NCISA 'Meet the board forum'

OCTOBER 2006

Last nights 'meet the board' evening offered fans a chance to put forward their points of view and questions to Delia, Michael, Neil Doncaster and Andrew Cullen and NCISA would like to formally thank them for allowing fans the chance to put their viewpoints forward.

I personally believe that one of the many things that makes our club so great is the accessibility that fans have to members of the board and senior officials and, whilst certain information should always remain confidential, the answers can be enlightening.

As far as the night went, again from a personal viewpoint, the board were widely applauded for their appointment of Peter Grant, and many people spoke of their previous positive experiences of City's new manager. It was widely believed by the audience that the new manager would need to install some of the grit and determination that he as a player had shown all to readily, one even mentioned that he believed that Grant was the Scottish version of Martin O'Neill. On a cautionary note, Neil Doncaster said it was early days and there was an ‘unfortunate events’ clause in Peter’s 3.5 year contract.

The board were asked if they regret not sacking Nigel Worthington earlier. Neil Doncaster said hindsight was an exact science and it was easier to be wise after the event. Delia also said that Peter Grant wouldn’t have been available at the end of last season as West Ham were in the cup final and he wouldn’t have wanted to leave at that time.

Some people spoke of their desire to see more first team involvment for academy products and I myself put forward my view that squad size needs to be increased in order to allow our young players to be able to learn their trade on loan at other clubs, rather than being sat on the sidelines as 'injury cover.' Whilst the board, naturally, did not comment on monies that were able to be spent, Delia did indeed say from a personal perspective she felt there would be lots of activity, and to expect a flurry of transfer activity. Watch this space.

It was suggested we needed a midfielder in the mould of Peter himself. Someone with outstanding motivational capabilities.

Some speakers spoke of their disappointment surrounding the poor attitudes from fans towards younger players, with Chris Llewelyn and Ian Henderson being the main players identified as receiving negative comments. Again, it was put forward that we need to help the confidence of younger players and how important it was to assist their confidence levels as they learn their trade.

One of the main themes that struck a chord with the audience was the apparent lack of commitment from certain players in recent weeks and the apparent part that they played in finally ending the Worthington reign. It was pointed out to the board that the players must give 100% every game,home or away, and understand how fortunate they are to wear the shirt of this club. The board widelyacknowledged this and Delia spoke of her disappointment surrounding the Plymouth game - some also went back to the away defeat that cost us Premiership status at Fulham.

One supporter openly criticized the board. He said they were responsible for a lack of ambition. He said they had abused the fine cup fighting tradition of the football club with Mr Worthington treating the competitions like an unwelcome distraction. There was a lack of leadership from the top and we were happy to settle for second best. The speaker said he was alarmed buy an admission by Delia that she hadn’t a clue what went on at Colney. Delia denied this and pointed out she was a regular visitor to the training ground. The board pointed out it was their aims to be playing regular European football, and in increasing capacity within the ground to over 30,000 by adding a second tier on the main stand. They had also save d the club from the brink of extinction. This was warmly applauded by the audience.

Somebody enquired exactly what Doug Livermores role was. The answer was that he spent a long time on the phone dealing with players agents, other clubs and making deals. Why wasnt he given the job of caretaker of the team when Worthy left - reply - because he didn't apply.

Andrew Cullen said that the season ticket waiting list is gradually growing.

A fan asked if there had been any personality problems between Chris Sutton and Nigel Worthington. The board said no and they had heard nothing from CS or his agent. This conflicted with the views of several fans who had been told by CS himself that he had been in touch.

The board were quizzed about the last game of the premiership season when we had been thrashed by Fulham. Delia said that on or two players had let themselves and the club down. She wouldn’t name names but I think we all knew who she meant.

As far as the extra tier on the City Stand went, ND said it was a reality if we were challenging in the top six or in the Premiership. It would raise our capacity to 30,000. It would cost 8-10 million and the money would have to be borrowed or raised in some other way. The club has to balance raising the capacity while not compromising the financial stability.

Generally the board had quite an easy ride probably because of the general positive feeling about the place over the last week, but it was acknowledged that they had agreed to attend while Nigel Worthington was still in charge and would have known they were in for a considerable amount of flak.