Board/Fan Relationship

OldCastleSwift

But it does sum up how I feel about the club.

And I am a West Ham supporter.

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years

Cant help but agree with the majority of that article

OldCastleSwift

According to Ex, Sully has done an interview which is being released in the next few days. It covers the January transfer window, the Tony Henry affair, the general feeling surrounding the club.

Should be interesting.

TheMadcapLaughs

Pretty decent summing up of the club and owners, I`m not keen on the owners, I don`t think they do themselves ANY favours whatsoever and I think they lied through their teeth to force the move. I supported the move wholeheartedly initially but now think in hindsight that it was a mistake. On saying all that I`m not sure who I would want in to replace them. I would hate to be owned by a Russian oligarch or an oil rich Arab. The thought of suddenly having carillions to spend on players and achieving success that way leaves me totally cold, although that seems more or less the only way to guarantee success or compete regularly with the top six. That`s not our boards fault, that what football has become. I would be 100% happy to continue with the current board IF they appointed the requisite personnel to look after the day to day running of the club and were there merely to write cheques. Any scouting, negotiation, communication or ANYTHING that involved interaction with another human being should be beyond their remit. If the money isn`t there to write the cheques after professional X,Y,Z has done their job then just say so. No baloney. With this arrangement in place the two Daves can spend more time in Benidorm and Marbella and Brady can spend more time fighting her feminist causes. Everyone`s a winner.

claretandbluesky

Looks a reasonable article to me also.

ASLEFshrugged

Madcap - the only feminist cause Karren Brady fights for is the increased awareness of Karren Brady

imagelost

Easy it maybe something we not herd before
;hmm ;lol

Cuz1

Well I’d query if he spoke and was economical with the truth, unless he said something like we’ve advised Karen to ditch the daily rag she gets paid by as young jack can’t read it yet to many big words

imagelost

Words ;hmm
How big
A fisher mans tail “ it was that big” ;nonono

OldCastleSwift

As reported, here is Sully's interview with WHUTV:

https://whufc.com/news/articles/2018/february/10-february/message-supporters-west-ham-joint-chairman-david-sullivan

At least there's an acknowledgement of some failures of the board's part, and I've not seen Sully looking and sounding quite as humble as he does here.

I don't think there's enough in it to make a huge amount of difference in people's opinions of him and the board; if anything, it feels to me that we'll be scaling back our ambition, and possibly by extension an admission that we can't afford to compete with the big boys.

Would be interested to know how others perceive this.

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years

I liked the interview

But for me it doesn't make a blind bit of difference if they don't invest better in the next window and continue to do ridiculous and stupid interviews that receive criticism......can't have 1 good interview for every 9 bad

But it's an encouraging sign, he seemed like he is listening to the disgruntled fans

Will take real action to win me back

Also before anyone criticises me says I don't mind the Daves (especially not enough to march against them) I just think they've hit their ceiling and made a huge error leaving UP for the OS as it's not a move many (any?) wanted before it was brought up

Cuz1

Yes he said he believed the stadium would help get better players in but to get better players in you need to spend not make money as per last window

baracks_a_hammer

The selling of the ground is irreversible, so having sold the vision a lot of people now will find it difficult to accept if the ambition is now scaled back. The problem is they probably want the success which will in turn boost their asset value, but they haven’t got the financial clout to make it happen, and their whole recruitment policy (if indeed there is one) is somewhat of a shambles (which even they appear to be formally acknowledging).

If they want to stay involved yet also kick on, the only option appears to be to dilute their equity and bring big in another investor with significant funds which can directly strengthen the squad - who knows if this is something they will consider

Cuz1

Wondering why they let the American on the board with a ten % stake is he going to try buy outright?

claretandbluesky

I posted recently about their failings in communication and PR and this is a good start in communicating in a more appropriate manner. It had a sense of humility which has always been missing. I know many feel the protest group will make no difference but I feel that this interview would not have happened without this pressure group and much of the discussion was an answer to some of the criticisms levelled at them by the group.

