenue that's always reflected then in the playing budget. Our current budget would see us in the top 10 in this division. I wouldn't know the exact position, but knowing what I do I would say the disparity isn't that great across most of the middle section of the league. In other words a lot of clubs would have similar budgets.

Now, are the owners aware of the current situation and do they care? I can guarantee that GB and TB are more than aware of the difficult situation that our on field performances are causing amongst the supporters and how desperate they are to see the club functioning properly again. Do I think that they are taking this seriously and will implement a solution to the current malaise? Yes I do. We may have to wait until next season thou as these things take time, after all we're too close to the end of this season for major changes to impact on the club.

Is the club up for sale? Of course it is. I don't know how many times I have to type this out on here but I'll do it again. TB has always said that he'll step aside if somebody comes along who has the best intentions of the club at heart. He'll accept the substantial loss that is a forgone conclusion as the club would never sell at a level that would see any return on that money. Football clubs don't operate through estate agents though, most of it is done through the EFL anyway as they are the party that gives the green light when due diligence is done. So for those who keep demanding that TB sells up you'll get your way at some point, but it will be to the right party, one that we would want as owners.

I meant to keep this short and sweet, and some of the detail has been left out. But, here's an offer I have made before, if Tommy C or anyone else for that matter doesn't like my answers, then PM me and I'll fix up a meeting with Gavin and you can ask the questions directly of him. I've done it for other people on this forum before and I'd be happy to set this up.

[Campsall rover]

I started reading this post thinking it was about the club, but it's not, its more about me and the VSC than a genuine attempt to discover the goings on in the club. When questions are asked in a respectful manner I usually try and answer them, however most of the questions from certain posters are there to poke me with a stick rather that elicit an answer, for that reason I choose to ignore certain ones. I'm not refusing to answer, I'm choosing to ignore them, there's a difference.

I'll try and keep my responses short here, but I guarantee that some of what you're asking will need a lot of explanation. Firstly, let me clear about who and what I represent as I'm always being told by certain posters that I don't represent them, fair enough, but don't get annoyed when I then choose to ignore your question, you can't have it both ways. I'm a board member of the VSC and also it's secretary. There are other board members too, I'm not alone.

I'm not on the Shadow Board, I resigned from there some months ago after a dispute with the club and the Chair. I'm not going into details and I've never mentioned it on here but the news was posted in the VSC members section some time ago, and was also part of my plan to try and retire from football related organisations as best as I can.

The VSC by the way is a supporters trust that was set up to ensure that we can ask the tough questions to make sure that we don't suffer the fate that we did under the Richardson years and also be a legitimate body that can step in as owners if that was ever required. As you know many clubs are in supporter ownership, either partly or fully, and we would be ready to step up if this was the case. Meanwhile we'll support ownership that we believe is ensuring the club doesn't go out of business. We were John Ryans biggest supporters and the relationship was very strong between both parties. Andy Liney saw through the Keepmoat project and was also a supporter director of DRFC, raising funds as best we could and handing that over to JR when asked. We stopped supporting JR when his activities threatened the clubs future. By the same token we've supported TB and DW when they steered the club in the right direction.

As part of that process we see that the club is functioning financially and that there are no threats around the corner which causes us major issues. The playing budget is not part of that process. However we do ask that question as committed DRFC supporters. Its not something that I like to expand on, however its important to note that the difference between LG2 and LG1 is quite massive when it comes to solidarity payments and our share of TV revenue. For that reason its easier to balance the books in LG1 than it is in LG2. As we suffer a reduction in revenue that's always reflected then in the playing budget. Our current budget would see us in the top 10 in this division. I wouldn't know the exact position, but knowing what I do I would say the disparity isn't that great across most of the middle section of the league. In other words a lot of clubs would have similar budgets.

Now, are the owners aware of the current situation and do they care? I can guarantee that GB and TB are more than aware of the difficult situation that our on field performances are causing amongst the supporters and how desperate they are to see the club functioning properly again. Do I think that they are taking this seriously and will implement a solution to the current malaise? Yes I do. We may have to wait until next season thou as these things take time, after all we're too close to the end of this season for major changes to impact on the club.

