Calderwood Must Go (Today's P&J)

[glasgow sheep]

I see Craig Levein is backing JC and saying the club should ignore the fans calling for his head!

Harry Potter is a cunt

[manc_don]

Harry Potter is a cunt

 

That I don't disagree with, but he does seem quite eloquent and comes across quite well in the press.

[Ajja]

ach - yer probably right but I'm an old cynic.

 

They seemed happy enough when they met the board at the end of last year though. Why didn't they just meet again - they knew there was an open door policy.

 

Or why not write a letter to the board requesting a meeting - then write to the press to tell them they had requested a meeting and the points they would raise. "Open Letters" seem very sensationalist to me - pandering to the tabloid press and dumb masses.

 

They made it clear that they have approached the 'open door' several times to no avail so felt that this would be the only way to add substance and weight to their concerns. Have to say it has been pretty successful in getting attention on the issue, we should see that as positive if we are looking for action to be taken.

[Superstar Tradesman]

Jager - I don't see what your problem is with the Trust.

 

They've basically sent a well thought out letter to the local rag which covers just about all our concerns.  Something that each of us spend snippets of our time in here and various other boards saying day in, day out.  Largely just going round in circles and not actually getting to the bottom of.

 

Had they went to the board and actually got answers then we might not have heard about it.  Had they went and not got any answers then we certainly wouldn't have.  The went to the paper as they and Ajja reminded you because they'd tried and hadn't got anywhere.

 

Now we all know.

 

That torch burning and pitchfork waving joke of a protest that other folk are getting themselves worked up about.  Now that's sensationalist bollocks.

[octavion]

"That torch burning and pitchfork waving joke of a protest that other folk are getting themselves worked up about."

 

when that happening ! fancy a bit o that burn him burn him i say

 

Oh wait he is aready??

 

Fuck it jimmy must stay ! all you lot shouting for his head what you like he is building something here !

[mizer]

My problem isn't with the trust (although - they have made themselves anonymous as soon as they got their man on the board - so that is a problem).  I don't think the letter was well thought out and looked like "snippets" from a message board.

 

Just a few points. The sentiment was right. The method and execution weren't good in my opinion. They've left themselves open to the club giving them the brush off.

 

Dont know if I've missed this already but, do they represent your shares?

[bilbobaggins]

My problem isn't with the trust (although - they have made themselves anonymous as soon as they got their man on the board - so that is a problem).  I don't think the letter was well thought out and looked like "snippets" from a message board.

 

Just a few points. The sentiment was right. The method and execution weren't good in my opinion. They've left themselves open to the club giving them the brush off.

 

That pretty much sums up my thoughts on them too.

[Superstar Tradesman]

Well at least they're doing something about it rather than just posting snippets.  Someone had to say something, we're all itching to, so why not them?

 

Doesn't matter if they've "lost focus" by having less members as 1 person saying the right thing and getting attention for it is good enough for me.  Up until now nobody was being heard as us fans don't have any link to the boardroom no matter how many times fitshisnamethefansrep-cough gets mentioned.

 

Even if they don't take notice of what the Trust want them to do, at least they know there's a storm brewing.

[BobbyBiscuit]

I disagree here. "A storm brewing" is not good during times of financial uncertainty with 6 million debt. Stability has seen us wipe 3 million of the debt in the past few years.

 

I still think their letter lost all credibility when they cited Hearts as a model to follow.

 

Ach - I don't know. I tend to think more about the financial stability and long term sustainability of the club - other think only about football quality - there's no doubt a happy medium, just difficult to gain that reading snippets on message boards.

 

Although sacking him will cost us money, keeping him may cost us more in the long run. Not reaching cup finals, not getting into Europe, tying up players like Derek Young on contracts (I appreciate that he's probably amongst the lower earners) is costing us. 

 

The financial situation is going to be a burden on us for the forseeable future, but there does come a point where you have to gamble;where you just can't let things trundle on as they are just because things aren't as bad as they used to be. 

