[As much as I enjoy and appreciate Cruncher's contributions to this blog, it sometimes takes me a while to 'get' his punning headlines. This one is no exception, but I got there in the end. Hopefully it won't take you as long as me to g(az)et it! PS, if you're looking for my usual review of yesterday's debacle against Hartlepool it'll be along either later this evening or some time tomorrow, if I can be arsed. The team didn't seem to make too much effort yesterday so why should I bother? In the meantime can I point you towards Vyse's Green and White Blog where you will find a comprehensive and excellent match report. - Taff]
All Quiet On The Western Front (and the back)
I soon can get to some games and talk about the football, which I am still very much looking forward to doing despite yesterday's great disappointment. I tried to resist a ramble last week about the restructuring plans, but couldn't hold out - sorry to inform that this compulsion has occurred again. This time it is as a result of Taff's balanced and fair look at the local media blanking the wide concern at-large, about what he has christened 'Holdingsgate'. I did start to reply with a comment on his blog, but it became too long when I tied it in with the theme of inevitability - so here we are.
Nobody expects The Gazette, for example, to be confrontational. What is expected is that they acknowledge a concern amongst their readership that obviously exists, done in the briefest of ways would have sufficed. It was naive, at best, not to have stated from the start from problems incurred at other clubs, that there would be much debate and many questions. And to compound that with putting the Capital Glovers letter to one side, to the convenience of the Board (it appears), has led to the inevitable thought that lack of communication is a foe lined up on two fronts.
I have banged on about inevitabilities, and this outcome of how the local media is viewed is another of those, and as with the club, of its own making. Everyone understands why they are not at the club's throat, nor wants or expects them to be, but not why they haven't made a single reference to a significant concern amongst the community they report to, or at least raised an eyebrow as to why Matt Scott thinks it so.
If the local papers still do not give supporters' views a mention, we will have the ludicrous situation of national reporting on a provincial issue ballooning, while its local counterparts can't spare a drop of ink; a ridiculous contrast that would increasingly become part of the issue, as well as self-perpetuate it, if it were prolonged.
The Guardian was also bound to happen as a follow-up to inaction. As a direct result, of both the club and local press attitude to great concern in the community, that concern now has the benefit of a proven super-sleuth and champion of punter-perspective.
Digger appears to follow every item he starts as a project to completion. He is keeping a watchful eye on Plymouth, where that includes noticing what Sir Roy Gardner is up to. It is inevitable that a continued silence at Huish Park will lead him to find clues elsewhere - as his work uncovering the mystery of the previous Notts County owners showed.
This inevitability is now a predictable conveyor belt gathering pace. The Board need to take a reality check on what is happening, hold to the Customer Charter promise and explain how we could achieve by unity. If they don't, the simple conclusion at some point will be that they won't tell us because we won't agree that it's good for the club.
No-one wants to be at odds with their club, no-one either wants to hold up what may be an astoundingly good plan to advance the fortunes of the club.
But, on this issue, silence is madness. If a spouse was to inform the other that some bloke in a suit down the pub had told them it was good to change the house ownership into just that person's name, 'but don't worry, it's for the best', a lot of questions would follow. So would a lot of wondering, and checking to see if someone was winking at the milkman, or even the bloke in the suit, or booking airline tickets, or whatever.
That is certainly no slight on the integrity of this Board, none at all. It is simply the inevitability of human nature when faced with such an unexplained dilemma. The conveyor belt won't stop unless the Board acknowledge the obvious in that they have caused a chain-reaction that is sane, fair, and inevitable. It is up to them to apply the brakes by speaking up.
Yesterday has brought on the height of worry in normal times that a club should expect its support to have to cope with - ie. that the team played crap. It is inexcusable to bring significant extra worries through a silent dismissal, especially when disallowed by a promise of Charter. As well as it is inevitable that words such as 'despondent' to describe the effect of silence of both local media and the club are replaced by those such as 'bloomin' rude'.
