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FezNTFC
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As a former board member of the Trust here's my two penneth worth.
I think the club should have just answered the 25 questions in writing sent to them by the Trust - even if they didn't like a couple of them. A few questions were a bit 'loaded' so to speak but the owners should have thick enough skin to deal with that. This is also a compromise situation given the previous relationship breakdown, it's not going to be perfect. I do feel the majority of questions were fair to ask, and the cynic in me does question why they couldn't feel they could provide written answers. I don't know exactly why I think it, but it just doesn't sit right. If everything Kelvin has said about the East Stand at the open day comes to fruition then happy days, but I will only really believe it when I see it.
Despite them not getting the written answers, I personally would have still liked the Trust to take up the option of the open Zoom call and I would have just asked them the most pertinent of the 25 questions there. It would still have been answers on the record and we'd know more about what he was/wasn't willing to talk about. I'd like to know more about the thought process behind turning that down.
The above is a classic example of both sides being a bit stubborn - but I have to say the Trust seem to be getting the brunt of the criticism when I would say the situation was of equal making between the club and the Trust.
Unfortunately the difficulty here is that supporters also hold very stubborn views on the Trust that they never seem to let go. Having used to do comms for them back in the day I knew people who hated the Trust because of stuff that was done in the 90s when I was still in nappies and despite it being an entirely new board. The image now, whether fair or not, is that the Trust is anti-club and pro fan ownership. People nowadays more than ever seem more unwilling to ever change their mind, and they're going to have to work very hard to rectify that.
Onto the open letter from staff. Whatever your views are of KT on playing budgets, investments, the East Stand, 5USport ect, it cannot be denied that he is very clearly a good operator. If you speak to any staff member they have nothing but praise for him and they think he treats them well. In that respect, he's clearly a good owner. So I don't feel that it's likely that the club board put the staff up to doing this.
That said I would have liked to have seen more evidence that this anti-club rhetoric is rife in the whole Trust board rather than it being a couple of individuals acting of their own accord, which is certainly the impression I get though I'm happy to be proved wrong. Regardless of whether they like it or not, Trust board members are entitled to their own view - it doesn't mean that their views are that of the Trust board. I have never seen a Trust statement criticise the staff, so I also feel that if indeed it is just a couple of the board that made those posts then the open letter is a bit harsh on a number of people who I know are good people with the club at heart and have now been tarred with a particular brush. That said, the quoted posts in the open letter seemed very crass, and I would hope Trust board members are being advised on their use of social media.
With regards to the future - it's absolutely imperative that this club has a healthy supporters' trust. It's the body that people turn too, it's the original supporters' trust and we should be proud of it. It's only as healthy as its membership though.
There are as usual good ideas on here on how the Trust can be driven forward, but it requires people to do the work - and as a fanbase we are too happy to leave the same 10-12 people ticking the Trust over until the next crisis. I hope that some of the people who are coming up with these great ideas go to the Trust and offer their help, it would be a great way to start.
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