FAI board rejects Cobh Ramblers’ proposal

[rambler14]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news lads but:


The FAI board this evening (January 26) rejected the proposal from Cobh Ramblers in relation to the purchase of St Colman’s Park. The board agreed that it could not, under proper league governance, provide financial assistance to any single club involved in the League of Ireland that would assist it in obtaining a license.

Nonetheless the FAI board agreed that it would look at a financial solution to keep St Colman’s Park in football post the club licensing process.

What now?????

[A face]

FAI reject Cobh's ground selling plan


Cobh Ramblers have been handed a blow with the news that the FAI have rejected their plan to sell St Colman's Park to the organisation, who would then lease it back to the club. The club's members had voted to put the proposal to the FAI in order to help them clear their debts and attain financial stability, but the FAI have been unable to assist.

The FAI's board came to the decision that it could not provide financial assistance to any club involved in the League of Ireland as it could assist them in obtaining a license. However, - they did agree to look at a financial solution to keep the club in football post the licensing process.


Read more at www.rte.ie (http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2009/0126/cobh.html)

[the sub]

is not is if l told you so, but you all were to focused on fighting each other and not to work together.
Months and months are now gone and lost where you all could have fundraised together but all you did as a club is cat fight and have a large division between boths side.
Boths side are to blame because all you wanted is the POWER to run the club.
There were many Premier and 1st div clubs in the same boat what did they do .....call a supporters meeting get everyone together start a supporters group that would pledge money over a period of time and guess what their clubs will be all playing loi football this year.
It's still not too late to get a few hundred suppoters together at the club house organise a fundrasing commette outside the present commette.
Put a plan together and sell it too the FAI before the end of the week.
IT NOT TOO LATE
That's is all I have to say and I do not even live in Cobh or a supporter but it is a shame you all did not see the bigger picture.
Now I bet you will have both groups blaming each other and I say a good few will be sitting at home delighted that it failed.
I say shame on you
MSL next year all playing in the Wanders team should be good.
Creditors here they come.. last person tonight at the club house turn the light off for the last time as the team have left for the last time

[rambler14]

There were many Premier and 1st div clubs in the same boat what did they do .....call a supporters meeting get everyone together start a supporters group that would pledge money over a period of time and guess what their clubs will be all playing loi football this year.


Another feckin meeting!:rolleyes::D

[hillman]

a meeting about what we're shagged end of

[rambler14]

Too Early???:

a30E1UQrIPc


Sorry Lads!:(:D

[don ramo]

the thing is AFAIK our licence is in order and we should get one, its the debth that will stop us playing footbal not the licence, we have the tax clearance cert, the ground (at the moment), we have no wages, no player contracts have been signed,

so how screwed we are is entirely up to us now,


EGM EGM EGM EGM EGM meetings about meetings, save the club,

thursday night good for everyone

[Ash]

Hope ye can get things sorted lads.

[Cici900]

This is really sad! Is this what the focr's wanted all along? All this arguing to ruin Cobh? Why could'nt they just work together? I've been going to Cobh since I was knee-high and I will never forget that night in Athlone and to think it's all over now! The focr's should be ashamed of themselves! Its not fair on us loyal fans who were there when there was only 50 or 60 in the ground. Waiting for this time when the club is actually progressing and we were getting a thousand at games.

I for one will not go to any Cobh games if they are in the MSL.

Lets hope for a miracle!:(:(:mad:

[jamesd]

FAI reject Cobh's ground selling plan


Cobh Ramblers have been handed a blow with the news that the FAI have rejected their plan to sell St Colman's Park to the organisation, who would then lease it back to the club. The club's members had voted to put the proposal to the FAI in order to help them clear their debts and attain financial stability, but the FAI have been unable to assist.

The FAI's board came to the decision that it could not provide financial assistance to any club involved in the League of Ireland as it could assist them in obtaining a license. However, - they did agree to look at a financial solution to keep the club in football post the licensing process.

