LatapyBairn.

Perhaps the fans/minor shareholders should get together and call an EGM again, I believe only 5% shareholding was required to do so previously.

We are still at least a proper striker and a competent central defender to play alongside Dixon at the back away from being a squad that can win this league, that’s presuming everybody stays fit! Recruitment has let us down yet again, we have to many passengers in the squad that just don’t have the quality. It’s also worrying that Sheerin persists playing Heatherington despite evidently better football players sitting on the bench. Quite a few posters did point out the first team squad looked some way off at the start of the season, it also appears to be underfunded in my opinion. Going on the numbers we have and type of player brought in the playing budget has obviously been cut from last season.

Not sure what relevance the former MSG have to do with the current issues at the club?

This is actually the biggest long term concern, season ticket numbers have dipped quite a bit in a short space of time. When fans drift away it’s extremely hard to get them back, if we don’t get up this season we could quite easily become an Airdrie type club. Without the fans buying the tickets and merchandise we could easily become an established part time club in the bottom two divisions rather than a full time club between the top two divisions

In league one this is exactly what we should be doing (winning most weeks and topping the league) given our resources and the size of the clubs we are in completion against!

Some on here have posted differently

If this is true the people running the club have literally taken us to the lowest ebe we have ever been. By far and away the biggest club in the league, biggest support, either the 1st or 2nd largest playing budget and one of only two full time clubs in the division yet our fans are accepting us NOT being able to challenge for the league. If we’re at that point I genuinely wish I hadn’t renewed my season ticket now.

They wouldn’t even have to do an open zoom meeting, a format similar to the AGM with an independent journalist chairing the thing collecting and delivering the questions as they come in via email would have been more acceptable. The guy that done the AGM was quite good at pressing the various BOD members if they gave a soft answer, he also fielded questions in real time that he was receiving from watching shareholders as the meeting progressed. In no way was that a rabble , they have no excuse for not at least doing something similar considering it’s already a tried and tested model they have used in the past. The fact they have chosen to set up the Q&A in this way is extremely worrying in itself! If this is the Rawlins idea of transparency I dred to think of what might be happening under the radar going forward! If the answers aren’t forthcoming the minor shareholders will have to call another EGM to get the scrutiny needed similar to how was done after the failed BtB bid pre Rawlins. I hope the BOD take note!

The AGM last year was done via a zoom type format with an independent journalist ( can’t remember the guys name) collecting and fielding the questions to the BOD, he was also quite good at pressing them when he wasn’t happy with the answers. They also had a live chat option where you could type questions in real time for him to collect and put to the BOD. I don’t see why a similar format can’t be used for the Q&A, the only reason they can be doing this pre recorded thing is to actively avoid any scrutiny. It’s the complete opposite of the transparency with fans they claim to want.

SA and MR were both on board and had agreed to dilute/donate they’re shareholding to allow the investment to go directly and fully into the clubs coffers. The two of them were never an obstacle.

On the season ticket issue (although it seems to have went under the radar a bit) the season we were relegated we had just over 2800 season tickets sold, that number last season was just under 2000 (likely to loose another 500 or so this comming season) despite a 20% reduction in price during the same period numbers have continued to drop. One of the few things we have been able to take some form of pride in recently has been our continued healthy fan base which in turn has let us remain as a full time club despite playing in the third tier, however I fear next season we may be no better supported than an Airdrie type club which is worrying, when supporters drift away it’s hard to get them back. The club should actively be pursuing former season ticket holders for feed back as to why they haven’t renewed in the aim of bringing them back as paying customers. If we end up playing to a fan base of circa 1000 with the revenue streams that entails getting back to the premier league becomes near impossible, funding full time football even comes into doubt.

Osmon Sow and McManus are two others doing the rounds, most of the names in the public domain so far have been correct. Plenty information seems to be leaking out from that board room again, place is as bad as it’s ever been.

To provide substantial external investment/working capital and add additional human expertise/local business knowledge of benefit to the business he is the major shareholder in and should want to see succeed and out grow its competitors maybe?! As a director he actually has a duty by law to take decisions only in the best interests of the business.

