General The Board & Senior Management

[holdsteady]

It’s all coming to the fore now.

Some have known for a while and some have suspected.

We have a Chairman who doesn’t actually appear to do anything.

We have a CEO who is more concerned with doing fluffy self promotion pieces, photo opportunities, whilst boasting about retail sales and matchday activations, rather than the nitty gritty work of putting in a support structure for a young inexperienced manager, who they have lured from the other side of the world.

Ferguson and Williams have let down Buckingham, badly.

I have been wondering since Ferguson got the job what he actually does because he is so low profile and why owners who are out of the country made a man who is also out of the country the chairman? Makes no sense and it’s just seems a waste of time.

Williams came in with the flash CV but again, apart from when there is something in it for him, appears to hardly ever be about. He also seems so stung by Manning leaving that he doesn’t want to give Buckingham any of his own support staff so if Buckingham does go it’s just a straight manager for manager swap. Trouble is he has marginalised Buckingham and it’s making an already tough transition much tougher.

 

[LeftSideLarry]

Non-exec Chairmen do very little day to day in any organisation. He’s an advisor and a communications link back to the owners. I’m sure we take up but a few days a month at most during the normal cycle.

 

[Sarge]

Non-exec Chairmen do very little day to day in any organisation. He’s an advisor and a communications link back to the owners. I’m sure we take up but a few days a month at most during the normal cycle.

is Adam Benson acting on direct instruction from the chuckle brothers, or is his (based on minutes of previous meetings with fans groups) marginalizing, fobbing off and ignoring issues raised, something he has decided to do all on his own? - the system ( if there is one?) was supporters groups would raise issues, grievances and the like in meetings with Adam Besnson, and he would raise them with the chuckle brothers . Yet it seems , based on his responses, as reported in the minutes of meetings, that items raised at meetings on behalf of supporters, by supporters groups, are not getting beyond being dismissed out of hand there and then, never mind bothering the chuckle brothers with customers gripes

 

[holdsteady]

Non-exec Chairmen do very little day to day in any organisation. He’s an advisor and a communications link back to the owners. I’m sure we take up but a few days a month at most during the normal cycle.

Trouble is the CEO doesn’t seem that keen on doing much if his bosses or national media are not there, when staff of any business realise that those at the top are absent a lot of the time then standards can drop.

 

[ECYellow]

Personally, I’m absolutely delighted that the football clubs Senior Management group are beginning to come under increased scrutiny from supporters and perhaps more importantly, BBC Radio Oxford.

Williams and Benson have done little to endear themselves to supporters or their colleagues and in the case of Benson, he has no pedigree in Senior Management that suggests that he will have what it takes to see OUFC prosper under his day to day leadership. If you haven’t, I’d urge you to take a look into his work at Wasps (yes, that’s Wasps that went bust!) and Gloucester.

I’m really struggling to see how match day activations and fan boards will help to enhance OUFC.

Fans need to continue holding these two, Williams and Benson to account.

 

[Yellowmania]

It is saying something when, albeit, our local BBC Radio station, led by the lead sports reporter criticise the communication coming out of the club. George Elek, a well respected pundit, also made some very serious comments backed by those present.
This pod cast will air this evening on the sports programme which may well gender more listeners. Well worth a listen for the other news including the information that OUFC have struck a "gentleman's agreement" not to field Owen Dale against his old club, Blackpool! How crazy is that? He's not a loan, he is an OUFC player.

I think George Elek would be an excellent candidate to sit on any new fandangled fan thingy being talked about by the club. Very articulate, an ardent fan, knows a lot about other clubs and would stand his ground I think.

 

[Sarge]

I think George Elek would be an excellent candidate to sit on any new fandangled fan thingy being talked about by the club. Very articulate, an ardent fan, knows a lot about other clubs and would stand his ground I think.

if thats the required criteria, theres more than a few suitable candidates I can think of

 

[Marked Ox]

if thats the required criteria, theres more than a few suitable candidates I can think of

Yes Bazzer would be excellent.

 

[SteMerritt]

if thats the required criteria, theres more than a few suitable candidates I can think of

Surreal Madrid would make for some interesting meetings.

 

[Coffin dodger]

Yes Bazzer would be excellent.

