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Post by billyw on Jan 24, 2018 13:10:47 GMT
Many will be very happy with this news but the underlying issue that has led to this is a lack of finances within the club. I would suggest that there has been a positive benefit from his time and benefits that cannot be costed. The lack of finance is mainly due to the dross that is served up, called football!!, on the pitch. At the start it was all new and many fans attended as a result, but the glosshas gone and was evident after around 2 years. Going forward we have to accept that finances will be tight, and that we may only exist at conference North level with the odd good cup run. To sustain conference level and our model will be virtually impossible. Unless we at least double current attendances then that is where we will exist. Agreed. Forget about MM as an individual, the fact is that unless someone can fill his role we are going nowhere as a club. Is the Board capable of attracting sponsorship - due to a lack of time, business acumen and ability, I would suggest not a chance. The Board can be replaced but does anyone honestly think there are a lot of people out there willing to put in the time and tolerate abuse who are capable of running a professional football club. MM may have his failings but did bring some benefit to the club and without a CEO we can survive but suspect our natural level will be Vanarama North or Evostick. Finally, while the Board and MM have made terrible mistakes, the fans who have turned their backs on the club and have contributed to our serious financial position must also accept accept some responsibility.
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Post by billyw on Jan 24, 2018 13:13:56 GMT
I take it that his contract has a three month notice period. Has he resigned or is it another one that we will have pay off? He's been made redundant so he's obviously working his notice period and then will be entitled to a week and a halves pay for each full year of service at the end of it. As he has been employed for less than 2 years no redundancy payment is due.
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Post by Pseudoscally on Jan 24, 2018 13:17:42 GMT
I take it that his contract has a three month notice period. Has he resigned or is it another one that we will have pay off? CLUB STATEMENT Over the last few weeks the Board, along with a number of key stakeholders, have been reviewing the way that City Fans United and Chester Football Club operate from a business perspective in what is currently a difficult and challenging commercial environment. The outcome of these conversations have led to a refocussing on the volunteer values and ethos associated with our founding years as a fan owned football club. Therefore the board has decided that volunteers and working groups should take up a more active role Associated with this review, and the subsequent impact on operations, the decision has been made by the board to make the role of Chief Executive Officer, occupied by Mark Maguire, redundant. As with all such situations the club will follow the correct legal and contractual processes and will part on the best of terms with Mark Maguire in April 2018. The Board would like to acknowledge the significant work and contribution Mark has made to the Club since 2016, in particular his professionalism and development of close working relationships with a number of strategic partners. As the Club now re-focusses back on to the values and ethos that makes us unique, a number of new working groups will be launched and communicated to all in the coming weeks to support this process. Who are the key stakeholders?
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Post by chrizzyp on Jan 24, 2018 13:19:23 GMT
absolutley gutted about this
mark is a very nice man and done his all for the club
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Post by devadiva on Jan 24, 2018 13:22:40 GMT
Not leaving until April. I still have reservations about the remainder of the article ie Working groups announcement in a few weeks, already been a few weeks, whiff of the old saying "Fiddling while Rome is burning" but have to remain positive! Given the lack of activity/transparency of the working groups to date and all the posts re that, do we draw any comfort from them collectively taking on the CEO role - I don’t.
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Post by happyclapper on Jan 24, 2018 13:35:25 GMT
He's been made redundant so he's obviously working his notice period and then will be entitled to a week and a halves pay for each full year of service at the end of it. As he has been employed for less than 2 years no redundancy payment is due. ah that's a good point - he joined backend of 2016 didn't he? not the start!
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Post by tarvinblue on Jan 24, 2018 13:37:41 GMT
Great news for the club. We have got him off our pay roll before he kills us in his 'advisory' role. Has failed to deliver on his own expectations and is constantly haunted by his past. We now need to find ways of moving forwards commercially and logistically without the need for a one man show.