Cruncher
Showing posts with label The Guardian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Guardian. Show all posts
Sunday, 22 August 2010
Friday, 20 August 2010
Local press letting fans down
I haven't received my invitation for a chat with club chairman John Fry and Chief Executive Martyn Starnes yet, but judging by the comments made by some on the achieve by unity forum then I'm sure it's only a matter of time. It seems that the Chairman and CEO are willing to conduct one-on-one meetings with virtually anyone who asks them, which makes their apparently wilful refusal to otherwise comment on the ongoing Yeovil Town Holding Company saga very hard to understand.
It's not just the YTFC Board who are conspicuous by their silence however. So far all the running in publicising the story has been made by unofficial and independent supporters groups and websites/blogs, aided and abetted by the wonderful and tenacious Matt Scott, author of the Digger column in The Guardian newspaper. One would have thought that as the national press has now started to pick up on supporters' concerns over Holdingsgate (as I am now beginning to think of it) that the local press might have seen fit to make their own enquiries into the situation, but so far neither the Western Gazette nor the Yeovil Express have featured the story at all, other than the Gazette's initial interview with John Fry back in the first week of June, which was when the club first announced its intentions.
As I understand it the Capital Glovers sent their open letter to the Board to the Gazette and asked the paper to print it. I'm told that the paper then contacted the club to see if they wanted a right to reply to the letter, but the club refused, saying they wanted to respond to the Capital Glovers direct - despite telling the Capital Glovers that they hadn't received the open letter! Whatever, the Gazette have been holding the open letter for 3 weeks now and evidently have no intention of printing it without some kind of reply from the club, who evidently have no intention of replying - a completely unsatisfactory state of affairs. And what of the Yeovil Express? There's no bigger fan of the club than Express editor Steve Sowden but again, the silence from the paper on Holdingsgate is deafening. It's becoming clear that the local press are very good at reporting on the usual activities of the club, but when it comes to the unusual then they're found wanting. It's fortunate that The Guardian isn't as shy.
Does it matter that the local press is so backwards in coming forwards? Not as much as it did before the advent of the internet. Nowadays more fans are more informed than they used to be due to the influence of the net, but nevertheless a significant number of supporters still rely on the press and particularly the local press for their YTFC news and views. And it's these supporters who are being let down by the lack of coverage on Holdingsgate. It would be nice to think that both the Gazette and the Express could rediscover some independence and indeed some balls by the time they publish next week's editions of their respective papers, but I won't be holding my breath. The club says 'jump', they only ask 'how high'.
With some relief, it's back to why we are all here, the football. The Glovers entertain Hartlepool United tomorrow at Huish Park, with the visitors reeling somewhat after the unexpected resignation of former manager Chris Turner this week. Glovers boss Terry Skiverton has signed former Watford midfielder Billy Gibson on a 6-month deal and he will presumably go straight into Saturday's squad. Missing will be the suspended JP Kalala and almost certainly missing will be the almost certainly injured Luke Freeman; but on the plus side both Dean Bowditch and Andy Welsh should return from injury, so happy days there. Skivo's main selection dilemma will be in the central midfield spot - will Ed Upson or Rob Kiernan partner Luke Ayling in the middle? I would go for Upson initially, but Skivo may prefer Kiernan's defensive nous. We will see tomorrow.
The bookies make the Glovers favourites for the win at 11/10. The draw is priced at 12/5 and a Hartlepool win is also at 12/5. My fiver is going very firmly on the home win. Running total: -£4.25p. Come on you Greens!
It's not just the YTFC Board who are conspicuous by their silence however. So far all the running in publicising the story has been made by unofficial and independent supporters groups and websites/blogs, aided and abetted by the wonderful and tenacious Matt Scott, author of the Digger column in The Guardian newspaper. One would have thought that as the national press has now started to pick up on supporters' concerns over Holdingsgate (as I am now beginning to think of it) that the local press might have seen fit to make their own enquiries into the situation, but so far neither the Western Gazette nor the Yeovil Express have featured the story at all, other than the Gazette's initial interview with John Fry back in the first week of June, which was when the club first announced its intentions.
