I have seen the minutes and present were Barnie (unelected but somehow trust chair) and at least two other prominent trust members - and yes they did ask about the Bovril and the also complained about the hand dryers not working in the men's loo. Now this seems to me to be a waste of a an oppoutunity to me to get some hard facts from the CE, (unless of course you piss yourself while drinking Bovril)
Have to say that the "CAST Calls Public Meeting" thread on Charlton Life has swiftly degenerated, and now makes horribly nauseous reading. If Roland is getting the transcripts back at his castle in Flem-land, he must be pissing himself with laughter. I did urge on ITTV for #certain people# (not SD) to take a back seat on this occasion, but at least 40 posts from Airman Brown and Peague Addick on the thread suggests that self awareness in certain quarters is still not in plentiful supply. No doubt Razil or Rikofold will come on here eventually and say 'yes, but these two have a lot to offer', but I don't concur. RE has major issues and axes to grind with how he lost his job at Charlton (even though things were pretty crap on his watch under Murray...), and "Prague" is Cheerleader in Chief for Mr Shares Destroyer himself, Richard Murray. Frankly you can count me out if either of these two characters or Ben Hayes has anything more than a very small role on the night. It is pointless saying "ignore the personalities" when these 3 characters in particular have only one agenda- themselves. It will be interesting to see how CAST reigns them in.
I agree with you Kent. It depresses me how, once again, the utterly self important & deluded puff ball Prague Hunt has hijacked this event. The motives & agenda are still unclear but what is very clear is that 3/4 loud and familiar voices will dominate the event unless told to back off. My advice to CAST would be to tell Hunt, Everitt et at that they have had their day, and it is other people's turn.
It may not be that bad. A large meeting like this should be, where feelings run high,can develop a will of its own. You have mentioned 3 voices, but there will be plenty more. for instance the bloke on the Watford train, who like me are enraged to see our great club reduced to being a minor cog in this Experiment. The results on the pitch are there for all to see. To be involved in a relegation dogfight after equalling the number of games at the start of the season without defeat is sure to drive large numbers of fans away, in fact I'd like to know how many have already given up on us. I wouldn't like to predict how the meeting will go.
fHB my memories of the evening are a bit misty slightly but back in the dark days of Sell Out Park, the supporters club had a meeting at the Valley club under the North stand. The meeting was well attended by some of the more virile fans and your right it took a life of its own and the supporters club played no or little part. Yours truly gave a speech as did many more eloquent others and then things began to happen. Like the elves and the shoemaker, the valley was dug over, and marches and the valley party was born. That is what I want. A single issue party with new faces, no leader, no chair just a momentum from a group with a committed purpose.
how will the trust drum up interest to those who don't use social media? Will they have a presence tomorrow at boro?
They are using social media - but to navel gaze & talk to each other. They had time to Tweet that CAST has hit 2000 Members today on the back of the public meeting, which suggests to me that some of the old egos are coming out to play. Get the basics right first and reach out to every part of our fan base, or is this just about them (again)
Hi all. Let me introduce myself first. I'm Rich Pemberton, I'm on the Supporters' Trust board, supporter for 40 years and season ticket holder for around 25 of them. I'm also a regular poster to Into the Valley and Charlton Life, more occasionally to Glynne Jones's mailing list. I'll do my best to add this site to the list, but please bear with me if I'm slow to respond - only so many hours in the day. Royston invited me to join yesterday, so I'm glad he's been patient whilst I got round to it. ;-) I want to make something perfectly clear so there's no doubt. This is not about the Supporters' Trust, it's about all supporters. What we are doing is facilitating an evening where we will hear views and opinions from across the spectrum, with a view to getting a unified response among what is a currently disparate supporter base. We believe that any action we agree is needed will be stronger if we act together, rather than smaller isolated efforts. I don't apologise that we feel the club is stronger with its supporters at the heart of its direction. The Fans Forum do an admirable job, but they are hugely constrained in terms of what they are able to contribute, and we feel there's room for a stronger voice for supporters in the strategy of the club and its execution - and even the network. The meeting is still being planned. No-one has yet received an invitation to speak, to be at the top table or anything similar. It's our job now to ensure that views from all types of supporter grouping are heard at the meeting, and if the leaders of this forum feel they should speak there I'd urge them to write to the Trust (there's contact details on our website, www.castrust.org) and outline their case. We're very open to hear from people who have a contribution to make. For the record I think Reams was being bullish rather than claiming to have received an invitation, but we'd like him to be involved if he can make it down. @Kent Addick, one thing I would observe about the current situation is that the supporters are entirely in the dark as to RD's plans for the club. Certainly the decision making so far doesn't fill me with confidence that the club's best interests are top of his agenda. It would be in the owner's interests to share his thinking if he wants the club to succeed, because its supporters will help him on that journey - but the silence leaves a void in which all kinds of doubt is cultivated, not least because - well - why would you stay quiet if your plans are so amazing for the club we live and breathe? With regard to the aims of the meeting, it would be very inappropriate for the Supporters' Trust to second guess what the fans really wanted. We as an organisation have our views, but we want to help focus common thinking to a common purpose - until we have the meeting, it would be entirely incorrect for us to assume we can speak for everyone or have all the answers. Come along and play your part.
