TOPIC: New Puppet required at BP

www.carlisleunited.co.uk/news/article/19...ntative-2607835.aspx.

Apparently Sandie Shaw is going to oversee proceedings as she is all about "Puppets on a String".

Enquired about it but no free scran apparently so it's not for me.

I hope no one applies.

Mush wrote:
Wonder if Claire knew it was being advertised ??

Known the owners, no

I was thinking a few months ago of applying seriously this time, but in all honesty what has the role achieved really?

Nothing!

No disrespect really to Claire, but come on the position isn't really a fans representative its more an employee of the club to do odd jobs such as put flags up, get a referees curtains and direct people in the ground. All well and good but not what the position is. Its only recently Claire released the info we all knew already that the owners weren't forthcoming.

Give it to Claire if she wants it for another year, but fans rep it isn't. CUOSC (the trust) seem to want everybody to attend meetings and all groups therefore makes this position redundant.

Mullen103 wrote:
I think Claire releasing that info will have sounded the death knell to her serving a second term

NORTHERNSOUL wrote:
I had the feeling that Claire doesn't want to do it anymore - just my gut feeling though.

Open it up to the holdings board then yes they'd get a few applicants.

What purpose would a fan rep serve on the holdings board?

What people expected from this role was ridiculous. As if the club would invite someone in off the street to pick fault in everything they do and expose the network of deceit surrounding investment. I'm not saying that shouldn't be done, but don't expect the club to facilitate it themselves.

Can somebody list some concrete things achieved by the fans rep this year.... not waffle about better relations... actual things that have been achieved? I can't think of any that have any significant impact on the club... maybe I missed the announcements....

By the way not having a pop at Claire... it was obvious from the start the role was doomed and was no more than a token position to appease some fans. It wouldn't have mattered who had taken the role, they had no chance of changing anything of real importance. At least Claire had the bottle to release that info towards the end... even though it was months too late. I hope the person who takes the role this time resigns in a storm of publicity the first time they are blocked by the board or are told to stop asking awkward questions. That is the only positive thing that can come from this pointless role....

CheadleBlue wrote:
I agree, but currently we have AJ and JN on the holdings board nobody else. In theory they could sell this to the highest bidder and make Brunton park into a supermarket and close the club down. Unlikely but i'm saying they can do what they want.

Just my opinion but a fans rep is representing the fans. The past, present and future is important therefore as the holdings company discusses finances and should succession plan a fans rep or at least an independent person should be there.

Northumbrian wrote:
Yes for releasing that info Claire deserves a big pat on the back

But dont underestimate what someone going in there with nothing to fear could achive hell i had Steve Patt bumbling and stuttering threats and steam coming out of Storys ears for a good hour at the infamous staring meeting between the board and the old supporters club committee a few years back.

Mullen103 wrote:
Without doubt a Trust Rep should be at the Holding Co meetings and they should be currently taking legal action to achieve that.and calling for extroadinary general meetings every month at the least.

NORTHERNSOUL wrote:
I've already had the threats

One thing that has pissed me off about the fans rep position is that information that Claire has published has been via official sources. The pro gramme or the website and then released afterwards. Claire mentioned that she had to get her minutes approved before she could release them, thats pathetic.

Yes fair play to the recent programme notes, how that slipped the net beats me.

Mullen103 wrote:
An ally in the camp perhaps

In layman's terms just to clear up a few points

1) - Knowledge of social media. = Must have a Facebook account.

2) - Awareness of the commercial aspects connected to a football club. = Having good solid contacts in the Wonga marketing department management hierarchy would be beneficial to your application.

3) - Strong, creative ideas about how to build dialogue with Carlisle United fans across Cumbria and beyond. = Must be in possession of an air tight plan to get us out of this billionaire situation which was after all merely a simple misunderstanding and crossed wires leading the fan base to jump to wild conclusions.

4) - Awareness of the role of Carlisle United Official Supporters’ Club and Carlisle United Supporters’ Group, and ideas on how the Fan Representative will engage with these organisations. = Must be able to identify the enemy and be able to demonstrate a knack in out manoeuvring them.

