Berwick Rangers 2018/2019 Thread

[1320Lichtie]

A good post sir and shame if will be your only foray here.
You are right to take a step back & evaluate & asses  the situation objectively. I have no idea regards your board's individual skills and gaps  are but it would make sense they sit and map that put & look to recruit directors based on addressing those gaps & carrying out their due diligence on any prospective candidates.
I have said before from the outside key positives namely good facilities at Shielfield and a core support despite an awful season above a number in L2. The remote aspect is also a plus Berwick & Cowdenbeath have almost exactly the same populations, but with Cowdenbeath  they have to compete with Dunfermline &  Raith Rovers teams wit populations 4/5 times higher with better facilities playing at a higher level factor also in East Fife circa 25 minutes away. Berwick have more of a captive audience something to build on surely.
The key will be focusing on the key strategic areas that will bring most effect, again apologies looking from the outside I have no idea what the engagement is like  with the towns people and businesses  but I would have though pivotal area. I can think of a number areas you could develop, but I guess as with most clubs you then need people on the ground to implement, I guess comes back round to building/developing local engagement.
There are a number of clubs out there of similar stature it is worth Berwick going out & having a look at what they are doing and are there any quick wins/ideas they can steal.
I can only imagine how everyone around the club is feeling at the moment we only had the threat hanging twice which was bad enough not the final reality, but that has made us look at things through a different lens in certain areas.
I wish you all the very best, a lot of work to be done and likely a fair amount of change too which is never easy or pain free but if enough around the club can get on board  and stay the distance I really think you can make your way back.
 

Surely Cowdenbeath aren't having to compete with EF/Raith etc when it comes to attracting fans from Cowdenbeath? Know plenty of folk from Arbroath who support the OF, few that support Aberdeen/Dundee and United but never known anyone from Arbroath that would support Forfar, Brechin or Montrose [emoji23]

[A Believer]

Johnny Harvey could be back next season as he is on Gardening leave.   Surely this is utter Rubbish what I am hearing.

It is indeed utter rubbish.

[Cowden Cowboy]

Surely Cowdenbeath aren't having to compete with EF/Raith etc when it comes to attracting fans from Cowdenbeath? Know plenty of folk from Arbroath who support the OF, few that support Aberdeen/Dundee and United but never known anyone from Arbroath that would support Forfar, Brechin or Montrose [emoji23]

Who are all similar small part time clubs to Arbroath - not full time clubs from much larger towns

[Blue Oktober]

6 minutes ago, 1320Lichtie said:

 

Surely Cowdenbeath aren't having to compete with EF/Raith etc when it comes to attracting fans from Cowdenbeath? Know plenty of folk from Arbroath who support the OF, few that support Aberdeen/Dundee and United but never known anyone from Arbroath that would support Forfar, Brechin or Montrose

 

Yes that is reality Dunfermline 6 miles away with a  relatively more prolific contemporary history , and better facilities, the same distance to a lesser extent Raith, don't forget also a very buoyant Kelty Hearts some 2 miles away. We of course suffer from the OF drain too. Not a winge just  a realistic background commentary.

PS Many congrats on your own promotion success it would be great to see you replicate Alloa"s performance at that level and show what part time clubs can achieve with ambition & organisation.

[PELE]

19 minutes ago, 1320Lichtie said:

 

Surely Cowdenbeath aren't having to compete with EF/Raith etc when it comes to attracting fans from Cowdenbeath? Know plenty of folk from Arbroath who support the OF, few that support Aberdeen/Dundee and United but never known anyone from Arbroath that would support Forfar, Brechin or Montrose

 

Plenty of Dunfermline supporters in Cowdenbeath, sadly. Some even supported Cowden in their youth. Lots of Hearts and Hibs fans as well in nearby towns and villages. Some Raith fans as well.