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Post by devablue on Jan 24, 2018 13:57:49 GMT
Many will be very happy with this news but the underlying issue that has led to this is a lack of finances within the club. I would suggest that there has been a positive benefit from his time and benefits that cannot be costed. The lack of finance is mainly due to the dross that is served up, called football!!, on the pitch. At the start it was all new and many fans attended as a result, but the glosshas gone and was evident after around 2 years. Going forward we have to accept that finances will be tight, and that we may only exist at conference North level with the odd good cup run. To sustain conference level and our model will be virtually impossible. Unless we at least double current attendances then that is where we will exist. Agreed. Forget about MM as an individual, the fact is that unless someone can fill his role we are going nowhere as a club. Is the Board capable of attracting sponsorship - due to a lack of time, business acumen and ability, I would suggest not a chance. The Board can be replaced but does anyone honestly think there are a lot of people out there willing to put in the time and tolerate abuse who are capable of running a professional football club. MM may have his failings but did bring some benefit to the club and without a CEO we can survive but suspect our natural level will be Vanarama North or Evostick. Finally, while the Board and MM have made terrible mistakes, the fans who have turned their backs on the club and have contributed to our serious financial position must also accept accept some responsibility. Dare I say it, maybe it's time to get an owner/investor perhaps? There is certainly interest.
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Post by Hannibal on Jan 24, 2018 13:59:09 GMT
I take it that his contract has a three month notice period. Has he resigned or is it another one that we will have pay off? Regardless of notice period, where significant financial roles are concerned, he needs to have handed in his keys, emptied his office, and left the premises by now. All hopefully at no cost to the club. I also hope that a phone call has already been made to Graham Barrow, and a garden spade bought for Bignot. We can't afford one, lol.
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Post by devadiva on Jan 24, 2018 14:06:23 GMT
Agreed. Forget about MM as an individual, the fact is that unless someone can fill his role we are going nowhere as a club. Is the Board capable of attracting sponsorship - due to a lack of time, business acumen and ability, I would suggest not a chance. The Board can be replaced but does anyone honestly think there are a lot of people out there willing to put in the time and tolerate abuse who are capable of running a professional football club. MM may have his failings but did bring some benefit to the club and without a CEO we can survive but suspect our natural level will be Vanarama North or Evostick. Finally, while the Board and MM have made terrible mistakes, the fans who have turned their backs on the club and have contributed to our serious financial position must also accept accept some responsibility. Dare I say it, maybe it's time to get an owner/investor perhaps? There is certainly interest. Who?
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Post by Rio Doherty on Jan 24, 2018 14:09:17 GMT
I’m gutted to hear this news. It’s understandable that the club won’t have to pay a wage of £50,000, but Mark was a nice gentleman and has served the club well during his time here. I really don’t understand how some fans have aimed criticism at him at times. He did well with the Sam Hughes sale, Eastleigh and Solihull debacles, the mass brawl at the Wrexham game along with a few other things. Also he came across as a nice, polite man too. In the summer when people renewed their season tickets, he came down to shake hands and speak to them, and was always chatting to fans outside the blues bar at every home game too. On a personal note, he’s helped me a lot to sort my work experience at the club out, which I can’t wait to do in July. However, I had this feeling that he would be leaving for a few weeks now. He kept on writing in his programme notes how he has ‘failed’ commercially. Tbh, he’s done well with sponsorships such as Swansway Chester and red insure. I’m going to watch with great interest now with what direction we are going in. He seemed to be the club’s figurehead and did well at that, but is this a good or a bad move. Our club is in a very bad mess at the moment and this news won’t help it. I wish Mark all the best and he has done well in his two years here.
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Post by sqzl on Jan 24, 2018 14:10:52 GMT
I think our situation is a lot worse than first feared. Some of these rumors surfacing are looking a lot more factual by the day. I worry for the future, in terms of football. I'll be honest, i don't know many many fans we have that could stomach the Evostik premier, or National North at best?
Our budget next season may struggle to be competitive in the league below, not to mention the two year contracts we've handed some. We need to keep the young lads like Crawford, Jones, Archer, Hornby (loan) and maybe a few of the younger lads like White who is showing he can score goals, Gough, Astles. Bin the rest and rebuild. Roberts is 50/50, we need to see him play first simple as that.
My question for us fans is, do you want a football club owned by us fans regardless of the level we're playing at? Or do we take another stab into the dark and go down an investment route? I can't help but think as a fan base, the decision would be far from conclusive, just like the recent managerial appointment. A division in a fan base is a bad basis for anything.
