The Official Airdrieonians Thread - 2019/20 and beyond

[AFC1878]

I'm beginning to question the exact sort of "business man" we have in charge and I fear it may not be the good kind.

 

Most of us already know the answer to that.

 

[Mybitchunderprotest]

Don't reside in the town nor hear much about its local "figures" so I'm in the dark. The behaviour of the individual and subsequent actions of people who'd got involved does however lead to a certain conclusion.

[Airdrie Minded]

This could be interesting. With the community trust bit in the programme yesterday, and the supporters trust meeting, we should have a good idea of what’s been going on. I’d hope there’s a good attendance at this, things of this nature aren’t obviously as exciting as securing 5th place in the 1st division but it is important. The Wotherspoon years showed as that.

[Tory Boy]

On 26/04/2019 at 15:42, She who dares gins said:

There seems to be a split happening where you’re on the side of the trust and against the owners or on the side of the owners and maybe not necessarily with the trust.

Such a shame but I’m at the point where I’m done with all the off-field drama and just supporting the team on a Saturday is my only concern.

I'm off a similar opinion. The whole things depressing. 

My last dealings with the behind the scenes stuff was the meeting where the Trust met with the new board for the first time. A couple of the Trust didn't like Paul Hetherington but I thought at that meeting it seemed like the bad blood had been put behind them. At that point there was no more need for Diamonds for Change to be involved.  I had high Hope's that the differences could get sorted out especially as a couple of the new board were in the Trust.

I've heard rumours from both sides but personally I've tried to keep my nose out of it all. I just want to get on with supporting the club and not have to worry about the politics. Obviously there are folk on either side who don't like one another. And they don't have to. Easier said than done, I know, but I just wish they could find a way to try and work together, this tit for tat stuff isn't going to do anyone any good. 

[AFC1878]

I think we’re in a worse place now than ever we were.

[OTL2014]

13 hours ago, Tory Boy said:

I'm off a similar opinion. The whole things depressing. 

My last dealings with the behind the scenes stuff was the meeting where the Trust met with the new board for the first time. A couple of the Trust didn't like Paul Hetherington but I thought at that meeting it seemed like the bad blood had been put behind them. At that point there was no more need for Diamonds for Change to be involved.  I had high Hope's that the differences could get sorted out especially as a couple of the new board were in the Trust.

I've heard rumours from both sides but personally I've tried to keep my nose out of it all. I just want to get on with supporting the club and not have to worry about the politics. Obviously there are folk on either side who don't like one another. And they don't have to. Easier said than done, I know, but I just wish they could find a way to try and work together, this tit for tat stuff isn't going to do anyone any good. 

I walked away from the trust for the very same reasons, and could see the writing on the wall right from the start. I am surprised at how quickly and spectacularly things have disintegrated though. I really cannot see how things can recover now. 

[She who dares gins]

I'm off a similar opinion. The whole things depressing. 

My last dealings with the behind the scenes stuff was the meeting where the Trust met with the new board for the first time. A couple of the Trust didn't like Paul Hetherington but I thought at that meeting it seemed like the bad blood had been put behind them. At that point there was no more need for Diamonds for Change to be involved.  I had high Hope's that the differences could get sorted out especially as a couple of the new board were in the Trust.

I've heard rumours from both sides but personally I've tried to keep my nose out of it all. I just want to get on with supporting the club and not have to worry about the politics. Obviously there are folk on either side who don't like one another. And they don't have to. Easier said than done, I know, but I just wish they could find a way to try and work together, this tit for tat stuff isn't going to do anyone any good. 

 

 

For years I’ve believed that the way to be successful again was to bring the stadium and the playing side together. And whether I’m right or spectacularly wrong, I still believe that.

 

I don’t know if I can make the open fans meeting. I’ve never been in the trust etc and don’t live locally so maybe that’s why I may have a lot of ignorance about the situation. But I worry that all it may serve to do draw the dividing lines even further.

[Old Diamond]

Maybe I have a short memory, but back in what is generally considered the "good old days" we had an extremely autocratic board that rarely communicated with the fans but got on with the business of running the club (not always successfully but better than recently), the trust and other fan based organisations were very much a product of the desperate years since.  Perhaps the current board want to go back to the old way of running the club without fans involvement (they may use the word  "interference").  Provided that they succeed in delivering a good team on the park, positive results and progress up the leagues then let them get on with it.

[Tory Boy]

From the footballing side of things, I believe the club has made some good appointments. I've been impressed with Martin Ferguson. He has a great love for the game, talks a lot of sense. And of course, has a wealth of footballing contacts and experience. Although I haven't agreed with all his decisions I think Ian Murray is a decent manager. Stuart Miller has a proven track record at this level. His eye for a player could be invaluable in building a squad to compete for the title.  Unfortunately, this could all be undone with the Trust and Club squabbling.

[AFC1878]

PH doesn’t want to work with anybody which results in nobody being able to work with him. It’s his ball and nobody is getting to play with it.

[She who dares gins]

PH doesn’t want to work with anybody which results in nobody being able to work with him. It’s his ball and nobody is getting to play with it.

Depending on who is putting the money in, I may well be able to understand that!