[A Believer]

There's a lot of BS on here about JB, which is completely unfounded. It's clear that a lot of people don't understand how the board of a company operates. He can't unilaterally make decisions about anything except trifling matters. It all goes to the board for a vote, before action is taken. So, for example, it wasn't JB's decision about when JH got the boot, it was the board's. JB may have backed keeping him on, but so did the majority of the board. Similarly, JB didn't appoint him, the board did.
The thing that the club has mostly been lacking is leadership from the chairman, who has never articulated any vision for the future of the club in his time in charge. That, coupled with a board that mostly comprised apathetic, and/or lazy members, has led us to where we are now.
To give JB his due, at least he has put forward a vision to try and make BRFC a sustainable club going forward. And that's what it was: "a vision", not something set in stone, but laying out ideas for taking the club forward, and he has said that he's open to adjusting and amending it, so if people have got better ideas he's open to discussing them. The vision when it gers firmed up into a plan would have to be approved by the board.  Talking of whom, I think it's also a crying shame that GM resigned from the board too. From the outside, these were the only two board members who appeared to be giving any consideration to the club's future.
I don't think the SC's call for an EGM to oust the board makes sense at this point. It looks like they want to control what goes on (again) and we've seen how that's turned out in recent seasons. If there is an EGM, I hope that the club properly informs everyone on here who owns shares in the club (like me) about the meeting, and makes sure that we are told about how we can vote, either in person, or by proxy.
I think [mention=9552]Redcar[/mention] is right in what he says about better support for Robbie Horn would (probably) have meant that we didn't end up where we are now. However, I'm not besties with JB, in case anyone thinks I am, and I'm not JB either! [emoji6]

Outstanding post, on every point; Board protocols, that Mr Bell has a sustainable and viable plan and that GM's intended departure is a very very bad thing. The hard thing will be recruiting Directors with capacity and capability to own and drive each element of the strategy. Directors that live by a version of JFK's 'ask not' speech; 'ask not what your club can do for you—ask what you can do for your club”

The SC and ST have bought into the strategy GM explained a few months ago at the joint boards meeting. I believe a restructured board under JB, with SC and ST all sharing that common strategic vision, gives us the best shot of a swift return to SPFL2.

I'm not JB either, however may be Spartacus...

[1320Lichtie]

Who are all similar small part time clubs to Arbroath - not full time clubs from much larger towns

 

Who are all Scottish lower league clubs. I'm no having it, if that's true then it's madness. Gloryhunting with Raith instead of your home town team [emoji23][emoji23]

 

Arbroath is twice the size of Forfar and Montrose and three times the size of Brechin, there'll be zero Arbroath supporters in they towns

 

99% of people support lower league teams cause they've got a connection to the town

[1320Lichtie]

Plenty of Dunfermline supporters in Cowdenbeath, sadly. Some even supported Cowden in their youth. Some Raith fans as well.

I'm guessing that's because of family ties etc which will affect every club. Don't think it is Cowdenbeaths fault

[San Starko Rover]

Plenty of Dunfermline supporters in Cowdenbeath, sadly. Some even supported Cowden in their youth. Lots of Hearts and Hibs fans as well in nearby towns and villages. Some Raith fans as well.

Always said geography works against you lads, lose fans to Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee teams like all of Fife but you’re then sandwiched between the Rovers and Dunfermline which I guess limits your ability to attract fans from the towns and villages outside Cowdenbeath and potentially Kelty and Hill of Beath moving up the divisions could stop you attracting fans from those two. Your board and fans do well but attracting new fans isn’t easy. The one bonus you have is the location of Central Park.

[San Starko Rover]

Commiserations to Berwick Rangers, while I always favour the HL/LL as that’s what the pyramid needs it’s never nice to be relegated and lose your league status. Hopefully you have a chance to bounce back but I think the Lowland league will improve each season with the Juniors starting to join so hopefully it will soften the blow. Best of luck for next season.

[weeredbook]

2 hours ago, A Believer said:

14 hours ago, MENTALFATHER79 said:

Johnny Harvey could be back next season as he is on Gardening leave.   Surely this is utter Rubbish what I am hearing.

It is indeed utter rubbish.

On behalf of all comedy loving folk out there ……...GET HIM BACK .

Just for the after match interviews .

[Redcar]

Strangely, I have a different perspective on this now.....! 

Think the HL/LL playoff winners should go up automatically replacing Div 2 10th place, AND the playoff losers should playoff again against Div 2 9th place team. 

I say this mainly from the perspective of making the big drop much less traumatic. Honest, Guv. 

