Melbourne Cobbler
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As some may be aware I have written to the board of the Trust and asked them to address the concerns some have about their relationship with the membership. They have had the decency to respond immediately and have promised to address these concerns early next week. They will also no doubt be most concerned to read the allegations and accusations contained in the letter from club staff. May I suggest that everyone take a step back and give the Trust the opportunity to respond to these recent communications before forming any conclusions. These recent events are counterproductive to everyone involved especially the club and it benefits no one to continue down this path whatever your position is regarding this situation.
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Not a real supporter but unelected chair of the Northampton Town Honorary Supporters Club. (Please note: any opinions given may not necessarily be shared by proper supporters. In incidents of conflict the views of real supporters shall take precedence).
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Charlatan
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When he did a Q&A on Facebook in 2019, I was vocal… this was my first chance to speak face to face and felt it was right.
I’m not happy with the final drawings as I want to see a full rebuild, but the design is far better than the current eyesore.
He did allow me A LOT of time today and I am confident that I’ll have been more honest with him than anyone else who went about critiques. I sense he actually appreciated some honesty and in fairness, I’d say that was mutual. He said a lot which would not be featuring in a Gareth Wilshere Broom cupboard video and I respect that.
I’m not sold on things at all and told him as much. But I am getting my season ticket. I want to back the boys and get them back to League 1.
Well done Dan, hats off to you mate.
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guest49
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I think the staff may need a little fan support as it unravels. They are all employees and work to earn a living like any of us. In many instances it will be their dream job to work for a club they love. They are not in their roles to be accountable for things that go on outside of their control and I am sure as frustrated as many regular fans regarding the redevelopment. It also says they wrote it independently, although I am sure KT signed off the publication.
Unless there is a Brewdog culture under the surface (I doubt it considering the size of workforce), they are clearly happy, engaged and feel as though their bosses and their own roles have been unfairly criticized and in some cases abused. If it was your job, you'd be straight to HR and action would be taken. As an employee that is your no.1 priority, to be happy, looked after, feel safe and appreciated. All of those seem to apply, so many of us could probably feel envious that they have jobs with a good employer. The only caveat is that they would have probably said the same about Cardoza...whilst they were getting paid of course.
I'm all for people standing up for their rights and not tolerating unacceptable treatment. With social media there is an easy avenue to generate this.
If relationships were better than I am sure it could have been dealt with between the club and Trust direct. The Trust will know EXACTLY who the person/people they are citing in the letter but can probably assume it is from an influential member(s), as they clearly can't be held for the personal postings of every member.
The club and staff have played a blinder the past couple of days but hats off for calling this behaviour out.
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Terryfenwickatemyhamster
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They were, but were beaten to it because KT had £4m ring fenced to finished the stand and signed an MoU to that effect. You can reverse engineer the value KT and DB need £10m to break even so do the council the rest will be split (another bone of contention). Cardoza was offered £27m for the land back in 2014 and that was massively under price.
I personally know the guy that did the soil sampling on virtually all of the site. I have worked with him on several projects. Whilst I don’t doubt the value has increased, I really can’t see a substantial amount more based on what I have been told. There has to be a huge cost in venting, ground work and prep before anything starts. Having said that, it doesn’t really matter, if what you put on it is making good money.
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Terryfenwickatemyhamster
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So have I, right from the first presentation, what really irritates me is pleading poverty when in reality it hasn’t cost them a penny!
I don’t disagree with you. But it can’t surprise you that on all sides it has come down to good old fashioned posturing. I don’t think for one second the Trust board issued its list of questions hoping for them to be answered. Putting aside KT and DB, you wouldn’t secure an answer from anyone in business with that sort of gesture. So let’s be clear, if everyone is going to be honest, the Trust board had this one lined up ready, as I suggested at the time. KT tried to get it back on his terms by suggesting a zoom meeting. That fell flat on its face as I’m sure all of us including the Trust board knew it would. I have called consistently for transparency on all sides. With restrictions on public meetings starting to subside, what I would like to see, is an open forum with all parties there, including the council. Let’s bring out into the open, the main protagonists. It could be overseen by an independent adjudicator, making sure order is maintained, and that there is an equal share of questions. It would be an ideal opportunity to gauge public opinion, as well as laying to rest some of the rumour and conjecture that surrounds certain aspects of the club and other parties.
