Minty

I suspect that's what he meant...

Good to see us delivering some good performances in the Championship... as much as our one day success has been good to see (and hopefully continuing this season), I want to see us back in Div 1. 96-8 currently, looking promising.

Are people really trying to track his every move? Go live a little, it'll be announced soon enough. Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

That is one interpretation, but I don't think it's fair. The manager is the most important and influential person with the players at any club, and I think it is only right that the manager has a chance to talk with these players and have a frank discussion about what he thinks he can achieve with them still at the club, and with other potential signings. It's not about putting responsibility onto him if they don't stay, I think it's a recognition by the board that any manager they appoint will clearly be happy to work with the Board, and will be happy with whatever transfer kitty etc, they give him, so he will be best placed to put across the vision of where he wants to take the club. After all, the new manager wouldn't take the job if HE wasn't happy with the vision.

Quite, exactly as I was advocating on the day all this first came out, despite some peoples calls to protest, sack the board etc. I quite understand some peoples doubt and anxiety when all this kinda thing happens, and as Smirking commented, the Board do have to earn our trust to a certain degree, but equally I think that us fans should be a little less accusatory and not so quick to assume the worst. There was (and still is to a lesser degree) quite a dissection of the boards alleged skills and experience going on, purely on the basis of fans interpretations of what was happening. Now that we have this statement and Rickie's letter, it seems there is a lot more understanding of the situation, even if people don't necessarily agree, they can respect the process and decision made. I know football is an emotional game, and we shouldn't change that, but the *business* of football is not helped by emotion, and fans need to think twice before launching into one next time, IMO.

"I can take the despair. It's the hope I can't stand." Maybe that helps explain it from my point of view... I never get my hopes up that much, so don't feel as bad right now. Yes, I'm an optimist, but I've seen what can happen in football, so don't carried away. Last season was awesome, and it's bound to increase expectation, but as quickly as we rose, we could disappear again, so savour all those good moments, and don't take anything for granted.

I meant specifically their issue with Reed, that Blackmore was alluding to. I get all that other stuff... I'm not surprised that Poch having left, there are some players leaving and there will be more. I was quite prepared for that. I'm not happy about it, but that's football sometimes. And Krueger never promised that Poch would stay. A good contract was on the table, he rejected it and wanted to leave. Not sure what else the board could do. They're on a hiding to nothing IMO.

The whole point here is that we're in the process of appointing a manager, and they deal with the players on the football side. So what is the players' issue? If it is genuine, then fair enough, but we're judging something on very little info.

They are just as much football people as Cortese was when he arrived.

Fair enough - the crux of the matter is clearly what Blackmore knows, but still I have to ask, if their dealings with Reed are purely on the contractual side, and not on the playing side, I wonder just how relevant the players concerns are? Without more info, it's impossible to know.

LLP / WC - Do you actually know these things, or are they just your interpretations? I'm in no position to doubt either of you, but this is the thing... who actually knows for certain? Without Blackmore giving us some more context, I am not comfortable making any judgement on a person who I know about only through one interview, one tweet, and the odd passing reference in the past.

Just out of interest, given that Les Reed is primarily an administrator, not a coach or hands on with the on-the-pitch stuff, how important is the players' opinion on this? After all, he was one of the team who appointed Pochettino, so what exactly is their issue with him? I'm not saying that it's not the case, but it's difficult to judge without knowing why he is an 'issue'.

Frank, I'm not saying to not be concerned. Naturally, no one wants us to be less competitive next season than last, and losing any player who was a part of that may well contribute. We can't predict the future, so at the moment all we know is that our manager has gone, and that several players may leave too, so it is indeed natural that people will be anxious about what will happen. BUT, my point is to not let that anxiety cloud the possibility that things *may* not be as bad as we fear, and to recognise that we won't know for certain until the end of the summer, and indeed into next season. That's all. Concerns can and should be raised, but judgements, IMO, should not. To be honest, this is football, and us fans should know better than most that nothing stays the same. We all want to see the club spend money, be sustainable, and keep moving up the league, but the reality is that very few teams actually do that. Probably none in fact, because the ones spending all the money, are not sustainable. They just have deeper pockets.

I understand the anxiety, but even if I am anxious about what might happen about something, I am still able to control my reaction to it. I can express my concerns in a reasonable manner, and not let my emotions rule. Plus, I'm not sure it is that 'easy' for the board to stop the media - they will twist things whichever way they want to, no matter what the board come out and say, and as we're currently seeing, even if the board do come out and say something, they are being judged on every word even before something concrete has happened. We can't control the media, but we can control our reaction to the media. We can also learn to recognise that when our emotions are heightened, we do not respond rationally. Hence my comment about emotional maturity. What you're asking is not that the Board come out and counter the media, but that they come out and help fans control their own emotions by saying something that they want to hear... that's not their place.

As i just posted on the Les Reed thread, negotiations happen in football all the time. If Liverpool did make a bid for Rickie and we're considering it, then it is entirely possible our response may have been along the lines of "We are happy to discuss a possible fee, but the move will not be sanctioned until our new manager is in place and gives his blessing'. Minsk is absolutely spot on IMO. I tried to reply to a few posts last night, but sometimes you're just swimming against the tide and it's best to get out of the water.

It is entirely possible that we can agree a fee with another club, but only on the proviso that the move must be sanctioned by the new manager, and that if he wants to keep Rickie, then he can veto it. Why does it all have to be so black and white to some of you? Negotiations happen in football all the time. Fees are agreed but moves fall through for all sorts of reasons. If Rickie leaves before a new manager is in place then fair enough, it was a lie. But that's not yet the case.

A) How can I 'recognise' something which is entirely your opinion? B) Quite happy to discuss potential replacements for Rickie, if it were to happen. My point was about not judging the board until we have something specific to judge them on, ideally the sum of all of their summer actions and decisions.

I'm sure Jeff will appreciate that I am at least trying to discuss it in a moderate manner. 'Apparent' is the operative word there. We don't know their long term intentions. The statement they made can only be judged on facts, and we don't have any yet. Plus, one player purchase or sale is not reasonable to judge a board on... only the sum of our activity should be judged objectively at the end of the summer, and indeed needs to be combined with the manager appointment and our relative progress or regressions as we go into next season.

We've seen it with countless players, managers, chairman etc. One minute they're heroes, next they're villains... everything seems to be black or white, and so many seem to lack the emotional maturity to consider alternatives, or look at longer term outcomes. The funny thing is we dare to say the same about the Skates on the nutjob thread, and mock their hero to villain to hero status changes for players and managers, but look at us... 'Knee-jerk' doesn't even cover it, we need a new word or phrase to describe it.

Indeed, very good news.

Well it's certainly possible, isn't it? But apparently, it's easier to blame the board and jump to purely negative conclusions about them and their intentions for some people...

This absolutely. The time to judge is at the end of the summer, but that requires some emotional maturity. Apologies if that offends anyone but it's true, and also underlines why most fans should not be anywhere near football club boards...

I think most of the main board should visit this thread to get some perspective...

Alps, stop jumping to conclusions. I'm not saying he won't leave, and I would be gutted if he did, but seriously, all this need for blame and anger is really quite sad. Grown adults aren't able to moderate their own emotions. Some of the claims coming out are just pathetic.

According to...?