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Post by Cestrian1987 on Jan 24, 2018 14:23:04 GMT
I take it that his contract has a three month notice period. Has he resigned or is it another one that we will have pay off? Regardless of notice period, where significant financial roles are concerned, he needs to have handed in his keys, emptied his office, and left the premises by now. All hopefully at no cost to the club. I also hope that a phone call has already been made to Graham Barrow, and a garden spade bought for Bignot. You’re obsessed with Graham Barrow, move on for Christ sake.
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Post by gezzer on Jan 24, 2018 14:32:09 GMT
I think our situation is a lot worse than first feared. Some of these rumors surfacing are looking a lot more factual by the day. I worry for the future, in terms of football. I'll be honest, i don't know many many fans we have that could stomach the Evostik premier, or National North at best? Our budget next season may struggle to be competitive in the league below, not to mention the two year contracts we've handed some. We need to keep the young lads like Crawford, Jones, Archer, Hornby (loan) and maybe a few of the younger lads like White who is showing he can score goals, Gough, Astles. Bin the rest and rebuild. Roberts is 50/50, we need to see him play first simple as that. My question for us fans is, do you want a football club owned by us fans regardless of the level we're playing at? Or do we take another stab into the dark and go down an investment route? I can't help but think as a fan base, the decision would be far from conclusive, just like the recent managerial appointment. A division in a fan base is a bad basis for anything. I have no issue with being Fan Owned my issue is being Fan Run. What the last few years has taught us is that to succeed in this league we need experience of running a football club in the boardroom. Volunteers, as much as I applaud them, can only take you so far in terms of commitment and do they have the right skill set for the task in hand? The current set up suggests not. Our current plight, however means we are not in a position to recruit talent and imo we will struggle to match anything like the investment from our reformation year so we are where we are and fight on regardless.
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Post by poolepirate on Jan 24, 2018 14:34:18 GMT
RIO he didnt sort out the Eastleigh issue he chose to ignore emails sent to him on the matter of compensation for travel i agree he did some good deals but also was full of false promises with regard to shaking peoples hands after buying season tickets its his job to be the face of the club in the role of CEO its all PR if you visit any company retail shop etc you would expect to be greeted dealt with in a friendly professional manner after all thats what the employee is paid for to give a good experience of the customers visit
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Post by dmcnally on Jan 24, 2018 14:36:08 GMT
RIO he didnt sort out the Eastleigh issue he chose to ignore emails sent to him on the matter of compensation for travel i agree he did some good deals but also was full of false promises with regard to shaking peoples hands after buying season tickets its his job to be the face of the club in the role of CEO its all PR if you visit any company retail shop etc you would expect to be greeted dealt with in a friendly professional manner after all thats what the employee is paid for to give a good experience of the customers visit Again, I’ve had a reply and a refund for Eastleigh and I have post a link to the email address of the person who processed the refund for me yesterday.
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Post by rcb on Jan 24, 2018 14:51:02 GMT
MM did not appear to follow the ethos of a fan owned club he lost the respect of the fans he promised alot delivered some of it but stopped communicating with fans by not replying to emails i sensed he was given too much up front responsibility for communication,he seemed to be the only person at the club who had a voice which cant he healthy going forward we need a full time employee to do some of the duties currently done by the CEO but not on the sort of wages mentioned he was getting(figures quoted true or not) You just contradicted yourself. Stopped communicating with fans but then go on to say he was he only one with a voice. Appears the club want to go back to an even more ameteur setup by having volunteers doing his job. A volunteer trying to tie up a major sponsorship deal. How would you feel as a large business meeting up with a bunch of volunteers to discuss a sponsorship, as opposed to a professional businessman? It’s called living within your means, and is one of the fundamental principles upon which the club was founded. The notion of trying to run before we could walk was introduced by Burr, and things have gone downhill ever since. We may have poor strikers but Maguire has got his hat trick now, having f**ked up his third club.
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Post by Lobster on Jan 24, 2018 14:56:13 GMT
Feel a bit sorry for Maguire. Thought he always came across well and was spread too thinly because of the lack of leadership from the board. That said, we don't really have much to show for his time here. Wish him well for the future. This is a guy losing his job, at the end of the day.
