Derek O Brien

[Terry]

It may surprise you but players dont peak at sligo! Derek has improved hand over hand since his desperate days playing for the sligs. You dont rate a player who derry, pats and cork were chasing? A player who got on the EL team of the year last year?

If your going to play poorly friday night, your right, theres no need to apologise.

Kick off is at 7.45.

[Tir Oilean]

Did us proud?, they threw away a 2 goal lead.... if keeping defeats to respectable scores is our biggest cheer this season then i'm seriously depressed!!

OK so I wasnt at the match but I listened to the commentary near the end on gbfm and both mike raftery and derek rodgers both said they battled well and IMO a team with so much disruption going on around it (nevermind lying at the bottom of the league) did very well to take on a team that is at the top end of the league and on a roll

[WoodquayBoy]

its not rumours but ill let you away in your own little insulated world but dont come on preaching here when they are all gone.

I just wish you would stop your own brand of preaching, it is getting a little boring at this stage. Fine, you don't like the CEO and some members of the board. We get it. Were you on the disbanded management committee, because you sure come across as bitter.
I am not preaching, I am just saying time to stop stoking the rumour fires. You still haven't come out and said where you are getting the info that everyone is leaving, and where they are going to.
Lets all focus our energies on Friday night, promoting the game, trying to bring someone along with us, and stop bit.ching at each other.

[WoodquayBoy]

The club have that much respect for Derek they havent even posted the news on the website yet and thats not down to the people who look after it its down to one person.

So who is at fault up in Dublin for not posting the news on the Pats website that he has signed for them?

[gufct]

I just wish you would stop your own brand of preaching, it is getting a little boring at this stage. Fine, you don't like the CEO and some members of the board. We get it. Were you on the disbanded management committee, because you sure come across as bitter.
I am not preaching, I am just saying time to stop stoking the rumour fires. You still haven't come out and said where you are getting the info that everyone is leaving, and where they are going to.
Lets all focus our energies on Friday night, promoting the game, trying to bring someone along with us, and stop bit.ching at each other.

All right here we go as of yesterday Lester & Fitzgerald to Harps, Reggi to Drogheda, Deego to Rovers & Wes to Sporting Fingal. That might be the end of it but i wouldnt hold my breath. Jeff is meeting Nick and John Fallon tomorrow and there is a press conference scheduled for Wednesday when the white flag will be officialy unfurled.

The sad thing is we still have a chance to stay up Jeff and the players are battling hard against all the odds but you can only kick something so many times before it dies. Im not bitter im heartbroken that something i have worked for over 20 years to keep alive is being allowed die without a fight.

[WoodquayBoy]

If those RUMOURS are true then yes, the white flag has been raised. I, like you, am disgusted with what is happening at my beloved club, and really, you have to ask who is running the show with regards to players, the manager (as it shouild be) or the CEO (as it probably is). But they are still rumours, and you haven't given a source, so (maybe stupidly) I'll wait until official word before I believe it.
If the players desert the sinking ship, then the ship will go down. Crazy to let them go, we are in the semi-finals of one cup competition, waiting to find out opponents in last 16 of the other (draw on Monday) and with Harps getting a pasting tonight, still 'only' 7 points off safety.
So who is going to shout 'STOP', and how will we be heard?

[geezer]

closure? Gufct that post of yours really worries me it suggests that the club could be wound up but talking to others in the know the info they are getting is that the purge stops after the players mostly brought in by cousins are gone. Fitzy and lester shouldve been sent a long long time ago. I have heard infact the management committee is being re-instated this week.

[Flano]

All right here we go as of yesterday Lester & Fitzgerald to Harps, Reggi to Drogheda, Deego to Rovers & Wes to Sporting Fingal. That might be the end of it but i wouldnt hold my breath. Jeff is meeting Nick and John Fallon tomorrow and there is a press conference scheduled for Wednesday when the white flag will be officialy unfurled.

The sad thing is we still have a chance to stay up Jeff and the players are battling hard against all the odds but you can only kick something so many times before it dies. Im not bitter im heartbroken that something i have worked for over 20 years to keep alive is being allowed die without a fight.

If what gufct says is true it can't get much worse - the whole club has been destroyed. Now there may be valid business reasons for the decisions the CEO and/or Board are taking but the least we deserve is to be told what's going on and the "real" reasons why.

Does anyone have the Mayor Padraic Conneely's number - maybe he can ask the straight questions and try get some straight answers. He's a supporter like the rest of us....and he won't take some of the bullsh*t that's been doing the rounds.

[gufct]

dont know geezer do you expect anyone to know the way things are happening at the moment.Give me a call if you want ill tell you as much as I know. The management commitee might be reinstated but its no good if the club is being run as it is now. There has to be total transparency and accountabillity before any commitee is reinstated.

[geezer]

he rarely misses a game to be fair to him, the roundabouts, the boat near lough atalia and sean mulvoy road are brimming with flowers in fact the city looks fab since he took his mayoral chain.

we need answers at least keep the life support on and give the supporters a chance to keep it alive. As i said before its one thing losing the queen her bank but i pray to god utd doesnt go the same way its one of the most important reasons i get up in the mornings

[gufct]

Thats why i wake up to and have done every day ive been following them and im damned if ill give up for anyone. Jimmy Kelly will be turning in his grave.

