General discussion thread (Was Match Thread 6th Aug)

[The pressman]

Real Diamond - this is a forum for free speech. What i do or say at the AGM is my business. Interestingly, my 3 main gripes about the board, Communication, PR and conflict of interest were all raised by other members so I didn't need to mention them myself.

To Bartonraz, you often speak sense but sometimes talk as though you are either on the board or an apologist for it. I was surprised and disappointed at 'cheap' line about 'Peaks-era hangers on'. Yes, I make no apology for being disappointed and bemused at the way Peaksy was treated by certain members of the board and the way they just let him walk away. He deserved better and it showed the board for what they really are.

Yes Peaksy, Champs and Biff Carlin have all left now and its time to move on. Yes I really hope that we do well this season. And yes I have paid for a season ticket and recently bought a life membership - does all that suggest that I want the club to fail? Far from it!

[real diamond]

Fair points you make, although you could have added weight to your issues with the club if voiced in line with others at that time.

This is not the week for the fan base to turn on each other, I know for a fact the players read this forum and it’s unpleasant reading recently, This is the week to get behind the team and put a pretty dismal pre season in the past.

[Adrian]

Pressman, I am completely with you in being disappointed about the way Tommo Lorraine was spoken to, but your below comment is a bit disappointing for me,

I make no apology for being disappointed and bemused at the way Peaksy was treated by certain members of the board and the way they just let him walk away. He deserved better and it showed the board for what they really are.

When you say the board just let Peaksy walk away.... what could they have done to stop him walking away?

I'm struggling to see why Peaks would turn down Tamworth even if we offered him the same money, they have a setup that should be in at least the league above and they have significant resources to make the job of getting them back there easier, on top of that when they do get promotion they will have the resources to compete in that division... for me he would be totally crazy and have no ambition to turn Tamworth down to stay here.

I know for a fact the players read this forum

You fibber
The players you knew that read the forum have probably buggered off and this seasons squad don't even know the forum exists yet (am just pulling your leg by the way)

[The pressman]

Adrian - you are right Peaksy couldn't turn down a bigger club like Tamworth but equally did anyone from the board try and keep him? No they just let him walk away!

[davealbon]

Adrian - you are right Peaksy couldn't turn down a bigger club like Tamworth but equally did anyone from the board try and keep him? No they just let him walk away!

Or to look at it another way, they respected his wishes, recognised his ambitions and didn't try to stand in his way. The board could have rejected Tamworth's offer as Peaksy was under contact. It was Peaksy's decision to talk to Tamworth and subsequently leave us for them, despite us sitting in the play off places going into the final months of the season.

And before anyone accuses me of being a 'friend of the board', I'll happily admit I am, as I've been there and done it, and know all too well the sacrifices they all make to ensure we have a club to support. Does that mean they get it right all the time? No. Does it mean they are exempt from criticism? Certainly not. But there are a number of people who do nothing but criticise without offering anything constructive, without knowing the full details, and without considering that there are two sides to every story.

[BartonRaz]

To Bartonraz, you often speak sense but sometimes talk as though you are either on the board or an apologist for it. I was surprised and disappointed at 'cheap' line about 'Peaks-era hangers on'. Yes, I make no apology for being disappointed and bemused at the way Peaksy was treated by certain members of the board and the way they just let him walk away. He deserved better and it showed the board for what they really are.

I'm not apologising for anyone. I'll criticise if I think it's required (and you're right about the communication) and I'll point out an alternative point of view if I think there is one. Too often at the moment the same people are just peddling an anti-board, anti-club narrative and won't even consider that there might be any other sides to the story.

[Pigman]

Blimey, I came on here to see how people are looking forward to the new season and see this!

I remember what it was like when we didn’t have a senior side to watch, no Saturday football at all - roaming around like a football nomad at the weekend just to get my weekly football fix! Do you remember that? It was bloody awful wasn’t it?!

I’m grateful to anyone who steps up and assumes any role on the board, as this thread demonstrates so vividly, it’s a thankless task - they do it out of passion for the club and that should never be forgotten!

My old dad (god bless him) used to say “the person who’s never made a mistake has never made anything” so I can forgive any mistakes made along the way to be honest! We’ve not kicked a ball in anger yet and I see all this crap is flying around.

Get behind Andy and the lads and let’s see where we go! This is a season of rebuilding, it’s going to be a rollercoaster, and I can’t wait! Forget all this petty sniping, it’s energy sapping, pointless and counterproductive!

Football starts for real on Saturday - that should be the focus, all pulling together, getting behind the lads and urging them on! Yesterdays hero’s are just that, yesterdays men! Always remembered fondly for the memories they have given us, but we move forward! We have to!

Lots of memories to be forged in this our ‘decade of diamonds year’ - let’s hope it’s a good one! We’ve come a long way since we started in 2011 with the u18s, we should be proud of our achievements. The young players we have will make mistakes, we need to get behind them, offer them support and help their development - I can’t wait to see this side gel over the coming weeks!

I’ll miss the start as I’m away, but will be cheering on from afar tuned in to Radio Diamonds, hopefully at Basford on the 13th all being well!

Win lose or draw Saturday, there is lots to be positive about - having a club is one, the rest will fall into place over time - and if it doesn’t, then things evolve - but fans putting their belief and support behind these lads is what is needed right now - not all this nonsense about who said what and hurt feelings! God it’s like an episode of TOWIE!!

[Adrian]

Blimey, I came on here to see how people are looking forward to the new season and see this!

I remember what it was like when we didn’t have a senior side to watch

Win lose or draw Saturday, there is lots to be positive about - having a club is one

Let's not venture into - just grateful to have a club territory,
I say this because if for example the board were not communicating with the fans and we all said nothing because we are just grateful to have a club - our club could become one of those dreadful clubs that don't communicate with the fans because everyone sits back and says nothing.

So I think it is good that people air their concerns because essentially that means... they care.

Since the formation of AFC, the fans have always seemed to be full of enthusiasm with the way the club has been run, so it is a bit strange to see a fair few seemingly a bit down about things.

I do have a theory about that though, from the formation we were pretty much going for promotion every year, each year was full of wins, now we have risen to a level that is probably as far as we can go at this ground and with that the mindset changes, for a couple of years now we have been unable to sit here at the start of a season and honestly say we should be finishing in the top 4 - that probably takes a bit of enthusiasm out of it for some supporters.

[AFCRD_Dan]

I
Having spoken to Tom, I didn't get the impression that he misconstrued anything and I agree that this is not the way to treat a club legend. Even if the message was in any way misconstrued then again it shows up precisely what I've been saying for some time. Communication and PR are very poor within the club. We desperately need a communication committee set up to liaise with the fans. Maybe communication could be top of the new Chair's agenda when he or she is appointed.

I can understand your issues with the board to an extent.

A few seasons ago I witnessed a family member who was a volunteer at the time being spoken to like shit, that same person is still actively on the board.
She couldn’t be in two places at the same time, which this board member seemed to think she could be.

[bozzer]

What an utterly depressing thread.
Its the eve of the new season and we should be excited about football coming back on a saturday again.

Clearly if there are issues with the board and the members are not happy with them, they will be putting themselves forward to run the club in the right way, if not then we have a real issue, if the membership are not able to put forward people of the quality the members are wanting then maybe we have to have a conversation about whether we should be fan owned.