This is indeed very sad news, but I appeal to everyone here to hold back on casting blame and look at what the FAI have said.

This issue about obtaining a Licence is a very serious one and to my knowledge it was never mentioned before in the first place.

However it is a catch 22 or so it seems. We need a licence to play football, but we need to pay our debts in order to get a licence.

My question is this. How much money is required to secure the licence?

We should all be hanging our heads in shame and take a leaf out of Drogheda's book. They ALL forgot about power struggles and put their hands in their pockets.

NOW is NOT the time for blame here as we are ALL to blame. NOW is time for LEADERSHIP....

[the sub]

Just a quick question how many loyal supporters to you have, what I mean who are working and in go in as paying adults into games.

If you have 200 plus main supporters group get together now and do what City, Athlone and all the other clubs did over the last few months.
Get a commette together get all the bars, shops ect to pledge 20 euro a week to support also.
I

It's not too late I hope

[offside rule]

This is indeed very sad news, but I appeal to everyone here to hold back on casting blame and look at what the FAI have said.

This issue about obtaining a Licence is a very serious one and to my knowledge it was never mentioned before in the first place.

However it is a catch 22 or so it seems. We need a licence to play football, but we need to pay our debts in order to get a licence.

My question is this. How much money is required to secure the licence?

We should all be hanging our heads in shame and take a leaf out of Drogheda's book. They ALL forgot about power struggles and put their hands in their pockets.

NOW is NOT the time for blame here as we are ALL to blame. NOW is time for LEADERSHIP....

Well said JamesD,
...the blame game has got to stop NOW, its not going to get anywhere if we've people still on here posting and blaming other groups!.

It was the FAI's decision and not a decision of any group within the club. We all know some people wanted something and others wanted other things!, . . . but in the end the one thing that we all might not have this season is a FOOTBALL TEAM!

[theboywonder]

Very true what is the point in blaming anyone, Friday is D-Day so lets just see what happens then, but at the end of the day we shouldnt really be this badly off. Barry Walsh is gone to Dublin today too see what the full story is.

[sadloserkid]

Good luck.

[rambler14]

Dear Gerald Kean,

You wanted to help Cork City but they didn't want your money. We'll gladly take it!,

Thank You,
Cobh Ramblers.

[Ram72]

There is no point in blaming anyone for the proposal being rejected.
What we should be doing is seeing what we can do to help the club to get through these dark days.
Maybe the club should get the 400 members club up and running asap.
Even if we got 100 members to join and contribute 10 euro per week it would be a start.
All may not be lost but the longer we stay inactive the sooner the inevitable is going to happen.

[GenerationXI]

From eleven-a-side.com:

"Under new manager Dave Hill, Cobh are preparing for life in the First Division after relegation from the top flight last season ”“ but club chairman Barry Walsh admits the prospect of dropping a further division may well be in their best interests.

He told the Irish Times: “I’m not saying that we won’t get a licence but in the event that we didn’t then we will drop down to the A League and that mightn’t be the worst thing that could happen if it allows us the opportunity to get out ourselves straight after what has been a difficult year."


Whoa. At least he's thinking long-term survival I guess. I'd rather see ye in the A-League for one year rather than have one last hurrah in the 1st and then go out of business altogether.

[pcplod]

If we have to take a step back to go forward then so be it at least we will survive and hopefully come out the other side a stronger unit

[offside rule]

If we have to take a step back to go forward then so be it at least we will survive and hopefully come out the other side a stronger unit


Pretty poor standard of Football, but as said it wouldnt be the worse short term solution, IF it means we are to survive as a club ...
...BUT...
surely there is very little/no money to be made here to pay off our debts so the club can survive and not be crippled by our creditors!

