The Alternative

[PortugueseFrank]

So we need a strong rich leader with lots of money who bleeds tangerine and can turn round and say 270 fan groups i wont deal with get one and i will have on the board. easy

If only it was that easy!

There will be members of each fan group leaderships reading in on these threads.

I bet none of them are seriously thinking about the greater good and are more focused on how they keep their own spots.

So us ordinary fans best find other hobbies fit a Saturday just in case, as with this leadership of the club and the fan groups we will see our club diminish further and further.

[LSArab]

I personally don't care about fan reps on board as long as someone can come in and run the club well

This is the time when fans reps are important - when we need to oppose ST. Time for them to step up

[Retired Arab]

If only it was that easy!

There will be members of each fan group leaderships reading in on these threads.

I bet none of them are seriously thinking about the greater good and are more focused on how they keep their own spots.

So us ordinary fans best find other hobbies fit a Saturday just in case, as with this leadership of the club and the fan groups we will see our club diminish further and further.

Dear Franco are you saying that the new DUFC Supporters' Liaison Group is the way ahead? I don't think so. The whole situation is much more complex than you would have us all believe.

I don't buy into all this myth about individual fan egos at all. This is a complete and utter red herring that too many ordinary Arabs have swallowed hook, line and sinker. A democratic system of one member, one vote will deal with this issue very easily and matches the ArabTRUST model you propose.

It's more about the big serious players like John Bennett and Laura Conway. These people along with the likes of developers like Bruce Linton are in the background playing silly games. They're not prepared to pay the price asked by ST but are using fans to create tension so ST might panic and drop his asking price. Suits them perfectly if we're doing badly financially and head towards total chaotic state.

It's the old capitalist strategy of Divide and Rule. Both Bennett and Conway have had opportunities to improve situation at Tannadice and have failed miserably in my experience.

[eastfifearabman]

We are fortunate to have some intelligent people who post on this board so i will ask them the question.

What exactly, specifically is the alternative to ST right now?

This message board is chock full of comments saying he should leave immediately. So lets assume that is exactly what he did. He walks out the door tomorrow giving up his shares for nothing and thats it - he's gone. What is the immediate and medium term future?

Who is waiting in the wings to step in and what exactly do they offer?

I am not on here to defend ST it is abundantly clear that the last 2.7 years (since Feb 2014) he has presided over a disaster. Prior to that point he was doing a pretty decent job and I suspect was held in pretty high esteem by most within football for bringing down a crippling debt whilst putting a good team on the park. he made some judgement calls after that which have proved to be mistakes and have no doubt led us to where we are today. I don't hate him the way many on here seem to. i believe that he genuinely cares about the club and it must be horrific to feel responsible for the decline of a club he clearly cares about.

I think he has tried hard to support his managers. when he appointed RM the vast majority on here were supportive of the decision (although to read the forum now it appears most of you have forgotten that you supported that decision). He has provided RM with funds this year to put a decent team on the park and he has also secured funding to keep the club operating even though it is losing money. If he had just walked away who would have done that?

I believe that ST needs to go. BUT anyone coming in needs to have sufficient funds to cover any losses indefinitely and underwrite a transitional period to take us back to where a club of our fanbase and stature should be (realistically mid table SPL). I ask my fellow posters who is that person? I am hoping that some of you that are calling for ST to go have some information that I don't and are aware of who is ready to step into the breach. If there is nobody credible in the wings then calls for ST to go are pointless and we would be better supporting him to get us out of this mess until a suitable alternative can be identified.

thats my tuppenceworth - cue the bile.......

Careful... common sense will get you nowhere on this board. Agreed with all you are saying. But there are some that think thats enough to hang us. ST leaves tomorrow.... lights aff no United.

There needs to be a credible alternative.

[SmedDUm]

These accusations of egotism on the supporter groups are unwarranted, they smack of jealousy & only cloud issues I think.
There are a lot of well-intended Arabs within the groups, not least within the most recent DUSF.
And give ArabTrust a break, they have a lot of good people too and don't forget their excellent work for youth & community over 15 years. Don't chastise them for the lack of overthrows.