CFU Meeting, Wednesday, April 18, 7:30pm @ St Theresa’s Club

I couldn’t make it either but I know someone who’s gone and despite the “choas and slanging match” it’s still going on and it’s really good talks.

Calvin Hughes has done a presentation on his laptop as to why he should be the new Gaffer. He got Preston into the Champions League in three seasons, narrowly losing to Oporto in the second round.

His stats on FIFA are impressive too. Those Sunday League medals should see him get the gig.

The phrase “couldn’t organise a drinking session in a brewery” comes to mind with this board.

Bit fucking rich of James and Hannah saying they've no desire to play in the Conference North. Perhaps if they'd put a fucking shift in this season that wouldn't even be a discussion point.

Got quite a headache from all the coughing and glass collecting!

Went to the meeting, stopped until nearly the end. The crux of the issues moving forwards lie with Calvin Hughes and the FWG. I have grave reservations about him, his ability and his role. What qualifies him to have a view that is at odds with a manager who has won multiple championships at non-league level and the consensus of the vast majority of fans in the room? Why did he not get voted onto the board back in October despite his previous experience working within the club? Why is it that all the negative stories protruding out of the football club in recent weeks can all be tracked back to the FWG? I fear his single-minded vision is going to lead us into significant trouble next year. Signing a squad of players on 110k, based on a full time wage, is crazy. The sooner football experienced people are heading this group the better, before the damage is irreparable. It strikes me as one man living out a footballing fantasy.

Deluded like most footballers.....
Never seen one yet who's as good as he thinks he is

Sounds like we’ll lose Crawford and Jones if we’re not careful. More CH backlash from the majority of owners now, surely he cannot continue this fairytale he’s got.

Any word on the Investment?

As Callum pointed out the part time full time hybred is not as clear cut as some would imagine. It is really down to the new manager to decide. A squad weighted more toward the under 24 age group could work with Callum dovetailing with the likes of Steve Davis or Carl MaCauley, who have knowlege of those leagues and like I said at the meeting can identify the physical athletic players required to compete. However, getting Hannah and James out of the club and clearing the desks of this years squad is crucial.

Just back from the meeting a hell of alot of questions didn't get answered and also for the record the landlady of St Theresas said she wouldn't have us back, mainly because of lack of communication.

The meeting overall was better than the last few, but again had it's floors. I was one of the first to arrive and was questioned on a start time? And overheard a board member ask them if they had a microphone or not? Which proves their point on lack of communication.


Nevertheless, the board spoke well, alot better than at previous CFU meetings and seemed to care. I got the answers to my questions I was unable to ask by the board members who did bother to stay around at the end.

This is a huge time for our club, and all that I can say has been repeated tonight time and time again, do not give up.

Calvin Hughes has got to go if we are going to progress. Deluded and needs to go , we need to freshen up and cleanse ,otherwise that bad smell of failure will be the end of us. My decision on renewal of my season ticket will be based on this ..........fingers crossed 🤞 

That's leapt up from £125k stated at the January meeting - it was quite clearly stated at the time that was the amount for players on two year contracts allocated for 2018/19.
I do worry when we can't get accurate figures like this from the board - that's more than 10% difference, that's not insignificant

The meeting started off in a fractious manner with a fan having a huge go at Dave HW and the board for their handling of the Bignot sacking. The mood wasn't helped by the basic oversight of not having a microphone, which pissed off some of us near the back who couldn't hear anything. Credit to Richard Lynes for a good talk about Supporters Direct's feedback and the possible investment, which seemed to settle everyone down a bit and restore some order. Andrew Morris also came across well, I thought.

I share the reservations some have about Calvin Hughes. I don't think it helps that he doesn't speak well - no doubt he's a better board member than he comes across - but it was like pulling teeth at times tonight. He doesn't answer the question that's been asked - he answers the one he wants to hear.

Two main concerns I still have. The first is the whole Bignot sacking, which for me is a fresh mess the new board have brought upon themselves. I see no benefit at all to sacking him when we did and in the manner we did it, and unfortunately I had to leave as it started to be discussed, but Calvin didn't seem to be able to answer it either. He just kept saying it was a "board decision". It may well have been covered in more detail after I left but I still don't understand what the thinking was behind creating awful publicity for little if any gain. And as for the manner of it, the whole "well, we tried to ring him that morning" defence is pretty pitiful. If you have to sack someone, you make the time do it properly, face-to-face, in privacy, and businessmen like DHW should know better. A bad, bad episode for the club.

Secondly, and more importantly, I feel there's still too much optimistic accountancy going on. I understand we're hoping for a 1,700 average (900 season tickets, 800 on the day), but this season we've averaged 1,831 with Wrexham and Tranmere in the division, and we don't have two games anything like those two next season. Without them, our average is 1,655, so already down on 1,700. Our average is also swelled by the early season gates, when it's fair to say the mood and circumstances at the club were different. Over our last 12 games (again ignoring the anomaly of Tranmere), we've averaged 1,510.

There seems to be a perception that more local games will mean bigger away support next season, but how many would you expect the likes of Curzon Ashton, Brackley, Gainsborough, Spennymoor and Leamington to bring? I'd guess not many more than the likes of Boreham Wood, Eastleigh and Bromley do. This site shows the difference every club in the NL North makes to average attendances when they visit as an away side. Assuming Salford go up, there are basically four clubs (York, Stockport, Darlington and FCUM) you can expect to boost your gate. We can probably add Hereford if they come up, and I suspect Southport and Chorley would bring more to us than they usually do, but we're only talking hundreds here - not the thousands that the Tranmere and Wrexham games attract. We MIGHT average 1,700, but it's at best a risk, at worst a gamble that goes against statistical likelihood. I really think it needs to be revised, even if it deteriorates our playing budget even further. I'd rather start 2019/20 in the Evo-Stik than not start it at all.

The best talk I heard all night was from Calum McIntyre, who implored us to turn up on Saturday and get behind a team that wants to put a smile on everyone's face, and gave a detailed analysis of the ambiguity of terms like 'full-time', 'part-time' and 'hybrid'. This makes me wonder why the club are labouring the point so much about remaining 'full-time" in the first place. As Calum says, it's about maximising time and finding a way to suit the players' situations. We've got silly arguments and Neil Young leaving over what seems like semantics. Just work out the budget and put together the best set-up you can, taking advice from people like Young who actually know the divisions inside out and have experience of building competitive squads in short periods of time.