*Gates could be down cos of standard of Football = loss of money
*Would the club attract a decent sponsor for Season playing in this league = loss of money
*Will players expect wages to play in this league, surely not as this standard isn't great - and some MSL clubs are playing players, (players might decide to go to MSL teams that are paying)
*Wouldn't Premier MSL league be a stronger league than this - i know for a fact most MSL teams would hold their own against even current LOI 1st division teams
*Is this wat Dave Hill signed up for as manager - 'A' League

[don ramo]

i dont agree with dropping a division, we can get 11 players to accept A league pay (if it exists) and play in the first, it wont be the first team weve had the last few years, the standard would be pretty poor,


lads we have financial trouble, the best way to solve it is to make as much money as you can, and that means playing as high a standard of football possible,


rams72 is right we need to move on this as soon as possible, we need to start fundraising, and get the 400 club up and running, and also why cant more people stop by the clubhouse, thats the best way to get money into the club at the moment

[jamesd]

i dont agree with dropping a division, we can get 11 players to accept A league pay (if it exists) and play in the first, it wont be the first team weve had the last few years, the standard would be pretty poor,


lads we have financial trouble, the best way to solve it is to make as much money as you can, and that means playing as high a standard of football possible,


rams72 is right we need to move on this as soon as possible, we need to start fundraising, and get the 400 club up and running, and also why cant more people stop by the clubhouse, thats the best way to get money into the club at the moment

Don hang on a sec, check the text first on RTE. The Chairman has been quoated as saying that the Club in Finanically Secure!!

What in God's name are we now listening to?? First the Chairman rams home the proposal to the members and now he says he was never really hopeful of success with the FAI!!

While all the time everyone has been taking pot shots at the Friends of Cobh Ramblers, the Chairman has been putting his plan in place to take us out of League of Ireland.

Any Chairman that would suggest going down a division is good for the club is NO Leader and only proves more so how useless the entire committee are in not having their house in order to secure the Licence.

[rambler14]

Were not financially sound that statement today was a crock of sh!t!

We have at least €500,000 debt!:(

[jamesd]

Were not financially sound that statement today was a crock of sh!t!

We have at least €500,000 debt!:(

R14, I couldn't agree more with you. I have to admit I was shocked to read the damn thing on teletext and again in the press!!

My fear now is that the suppliers will also have read it and now come knocking on the door looking for their money. And you know something, I woudn't blame them!!

The other thing that annoys me, is that with all the apparent grief over the having the last EGM and vote, the Chairman now tells the media that he never really believed that the FAI would agree in the first place!!

[gael353]

lads can i ask

(A) how much of the debt was there before the present chariman came into being?

(B) when you got to the premier division, whos idea was it to double the playing budget (of what was a first division team) was it the chairman alone or was it a management committee/members?

[Ram72]

The other thing that annoys me, is that with all the apparent grief over the having the last EGM and vote, the Chairman now tells the media that he never really believed that the FAI would agree in the first place!!

Well if he had his doubts about the proposal being accepted he should have had a plan B in place.
I think it is time now for the chairman to come out and tell us members what plan he has now to save the club.
The creditors are looking for their money and they are not going to wait much longer for the club to get it's house in order. And if they push for their money they will end up just closing the club and selling it.

[theboywonder]

Don hang on a sec, check the text first on RTE. The Chairman has been quoated as saying that the Club in Finanically Secure!!

What in God's name are we now listening to?? First the Chairman rams home the proposal to the members and now he says he was never really hopeful of success with the FAI!!

While all the time everyone has been taking pot shots at the Friends of Cobh Ramblers, the Chairman has been putting his plan in place to take us out of League of Ireland.

Any Chairman that would suggest going down a division is good for the club is NO Leader and only proves more so how useless the entire committee are in not having their house in order to secure the Licence.


Jamesd, the amount of sh*t you spout on about why dont you go on the commitee and sort it all out, no one wants to drop a league but its better than nothing at all, do us all a favour and pi*s off elsewhere please

[Ram72]

Jamesd, the amount of sh*t you spout on about why dont you go on the commitee and sort it all out, no one wants to drop a league but its better than nothing at all, do us all a favour and pi*s off elsewhere please

It is this kind of attitude that we can do without. Everyone is entitled to their view.
I would agree with Jamesd on this because it feels like the membership have been taken for a long walk off a very short pier by our chairman.

