I watched the video of the meeting between the fans and the Directors on Saturday, which was held after the match in the Life Centre. Disappointed with the turn out.....possibly between 50 and 60 plus present......many in the past had complained that Saturday morning was not a good time and it seems that after the match isn't a good time either, so when is ? Where were all those that are continually criticising the Club and James Brent for what is happening or not happening.....I suppose they where hiding behind their keyboards and their usernames.....or maybe meekly at the back sitting on their hands making sure they didn't put them up to ask a question face to face. James Brent wasn't pleased with some of these keyboard warriors who where calling him a child abuser etc......and felt that it put the Club and it's supporters in a bad light on a social media sites.....he was wearing a Brent out lapel badge and suggested that people bought them for £10 and put the money to a good cause. Mr Brent gave an overview of how things were going at the moment.....and covered most of the areas that he felt were important. The first question came from a father and son who complained that they had gone to Exeter and couldn't buy tickets on the gate to get in.....the father emphasised that they where out and out Argyle fans and thought that they had as much right to get in as season tickets holders had......they couldn't understand why season ticket holders had first choice for the 1500 tickets that Exeter had allocated to Plymouth.....a diplomatic answer was given with sympathy for their disappointment at not getting in......I wouldn't have been so considerate with my answer to be so honest....bit of a damp squid start to what could of been a good meeting.....Brent was more keen to hear from the supporters direct than through a third party (AFT) it would seem....but there are questions and questions and personally this was a poor start. Two things that I noticed......was that the supporters looked bored and you wondered why most of them had come in the first place....I did notice that their were a few more high profile fans present but none of them opened their mouths. The second thing was, I wasn't sure if the directors present where real or cut out cardboard factsimilies....only the Club Secretary spoke when asked......I would love to be told more about them especially the two newer ones....and obviously the one who is putting money into the club, plus extra to cover what other directors are not doing to take up their options on the shares that will pay for buying the ground from the council.
There are plenty who pose questions for other people to ask and then complain when they don't take up the option. I do think however that a lot of people think this meet and greet thing is a waste of time. From minutes I've read of previous meetings there does seem to be a sanitising of questions and answers and nothing of real importance gets spoke about. I do not agree with people using that sort of abuse against anyone if it's true. Criticise if you want, say you don't believe or trust if you want but to decend into name calling like that is poor. Why do the participants looked bored? Because they are bored and the info on offer is less than boring most of the time. Who cares if a toilet was blocked or somebody couldn't get an away ticket. Only a certain amount on offer and once sold then pay on the gate is never going to be an option. I wonder if the same bloke would have turned up at Carlisle from here without a ticket if one was needed and he knew it. Only 40 miles up the road and he fancied a day out. Announced today on 5Live that Argyle are buying the ground. Wow!!!!! Hold the front page on that revelation.
It's not hard to see that not buying it is poor business.....it is at it's cheapest now......another five years and the price will be much higher...plus five years of yearly rent.....but even with safeguards built in some will scream blue murder that Brent is conning everyone.....the club is buying the ground not Brent....but of course that will be more in his pension pot....I can hear that being said already in another place.....they can grind you down with there accusations...it just goes on and on.
Plymborn please don't feed Sensible. It won't go to Brent's pension fund because football clubs are only worth what football clubs are worth, it's immaterial whether it owns it's own ground, apart from the effect of the elimination of the rent. So they're paying a multiple of 10 for the ground (£1.7m to save £170k p.a.). If anyone is going to pay a multiple of 10 for a League 2 football club then in the real world they need their heads examined. In any event, as we know, football clubs tend to eat their own revenue as the wage bill grows as you go up the leagues, so it'll be 10 times not very much when Brent does come to sell his shares. As I've said before, this only makes any financial sense at all if the club gets promoted once or more probably twice and in the meantime, continues to be managed on a tight budget so that some of the extra revenue falls through to the bottom line, If Brent can do that, then good luck to him.
Got to feed him some scraps....so he's got a reason to get out of bed in the morning before match day.
Just for interest I was in the Hyde Park Social Club this evening where the AFT meeting was scheduled. I mentioned it to my mates and we were saying it was probably in the upstairs function room. Another supporter in there pointed it out in the snooker room adjoining the main bar. I was a bit shocked to be honest. Best guess is there were not even 10 people in there. On that showing I'd have to say the AFT appears a dead duck. Didn't go in myself so no idea what they spoke about.
