I really should just rise above all this, but I'm afraid I can't, so here goes...
Firstly, thanks Ecky for speaking up on behalf of Brian Flynn and myself. I echo everything you say about Brian, a top guy, utterly devoted to the club and a consummate professional in all he does. Secondly, can I just illuminate 'the likes of' Cult about what the job entails by perhaps just running through what I've been up to since Saturday's game at Wrexham? I interviewed Lee Sinnott before leaving the ground for The Messenger and The Advertiser. Neither paper has a sports reporter as such, so if I didn't supply a quotes-led back page piece for them each week, we wouldn't get any publicity, or nothing like as much, anyway. Needless to say, I don't get a penny for it. When I'd finished speaking to Lee, Grahame Rowley nabbed me and asked if I'd give Mike Williams a call to do a piece about his unfortunate injury news. Sunday, I phoned Mike, had a chat with him and then wrote a fairly lengthy piece for use on the club's website that evening. Monday morning, I transcribed the taped interview with Lee and set about writing two pieces, one for The Messenger one for The Advertiser. I then typed up the interview in full, over 1,600 words, and sent it to John Laidlar, so supporters would be able to see everything Lee had had to say about the game. Tuesday morning, I transcribed another taped interview, this time with Nicky Clee for the double-page Q&A feature in The Robins Review. It will appear in the Kidderminster programme this coming Saturday. This afternoon, I will phone Shaun Densmore and speak to him about how he wants his Captain's Chat column to be done for the programme. I ghost-write it, and that's how we do it. We have a chat, and then I write it in his words. After that, I'll turn my attention to the other thing I do for the programme, a round-up of news, gossip and quotes from the week's various Conference games. Again, it is time-consuming and involves a lot of writing, as well as research. Someone on this thread said Brian and I do it because we enjoy it, and they're spot-on, though a deep-seated wish to help the club is probably nearer the mark. I volunteered my services a few years ago after reading how communication and information from the club could and should be better, and I'm happy to do what I do. But if you know someone, Barry, who wants to take all that on and pay for the privilege, I'll readily revert to coming in through the turnstiles, cheering the lads on with some pals on the pop side and then heading home after a pint.