Is the club up for sale? Of course it is. I don't know how many times I have to type this out on here but I'll do it again. TB has always said that he'll step aside if somebody comes along who has the best intentions of the club at heart. He'll accept the substantial loss that is a forgone conclusion as the club would never sell at a level that would see any return on that money. Football clubs don't operate through estate agents though, most of it is done through the EFL anyway as they are the party that gives the green light when due diligence is done. So for those who keep demanding that TB sells up you'll get your way at some point, but it will be to the right party, one that we would want as owners.

I meant to keep this short and sweet, and some of the detail has been left out. But, here's an offer I have made before, if Tommy C or anyone else for that matter doesn't like my answers, then PM me and I'll fix up a meeting with Gavin and you can ask the questions directly of him. I've done it for other people on this forum before and I'd be happy to set this up.

SM can you set up a meeting with Copps. I think it’s time he knew exactly what 99% of our supporters  think of DS and the way he has set our team up. The absolute dross we are witnessing on the field of play and oh quite importantly the desperately disappointing results that have followed.

We are going to lose a whole generation of supporters, my 10 yr old grandsons generation ( he doesn’t want to to sit through this dross anymore ) i
In fact we are going to lose my generation 60’s 70’s who have followed the club for 40/50/ 60 years and
Each generation below also if this is allowed to continue.

We are going to lose a huge no of season ticket holders if DS continues as head coach and persists with the most ineffective boring football I have ever witnessed in my 48 yrs supporting this proud football club.
( bar 97/98 but we only had one footballer in that team )

Where is the pride any more. Where is the passion. Where is the ambition.  I could cry. In fact I did cry after what we witnessed 2nd half at Salford and the entire match ( minus 30 secs ) at Crawley on Tues night.

Copps needs to take action NOW not next November. 

[TommyC]

I started reading this post thinking it was about the club, but it's not, its more about me and the VSC than a genuine attempt to discover the goings on in the club. When questions are asked in a respectful manner I usually try and answer them, however most of the questions from certain posters are there to poke me with a stick rather that elicit an answer, for that reason I choose to ignore certain ones. I'm not refusing to answer, I'm choosing to ignore them, there's a difference.

I'll try and keep my responses short here, but I guarantee that some of what you're asking will need a lot of explanation. Firstly, let me clear about who and what I represent as I'm always being told by certain posters that I don't represent them, fair enough, but don't get annoyed when I then choose to ignore your question, you can't have it both ways. I'm a board member of the VSC and also it's secretary. There are other board members too, I'm not alone.

I'm not on the Shadow Board, I resigned from there some months ago after a dispute with the club and the Chair. I'm not going into details and I've never mentioned it on here but the news was posted in the VSC members section some time ago, and was also part of my plan to try and retire from football related organisations as best as I can.

The VSC by the way is a supporters trust that was set up to ensure that we can ask the tough questions to make sure that we don't suffer the fate that we did under the Richardson years and also be a legitimate body that can step in as owners if that was ever required. As you know many clubs are in supporter ownership, either partly or fully, and we would be ready to step up if this was the case. Meanwhile we'll support ownership that we believe is ensuring the club doesn't go out of business. We were John Ryans biggest supporters and the relationship was very strong between both parties. Andy Liney saw through the Keepmoat project and was also a supporter director of DRFC, raising funds as best we could and handing that over to JR when asked. We stopped supporting JR when his activities threatened the clubs future. By the same token we've supported TB and DW when they steered the club in the right direction.

As part of that process we see that the club is functioning financially and that there are no threats around the corner which causes us major issues. The playing budget is not part of that process. However we do ask that question as committed DRFC supporters. Its not something that I like to expand on, however its important to note that the difference between LG2 and LG1 is quite massive when it comes to solidarity payments and our share of TV revenue. For that reason its easier to balance the books in LG1 than it is in LG2. As we suffer a reduction in revenue that's always reflected then in the playing budget. Our current budget would see us in the top 10 in this division. I wouldn't know the exact position, but knowing what I do I would say the disparity isn't that great across most of the middle section of the league. In other words a lot of clubs would have similar budgets.