[waysider]

2 hours ago, Old Diamond said:

Maybe I have a short memory, but back in what is generally considered the "good old days" we had an extremely autocratic board that rarely communicated with the fans but got on with the business of running the club (not always successfully but better than recently), the trust and other fan based organisations were very much a product of the desperate years since.  Perhaps the current board want to go back to the old way of running the club without fans involvement (they may use the word  "interference").  Provided that they succeed in delivering a good team on the park, positive results and progress up the leagues then let them get on with it.

Some of  that is fair enough but in the old days it was not all that easy to communicate with the fans.  Nowadays with social media et cetera communication could not be simpler.

[Airdrie Minded]

Maybe I have a short memory, but back in what is generally considered the "good old days" we had an extremely autocratic board that rarely communicated with the fans but got on with the business of running the club (not always successfully but better than recently), the trust and other fan based organisations were very much a product of the desperate years since.  Perhaps the current board want to go back to the old way of running the club without fans involvement (they may use the word  "interference").  Provided that they succeed in delivering a good team on the park, positive results and progress up the leagues then let them get on with it.

I think we need to remember the proposed governance structure that was originally presented to us. which we all bought into and which was originally put in place. A consortium of individuals, each putting money in and working together for the greater good of the club.  Money was put in by a number of individuals - including the Trust if I recall correctly. For whatever reason though it seems a number of them have been pushed aside leaving one man with all the power.

I’m hoping the meeting will give clarity around why this is the case but for me it’s a worry as to how we’ve moved away from the original objective (that PH supported) to what appears now to be one man running the show in such a short space of time.

For me, I am a believer that ownership of the club and stadium should be linked however there is a clear conflict if its one person that has complete control of each. And think of the individuals that have gone versus those still in position - I’m more inclined to trust and have faith in the former.

 

 

 

[She who dares gins]

I think we need to remember the proposed governance structure that was originally presented to us. which we all bought into and which was originally put in place. A consortium of individuals, each putting money in and working together for the greater good of the club.  Money was put in by a number of individuals - including the Trust if I recall correctly. For whatever reason though it seems a number of them have been pushed aside leaving one man with all the power.I’m hoping the meeting will give clarity around why this is the case but for me it’s a worry as to how we’ve moved away from the original objective (that PH supported) to what appears now to be one man running the show in such a short space of time.
For me, I am a believer that ownership of the club and stadium should be linked however there is a clear conflict if its one person that has complete control of each. And think of the individuals that have gone versus those still in position - I’m more inclined to trust and have faith in the former.
 
 
 

I always remember getting details of who the consortium was and more importantly how it would all work together was like getting blood out a stone. The questions were asked at the time. Am I surprised we are where we are, not really because these things very rarely work like that. Those who hold the most money/investment have the biggest say.

[stuartcraig]

3 hours ago, She who dares gins said:

Depending on who is putting the money in, I may well be able to understand that!

If the club is being run sustainably, then it's the supporters and the sponsors who are putting to the money in.

[stuartcraig]

5 hours ago, Old Diamond said:

Maybe I have a short memory, but back in what is generally considered the "good old days" we had an extremely autocratic board that rarely communicated with the fans but got on with the business of running the club (not always successfully but better than recently), the trust and other fan based organisations were very much a product of the desperate years since.  Perhaps the current board want to go back to the old way of running the club without fans involvement (they may use the word  "interference").  Provided that they succeed in delivering a good team on the park, positive results and progress up the leagues then let them get on with it.

Back in the "good old days", the club had a captive audience.  Football teams have an awful lot of competition from other sources these days - it makes sense for a club owner to do what they can to keep and grow their customer base.

Unless you're playing Football Manager, winning successive league championships with Airdrie isn't really a viable option for doing this.

[Airdrie Minded]

 

I always remember getting details of who the consortium was and more importantly how it would all work together was like getting blood out a stone. The questions were asked at the time. Am I surprised we are where we are, not really because these things very rarely work like that. Those who hold the most money/investment have the biggest say.

Those that were visible seem to be those that are now gone. The others were aligned with PH. PH now seems to be running the show and those others remain silent. I wonder if the picture painted at the outset was as clear or accurate as we were led to believe (on the PH side). A good question for Thursday.

[Mybitchunderprotest]

Maybe I have a short memory, but back in what is generally considered the "good old days" we had an extremely autocratic board that rarely communicated with the fans but got on with the business of running the club (not always successfully but better than recently), the trust and other fan based organisations were very much a product of the desperate years since.  Perhaps the current board want to go back to the old way of running the club without fans involvement (they may use the word  "interference").  Provided that they succeed in delivering a good team on the park, positive results and progress up the leagues then let them get on with it.

Working without fan involvement/interference would be fine but they seem to want the money provided by the supporters trust. This whole new community trust just smacks of getting rid of the fans and getting their hands on money raised and how it is distributed.

[Diamond diehard]

Hearing that we are looking at signing wedderburn from Raith and Ryan Wallace for next season. Thoughts? 

[Nipper]

4 minutes ago, Diamond diehard said:

Hearing that we are looking at signing wedderburn from Raith and Ryan Wallace for next season. Thoughts? 

Ryan Wallace is well known to me and I also know what he's capable of.

Don't know much about Wedderburn.