As long as he doesn't have to submit a written CV, before he gets the job.

 

[Manorlounger]

if thats the required criteria, theres more than a few suitable candidates I can think of

Well, I believe I queered my pitch on a particular Friday afternoon a little while ago! Uncle Timmy wouldn't have me within a mile of himself.

 

[holdsteady]

Well, I believe I queered my pitch on a particular Friday afternoon a little while ago! Uncle Timmy wouldn't have me within a mile of himself.

Well if you are doing that to the pitch I think they have a point.

 

[Yellow River]

Glad to see Jerome and co increasingly sticking the boot in on the club's senior leadership team and their P**s-poor lack of communication in today's Dub. More power to their elbow,

As said previously, the club's official broadcast partner and lifelong fans like George Elek are critical friends - if the club aren't listening to them, there's zero hope of them listening to us lowly customers.

Some quotes from George below which are absolutely spot on.

• "The idea of the Five Minutes' Fans Forum... not being worth the effort just seemed pretty crazy."

• "The notion that in the past the club has "over-communicated" - that's part of the identity of this football club. This is a fanbase which wants to be communicated with, who want to understand what's going on. I personally don't think it's the position of people with no affinity to the club to come in an change the way it communicates with its fans."

• "I really think there needs to be a change of mindset where the "customers" - or the fans - should be kept abreast with what is going on more often."

• "If the current people at the club don't want to be the people communicating with them, then create a structure and environment where someone IS able to do that and there is a point of contact that fans can get in touch with."

• "When you read the programme notes that seem to really push the idea of being the best in the industry at fan engagement, it kind of takes the mickey for us fans who feel there isn't any engagement right now."

And Jerome nailed it on the head too:

• "If you don't give out information, you don't answer questions, people will assume you've got something to hide, they'll assume it's a negative... that is a danger for the club going forward."

• "Anything you do to damage the brand of the club, the identity of the club, the feeling of the supporters - who are the foot soldiers in the battle to get this stadium - damages that ultimate goal and that ultimately damages everything."

We're being taking taking for absolute mugs by a CEO and Chairman who are incapable of doing their jobs. They are absolutely inept and they are doing so in plain sight, laughing all the way to the bank.

Sticking up a news article on the club's own website and constantly talking about future fan engagement strategies isn't fan engagement.

f**k me, it's just so ridiculous it's almost laughable. Absolute cretins who are doing long-term damage to the club we all love.

It just shows that people like Ferguson, Williams and Benson don’t understand football supporters, in particular Oxford United supporters and the emotional attachment towards our club. Often it is handed down from father to son, (or mother to daughter). It’s in our blood. We invest huge amounts of time, energy, emotion and money in supporting our club. The shared experiences. We were here before they turned up and we’ll be here after they’ve gone.

I suspect deep down they are suspicious of anyone who really understands what it is to be an Oxford United supporter. Anyone who has a history of being an Oxford United supporter, all the highs and lows and everything that comes with it.

Because it’s something they really don’t understand and it makes them feel insecure.

This is manifested in the way long standing supporters such as Sue Trafford and a Michael North have deliberately been treated. Not only was it shameful it was nasty too.

 

[Swaby39]

Personally, I’m absolutely delighted that the football clubs Senior Management group are beginning to come under increased scrutiny from supporters and perhaps more importantly, BBC Radio Oxford.

Williams and Benson have done little to endear themselves to supporters or their colleagues and in the case of Benson, he has no pedigree in Senior Management that suggests that he will have what it takes to see OUFC prosper under his day to day leadership. If you haven’t, I’d urge you to take a look into his work at Wasps (yes, that’s Wasps that went bust!) and Gloucester.

I’m really struggling to see how match day activations and fan boards will help to enhance OUFC.

Fans need to continue holding these two, Williams and Benson to account.

It worries me enormously the amount of self-policing that seems to be going on at the club. It sounds immensely fragmented and people just working in silos from top to bottom. Most concerning of all, nobody seems answerable to anyone with a complete lack of consequence for poor performance. The money men are just that so no matter how far down we spiral, nobody faces true scrutiny beyond some huffy customers... In fact, it appears some around him are so exhausted with shouting in to the abyss and have so little confidence in a change happening that they’d rather walk away from years of work and just leave all together. Not a proud position to be in.