Now, are the owners aware of the current situation and do they care? I can guarantee that GB and TB are more than aware of the difficult situation that our on field performances are causing amongst the supporters and how desperate they are to see the club functioning properly again. Do I think that they are taking this seriously and will implement a solution to the current malaise? Yes I do. We may have to wait until next season thou as these things take time, after all we're too close to the end of this season for major changes to impact on the club.

Is the club up for sale? Of course it is. I don't know how many times I have to type this out on here but I'll do it again. TB has always said that he'll step aside if somebody comes along who has the best intentions of the club at heart. He'll accept the substantial loss that is a forgone conclusion as the club would never sell at a level that would see any return on that money. Football clubs don't operate through estate agents though, most of it is done through the EFL anyway as they are the party that gives the green light when due diligence is done. So for those who keep demanding that TB sells up you'll get your way at some point, but it will be to the right party, one that we would want as owners.

I meant to keep this short and sweet, and some of the detail has been left out. But, here's an offer I have made before, if Tommy C or anyone else for that matter doesn't like my answers, then PM me and I'll fix up a meeting with Gavin and you can ask the questions directly of him. I've done it for other people on this forum before and I'd be happy to set this up.

Many thanks for such a considered response. Whilst I know you think I have an axe to grind with you, I really genuinely do not.

So there we have it. We're pretty much where our budget says we should be. Not a case of a large budget being wasted. We are slap bang where our budget says we should be.

I make no criticism of that as it tallies with what Baldwin himself said a few years back. It's a matter for the individual supporters to decide whether or not they feel aspiration to be a mid table League 2 club is enough. I do appreciate and value the reassurance you've given regarding GB and TB. The absence of DB in that comment is both intriguing and I'm sure not by accident.

[silent majority]

Just as an addition to the above.

For those who complain about a lack of transparency and the club not being open with its supporters can I just point you in this direction;

https://fanengagement.net/fan-engagement-index/

Out of 92 clubs in this country we rank 6th.

[sedwardsdrfc]

I’m sure if a letter or email was sent to the club it would find its way to Copps. It’s not that big an organisation.

Not sure you’d hear back but I bet it gets read

[Campsall rover]

I thought we were told that we had a play off budget this season.

Have I dreamed that?

[Reg of the Rovers]

The more I think about it the more I'm of the opinion that Copps is a big part of the problem, not the way of resolving it. He's been (mostly) loyal to us as a player, but we've been loyal to him, he's earned a good living as a player and is rightly very well respected. I'm not sure that he has a divine right to walk in to a senior position in our club, which he lacks the credentials and experience to do, and which since his appointment we've experienced the second worst spell as a club in 30 or 40 years. It's not about Copps having enough balls to sack his mate Schofield, it's about clearing out those who have presided over this abject horror show - Copps and Schofield first in line - and appointing an experienced leadership team for the footballing side who can turn this mess around. Because Copps can't.

[mushRTID]

I started reading this post thinking it was about the club, but it's not, its more about me and the VSC than a genuine attempt to discover the goings on in the club. When questions are asked in a respectful manner I usually try and answer them, however most of the questions from certain posters are there to poke me with a stick rather that elicit an answer, for that reason I choose to ignore certain ones. I'm not refusing to answer, I'm choosing to ignore them, there's a difference.

I'll try and keep my responses short here, but I guarantee that some of what you're asking will need a lot of explanation. Firstly, let me clear about who and what I represent as I'm always being told by certain posters that I don't represent them, fair enough, but don't get annoyed when I then choose to ignore your question, you can't have it both ways. I'm a board member of the VSC and also it's secretary. There are other board members too, I'm not alone.