As I understand it the Capital Glovers sent their open letter to the Board to the Gazette and asked the paper to print it. I'm told that the paper then contacted the club to see if they wanted a right to reply to the letter, but the club refused, saying they wanted to respond to the Capital Glovers direct - despite telling the Capital Glovers that they hadn't received the open letter! Whatever, the Gazette have been holding the open letter for 3 weeks now and evidently have no intention of printing it without some kind of reply from the club, who evidently have no intention of replying - a completely unsatisfactory state of affairs. And what of the Yeovil Express? There's no bigger fan of the club than Express editor Steve Sowden but again, the silence from the paper on Holdingsgate is deafening. It's becoming clear that the local press are very good at reporting on the usual activities of the club, but when it comes to the unusual then they're found wanting. It's fortunate that The Guardian isn't as shy.
Does it matter that the local press is so backwards in coming forwards? Not as much as it did before the advent of the internet. Nowadays more fans are more informed than they used to be due to the influence of the net, but nevertheless a significant number of supporters still rely on the press and particularly the local press for their YTFC news and views. And it's these supporters who are being let down by the lack of coverage on Holdingsgate. It would be nice to think that both the Gazette and the Express could rediscover some independence and indeed some balls by the time they publish next week's editions of their respective papers, but I won't be holding my breath. The club says 'jump', they only ask 'how high'.
With some relief, it's back to why we are all here, the football. The Glovers entertain Hartlepool United tomorrow at Huish Park, with the visitors reeling somewhat after the unexpected resignation of former manager Chris Turner this week. Glovers boss Terry Skiverton has signed former Watford midfielder Billy Gibson on a 6-month deal and he will presumably go straight into Saturday's squad. Missing will be the suspended JP Kalala and almost certainly missing will be the almost certainly injured Luke Freeman; but on the plus side both Dean Bowditch and Andy Welsh should return from injury, so happy days there. Skivo's main selection dilemma will be in the central midfield spot - will Ed Upson or Rob Kiernan partner Luke Ayling in the middle? I would go for Upson initially, but Skivo may prefer Kiernan's defensive nous. We will see tomorrow.
The bookies make the Glovers favourites for the win at 11/10. The draw is priced at 12/5 and a Hartlepool win is also at 12/5. My fiver is going very firmly on the home win. Running total: -£4.25p. Come on you Greens!
Thursday, 19 August 2010
Can you hear the Yeovil sing ...?
Cruncher is back with a follow-up to his blog of last week, 'Get over the hump'. Is there anybody out there listening?
Can you hear the Yeovil sing? I can't hear a ...
Well, you know the rhyme. Although there are some signs of warming up the vocal chords for a performance or two. Once the Board went for the ostrich technique, it was inevitable that they would invite more criticism and less trust. Just as it was clear that once Matt Scott was on the scent of the shareholders documents, that he would eventually find them. This is increasingly becoming a saga about inevitabilities; if the Board remain obstinate, there is no doubt Digger's spade-work will be followed up until eventually he starts up the JCB. The more you bury yer head in the sand, the easier it is to get yer arse kicked.
On motive, I remain open-minded. I do, however, see why the wider view may be falling the other way, largely due to the lack of explanation and debate. For all that is good at the club, silence and non-engagement unfortunately is a common theme, meaning a bolted-door policy over the years on other matters has now impacted on this single vital issue, to affect the benefit of doubt: one of the afore-mentioned inevitabilities.
As it happens, based on John Fry's long service and how the club is perceived in the wider football world, my instinct remains that there is good intention - though I sincerely wish the route avoided separation. I wish also that local and/or supporter investment had been sought as a preferential strategy, including accepting well-chosen new directors for their input and ideas as well as their money.