 

[Common Villager]

My interpretation of the 'Senior Management's' approach is that it is borne out of incompetence and misguided intentions as opposed to sinister motivations (I say that having met none of them in person, so I'm basing it purely on what I see/hear/read). They've spoken a lot about wanting OUFC to become a Top 30 club and, if they are to achieve that, I think an unfortunate yet somewhat inevitable consequence of that will be a greater distance between the upper echelons of the club and the fan base. (It's why I'm always quite conflicted about how successful I want us to become, as the higher up the pyramid we go, the less it will feel like 'our' club.)

What Chuckle Bros Inc. are failing to realise, though, is that we're not a Top 30 club (yet). In fact we're nowhere near. Until (said with hope that it does go ahead) we've moved into the new stadium we won't even be on the road to being one. We are a run of the mill League One club at best. We have a strong core fan base of about 5,000 that are crucial to the current and future success and sustainability of the club. In 10 years' when we're playing in front of 16k every week and have a waiting list for ST's, they'll probably be able to get away with hollow statements and manufactured sound-bites, but in the short and medium term they absolutely cannot. They are seriously risking alienating the core fan base, and in particular the most informed and active contingent of said core. It could catastrophically blow up in their faces when the time comes again for us to lobby councillors, MP's and whomever else to help get the stadium approval over the line.

They are guilty of trying to run before they can walk or even tie up their shoelaces. Matchday activations () will mean sweet FA if we don't have a club in 3 years' time. Focus on connecting with fans, building a connection, and ensuring the fan base is galvanised going into what could be the most important few years in the club's history.

 

[chromeyellow]

I

My interpretation of the 'Senior Management's' approach is that it is borne out of incompetence and misguided intentions as opposed to sinister motivations (I say that having met none of them in person, so I'm basing it purely on what I see/hear/read). They've spoken a lot about wanting OUFC to become a Top 30 club and, if they are to achieve that, I think an unfortunate yet somewhat inevitable consequence of that will be a greater distance between the upper echelons of the club and the fan base. It's why I'm always quite conflicted about how successful I want us to become, as the higher up the pyramid we go, the less it will feel like 'our' club.

What Chuckle Bros Inc. are failing to realise, though, is that we're not a Top 30 club (yet). In fact we're nowhere near. Until (said with hope that it does go ahead) we've moved into the new stadium we won't even be on the road to being one. We are a run of the mill League One club at best. We have a strong core fan base of about 5,000 that are crucial to the current and future success and sustainability of the club. In 10 years' when we're playing in front of 16k every week and have a waiting list for ST's, they'll probably be able to get away with hollow statements and manufactured sound-bites, but in the short and medium term they absolutely cannot. They are seriously risking alienating the core fan base, and in particular the most informed and active contingent of said core. It could catastrophically blow up in their faces when the time comes again for us to lobby councillors, MP's and whomever else to help get the stadium approval over the line.

They are guilty of trying to run before they can walk or even tie up their shoelaces. Matchday activations () will mean sweet FA if we don't have a club in 3 years' time. Focus on connecting with fans, building a connection, and ensuring the fan base is galvanised going into what could be the most important few years in the club's history.

excellent post- More than that, we need them, perhaps not to manage a League 1 club but to convinve our owners (for whom this is not their most important venture) to stay with the project, inject the 2 million odd we need every year, until we build the stadium, get it through all the complexities of Oxfordshire planning permisisons and- perhaps most important put together the complex financial structures that will get it built and ensure it's viable.

I hope they get good advice- and that when the big bosses read the forum -(or are given edited highlights by the Malaysian equivalent of Jean Marc Goiran, remember him? ) they have a sense of humour

 

[PottersRightBoot]

What happened with Karl was absolutely nothing like what Morgan was doing to a child directly in his care and to compare the two belittles the seriousness of what happen at Leicester City and the lack of safeguarding they had in place for their players.

I think George Elek would be an excellent candidate to sit on any new fandangled fan thingy being talked about by the club. Very articulate, an ardent fan, knows a lot about other clubs and would stand his ground I think.

