The Falkirk FC Thread

[LatapyBairn.]

14 minutes ago, Caractacus Potts said:

Did Kenny Jamieson not lambast the board for entertaining Mark Campbell at a time when we needed new investment?

Surely he can’t then be part of a board that would let in someone of a similar ilk? 

Difference is at that time there was alternative investment available with immediate cash injection via the BtB buy out which the club chose to ignore in favour of the crazy Mark Campbell effort.

Edited September 30, 2022 by LatapyBairn.

[Guest Caractacus Potts]

1 minute ago, LatapyBairn. said:

Difference is at that time there was alternative investment available with immediate cash injection via the BtB buy out which the club chose to ignore. 

True but that shouldn’t excuse letting a charlatan in the doors.

Would have been interesting to see how many who pledged for BtB stumped up cash as the FSS numbers certainly don’t match what was suggested.

Also we had the Navy Blue group recently offering a £500k investment(if memory serves)? That seems to have changed in to a £250k investment via the patrons.

Is that money still there from either group? Where’s the lost pledgers and what of the Navy Blue investment? 

[TheScarf]

18 minutes ago, Dawson Park Boy said:

Towards the end, they say ‘there’s no need to worry, no panic’.

Thats just nonsense.

There is a need to worry. The club probably only has a couple of months cash left.

What’s more worrying than that?

It's a very Tory statement, it's right up your street.

[Grangemouth Bairn]

6 minutes ago, TheScarf said:

It's a very Tory statement, it's right up your street.

You’d almost think the Director on the board to represent the fans gets a Tory style salary and Tory style bonus every year whilst employees of the company he represents struggle along.

[18BAIRN76]

There’s a difference between transparency - which, of course, we all want - and coming across like a bit of a dick. A pretty big one actually. The former doesn’t rely on the latter.

Edited September 30, 2022 by 18BAIRN76

[Ranaldo Bairn]

38 minutes ago, Grangemouth Bairn said:

The most important part is terribly worded though and that’s the key here.

I’d expect something will come out today apologising for that section of the email and building bridges with fans.

No, the most important part is the part where they admit "we're skint and desperately need cash".

The "90%/10% is unfair" bit stands out as a glaringly bad turn of phrase, but the overreaction to it has been faintly embarrassing.

[Grangemouth Bairn]

2 minutes ago, Ranaldo Bairn said:

No, the most important part is the part where they admit "we're skint and desperately need cash".

The "90%/10% is unfair" bit stands out as a glaringly bad turn of phrase, but the overreaction to it has been faintly embarrassing.

Can’t disagree with that tbh but both of them are intrinsically linked. 

[Dawson Park Boy]

28 minutes ago, TheScarf said:

It's a very Tory statement, it's right up your street.

What a sad person you must be.

Coming on to the football forum of a team in a lower league than your own to talk politics.

Wow!!

[18BAIRN76]

I did wonder how long it would take for some people to start having a go at the fans for having the audacity to get a wee bit pissy with a club statement that had a go at us in the first place! Simply, the club should send out a short email today apologising for the wording, which will also allow them to rephrase and highlight the position we’re in. Then we move on. Easy.

[Guest Ecosse83]

Looking forward to the Clyde game tomorrow, I think we will win quite comfortably! I honestly can’t remember the last time I felt confident going into games 

Edited September 30, 2022 by Ecosse83

[Just a bairn]

4 minutes ago, Ecosse83 said:

I honestly can’t remember the last time I felt confident going into games 

Last time was Kelty for me

[TheScarf]

20 minutes ago, Dawson Park Boy said:

What a sad person you must be.

Coming on to the football forum of a team in a lower league than your own to talk politics.

Wow!!

[Bairney The Dinosaur]

That thing I took from the email is that, under the boards expectations, FSS as a third leg of the stool is at this point effectively over.

£250k raised by monthly subscriptions by May 2023. That equates to just over £31k a month... A 6 fold increase, starting today, on what is already being pledged monthly. Never going to happen. 

I'm fairly sure the initial timeline from FSS was for ownership of 7.5% of shares after a year from a starting position of 97,000ish (3%) shares. We are just short of a year and the last count I'm sure was over 250,000 shares which, admittedly using fag packet maths, must sit somewhere around the 7.5-8% mark.

Does this mean the plan was always to see a considerable 6 fold jump after a year or have the goalposts changed now that the money is drying up? 

 

[Shodwall cat]

Is it not time for the bod to lay the situation on the line for the fans a bit more clearly? When will the cash run out? How much cash do we need to get through the season. and why are we spending money we don't have out with the issues left over from the last bunch of cretins. 

[Springfield]

Tbh absolutely pissed off with a terrible worded statement. For me they would get more respect meeting with the fans in public rather than a podcast. They can recover from this but stop pissing us about, come clean with the clubs finances, and they might get more people on board.

[Grangemouth Bairn]

43 minutes ago, 18BAIRN76 said:

I did wonder how long it would take for some people to start having a go at the fans for having the audacity to get a wee bit pissy with a club statement that had a go at us in the first place! Simply, the club should send out a short email today apologising for the wording, which will also allow them to rephrase and highlight the position we’re in. Then we move on. Easy.

Said this earlier. Apology today and we move forward. Team are playing well and the focus should be on the team on the pitch not the board.

Be good to see the actual financial picture though.

[Blame Me]

Some issues, for me, with this communication and FSS/Club relationship generally -

The organic growth of the society does seem to have been forced, somewhat. There was a perceived up-take after Holt was emptied, which I assume many attributed to the FSS involvement but unconfirmed as far as I'm aware. There's an argument to be made that this was the catalyst for a lot of reactionary members rather than increasing the membership through an actual example of influence. It also contradicts a stated aim of "... gradually increasing the proportion of fan ownership". 

The latest update doesn't tell us anything new but seems to imply that the FSS remit now isn't purely to safeguard the club but instead has rapidly progressed to a model where they need to accelerate the fan ownership part hence the 90% comment as I believe ST numbers should never imply membership.

One point I can (and hope to) expect pushback on, is what has the FSS achieved for the subscriptions: Yes more shares but what tangibly has that meant? If the FSS are improving X, Y and Z on behalf of us all shout it from the roof-tops and show the difference they've made for the funding they're given.

Let me be clear - I'm all for the FSS but I am one of the 90% and not in a position to commit to ongoing contributions - at the moment.

I believe it's legitimate to ask whether the FSS, at the moment, could be perceived as a stream of funding the clubs losses, by the back door instead of the club charging ST + £120 to cover the budget set which is a different proposition. 

 

[BudBairn]

It only had to be a simple email stating the facts and simply suggesting ways fans could help. Blackmailing fans is not the answer. Feel like withdrawing my FSS payment.

[Dawson Park Boy]

1 minute ago, BudBairn said:

It only had to be a simply email stating the facts and simply suggesting ways fans could help. Blackmailing fans is not the answer. Feel like withdrawing my FSS payment.

Don’t do that.

The club is much bigger than the BOD.

Im unhappy about the Club governance but it’s prompted me to increase my help.

Better times will come about.

[Rugster]

The statement should have been on the website also. I didn't get the email, no idea how you get on the email list, but if they're serious about pushing as many fans as possible to join FSS and contribute more they need to speak to a much wider audience than a limited mailing list. Appreciate it's been posted all over social media in the aftermath obviously, but I think that's poor communication strategy also for such an "important" message.