Apart from The Guardian, the press have been shy while supporters have been penned-in like sheep subdued by a wall of silence. On this issue, that has a proven as well as a potential risk, sheep don't stay penned-in for ever. The silence of the lambs has ended, the flock has broken free to find its voice with questions, and the club needs to find its own voice with comprehensive answers. Digger breaking through the topsoil does seem to have got the club reaching for the throat-spray. Let us hope that what they do say addresses the issues full-on, especially with regard to safeguarding the club and ensuring it benefits wholly from its own assets.
No-one wants development to be off-agenda, this small club needs to create revenue. The opportunity is there for the club to understand, then explain and engage, and then to achieve by unity. A lack of such action though will compound an opposite and divisive effect. With crowds having dwindled significantly compared to a few years back, that is relevant to the here-and-now, as well as the future. 'Achieve by Unity' is the club's motto, and (as the Guardian article highlighted) the Charter also demands debate on such issues.
I noticed Denison Till and their belief in asset-separation alongside understanding of 'football difficulties' a couple of months ago, when searching around to find more clues in general. I made and repeated a general enquiry that was not responded to, though accept an explanation given. Since Digger's disclosure that the club is consulting with them I contacted them again, combining my initial general points with YTFC relevance.
Consultant Andrew Lindsay (while understandably and politely expressing his unavailability to comment specifically or to continue a dialogue) sang the praises of the Yeovil directors, as he had done to Digger, confidently assessing the Yeovil Board as ranking high on integrity and commitment to both club and community, in his many years of experience; also re-assuring (without detail) that the proposed route was both safe and wise; and he viewed the current Yeovil business model as notably superior to how most lower league clubs were run.
All well and good. Now it is time for the Yeovil Board to sing the praise of their own proposals, and that will inevitably have to include detail. The Capital Glovers Open Letter was a fair and respectful open-minded approach, which I would ask the club to note as reflecting the general view of a great many of us. I know that others are making similar approaches and seeking other routes of help and advice - as is the inevitable outcome when explanation goes AWOL. If that compounded further, the collective opinion would strongly suspect that satisfactory explanation was not possible - the worst scenario.
This is not a stand-off from uninformed (oh the irony) supporters, but a plea from a realistic support that wants to be allowed to share a vision that they want proven as an exciting way forward they can take part in. Sing up.
Cruncher
Can you hear the Yeovil sing? I can't hear a ...
Well, you know the rhyme. Although there are some signs of warming up the vocal chords for a performance or two. Once the Board went for the ostrich technique, it was inevitable that they would invite more criticism and less trust. Just as it was clear that once Matt Scott was on the scent of the shareholders documents, that he would eventually find them. This is increasingly becoming a saga about inevitabilities; if the Board remain obstinate, there is no doubt Digger's spade-work will be followed up until eventually he starts up the JCB. The more you bury yer head in the sand, the easier it is to get yer arse kicked.
On motive, I remain open-minded. I do, however, see why the wider view may be falling the other way, largely due to the lack of explanation and debate. For all that is good at the club, silence and non-engagement unfortunately is a common theme, meaning a bolted-door policy over the years on other matters has now impacted on this single vital issue, to affect the benefit of doubt: one of the afore-mentioned inevitabilities.
As it happens, based on John Fry's long service and how the club is perceived in the wider football world, my instinct remains that there is good intention - though I sincerely wish the route avoided separation. I wish also that local and/or supporter investment had been sought as a preferential strategy, including accepting well-chosen new directors for their input and ideas as well as their money.
Apart from The Guardian, the press have been shy while supporters have been penned-in like sheep subdued by a wall of silence. On this issue, that has a proven as well as a potential risk, sheep don't stay penned-in for ever. The silence of the lambs has ended, the flock has broken free to find its voice with questions, and the club needs to find its own voice with comprehensive answers. Digger breaking through the topsoil does seem to have got the club reaching for the throat-spray. Let us hope that what they do say addresses the issues full-on, especially with regard to safeguarding the club and ensuring it benefits wholly from its own assets.