I'm not on the Shadow Board, I resigned from there some months ago after a dispute with the club and the Chair. I'm not going into details and I've never mentioned it on here but the news was posted in the VSC members section some time ago, and was also part of my plan to try and retire from football related organisations as best as I can.

The VSC by the way is a supporters trust that was set up to ensure that we can ask the tough questions to make sure that we don't suffer the fate that we did under the Richardson years and also be a legitimate body that can step in as owners if that was ever required. As you know many clubs are in supporter ownership, either partly or fully, and we would be ready to step up if this was the case. Meanwhile we'll support ownership that we believe is ensuring the club doesn't go out of business. We were John Ryans biggest supporters and the relationship was very strong between both parties. Andy Liney saw through the Keepmoat project and was also a supporter director of DRFC, raising funds as best we could and handing that over to JR when asked. We stopped supporting JR when his activities threatened the clubs future. By the same token we've supported TB and DW when they steered the club in the right direction.

As part of that process we see that the club is functioning financially and that there are no threats around the corner which causes us major issues. The playing budget is not part of that process. However we do ask that question as committed DRFC supporters. Its not something that I like to expand on, however its important to note that the difference between LG2 and LG1 is quite massive when it comes to solidarity payments and our share of TV revenue. For that reason its easier to balance the books in LG1 than it is in LG2. As we suffer a reduction in revenue that's always reflected then in the playing budget. Our current budget would see us in the top 10 in this division. I wouldn't know the exact position, but knowing what I do I would say the disparity isn't that great across most of the middle section of the league. In other words a lot of clubs would have similar budgets.

Now, are the owners aware of the current situation and do they care? I can guarantee that GB and TB are more than aware of the difficult situation that our on field performances are causing amongst the supporters and how desperate they are to see the club functioning properly again. Do I think that they are taking this seriously and will implement a solution to the current malaise? Yes I do. We may have to wait until next season thou as these things take time, after all we're too close to the end of this season for major changes to impact on the club.

Is the club up for sale? Of course it is. I don't know how many times I have to type this out on here but I'll do it again. TB has always said that he'll step aside if somebody comes along who has the best intentions of the club at heart. He'll accept the substantial loss that is a forgone conclusion as the club would never sell at a level that would see any return on that money. Football clubs don't operate through estate agents though, most of it is done through the EFL anyway as they are the party that gives the green light when due diligence is done. So for those who keep demanding that TB sells up you'll get your way at some point, but it will be to the right party, one that we would want as owners.

I meant to keep this short and sweet, and some of the detail has been left out. But, here's an offer I have made before, if Tommy C or anyone else for that matter doesn't like my answers, then PM me and I'll fix up a meeting with Gavin and you can ask the questions directly of him. I've done it for other people on this forum before and I'd be happy to set this up.

Thanks also for the response.

One thing I just cannot get out my head, it is driving me mad to be honest.

You’ve said it here and GB said it at the MTO… it is easier to balance the books in L1 than L2.

So why the chuff we would appoint Gary McSheffrey when we were bang in trouble is an absolute mystery. It feels like neglect to be honest.

[Campsall rover]

Unless the budget is bottom 6 whatever it is the football has been nothing short of abysmal barring 3 games and the odd 15 mis here and there.
That’s down to DS and Gribble not the board.

Get rid before it’s too late. He is not going to change his football philosophy. He is on a mission to follow his process.
Stubborn, stupid and arrogant.

One that’s going to take us out of the EFL .

We must not allow this to happen again.  Only we as supporters can do anything about it.
We must use both our voices & our feet.
No season tickets sold, empty ground.

Huge vocal protest on Saturday. No vile or abusive language, that’s not the way.  We must make our voices heard though.

[Cramby10]

I started reading this post thinking it was about the club, but it's not, its more about me and the VSC than a genuine attempt to discover the goings on in the club. When questions are asked in a respectful manner I usually try and answer them, however most of the questions from certain posters are there to poke me with a stick rather that elicit an answer, for that reason I choose to ignore certain ones. I'm not refusing to answer, I'm choosing to ignore them, there's a difference.

