Fook sake, I'm sick of all the squabbling now. I hope we just pìss this league and leave it well behind us ffs.
You and me both mate. The title of this thread is Takeover Rumour. I reckon that once the announcement that the EFL have ratified the agreement has been made, the mods on here should lock the thread. It’s been a great thread. ITKs, WUMs everyone playing a part, but in my opinion at least the time has come to move on.
Sorry mate, I don't agree. The title may not still be appropriate but there are still some important issues being discussed. We may not all agree, with every subject, but polite 'squabbling', is an important part of a forum like this. I'd love each and every Sunderland supporter to be marching side by side into a rosy new year but some want to be at the front leading everyone else. Some people may believe I'm seeing more in this than there actually is but there's something not quite right about this RAWA statement. I, and other people, have asked questions that haven't been answered and some people, defending RAWA's actions, have been a little too quick to dismiss genuine concerns in my opinion. This 'sit down you're rocking the boat' routine is the oldest trick in the book. It's not their boat and no one is the captain, we're all just supporters. However, there are RAWA members who've come on to say they're not happy either and there's no consultation with them. It's all very well saying people can be voted out but the structure makes that a scant possibility. I don't like the way this is going especially the way statements are deliberately scripted to make it appear that they represent the entire support. This latest statement smells all wrong tbh and was rushed out by a handful of people before the ownership is even confirmed. There's something that doesn't sit right with this and people shouldn't be hushed up imo. This isn't the first time an 'open lettter' has been issued purporting to represent us all and it's wrong. It's worth reading again, not only for the tone but also for how it looks to the press and how it will be reported. https://www.sunderlandecho.com/spor...ority-shareholder-kyril-louis-dreyfus-3079065 There's one particular part that sums up my concerns. I know @Guinness Guzzler has said the statement has been misinterpreted but I'm not so sure. (Notwithstanding that there was absolutely no need for any statement.) "We will let him know that support will continue and grow if he attempts to meet the standards and ambitions befitting of a club of our stature and history." Sorry but that's shameless. On our behalf, they're promising our support but only if he does what we're demanding. My question to RAWA is this ... ... exactly what are the standards and ambitions the supporters are demanding, or are you setting the criteria?
spot on there sir, perhaps we should send an email pointing out that RAWA did theirs without consulting their members and they certainly do not represent the views of the majority of supporters. no matter how much they think they do.
The problem is mate, we've absolutely no idea what percentage of the support they do represent. The claim is that it's 13,000, hmm. I'm sure 13,000 angry people ticked a box on the Internet when Donald and Methven were insulting the supporters and employing Parkinson. That's hardly giving RAWA a mandate to make ad hoc statements to the new owner 'from the supporters'. Unless they reign themselves in I can see this creating divisions which, at such an exciting time, would be a great shame.
Well said. For most of my lifetime we have been a championship club with occasional forays into the top division. Won one trophy since the 1930's. So what are the ambitions for a club of our stature and history.
The statement read just like one of the famous Mag open letters to Ashley. At least they've had 10 years of dreadful standards, and a total lack of ambition, for which to hold the owner to account ... ... KLD hasn't even booked a flight and he's being put on the spot by a group of self promoting 'experts'.
So 13,000 members. Lets say that 60% agreed with the statement, that's only 7,800 people. What was our average attendance last season again? I'm also assuming that a fair percentage of those 13,000 are expats who don't attend games so the actual % of match attending supporters who may have agreed with the statement would be lesser still. What % of our overall supporter base is 13,000? If we have 1 million supporters worldwide it's only 1.3% that they claim to represent,
Hope you don't mind ... ... I've cut out all the shyte with the the view and the palm trees please log in to view this image
I don't believe for one moment that they even speak for those 13,000. I'm a member of RAWA, as a few seem to be on here, and, as far as I know, none of us have been asked for our opinions before posting that absolutely stupid statement They represent whoever made it . . . . probably one or two people, that's all
You become a 'member' by clicking to be on their mailing list, hardly an earnest commitment. I've seen people saying that if you don't support RAWA you're 'just sitting on your arse' and letting he club go to the dogs The statement was actually aimed at it's members, not the owner ... that's quite clear. It's constructed to make them look dynamic, forward thinking and relevant. In reality they're making comments that don't need to be made, representing the entire support, which will obviously be picked up by the media. Donald wanted to sell the club from Day One but was handed the perfect excuse to blame the supporters when that particular statement came out. Donald didn't respond by blaming a few lads at RAWA who put the statement out, he blamed us all. They need to take a step back and look at their own mission statement. "The Red and White Army is a fully democratic, inclusive and independent supporters group which aims to give a voice to Sunderland fans. Our goal is to inform, liaise with and communicate with the club to maintain the relationship between supporters and Sunderland AFC."
As a member of RAWA did you not see the post on the SMB asking saying RAWA would be asking the club when the cancelled meeting some weeks previously was going to be rearranged? This was days before the statement put out by the Club on Christmas eve?
