CATALYST

[Biggles]

The current situation is maybe good for the Club in a perverse way. In essence the Club was in the Doldrums lost its way reached a pivot point with the standing down of our First Chairman who was instrumental in getting the Club up and running.

Membership was dwindling, most never voted , it was apathy. Now we have a sudden galvanization of Interest people saying they need to join again, people calling for an EGM etc.

This all well and good however unless people turn this up swell of interest into actually doing something then its pointless, not worth saying the current board are not doing the job properly and then say its not down to me to stand for a position on the Board.

If you want change then you will have to work for it and not sit behind a keyboard and just snipe at others if your not willing to put your head above the parapet yourself.

If the current board still think they are still the fit and proper people to lead this club then please give the fans a proper explanation of what happened
after the sacking of Andy Burgess and why after just two games (one a loss) they suddenly thought that was long enough to give up on search for a New Manager for Step 3 Football, also a Full and Honest Statement about Club fiances in these hard times may go a long way for people (Me for One) to maybe just pay a bit more (i know its tough for a lot of people) to help cover the increased costs to the Club.

Its not the time to bury heads in the sand.

[Formic]

Very well said. I thought the previous board handled the previous "squeeze" on finances really well, with the series of full and open statements about the predicament, making it clear what might be done - such as this one - https://www.afcdiamonds.com/club-chairm ... arch-2020/

We've already got one parallel with those dark days in the RDFC era when things started going downhill - the appointment of Ernie Tippett was pretty illogical too - but we must avoid mirroring the other mistakes made during that era, when the club board gave the fans the impression things were under control right up until the point it was too late for fans to try to help sort things out.

[smoky]

Quite right,a Frank and open meeting gives everyone their chance to have their say,constructively of course. If everyone pulls together we can get this club back on track,on the pitch and off it.We have to move on from what this club achieved years ago and focus on the future, it won't be easy but the best things never are.

[AFCRD_Dan]

I was going to post this in the match thread from yesterday, but seems more suited for here.

We’re all frustrated by the current situation at the club, but yesterday I saw two people from the board, and I could see they were hurting as much as we are, I’m sure the others are the same as well,
A lot has been said on here about the board, I’m including myself in that as questioning their abilities. It’s not a ‘Us vs Them’ situation, although it may seem like that to some, we need to pull together, put across any criticism in a calm way. We only see it from the supporters side, they probably get phone calls, emails daily criticising them, is it any wonder they come across as “closed off” if they’re subjected to abuse. They probably can’t even switch off at home either.

I applaud them for stepping up when they did. What I don’t agree with is the abuse that they must be receiving from all sides at this difficult time for the club

[fentiger79]

I totally agree that abuse is totally out of order. However criticism/questioning is going to happen in any job/position when decisions are made that fly in the face of sense or without an explanation. As I have said previously the comments most people have made are not directly at Mr Maxwell. It’s not bad feeling as such (although some are more privy to goings on than myself) but the circumstance and the way it’s handled. In our predicament and the criticism aimed at Burge around experience and contacts it was always going to cause uproar with this appointment. It doesn’t matter if you are a member, fan, come every now and then or watch from afar the logic behind the decision makes no sense what so ever. Add to this the fact that he was a board member who would have decided on Burge’s fate days previously just adds more questions and a sense of conspiracy. I think the board over the years especially with Ralph and John leading this club has been excellent, so difficult to replace but now there does seem some major issues. It’s a tough job and with done changes I think it will work well again. I also think a support group to the board is needed. Whilst no place on the board it would bring valuable knowledge and skills to decision making within.

[NN10-Nige]

I think I speak for all of us when I say thank God you're not in charge.

The events of the last few days have left me feeling down about the state of our club, so much so that I have taken to calling Richard Maxwell magical and giving him lots of praise.

