Bloody Hell!!

[Graham S]

I haven't been able to get near this forum since 7 O'Clock last night. It just kept presenting a blank page or freezing, or displaying in weird format, then freezing as soon as I tried to log on. Yet every other internet site I tried loaded immediately - except one: MyFC, which is still inaccessible.

 

However, I had been able to access the MyFC site while listening to Lord Chas during the game. Hundreds of them were listening from around the world & posting messages thick & fast. I think something like 20 pages were racked up between kick off & the end of Jason Botley's interview. Some of them were prepared to accept Harry J as a god when he joined. He has no chance now: Lance Cronin has been deified in cyberspabe.

 

I still have doubts despite paying my £35, but the raw enthusiasm (albeit rather strange for a team they'd never seen) that came across during the match was quite something. If people feel they have a stake in something they will commit. Some of them will be disappointed when they perhaps find their influence is less, in practical terms, than they expected, but let's see.

 

Sorry to read Dave H quoted in The Observer this morning as saying he will stop watching once MyFC take over. Dave, you were there yesterday (according to The Observer, anyway.) Your love for the club is undoubted. Don't punish yourself because you feel let down by the directors. I (a shareholder too) believe it can still be your club, just it can still be mine, despite the assorted spoilers, headcases, geeks, dreamers, visionaries, ordinary decent football fans & very clever articulate people who will soon be joining us. Believe me, those at the start of my list will be the first to drop out.

 

Graham S

 

 

 

 

[Stu B]

The Observer article..

 

I must say i'm sorry to hear that aswell about Dave. Your work on the website over the years has been brilliant and your well thought out posts on here a pleasure to read.

[Alan ( GNFC )]

Graham S, surely the fun over the years was the management of the level of expectations. Andy Ford undoubtedly lifted the bar but getting relegated and losing is as much a part of football as Villa, Bedford or the cup final against Weymouth. It is these that make days at Bedford so much more special.

We support GNFC because our lives dont need the ego massage of constant winning, otherwise we'd support a top club.

Having paid £35 to get a feel for the MyFC ethos , it's all win/ win and football does not deliver that at this level without a Hornchurch, Rushden or Maidstone fall.

For every action there is an equal an opposite...

That is why this can only be a short term ( 5 year?) adrenalin rush.

[Graham S]

The win win win brigade will drop out. A lot will depend on the numbers, yes. There are a lot of MyFC people insisting on sensible sustainable development.

 

I am willing to remain optimistic. Those clubs you quote were all dependant on one or two people with huge egos & ultimately insecure resources who made bad decisions.

 

There is quite a bit of research which indicates that if you consult very large numbers of people, despite the inevitable lunatics, you end up with the best answer. And no, I'm not talking about team selection, which everyone seems to be fixating on, I mean in long term investment & planning.

 

I honestly don't know what I would have voted, if it had been thrown open to us beforehand, which reading the reports was not possible, but now it's happened, I'm willing to try & make it work. We cannot reverse it, nor do I believe we should now, even if we could.

 

This club is too much a part of my life & personal history for me to resign it to disaster in my thoughts or walk away from it in person & I am sure this is the case for many more of you.

Graham S

[American FLEET FAN No1]

Totally agree Alan, and when they finally drift away, what state will the club be in! A lot has been made, by them, about the "debt" the Club has, even they admit it is "manageable", that to me means the Club is probably in a better financial condition than some League Teams.

If the Club had been in imminent danger of Bankruptcy, they wouldn't have given it a second glance!

 

David and I have not always agreed on things, but he had the Club at heart. He has done a stirling job on this website, and behind the scenes at the Club. He will be missed!

[Graham S]

A small debt to MyFC, Les, compared with the other clubs that applied, thereby freeing up more cash for investment. But not a small debt to a club, which since near oblivion just before Lionel Ball's return, has always insisted on being realistic.

 

I suspect the directors sensed that, at the rate it was growing, the debt would soon become unsustainable, along with our full time status & ultimately, perhaps, even our existence.

 

Maybe I'll be proved a mug by going along with this, but I know no true supporters, yourself included, who disagree with me, would take any pleasure in being proved right.

 

Graham S

[Alan ( GNFC )]

Graham, the examples I quote are relevant to GNFC.

I accept that Hornchurch and Rushden were owned by a sugar daddy, but Maidstone certainly had a large board around Thompson.

Look at where clubs like Dover, Margate or Dartford; Farnborough,Enfield or Gloucester ended up after the initial gold rush.

In fact look in the Ryman and Southern League for all those teams that have been through an unsustainable adrenalin rush.

[Alan ( GNFC )]

Graham, the other consideration that miffs me is in the 21st century anybody can be an expert on anything.

I have got used to it being an Architect, as everyone is a frustrated Architect when it comes to building design.

 

I am also a FA Level 1 coach who has managed a side for 10 years.

I often have to put up with 'experts' suggesting ideas. My answer is that they are probably right and if it was their team then they could implement the idea.

However, as a manager winning is great but I have learnt that the only way to have peace of mind after a defeat is to have stuck to my own team selection, substitutions etc because I can justify them clearly to myself during the 48 hours it takes to recover mentally.

