Sack the board

[DonnyOsmond]

I think the point SM makes is perfectly valid.  There is as yet no viable alternative to the current owners so trying to force them out seems stupid, where does that leave us.

It's absolutely though right to question the current setup and funding and I don't necessarily have an issue with doing that at games either, but let's hope those that do attend do act sensibly.  I'm not even going to the game but I don't think right now I'd attend a protest either.

If there's no alternative why do Radio Sheffield keep mentioning investors still being interested in the club?

[DearneValleyRover]

My concern would be that it's not just about "spending money", it's the extremely poor decision-making on the football side that needs more urgently addressing, and on the non-football side it would be good to know if there is a plan to sort out the many frankly shoddy things about the club that are alienating fans as well.

I couldn’t agree more but we can thank our missing chairman for not addressing these issues or engaging with the fans, the buck stops with Blunt for not being diligent in his duties

[DearneValleyRover]

I think the point SM makes is perfectly valid.  There is as yet no viable alternative to the current owners so trying to force them out seems stupid, where does that leave us.

It's absolutely though right to question the current setup and funding and I don't necessarily have an issue with doing that at games either, but let's hope those that do attend do act sensibly.  I'm not even going to the game but I don't think right now I'd attend a protest either.

If there's no alternative why do Radio Sheffield keep mentioning investors still being interested in the club?

Being interested and actually putting a business plan in place are worlds apart, as yet no interested parties have gone beyond saying they are

[Lesonthewest]

The thing that i feel gets most going is that its not just about the football being crap just now. There's an air of decomposition all around the club.

The ground is starting to look grotty, the catering has been a joke for years, failing infrastructure ie, dusty and dirty concrete walkways and terracing that has not been swept or washed down, broken scoreboard, floodlights that have more defective than working, stadium interior lighting that only comes on occasionally, sharp exposed rivet holes in the back plates on the stadium walls at the back of the stand(i've ruined a decent jacket with it catching on the sharp edge) all the stadium perimeter advertising hoardings look like they have disappeared or fell to bits(lack of commercial performance?)Stadium facilities look very tired, toilets, sports bar, training rooms that are hired out, all look like they need some care and attention..

When you look at this overall it just looks like the club is being run on a tight budget and it will no doubt get tighter as our performance on the field continues to go from bad to worse. The fact that supporters are getting nothing like the right level of communication with the club only hammers it home that it looks like a rudderless ship with no one prepared to make the difference.

This to me is what is alienating the fans from the club, we could say that during the John Ryan era we were in effect spoiled with the engagement he had with the supporters, no one is expecting this from the current board, but some appreciation that they understand the dire situation we all feel the club is in and that they are working on it, begrudging platitudes from exterior sources is not what's required in this situation the fans would like to hear it from the horses mouth.

I well remember back in the early JR days one pre-season they asked for fans to volunteer their help to go and paint the crush barriers, tidy up the terraces and surroundings and the like. I was away at university at the time so couldn't help out but plenty did and it was that sort of "all in it together" spirit that laid the foundations for a really strong symbiotic relationship between the club and the supporters.

I would gladly get stuck in with a bucket and sponge or a jet washer to clean 15 years' worth of dust and grime off the seats. I'd happily give the Belle Vue Bar a lick of paint. I'd even be prepared to clean the bogs and fix the locks on the cubicle doors. It might sound very amateur but if come the close season they put out a statement saying something along the lines of:

"Enough is enough, standards have slipped too far so we're going to make improvements in all areas. We'll back the (new) manager with a strong transfer budget and we want to make the Eco Power Stadium a home of which we can all be proud so we're asking for a taskforce of supporters to chip in and give the place a makeover. In return those who help out will be rewarded with a £50 voucher to spend on anything at the club from merchandise to tickets or catering."

I would jump on that chance to give some extra support as would many others.

Totally agree, been thinking the exact same for a while.

[ncRover]

The club has seriously gone through the motions this year and just expected to be up there with the likes of Orient, Bradford, Stockport because we have came down from a higher division and are an above average sized club for the division.

If we could hear a critical voice from within the club speak openly about what needs to be done, the worries of the fans can be alleviated.

Copps blaming the budget is not good enough for me.

Is Schofield under pressure from those above? If not why? Or are those above looking at either Copps or themselves for what they can do better? This is all stuff we need to know because the club is in turmoil.

[Upton Rover]

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, be careful what you wish for. Those old enough will remember a benefactor who ran the club into the ground and did time for trying to burn down the main stand.


