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Yes

28 (39.4%)

No

43 (60.6%)

Total Members Voted: 40

Voting closed: November 02, 2016, 12:41:30 PM

[Jimmy Hill]

How can you blame Gerry Berman for our current problems? Yes he left us in a mess financially but he never forgot that first and foremost we are a football club. We are also a million miles away from finishing mid table. Take off your rose tinted spectacles - we are in a mess and to blame a man who was last involved 14 years ago is laughable

Would you say the success of the football team is more important that the financial stability of the club? (I suppose they go hand in hand to an extent)

Personally I can't fault the board for the way they've steered us into financial safety, they grow the club within its means and give the manager as much as possible to build a squad. I also don't understand how some can completely blame them for our failures on the pitch.

Firstly Tolson thought he could keep the team up, we don't know who might have been available at the time but if he comes to the board and says I can give this my best then fine. (It's a gamble no one can guarantee safety) if we'd gone for a completely new manager and he'd failed we might have been having a go at the board for committing to someone and giving them a big contract.

With hindsight the board got it wrong but I don't believe for a second that they just said "oh it's fine give Neil the job, that way we don't need to do anything more"

The big mistake was Neil Young, admittedly I'd guess it was another long process and again we don't know who the other candidates were but when a manager comes in and wants to get rid of a majority of the squad, bring in a lot youth players and heavily use the loan market then it rings alarm bells in my opinion. Many here thought it was a good appointment and agreed with the board so it just goes to show how difficult it can be to make the correct decision.

This is not me defending the board, there is a lot they need to work on I think but I'm just trying to get into their mindset  and see how they might view things in this regard. I'd also say to some be careful what you wish for, there were calls on here for Lee Sinnott to go after our first playoff defeat a few years ago. Change doesn't always equal success.


What a difference 5 points can make eh?

The biggest issue is that the board have shown themselves to be not very good at choosing managers. Which, when it comes to the football side of things, is the most important decision they have to make. If they cock that one up then all the hard work bringing about financial stability doesn't really matter anymore. That is, unless your benchmark for success is Altrincham Football Club to continue to exist. Which I think for some it might be...

It doesn't really matter that many on here thought Young was a good appointment. I thought he seemed decent. However, if I'm being honest I must have given it about five minutes thought. The board will have gone through hundreds of applications and they picked a dud.

It's the equivalent of me telling my girlfriend that I'm going to be in charge of buying a new car, I then go and look at hundreds of models and choose one. I show it to her for 5 minutes and she agrees it seems ok. If the car is a load of crap I don't think it would go down very well me saying "oh well, you seemed to think it was fine."

[RockyRobin]

I'm wary of being too critical to a group of people I do get along with, or at least have done. Neither do I want to be two faced in that regard. However, I support the football club, not whoever happens to be in charge at the time. And believe it or not, a few who appear overly personal about it (Jamie for one) are actually on the level about it too.

I'd say that for a variety of reasons over the past 18 months which are now actually too many to list and it doesn't feel like it does any good listing them anyway that from a footballing, community (as in understanding and relating to fans, not the local community), financial and long term planning viewpoint I have little or no confidence that our current board are capable of leading us forward effectively.

And even taking away that you can't rewrite history or undo decisions etc I don't even see any honesty, accountability , apologies or understanding that could ease some of these fears, just a closing of ranks and a dismissive attitude - which I should say is in many respects an understandable natural reaction - for all that I'm typing here I couldn't promise you I'd be a big enough man to react as I've suggested if I was to get the flak Grahame Rowley has.

Re the above - the one bit I do acknowledge is the board not using the Anthony Griffith farce as an excuse, that was good.

But Grahame's response last year that the way ahead was to get more volunteers and looking back wistfully at when we did have lots, showed me that the time has come to move forward, times do change even though lots of good work has been done and I hope our board individually and collectively are honest enough to evaluate whether they should be part of taking the club forward.

It feels like I've been putting money in buckets for 15 years (75% of my adult life) and there needs to be coherent reasons for that.

I've got to agree with everything here.

I like my spare time to not include politics and personal comments and judgments. However it has got to a tipping point I'm afraid.

Football is a business and it would be great if the fans who choose not to get involved can be insulated from it however it has seeped through to all of us now.

I can't believe I would ever be saying I'm not coming again, in the past I have moved mountains to watch Alty even to the detriment of my marriage.

I can't continue with this, even up against the odds in the past with a 1% chance of a draw I would still go, this just feels more than that.

