Just wanted to put my thoughts on paper so to speak. In part it might be stating the obvious, in part it might be echo chamber, but I wanted to put it down.
Today might be the last time when all three outcomes, BIL, Brent, Winding up, are still possible. The amount of actual influence anyone has over that is questionable. The amount gained by speculating on those, from we who have little knowledge of what is actually going on, is also questionable. Meanwhile we still have the Trust, and that might find itself inside, outside looking in, or picking up bits. I would expect it to continue and have much to do in all three scenarios.
And people ask what the Trust does. Usually that's in some kind of accusative way. I don't want to go there, as I know how manic things must've been over the last eight months, setting things up from scratch, and trying to get some scrutiny into an administration process that has happened behind frosted glass.
I can think of a thousand and one things a supporters trust could get involved in or have input to. But even thinking about that has been on hold because of the ownership situation at the club. There really is no point talking about anything else except that at the moment. Until there is some clarity, in whatever direction, as to who's in charge, who does what, and what the climate is going to be at the club, everything else is just moot. It has what they call a chilling effect.
To a lesser degree there will also be Board elections, so again, that does limit what can be thought about right now, although I look forward to whatever issues come up amongst the people putting themselves forward. At least in theory trying to get ideas across now, when the entire board could change, is also on hold.
From my own point of view, I want as much fan interest and control as possible. The Trust's function is to institutionalise that.
On those thousand and one things, in the absence of the Trust those would be handled by the owners more or less completely. I can only think of supporters groups hiring a bus to an away game, or the PAST&DT dealing with youth players(?), which might be outside of that. Essentially all the interesting stuff happens with the football club, and being in a position of limited knowledge would mean limited influence, whether that's stewarding, ticket prices or instituting the Ajax system. Top of that list of knowledge would be financial information, which the club has always been cagey about, and has come up when fan participation in the club board has been mentioned at mass meetings. Lacking knowledge about stuff immediately limits any intelligent contribution that can be made.
And that level of knowledge and influence will be different in the different scenarios as far as I can see.
Picking up the bits: The trust might end up rebooting the club on some park land. 100% knowledge in that situation, with complete control, but club has been wrecked.
Inside: if I recall correctly under the Brent discussions, the Trust would have 3 members on the Club board out of 6. This would be the 'inside' situation, where the trust is inside the club. I'm assuming that would lead to greater influence over club affairs (although that might be tested in the doing - it would be important for the Trust to be credible).
Outside: this would be a situation where the club has a new owner, and they run it like any other club, in which case the Trust is outside looking in, and has less knowledge of what's going on, and less influence. I don't know what the outcome of a BIL takeover would be, but I have in my mind this situation. It might be lean times with the Trust if the best it can achieve is an advisory role, at worst no role at all. Like I say above, I'd expect the Trust would have a lot to do under all three scenarios, just that this one is the toughest.
I don't mean this to sound pessimistic - it isn't at all - but I can see a gap between my own high ideas and what might be achievable, and also this might turn into a very long haul.
And I'm just some guy, an outside observer.
Today might be the last time when all three outcomes, BIL, Brent, Winding up, are still possible. The amount of actual influence anyone has over that is questionable. The amount gained by speculating on those, from we who have little knowledge of what is actually going on, is also questionable. Meanwhile we still have the Trust, and that might find itself inside, outside looking in, or picking up bits. I would expect it to continue and have much to do in all three scenarios.
And people ask what the Trust does. Usually that's in some kind of accusative way. I don't want to go there, as I know how manic things must've been over the last eight months, setting things up from scratch, and trying to get some scrutiny into an administration process that has happened behind frosted glass.
I can think of a thousand and one things a supporters trust could get involved in or have input to. But even thinking about that has been on hold because of the ownership situation at the club. There really is no point talking about anything else except that at the moment. Until there is some clarity, in whatever direction, as to who's in charge, who does what, and what the climate is going to be at the club, everything else is just moot. It has what they call a chilling effect.
To a lesser degree there will also be Board elections, so again, that does limit what can be thought about right now, although I look forward to whatever issues come up amongst the people putting themselves forward. At least in theory trying to get ideas across now, when the entire board could change, is also on hold.
From my own point of view, I want as much fan interest and control as possible. The Trust's function is to institutionalise that.
On those thousand and one things, in the absence of the Trust those would be handled by the owners more or less completely. I can only think of supporters groups hiring a bus to an away game, or the PAST&DT dealing with youth players(?), which might be outside of that. Essentially all the interesting stuff happens with the football club, and being in a position of limited knowledge would mean limited influence, whether that's stewarding, ticket prices or instituting the Ajax system. Top of that list of knowledge would be financial information, which the club has always been cagey about, and has come up when fan participation in the club board has been mentioned at mass meetings. Lacking knowledge about stuff immediately limits any intelligent contribution that can be made.
And that level of knowledge and influence will be different in the different scenarios as far as I can see.
Picking up the bits: The trust might end up rebooting the club on some park land. 100% knowledge in that situation, with complete control, but club has been wrecked.
Inside: if I recall correctly under the Brent discussions, the Trust would have 3 members on the Club board out of 6. This would be the 'inside' situation, where the trust is inside the club. I'm assuming that would lead to greater influence over club affairs (although that might be tested in the doing - it would be important for the Trust to be credible).
Outside: this would be a situation where the club has a new owner, and they run it like any other club, in which case the Trust is outside looking in, and has less knowledge of what's going on, and less influence. I don't know what the outcome of a BIL takeover would be, but I have in my mind this situation. It might be lean times with the Trust if the best it can achieve is an advisory role, at worst no role at all. Like I say above, I'd expect the Trust would have a lot to do under all three scenarios, just that this one is the toughest.
I don't mean this to sound pessimistic - it isn't at all - but I can see a gap between my own high ideas and what might be achievable, and also this might turn into a very long haul.
And I'm just some guy, an outside observer.