TOPIC: This is not meant to reflect badly on any of those standing.

I will not be voting for any of the candidates who have been chosen to be voted on as the representative of our fans on the football club board.

I believe it is a pointless position, and with being only a single year term is a really thankless task. I don't believe the person selected will be treated, in any way, fairly by the other members of the board, and certainly not by the owners. This is a fop, it is a way of Nixon and Jenkins saying "look, we're listening to you, we think your opinions are important".

Unfortunately what they mean is precisely the opposite. I feel sorry for the person who wins this position, because he/she will almost have to devote more than full time hours to it, and they will be banging their head against a brick wall. Consideration may be given to suggestions of little unimportant things, like the paving of the area between the rugby club and the car park. But the views of the majority of fans will not be taken into account on any important matters (mystery billionaires for example).

In fact the winner may find that there will have been meetings of the other board held before he/she gets there (or after they've left) - don't doubt this, I have seen it in plenty of organisations (I have even been involved in those type of meetings).

Be clear, this is not being done in order to be more open, the only reason for this happening in the first instance is to make Nixon and Jenkins look better to the more gullible fans. I'm not knocking anybody who really feels they can make some sort of a difference, and I would genuinely love to see somebody make this backfire on them, however it will take somebody with the constitution of an ox to get anywhere close to changing anything worthwhile at Carlisle United.

As I see it most fans are united in knowing the basics of what is wrong. There is a disconnect between the fans and the club. There are many reasons for this, and a lot are very obvious, but will they be changed? No, they will not, because Nixon's and Jenkins' best interests are not served by change.

I wish all 4 of you well, and hope to see a fair and decent contest, and I am sincere in my hope that you can achieve great things. However I am convinced you will not be allowed to, because of this I'm out.

Exactly, I wrote a couple of weeks ago that this is a mere PR exercise for the club to try and show people that they are listening but in reality they couldn't give two shits what folk think.

I feel sorry for whoever gets it as they will be treated like crap by the people running the club and then get abuse on here (and other social media outlets) for not standing up to or over throwing the board when there hands are basically tied. I can see this being a no win situation for the winner

Exactly, it is a smokescreen and nothing else. It is to deflect bad publicity from Nixon and Jenkins, in the same way as them "stepping down" and "handing over control" has been designed to focus the attention of fans and media elsewhere. This is patently just another move for them to carry on as they were without having to take the flak for their, quite frankly, disgraceful running of the club.

Billionaire my arse.

Well Moorlad and wukkie. Whoever becomes the fans rep will get my full support. Our football club is bigger than Nixon and Jenkins and it will be around longer than they will. Fans are the most important thing to a football club. Without the fans we are nothing. It's sad that you just won't support it but in fact wish it failure by writing that. Yes you are allowed an opinion like every other fan, but sometimes it's better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open ones mouth and remove all doubt.

It' s a bullshit excersize by the clubs main bullshitters. I would rather stick pins down my fingernails that put in for this post....

SquarePass wrote:
Read the last paragraph of my first post on this thread. I genuinely hope they can do something, and I have read what they've said (the three with a presence on here anyway) and have no doubt that they care passionately about the club and the fans. It is not for that, or for any of the people themselves - they all seem to agree on a lot of stuff - it is because of the people they'll have to answer to.

If you think voicing concerns that this is an appointment designed to make Nixon and Jenkins look good is foolish, then perhaps it is not me who should have kept my mouth shut.

Moorlad wrote:
+1

SquarePass wrote:
Nice sentiment - but what is the next 10 words...HOW are you going to do it? There is no way you can 'build' without the permission/understanding of the owners....they are not going to let that happen - as is their right as they own the club......It was just as I wrote after SK came up with some of her platitudinal b/s at one of those meetings - give me the next 10 words...

Moorlad, my dad was part of the 'Celts for Change' back in the early 90's and had to tend with negative people like yourself. Apathy in the fan base was deeply embedded, such that attempting to generate any energy or enthusiasm seemed like a lost cause. However it grew and fans made the change. Fans have to make the change if they want change. We don't have to wait for a Billionaire or a Lapping, fans can make the change. For all your negative bleating what have you done? Yeah nowt!
I'm sick of hearing your negative comments from the trust, CUOSC, to the board and now the Fans Rep. The forum has been a joy to read over the last week or so, with the team doing well. You had to ruin it with the most negative post I've read in a long while about real fans trying to make a difference. Bloody hell man go and get laid or something!

I personally don't care what Nixon and Jenkins motivation is behind this, it's a good thing for us fans. And it's us fans that are the most important. Everyone was all for it under Lapping but now it's all about what's in it for the board? Sad really.

I hate fans who go on about how bad everything is , they complain about everything and then they do nothing and when people do things they just the moan about that.