No-one wants development to be off-agenda, this small club needs to create revenue. The opportunity is there for the club to understand, then explain and engage, and then to achieve by unity. A lack of such action though will compound an opposite and divisive effect. With crowds having dwindled significantly compared to a few years back, that is relevant to the here-and-now, as well as the future. 'Achieve by Unity' is the club's motto, and (as the Guardian article highlighted) the Charter also demands debate on such issues.
I noticed Denison Till and their belief in asset-separation alongside understanding of 'football difficulties' a couple of months ago, when searching around to find more clues in general. I made and repeated a general enquiry that was not responded to, though accept an explanation given. Since Digger's disclosure that the club is consulting with them I contacted them again, combining my initial general points with YTFC relevance.
Consultant Andrew Lindsay (while understandably and politely expressing his unavailability to comment specifically or to continue a dialogue) sang the praises of the Yeovil directors, as he had done to Digger, confidently assessing the Yeovil Board as ranking high on integrity and commitment to both club and community, in his many years of experience; also re-assuring (without detail) that the proposed route was both safe and wise; and he viewed the current Yeovil business model as notably superior to how most lower league clubs were run.
All well and good. Now it is time for the Yeovil Board to sing the praise of their own proposals, and that will inevitably have to include detail. The Capital Glovers Open Letter was a fair and respectful open-minded approach, which I would ask the club to note as reflecting the general view of a great many of us. I know that others are making similar approaches and seeking other routes of help and advice - as is the inevitable outcome when explanation goes AWOL. If that compounded further, the collective opinion would strongly suspect that satisfactory explanation was not possible - the worst scenario.
This is not a stand-off from uninformed (oh the irony) supporters, but a plea from a realistic support that wants to be allowed to share a vision that they want proven as an exciting way forward they can take part in. Sing up.
Cruncher
Monday, 9 August 2010
Get Over The Hump
Guest-blogger time. Cruncher is back with a powerful plea to the Board to start talking....
Get Over The Hump
Time is moving on, and the questions and worries about the club's restructuring plans continue to be met with a castle-wall of silence. As an enthusiastic manager with an enterprising on-field approach who can also easily connect with the support, Terry Skiverton is a promising prospect to bring more through the gate. It is worrying, though, that he might be hindered by the Board's reluctance to illuminate about their own enterprising endeavours.
On one hand there is much to draw in new punters and to re-enthuse old ones to return. On the other, the club is advocating what has proved elsewhere to be significant risk in divorcing the football club from its ground - and then significantly compounding that with no explanation. It's a subjective view, but I tend to think it feasible that while Skiverton is drumming up more support, the wall of silence could cause the potential returning masses to, at best, dither.
The first crowd of the season could be read two ways: disappointing because it was down by a couple hundred on last year's opener; or encouraging because three hundred more turned up than for Orient's last visit - which is significant because last year it was also an August fixture. Which leads me to conclude unsurprisingly that nothing can be concluded after one game just as equally with attendances as with on-field prospects. I do think though that the end of August sum total attendance compared to last August might be an early measure, and even tomorrow's Crystal Palace Carling Cup crowd will be interesting to compare against last year's 3,860, for the Norwich encounter at the same stage of the competition.
Anyway, we'll have to see. It's the dilemma that I particularly want to mention and for the Board to note its significance: a feeling that we could indeed be taking small exciting steps to better things, yet coinciding with a great and rational fear of where the restructuring proposals could lead. They need to appreciate that this is what is in hearts and minds at this time, including no doubt in those that are 'dithering' about either finding out what Huish Park is like, or returning to the fold. It is real, and needs to addressed.
For what this club both needs and wants, Terry Skiverton's approach to developing this club hits the mark. A clear long-term objective to continue on an upward climb, committed to sourcing and developing talented youngsters to play to an entertaining attacking plan. Combine this with his understanding of the perspective from the supporter and the press, as an effective and enthusiastic communicator, then Skiverton shows potential to follow the successful eras of Alec Stock, Mike Hughes and Gary Johnson that defined the football club.
John Fry, like all of us, may acquire criticism on specific issues, but he has also certainly done enough for this club to have earned his place in the history of the club as firmly as anyone. That though adds to the enigma. Start talking to us. When it comes to matters so important as ground, I like my terra to be firma.