Liam is about to enter a very turbulent time when he wont know what to do/say. I wish him and the steady stream of managers thereafter much luck.

[Graham S]

Originally Posted By: Alan ( GNFC )

Graham, the examples I quote are relevant to GNFC.
I accept that Hornchurch and Rushden were owned by a sugar daddy, but Maidstone certainly had a large board around Thompson.
Look at where clubs like Dover, Margate or Dartford; Farnborough,Enfield or Gloucester ended up after the initial gold rush.
In fact look in the Ryman and Southern League for all those teams that have been through an unsustainable adrenalin rush.

I always felt that Jim Thompson had his board in his pocket. Selling their ground without sufficient planning ahead was the huge mistake Maidstone made & Dartford got screwed for the ride. How we conduct ourselves when it comes to building a new ground will be utterly crucial, but as I understand it, settling that one is still Brian's baby. Sure it will need to be ratified by MyFC, but there's no way 20,000 members will be involved in the nitty gritty.

As I said to Les, I could be proved wrong & I know no genuine supporter will be pleased if I am. But I believe (0K, maybe "sincerely hope" is more accurate) that this is fundamentally different to what happened at those other clubs you correctly quote, who could not cope with sudden influxes of cash.

Graham S

[Hooligan Idol]

Originally Posted By: Graham S

Sorry to read Dave H quoted in The Observer this morning as saying he will stop watching once MyFC take over. Dave, you were there yesterday (according to The Observer, anyway.)

Graham S

[American FLEET FAN No1]

At least we agree on something(apart from the love of the Club), Graham, despite what other people think, I will certainly NOT gloat if this goes pear shaped.

If it does I'm scared to death what shape the Club will be left in.

I have stated more than once, if it is still going in three years, I will donate the equivalent of the Myfc fee to the Fleet Trust, if it still exists! At least that way the Club gets all my money

If this is not a scam, the main problem I forsee, is the members who are in this, because they think it is a "reality manager game", and those that don't get their way, after a year, will disappear, leaving the true "new fans", to pick up the lost revenue. Then how many of them will be prepared to pay more?

[Slartibartfast]

Originally Posted By: Graham S

I honestly don't know what I would have voted, if it had been thrown open to us beforehand, which reading the reports was not possible, but now it's happened, I'm willing to try & make it work. We cannot reverse it, nor do I believe we should now, even if we could.

This club is too much a part of my life & personal history for me to resign it to disaster in my thoughts or walk away from it in person & I am sure this is the case for many more of you.

Graham S

Well put Graham.

[Alan ( GNFC )]

Totally agree Graham about it being a part of our lives. Although no longer a regular I have been on board since 1974.

But that does not mean we roll over and be tickled by MyFC quite just yet. It is not a fait a complet and at some stage there will have to be direct contact with shareholders.

I for one am not certain MyFC complies with the FA policy on ownership.

[Stu M]

Originally Posted By: Stu B

The Observer article..

Nicely misinformed too:

Last season's finish was the best in Fleet's history - seventh,

[Uncle Urchin]

Originally Posted By: Alan ( GNFC )

I for one am not certain MyFC complies with the FA policy on ownership.

as most of you will have spotted I have been making a gentle nuisance of myself all week on here (retirement is a sad thing...so much time so little excitement) but the one consistent from all of my questions is this.....no fcker from myfc.com answers them....and yet all the emotional real ebbs fans posts are immediately pounced upon by the spin members..

now here are three questions for chairman brooks...micky the licky and all of the new pretorian posters on here this week....(simple numpties that parted with 35 quid to buy a football club need not answer)

have the FA sanctioned your takeover of EU with regard to the fit and proper person test?

if not why did you release the news to the press knowing that the deal may be blocked by the FA?

did no one think to clear this issue with the FA?

thank you

[American FLEET FAN No1]

I'm still waiting...........After asking it god knows how many times............Who makes up the shorfall in funds if the numbers drop dramatically?

[Slartibartfast]

What shortfall, we got nothing from them last year if they have only two members left next year we will be £55:00 better off than we would be without them.

[American FLEET FAN No1]

If they all pay up for one year or two, then the club will have a fixed amount(budget) to work with.If after that time sinificant numbers leave(and are not replaced)who picks up the shortfall of the funds from the first two years to provide the needed monies?

[StaffordRangers4Life]

 

 

have the FA sanctioned your takeover of EU with regard to the fit and proper person test?

 

if not why did you release the news to the press knowing that the deal may be blocked by the FA?

 

did no one think to clear this issue with the FA?

 

thank you

 

The FA have been informed about the takeover and this won't prove a stumbling block, and Conference officials have stated in today's Non League Paper that they see nothing wrong with the move.

 

A club being owned by an Industrial or Provident Society, or Trust as they are known, is something that has been around for a while.

[Arithon]

Originally Posted By: American FLEET FAN No1

I'm still waiting...........After asking it god knows how many times............Who makes up the shorfall in funds if the numbers drop dramatically?

Well it won't be you will it.

The MYFC Funds are extra to the clubs existing funds, not instead of them.

BTW I spoke to some of the Ebbsfleet fans on Saturday at the match, and would like to thank them for their friendly welcome,