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Post by rcb on Jan 24, 2018 14:57:18 GMT
Regardless of notice period, where significant financial roles are concerned, he needs to have handed in his keys, emptied his office, and left the premises by now. All hopefully at no cost to the club. I also hope that a phone call has already been made to Graham Barrow, and a garden spade bought for Bignot. You’re obsessed with Graham Barrow, move on for Christ sake. Well spotted! However, I don’t feel it’s your job to tell me to move on, particularly in a blasphemous way. I take it you hate the thought of the Barrow Boys being proved right.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2018 15:03:35 GMT
MM did not appear to follow the ethos of a fan owned club he lost the respect of the fans he promised alot delivered some of it but stopped communicating with fans by not replying to emails i sensed he was given too much up front responsibility for communication,he seemed to be the only person at the club who had a voice which cant he healthy going forward we need a full time employee to do some of the duties currently done by the CEO but not on the sort of wages mentioned he was getting(figures quoted true or not) You just contradicted yourself. Stopped communicating with fans but then go on to say he was he only one with a voice. Appears the club want to go back to an even more ameteur setup by having volunteers doing his job. A volunteer trying to tie up a major sponsorship deal. How would you feel as a large business meeting up with a bunch of volunteers to discuss a sponsorship, as opposed to a professional businessman? Some of the volunteers I know are more than capable of discussing and securing a sponsorship. It was volunteers who originally secured sponsorships from MBNA, Swettenhams Chemists, Big Storage etc. I feel very sorry for Mark. He is a really nice, thoroughly professional man. Unfortunately the way that our club is financially we simply cannot afford him. I will be interested to see at the CFU meeting how our commercial income stacks up year on year, and again against target. I would imagine that the working groups set up will look to take up any workload left by Mark when he finishes. Hopefully this is step one from the board.
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Post by everhopeful on Jan 24, 2018 15:07:13 GMT
I’m gutted to hear this news. It’s understandable that the club won’t have to pay a wage of £50,000, but Mark was a nice gentleman and has served the club well during his time here. I really don’t understand how some fans have aimed criticism at him at times. He did well with the Sam Hughes sale, Eastleigh and Solihull debacles, the mass brawl at the Wrexham game along with a few other things. Also he came across as a nice, polite man too. In the summer when people renewed their season tickets, he came down to shake hands and speak to them, and was always chatting to fans outside the blues bar at every home game too. On a personal note, he’s helped me a lot to sort my work experience at the club out, which I can’t wait to do in July. However, I had this feeling that he would be leaving for a few weeks now. He kept on writing in his programme notes how he has ‘failed’ commercially. Tbh, he’s done well with sponsorships such as Swansway Chester and red inside. I’m going to watch with great interest now with what direction we are going in. He seemed to be the club’s figurehead and did well at that, but is his a good or a bad move. Our club is in a very bad mess at the moment and this news won’t help it. I wish Mark all the best and he has done well in his two years here. Rio, have a look at my post in "Much needed income" and see why my opinion, and that of several other people, is so different.
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Post by Captain Duff on Jan 24, 2018 15:11:45 GMT
Great news for the club. We have got him off our pay roll before he kills us in his 'advisory' role. Has failed to deliver on his own expectations and is constantly haunted by his past. We now need to find ways of moving forwards commercially and logistically without the need for a one man show. Appalling comment, workers being made redundant is never 'great news', and as an owner (and so in part responsible for the job loss) I am gutted for both Mark and the club that it has come to this. No one should ever be happy at the sight of workers being sent down the road, and for anyone who cares deeply about our club and our mutual ownership ethos this is a very dark day indeed.
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Post by everhopeful on Jan 24, 2018 15:16:51 GMT
Great news for the club. We have got him off our pay roll before he kills us in his 'advisory' role. Has failed to deliver on his own expectations and is constantly haunted by his past. We now need to find ways of moving forwards commercially and logistically without the need for a one man show. Appalling comment, workers being made redundant is never 'great news', and as an owner (and so in part responsible for the job loss) I am gutted for both Mark and the club that it has come to this. No one should ever be happy at the sight of workers being sent down the road, and for anyone who cares deeply about our club and our mutual ownership ethos this is a very dark day indeed. Sorry Captain, normally I would agree, but in this case he has been leading the club, our club, to ruin, as he has done before everywhere he's been. If he hadn't gone, we would soon have been reduced to a Sunday league side.