Whilst of course this is just an interview it shows pressure can bring about a change in behaviour as the tone of this interview was very different to recent offerings, and that for me is the main thing to take from this, that they are listening and concerned and recognise the need, and wish, to run the club with consent and support. Yes of course the pressure cannot sack them or take their shares but it can cause a change in how they run the club through their wish to secure that support and consent, or cause them to walk away because they don't fancy the job without it.

One thing is for sure is their attention has been got.

Barney

I think if the protesters drop the 'Board out' approach (it is not going to happen) and press for some of the changes I have see presented quite well recently we may see some progress. I thought the video was a good start but as always actions speak louder than words.

ASLEFshrugged

Cuz1 said:

Wondering why they let the American on the board with a ten % stake is he going to try buy outright?

They didn't let him onto the board, he bought the last remaining shares held by Straumur

Hamstew

It's all words nothing more.

grey_til_I_dye

I get the feeling that the changes to transfer policy Sully mentioned may well be down to Moyes.

At the least, the part where he says we won't sign players the manager hasn't watched echoed what Moyes said about how he likes to do things.

grey_til_I_dye

Ooh! Ooh! I was right!

“We’ve put together some plans and thoughts about what we’re going to do (re recruitment structure) and over the years I had good success with the way we ran it,” said the manager, alluding to his eleven-year spell at Everton, where he unearthed a succession of future first-team stars from a variety of courses.
Read more at http://www.whufc.com/news/articles/2018/february/12-february/moyes-resurgent-marko-hard-earned-praise-and-recruitment#zsKgiueqlYMtrdRk.99

MrsGrey

All suggesting that he may be staying after this season?

MrsGrey

Hamstew said:

It's all words nothing more.

At this stage, yes. But it will be interesting to see if they put into practice, for example, the recruitment plan

that is going to set up something that hopefully gives us another look. It’s going to come a little bit away from the chairman. The Chairman is going to try to stand aside a bit from it*.

Read more at http://www.whufc.com/news/articles/2018/february/12-february/moyes-resurgent-marko-hard-earned-praise-and-recruitment#gWCUxmo9KTHv9RTd.99

It won't be done overnight (“The hardest thing is to get things done exactly right at this time because there may be people in jobs who we wouldn’t be able to take away just now, so we might have to do it more in-house at this time*), and of course there's always the chance that it may end up delivering less success than the existing system.

Time will tell.




*Just in case people later misinterpret or misremember what was said. It isn't 'DS is going to have nothing more to do with it, and they are going to put the new structure in place immediately.' Also, it is Moyes saying this, not the owners. #lovefacts

Cuz1

I hope so he’s done enough in my eyes to earn at least two years let’s hope he wants it, he’s got players playing better and only had a couple of blips

Pearces_Left_Foot

The first step is to acknowledge there is a problem which sully had now done and with moyes interview it sounds like he is going to have the final say and all players will be scouted much better

Yeoldhammer

The question is why nothing was done before and why on earth the owners were playing "Championship Manager" and signing players the manager had never seen play.

Fortuneseeker

It will be fine as long as Mr Moyes decides that the players we need are the ones WE (fans) want. ;whistle

grey_til_I_dye

You say PR, I say information.

MrsGrey

Can't win ... fans wanted him to speak and address various issues. He gives an interview. (Some) fans dismiss it.

If (those) fans were always going to dismiss it, why bother asking in the first place.

IronHerb

It was nothing interview imo. It will be interesting to see how a total micro manager, that DS is, manages to fully delegate the recruitment role. Also what is a 'huge' analysis and scouting department and 'massive' video department meant to mean?
This has only come about due to the pressure they are feeling.

OldCastleSwift

MrsGrey said:

Can't win ... fans wanted him to speak and address various issues. He gives an interview. (Some) fans dismiss it.

If (those) fans were always going to dismiss it, why bother asking in the first place.

Maybe those dismissing it weren't the ones asking for it.

I get where you're coming from though, and to some extent I agree. However, I do think Herbie is right and the interview was only released because of the pressure the fans have created through social media and, perhaps more pressingly, the march.

Some fans probably won't be happy until Sully gives an interview in which he commits to spending £100m each summer and guarantees the stadium will be bought outright and converted into a 'proper' football stadium, but I think the majority will at least acknowledge that he's trying to appease them.