roverthemoon

MacDonald and Connolly hopefully

Fair point and agree about moving on. The new owners are a definite upgrade on Sim from what I’ve seen and heard so far, even with any discomfort at a tweet.

Not just a minority of one at least! Already accepted that my view is not what most others think. If it can genuinely be monetised in some way and there’s a long term benefit the club then happy to hold my hands up, but would still prefer the club took a more inclusive approach.

Presuming that this is the model. A decent commercial person will hopefully bring in far more than he’ll take out of the club

A definite positive aim. Hopefully we can get back to that.

Gender may be irrelevant, but the optics of an all male board excluding a democratically elected female supporters director isn’t great tbh.

It’s really not.

How much actual income does that bring in to Raith Rovers? Probably zero.

Hopefully more to our digital strategy than cheap penis jokes. Appreciate that some will lap this sort of stuff up, but it really is dreadful.

It at least feels like a coordinated strategy to get the right people with the right experience in the right positions. Not sure the club has ever had that in the time I’ve supported it. Its early days of course but if they can blend the energy, enthusiasm and professionalism of the new team with a genuine connection to the community and properly valuing fans and volunteers in the process then it could turn into something quite exciting.

Slope definitely went in 1996 so he’s talking nonsense on that point. It was legendary so maybe he’s just remembering its reputation. Was behind the kicking towards the home end in the second half to get the benefit of the crowd and going downhill.

Sounds like a good commercial appointment. Lots of good things happening off the field, a marked difference to the stagnation of the last few years. Loving the new energy and enthusiasm around the club.

Did the Stark’s Park tour a few years ago and the away dressing room was very small, pretty dark and fairly basic. Have a vague memory of some Rangers player from the Gascoigne, Laudrup era mentioning how shit it was in his autobiography.

Hopefully. He’s always talked of giving the ground back to the club and community. If the new people are making a decent fist of things, then it’s a chance to come good on that promise.

Fully aware of this. 49% May make him irrelevant in the running of the club (hopefully). The 100% is more of a concern

Masson and Mitchell signed on. Masson looked a good prospect when he played. Spoke to a guy I know who watches Bonnyrigg Rose and he said that of the two on loan, Arnott had made a much better impression/contribution and that Mitchell had frustrated. Murray must see some potential in him.

Do like the reverse strip approach, but always thought the white strips lacked a bit. Always prefer a random yellow or pink.

Love the pink strip too. Wasn’t a fan of the home one this season so went for the away top instead.

This sums it up perfectly. I’m sure Barrowman etc won’t tolerate this sort of nonsense for long.

Good point, well made. They do represent a wide cross section of fans and their contributions to the club year after year which isn’t insignificant.

Just had a listen to the press conference and interviews on K107 Sports show. Really worth a listen as they play the whole press conference and speak to most of the new Board one on one. A few things stood out for me. The new guys coming in all speak very well and definitely seem an upgrade on what we’ve had in recent years - both communication wise and ideas wise. There’s always a risk that anyone new is either all big promises or just motherhood and apple pie, but it definitely doesn’t feel like that. It feels like fairly solid, concrete ideas and plans that could make a real difference. From the building work/renovations, to talk of using data on fans better to market the club or creating an ultras section in the Railway Stand. There is a real focus on bringing fans along with them. They all get asked what their message to people would be and it’s all good inclusive stuff like ‘belong’ ‘come with us’ ‘be part of it’ ‘leave no one behind’ Hopefully that will be backed up by actions. The only mildly worrying thing is that there’s a hint that Sim will still be more actively involved than initially suggested. Hopefully this was just them being polite and saying the right thing in front of him before he gets sidelined out the door. If the interviews highlighted how professional and focused the new guys seem, they also threw a spotlight on just how big a tube Sim is. He was just rambling, disjointed anecdotes and more interested in making jokes than saying anything thoughtful or meaningful. It’s easy to see how the club got driven into a ditch under his watch. Anyway definitely worth a listen and great work by K107.

After Reclaim the Rovers the fan groups invested every year to maintain a 10-15% share in New Raith Rovers which guaranteed them a director and a voice. When Sim took control - either as ‘saving’ the club or an opportunistic power grab depending on your view - the structure which was set up by RTR to provide a fan rep and ensure no one person could have overall control was effectively ripped up. From then on the position is at the owner’s benevolence. Not sure there’s a viable route at the moment to getting back to ‘buying’ back that place. Others might have more idea of what that would take.

Important to remember that the Supporter’s rep is elected by and accountable to all the fans groups and season ticket holders. It’s not just about the Trust. To me you’re either on the Board of the football club or you’re not. If Dot Wilson has been sidelined to some glorified committee which they’ve re-branded as a sub-board then it doesn’t bring confidence that they truly value what fans think. Edited to say that ultimately it doesn’t matter if that’s the case. May make no odds to how the club is run, but if you don’t really value the voice of fans and think you know best then there’s always going to be the risk of ending up in another Goodwillie equivalent.

Except that’s not how it works. The supporters director is there to represent ordinary fans not just those wealthy or privileged enough to find themselves on the board. We had a fans rep in the past even though we had diehard Rovers like Turnbull Hutton, Mario Caria etc in the boardroom. Sim sidelined and undermined the position. If the new owners were genuine about getting back to being a ‘community club’ then I’d have thought putting the democratically elected supporters director in the board would be a logical first step.

It’s their decision to have it as a tick box as Sim did or actually let that person play a full and active role in the decision making of the club. Or of course you could just completely ignore the fact that the my are there and just plough with absolutely no fan representation. Great community club behaviour