[TheCultOfIanTunnacliffe]

How can you blame Gerry Berman for our current problems? Yes he left us in a mess financially but he never forgot that first and foremost we are a football club. We are also a million miles away from finishing mid table. Take off your rose tinted spectacles - we are in a mess and to blame a man who was last involved 14 years ago is laughable

Firstly Tolson thought he could keep the team up, we don't know who might have been available at the time but if he comes to the board and says I can give this my best then fine. (It's a gamble no one can guarantee safety) if we'd gone for a completely new manager and he'd failed we might have been having a go at the board for committing to someone and giving them a big contract.

With hindsight the board got it wrong but I don't believe for a second that they just said "oh it's fine give Neil the job, that way we don't need to do anything more"

I have to take issue with the above.

The calamitous decision to go with Neil Tolson was taken for personal reasons rather than on professional grounds.

A fatal error, I'm afraid.

And there's no "with hindsight" about it.

Plenty of us knew that we were effectively doomed to relegation the moment that Neil Tolson announced on Radio Manchester that he had been gifted the job.



 

 

[alty.fc]

How can you blame Gerry Berman for our current problems? Yes he left us in a mess financially but he never forgot that first and foremost we are a football club. We are also a million miles away from finishing mid table. Take off your rose tinted spectacles - we are in a mess and to blame a man who was last involved 14 years ago is laughable

Firstly Tolson thought he could keep the team up, we don't know who might have been available at the time but if he comes to the board and says I can give this my best then fine. (It's a gamble no one can guarantee safety) if we'd gone for a completely new manager and he'd failed we might have been having a go at the board for committing to someone and giving them a big contract.

With hindsight the board got it wrong but I don't believe for a second that they just said "oh it's fine give Neil the job, that way we don't need to do anything more"

I have to take issue with the above.

The calamitous decision to go with Neil Tolson was taken for personal reasons rather than on professional grounds.

A fatal error, I'm afraid.

And there's no "with hindsight" about it.

Plenty of us knew that we were effectively doomed to relegation the moment that Neil Tolson announced on Radio Manchester that he had been gifted the job.



 

 

Exactly cult . The tolson debacle against the advice from all sides of the ground was a joke . Just watch back the "there's not much wrong here " interview with Alty tv if you have forgot

[York Alty is back]

I have voted no, and it pained me to do so. The appointment of Young was an appalling of error of judgment the consequences of which may be felt for five or six years to come.  It is for that reason alone I now feel some sword falling should take place.

[Cheadle Hulme Alty]

I have voted no, and it pained me to do so. The appointment of Young was an appalling of error of judgment the consequences of which may be felt for five or six years to come.  It is for that reason alone I now feel some sword falling should take place.

As many people know, I was critical about the appointment of Young from the outset and predicted what would happen to the playing squad. This knowledge I gained from the Chester and Stockport forums so it was obvious it would happen here, as that was how the loser worked. Surely the Board should have been aware of this and never gone near him with a barge pole. Consequently the buck stops with them for this decision (along with the Tolson one).

[Mrs Warbouys]

The board doesn't so much need replacing, it needs opening out and expanding to different views, objectives and the ability for people to invest in the club if they so wish without being eyed with suspicion. Simple as that.

[Bob]

I think the board deserves a lot of credit on two counts.

Firstly, the financial side of things is stable. Given the crisis meetings and winding up orders of the past, this shouldnt be overlooked. Nor should the long term future we now have at our ground.

Secondly, people sneer at the CSH and the community stuff but I back it fully. It wasnt long ago when we bemoaned a lack of support from and connection with the town, and saw how much better the social facilities were at the other clubs we visited.  Things have improved a lot in that regard and the board among others should be praised for it.

I'm afraid though that the Tolson appointment and the lame reasons behind it did a lot of damage among the fans.  That article in the NLP after Young went was a PR disaster too.  A lot of goodwill was lost in my view after those two things, a shame given the good stuff that has happened.

There seems to be a real chasm between boardroom and terraces right now, and I cannot see how we can progress until that is resolved.

[Brian Flynn]

i Dont blame the board or the previous one for our problems,just the opposite in fact.Our troubles started in the Burman era i think it was,when the club was almost broke.Thank god for GG and the GR for at least giving us the chance of a club still being here.What we do need is cash coming in that can bring in better players and not just bringing in someone quickly just because they are available and crap,at least Jim is not rushing into things.I thing we have to put this season to bed and settle for a mid table place and then push on next year from there.I have been watching Alty since 1963 and cannot remember such a bad squad as we have now.Why is Cyrus playing instead of Heathcote and the youg lad who came on at Torquay last season Saville where has he gone? he looked a tidy player.