I'll try and keep my responses short here, but I guarantee that some of what you're asking will need a lot of explanation. Firstly, let me clear about who and what I represent as I'm always being told by certain posters that I don't represent them, fair enough, but don't get annoyed when I then choose to ignore your question, you can't have it both ways. I'm a board member of the VSC and also it's secretary. There are other board members too, I'm not alone.

I'm not on the Shadow Board, I resigned from there some months ago after a dispute with the club and the Chair. I'm not going into details and I've never mentioned it on here but the news was posted in the VSC members section some time ago, and was also part of my plan to try and retire from football related organisations as best as I can.

The VSC by the way is a supporters trust that was set up to ensure that we can ask the tough questions to make sure that we don't suffer the fate that we did under the Richardson years and also be a legitimate body that can step in as owners if that was ever required. As you know many clubs are in supporter ownership, either partly or fully, and we would be ready to step up if this was the case. Meanwhile we'll support ownership that we believe is ensuring the club doesn't go out of business. We were John Ryans biggest supporters and the relationship was very strong between both parties. Andy Liney saw through the Keepmoat project and was also a supporter director of DRFC, raising funds as best we could and handing that over to JR when asked. We stopped supporting JR when his activities threatened the clubs future. By the same token we've supported TB and DW when they steered the club in the right direction.

As part of that process we see that the club is functioning financially and that there are no threats around the corner which causes us major issues. The playing budget is not part of that process. However we do ask that question as committed DRFC supporters. Its not something that I like to expand on, however its important to note that the difference between LG2 and LG1 is quite massive when it comes to solidarity payments and our share of TV revenue. For that reason its easier to balance the books in LG1 than it is in LG2. As we suffer a reduction in revenue that's always reflected then in the playing budget. Our current budget would see us in the top 10 in this division. I wouldn't know the exact position, but knowing what I do I would say the disparity isn't that great across most of the middle section of the league. In other words a lot of clubs would have similar budgets.

Now, are the owners aware of the current situation and do they care? I can guarantee that GB and TB are more than aware of the difficult situation that our on field performances are causing amongst the supporters and how desperate they are to see the club functioning properly again. Do I think that they are taking this seriously and will implement a solution to the current malaise? Yes I do. We may have to wait until next season thou as these things take time, after all we're too close to the end of this season for major changes to impact on the club.

Is the club up for sale? Of course it is. I don't know how many times I have to type this out on here but I'll do it again. TB has always said that he'll step aside if somebody comes along who has the best intentions of the club at heart. He'll accept the substantial loss that is a forgone conclusion as the club would never sell at a level that would see any return on that money. Football clubs don't operate through estate agents though, most of it is done through the EFL anyway as they are the party that gives the green light when due diligence is done. So for those who keep demanding that TB sells up you'll get your way at some point, but it will be to the right party, one that we would want as owners.

I meant to keep this short and sweet, and some of the detail has been left out. But, here's an offer I have made before, if Tommy C or anyone else for that matter doesn't like my answers, then PM me and I'll fix up a meeting with Gavin and you can ask the questions directly of him. I've done it for other people on this forum before and I'd be happy to set this up.

can you not elaborate on what the solutions may be? Why wait til next season? Surely grasp the nettle now and get a step ahead instead of playing catch up.

[TommyC]

Having considered this a bit more, the comments on the drop in revenues from League 1 to League 2 are I am sure valid and welcome insights. However, the board used to inject a couple of million into the playing budget each year beyond our "sustainable club" budget as they aspired to Championship football. They stated they didnt want to stay in League 1 and they wanted more. The aim was to get to the Championship and stay there and they invested at a level to achieve that. They no longer invest at that level. All of that is fact based on statements made by representatives of the club. Surely the reason behind that change could be explained to the fans? Why have the board effectively pulled their investment? Do I really need to make an appointment to speak to Gavin to ask him about it? What level of football do they aspire to and what are they prepared to bankroll? What are they actually in this for?