COYR

There’s no one on here that is “wishing” as you keep saying, we are wanting the board to be honest, open and start talking to the fans, and if they have no interest in doing any of those, then it’s going to upset people. So there’s no wishing, a wish is something that won’t come true anyway. I do believe there’s people on the board not bothered about DFFC and if that’s the case should move on.

[Donnywolf]

The thing that i feel gets most going is that its not just about the football being crap just now. There's an air of decomposition all around the club.

The ground is starting to look grotty, the catering has been a joke for years, failing infrastructure ie, dusty and dirty concrete walkways and terracing that has not been swept or washed down, broken scoreboard, floodlights that have more defective than working, stadium interior lighting that only comes on occasionally, sharp exposed rivet holes in the back plates on the stadium walls at the back of the stand(i've ruined a decent jacket with it catching on the sharp edge) all the stadium perimeter advertising hoardings look like they have disappeared or fell to bits(lack of commercial performance?)Stadium facilities look very tired, toilets, sports bar, training rooms that are hired out, all look like they need some care and attention..

When you look at this overall it just looks like the club is being run on a tight budget and it will no doubt get tighter as our performance on the field continues to go from bad to worse. The fact that supporters are getting nothing like the right level of communication with the club only hammers it home that it looks like a rudderless ship with no one prepared to make the difference.

This to me is what is alienating the fans from the club, we could say that during the John Ryan era we were in effect spoiled with the engagement he had with the supporters, no one is expecting this from the current board, but some appreciation that they understand the dire situation we all feel the club is in and that they are working on it, begrudging platitudes from exterior sources is not what's required in this situation the fans would like to hear it from the horses mouth.

I well remember back in the early JR days one pre-season they asked for fans to volunteer their help to go and paint the crush barriers, tidy up the terraces and surroundings and the like. I was away at university at the time so couldn't help out but plenty did and it was that sort of "all in it together" spirit that laid the foundations for a really strong symbiotic relationship between the club and the supporters.

I would gladly get stuck in with a bucket and sponge or a jet washer to clean 15 years' worth of dust and grime off the seats. I'd happily give the Belle Vue Bar a lick of paint. I'd even be prepared to clean the bogs and fix the locks on the cubicle doors. It might sound very amateur but if come the close season they put out a statement saying something along the lines of:

"Enough is enough, standards have slipped too far so we're going to make improvements in all areas. We'll back the (new) manager with a strong transfer budget and we want to make the Eco Power Stadium a home of which we can all be proud so we're asking for a taskforce of supporters to chip in and give the place a makeover. In return those who help out will be rewarded with a £50 voucher to spend on anything at the club from merchandise to tickets or catering."

I would jump on that chance to give some extra support as would many others.

Totally agree, been thinking the exact same for a while.

We had the Belle Vue Owl and we may have more Birds in West Stand where a huge nest is in the Roof right above players Tunnel

It needs moving before Eggs or worse Chicks are in it

[Cramby10]

What a waste of time! I understand the board are out of the country over the Easter break so I’m not sure how effective any demonstration can be to an empty boardroom!!

The whole board?

The board that’s allegedly working 24/7 to ensure things get better on & off the pitch?

I hope they’re all in the same foreign hotel then?

No not the whole board.

But even still, what’s the point of a demonstration at 1pm when there’s nobody there?

Have they gone to head hunt a foreign coach or manager SM

They will come back with a youth coach from some Spanish 3rd tier club.  That’l fix it.  Terrific.

Pretty poor attempt at sarcasm there Campsall. What’s got into you lately?

Come on SM even you can’t defend what’s going on at present.
Where is Blunt. He is supposed to be Chairman of this football club. We are in crisis on the football field and you tell us the board are off to foreign climes.
Gone to escape the wrath of the fans at our game on Monday. 

I have backed this board to the hilt SM on this forum for many years as you will know.
But for them to sit back and say nothing, do nothing about the absolute dross this coach has managed to get this group of players to serve up.
A coach who says his process is working and his players are buying into it. The more he keeps saying that the worse the performances get.

Any other club in the 92 Premier & EFL clubs would have sacked DS after Saturday, no i am wrong, after Crawley and the unbelievable contemptuous clap trap DS came out with after the match.

I am at my wits end SM at what is happening to the football club i am passionate about.

85% of the forum members want him out. This is not the Netto brigade on here SM.
These are genuine long standing Rovers supporters.
Some of us have been supporters for 40/50/60 even 70+ years. 

This coach has to go NOW
He will take this Club into non league football if he is allowed. That in no circumstances should be allowed to happen.
It would be criminal to allow that to happen again.

he’s right!^ Absolutely bang on the button.