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Post by sqzl on Jan 24, 2018 15:17:28 GMT
You just contradicted yourself. Stopped communicating with fans but then go on to say he was he only one with a voice. Appears the club want to go back to an even more ameteur setup by having volunteers doing his job. A volunteer trying to tie up a major sponsorship deal. How would you feel as a large business meeting up with a bunch of volunteers to discuss a sponsorship, as opposed to a professional businessman? Some of the volunteers I know are more than capable of discussing and securing a sponsorship. It was volunteers who originally secured sponsorships from MBNA, Swettenhams Chemists, Big Storage etc. I feel very sorry for Mark. He is a really nice, thoroughly professional man. Unfortunately the way that our club is financially we simply cannot afford him. I will be interested to see at the CFU meeting how our commercial income stacks up year on year, and again against target. I would imagine that the working groups set up will look to take up any workload left by Mark when he finishes. Hopefully this is step one from the board. Question is though nwas, is it step one, or is it simply trying to scapegoat one individual for a collection of mistakes on the eve of arguably the biggest meeting since the reformation of Chester FC? Regardless of how it reads, people aren't stupid and they'll instantly assume blame falls on his head for the financials given this redundancy. I may be naturally pessimistic, due to line of work, but i know what i'd go with.
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Post by superman on Jan 24, 2018 15:19:52 GMT
If the financial situation dictates the action to get rid of CEO role then that is what rightly has happened. I just hope that a proper analysis of the benefits vs costs of employing MM has been undertaken in order to assess what if any were the commercial benefits of his appointment and that we haven't thrown the baby out with the bathwater so to speak. Time will tell. MM himself said at the last CFU meeting that we might feel that we were not be able to afford him if finances continued on a downward trend and relegation to the CN happened. He has been proved right.
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Post by RhosesmorBlue on Jan 24, 2018 15:25:14 GMT
i think the only way to secure a solid future is to maybe follow the same model as Portsmouth.... 51% Fan ownership / 49% Investor... can keep to the same ethos but also have an investor who can inject some cash and also run the club like a business to make it self sufficient
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Post by everhopeful on Jan 24, 2018 15:28:58 GMT
i think the only way to secure a solid future is to maybe follow the same model as Portsmouth.... 51% Fan ownership / 49% Investor... can keep to the same ethos but also have an investor who can inject some cash and also run the club like a business to make it self sufficient Trouble is very often these cash injections turn out to be loans which can be demanded back leaving the club in trouble.
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Post by Lobster on Jan 24, 2018 15:43:39 GMT
Appalling comment, workers being made redundant is never 'great news', and as an owner (and so in part responsible for the job loss) I am gutted for both Mark and the club that it has come to this. No one should ever be happy at the sight of workers being sent down the road, and for anyone who cares deeply about our club and our mutual ownership ethos this is a very dark day indeed. Sorry Captain, normally I would agree, but in this case he has been leading the club, our club, to ruin, as he has done before everywhere he's been. If he hadn't gone, we would soon have been reduced to a Sunday league side. I see what he means though. It's a little classless to describe someone being made redundant as "great news", even if it is the right decision.
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Post by everhopeful on Jan 24, 2018 15:47:09 GMT
Sorry Captain, normally I would agree, but in this case he has been leading the club, our club, to ruin, as he has done before everywhere he's been. If he hadn't gone, we would soon have been reduced to a Sunday league side. I see what he means though. It's a little classless to describe someone being made redundant as "great news", even if it is the right decision. To be fair, this is true.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2018 15:52:47 GMT
Some of the volunteers I know are more than capable of discussing and securing a sponsorship. It was volunteers who originally secured sponsorships from MBNA, Swettenhams Chemists, Big Storage etc. I feel very sorry for Mark. He is a really nice, thoroughly professional man. Unfortunately the way that our club is financially we simply cannot afford him. I will be interested to see at the CFU meeting how our commercial income stacks up year on year, and again against target. I would imagine that the working groups set up will look to take up any workload left by Mark when he finishes. Hopefully this is step one from the board. Question is though nwas, is it step one, or is it simply trying to scapegoat one individual for a collection of mistakes on the eve of arguably the biggest meeting since the reformation of Chester FC? Regardless of how it reads, people aren't stupid and they'll instantly assume blame falls on his head for the financials given this redundancy. I may be naturally pessimistic, due to line of work, but i know what i'd go with. You've every right in my opinion to be pessimistic pal. See my other post. The board need to step up or step off. Lots to do, but I'm f'd if I'm letting it go because if it goes again we will NEVER get it back.
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