SLO appointment

All About Walsall
1
  • Appointment by Club
  • Appointment by Supporters/Fans

0 voters

2

SLO should be appointed by the fans purely for the fans . A voice and an ear from the fans.All to internal and and very much a bonser way of doing things ,makes them look caring and understanding without rocking the boat

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3

How would you do that?

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4

Not the Walsall way though.

5

Think it’s called an election. Should have had nominations, hustings, and a STV ballot to elect on a fixed term.

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6

In theory it looks attractive but the first problem would be who are the electorate? Season ticket holders, people who attend every game but don’t have season tickets, people who come to the odd game, people who support the team from afar? Who decides the electorate? Do we have a vote on that and if we do who decides that electorate? Ok the last point is an exaggeration but this isn’t easy that is why I posed the question on this and on the other thread.
Yours is the only reply so thanks for that. My solution is simple in one sense but difficult in the current situation . The fans representative should come from the Supporters Trust.I was involved to some degree in setting that up and I always thought that when the time came with the Trust having a legal entity and shares in the Club that it would be the ideal organisation to carry out an election for a Board member.
Clearly since those early days things have changed and the Trust now does not have the support I hoped it would have however if we are serious about this and I am then I would suggest the various supporter groups come together to ensure that Membership of one automatically means membership of another so in effect all those supporters would be trust members and therefore eligible to vote.
Supporters on boards is going to happen so I would urge all our supporter groups to come together and get ready to carry out an election of all those registered. With sufficient publicity this could also act as a recruitment catalyst for the Trust and in the end give us a real voice on the Board.

7

Exactly, it really isn’t that hard is it!

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8

Should be easy, using STHs and members of the Supprter groups, like WSA, the Trust, and ISSA, but given that the club have directly fecked over the Walsall Supporters Association it’s more difficult for people like me who were only members of this. Perhaps a SLO might have helped in such a situation, but that ship has sailed.

Don’t even think about common membership between supporter groups. ISSA hate the Trust with a passion, and they have very different goals and structures.

So, with that barrier to democracy demolished, what next?

9

Make it simple - season ticket holders.
They put there money in, in advance and keep it in there when times are tough.

The supporters groups unintentionally shot themselves in the foot when they formed different groups instead of coalescing behind one. They’ve basically given the club the perfect excuse to not put them on the board or have them as direct fan representation.

It should still be the aim to have 1 supporter group and get all fans on board with it.

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10

Even if we managed to appoint a voice for the fans it wouldn’t take long for them to be singing from the boards hymn sheet it’s always the way.

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11

Tony Benn, when discussing democracy said that there were 5 essential questions to ask people elected to power to show what kind of democracy was in operation:

  1. What Power Have You Got?
  2. Where Did You Get It From?
  3. In Whose Interests Do You Exercise It?
  4. To Whom Are You Accountable?
  5. How Can We Get Rid Of You?
    If this is being described as a democratic decision to appoint the SLO to the board we should ask all of these questions. Especially numbers 4 and 5. When is the board role up for review and how can we vote him out if we are not satisfied with his performance?
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12
  1. None
  2. The club
  3. The club
  4. The club
  5. You can’t.
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13

Well I think my post was a leading to your last point. I agree you either make it just Season Ticket holders or members of one single group who we know are real supporters. Mind you the manifestos from those willing to stand will be interesting. One Member on here will want to sack the Board ,some others want new ownership whilst some of us want to build a new consensus where we can take this club forward together.That would be my ticket but I am too old and lack the necessary energy to get involved in petty politics :grinning:

14

Well your reply makes my point. In the current circumstances it is difficult to see how an electorate with any standing could be achieved. I think before suggesting a supporter representative on Board the supporter groups try to build bridges with each other and form an effective supporter organisation. If that happened the Board might be inclined to listen to us more.

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15

I think the guy should be given a chance,if the guy has even an ounce of self respect he will represent the fans of WFC without fear or favour. Why wouldn’t he ?

16

That is a very sweeping generalisation and a little unfair.

Being a board member is about looking at the facts and evidence presented and making decisions in good faith.

At times you have to hold your nose when you make a decision that may not fit with your values and beliefs but practically is the right decision.

I will give you an example, I have previously been a union representative during my career, fighting for the workforce. As a board member for a charity we discuss and vote on pay and my union experience, values, beliefs tell me give the employees a pay increase. The facts and figures may scream if you do it could lead to redundancies or even not having a charity left. Therefore you make a decision to keep everyone employed. Do you like it, no, do the employees, no, but you make the decision in good faith for the greater good to keep the organisation going.

There will be times where you agree as a board and times when you don’t and a majority vote rules. Now that might be where you could argue that an SLO voice could be watered down by an existing board set in there ways, but it wouldn’t be “singing from the same hymn sheet” in the sense I think you meant. If this became the norm the SLO would have to take the decision to step down and then explain to the fans their reasons for doing so.

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18

The place where I work it’s the office staff against the shop floor and we’ve had members of the shop floor who were sound when they were down there but as soon as they moved to the office their views changed and they all bowed to the office narrative that’s the angle I’m looking at and that’s probably because I’m in the middle of it all there’s no majority votes in this place :rofl: but I do get where your coming from

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19

It’s the old quote to the tune of “the Red Flag”/ “We’ll Keep the Red Flag Flying Here” (whatever it’s actually called?):
“the working class can kiss my ass,
I’ve got the foreman’s job at last.”
Traditionally you promote the very outspoken, pain in the arse, commie union rep to foreman; and he instantly changes to a hard line company man. :wink:

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20

My old dad God rest his soul was shop steward / union rep in a factory and always used to sing that song. :grinning: Thanks for the reminder - happy memories. :+1: