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[markecky]

I think most fans would feel that finishing 5th from bottom would have been a good season.

 I really fail to see how that is having too high expectations.  Even after the turgid sh*t that was the Ebbsfleet performance we clapped them off to try and keep them positive.  Would other fans have done that?

[blackpoolalty]

Somewhere along the line I think theres been a balls up, no director of any buisness would admit defeat unless he had too, and we are not defeatet yet ! I just hope the players take it on board and give one hell of a performance tomorrow, if we stay up part of that statement looks a little silly !

I agree with most of the statement but I also disagree with parts of it, I echo Mark's comment that finishing 20th would have been for most, a good season !

It seems senior people at the club have obviously taken some things to heart on the forum, like I posted yesterday, Im sure the club would be in a different league if it didn't have the fans we had, nor the board to the matter too !

Oh by the way my names Jon Moore and I can usually be heard head and shoulders above everyone else chastising referees 

[The Fan]

My point has always been that we only have to be unprofessional in terms of playing status. These comical blunders from the board about us already being down, GH's rants at fans during and after games and the customary board challenge to a playground debate are very very amateurish and borderline embarassing. For f**ks sake, what a time to release this statement in the first place !!!!!

I, like us all, am desperate that we find a way to stay up but even if we do, these things must be addressed. STOP AIRING OUR LINEN, DIRTY OR OTHERWISE IN PUBLIC.

What this statement has done more than anything has taken the thoughts (of this supporter at least), momentarily away from the big day tomorrow. So I will say no more on the subject.

COME ON ALTY !!!!! (and STEVENAGE)

[jiminlondon]

honestly, some people have such thin skins
does anyone really think that any club would be relegated/struggled all season and none of the fans would say anything negative? my experience for what its worth is that alty fans, both on here and in reality, are a relentlesly upbeat bunch who have believed in survival right to the end, and still do. this doesnt mean people arent allowed to express reservations about players, tactics etc
my other team is west ham (season ticket 15 years) and you should try that sometime - the level of criticism aimed at board and manager at what is a relatively successful club is astonishing at times.
the idea that people are hiding behind pseudonyms is ridiculous. the community of alty fans, active and inactive, is pretty small. i havent lived in alty for 25 years but i know several people on this board personally and have met others.
i cant be at weymouth tomorrow much as i would like to but i still believe there is a chance. if it doesnt happen then its because we are not good enough. as steve coppell says you finish where you deserve to finish

[blackpoolalty]

I was thinking the same thing but in a different context.

I know my manager at work on a personal basis as well as professional, he's a damn good manager and when i've been in the wrong i've accepted it. He runs 'the buisness' how it should be and yet still has doubters, I find it laughable sometimes but I cant release a statement at work calling for unity can I ?

There is always going to be 'a small minority' that consistently call for resignations etc etc, Mr Rowley compares Alty to that of a buisness, therefore you are always going to have doubters no matter what you do. Some millionaire could come in from Halebarns tomorrow, put £5m into the club over next five years say do what you want with it and still people would criticise, everyone has opinions, and everyone is allowed to express them !!

[markecky]

I keep reading it over and over again. 

No matter how many times I read it it just doesn't say "its not over yet, we must do our job on Saturday and hope, lets get everyone down there, support has been amazing, we must stick together, the time for reviewing things is after the season, we'll sit down with the manager to discuss his plans and our aims, we all want whats best etc etc"

I can't see how that was ever going to anything other than get peoples backs up.

The board haven't made many mistakes in the 5/6 years they have been here.  For me, this is one.  It been written out of frustration by a man who cares deeply about the club.

[hsmith1]

Sadly no millionares from Hale Barns or Bowden will be doing that,now if it was United or City they would,this has always been our problem,Some years back Bowden was the 3rd for richest people in the uk after stockbroker belts in Surry and did e ever get any of that money coming to Alty.No apart from White and Swales,so lets not get false hopes from that quarter.
Ok Graham might have released the statement at the wrong time,and said a few things untill aftyer saturday could be wrong,but lets get real,Yes a win at Weymouth is very doable,but the problem is Halifax stevenage after stevanage' s midweek performance against Northwich when the still had a playoff place up for grabs,they now have nothing to play for and unless Halifax put in a very poor performance(which i hope they do)I cannot see stevenage winning

[TheCultOfIanTunnacliffe]

I keep reading it over and over again. 

No matter how many times I read it it just doesn't say "its not over yet, we must do our job on Saturday and hope, lets get everyone down there, support has been amazing, we must stick together, the time for reviewing things is after the season, we'll sit down with the manager to discuss his plans and our aims, we all want whats best etc etc"

I can't see how that was ever going to anything other than get peoples backs up.

The board haven't made many mistakes in the 5/6 years they have been here.  For me, this is one.  It been written out of frustration by a man who cares deeply about the club.

Frankly, it's another extraordinary PR cock-up from the club.

Why on earth release this statement two days prior to our most important game of the season?

As for its content, well, the time for comment on that is after the final whistle at Weymouth tomorrow.

[samba]

But as we all know, football is not a simple game.  Based on midweek maybe Stevenage shouldn't win this weekend, but we all know how form changes VERY quickly.  Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if in the Stevenange dressing room they were all told they were fighting for their contracts next year, and to go out and do Alty a favour.  They may not be playing for anything themselves but they know how important a match it is in general terms, and surely that's got to count for something?  No player goes out to play without wanting to win.

I  really think it's going to be a very interesting weekend...
COME ON STEVENAGE AND ALTY!!