[silent majority]

I thought we were told that we had a play off budget this season.

Have I dreamed that?

I haven't seen or heard anything that says we have, but it's not far off.

[silent majority]

I started reading this post thinking it was about the club, but it's not, its more about me and the VSC than a genuine attempt to discover the goings on in the club. When questions are asked in a respectful manner I usually try and answer them, however most of the questions from certain posters are there to poke me with a stick rather that elicit an answer, for that reason I choose to ignore certain ones. I'm not refusing to answer, I'm choosing to ignore them, there's a difference.

I'll try and keep my responses short here, but I guarantee that some of what you're asking will need a lot of explanation. Firstly, let me clear about who and what I represent as I'm always being told by certain posters that I don't represent them, fair enough, but don't get annoyed when I then choose to ignore your question, you can't have it both ways. I'm a board member of the VSC and also it's secretary. There are other board members too, I'm not alone.

I'm not on the Shadow Board, I resigned from there some months ago after a dispute with the club and the Chair. I'm not going into details and I've never mentioned it on here but the news was posted in the VSC members section some time ago, and was also part of my plan to try and retire from football related organisations as best as I can.

The VSC by the way is a supporters trust that was set up to ensure that we can ask the tough questions to make sure that we don't suffer the fate that we did under the Richardson years and also be a legitimate body that can step in as owners if that was ever required. As you know many clubs are in supporter ownership, either partly or fully, and we would be ready to step up if this was the case. Meanwhile we'll support ownership that we believe is ensuring the club doesn't go out of business. We were John Ryans biggest supporters and the relationship was very strong between both parties. Andy Liney saw through the Keepmoat project and was also a supporter director of DRFC, raising funds as best we could and handing that over to JR when asked. We stopped supporting JR when his activities threatened the clubs future. By the same token we've supported TB and DW when they steered the club in the right direction.

As part of that process we see that the club is functioning financially and that there are no threats around the corner which causes us major issues. The playing budget is not part of that process. However we do ask that question as committed DRFC supporters. Its not something that I like to expand on, however its important to note that the difference between LG2 and LG1 is quite massive when it comes to solidarity payments and our share of TV revenue. For that reason its easier to balance the books in LG1 than it is in LG2. As we suffer a reduction in revenue that's always reflected then in the playing budget. Our current budget would see us in the top 10 in this division. I wouldn't know the exact position, but knowing what I do I would say the disparity isn't that great across most of the middle section of the league. In other words a lot of clubs would have similar budgets.

Now, are the owners aware of the current situation and do they care? I can guarantee that GB and TB are more than aware of the difficult situation that our on field performances are causing amongst the supporters and how desperate they are to see the club functioning properly again. Do I think that they are taking this seriously and will implement a solution to the current malaise? Yes I do. We may have to wait until next season thou as these things take time, after all we're too close to the end of this season for major changes to impact on the club.

Is the club up for sale? Of course it is. I don't know how many times I have to type this out on here but I'll do it again. TB has always said that he'll step aside if somebody comes along who has the best intentions of the club at heart. He'll accept the substantial loss that is a forgone conclusion as the club would never sell at a level that would see any return on that money. Football clubs don't operate through estate agents though, most of it is done through the EFL anyway as they are the party that gives the green light when due diligence is done. So for those who keep demanding that TB sells up you'll get your way at some point, but it will be to the right party, one that we would want as owners.

I meant to keep this short and sweet, and some of the detail has been left out. But, here's an offer I have made before, if Tommy C or anyone else for that matter doesn't like my answers, then PM me and I'll fix up a meeting with Gavin and you can ask the questions directly of him. I've done it for other people on this forum before and I'd be happy to set this up.

Thanks also for the response.

One thing I just cannot get out my head, it is driving me mad to be honest.

You’ve said it here and GB said it at the MTO… it is easier to balance the books in L1 than L2.

So why the chuff we would appoint Gary McSheffrey when we were bang in trouble is an absolute mystery. It feels like neglect to be honest.

