I have to agree with Robbo, some third party who I believe was very close to the Club last season is trying his hardest to take the best players away from Witton and the club gets no fee. There are more to follow I understand who had clauses in their agreements that if a certain person was to leave the club then they become free agents. Peers, Kennedy and others.
How did the Club allow this to be written in to an agreement it makes a mockery of all the hard work the supporters are doing in raising money for the club when someone from the club actually sanctions a deal of this nature. Whoever is responsible ought to hang their head in shame for allowing such things to happen when so many people are working their butt’s off raising money.
The individual concerned who is encouraging the players to leave, well the less said about him the better, it strikes me that he is a bitter and vindictive character who has now well and truly put his colours on the mast - good riddance I say.
The above link is about the contracted players. I think it’s great that Mark is standing up to the players and is not letting them have our pants down!
Such a shame that after 2 great seasons things have happened this way. Very worried about the catalyst that Rob refers to about encouraging players to move on, if the rumours are true.
If they want out they are not the lads I thought they were anyway. Let them go but a price has to be paid for those on a contract.We need to maximise this to supplement our budget so we can sign on decent replacements . If for instance Peers wants to go as is being suggested lets try and sign on Junior who is a more robust and also a similar flair player anyway. Brownhill was an unknown young full back till he came to us and fair do’s to the lad he’s improved tremendously during his time with us but in all conscience he owes it to us to go through the proper channels so we can get a reasonable fee for him. we were the ones that took a c hance on himand have helped him kick on!!
I must confess football in general is getting me down its all about money and its even creeping down more and more into our level now. Real Madrid offering to pay “The CRY BABY” Ronnie Ronaldo £300K per week!! Its a wonder Vics are’nt in for him!!
[quote] How did the Club allow this to be written in to an agreement it makes a mockery of all the hard work the supporters are doing in raising money for the club when someone from the club actually sanctions a deal of this nature. Whoever is responsible ought to hang their head in shame for allowing such things to happen when so many people are working their butt’s off raising money.[/quote]
Rob, I am bemused by your postings. Rather than create your ‘Departures’ titled post, which only serves to create more uncertainty, why don’t you leave the present situation in the hands of those now heading the Board.
Reference your quote above, you are in truth directly criticising a person you robustly defended a month ago…
[i]“I do not believe for one minute MW would have walked away without having plans in place for the future”
“Very sad day in the history of the club, I hope everyone who has been slagging Mike off are now happy, he has resigned as Chairman and as a Board member.”
“Mike will be a hard act to follow, committed, dedicated so many attributes which he brought to the Club. Of course it wasn’t all plain sailing, but Mike was always there to ensure that the club remained on an even kiel.”
[/i]
The truth is that the matter of contracts, including the Manager and Players is ultimately the Chairman’s responsibility. Contracts should have been signed, based on either scenario of staying in the Unibond or being promoted, leaving these until the end of the season was poor housekeeping. That is why club’s sign new contracts with players a year in advance of their current deal running out (otherwise you get c-Ashley Cole syndrome)!!!
Rob, you are a clever fellow and we can benefit enormously from your positive contribution and not negative input. Posts like “I knew this”, “I have heard that”, etc are only adding fuel to rumours. Roll your sleeves up and help Mark, GE and the rest of this great club we have. There are plenty of good times ahead.
We need to be adding our support and nothing else!
Interesting comments, as a Shareholder I am entitled to my opinion or has democracy ceased on this forum, perhaps the time for a few things to be said is at the AGM or an EGM if necessary.
We all have had to listen to the postings of how wonderful the former manager was, well the truth about his behaviour is now coming out in the open, perhaps it should also now be said that Mike Worthington would not have resigned as Chairman and Director if people had believed him and trusted him in the first place.
He would have ensured that everything would have been in place for his successor and would have put the club first. But no, too many people turned on him after missing out on promotion and blamed him for the decision of the manager to resign, how wrong they were. Mike stuck to his guns as he always did and wouldn’t agree to something that would have put WAFC in jeopardy. I admire him for that and yes it was a sad day that he felt it was time to resign.
I have spoken to Mike several times since he left, and to Paul Worthington and to Mark Harris so don’t try and accuse me of not trying to help. I offered my help to the new Commercial Manager, the Commercial Director who has now resigned and was more than happy to pass over as many contacts and telephone numbers as I had.