Adam Savill looked a really good prospect, Harold, but was offered & has taken up a Football Scholarship in the USA.

[im not really here]

For most football supporters, what happens on the pitch is the be all and end all, because we are a non league club with no cash cow then we do tend to get more involved in the politics than at better resourced clubs. The club is debt free and has been I believe since Geoff Goodwin left in 2009 or 2010, so what i find mos difficulty with is how the board or more likely the Chairman has continued to p*** fans off, made grave errors of judgement, slagged off supporters, appointed 2 poor managers, publicly backed those managers despite being in the minority, not apologised for mistakes caused and shown contempt to supporters in 2 public meetings.

It shouldn't be that difficult, for all the good work on the finance and community side the board should be basking in glory for the work they have done, but instead longstanding supporters are boycotting the games, people are deterred from volunteering, large swathes of supporters are angry and  and the club, on the pitch at least is sinking without a trace. I can't see how things can change, with the current board in situ, unless they acknowledge that a change of approach is needed. The Chairman is standing at the AGM to be elected for another 3 years, I am looking forward to hearing his plans for the future and why he should get my vote.

Incidentally as a curious thought, am i right in thinking that the Supporters Trust is still a legal entity?

[Mick]

Plenty of us knew that we were effectively doomed to relegation the moment that Neil Tolson announced on Radio Manchester that he had been gifted the job.

I think we were doomed when from February onwards we failed to beat Chester, Southport and Guiseley at home and also got nothing away at Torquay and Halifax - playing with weakened teams due to injury, players in makeshift roles and nothing to speak of on the bench to change a game.

We failed to realise the impact that the lack of Densmore, Clee and Cavanagh had on our results and it was then left too late before anything was done about it

[Teasierbeaver]

One thing I've realised reading all these posts on this thread, which by the way are all in some way valid and excellent posts, is that the club seems to have forgotten that it's a football club. It's not primarily a business or a community club, it's primarily a football club and what the fans want first and foremost is a successful FOOTBALL club.

We don't sing songs about being debt free, good in the community, worlds best hireable Pilates facility, we sing about the football club, our football history, our football rivalries and our favourite football players.

I get the impression that as a football club we've decided to concentrate on almost everything but the first team. Everything we do should be about maximising the potential of the first team of this football club. And now of all times I couldn't care less about anything else to do with the club. There won't be many Barwell supporters enjoying our community club spirit and facilities next season if we go down and there'll be significantly less Alty fans too.

It's time for action and accountability from the board.

[Brian Flynn]

For most football supporters, what happens on the pitch is the be all and end all, because we are a non league club with no cash cow then we do tend to get more involved in the politics than at better resourced clubs. The club is debt free and has been I believe since Geoff Goodwin left in 2009 or 2010, so what i find mos difficulty with is how the board or more likely the Chairman has continued to p*** fans off, made grave errors of judgement, slagged off supporters, appointed 2 poor managers, publicly backed those managers despite being in the minority, not apologised for mistakes caused and shown contempt to supporters in 2 public meetings.

It shouldn't be that difficult, for all the good work on the finance and community side the board should be basking in glory for the work they have done, but instead longstanding supporters are boycotting the games, people are deterred from volunteering, large swathes of supporters are angry and  and the club, on the pitch at least is sinking without a trace. I can't see how things can change, with the current board in situ, unless they acknowledge that a change of approach is needed. The Chairman is standing at the AGM to be elected for another 3 years, I am looking forward to hearing his plans for the future and why he should get my vote.

Incidentally as a curious thought, am i right in thinking that the Supporters Trust is still a legal entity?

I am not 100% sure, but I believe that it is. If I remember correctly, we did look into dissolving the Supporters Trust (STAR), before setting up TASC, but that it was not a straightforward process.

[Ashley Alty]

The Supporters Trust (STAR) was deregistered by the Financial Conduct Authority for non filing of it's financial return around 6 or so years ago.  Therefore no longer exists.

[im not really here]

Thanks both. What would have happened to the shares in that case? With the settled nature of the Board and its relationship with the supporters at the time, i guess it became irrelevant, strange how things change in a few years?

An effective and influential mouthpiece challenging the Board and even taking a seat on it with a supporters representative is what is needed now. Something i think the Board are well aware of, there is no organised challenge on decisions they make, therefore they can do what they want.