I don't know the exact reason, for that you'd have to ask the Chairman, but my guess would be a lack of good alternatives.

[ForsolongaRover]

In the face of denial from the Board of there being a problem, the question of how our collective alarm might best be made clear to those in charge has been discussed.

I cannot claim to have read every word written on the subject and this suggestion may have been already made, but surely the DFP and the Yorkshire Post would want to give publicity to this. It is a major crisis amongst the loyal fan base. When clubs hit crises this sort of thing is front-page news in the local press.

In these circumstances you would not expect Steve Jones or Leon Wobschall to author such a piece, so ideally it would need to be written by a long-time season ticket holder who also follows them away from home. Having admired the writing of numerous contributors to this forum I have no doubt that a powerful article could be composed. Presenting this to the Editor needs to be carefully thought through, but I would be surprised if he/she were not interested.

With its recent elevation to city status this has a civic pride angle. It is ironic that its very recently-appointed Freeman seems to be blind to the wider damage to Doncaster's image.

[silent majority]

Having considered this a bit more, the comments on the drop in revenues from League 1 to League 2 are I am sure valid and welcome insights. However, the board used to inject a couple of million into the playing budget each year beyond our "sustainable club" budget as they aspired to Championship football. They stated they didnt want to stay in League 1 and they wanted more. The aim was to get to the Championship and stay there and they invested at a level to achieve that. They no longer invest at that level. All of that is fact based on statements made by representatives of the club. Surely the reason behind that change could be explained to the fans? Why have the board effectively pulled their investment? Do I really need to make an appointment to speak to Gavin to ask him about it? What level of football do they aspire to and what are they prepared to bankroll? What are they actually in this for?

Firstly, the monies injected into the club were at a time when we were not self sustainable. We were sustainable at a point that we wanted to be, i.e. we were not going into debt or borrowing money of any kind, but the commercial income was growing. As the commercial income from Club Doncaster grew the owners railed back on their support. However that, whilst in LG1, was enough for us to maintain a budget that enabled us to be in a play-off position. We could never afford to be in the top 2 or 3 in that league but any decent manager should have kept us there or thereabouts.

Secondly, the owners were happy to subsidise the club but the long term goal was always to be self-sustainable so that the club would be a viable operation if the worst ever happened to TB or even to make it attractive as a going concern for others. (nobody really wants to buy a club that's in debt or needs a couple of million throwing at it every year)

Thirdly, they would like the club to be operating at a level that can be achieved using the financial model they have. So, when in LG1 it was considered that the budget was enough to get us in the play-offs. That would then enable us to have a pitch at the Championship. Nobody at the club expected us to be relegated last season, the budget was more than enough to keep us up.

This season of course we have a problem that everybody can see, it doesn't need any explanation from me. And as I've mentioned above things will change to ensure that this doesn't continue. What they are we'll have to wait and see as I don't have that detail, only that there are options which are being examined.

It'll be a big summer for us no doubt.

[silent majority]

In the face of denial from the Board of there being a problem, the question of how our collective alarm might best be made clear to those in charge has been discussed.

I cannot claim to have read every word written on the subject and this suggestion may have been already made, but surely the DFP and the Yorkshire Post would want to give publicity to this. It is a major crisis amongst the loyal fan base. When clubs hit crises this sort of thing is front-page news in the local press.

In these circumstances you would not expect Steve Jones or Leon Wobschall to author such a piece, so ideally it would need to be written by a long-time season ticket holder who also follows them away from home. Having admired the writing of numerous contributors to this forum I have no doubt that a powerful article could be composed. Presenting this to the Editor needs to be carefully thought through, but I would be surprised if he/she were not interested.

With its recent elevation to city status this has a civic pride angle. It is ironic that its very recently-appointed Freeman seems to be blind to the wider damage to Doncaster's image.

There is no denial from the board, they are fully aware.

[scawsby steve]

Martin, I may have missed it, but was the amount of STs sold this season ever made aware to us? If not, is it a policy of the club not to disclose those details?