 

The big worry for me is he keeps his job, season ticket sales plummet and we then have our annual disasterous start to the season and then the board act and sack him. By the time they get a new guy in he's working with players whom he may not want and can't get his own ones in and the deadwood out because the window has closed.

 

JC has said in the paper today that he and Willie Miller "decided not to criticise the fans" in the wake of this open letter. By saying that he is effectively criticising the fans, for nothing more than having an opinion and a bit of passion about the club.  We all know JC's PR skills are limited, but how does he think comments like that will help his position at the club?  I also worry that if he keeps his job, the tide will have turned so much against him that the boo-boys in our support become more vocal and even less patient with the lads on the pitch. That's the last thing we need.

[Ajja]

I suspect that we have to accept that the quality of communication is not the critical issue here, its all about volume and penetration.

 

Milne, Miller and Calderwood will always have an instinctive reaction to this level of criticism whether it be fans booing, protesting at the doors, spouting on forums or writing letters. They will naturally think 'these people do not understand what is going on at this club and have no real knowledge of how running a football club in todays economic environment works'. This will illicit the same response designed to calm the hysteria as they have no interest in flames being fanned but at the same time they will fire little shots across the bows of the fans to say 'you don't know what you are talking about'.

 

If we want to publicly impress upon the management that its time for a change then the society have gone about ensuring public scrutiny. They may not have written an eloquent and beautifully structured prose in order to achieve it but they have, nonetheless, done so. This letter has the effect of pushing debate to the fore and enforces the club to respond in some way, it also removes the opinion from the terraces and puts it into heart of the club.

 

If the management wish to continue to put up the shutters and deny that there is a problem then they will do so but I believe that this communication makes them look less competent and less committed to 'open discussion' if they choose that route.

[OneZero]

I disagree here. "A storm brewing" is not good during times of financial uncertainty with 6 million debt. Stability has seen us wipe 3 million of the debt in the past few years.

 

I still think their letter lost all credibility when they cited Hearts as a model to follow.

 

Ach - I don't know. I tend to think more about the financial stability and long term sustainability of the club - other think only about football quality - there's no doubt a happy medium, just difficult to gain that reading snippets on message boards.

 

A storm brewing at the club you love is surely never a good thing, financial uncertainty or not?

 

If they were suggesting using Hearts as some sort of "recovery model" I agree this is ludicrous. I would hope, however, they were simply putting Hearts across as hope for the future that teams can make inroads to the infirm.

 

On the subject of financial stability, how much has it cost the club by not progressing in cup competitions, in three seasons, against lower league opposition? Last seasons exit cost us a place in europe this season - at what cost? Each position lost in the league costs the club money. Average gates may be up at the moment but I strongly suspect, with the "storm brewing", will come a fall in gate receipts, again losing money to the club. This comes right down to a lack of motivation amongst fans potentially hitting the club in a fall in sales of merchandise. In my opinion keeping Jimmy is costing the club now.

 

Calderwood shows an incredible arrogance for a man that has hurt the fans so much. Rather than shouldering at least an element of the blame for failure he simply says it's his turn to have the heat turned up on him. If he sets himself any standards as a manager at all surely he can't avoid seeing he has failed to meet them. So why doesn't he admit this to us and, if he still feels he is the man for the job, explain what he is going to do to push things forward? He never appears so shy when it comes to publicly attacking the players, the fans, pitches, or any other barrier he feels he can hide behind.

 

Personally I welcome what the unfortunately accronymed "ASS" has done, and I do believe that, particularly post Dunfermline debacle, their sentiments probably do represent a majority opinion. It is possibly not the best written letter of all time but they are football fans, not necesarily English experts.

[OneZero]

 

 

So we could be seeing out the end of the season manager-less if the protest fannies get their way. But then again, these idiots even want the club to fail to attain Europe just to get JC out and to massage their own egos... crazy.