When you say Reams was being 'Bullish' you mean Reams was talking Bullshit? I am a simple man and want a simple cause. I don't want to come under the umbrella of the trust and if this is truely a united front - the supporters trust and all the other factions should leave their badges at the door. I want to be a rebel with a cause, not a foot soldier to an old boys club.
Royston you are a rogue. I said to you yesterday on ITTV, our aim is to provide a platform for views across the spectrum, and we're not going to rule out anyone because you don't like them, or because they've already got a profile. IF they speak, they'll either find the majority agreeing with them or not. Let the meeting decide, not root out people you have personal issues with.
No, I meant what I said. I'll repeat it once more - the Supporters' Trust are facilitating this in the hope that we'll get consensus regardless of 'badges'. Because right now the Charlton supporter base has never been more divided, and without unity we'll be lost.
Hence back to the original point. Whatever we do will be pointless. Roland Duchâtelet is going to do what he wants, without consideration of the fans. We need to take the Anonymous approach! We are Anonymous. We are Legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us. The Corrupt Fear Us - The Honest Support Us - The Heroic Join Us
Of course we are divided. The supporters trust usurp the supporters club, g21 then try and and usurp both? the 10,000 other fans who are uninterested in either faction get confused. For example why do we have to write to the trust to be able to contribute to the meeting? That's sounds like there's an agenda? For a fiver the trust provide a lot of entertainment but are ridiculously represented. A look at the recent spate on CL between Hayes, Razil and Prague tells me that these individuals are not mature enough to run a bath. Why can't this project be given to somebody that people respect. This is not X factor so are you suggesting that results are judged by the loudest cheers? Now I don't mind if the aforementioned take part in a hunger games trial...
I'm torn whether to go or not. Whether I'm in the country is dictating my mind first - but from the previous couple of years I just don't trust the... Trust. I've taken a bit more interest in trusts since ours formed - to give myself a more level playing field opinion, and I haven't seen others divide the fans as much as ours. I'd also recommend having a presence at m'boro, if you don't already. There's an opportunity to canvass to more fans, and on a more personal level.
Think I'm leaning towards this view. Call me Charlton Apathetic. I've a feeling any meeting will descend into tribal egocentric debate led by those with agendas and delusions of grandeur, but would love it, love it, if I were proved wrong. I'd need to see a meeting agenda first. That said obviously I want this to succeed! I hope whoever does go from this board does get their voice heard; we're an eloquent and considered bunch and whilst I only know of other factions what I have learned or learnt from here, I am confident that we will add a degree of considered rationalism (and considered menace too!). I personally would like to see an agreed manifesto representing us signed off by our number beforehand to be heard at the public meeting.
Very good post, Rick and thanks for taking the time. I'm with you and the Trust all the way; but you have rather missed my point, which was that a member of the Trust commttee - Richard Hunt - has said it is solely about full disclosure of the business plan , upon which the Trust will then pass judgement on "whether it is likely to secure the long term future of Charlton Athletic Football Club". What I said was that the present disaffection is about more than that and cannot be reduced to this one simple demand for disclosure, "nothing more, nothing less" as Richard Hunt says. Or have I misunderstood what he said? I'm sure the owner wants to secure the long term future of the club and for his investment to succeed. That's how he got to be the tenth wealthiest man in Belgium. He wants CAFC to climb the League. That's why he keeps sacking managers when they take us in the opposite direction (Riga apart, but he has been rewarded for his success with a post elsewhere in the network). But Duchatalet's secured future for the club might not be one we like or want to share. But I also think we know a lot more about Duchatalet's business plan than you say. Invest in the infrastructure, because if you do that properly the value of the asset will grow. Invest in the academy, because that can create a significant revenue stream. Austerity in the transfer market, where it is so easy to burn money in pursuit of success that seldom arrives, and if it does is usually transitory. This much we know. Beyond that lies ... who knows what? I agree with the Kish. We need to see an agenda in order to prevent the meeting turning into a "tribal egocentric debate". Personally, I'd like to see CL, ITTV and Not 606 merge into one powerful message board. Why we do we need three of them - apart from the egos of the moderartors who jealousy guard their right to ban those who disagree with them!
I'm not going to go searching for the exact words Richard H might have used in one post. We both sit on the Trust board and are therefore jointly responsible for the aims of this meeting being to hear what fans really think. I don't want simple words to be twisted because there is a cynicism re individuals. Logistically not everyone who wants to speak will be able to because of time. Equally the ability of any forum moderator to speak on behalf of all of their members assumes a consensus that exists on no board. The reason for encouraging people to contact the trust if they want to speak is so we can ensure there is broad representation, not just the usual suspects. There is no secret plot going on.