[rambler14]

I'm a Ramblers fan get me out of here!

[Redshanks]

I agree with the above, that the Chairmans last statement is confusing and he has some answers to give the members on Sunday. But I seem to remember the other day when the bad news broke that everyone, especially Jamesd, called for people to pull together and to not enter into the blame game.
I agreed with that approach, even though I and many others knew that Jamesd and Co. were really saying, dont blame the FOCRs for all their interference by legal communication with the FAI. Its incredible for anyone to say now that their actions had no part to play in the FAI's final decision.
Far be it for me to defend or try to make sens of the chairmans public statements, but i do know that what he did say, was that he always expected it to be rejected once the Focrs went legal with the FAI.
As for the club now being secured, I can only guess that he knows something the rest of us dont, and maybe on Sunday we'll get to find out!

[jamesd]

I agree with the above, that the Chairmans last statement is confusing and he has some answers to give the members on Sunday. But I seem to remember the other day when the bad news broke that everyone, especially Jamesd, called for people to pull together and to not enter into the blame game.
I agreed with that approach, even though I and many others knew that Jamesd and Co. were really saying, dont blame the FOCRs for all their interference by legal communication with the FAI. Its incredible for anyone to say now that their actions had no part to play in the FAI's final decision.
Far be it for me to defend or try to make sens of the chairmans public statements, but i do know that what he did say, was that he always expected it to be rejected once the Focrs went legal with the FAI.
As for the club now being secured, I can only guess that he knows something the rest of us dont, and maybe on Sunday we'll get to find out!

Red, I am entitled to my point of view and all I am responding to is the Press Release sent out by the FAI and more so the comments of the Chairman. The Chairman did say "That for the FAI to get involved with one club, it would set a precedence"

Look, over the past months and weeks, we have all been engaged in mud slinging and trying to shout the loudest fighting for what we all thought was right.

I for my part, accepted the democratic decision of the members to accept the proposal. But would be it have been too much to ask for honesty from the Chairman if he always believed, as he stated to the press, that he had doubts as to whether the proposal would get the green light from the FAI??

All this time spent arguing has only been wasted time, time that could have been spent by the entire membership rowing together to do everything possible to raise the necessery funds to save the club. But as appears now, the Chairman has been keeping his eggs in one basket only.

We can't be worse off now, so perhaps it is time to give FOCR the chance to do something. If they really believe that they can come up with a plan to keep us in League of Ireland football, then no stone should be left unturned to assist them. However time is running out and action needs to be taken now.

[Redshanks]

Now Jamesd, you are not being entirely honest there, You have once again refused to accept or even acknowledged what was done to scupper the deal by the people you are now saying should be given a chance.

They had a chance to show us all, what eggs were in their basket. I am not going to speak for the chairman but myself, and I was one of two people who promoted the FAI deal in an open letter to every member, and I can honestly say, there was no other deal in town, except the socalled focr one which they blatantly refused to show the rest of us their deal (Boycott remember).

Its very easy now to blame the person they all hate and wanted removed anyway, but dont tell me that they had no part in the FAI's decision. We all know they sent a delegation to Dublin and met with Delaney, so spare us the innocence. They were a disgrace, and should be ashamed to call themselves members, let alone friends of any club.

You say they should be given a chance now, so let them prove how genuine they are by putting their money on the table (no preconditions), and the rest of us members can democratically decide if our chairman has a future running our club, or not.

Interesting to note that you didnt wait long before you flip-flopped on your own call to unite and not start the blame game Jamesd. But you are right about one thing Jamesd -you are entitled to your opinion -and thats what we are all doing here!

[jamesd]

Now Jamesd, you are not being entirely honest there, You have once again refused to accept or even acknowledged what was done to scupper the deal by the people you are now saying should be given a chance.