No chance, he’s a media commentator. If he’s got any brains, and he seems to have them, he’ll stay well away.

 

[PottersRightBoot]

What gets me is the way they communicate.

Yes it’s kind of ‘professional’ but Its so arid, lifeless and most importantly, sporadic.

How many away games do they go to, who’s representing the club in the L1 boardrooms, Faz?

For all his myriad faults, the Scouse Lothario always seemed to care, was always visible, always quote happy.

You wouldn’t think the club was on the way to a bright new future, the way the management communicate. I don’t think there is much recognition of lower league fan mentality. Some of whom put thousands of hard earned travellling thousands of miles following the club .

I mean compare Williams with say Andy Holt ( has he gone yet from Stanley? Or McAnthony at Posh. There is no comparison.

If I were the owners, who are drawing down enormous sums for the benefit of the club, (for which great thanks incidentally) I’d be looking very carefully at their communication strategy with the supporters.

Not terribly impressed.

 

[LowerSouth]

What gets me is the way they communicate.

Yes it’s kind of ‘professional’ but Its so arid, lifeless and most importantly, sporadic.

How many away games do they go to, who’s representing the club in the L1 boardrooms, Faz?

For all his myriad faults, the Scouse Lothario always seemed to care, was always visible, always quote happy.

You wouldn’t think the club was on the way to a bright new future, the way the management communicate. I don’t think there is much recognition of lower league fan mentality. Some of whom put thousands of hard earned travellling thousands of miles following the club .

I mean compare Williams with say Andy Holt ( has he gone yet from Stanley? Or McAnthony at Posh. There is no comparison.

If I were the owners, who are drawing down enormous sums for the benefit of the club, (for which great thanks incidentally) I’d be looking very carefully at their communication strategy with the supporters.

Not terribly impressed.

I get what you are saying.
That said comparisons with McAnthony and Holt aren’t strictly fair ,they are both club owners .
But I wish our officials had there get up and go and ability to enthuse there fanbase .

 

[Steve Gilbert]

My interpretation of the 'Senior Management's' approach is that it is borne out of incompetence and misguided intentions as opposed to sinister motivations (I say that having met none of them in person, so I'm basing it purely on what I see/hear/read). They've spoken a lot about wanting OUFC to become a Top 30 club and, if they are to achieve that, I think an unfortunate yet somewhat inevitable consequence of that will be a greater distance between the upper echelons of the club and the fan base. (It's why I'm always quite conflicted about how successful I want us to become, as the higher up the pyramid we go, the less it will feel like 'our' club.)

What Chuckle Bros Inc. are failing to realise, though, is that we're not a Top 30 club (yet). In fact we're nowhere near. Until (said with hope that it does go ahead) we've moved into the new stadium we won't even be on the road to being one. We are a run of the mill League One club at best. We have a strong core fan base of about 5,000 that are crucial to the current and future success and sustainability of the club. In 10 years' when we're playing in front of 16k every week and have a waiting list for ST's, they'll probably be able to get away with hollow statements and manufactured sound-bites, but in the short and medium term they absolutely cannot. They are seriously risking alienating the core fan base, and in particular the most informed and active contingent of said core. It could catastrophically blow up in their faces when the time comes again for us to lobby councillors, MP's and whomever else to help get the stadium approval over the line.

They are guilty of trying to run before they can walk or even tie up their shoelaces. Matchday activations () will mean sweet FA if we don't have a club in 3 years' time. Focus on connecting with fans, building a connection, and ensuring the fan base is galvanised going into what could be the most important few years in the club's history.

Top 30 club doesn’t mean a lack of communication though. Again, look at Brighton who held a fans forum in London before playing Arsenal away.

They might have experience at clubs such as Inter Milan and Man United but they aren’t at those clubs now (for a reason probably).

Take time to get to know the fan base and what they expect from you, what fans want and what is important to them.
They haven’t done any of that.

For all his faults, Eales got that side of things right by appointing Sarah as SLO (a proper one) and fans were happy by the communication from the club.

It is now very much a them and us and we are just minions that only deserve communication when they feel like it.

They sent out the update from Tim on the back of fans pressuring for better communication.
They react to promoting games and other things due to this forum and social media.

They need to be proactive rather than react to comments from this forum.