It's a matter of trust

[Jim D]

All these comments about Knight, Perry and contributions to the club seem to boil down to a simple question: Do you trust Knight, Perry and the Board to have the best interests of the club at heart and to manage the money they get from us in the best way? Assuming they have the funds available, a decision to donate money appears to be based on the answer.

The people in the 'No' camp obviously dont think that they do - and would like them to be completely open about everything that goes on behind the scenes. Most are so certain that something is badly wrong that they won't accept any explanation unless it matches their beliefs. What's more they refuse to contribute because they feel cheated or played for fools by DK & MP. This attitude is quite common when confronted by beggars on the street - how do you know that this person is really destitute and won't go straight back to the pub having collected lots of money from you and other suckers?

Those in the 'Yes' camp either believe they do, or are prepared to allow the benefit of the doubt. The issue is more one of 'how can I help, in whatever small way, to repay the enjoyment and pride that I take from supporting this team?' They look back at the last 7 or 8 years and remember where we were then, and where we could have been. They have strong suspicions (maybe they know) that the club is in deep trouble and can't survive in limbo for too long. They doubt if any reasonable investor will get involved all the time that a decision on the stadium is in the balance. They fear for the survival of this great club, but they fear as much for their peace of mind if they just stand by and watch it sink - knowing that they could have done something more.

I do trust DK and MP to both keep us afloat and bring us Falmer. I also trust MM to keep us in this division. Does that make me just another sucker? Perhaps, but I can't and won't stand idly by and watch all the work of the last 7 years go down the plughole. In answering this call for help I know that my contribution alone won't be anywhere near enough to make up the losses - but I know that I won't be alone. At the end of this I'll have done something to help secure the future of the club I love and that my kids (and, hopefully, theirs) will get a great deal of pleasure out of supporting long into the future. I honestly believe that Dick Knight, Martin Perry and the entire Board share this vision - that's why I'm delighted to be able to help them achieve it.

 

[Soul Finger]

Brilliant post. Well written and to the point.

Still can't bloody afford to donate though!

Will hopefully assist in some other way. As long as we all do SOMETHING we're in with a chance.

PS: Sorry to use captials to emphasise my statement.

 

[aftershavedave]

i agree with most of what you're saying jim, but with one big difference:

when the club looks to raise a not inconsiderable sum of £2m then the question of control becomes important.

would any single investor put in £2m without any voice through a share allocation? the answer is probably not (although i know that fbs has put in smaller amounts on this basis).

if the existing directors and shareholders can't raise the necessary funding then they should be prepared to cede some power to the supporters in the form of a share issue to a supporters' trust.

stating that this is too slow, costly, complex etc etc appears to me to be a request for the "normal" supporter to cough up and leave the board to get on as normal.

 

[Morgans Mullet]

I totally agree with you afters, it only took 18 days for Leceister City fans to set up their trust.
What also concerns me is the timing of this - the OGM's announcement was over 6 weeks ago. It does't take 6 weeks to find you need £2m. has something else happened that we don't yet know about?

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

I'd just like to know why the club's relationship with the fanbase changed so dramatically and fundamentally as soon as BensGrandad started sniffing around the accounts.

I have no idea who BensGrandad is or what his agenda is.

But one week after his post about murky meetings in Lincolnshire pubs we get an 'Ask The Club' forum.

A week after that the club goes public in asking the fans to find in excess of £2 million to 'save' the club.

Around the same time, stories surface about £50 payments being demanded from players for hotels. In Reading of all places.

One thing's for sure, you can bet your life there is a LOT more to all this than meets the eye.

 

[London Irish]

Call in Mulder and Scully.

 

[Charlies Shinpad]

Call in Mulder and Scully.

I would rather call in FG and Ernest!!

 

[coach03]

..........if the existing directors and shareholders can't raise the necessary funding then they should be prepared to cede some power to the supporters in the form of a share issue to a supporters' trust.

...and may have the effect of ensuring that in the long term future, when Dick et al have moved on, then his intent that no one individual should have a controlling stake again will be ensured in perpetuity

 

[Lord Bracknell]

I'd just like to know why the club's relationship with the fanbase changed so dramatically and fundamentally as soon as BensGrandad started sniffing around the accounts.

I have no idea who BensGrandad is or what his agenda is.

But one week after his post about murky meetings in Lincolnshire pubs we get an 'Ask The Club' forum.

I don't think BensGrandad started "sniffing around the accounts". I think even he will say that he hasn't sniffed around the accounts.

He has publicly apologised for getting his "Lincolnshire" allegation completely wrong. Had his allegations had a word of truth in them, I might take him seriously.

If he can be credited in any way with creating 'Ask The Club', I'd say simply that the new forum provides a quick and easy way for the Club to deal with the sort of potentially damaging nonsense that sometimes get posted on NSC.

BensGrandad is a long-standing sceptic about Dick Knight and never supported the Knight Consortium when it took over the Club - see this letter from him, published in Gulls Eye before Dick Knight took over:-

"I attended the meeting of BISA on Monday evening in the hope that I would hear something constructive about the present situation but sadly left the meeting very disillusioned.

The 'meeting' and I use the term very loosely was chaired by a self confessed left winger who told Steve Gritt and Jeff Wood that the gathering was indicative of the true supporters of Brighton and the mood of those supporters. Wrong!! There were approximately 300 militant supporters present who were being led into making a decision that would lead to causing as much disruption as possible to all forms of authority ...

... Surely the aim must be to first and foremost ensure Brighton's survival and secondly to bring about changes so that the present situation cannot happen again in the future. Sadly I heard nothing that indicated any moves towards either but plenty towards bringing in Dick Knight.

Having listened to what was said by Dick Knight and the two representatives from McAlpines I am rather sceptical as to whether or not they are the Messiahs that their adoring fans present on Monday believe..."

Whatever else, BensGrandad can't be accused of inconsistency.