They had a chance to show us all, what eggs were in their basket. I am not going to speak for the chairman but myself, and I was one of two people who promoted the FAI deal in an open letter to every member, and I can honestly say, there was no other deal in town, except the socalled focr one which they blatantly refused to show the rest of us their deal (Boycott remember).

Its very easy now to blame the person they all hate and wanted removed anyway, but dont tell me that they had no part in the FAI's decision. We all know they sent a delegation to Dublin and met with Delaney, so spare us the innocence. They were a disgrace, and should be ashamed to call themselves members, let alone friends of any club.

You say they should be given a chance now, so let them prove how genuine they are by putting their money on the table (no preconditions), and the rest of us members can democratically decide if our chairman has a future running our club, or not.

Interesting to note that you didnt wait long before you flip-flopped on your own call to unite and not start the blame game Jamesd. But you are right about one thing Jamesd -you are entitled to your opinion -and thats what we are all doing here!

Red, firstly I am not aware of any delegations going to the FAI. All I am aware of is what the FAI decided and their reasons for making the decision they made. Like it or not, we have to respect it.

You talk about the members democratically deciding whether the Chairman has a future or not.

Any member, Chairman or otherwise who comes out to the media and says the club is financially sound is living in a dream world. This can only cause anger amongst creditors who have been waiting very patiently to be paid and also sends the wrong signals to the FAI.

The bottom line here is that the Chairman and his supporters went cap in hand to the FAI to bail us out and hopefully no questions would be asked of why we are where we are. Its amazing what people will do to hold on to power.

But alas, none of this is helping to save the club and as long as you continue to make demands of those who want to help save the club, then we are going no where.

I personally couldn't care less who is in charge of Cobh Ramblers provided they are people with a vision for the future of staying in League of Ireland football and not the current crop who admit they wouldn't have an issue in dropping out!!

Interesting really when you consider that the current regime wants to do what ye have all been accusing the FOCR of wanting all along!!

[don ramo]

the FAI deal was suppered by the friends, why is it unfair for the FAI to help us when they done the exact same for bray a few years ago,

who would go near the thing with people like ****** and friends threating legal action, if the FAI buy our ground,

and james you and your friends had yer chance to come before us members and you treated us like dirt at least the chairman had the decency to show up for meetings he was asked to show for,

and by financially sound im sure he means that were capable of turning a profit, which makes more sense than financially sound being debth free, and the club is finanacially sound with the systems in place, we are capable of turning a profit this year and that is more likely what he meant,

[pcplod]

well said DR I think people have to read between the lines a bit when taking all this in and hopefully we will all have a clearer view come sunday, It will be interesting to see if the FOCRS can manage to turn up to this meeting my bet will be yes as they will be trying to use it to their advantage and start another big row. I bet id get a real small price in the bookies for them to turn up and cos trouble.

[Redshanks]

Its hard to take you serious when you say Jamesd -you couldnt care whos in charge, when you have spent months attacking the current committee, and the FAI deal before it was even voted on. Yes they went to the FAI with with cap in hand Jamesd but they were up against others from Cobh who went there with solicitors letter in hand. (and Yes as I'm sure you knew they met Delaney seprately).
It was easy for you to say you respected the vote afterwards, when your friends had already scuppered it Jamesd.
You still havnt answered my question Jamesd -Will you now call on your friends to step up with their war chest and help keep us in League of Ireland Football -without preconditions -Or was this their game plan all along -criple the club by scuppering the only (FAI) deal and then try to take control of the club by default?