In all the years I was on the board, directors never saw an individuals contract, not that we had many contracted players in those days, it was down to the manager and the secretary, so whilst the Chairman is ultimately responsible it was nearly always left to the people running the football side.
Nigel Deeley is a great guy, I am sure that the club will prosper under him, might take a bit of time but the club will flourish.
Apologies if certain people do not agree with what I say, but everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I for wish that MW was still involved in the football club in some area.
Rob, it’s not a question of not agreeing with what you say but given your access to Mark, Paul, Mike et al, it is perhaps more befitting to not make posts that only stir up the situation but concentrate on the positives. The acting Chairman and Board members should be afforded the opportunity to make decisions in private and based upon the best interests of the club.
Those that wanted Mike to resign from being Chairman and a Director were in a minority and frankly could be counted on both hands, I was not one of them. As shareholders our objectives should be shared, wanting what is best for the future of the football club. One of the ‘demands’ was some transparency and that as you state that ‘democracy’ prevailed and not autocracy. Whilst I certainly had no desire to see Mike depart and acknowledge fully his contribution to the football club, this is an area of housekeeping that should have been dealt with. If it is the case that the Board were not fully aware of player contracts then this, along with many other things, is something we should institute in the future for the benefit of the club as a whole. There are things that ‘come out of the closet’ after the event that should not be allowed to happen.
One could argue that your applaudable support of Mike is every bit as blinkered as those that supported the manager with such gusto! BUT, this is not about one or two individuals, it is about a football club with more than 100 years of heritage that will survive in the long run through the passion of the the supporters (customers) without which there is no club (business).
Matters relating to the previous manager and chairman should be put to rest and energy invested in Mark, GE and Nigel. Nige is a fantastic guy to lead this football club forward, with the heart and skill to do so. He will have difficult challenges, more difficult than they should be due to the actions off both departing people (in my opinion)!
It is time to stop supporting Worthington, Vince, Warlow or anyone other individual and to support Witton Albion Football Club, which will always be bigger than individuals!
By all means message me or call me (you will get my number from anyone) if you want to debate this further, meanwhile let us all focus on moving forward positively.
Does that mean the " Paul Merson " Sportsman Dinner is now cancelled ?)(Hopefully )
After talking to Nigel last night the future looks pretty good - but I can only reveal information at £50 a pledge. ( Little snippet to wet your appetite - Nigel was flying to Switzerland this morning to sign Cristiano RONALDO )
So what happens to the commercial side now? I don’t know what Sam was generating each week but say we were paying her £200 per week and she was generating £300 a week surely that £100 a week would be better than nothing which is what we’ve got now she’s left if the scenario I’ve painted is right!It really is worrying but ok if we were’nt in profit from a full time commercial person then so be it.
I have seen the debate between Rabbitt and Rob and can see both sides of the argument. I really feel strongly that one of the best ways forward now is to really push the ground move option to try and generate some much needed cash to take us forward. I realise this will not be an overnight project but I do feel the best guy to move this forward is Mike Worthington. Surely he is not lost to the club and I know speaking to Mike his ideas on this were really well advenced and made sound economical sense. I know Rabbit is saying no one is bigger than the club but we are losing some people who are a big factor in us moving forward (forget Jim and players I’m talking actually running the club)!! I think though you are right here Rabbit in that lets learn lessons made from the mistakes of the past but more importantly lets get moving the club forward. We need to carry on with the great initiatives already in place from Neil and young chad in getting the youngsters through the gate but also more practically get local business and maybe new people on the board who can inject some fresh ideas, but pursue the ground move option more vigourously. That is not a critisism of the sterling work of Mark, Graham or anbody but if we can supplement them with some fresh people as well then we’d be on a winner I’m sure!! Don’t ask me how we do it though but there must be some of our larger businesses in town who are run by Witton fans or who have Witton at heart!! We don’t want to go back to the Warrender syndrome though of 1 person sticking subsidising money in each week but a number of people with smaller amounts is far more a resilient way.
Don’t be too hard on Rob because I do think he is concerned about the club and not trying to stir trouble as we all know this forum is all about debate, and one man’s post might generate the gleam of an idea anyway.
( Little snippet to wet your appetite - Nigel was flying to Switzerland this morning to sign Cristiano RONALDO )