Would not say it’s 100% certain SA or MR will blindly follow the Rawlins if it came to an EGM. They both very much have they’re own minds.

Let’s hope the Q and A can be done publicly and not over zoom. If it does need to happen virtually an independent journalist type person needs to be brought in to chair it and collect/deliver the questions similar to how the last AGM was handled. One of the Rawlins should be present as well, time we saw some action or meaningful investment from this guy!

Considering the level of investment which would have made the group on par the single largest shareholder surely having an equitable number of seats on the board and some form of input into the new manager should be an absolute given! The removal of failed board members replaced with people prepared to invest they’re own hard cash -and time should have at least been entertained surely?! The club should have been looking not only for the investment but to utilise the talent and expertise within the group. It does seem they expected the investment to happen without said investors then having any input on how the money was spent and the club ran. Members on our current BOD unfortunately are not making decisions in the best interest of the club but instead acting to endear themselves to the Rawlins and keep themselves in a position of power. It’s really quite pathetic but in the long run could have serous consequences for the club we love. The fact that not SA and MR were happy to dilute and donate there shareholding to allow the group in speaks to the groups credibility.

Excellent summary

Only time will tell I suppose, although I am slightly less convinced now that he is a “goodie” than I was before. One thing is sure he isn’t as keen on genuine productive fan involvement and investment as he initially led us to believe.

Regarding the recent collapse of the proposed investment from a consortium of fans SA and MR were both happy to dilute and donate they’re shareholding to allow the group to take a 26% holding therefore matching the share of the club the Rawlins own.They were happy to step aside for the right investor(s) and are not the problem, they weren’t involved in any negations other than allowing they’re large joint shareholding to be used for the sale, things broke down because the BOD headed up by the Rawlins wouldn’t bend with regards to a few of the red lines the group had regarding the running of the club, structure of the board and the process of appointing a new manager.

They were prepared to allow two members of the group to sit on the BOD however the removal of certain other board members and involvement in selecting of a new manager received a very polite “NO but can we still have your money”

I think it’s a case of people not wanting to burn bridges in case of potential future investment, a lot of what was discussed was confidential. There may also be legal issues however I do agree a brief carefully worded statement wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Have to forgive my ignorance of business here.... Whats stopping them from donating/selling their holdings to the fnas group and the fans group then forcing their way to a position of influence accordingly? A transfer of shares needs BOD approval

Not just a rumour, all true. The group were investing as a block and had an agreement to take (26%) however walked away after most of they’re requests including the restructuring of the current BOD and having some form of involment in the process of selecting the new manager were stonewalled. The club seem to want investment but don’t want the fans investing to have any say on how that investment is then spent and managed. The one slight bonus is both SA and MR were happy to dilute and donate they’re own shareholding massively to allow the investment to happen, it’s not them that were the issue.

I heard KK has been a right dick about the whole thing from the start. Heard the same thing, don’t think KK likes any ideas or suggestions unless he’s come up with them himself. Very career driven guy who likes taking credit

I’m hearing the guys raising the funds for the Crunchie initiative to re-name the south stand have been struggling to deal with the BOD in getting things moving now the the bulk of the funds have been raised, the club are being very obstructive and are now demanding the funds raised are to be handed over to the club directly and they will directly deal with putting up the signage and arranging an opening game against Hibs themselves. All sounds far to familiar! ....we want your money but don’t dare ask for a say in how we spend/waste it!.....BtB had the exact same issues with the previous board after getting the cash in place for the fans takeover at the time which unfortunately never came to fruition after the club reneged. I’m actually starting to worry that despite new faces in the board room and a new owner in reality nothing has changed. Same people involved behind the scenes treating the fans with utter disregard. This should have been a PR gift for the club, money is fully raised by the fans and all they asked for in return was to have fan involvement in the actual design and look of the new signage to be placed above the bar entrance, on the front of the south stand and also something in the south stand bar with Crunchies name on it. Unbelievably one board member demanded if they wanted to use space in the south stand bar the initiative would have to pay for the advertising space!!! Absolutely unbelievable