I posted on here a few weeks ago asking what people don't like about the Trust but got no answers. So I'll make it personal, TCobb says "Personally don't want either anywhere near the running of the Club" and Singcobb says in answer to Manwork saying we should back the Trust "If that's the case we're fúcked"
I accept that everyone is entitled to an opinion, so can I politely ask what are the reasons for you to hold such views ?
I'll answer seeing as you have asked twice now.
Here's what I like about the Trust first though. It's run by dedicated individuals who give up their own personal time for a cause they believe in. We are all Cobblers fans. I genuinely think deep down everyone involved is well meaning and wants the best for our club. I think some board members listen and even if they don't agree engage well like Drilling for instance. I think new board members like GPC will bring welcome new ideas and engagement as well which is a positive.
Here's why I don't like the Trust.
They have no power therefore relatively minor influence on anything to do with our football club. They don't have a large enough membership and I don't believe they truly represent the views of the majority of supporters, whether members or not.
I would ask what have the trust done for me as a supporter over the last 5 years. What noticeable difference have the trust made to my experience of attending matches at the Cobblers (when we could). In what way am I better off as a supporter for the trust even existing. This doesn't mean I don't think a trust or supporters group should exist I just think an effective and relevant one needs to exist.
I said several years ago on this board various things the trust should do to achieve relevance and to become more effective and all you receive in return is a "why don't you do it then" or "come and join the board and do something about it". As if that's a suitable answer to give everyone. Any criticism tends to be received by the trust in a confrontational manner and is simply dismissed as irrelevant moaning.
I work long hours, have two children, coach football 3 days a week and at the weekend so have no free time to join organisations such as this and yet because of that my opinion is somehow irrelevant or dismissed.
That's even aside from the fact that I don't agree with how the trust is run and is making decisions on what the supporters want without really engaging with their membership let alone the wider support base. Whenever I ask in the past how the trust truly know they are doing what the fans want I just got batted away with comments regarding it's not how organisations work and you can't ask supporters every time you make a decision. How ridiculous is that when the trust has been pushing big issues such as fan ownership as what "us fans" want without actually asking whether it really is! Even the recent poll they ran which they are now claiming gives a mandate for change at the club was filled I think with only four, heavily loaded questions that were pretty much the equivalent of asking if Turkeys like Xmas. I can't remember any of the exact wording but it was things like...Do you think the training and other infrastructure around the club should be invested in and improved. What fan would say no to that??? I'm sure we will see in the future comments such as 97% of cobblers fans wanted improvement to the infrastructure. Why not ask...do you want a billionaire owner to take over and lift the club to the premier league? or Would you like the team to win the league next season?
I said years ago the trust need more members and that should be their number one priority along with engaging with those members new and old more often. I do see posts being made on Twitter and the "new" website so I can see efforts are being made but it's clearly not being engaged with. Rather than certain individuals involved or on the committee of the trust blaming the "sheep" fans for showing apathy you should be trying to understand why there is so much apathy and coming up with different ideas of how to change it.
I also said years ago that the trust in co-ordination with the club or the clubs community trust should lead a large fan related project that benefits the wider support base. Show supporters you are capable of taking on a decent sized project and work for the benefit of all supporters. This goes back to my earlier point of doing something I can benefit from. Something that engages supporters and the fans can see what benefits a strong supporters trust can bring to them. Eventually proving you could run a club in the long run or show how much better and fan friendly things could be if you were in charge. The new Hotel End Project recently talked about is a prime example of something the trust shouldn't just be involved with it's something they should be leading. Prove your value!
In addition I hate the way the trust make themselves come across anti-club. Constantly making little snipes when they can. You'll say your are not but you have to realise that if you attack the ownership to the general masses you come across as bitter and anti club. There are some hard working indivduals at the club who do great jobs but I rarely see any praise or acknowledgment of this. Let's go back to the meeting several years ago regarding fan ownership where some of the comments made and literature handed out was so self righteous in telling everyone how sh!t the club is run and how easy it would be to fix it and what they should change. This being done while offering little or no information on how it could be achieved and the little was offered didn't stand up to even the most minor of scrutiny.
If the current owners really are as bad as they are being made out to be spell it out for me and others why things should change. Give me a tangible alternative not some pie in the sky 50+1 owenership model, fan ownership or part owenership with a local businessman. I've no great love for KT and his ownership but there are constant little snipes like the recent one about foreign ownership and trying to liken this to our current owners. If bad stuff is going on behind the scenes tell us what it is. If you can't prove anything that can convince the masses you are better off trying to be positive and prove there is another way.
The last for now, although I have plenty of other reasons, is I simply don't think fan ownership in any form currently is the right option unless there was a wholesale change in the way football is run. It would simply place a lower ceiling over the club than exists already. My personal opinion is it would limit the club to the bottom league permanently if not worse. There wouldn't be a benefactor to put in £500k to break even or see us through massive impacts such as Covid has been. I see the same people complain about private ownership that then complain about us not having a larger playing budget or buying a striker like Pish do. I see the same people who think we should have a new training ground but offer not suggestion of how this is achieved and then complain about debt to our current owner rising on a yearly basis. Yet if we were fan owned/partially owned we would have the same problems if not more restrictions on any of this being achieved.
It's the sheer arrogance of an organisation and it's commitee and more vocal supporters telling us how badly things are being done currently and what should be done but offering no practical solutions and offering no tangible proof they could do better.
Look at Twitter and witness some of the vocal minority that are aligned with the trust either on the committee or certainly closely involved and witness how they engage with the club's tweets and local media. Look at the way they engage with supporters that don't agree with them. The aim should be to take people with you on a journey not bully, harass them and call them sheep. I wouldn't give them 10 seconds of my time let alone spend time debating with them in committee meetings. I know what people will say. Just because tehy are on the committee they are a supporter and entitled to their personal opinion. Yes you are. But......how can I trust people that conduct themselves this way to represent mine and other supporters views if they behave and feel the way they do and mine and other views are so different from their own.
That's it for now as this post is already massive and I'm sure I have bored most people. I'm sure people will respond and I'll have more to add. You did ask.