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guest1269
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The staff say they are big fans of NTFC so I ask them these questions.....
What do you want from your football club, can you honestly say that you are truly proud of NTFC in it's current state? Do you feel you and the owners have done everything possible (within reason) and maximised NTFC potential?
Because I know as a long life fan, I am currently NOT proud of NTFC and I am so so so so frustrated at it's continued mediocre performances on and off the pitch. (and the acceptance of that by it's owners, staff and many fans)
I can’t answer your question directly but my partner worked for the club for a number of years - the first couple of years under Cardoza were ok with a lot of optimism but fast forward and a lot of the staff became increasingly jaded - everything was about cost and talk of an ambition seemed like sound bites with no real belief they would ever happen. Under KT the thoughts have generally been positive and the clubs attempts to engage with the local community also seen as a big positive (it’s a pity people like you ridicule many of these actions as trivial and insignificant for a club with ambition). Of course the development issue has been frustrating but again general opinion was this was complex and would be resolved eventually. You may not be proud of your football club but frankly the majority of the club’s staff and fan base are probably not very proud of supporters like you.
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everbrite
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If they do have anything of substance about anything that is ‘below board’ and haven’t released it, they’ve f*cked up with that too. Let’s face it, the Trust are finished.
Personally I doubt it - if the Club comes unstock in the future the Trust will be a rallying point for many as happened in the Cardoza era. To save the Trust join it and guide it to better things.
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2020 Grand National S/S 3rd Place
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guest3063
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That is a hell of a letter, the staff are not best pleased at all. Unbelievable that the staff at a Football Club feel they need to send a letter like that to a supporters body, they are truly upset. If that is their feeling then they deserve every credit for standing up for what they believe, well done.
+ We need a response from the Trust quickly. To be honest I've lost all faith in them in any case. Fan ownership appears their only interest and they are using every trick in the book to try and get what they want.
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Terryfenwickatemyhamster
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I have defended the Trust on here but now is the time they have to reveal what they have and evidence it. The time for dithering is over. Over to the Trust.
Now hopefully all… Including the Trust board will see why I asked them to postal ballot their bloody members. They could have been basking in the full protection of their members now. It is a crying shame that is has come to this. But has one of those that has endured endless criticism for simply not agreeing with the behaviour of the Trust, I can totally sympathise with how the staff at NTFC genuinely feel.
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guest168
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I’m sure if the letter is contrived it will all come out and those involved in drafting it will need to take a long hard look at themselves. If this doesn’t materialise perhaps you should take a long hard look at yourself?
I do understand the staff not liking the 'hate' but the fact they have to mention in their statement that the owners are basically great cos they get paid on time is hardly setting the bar high in business standards. !
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guest3086
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There is so much wrong with that statement from 'senior management and all club staff'. They actually contradict it in the first sentence when it becomes 'from senior management and full time staff'. It states it has been compiled after a period of consultation so it is obviously a project somebody has decided to undertake. It should have said it was from all staff instead of adding the senior management tag. There is no way anything is ever unanimous when more than twelve people are involved! As a result, when all senior management are proposing a statement it will take a brave employee to refuse to agree.
They then attack folk without naming them for what they perceive to be abusive language which they go on to repeat (albeit with the odd letter disguised) but they point the finger at a specific group (the Trust board) which is frankly a cowardly and nasty way of implicating people with no proof. It is always extraordinary the way organisations in particular complain about what gets said on social media, are they seriously surprised? When it suits them, however, they are happy to do the same as this statement proves.
It must be remembered that KT asked for the Trust to present him with questions. If he just wanted another Zoom meeting then why not do that in the first place? It would have been a lot easier just to answer them.
