A United front needed from Notts fans to the takeover

[Chicken Balti Pie]

Does anyone have a email address for the club to make our feelings heard

Could try the following:
Alan.Hardy@nottscountyfc.co.uk
Jason.turner@nottscountyfc.co.uk

[leeh769]

Our clubs finished, face it! No amount of “Trust” will get us out the mess that is yet to be announced.

[ForeignLegion]

Exactly how will everyone "mobilise" and will tanks be involved? I cannot see 50 people yawping and shouting at the gates, making the slightest bit of difference; they would already know the feelings of the fans, and I doubt it's going to speed anything up.

[jackal2]

As much as I understand the sentiment of this thread, past experiences make me cynical about this idea of fans "mobilising" and/or "taking their club back".

We did this with the help of Haydn Green many years ago, when the Trust took control after the club was rescued from the very brink of extinction. There was lots of well-meaning talk that this must never happen again and that the club in future would be a community-owned club that lived within its means, signed local players and appreciated the joy of existing more than demanding success. I've still got the brochure with the two magpies hatching a chick on the front cover under a headline saying 'A New Beginning'.

This 'New Beginning' ideal lasted about six to twelve months, when it became clear that living within your means actually meant a constant struggle at the bottom end of League Two and possibly worse. Howard Wilkinson amongst others departed, claiming the "business model couldn't work", which in truth was code for "you can't run a football club like any other business".

Of course, there is nothing written in the stars which says you can't run a football club sustainably. Nobody forces you to spend more on wages than you earn in revenue. It just means fans must adjust their expectations downwards by significant degree, but that just doesn't happen in football, at least not for long. Sure enough, within about two years of Trust ownership the masses were moaning about the club showing "no ambition" and needing to "speculate to accumulate" and all the other meaningless guff supporters come out with when they really just mean they want instant and ideally constant success and big name signings. Consequently, bitterness and acrimony ensued within the Trust itself, between those clinging on to the purist ideal and those who were sick of bottom of the league drudgery.

It was when that mindset became established that over 90% of the fanbase voted to give away Supporters Trust control to Munto finance, and the rest is history. Since 2010, we have had no real control over our club, we've just looked towards rich (or not so rich) individuals to bankroll our dreams, mostly without success.

And let's face it, even if the supporters somehow did seize back control of the club and committed to all those Trust ideals again, the exact same thing would happen, because football fans don't want to face financial reality, they want to live the dream. It's their escape from the real world. And the pursuit of that dream is such a risky thing that it can turn into a nightmare.

I'm not saying it's right. I'm not saying it's wrong. It just is what it is. We live in hope of a genuine benefactor who really can bankroll our success, but there are plenty of fraudsters out there looking for people like us, who will believe anything based on even the flimsiest evidence, because we desperately want to believe.

[SwalePie]

As much as I understand the sentiment of this thread, past experiences make me cynical about this idea of fans "mobilising" and/or "taking their club back".

We did this with the help of Haydn Green many years ago, when the Trust took control after the club was rescued from the very brink of extinction. There was lots of well-meaning talk that this must never happen again and that the club in future would be a community-owned club that lived within its means, signed local players and appreciated the joy of existing more than demanding success. I've still got the brochure with the two magpies hatching a chick on the front cover under a headline saying 'A New Beginning'.

This 'New Beginning' ideal lasted about six to twelve months, when it became clear that living within your means actually meant a constant struggle at the bottom end of League Two and possibly worse. Howard Wilkinson amongst others departed, claiming the "business model couldn't work", which in truth was code for "you can't run a football club like any other business".

Of course, there is nothing written in the stars which says you can't run a football club sustainably. Nobody forces you to spend more on wages than you earn in revenue. It just means fans must adjust their expectations downwards by significant degree, but that just doesn't happen in football, at least not for long. Sure enough, within about two years of Trust ownership the masses were moaning about the club showing "no ambition" and needing to "speculate to accumulate" and all the other meaningless guff supporters come out with when they really just mean they want instant and ideally constant success and big name signings. Consequently, bitterness and acrimony ensued within the Trust itself, between those clinging on to the purist ideal and those who were sick of bottom of the league drudgery.

It was when that mindset became established that over 90% of the fanbase voted to give away Supporters Trust control to Munto finance, and the rest is history. Since 2010, we have had no real control over our club, we've just looked towards rich (or not so rich) individuals to bankroll our dreams, mostly without success.

And let's face it, even if the supporters somehow did seize back control of the club and committed to all those Trust ideals again, the exact same thing would happen, because football fans don't want to face financial reality, they want to live the dream. It's their escape from the real world. And the pursuit of that dream is such a risky thing that it can turn into a nightmare.

I'm not saying it's right. I'm not saying it's wrong. It just is what it is. We live in hope of a genuine benefactor who really can bankroll our success, but there are plenty of fraudsters out there looking for people like us, who will believe anything based on even the flimsiest evidence, because we desperately want to believe.

Very well put.

[ThaiPie]

Exactly how will everyone "mobilise" and will tanks be involved? I cannot see 50 people yawping and shouting at the gates, making the slightest bit of difference; they would already know the feelings of the fans, and I doubt it's going to speed anything up.

Yes, we should involve tanks,

metaphorically speaking we should park tanks on the lawns of the council, FA, NL, Also talk nicely to the Haydn Green Estate if they are willing to discuss.

Most importantly, I think the time has come where Mr Hardy should meet a responsible group of fans and be more open with them about the parties involved. I understand about the need for confidentiality agreements... but there comes a time where you should be able to know the identities of the bidders without needing to know the financial details of the deal. Its important any fans representation is fair and balanced, and if needs be confidential which is why I asked about official fan groups in the OP.

We have criticised players for lack of fight recently, could the same apply to the fans at the present time?

[ForeignLegion]

I reckon if you take the tanks for a round of golf at his club, he'll come running out to talk pretty quickly. Get Donald Sutherland in as tank commander.

[ncfcog]

Sorry but it just aint worth it, not even tanks would stop this man doing anything other than what is best for him. No amount of fan pressure will achieve anything unless you can rustle up the best part of £30m between you because that is the bare minimum that will be needed to buy him out and ensure the club has some sort of short term future. Double that if you are serious about getting back into League one.

[McCullochisGod]

The news concerning our club had been dire for two years (or longer depending how far back you want to go), and financially this has led again to what I think is termed "distress sale".

As you would expect, the message boards have a wide range of frustrated, angry, alarmed and fatigued fans - but no unified voice.

What strikes me from my current distant vantage point, is that there is no organised fans response.

I should know, but do we still have a supporters club?, is the Trust still active?, do we have any professional fans who might not have the millions required but have links with the FA, National League, NCC and other stakeholders?

In a nutshell, only the fans have the loyalty and best interests of the club at heart.

Time to mobilise.

The Trew's ruined the genuine supporters club.

[Bohinen]

Yes, we should involve tanks,

metaphorically speaking we should park tanks on the lawns of the council, FA, NL, Also talk nicely to the Haydn Green Estate if they are willing to discuss.

It doesn't sound like we need to park tanks on the lawns of the council. Maybe place a few on a nearby golf course though.