Dear Rats,

[ManxRam]

Totally agree rA!! I had wondered who these mysterious newbies were? As for ganging up and bullying, yes many disagreed openly with one poster but that was accompanied by sensible arguments as to where and why such disagreement existed!! Normally, such counter arguments were met with derision even if compulsive evidence was presented. Now if a significant number of people disagree with you and give good reasons why they do why is that ganging up and bullying?? Mind you, the same argument can be applied to moderators 'they are not necessarily right' and perhaps a significant number of posters disagreeing with them is evidence of that!! But perhaps that is bullying mods!!

Read R4J 2nd post on Newcastle thread. That's not the person that has posted the much mocked poorly spelt drivel time and again

[StensonRam]

You know when your a newbie it's probably best not to go against the grain for a while while getting your feet under the table, not tell bloomer the site editor to do one, tell other posters to **** off, ignore moderator requests and generally come across as arrogant

Something just doesn't ring true to me!

[macstheman]

Get your point Manx and similarly Stenson!!

[Romanis]

As a honorary member, I'm also very perplexed by the lack of sanction. In the past, all you had to do was hit the complaint button and action was taken, including on myself. Here we went 1 better, you had up to 7 possibly more, repeated calling for sanction and raising the issue. Maybe he wants to forgive as misconception the Barcelona thread, fair enough, but how do you ignore the other posts, the winding up, insults or even bypassing the swear filter, all of which would easily in the past, earn a swift reprimand or suspension.
Worse as a Mod you get your authority from your members. if your members in unison say something you must act on their instruction or consider your position. Here a way out was offered. No vote of no confidence, rather the installation of another poster with excellent credentials to join the moderation team and deal with such matters. That person even said, he was loathed to ban the offender, only a wrap on the knuckles and steer discussions the right way. Even this was no acceded to.

But all of you raise interesting points in these discussions. I propose 2 options however to break the impasse.

1) Ignore the fella. Don't even bother if he posts sensible stuff. Since the powers be deem his posts as kosher, then let him post and answer himself. If he joins our threads, ignore him altogether. I know the comedic relief makes it hard not to respond, but that's the way to show our disapproval at his conduct and the rejection of members views.

or

2) I'll provide the email details of the site editor of FM, and all or some of you, write to him, repeating your observations. Of course he'll check with Bloomer.

[Andy_Faber]

As a honorary member, I'm also very perplexed by the lack of sanction. In the past, all you had to do was hit the complaint button and action was taken, including on myself. Here we went 1 better, you had up to 7 possibly more, repeated calling for sanction and raising the issue. Maybe he wants to forgive as misconception the Barcelona thread, fair enough, but how do you ignore the other posts, the winding up, insults or even bypassing the swear filter, all of which would easily in the past, earn a swift reprimand or suspension.
Worse as a Mod you get your authority from your members. if your members in unison say something you must act on their instruction or consider your position. Here a way out was offered. No vote of no confidence, rather the installation of another poster with excellent credentials to join the moderation team and deal with such matters. That person even said, he was loathed to ban the offender, only a wrap on the knuckles and steer discussions the right way. Even this was no acceded to.

But all of you raise interesting points in these discussions. I propose 2 options however to break the impasse.

1) Ignore the fella. Don't even bother if he posts sensible stuff. Since the powers be deem his posts as kosher, then let him post and answer himself. If he joins our threads, ignore him altogether. I know the comedic relief makes it hard not to respond, but that's the way to show our disapproval at his conduct and the rejection of members views.

or

2) I'll provide the email details of the site editor of FM, and all or some of you, write to him, repeating your observations. Of course he'll check with Bloomer.

I've suggested 1) a number of times, in general conversation and to individuals, but it doesn't seem to be an easy thing to do, even with him on ignore for some reason, and I just don't get that

[StensonRam]

I guess the simple answer is being nosey, you read other posters replies and you can't help but wanting to join in especially the comical replies, however he can be on ignore for you but if someone quotes him then you end up seeing what he posts anyway

[ramAnag]

Or...we could just wait to see whether there will be acceptance of Andy as a new moderator. Ramondo was excellent but seems to have long gone. Bloomer makes sense but has conceded he has other commitments. Can't even remember who the other/s was/were and Rats seems either too stubborn or out of his depth.
If there is no accession to the request for another additional mod - and Andy seems to tick all the boxes - then maybe Romanis' more drastic action may become necessary but let's wait for Rat's reply first.
Ignoring hasn't worked and appears unlikely to, but this whole mess could still be sorted with the appointment of the right person as mod and the correct advice or sanction put in place for those who seek to ruin the forum.
Still love some evidence of those new to the forum who have been forced away by this alleged 'clique'...unless it is, as was maybe hinted at earlier, R4J and DCFCA who are really Rats in disguise.

[Fishing Rod]

I don't feel bullied or forced away, but having joined the site and made a couple of points I was told my name suggested I was 'Rattea' by King Charlie George. I don't even know who this is! I'm not shy when it comes to 'banter' but in this format I'm not going to bite and so I walked away.