[marty]

You say the chairman meant we can turn a profit but also said something about dropping down a division,how can we make any money in the A league?? While I agree with some of the stuff said from both sides it has all come tumbling down around us now we must be the laughing stock of the whole league--and if anyone thinks we will have people at games next year its madness supporters like myself are losing patience with the club in general--though I may still attend games none of the lads with me lastyear will and there wont be a chance of me supporting the club financially if this pity of a board who are caught in headlights aren"t removed

[jamesd]

the FAI deal was suppered by the friends, why is it unfair for the FAI to help us when they done the exact same for bray a few years ago,

who would go near the thing with people like jamesd and friends threating legal action, if the FAI buy our ground,

and james you and your friends had yer chance to come before us members and you treated us like dirt at least the chairman had the decency to show up for meetings he was asked to show for,

and by financially sound im sure he means that were capable of turning a profit, which makes more sense than financially sound being debth free, and the club is finanacially sound with the systems in place, we are capable of turning a profit this year and that is more likely what he meant,

With respect Don, I would ask you to withdraw the highlighted remark above. I have never threatened anyone or the club at any time on anything.

And I repeat again, I am not now or have I ever been part of FOCR or any other grouping within the club.

If the FAI are so inflenced by FOCR then they shouldn't be there in the first place.

But again all of this is a mere smoke screen by people who want to hold on to power no matter what the cost. People here would rather divide the club than unite it and I for one don't believe ye will ever unite it.

Sad to say that everyone, myself included, is too caught up in personalities rather than on keeping Cobh Ramblers in League of Ireland Football.

The FAI have made their decision so live with it and move on.

[don ramo]

well james you have never said anything on here that wasnt on the friends mandate, for someone who had there own side yours looks very much like the friends side, its kind of hard for 2 seperate entities, who have exactly the same interests not to be in line with each other,

doesnt make sense to me or anyone else on this forum, and as far as were all concerned you are a friend guilty untill proven innocent im afraid,





the thing is if barry were to step down, whos to say the next person will do better, itll take them half a year to get ready to take on the issues, so ill just repeat myself saying we need a CEO and an accountant, and dedicated people willing to help fundraise for the club,

[Redshanks]

Well it was always a question of who would start the blame game first. And Jamesd does Blame well.
From what i could see, 83 of the 91 people who showed up to vote for the FAI deal, did so because there was no other offer on the table, or in the room (BOYCOTT), most genuine members went there to see what the focr's had to offer.

I for one suspected all along that the focr proposal was a load of hot air with little substance. I and 22 other members summoned the EGM (not the chairman or committee) to allow the members to hear the focr proposal and to vote again on the FAI proposal. The focrs appeared to confirm my earlier suspicions with their organised and delibrate boycott.

So all that was left, was the FAI proposal. We now know what happened to the FAI proposal by other club members and former members. Could anyone really imagine that happening with any other club in the country?

So here we are facing into A League football. If someone or some group is to be blamed for this, who should it be? Those who put a proposal together and gave it their best shot with the FAI, or those who used every trick in the book (legal and otherwise) to make sure it would be rejected?

The focrs refused to produce the goods when their bluff was called. They may still insist next sunday that they have some money. €100,000 maybe only €50,000 or just €20,000. But let no-one have any doubts but they deprived the club of a good deal which would have secured it €500,000.

I have no illusions why and who is responsible for us facing into a season of A League football, and I have a sneaking feeling there is a lot more to be revealed about that FAI story yet!

[jamesd]

Why can't people accept the FAI decision for what it is??? The FAI made it clear on an issue of licencing but also suggested they would be open to financial support post licencing. It can't be clearer than that.

From reading tonight's Evening Echo, the figures just seem to get bigger all the time and one wonders just what €500 k would have done. Now we are in debt to the tune of €750 k. Can anyone at all explain why we owe this amount in the first place??

Everyone is quick to blame FOCR or anyone else that asks questions, but yet no one seems to want to ask why or who got us in to this situation in the first place??

I do admire people's passion in supporting their Chairman and Committee, but surely even the FAI would steer away from getting involved in any club that creates such huge debts without anyone even batting an eyelid!!