No one person is bigger than the club - JMG protest lynch mob included.

 

These idiots are not Aberdeen fans then. I now firmly want Jimmy to go - regardless if we make europe or not.

 

Anyone who wants Aberdeen to fail to reach europe in some hope that will seal Jimmy's downfall, well they are simply not fans of Aberdeen.

[Aberdeen_Ladette]

A storm brewing at the club you love is surely never a good thing, financial uncertainty or not?

 

If they were suggesting using Hearts as some sort of "recovery model" I agree this is ludicrous. I would hope, however, they were simply putting Hearts across as hope for the future that teams can make inroads to the infirm.

 

1. On the subject of financial stability, how much has it cost the club by not progressing in cup competitions, in three seasons, against lower league opposition? Last seasons exit cost us a place in europe this season - at what cost? Each position lost in the league costs the club money. Average gates may be up at the moment but I strongly suspect, with the "storm brewing", will come a fall in gate receipts, again losing money to the club This comes right down to a lack of motivation amongst fans potentially hitting the club in a fall in sales of merchandise. In my opinion keeping Jimmy is costing the club now.

 

2. Calderwood shows an incredible arrogance for a man that has hurt the fans so much. Rather than shouldering at least an element of the blame for failure he simply says it's his turn to have the heat turned up on him. If he sets himself any standards as a manager at all surely he can't avoid seeing he has failed to meet them. So why doesn't he admit this to us and, if he still feels he is the man for the job, explain what he is going to do to push things forward? He never appears so shy when it comes to publicly attacking the players, the fans, pitches, or any other barrier he feels he can hide behind.

 

3. Personally I welcome what the unfortunately accronymed "ASS" has done, and I do believe that, particularly post Dunfermline debacle, their sentiments probably do represent a majority opinion. It is possibly not the best written letter of all time but they are football fans, not necesarily English experts.

 

1. Excellent point on potential lost revenue. Merchandise is contracted out though so makes no difference to AFC coffers.

 

2. If he had any dignity he would have resigned after the Dunfermline replay embarrassment. That he has not, nor even sincerely apologised or taken a mm/mcg/smidgen of blame, I agree shows incredible arrogance.

 

3.  at noticing acronym ASS! 

 

+1

[manc_don]

Anyone just receive this email from AFChat (despite not even being a member there anymore!?!?)

 

manc_don,

 

A group of AFC fans are organising a protest against Jimmy Calderwood and the management team at AFC. They plan to meet at the Broadhill bar at 12.00 ahead of the home tie against Inverness Caledonian Thistle on the 11th of April, with a demonstration scheduled to take place at 2pm. Will you be joining in or do you think this is a terrible idea? Have your say on the AFC Chat message board. Best

 

Regards The AFC Chat Team

Stand Free!

[wee toon red]

Anyone just receive this email from AFChat (despite not even being a member there anymore!?!?)

 

 

Yup 

[manc_don]

I might add, I think its a daft idea and won't be protrayed in the meeeja very well. I want him out, but in the summer. Doing this will only unsettle the team in what is a game we NEED to win.

[Mackie's ace!]

Remember how we laughed at Hearts when they tried to protest? Hmm.

[Ajja]

Anyone just receive this email from AFChat (despite not even being a member there anymore!?!?)

 

 

Affirmative

[glasgow sheep]

Remember how we laughed at Hearts when they tried to protest? Hmm.

Nothing wrong with a protest if it is carried out properly. A half-arsed attempt organised by a bunch of fannies from afc hat before a game is only likely to pour ridicule on the majority view that JC has to go.

[BobbyBiscuit]

Nothing wrong with a protest if it is carried out properly. A half-arsed attempt organised by a bunch of fannies from afc hat before a game is only likely to pour ridicule on the majority view that JC has to go.

 

Too true. It shows the level of feeling amongst the support, there's nothing wrong with a protest, but the mechanics of this one are a little strange.