Supporters Group Meeting 30 November 2017

We sent Gordon Thrower along to the latest meeting of bloggers, website staff and assorted n'er do wells With Karren Brady...."

On behalf of the site I attended a meeting on Thursday night. I had intended to publish detailed minutes of what was said but events have overtaken me and, as I sit here approximately 100 miles away from my detailed notes, of the evening, I find myself having to defend the site in general and myself in particular against some rather inaccurate accusations based on what I can only say is a misinterpretation of comments I made on the general forum.

As a result of my comments some people have gone out of their way to accuse me and the site of trying to hijack any "credit" for the criticism that was conveyed to Baroness Brady. I'm happy to confirm that I wasn't the only one there being critical of the ownership and management.

The problem stems from my forum comments in which I suggested I was "lone voice" at times. This was a function of the different reasons we had for being there. Others went there with specific queries on finance, branding, the matchday "experience" that sort of thing. As a result when others spoke it was a bit of a quickfire Q&A type thing.

My reason for being there was less specific. As mentioned elsewhere I saw my role as more of a conduit for the views of the membership on the generalities of how the club is being run. As such I was answering questions almost as much as asking them. I took this role quite seriously and spent the preceding few days spending precious time reading through the discussion forums so - irrespective of anything I personally thought - I could let the club what kumb members are thinking.

That meant when I had to chip in with an answer to, for example, the question of why the owners aren't particularly trusted by the board I went on and on and on. (Yeah I know I can rabbit a bit). Frankly I thought that that was the area in which I felt I could contribute most. I was a lone voice at that point because I probably had the most to say based on forum comment and nobody else could get a word in. "Lone voice" meant that at times it was just me speaking. Nothing more nothing less.

The other comment I made was that I gave the club the "hardest time" of those there. I stand by that - not in terms of nobody else giving them a hard time but more in terms of I had the least palatable messages to convey. The forums on here have been pretty negative toward the club's owners and management and that was what I had to deliver to them. I had the hardest message to give.

I'm not insinuating for a minute that kumb was the only critical voice in the room or that I was the only one conveying difficult messages or that everyone else was acting in a sycophantic manner and I'm sorry that some have for whatever reason chosen to interpret my comments in that manner.

I do object to being called a liar and of talking "bollocks" and being accused of only talking to ask for introductions. Apart from the early conversations consisting largely of questions to which I already knew the answers (I have spent so much time reading the club's accounts I can quote the figures back at you without looking) I thought asking for introductions was a sensible idea since a) I didn't know everybody there and b) I have the late Bobby Robson's legendary talent for forgetting names. The first question I was asked when I finally got home was "who else was there" so without my notes I'd have been stuffed.

I'm not going to comment on other individuals who were there, what was said by whom or what I thought of them or why innocent comments have been twisted to attack the site. You'll have to ask them that. My private thoughts are, as with all this, irrelevant. I'm used to being slagged off over my connections with this site - if I couldn't handle that I wouldn't still be here after all these years. I do reserve the right to defend myself against stuff that's based on inaccuracy though.

All the best

Gnome



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