[MojoPin]

its been a total mess these last few months. ive stayed off here cause i dont know what to say. it seems everyone has there sides and are sticking to their guns sad really. ive heard rumours of whos on the FOCKERS side and i dont know any of them personally. maybe they are at blame for the FAI not accepting our proposal or maybe the FAI are telling the truth and just couldnt put themselves in a position to help us and not others but i think every story has two sides and everyone is attacking the FOCKERS but what have the committee being doing? maybe they are doing stuff i just havent heard of it in the post email or on the website. what will go down in all our memories along with the club is that personal agendas ruined the club on both sides of the arguement. every single member of the club is at fault if the club goes to the wall not just the FOCKERS or barry walsh and the committee. "the sub" and others have constantly told us to do something. do we agree that now id the time for the club members and friends of the members to do something?

[jamesd]

its been a total mess these last few months. ive stayed off here cause i dont know what to say. it seems everyone has there sides and are sticking to their guns sad really. ive heard rumours of whos on the FOCKERS side and i dont know any of them personally. maybe they are at blame for the FAI not accepting our proposal or maybe the FAI are telling the truth and just couldnt put themselves in a position to help us and not others but i think every story has two sides and everyone is attacking the FOCKERS but what have the committee being doing? maybe they are doing stuff i just havent heard of it in the post email or on the website. what will go down in all our memories along with the club is that personal agendas ruined the club on both sides of the arguement. every single member of the club is at fault if the club goes to the wall not just the FOCKERS or barry walsh and the committee. "the sub" and others have constantly told us to do something. do we agree that now id the time for the club members and friends of the members to do something?

Mojo, I agree with everything you have said here and I wish everyone could put aside their personl struggles for the betterment and saving of our Club.

However, I know that some will attack me even now for suggesting we all Club together for Our Club.

[don ramo]

its a democracy and the friends dont seem to want to accept it, im pionting the finger here jamesd as your the one saying we should get together, were had a democratic vote and the friends should accept the law of the club, the majority of the club are together, and will do whats asked of them and whats needed to save it, the friends were asked to show there plan, they chose not to show, the comtempt of it is unbeliveable, how there still members is beyond me, thats my bigest gripe with our board,

the club made a decision, the majority accepted it, and the friends didnt fall into line, even if you dont like it you have to respect the majority,

so are you gonna accept the majority rule jamesd, do you acknowledge democracy,

[Ram72]

Still the same old story. Blame, blame and more blame.
The club is on it's knees and all that is happening is the blame game and finger pointing.
If as much effort and energy was put into saving the club as there is at pointing fingers we wouldn't be in half the sh!te that we are in now.

[MojoPin]

i do support a democracy but my earlier post was just saying that if the members who are in control of the club are not doing there job which it appeared they werent, im in a diff country so all i have to go on is official web page and here, then a democratic system allows the members of such a democracy to revolt against the wrong doings of their chosen leaders. however luka just posted that we are safe so i hope things can move on from here bottom line is focers dont like the current running of the club and possibly the other way around but who cares we have first division football this yr!

[Redshanks]

Half the problem is our or atleast some peoples willingness to accept bad-news rumours and reported stories. Jamesd jumped on the report in last nights echo about the debt jumping up to €750,000. - a crock opf ****e.
Any member who attended Dan Wyatts briefings and his budget proposals only 2 weeks ago, would have seen right through that piece of bad journalism.
Was that reporter fed another piece of misinformation by you know who, or was he just trying to spice things up to help sell papers?

Either way, we members should know better.
I agree with the R72 that all our energies should be directed in to positive united action for the club, but that will only work if every member stays on course and doesnt sucumb to the temptation to revert back to focr - blame -type!

[jamesd]

its a democracy and the friends dont seem to want to accept it, im pionting the finger here jamesd as your the one saying we should get together, were had a democratic vote and the friends should accept the law of the club, the majority of the club are together, and will do whats asked of them and whats needed to save it, the friends were asked to show there plan, they chose not to show, the comtempt of it is unbeliveable, how there still members is beyond me, thats my bigest gripe with our board,

the club made a decision, the majority accepted it, and the friends didnt fall into line, even if you dont like it you have to respect the majority,

so are you gonna accept the majority rule jamesd, do you acknowledge democracy,

Don, since that last vote on the FAI proposal, I have always accepted the democratic decision, just like I accepted the earlier vote in December which was overturned. So listen, there is no point at all pointing the finger at who supported what or when. The fact is, The FAI made their decision and as much as we don't like it, we have to accept it.