Edited May 20, 2019 by Redcar

[Cowden Cowboy]

 
Who are all Scottish lower league clubs. I'm no having it, if that's true then it's madness. Gloryhunting with Raith instead of your home town team [emoji23][emoji23]
 
Arbroath is twice the size of Forfar and Montrose and three times the size of Brechin, there'll be zero Arbroath supporters in they towns
 
99% of people support lower league teams cause they've got a connection to the town

There will be a few Arbroath fans in each of those other towns - also unlike Arbroath, both Raith & Dunfermline were in the SPL and playing in cup finals

[Alpha Gordini]

So here we are, stuck in another vacuum in limbo-land... Another crap season over, and all we get from the Chairman is yet more silence. There's 11 days until he steps down. That just seems crazy to me: he needs to go NOW. There's only about a couple of months before competition starts again, and there is so much that needs to be done:

• Sort out the board shenanigans (I'm including getting JB installed as chairman asap under this, and getting more directors on board, rather than the daft plans of the SC to replace them all, which will just make things much worse and use up more valuable time, while also not guaranteeing that things will get better.
• Get the board to start communicating with the shareholders and fans asap, and let's make it a two way thing. A lot of the pish on here and on other social media arises because people have little or no real understanding of what's going on at the club, and how it operates.
• Get a commercial director on board. I disagree with JB here, I think we need someone with the responsibility and authority to oversee the commercial side of things. It's a big job, and needs someone with drive and determination, rather than sharing the role among the directors.
• Start re-integrating the club with the community: if local people and businesses feel a tie with the club, they are more likely to stump up a few quid through buying tickets and merchandise, and/or sponsorship. I would also include under this explaining to people (a) that we need help, and (b) how they can help out by volunteering to sell programmes, to sell refreshments (the chip van may not be back next year), to drive the reserve team bus etc. And yes, we should keep the reserves, because that shows we're supporting younger local players.
• Decide on the management team (are Brownlie and Yano staying?). FWIW I think they should go.
• Sort out the team by getting a squad together (FWIW they were saying on the radio on Saturday that BSC get some good young loan players from St Johnstone, so we'll need to act sharpish) we need a mix of young and old heads. The parachute payment needs to be used wisely.

FWIW I would also be knocking on Pat Nevin's door and asking him to become an ambassador for the club, and let him more or less define what that means (remembering that he was Chief Exec at Motherwell for a while, so he knows about running a football club that is in turmoil!) He offered to get involved at the anniversary dinner a couple of years ago, but nothing's been done about it, as far as I can tell. (We should also have got Jim Jeffreys involved in some way, before he went off to Edinburgh City.) We need to start seizing great opportunities like this, rather than letting them pass us by.

I'm sure this list is incomplete, but time is of the esssence. We need to start NOW, not wait another couple of weeks, until Len moves aside. We've got to start looking forward, rather than back. otherwise we'll end up in mid-table mediocrity in the LL, and I don't believe any Berwick supporter wants that.

[Ducket Lodger]

40 minutes ago, Alpha Gordini said:

So here we are, stuck in another vacuum in limbo-land... Another crap season over, and all we get from the Chairman is yet more silence. There's 11 days until he steps down. That just seems crazy to me: he needs to go NOW. There's only about a couple of months before competition starts again, and there is so much that needs to be done:

• Sort out the board shenanigans (I'm including getting JB installed as chairman asap under this, and getting more directors on board, rather than the daft plans of the SC to replace them all, which will just make things much worse and use up more valuable time, while also not guaranteeing that things will get better.
• Get the board to start communicating with the shareholders and fans asap, and let's make it a two way thing. A lot of the pish on here and on other social media arises because people have little or no real understanding of what's going on at the club, and how it operates.
• Get a commercial director on board. I disagree with JB here, I think we need someone with the responsibility and authority to oversee the commercial side of things. It's a big job, and needs someone with drive and determination, rather than sharing the role among the directors.
• Start re-integrating the club with the community: if local people and businesses feel a tie with the club, they are more likely to stump up a few quid through buying tickets and merchandise, and/or sponsorship. I would also include under this explaining to people (a) that we need help, and (b) how they can help out by volunteering to sell programmes, to sell refreshments (the chip van may not be back next year), to drive the reserve team bus etc. And yes, we should keep the reserves, because that shows we're supporting younger local players.
• Decide on the management team (are Brownlie and Yano staying?). FWIW I think they should go.
• Sort out the team by getting a squad together (FWIW they were saying on the radio on Saturday that BSC get some good young loan players from St Johnstone, so we'll need to act sharpish) we need a mix of young and old heads. The parachute payment needs to be used wisely.

