Just to note, GW rumoured to have been JB’s accountant, SG’s mentor etc. Treated purely as speculation unless anyone is able/willing to provide hard evidence.
6 Likes
Walsall fans can’t decide on anything collectively if we had to choose between 4 kits 4 SLO’s or 4 pie ingredients they’d all come back with 25% of the vote
Graham Whittaker is a retired chartered accountant who used to work for BDO LLP. It is also interesting to note that when Stefan Gamble joined the Club back in 2002 initially as a management accountant, he joined from, you guessed it, BDO!!! As Whittaker had been a Partner at BDO since 1979 I would further suggest that he would have known Stefan Gamble for a good few years. He cannot therefore be seen to be someone who has now got a non-exec position on the board and would have a completely impartial view and different to the rest of the Board. He is a what you would call a safe appointment and who wont rock the boat.
11 Likes
I have known of GW for a number of years and have been on ‘nodding’ terms with him for sometime. I agree with those who doubt the process of his appointment and the appointment itself but perhaps we should wait and see how it works in practice for a couple of years. If he proves to be effective and we see much needed improvements in communications and actions then maybe it will be a good thing.One other point at the moment I am not sure whether any mechanism exists in any club for the election of supporter representatives to the Board.
2 Likes
Drink.
Only time will tell 
1 Like
He seems a nice bloke , Why anyone would want that gig if it wasn’t to massage their ego I’ll never know, imagine being the bloke who has to take all the flack for something you’ve got absolutely no control over . He obviously won’t answer any important questions like playing budget or transfer fees paid he’s going to be there to answer why my sausage roll Was a bit burnt .
1 Like
Good luck Graham. Another step in the right direction. Going forward, I hope that this is an elected position.
2 Likes
He’s a glorified secretary for Leigh.
1 Like
A slap in the face for the supporters groups, the Trust who have a shareholding in the club and even more so ISSA who have built significant momentum in the last two years.
Pomlett says in his justification video that the SLO has done a good job - says who? And who for? Because from where I’m sitting, the same old issues are just as prevalent.
A supporters representative on the board should be decided by the supporters, not the board. I wish him no ill will but he doesn’t represent me.
12 Likes
The clubs a closed book mate, it will never change.
2 Likes
…or perhaps, as he’s retired and so no longer has any commercial or professional interest in the conduct of the clubs affairs, he can use the fact that has a good relationship with those in executive and ownership roles, to deliver messages that they might not want to hear in a non-confrontational way and contribute to the betterment of the club.
4 Likes
Graham may not be our choice to represent the fans, but I think it’s a positive move by the owner. Having some say in what the fans want is a lot better than nothing.
He seems responsive to our emails and forwards the fans concerns on to LP.
Bonser must think Leigh is going was in his old age!
2 Likes
We really can be a bunch of mugs at times, WFC select their own fans representative and give him a seat on the board.
Yet we still have people defending it on here 
14 Likes
To be fair that’s what you want a CEO to be like. To have the vision of where he wants his business to be unencumbered by thinking about the barriers.
Then he employs the right people to make his vision become a reality.
I think the last bit is the problem.
2 Likes
To say this is a token response to supporter representation on the board is an understatement. If it was genuine, there would have at the very least been consultation with supporters’ organisations. Whether he is a nice guy or not, is irrelevant.
Sadly, this more than anything else, shows the club has not changed enough from it’s previous unaccountable methods. No democracy, no genuine representation, no change.
5 Likes
Personally I feel for all of those involved with the supporters trusts who have done some magnificent work.
To not be consulted is a shocker.
4 Likes
If everybody got behind 1 supporters group this bloke would be irrelevant if everybody put their issues to ISSA for example and they said we want to talk to the monkey not the organ grinder the club would have to answer the questions directly especially if it was something that’s actually important not something like the colour of the walls in the new hub or anything like that.
I’ve said on a number of issues I’d dread to think what would happen to Walsall FC if anything really bad happened like at Blackpool, Oxford, Bury, Oldham etc loads of club’s to be honest because I don’t think we’d agree on anything and by the time we did agree whatever we’d be protesting against would have happened. We must be the only club in the UK that had 300 people not agreeing on where the best place to have a singing section would be and ended up with 5 sections of 60 
9 Likes
Another slap in the face for the fans, just when you think they are listening and getting things right they come up with this 
Have they ever heard of the word democracy?
6 Likes
I’ll have to live with you classifying me with a mug.
What board of a commercial organisation is freely open to an associated group of people to unilaterally nominate someone they wish to represent their interests?
I’d much rather have the supporters groups maintain a healthy distance from the board - I want them to be free to pursue their agendas without having to consult with the club.
I see Graham Whittaker’s role as to represent individual fans rather than a group of fans.