Well they might be Wittoners but unaware just how hard the job is and just how much effort the chairman and family put into the club, they are also open with the fans and run the club well financially indeed Mark has stepped in this season to sponsor the club and remember tried to step aside but no one came forward to succeed him and he carried on at the fans request even though he had been quite ill, so whilst I and others might be unhappy with this event please don’t get on the chairmans back we need him more than ever.
I think the punishment handed out to Gards is otp, but the criticism that Mark Harris is getting on this forum is equally otp. He has worked tirelessly for the club and only has the interest of the club in mind. so please stop this criticism of Mark and support the team in their relegation fight by turning up tomorrow night and cheering the players on in the fight. The decision has been made regarding Gards and we as supporters have to now move on and shout ourselves hoarse to get behind the team.
Again, I agree he does a great job off the field, I’ve never said anything differently.
Of course i’m supporting the team, I’m supporting the team a lot more than everyone else is with the constant slagging off and negative attitude towards the manager and players.
I think you are probably right in that, it seems to me that we are pretty frustrated with things at the moment some with the board some with the manager but at the bottom of it we all are showing our passion for the club and venting our feelings so much that I’ve been called an arrogant tosser ! Now I never thought of myself like that but maybe I’m going over the top on my views and I will rein it in, so if I can do it then if we all back of a little and get behind the club lets see where we get to.
Our club has a history of ripping itself apart with disastrous consequences.
Not knowing the facts (and not really wanting to know as its a private matter between club and player), you have to think that the club is run by professional people and managers who will take action that’s appropriate for the circumstances that they find themselves in. It may be unpleasant - and not what anyone may have wished for - but it can only be appropriate, otherwise the player would have a cause for constructive or unfair dismissal.
At the recent forum, Mark and Sully both demonstrated that they are working tirelessly to keep this club up. We may not agree with all their actions, or the outcomes, but only those closest to all the player negotiations can really see what is happening. That information isn’t in the public domain, so again we have to respect the work done by the club management and acknowledge that they are not numpties and also that there is little sound advice coming from the terraces that the managers are not aware of for themselves.
On that basis, very little of the comment on this thread adds any real value, but only serves to excite other teams and supporters that it could be good time to play the Albs as we puling ourselves apart. It also disillusions the players we do have, all of whom will no doubt be working their socks off tonight to get 3 points and who need all the support we can muster.
Focus the passion that spoken about on this thread on the team and we may yet have opportunities to get ourselves out of the relegation poistions
See you later
Well said Knutsfordian. Lets all get behind the lads tonight and cheer them on to what would be a massively needed 3 points should we get them.
Quote : - “I don’t understand why Wittoners are always supporting players who leave us in the shit. Tuck, Harrison, Gardner. Get a grip.”
get a grip !!! ??? :red :red :red
How can you besmirch and associate the good name of Ben alongside Tuck and to a lesser degreee Gards ?
I cant remember Ben ever giving anyone least of all the gaffer a mouthful ,nor having a rascist rant , causing the club any trouble or ever giving less than 110% for the cause (and thats on and off the pitch - school visits etc).
The club orchestrated their own downfall where Ben was concerned to the extent a level headed local lad was driven to leave .Surely cant be surprised a more volatile chap has now reacted ?
I have known Ben for many years before he joined Witton, and yes he is a real nice lad. However he did leave us in the shit by leaving it until just a few hours before kick-off before letting Witton know that he was making himself unable to play against Nantwich. If he had given us a days notice, we could have signed a replacement for him.
I would like to know why you think that club orchestrated his leaving?
Not sure where the notice period or apparent lack of it comes from ?This was hardly an overnight thing (indeed goes back to Pritch’s last few days ) and even if it did constitute “leaving us in the sh1t” ,players cry off last minute legitimately all the time - wake with tight hamstring,flu ,even snowed in etc, so whilst its inconvenient its hardly terminal .A club of Witton’s size and ambition can surely cope with that - in recent years the Club has even signed on people eg like Mike Alcock’s lad for such emergencies, so to not have a contingency is pretty damning anyway .
Why did they push him too far ? I would have thought that was pretty obvious - ££££ ( and no ,he wasnt after more ) but even that alone wasnt the clincher ,its the manner in which these things are handled that is the unsavoury factor .
And I am still not entirely convinced that the current financial climate wasnt at the heart of the Gards punishment ,how convenient !
However as I said before ,I am an outsider though trust me ,I know Ben well and its when I see other people write vindictive sh1te about him , thats when I feel obliged to remind people there are always 2 sides to the story .
You speak in riddles,and I don’t understand the point you are trying to make. What was Ben’s gripe with the club? As the person who works out the players wages each week, I know he was richly rewarded for a defender in our league. You obviously know Ben or his dad Ted very well, as I do, and you probably know that Ted managed by pub team for many a year.
I still dont know why Ben dropped us in the shit for the Nantwich game.
The club tried and tried to give Ben a contract at the beginning of the season, but he refused to sign one, as he was hoping that rumours of Macclesfield wanting to sign him were rife.
I don’t know who you are, but I’m willing to have a chat about what we both know, or don’t know. If you are willing to communicate, please come and speak to me. I can be found on match days in the room next to the tannoy room, counting the gate money on match days.
I don’t think there was a single person in this club who wanted Ben to leave. There was massive disappointment when he did, but its gone, ended, finished.
Its also got absolutely nothing to do with this latest issue.
Move on
Another example of people hiding behind silly names on the forum to stir up trouble, if your gonna do it just use your name or at least sign it with your name! I believe this has an 1874 feel about it to be honest
Well said Knutsfordian leave the lad alone.
And quite why this would have anything to do with 1874 I do not know but keep checking your shadow Jonny.
Just seems strange your at every 1874 game but still obsessed with Witton? I don’t need to watch my shadow not ‘forever and ever’
i hope you are better informed on WItton matters than you are on my diary.Still ,putting 2 +2 together and coming up with 5 is pretty common trait it appears .
Must get ready for a trip to BArnoldswick tomorrow but funnily enough my sat nav is saying J18 M6,exit 16.
Pleased I do my research though
Correct ! Ben is away now unfortunately , top local talent gone, but let’s move on .( my original point of coming on the site !)
Jeff its Ted (Ben’s Dad) I have had to ask Forever and Ever to use his account as I have been unable to set myself up.
I have never felt the need to reply to many inaccurate comments made on here by the tiny minority of Witton fans who have seen fit to berate Benny, but when someone of your stature within the Club comes on here and makes untrue statements I just have to respond.
All Stu did was come on here and defend Ben when The Albion Tit Hut likened his departure to the Tuck and Gardner saga’s, how he can come to that conclusion defy’s logic but I know Ben’s leaving upset a lot of fans and everyone is entitled to their opinion.
However as said above when you make comments people tend to believe them, so I would like to finally put the record straight and hopefully put this to bed once and for all.
We refused to sign a new contract in the summer for a number of reasons which had nothing whatsoever to do with an interest from Macclesfield, something we weren’t aware of anyway but that’s what happens when you sign a contract. If you remember we were reluctant to sign the previous season because of a comment made to Ben and Josh by the Chairman shortly after the play off defeat by FC Utd that Witton didn’t really want to go up because they couldn’t afford it. Whilst we can understand that on a financial/business basis it’s not what an ambitious young footballer wants to hear, Benny wants to win things and play as high as he can and would have loved to do that with Witton but when finances prevent that then you either accept it or look to move on which we did but Pritch managed to pursuade Ben to sign again.
Then towards the end of last season a returning player (work that out for yourself) asked Ben why he hadn’t gone to Crewe when they wanted him to go and play in their youth team as an over age player and train with the first team, well a simple answer to that was we were never told about it. There are other incidents which have happened over the seasons which I don’t think this is the place to raise them, but I will tell anyone who wants to know in private.
These are the reasons we then made the decision not to sign a contract again.
I understand that all the decisions were probably made in the best interests of WAFC they certainly weren’t made in the best interest of Ben Harrison.
As for leaving Witton in the shit when he signed for Nantwich, Tony Sullivan was fully aware Nantwich had spoken to Ben as they had followed the correct procedures and put in the 7 days.
Once we had met with Nantwich on the Monday it was a very tough decision for Ben to make and one he left until as late as possible, Nantwich told him that if he did sign for them he would not be considered for the Witton game. A correct decision if I’m honest as I wanted him to decide as soon as possible so that he could play.
Obviously Ben should have decided earlier than he did but it wasn’t easy, when he did decide and told Tony Sullivan I think Tony should have then told Ben thanks but your not playing today as it was daft to expect him to play against a team he was moving to.
I’m not sure how he did it but Tony managed to turn it around and make Benny out to be a bad lad, but it worked and I would say that result was one of the best results he has had.
Once Pritch, Mose and Nige went I was surprised he stayed as long as he did.
Finally Jeff as you are in a position of trust within Witton I don’t think you should be commenting on here on the financial terms of a personnel contract between a player and the Club, even though you failed to mention the money Benny did make for the Club through his soccer schools.
I find it sad that a lad who gave four and a half years and 220+ games and who owes this Club nothing should be subjected to such shit, it’s a good job he doesn’t take after me.
Thanks for clearing that up ted and adding your point of view, from discussions I have had over Ben leaving no one had a bad word to say about Ben only sadness and surprise he left for Nantwich as you say the Story he left on the morning of the Nantwich game left us stuck did go around and may have annoyed a few and I agree not the best of timings, but he was a well respected player a great lad and local so very missed and welcome back any time IMO