I could go further with the anomalies of the 'staff' statement but I can't be bothered. Suffice to say the whole club is now embroiled in the shenanigans of the chairman and his building blocks. Following the open day we are actually no further forward than we were when he arrived. He has produced a drawing of an imaginary stand that may or may not be built. If he really wanted to be 'open' he would show us the plans for the whole development and the resulting revenue projections and how the club would benefit.
Ironic that the staff who were supported in their time of need have now turned on those who looked after them when they needed it most. It is also worth pointing out what an awful job they have done after an abject season of diabolical football we are back in the lowest tier of the efl.
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guest168
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Ironic that the staff who were supported in their time of need have now turned on those who looked after them when they needed it most. [/quote]
Yep the irony of it all. As I believe that the Trust paid those staff wages with a £10,000 'loan' at the end of the Cardoza saga on the understanding that KT would pay it back into the Trust funds after take over.
Guess what..... HE NEVER PAID IT BACK and you know what, unlike me, the Trust never threw that back in his face.
So Cobblerwatch are you proud to be a NTFC supporter?? that after SIX years we have not moved forward one inch, in fact we are much worse of as a group
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Melbourne Cobbler
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Ironic that the staff who were supported in their time of need have now turned on those who looked after them when they needed it most.
Yep the irony of it all. As I believe that the Trust paid those staff wages with a £10,000 'loan' at the end of the Cardoza saga on the understanding that KT would pay it back into the Trust funds after take over.
Guess what..... HE NEVER PAID IT BACK and you know what, unlike me, the Trust never threw that back in his face.
So Cobblerwatch are you proud to be a NTFC supporter??
To be clear on your position, was it the boards money or the members?
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Not a real supporter but unelected chair of the Northampton Town Honorary Supporters Club. (Please note: any opinions given may not necessarily be shared by proper supporters. In incidents of conflict the views of real supporters shall take precedence).
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guest168
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obviously the members money
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Melbourne Cobbler
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obviously the members money
And some of the staff are members, as are many of those that are at the sharp end of your commentary. Have you considered how they might view these events. Perhaps they don’t share your opinion? Hypothetically what if the majority of the membership actually supported the actions of the staff?
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Not a real supporter but unelected chair of the Northampton Town Honorary Supporters Club. (Please note: any opinions given may not necessarily be shared by proper supporters. In incidents of conflict the views of real supporters shall take precedence).
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Terryfenwickatemyhamster
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Yep the irony of it all. As I believe that the Trust paid those staff wages with a £10,000 'loan' at the end of the Cardoza saga on the understanding that KT would pay it back into the Trust funds after take over.
Guess what..... HE NEVER PAID IT BACK and you know what, unlike me, the Trust never threw that back in his face.
I really hope you have fact checked that.. You are stating on an Internet forum that KT reneged on a deal with the Trust to pay back the 10k loan… The notorious Trusts money in a carrier bag deal…. 😁😁.
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guest3063
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Ironic that the staff who were supported in their time of need have now turned on those who looked after them when they needed it most.
Yep the irony of it all. As I believe that the Trust paid those staff wages with a £10,000 'loan' at the end of the Cardoza saga on the understanding that KT would pay it back into the Trust funds after take over.
Guess what..... HE NEVER PAID IT BACK and you know what, unlike me, the Trust never threw that back in his face.
So Cobblerwatch are you proud to be a NTFC supporter?? that after SIX years we have not moved forward one inch, in fact we are much worse of as a group
All you do is pick holes in the ownership of the club, rarely do you comment on matters on the pitch. Do you have a hidden desire to run it yourself and this is the reason for your bitterness?
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tcobb
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Random, I gave money to help pay the staffs wages, I didn't give it to the Trust so they could use it as a loan. If ever they demand the money back, then I want my £20 back.
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This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.
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guest1269
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So Cobblerwatch are you proud to be a NTFC supporter??
Yes
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guest3063
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Random, I gave money to help pay the staffs wages, I didn't give it to the Trust so they could use it as a loan. If ever they demand the money back, then I want my £20 back.
Me too.
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