[markecky]

Sadly no millionares from Hale Barns or Bowden will be doing that,now if it was United or City they would,this has always been our problem,Some years back Bowden was the 3rd for richest people in the uk after stockbroker belts in Surry and did e ever get any of that money coming to Alty.No apart from White and Swales,so lets not get false hopes from that quarter.
Ok Graham might have released the statement at the wrong time,and said a few things untill aftyer saturday could be wrong,but lets get real,Yes a win at Weymouth is very doable,but the problem is Halifax stevenage after stevanage' s midweek performance against Northwich when the still had a playoff place up for grabs,they now have nothing to play for and unless Halifax put in a very poor performance(which i hope they do)I cannot see stevenage winning

There are certain things you put out in statements, even if you don't believe them yourselves. PR is a game a lot of the time. 

[Alty365]

The clique will stay together irrespective of what anybody else thinks.

I can't find the words to describe how badly timed and ignorant this statement is. Putting results aside the board is throwing it's total support behind a man who regularly:

Rows with and insults paying customers
Fights with opposing managers and/or officials
Argues with opposition fans endlessly at away grounds rather than paying attention to what's happening on the pitch.

The man is unprofessional and an embarrassment to the club and if he had acted like this in any other job he would have been relieved of his duties. Pressure is no excuse. I deal with multi-million dollar exports regularly and I come under a lot of pressure, sometimes quite personal pressure, to get things right and represent the company in a professional manner. I have been confronted by people who have questioned my working methods but by being calm and professional I have worked through such problems. If I had reacted in the lunatic manner GH usually does I would have been out on my arse, no question about it.

The board can no longer justify licking his arse the way they do. It's time to step back and see that it's not working. Get someone in who will act professionally and start getting some results.

[VofD]

The clique will stay together irrespective of what anybody else thinks.

I can't find the words to describe how badly timed and ignorant this statement is. Putting results aside the board is throwing it's total support behind a man who regularly:

Rows with and insults paying customers
Fights with opposing managers and/or officials
Argues with opposition fans endlessly at away grounds rather than paying attention to what's happening on the pitch.

The man is unprofessional and an embarrassment to the club and if he had acted like this in any other job he would have been relieved of his duties. Pressure is no excuse. I deal with multi-million dollar exports regularly and I come under a lot of pressure, sometimes quite personal pressure, to get things right and represent the company in a professional manner. I have been confronted by people who have questioned my working methods but by being calm and professional I have worked through such problems. If I had reacted in the lunatic manner GH usually does I would have been out on my arse, no question about it.

The board can no longer justify licking his arse the way they do. It's time to step back and see that it's not working. Get someone in who will act professionally and start getting some results.

WOW!!

[JTH]

I'm positive the timing of Grahame's piece is a cock up in that its been prepared in case we get relegated. In terms of tomorrow it certainly doesn't chime with GH's comments in SAM which are bang on the mark. As for its contents, I anticipate like most on here I agree with a large proportion of what Grahame is saying but not all of it - but I'm entitled to my viewpoint as much as him.

What is  clear is that the Board and Management are a bit stung by the criticsm they are getting, not least on here. Grahame can speak for himself  but I'm presuming his comments  are made out of a perception on the Board's part that we the fans don't fully appreciate the financial disdadvantage in which we find oursleves compared to the vast majority of sides in this League. I have to say I dispute this, in fact those of us who follow the team across the country are all too aware of the gulf in support, resources, infrastructure never mind cash which has opened up between part-time sides and the rest.

In my view the only valid criticism of the Board in terms of operating the club would be if there was a  'lack of ambition'. The timing of this piece together with Geoff's comments last year do tend to play to that audience which thinks this. I don't agree with that and think the Board's policy of not living beyond our means is the correct one. To Grahame's credit he clearly states that the Board's policy as regards funding the club is incremental growth from a sound base, not to 'borrow and spend.' I am also presuming that any prospective investors/directors/lottery winners etc would need to sign up to that approach too. Whether this means we are in the BSP or not it does give me as a fan, the assurance we will have a football club for a long time to come.

I know some of the most passionate of us completely disagree with my view here (and who can blame them with the financial antics witnessed at other 'successful' BSP clubs) but there we are. We are currently the 2nd highest placed 'proper' semi-professional side in the country. Unless we are prepared to go full-time and crucially provide the resources to meet the increased costs and risks our realistic aspiration is to be the No1 semi-pro team - if thats not good enough to be in the BSP then so be it. I don't consider myself to be defeatist or negative or lacking in ambition for our club, but I rememnber the meeting at the Civil Service Club in '95 where we were a few days from going out of business and we should never contemplate that again. 

Right thats enough - flight down to Southampton to meet the London Alty love train tomorrow morning and lets get Grahame to print his 'staying up' article (which I'm sure he's prepared).

See you at Dorothy's...

   

[Unemployed Coalminer]

well said JTH

[GrahameRowley]

Thank you for the many responses to my posting on the club's website yesterday.

Firstly may I apolgise for stating "the 4 relegated teams" when I meant "the 4 teams in the relagation places" - an oversight on my part.

It saddens me that this point was the main one commented on when the statement was just meant to express my feelings about this season. It was posted pre Weymouth so that it did not appear reactionary.

Anyone who knows me, or any of my family, should know that the last thing that we want is our club to be relegated - it would hurt us as much as any of you.

We are all now about to leave for Weymouth, to cheer on the lads WHATEVER the outcome. Let's hope fortune shines on us for once.

See you all there.

Grahame