While longing for change, the usual suspects on here can only wish any new initiative will fail.........come on Moorlad, so maybe you should have put yourself forward to ensure the things you say are bound to happen...Don`t.

Whilst knowing that we don`t have a new broom completely, in Phil King and Suzanne Kidd, we have 2 new, young 1921 Board Members - Nixon is not on The Board of 1921 any longer. Maybe, just maybe he has got the message that people are sick of him , even the existing Board Members may not like his input either.

So why don`t we give it a chance, it doesn`t seem to matter what the Club tries there are always people twining. I twine, I wrote to AJ over the Lapping debacle, and he replied but at the end of the day, Our Club is bigger than the personalities within it.

Good Luck to the successful applicant. I haven`t quite made my mind up yet but have got it down to 2 now!!

There is a definite 'us v them' mentality between the fans and the board at the moment. Especially from the fans who post on here.

I'd be concerned how anyone would be able to be a fan and also be a board member alongside those currently in charge. When the board inevitably do someone that is not in the interest of the general fan, what do you do? Break ranks, spill the beans and ultimately lose your position. Or keep quite on the big stuff and hope to win some smaller battle around the price of a pint in the Sunset.

I'm in the camp that any effort is better than none. It's better to have tried and failed than to have not bothered trying at all. I'm not happy at the way our club has been ran either, and I don't blame people for venting their frustration and doing nothing - personal circumstances may restrict what one individual can do. I consider myself fortunate to have the time I feel is necessary to make a small difference. Good luck to all 4, and even if the only changes you bring about are small changes, it's better than absolutely nothing.

If anyone didn't want to read what the OP had to say then they didn't have to read it. That said I've voted and I hope whoever wins can achieve something worthwhile. Maybe a better distribution of tickets for Old Trafford in the 4th round. I won't hold my breath though.

Squarepass, this is not negativity. I actually want something that works. A single year term is not enough on a board of directors to make any sort of difference. Especially when the position is as important as this one. There is more to this than just being on the board, it has to involve interaction with fans and fan groups.

Some fans suggested I put myself forward for the position, but the reasons I've listed, plus most of all feeling that the job would require more hours than I could possibly give it, working full time.

By the way, I have questioned both Nixon and Jenkins directly in the past. I've put questions to them at, and privately after a club AGM. I got answers to them and told them I and a number of fans didn't agree. So I haven't done nowt, I've just achieved nowt. My big concern is that is what will happen here.

As I keep saying I'd love this to work.

Moorlad is right, under Lapping this would have been a fantastic and joyous idea - bringing together a transparently ran club with a supporter input.

This current plot hatched by Nixon is similar to that occasion when Saddam Hussein forced that kid to sit on his knee for a publicity photo.

The lucky winner of this sham will get 'exclusive inside knowledge' of when the bulbs need changing on the floodlights and a few back slapping photos in the Evening News with Carlisle United's very own despot ruler.

seesaw50 wrote:
He is still on the board that own and run the club...SK and PK are just patsy's; they will have limited scope to make long-term decisions (if any at all).....lightning rod's whilst AJ/JN can say "nothing to do with us guv" whilst coining all the money from the Liverpool tie..........god; it's reasoning like that which got Blair (third time at least), Cameron this year and Bush elected....

With our current ownership, and in the world of football that we live in in the lower leagues, I wouldn't be so sure that our club will be around longer than AJ and JN - at least not in its current form.

Moorlad wrote:

RE The single year term. I also felt it wasn't long enough and asked Suzanne Kidd about it. She said that there was nothing stopping the rep standign again the next year, and if they had done as good job they would surely be a front runner for the following year. I can see some sense in that although I do feel that it will take more than one year to see much noticeable difference.

I disagree. I think with Suzanne Kidd and Phil King having a telling role will benefit the club and change it for the better. I have been impressed with three candidates Bruce, Claire and Matthew, unfortunately Stu seems to be hibernating. These three individuals do not seem the type to be a yes man (or woman) for Nixon and co. I think it is a positive step taken by the club to reengage with the fans.

Anyways, let's just make sure we beat Hartlepool tomorrow! #UTB

Bumble wrote:
It's bound to take more than a year to get the job done as there's so much ground that needs covered and made up.

I think a year will give a solid base to build on and allow fans to get to know the elected rep.

That said, I feel a longer term would offer greater stability and a more familiar face in the role.

But.. Something is better than nothing and hey, a lot can happen overnight in football, let alone a year!

I won't be voting either, for a lot of the same reasons Moorlad gave. I don't believe for a single second that the Reluctant Custodians would allow such a position to be created if a) the winner had any real say, and b) if they couldn't choose the winner.

I predict that the fan's rep is going to be Stuart Irving. One of the attributes needed was an ability to engage with fans via social media. Since he has not announced himself on this message board, it means he knows he doesn't need to.

"It is enough that the people know there was an election. The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything." -Joseph Stalin.