Redshanks is very fond of condeming me when I ask questions. The figure of the club owing €750,000 was from the same article as the quotes from our Chairman, so I assumed that information came from him.

The situation we find ourselves in is the fault of many in the Club but I do not accept that the current Leadership is without blame.

I am not and repeat not, part of FOCR, but I can imagine their frustrations when all that happens on here is a blame game against them for making this all happen and causing the debts to build up, without acknowledging that the Current Leadership had a large part to play in this too.

Its as simple as this, if people here are willing to admit that the Current Committee are at fault for a large part of this, I will be the first in with an offer to serve the club any way I can.

I do not want more of the same in the future and unless we all admit that there were mistakes made, then how can we move forward in a trusting fashion.

[don ramo]

there were mistkes made, large financialy ones, that why we implemented the financial controls, (that 1/3 rejected for some reason), but your on about moving forward,

this board will be here for at least another year, and this is fact, its the law of the club, so you are sayin that as long as there there you wont support the club, what kind of supporter are you,

supporters need to unite now, not in 12 months, the majority seem to trust the current board, our chairman has been elected with the trust of the club on 3 consecutive occasions, so the majority of people are willing to work with him, whenever weve been asked to help the club we have,

you are aware that most clubs have CEOs and accountants that get paid, and yet they still accumulate more debth than out vouluntary commitee, who do it for the love of the club,

were supporting the club, not the board, cause we love the club, and to be honest, i dont want to drive up to turners cross every second friday,

[Redshanks]

I know we are going around in circles here, but Jamesd you are not helping your own case when you repeat the same line all the time. You say that I'm fond of condemning you when you ask questions.
Truth is, I only take you to task when you are selective in the questions you ask. Yes the current committee has questions to answer for our present situation just as the commitees before them (including some focr's who jumped ship from previous administration when the heat got to hot for them).
As I wrote previously, I put my name to a letter to all the members recently outlining many faults and procedures/systems to do with our club that are wrong and need to be changed. changing the guard isnt worth a toss unless the systems underwhich the new incoming committee takes on, is also changed.
Seems to me Jamesd, that you just want one crowd out and your friends in and thats that.
You pitifully try to then pretend that you are nuetral, but fail to convince each time because through your selective tunnel vision, you can only see one group as being the problem.
I and few other committed members campaigned all of last and this year to bring about financial controls to our club. I'm proud to say we have succeeded, but our work is far from finished yet. This campaign work will continue no matter who is in charge at the club. We have been called alot of nasty things for having the cheek to mention let alone promote such changes by some in the present, and many in the old guard, but we have and will proceed forward, because it is the right thing to do for our club, and we know the vast majority of the membership agee with what we are doing.
Strange to relate though, and you might find this odd Jamesd, the current leadership have warmed more to our ideas than those who would call themselves friends of our club.

So yes Jamesd there was mistakes made at our club, and yes there were even greater and more damaging mistakes made by those who have for some time fought to wrest control of the club. We all know that -So what are you now going to do to help the cause of Cobh Ramblers Jamesd?

[pcplod]

Lads there is plenty of things that every member can do to get our club back on track, some of these are all ready in place and others will need to be set up properly, it means a lot of hard work and perseverance, but I am sure that those who really want Cobh Ramblers to thrive will step up and either come up with and implement new ideas for raising revenue or help out with those already in place.

The fact is that we can argue here all day about who is at fault blah blah but until you can stand up and say i am willing to do something or are already doing so then your arguments have no substance.

It is time to act lads the first steps are being put in place by the committee but they can not do it all it is up yo US. So either put up or shut up