5) - Appreciation that as the role is on the club’s management board, there will be a degree of confidentiality and tact needed – the successful applicant will be required to sign a confidentiality agreement due to potentially sensitive information being discussed. = Must not be a tell tale tit and posses an ability to know who your betters are and take guidance from them.

6) - Awareness that the role will be focused on the non-football operations of the club. = Don't get uppity and remember your place.

7) - Ability and gravitas to be able to represent the club and the fan base at events and with the press. = Don't call anyone a (censored) during live broadcasts.

Mullen103 wrote:
Yes but if shed been a little more streetwise she could have just released the juicy bits to someone to post on here in dribs and drabs under " i heard a rumour yesterday" or " i understand " theyd know quite well where it was coming from but so long as she denied it theres nothing they could do bet sack her and somehow i dont think theyd of risked doing that.

NORTHERNSOUL wrote:
You're going to have to elaborate on that one!

ChampagneSupernova wrote:
It was a meeting arranged to tell Story that The Supporters Club were not willing to hand over their bank account and the approx 30k i think it was that it held at the time.

It got rather heated very quickly and i told Story hed have to come thru me to get to it he spent the rest of the first half of the meeting between snarling at me and telling Steve Patt what threats to issue.and generally behaving like a spoilt little brat who wasnt used to being told he wasnt getting something he wanted.

He spent the second half of the meeting trying to stare me out i just kept laughing at him and making wan ker signs to him.

I cant tell you what happened on the car park after the meeting as i believe thiat may still be covered by a cease and desist notice that i had served on me shortly after i made it public knowledge.

For purposes of consistency and to avoid forgetting what I said in another thread my thoughts on this election are:

As per last year the vote will not be run during the period of a couple of home game when articles from the 4 contenders, voting boxes and slips (inside the programmes) could have been used to get more supporters engaged in the vote and the issues being raised by the candidates.

As it is, it will be down - again - to how many votes each candidate can generate on a personal basis ie. how many people you can (literally) call upon to vote for you. The last vote totalled about 700 votes, less than 20% of an average crowd. Sadly, unless things have changed dramatically amongst the rank and file supporter, it's unlikely this vote will garner any more. I am not convinced that given the time of this announcement - out of the blue - and how the club has not published clear terms of reference for the Rep the body of supporters will a) be anymore aware of the fan rep and its role b) engage in any form of election.

Sadly, this role seems to have been subsumed within the Club's publicity machine as a way of promoting the club......

To add to that. It has been an interesting year for the first fan rep. The positives have been the use of social media to get information across and the opportunities to have air time on BBCRC and in the News & Star. The sadness is that those opportunities were never used to express new ideas of building on match day experiences, issues within the club that need addressing (beyond the 3 amigos), problems with ticketing, the poor communication with supporters and the fact that CUFC are not always right! Yes, Claire got AJ and JN to admit that they would not speak to the press etc but if that is all that was achieved......! You could have got AJ to admit that the CUOSC new investment proposal was dead in the water if you talked to him before the Newport away game. He was very willing to respond to questions there. Whoever takes on the role next time needs to set out clear targets and aims to be achieved so that there is something supporters can judge them by, and for them, something to defend and argue ie. how they set about their aims and was helped/hindered.

NORTHERNSOUL wrote:
Yep, I can see how that would have the desired effect Fair play for standing your ground

If anyone puts themselves forward for this position, which Northumbrian has described nicely above, please EVERONE, don't vote. We need to demonstrate to the BoD that we've seen through them and don't subscribe to the position being filled at all.

Of course, what will happen is that the Board will hand-pick three or four people who they know and trust to toe their party line. The just one vote will do it. They've experienced Claire growing a pair at the end and won't gamble on that happening again.

"Experience is the child of thought, and thought is the child of action"

I will apply so long as there are no strings attached.

badum tishhhhh

Claire has quit today after getting scolded for her programme notes the other week.