The reason I rarely post is due to the amount of discussions which are non-football related. I like to discuss DCFC and enjoy active discussion and thought provoking ideas, but if I wanted to discuss politics I wouldn't use this site!

Or...we could just wait to see whether there will be acceptance of Andy as a new moderator. Ramondo was excellent but seems to have long gone. Bloomer makes sense but has conceded he has other commitments. Can't even remember who the other/s was/were and Rats seems either too stubborn or out of his depth.
If there is no accession to the request for another additional mod - and Andy seems to tick all the boxes - then maybe Romanis' more drastic action may become necessary but let's wait for Rat's reply first.
Ignoring hasn't worked and appears unlikely to, but this whole mess could still be sorted with the appointment of the right person as mod and the correct advice or sanction put in place for those who seek to ruin the forum.
Still love some evidence of those new to the forum who have been forced away by this alleged 'clique'...unless it is, as was maybe hinted at earlier, R4J and DCFCA who are really Rats in disguise.

[triz]

It seems inappropriate and confusing to have what is effectively the future of this forum discussed further on the 'O/T Barcelona attacks' thread and the matter seems to warrant it's own thread so here goes.

There has been an enormous amount of dissatisfaction with how this board is being run lately which resulted yesterday in three long established and respected posters - Roger, Rob the Ram and mista - all quitting.
As part of a response to this and the events of Thurs/Fri there was a request for more pro-active moderation of the site and Andy Faber's name was suggested. Andy has said he would be willing to do it but not as part of any attempt to remove you which appeared, to me at least, to be eminently fair and responsible.

Your response to this was then as follows;

'Three completely neutral sets of eyes have looked at it and have all come to the same conclusion and they are not what you want. None of these have been aware of the campaign against a specific poster. But all have mentioned pack mentality and bullying. Which is exactly what has been suffocating the board. As far as I am concerned the matter is closed.'

From this and with respect a number of questions have to be asked.

1) Who are the 'three completely neutral sets of eyes'? Presumably yours and Bloomer's are two of them but one would hesitate to describe your view as 'completely neutral'...quite the reverse in fact...and no other 'mod' has been present on the site for ages which is kind of the point as regards the need for a new addition.

2) Not at all sure what 'none of these have been aware of the campaign against a specific poster' implies but where is this 'pack mentality and bullying' which is 'suffocating the board'? Okay, maybe things went too far with regard to the 'specific poster', from three posters in particular, but that has been addressed and things had moved on until the very regrettable and disrespectful Barcelona comments at the end of the week. Only one person was responsible for that...the same person who has since attacked Roger on the basis of his age, abused me for suggesting he needed to apologise, told mista to '**** off' and accused KCG of talking 'out of your own arse'. Yet all that, along with the original comments, goes completely unpunished.

3) With respect, who are you to describe the matter as 'closed'? You are a moderator, who I accept has a difficult 'job' to do, but nothing more. The response to the 'specific poster' has been a mixture of fair and unfair, I accept that, but something is seriously wrong when so many posters are repeatedly upset/enraged by one particular poster's actions. Roger offers an admittedly curious mixture of mischief and 'nail on the head' comments and has been on the forum for longer than most, mista sees more of Derby than most and appears more knowledgeable about football than many, while Rob the Ram is a fountain of common sense and as unlikely to bully as anyone on the whole forum and yet they all walked away in disgust yesterday. How can the matter be 'closed' in such circumstances and how can you not recognise the need for change as far as improved moderation is concerned in the light of recent events?

Hopefully the three who have 'left' can still be tempted back after a rethink from 'above'. If no such change of heart is forthcoming I fear many more will follow their example.

I still skim the site from time to time. This whole r4j thing is a tough one. He truly is annoying I can see that, but as a now casual observer whenever I log on threads go like this....

Point raised by someone
small discussion
r4j says something
in joke's and mockery aimed at r4j-continue for the rest of the thread
I get bored

He may be a douche he may not be, but right now he is the star of this board.


I can see why it happens im just giving my observations. When I first signed up we had a similar poster imo,I forget his name (he was at the pub pre po final, someone remind me) and he wound me right up. But then I genuinly started laughing at him, best way with payers Like that I reckon.


ps if Rob has gone that's a big Loss, old school wise head.

[ramAnag]

I don't feel bullied or forced away, but having joined the site and made a couple of points I was told my name suggested I was 'Rattea' by King Charlie George. I don't even know who this is! I'm not shy when it comes to 'banter' but in this format I'm not going to bite and so I walked away.

The reason I rarely post is due to the amount of discussions which are non-football related. I like to discuss DCFC and enjoy active discussion and thought provoking ideas, but if I wanted to discuss politics I wouldn't use this site!

Maybe that was the Phishing connection Mr. Rod. Sure KCG didn't mean any offence. Take your point about the politics, doubt you're alone on that one, but equally people can surely just ignore the threads that don't interest them, most threads are DCFC related after all.
Hope you stick around...come to that...hope there's still a forum!

Anyway...all is not lost...Triz is back. Wish he'd stick around too.