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« on: March 20, 2017, 11:02:46 PM »
Having just managed to read the "rant" I thank you for your impassioned input.
There are, however, a couple of inaccuracies within your rant, so lets have look at them.
Firstly, the only time one person has said coward was back in December. A single utterance. So not "some", just one. If you dont believe me, use the search function on the forum.
In regards to management, the first ill-fated mistake was appointing Tolson, which nailed relegation. Neil Young was a collective mistake of the whole board and has been accepted as such. What looked good on paper, had already been warned against by fellow supporters at Chester and Stockport. I do feel, if we had someone managed to stay up in the Conference National, Young would never had been given the job. Young was available when we went for Tolson. Harvey should have worked out better, but even he was unable to get anything out of the dross we have ended up with this season.
In which extreme circumstances have Rowley and his family stuck by this football club? We are financially sound, volunteer driven. Clearly, if Rowley was not at the club, someone else would step into the role(s) that he and his family currently hold. No one is bigger than the football club.
I would expect the Chairman to be present at meetings and organising, this is his job. No one has actually criticised Mr Rowley for his effort or passion, quite the opposite actually. Even throughout this whole sorry mess, most have praised Mr Rowley and his family for their extensive work. Just because someone works hard and has his heart in the right place doesn't make them the right person for the job. A key lesson of business and people management.
Even if Mr Rowley left, we still have a board (unless they quit). We would also have players and a manager contracted to the club, so your point regarding fulfilling fixtures can only be looked at as scaremongering and is, quite frankly, ridiculous.
I am saddened that these fractures within the support have appeared. It is a sad day when a notable amount of supporters pack up and end up leaving.
Yes it is embarrassing that we are at a situation where many long time Altrincham supporters are upset with the performance both on and off the pitch. This season has been disgraceful. Yet, I would not say this is a personal vendetta against Mr Rowley.
This is supporters having ambition that we should and could do better with an alternative Chairman who would hopefully give better guidance and bring the skills and experience so desperately needed. Any football club suffering successive relegations need to ask deep and difficult questions. More so when the football club is on perfect and solid financial platform, having recently increased its off-pitch revenues and had a cash injection of selling a player to a premier league team.
Many of us remember the cold and horrible trips to Frickley & Blyth. I remember being part of the 478 standing on the terrace on December evening playing Vauxhall Motors. Some people may accept that we are going to ply our trade in the Evostick Premier and be happy about it. Which Man City supporter was happy about playing in League One?
Saying that our confidence went in the fourth game and never returned is a real damnation of our season. It also doesnt take into the account the 8 new players Buzz has brought in. Having won 2, drawn 4 and lost 9, the jury is still out on whether they should be in charge for next season. So 10 points from 15 matches. Are you seriously happy with that return?
What happens if we dont get promoted next season? Would it not be better to have a fresh start now, to get the whole club organised into a solid unified unit for our assault on the Evostick Premier?
In regards to the twitter boys. They have not done anything wrong. At the most, this should just have been a private conversation between the Director who looks after PR, Chairman and the lads. It is another PR catastrophe that Mr Rowley has a history of doing. The tweet, was innocuous and didnt even state what the protest was about (unlike the matchday updates).
It is well known that Stacey Rowley works extensively within the community part. Any person, steward, turnstile operator or injured player could have counted the supporters leaving.
Of course, there is no mention of the Chairman's rant at supporters at Braintree, which for me was the straw that broke the camel's back. Nor the comments made about supporters to the NLP, the lacklustre strategic review, the reluctance to accept blame and now the alienating of long time loyal Altrincham supporters.
I am, sadly, in the belief that we should and could have been in a better position. The blame for the last 28 months ends at the Chairman. Mr Rowley's inability to communicate effectively is his downfall.
For me, who has seen Alty through the Maunders, Berman, Goodwin and Rowley era's, I have not witnessed anything like this before. We have had our challenges, which historically have brought the fanbase together. Sadly that is not the case now.
A truly sad time in our once proud history.