[selby]

  Football people making decisions the board have not interfered with when they probably should have are the reasons why we are where we are.
  Where the board has failed is not over riding some of the decisions and giving money to people to waste on players not up to the standard required, some who were brought here by identification staff no longer at the club because of their performance and judgment.
  When signing players and staff they are on contracts both sides must honour, and nobody likes to see anyone loose their job, but I am afraid it is time to separate the chaff from the wheat, and that now is the main job the board has, to lay down the way the club needs to go  and give it direction, and as it is their money people are fooling around with I think that they need to get on with the job at hand and show leadership, then the club can move forward, them leaving enmas would leave us high and dry and them out of pocket and no need for it, it is the playing and management  side that needs operating on.
  The board have been too trusting and let down IMHO.

[Alan Southstand]

I think there’s two issues here, though - there’s the how it’s been spent and then there’s the how much was needed!

[selby]

 It was spent badly, teams spent less and ended up with better players and teams, and that is the only test worth bothering about, the rest is all guess work and if only dreaming.

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

I think the point SM makes is perfectly valid.  There is as yet no viable alternative to the current owners so trying to force them out seems stupid, where does that leave us.

It's absolutely though right to question the current setup and funding and I don't necessarily have an issue with doing that at games either, but let's hope those that do attend do act sensibly.  I'm not even going to the game but I don't think right now I'd attend a protest either.

If there's no alternative why do Radio Sheffield keep mentioning investors still being interested in the club?

They may simply know more than we do as fans.  Personally until I see genuine evidence of an actual change then there isn't evidence of an alternative just a wishlist.

I guess there is a question as to what people do want the alternative to be?

[Glyn_Wigley]

I think the point SM makes is perfectly valid.  There is as yet no viable alternative to the current owners so trying to force them out seems stupid, where does that leave us.

It's absolutely though right to question the current setup and funding and I don't necessarily have an issue with doing that at games either, but let's hope those that do attend do act sensibly.  I'm not even going to the game but I don't think right now I'd attend a protest either.

If there's no alternative why do Radio Sheffield keep mentioning investors still being interested in the club?

They may simply know more than we do as fans.  Personally until I see genuine evidence of an actual change then there isn't evidence of an alternative just a wishlist.

I guess there is a question as to what people do want the alternative to be?

I think it's more likely to be cheap lazy journalism where they believe the crap circulating on Twitter.

[Sammy Chung was King]

If it hasn’t already happened I would think a meeting between football and the financial side is needed. I would want to be knowing why the money I have put in has so badly wasted. The board are to blame for the appointment of the managers.

With Coppinger there, they still have to sign the contracts off. They have gone cheap quite a few times and it’s cost us. Getting the right man who will use any funding well is paramount. Until the right man is manager things will continue to go wrong and money will carry on being wasted. Get the right person in that role and things will fall into place.

The manager position is the most important at the club and we keep appointing novices.
A club like ours needs to be great at scouting players and getting them early, we are not producing enough good signings from scouting work done.
When we have promising young players why are they not playing?, especially when we’ve been so poor.
The place needs new people with new ideas.

[pib]

The thing that i feel gets most going is that its not just about the football being crap just now. There's an air of decomposition all around the club.

The ground is starting to look grotty, the catering has been a joke for years, failing infrastructure ie, dusty and dirty concrete walkways and terracing that has not been swept or washed down, broken scoreboard, floodlights that have more defective than working, stadium interior lighting that only comes on occasionally, sharp exposed rivet holes in the back plates on the stadium walls at the back of the stand(i've ruined a decent jacket with it catching on the sharp edge) all the stadium perimeter advertising hoardings look like they have disappeared or fell to bits(lack of commercial performance?)Stadium facilities look very tired, toilets, sports bar, training rooms that are hired out, all look like they need some care and attention..

When you look at this overall it just looks like the club is being run on a tight budget and it will no doubt get tighter as our performance on the field continues to go from bad to worse. The fact that supporters are getting nothing like the right level of communication with the club only hammers it home that it looks like a rudderless ship with no one prepared to make the difference.

This to me is what is alienating the fans from the club, we could say that during the John Ryan era we were in effect spoiled with the engagement he had with the supporters, no one is expecting this from the current board, but some appreciation that they understand the dire situation we all feel the club is in and that they are working on it, begrudging platitudes from exterior sources is not what's required in this situation the fans would like to hear it from the horses mouth.

I well remember back in the early JR days one pre-season they asked for fans to volunteer their help to go and paint the crush barriers, tidy up the terraces and surroundings and the like. I was away at university at the time so couldn't help out but plenty did and it was that sort of "all in it together" spirit that laid the foundations for a really strong symbiotic relationship between the club and the supporters.