Part one:

• Andy Burgess signed the players and even posted Tweets saying how happy he was to gave signed them.
• Weeks later Andy Burgess then says they can all leave.
• That effectively rendered his job untenable and this is when he should have been sacked because the players were not going to play for a manager who says that.
• Instead the board decided to keep him and let him sign more players, something that is totally irresponsible.

Part two:

• When players stop playing for a manager, as soon as he is sacked they start to improve, this happens in the Premier League, Football League, Non League and Sunday League.
• A board who know anything about football would know this as we hear about it happening all the time.
• But, our board thought Richard Maxwell had improved them, hence noting the 'improvement' when appointing him.

Part three:

• Richard Maxwell said on Tuesday night that next manager will have a 'great' team.
• Given the obvious naivety of our board, they would have most likely took that as meaning this squad is good enough and thought wow this could be a cheap option.

Part four:

• The board said they understood we need a manager with knowledge of the league - Richard Maxwell does not have that - in fact he has less knowledge than the last manager.
• Furthermore he has less experience than the last manager.

Part five:

• The board said we are more professional now than we were when Andy Burgess came in to the club.
• This cannot be, the deciding on a chairman was delayed, player sponsorships hasn't happened, lack of communication between club and fans etc.
• Buying GPS vests does not mean that we are more professional, you can donate a Gucci suit to a homeless man but he is still homeless.

The above shows that this board or this board in it's current format is not fit to run this football club nor is it fit to make decisions, the integrity has gone and you just cannot take what they say seriously.

If this board announced that we are going to be playing in orange shirts from November - it's very possible that when we turn up to the game - the team will be playing in green shirts.

Yes board members may be hurting but they are the ones who have made decisions that lead us up this path, grown adults on a board should know that they should not say one thing and do the complete opposite, that is so disrespectful to people who pay money to go to games and people who donate their hard earned money to this club, this is not football manager, this is real life.

As someone who has supported this club from day one, made plenty of donations which would amount into thousands if they were added up, spent thousands going to games in travel, admission fees and food/drink/programmes etc - I feel the club no longer represents me.

If I am being totally honest, the club in it's current state is only a shadow of what it was 6 years ago, I'm not talking about results on the pitch here, I'm talking about off the pitch and frankly that is heartbreaking when you think about how much promise the club had when we started out and how much passion the fans had for it too.

Given the heartbreak that those of us who also used to support Rushden & Diamonds experienced, I thought that it would be impossible for this new club to turn sour and it's future look so bleak - but yet it does, can we blame the pandemic? no because other clubs are still going strong, some are even thriving because the community spirit of checking in and helping each other out during the lockdowns brought the fans closer together via Twitter, Facebook and forums etc.

It's very easy to encourage people to pay to become members and tell them they can change things - but can they really though? or are they just giving more money to the club to waste?

When important decisions need to be made - too many people go missing, probably because if someone has a different view they are often called out as being trouble makers etc, then others see that and if they have a concern they won't mention it because they know it will then be their turn to be called a trouble maker.

I am going to stop going to home matches, I may even stop going to away matches I don't know yet, at the end of the day if we get relegated - if the club is ran in the right way then we can get promoted again, I'm just not comfortable with putting money into this club any more while it's vision is not aligned with the vision it had when it was formed.

While I have nothing against Richard Maxwell, the club said one thing and delivered something completely different, that's the behaviour we would expect from being a club owned by one person.

I'm fully aware that pointing out the issues above mean I am likely to get banned, hence I have been so positive about the Richard Maxwell appointment since Wednesday lunch time, he could well be the Lionel Messi of football management.

Sometimes a board member of 'A' club can contact an administrator on 'A' club fans forum and tell them how certain posts will have a negative impact on support for that club and that it's in the best interests of the club if the administrator removes it.

[fentiger79]

I actually think that’s one of your best posts Nigel. Your opinion is as as important as mine or anyone else’s. We may not agree on everything or anything but you are a fan of this club and have a right of opinion. Hopefully soon we will all be back together supporting our team on the terraces.