FWIW I would also be knocking on Pat Nevin's door and asking him to become an ambassador for the club, and let him more or less define what that means (remembering that he was Chief Exec at Motherwell for a while, so he knows about running a football club that is in turmoil!) He offered to get involved at the anniversary dinner a couple of years ago, but nothing's been done about it, as far as I can tell. (We should also have got Jim Jeffreys involved in some way, before he went off to Edinburgh City.) We need to start seizing great opportunities like this, rather than letting them pass us by.

I'm sure this list is incomplete, but time is of the esssence. We need to start NOW, not wait another couple of weeks, until Len moves aside. We've got to start looking forward, rather than back. otherwise we'll end up in mid-table mediocrity in the LL, and I don't believe any Berwick supporter wants that.

Another load of pish from a trust supporter!

You are blinkered about Bell, he's already portraying himself as the chairman, which shows the respect he has for the current incumbent and authority of office.

No one in their right mind would back this attention grabbing clown, he's like a rat up a drainpipe when there are TV interviews to be had, remember JH was and still is,  his man, so lets have a new start, the SC are right in attracting new blood, and as they are majority shareholders, they have the ultimate say.

Someone said on this board that Walla and Lennie would be a piece of pish to remove, I don't think that is entirely right, but hopefully, whoever they introduce have the wherewithal to galvanise and get the club going in the right direction.

One worry is that I've heard that the best the SC have came up with is Mark Heston, the taxi driver, a relatively new member of the SC,  now call me cynical, but a cabbie is hardly gonna cut the mustard as the face of the supporters club with a seat on the board, a big step backwards I'm afraid.

I see the vultures are circling, each vying for a chance to grab control, tempers are getting frayed and rightly so, whoever takes this on, faces an almighty challenge, whilst there are many who think the club is dead and gone, others with shares realise they are beyond worthless, then there are the diehard fans who are passionate about the club and now realise the magnitude of the shambles that has been played out in front of them. A new start is the only option and time is ticking away, the club need to act fast to give the manager, whoever it may be, a decent chance to build his squad for the new season, that is only if a new board see the club as viable, otherwise, shut the door and switch off the lights, Goodnight Vienna.

 

 

 

[Neilly]

I find it amazing watching Berwick over the years with how much infighting there is with the board, trust, supporters etc. How can such a small club get it so badly wrong? Why isn't everyone pulling in the one direction? It can't be a coincidence you ended up so poor on the park with all the shenanigans going on off it.

For a club with 300-400 core support It just seems rather mental from the outside looking in.

[Ivo den Bieman]

Agree with this, as an outsider the behind the scenes divisions at Berwick seem, charitably, totally deranged.

Club will keep going downwards until it's resolved.

[dougster]

8 minutes ago, Neilly said:

I find it amazing watching Berwick over the years with how much infighting there is with the board, trust, supporters etc. How can such a small club get it so badly wrong? Why isn't everyone pulling in the one direction? It can't be a coincidence you ended up so poor on the park with all the shenanigans going on off it.

For a club with 300-400 core support It just seems rather mental from the outside looking in.

Agreed

[berwicksfinest]

From the view down in the East of England.

WTF ?? We were condemned long before Saturday. realisation that this was a long time coming, and even with the well wishes of other clubs, it was fully deserved.

So dissection  complete, after arguably the worst season in history what are we doing .......................... Still arguing. 

Other Lowland leagues must think its going to be a breeze if we are a benchmark for League 2

Jesus guys Trust, Supporters Club, Board. you need your heads banging together, its like a bunch of kids in the playground.

If this is a prelude to season 19/20, is there room in the East of Scotland for us???

[Ducket Lodger]

21 minutes ago, Neilly said:

I find it amazing watching Berwick over the years with how much infighting there is with the board, trust, supporters etc. How can such a small club get it so badly wrong? Why isn't everyone pulling in the one direction? It can't be a coincidence you ended up so poor on the park with all the shenanigans going on off it.

For a club with 300-400 core support It just seems rather mental from the outside looking in.

To be honest it went badly wrong for BRFC when the trust idea of club ownership launched, it produced a faction under Bell who wanted and still wants to take full control of the club, SC and ST buying shares has been the downfall, although they will not admit it, dissect the board and you will realise how the clash of opinions and personalities cannot take the club forward, Bell has in his mind set to where he wants to take the club and will not change, there is lack of investment on the playing squad, no wonder there is infighting, couple that with pish communications and you will understand it is a full blown royal shambles.