I would gladly get stuck in with a bucket and sponge or a jet washer to clean 15 years' worth of dust and grime off the seats. I'd happily give the Belle Vue Bar a lick of paint. I'd even be prepared to clean the bogs and fix the locks on the cubicle doors. It might sound very amateur but if come the close season they put out a statement saying something along the lines of:

"Enough is enough, standards have slipped too far so we're going to make improvements in all areas. We'll back the (new) manager with a strong transfer budget and we want to make the Eco Power Stadium a home of which we can all be proud so we're asking for a taskforce of supporters to chip in and give the place a makeover. In return those who help out will be rewarded with a £50 voucher to spend on anything at the club from merchandise to tickets or catering."

I would jump on that chance to give some extra support as would many others.

Totally agree with that Mike, I think the key thing that has been lost is pride in a lot of areas. Criticise anything to do with the team or off-field things like this and what you’re mostly met with is excuses…. Covid, we haven’t got the funds, we can’t do X because of External supplier Y. Whether it’s the team performances or the dried up 2-year old reeking puddle of piss on the floor of the gents toilets in the south stand (no, seriously I’ve moved on from the first team now) there always seems to be a reason/excuse for it not getting sorted.

I would also add that there are people working at the club who are genuine fans who I’m sure would be happy to pitch in and help co-ordinate etc.

However what the above all requires to sort out is some gumption, pride and determination from the top to go, “ok everyone, this has become a rubbish experience, let’s get some ideas going and solutions in place”

[Draytonian III]

On Instagram, Roversbible there’s a post about the meeting at 1 O’clock, but the bright sparks say it’s Saturday 10th April ?? How you try be serious when the day/date is wrong, also they planning to protest on a day when there will be a large police presence because who the opposition are, not very well thought out

[normal rules]

What diff does having a large police presence make to having a protest . The police will actually facilitate peaceful protest if they are spoken to

[donnydogk9]

The protest still going ahead. The police will be no problem as it will be peaceful.

The statement this morning was to try to stop the protest is what the organisers are saying, it’s purely hot air and more lies upon lies.

Why should we believe them now? The blame lays at David Blunts feet and we need a new chairman next season to wipe the slate clean.

The only way we will stop this protest and the protests every game is for David Blunt to resign.

[silent majority]

The protest still going ahead. The police will be no problem as it will be peaceful.

The statement this morning was to try to stop the protest is what the organisers are saying, it’s purely hot air and more lies upon lies.

Why should we believe them now? The blame lays at David Blunts feet and we need a new chairman next season to wipe the slate clean.

The only way we will stop this protest and the protests every game is for David Blunt to resign.

Don't kid yourself, the announcement this morning has nothing to do with your protest.

The announcement has been coming for quite some time, it was always about getting agreements in place and budgets set.

Go ahead though, knock yourself out, a protest at 1pm designed to remove the Chairman has no impact on what the clubs decisions are.

[ncRover]

The protest still going ahead. The police will be no problem as it will be peaceful.

The statement this morning was to try to stop the protest is what the organisers are saying, it’s purely hot air and more lies upon lies.

Why should we believe them now? The blame lays at David Blunts feet and we need a new chairman next season to wipe the slate clean.

The only way we will stop this protest and the protests every game is for David Blunt to resign.

Desperate mental gymnastics here to try and stay relevant.

[Glyn_Wigley]

The protest still going ahead. The police will be no problem as it will be peaceful.

The statement this morning was to try to stop the protest is what the organisers are saying, it’s purely hot air and more lies upon lies.

Why should we believe them now? The blame lays at David Blunts feet and we need a new chairman next season to wipe the slate clean.

The only way we will stop this protest and the protests every game is for David Blunt to resign.

Desperate mental gymnastics here to try and stay relevant.

I hope that empty room they're protesting to takes notice!

[ravenrover]

Peaceful but they are hoping to invade the building to get to the Board room, yep even SY finest will soon put a stop to that

[normal rules]

Peaceful but they are hoping to invade the building to get to the Board room, yep even SY finest will soon put a stop to that

Good luck to anyone that tries this. Aggravated trespass is straight arrest.

[roversdude]

So TB was so scared of the protest he’s decided to throw even more money at the club….really get real

[In the box]

It is what it is and  TB should be allowed full respect for him just being at the club . He has by his on admission said that football isn’t a big thing in his life but HAS backed the club and wants success but not any price I’d assume . The club has reached its crossroads and TB is prepared to invest further, so who are we to question or brandish his statement without seeing what materialises . I’ve bought my season ticket before his statement and feel vindicated, in-spite of my feelings about how things have been going for a few seasons . So I will keep my fingers crossed that we are emerging from a dark place into the light once again !!