I particularly enjoyed DNB's post on the Achieve by Unity forum about the last twenty years of wonderful mixed emotion since the move from the old Huish - I want someone doing that with similar fond memories in another twenty years. Matt Scott of The Guardian has learned that his persistence has given the club 'the hump'. Time for the club to get over their hump. Martin Starnes has stressed in The Western Gazette the need for people to attend games - while welcome to hear, it falls on the club to look into all aspects of why people may not be attending.
How frustrating it would be to negate the good efforts of the management team, and indeed the good efforts of many years of good practice with John Fry at the helm. Silence or insufficient communication though has been a long-standing bugbear - but all those occasions added up together cannot amount to the need for words as does this singularly important restructuring issue.
As the line says, 'Silence like a cancer grows ...'
Cruncher
Get Over The Hump
Time is moving on, and the questions and worries about the club's restructuring plans continue to be met with a castle-wall of silence. As an enthusiastic manager with an enterprising on-field approach who can also easily connect with the support, Terry Skiverton is a promising prospect to bring more through the gate. It is worrying, though, that he might be hindered by the Board's reluctance to illuminate about their own enterprising endeavours.
On one hand there is much to draw in new punters and to re-enthuse old ones to return. On the other, the club is advocating what has proved elsewhere to be significant risk in divorcing the football club from its ground - and then significantly compounding that with no explanation. It's a subjective view, but I tend to think it feasible that while Skiverton is drumming up more support, the wall of silence could cause the potential returning masses to, at best, dither.
The first crowd of the season could be read two ways: disappointing because it was down by a couple hundred on last year's opener; or encouraging because three hundred more turned up than for Orient's last visit - which is significant because last year it was also an August fixture. Which leads me to conclude unsurprisingly that nothing can be concluded after one game just as equally with attendances as with on-field prospects. I do think though that the end of August sum total attendance compared to last August might be an early measure, and even tomorrow's Crystal Palace Carling Cup crowd will be interesting to compare against last year's 3,860, for the Norwich encounter at the same stage of the competition.
Anyway, we'll have to see. It's the dilemma that I particularly want to mention and for the Board to note its significance: a feeling that we could indeed be taking small exciting steps to better things, yet coinciding with a great and rational fear of where the restructuring proposals could lead. They need to appreciate that this is what is in hearts and minds at this time, including no doubt in those that are 'dithering' about either finding out what Huish Park is like, or returning to the fold. It is real, and needs to addressed.
For what this club both needs and wants, Terry Skiverton's approach to developing this club hits the mark. A clear long-term objective to continue on an upward climb, committed to sourcing and developing talented youngsters to play to an entertaining attacking plan. Combine this with his understanding of the perspective from the supporter and the press, as an effective and enthusiastic communicator, then Skiverton shows potential to follow the successful eras of Alec Stock, Mike Hughes and Gary Johnson that defined the football club.
John Fry, like all of us, may acquire criticism on specific issues, but he has also certainly done enough for this club to have earned his place in the history of the club as firmly as anyone. That though adds to the enigma. Start talking to us. When it comes to matters so important as ground, I like my terra to be firma.
I particularly enjoyed DNB's post on the Achieve by Unity forum about the last twenty years of wonderful mixed emotion since the move from the old Huish - I want someone doing that with similar fond memories in another twenty years. Matt Scott of The Guardian has learned that his persistence has given the club 'the hump'. Time for the club to get over their hump. Martin Starnes has stressed in The Western Gazette the need for people to attend games - while welcome to hear, it falls on the club to look into all aspects of why people may not be attending.
How frustrating it would be to negate the good efforts of the management team, and indeed the good efforts of many years of good practice with John Fry at the helm. Silence or insufficient communication though has been a long-standing bugbear - but all those occasions added up together cannot amount to the need for words as does this singularly important restructuring issue.
As the line says, 'Silence like a cancer grows ...'
Cruncher
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