[eamo1]

Surely on Wednesday its not "IT" is it??Its so frustrating because as someone said we ARE only 7 points behind and im still convinced we can stay up,but with all those going its near impossible now.
I see Nick once a week where i work and plan to give him a piece of my dam mind next time i see him.Actually come to think of it he hasnt been around the last 2 weeks.

[DRDoc]

If you knew the true pressure Derek was put under and what was going on at the club you would understand that Derek had to go to secure his family's future.

The club have that much respect for Derek they havent even posted the news on the website yet and thats not down to the people who look after it its down to one person.

These two paragraphs seem contradictory

Surely if the club had so much respect for him they would not have "forced" him out of the club and put him under so much pressure?

At the end of the day he chose to leave the club, whatever the reasons he had, he didnt have to go anywhere

[Mr Maroon]

Surely if the club had so much respect for him they would not have "forced" him out of the club and put him under so much pressure?

He was being sarcastic.

The club have that much respect for Derek they havent even posted the news on the website yet

[Patrick Dunne]

Don't believe all what you read here, some of it is true, a lot of it is rubbish.

If any poster here has an issue with someone involved with the club, they should contact the individual directly. The phone number of the office is (091) 767336.

[Mr A]

All right here we go as of yesterday Lester & Fitzgerald to Harps, Reggi to Drogheda, Deego to Rovers & Wes to Sporting Fingal. That might be the end of it but i wouldnt hold my breath. Jeff is meeting Nick and John Fallon tomorrow and there is a press conference scheduled for Wednesday when the white flag will be officialy unfurled.

The sad thing is we still have a chance to stay up Jeff and the players are battling hard against all the odds but you can only kick something so many times before it dies. Im not bitter im heartbroken that something i have worked for over 20 years to keep alive is being allowed die without a fight.

But what alternative do the GUFC board currently have? They have to shed players as the club are on course for very large loss for the season, possibly one that could see GUFC fold. What's the alternative to offloading players to balance the books?

[GuisaSaigon]

What's the alternative to offloading players to balance the books?

Heres a few, I'm sure others can add some more.
1.Tell the fans the truth about the current situation.
Last I heard from the club was that we weren't in major financial trouble. The main problem was getting below the wage cap, which the wage cut was supposed to solve. This was obviously a lie. If we were told the truth instead of the usual spin, the city and county might rally behind the club.
2. Promote the games.
Promotion of games has been non existent. Mistakes were made in the pricing of tickets at the start of the season, goodwill should be shown to the thousands of fans deterred from attending games by the price increases.
3. Representation for supporters at club level
GUST should be recognised by the club and given meaningful representation on the Board.
4. Give the players a chance
It seems like every couple of days the club drops another bombshell, usually right before games or after positive results. We have not been able to build any momentum because of this.
5. Fight to avoid relegation.
With our best players being offloaded we have no chance of avoiding relegation. Rebuilding the club would be a lot easier in The Premier Division. United fans need no reminder about how hard it can be to get out of the First Division without a good DVD.
6. Cut out unneeded extra expenses
How many more "Jimmy Norman" type payments are going on. Could cheaper training facilities be found, cheaper away game transport? A cheaper brand of apres-match Pizza?
7. Concentrate on increasing revenue streams.
Sell some player sponsors ffs
8. Get the Mayor to sort it out
An "At the Scene of the Crime" photo in The Advertiser featuring our new Mayor couldn't do any harm

[Mr A]

In fairness most of those, while good in themselves, will do little if anything to stave of a major financial problem.

Perhaps the reason for my bemusement at so much of the discussion about what's going on at GUFC is that I have always presumed that this was a very major financial crisis- I think I read in one of the local papers that a loss of a quarter of a million appeared likley. The club seems to be sending very mixed messages, so what the actual situation is needs to be made clear- i.e. 'If we don't cut the squad we are likely to lose €x'.

[gufct]

The chances of being told the truth Aidan are 2 Slim and f all. Its the total disregard for everyone involved in the club by the CEO and his henchmen who have gotten us in this mess but its going to take everyone working together to get us out of it.

People have to come clean with the fans and lets move on.

[KBurke]

Heres a few, I'm sure others can add some more.
1.Tell the fans the truth about the current situation.
Last I heard from the club was that we weren't in major financial trouble. The main problem was getting below the wage cap, which the wage cut was supposed to solve. This was obviously a lie. If we were told the truth instead of the usual spin, the city and county might rally behind the club.
2. Promote the games.
Promotion of games has been non existent. Mistakes were made in the pricing of tickets at the start of the season, goodwill should be shown to the thousands of fans deterred from attending games by the price increases.
3. Representation for supporters at club level
GUST should be recognised by the club and given meaningful representation on the Board.
4. Give the players a chance
It seems like every couple of days the club drops another bombshell, usually right before games or after positive results. We have not been able to build any momentum because of this.
5. Fight to avoid relegation.
With our best players being offloaded we have no chance of avoiding relegation. Rebuilding the club would be a lot easier in The Premier Division. United fans need no reminder about how hard it can be to get out of the First Division without a good DVD.
6. Cut out unneeded extra expenses
How many more "Jimmy Norman" type payments are going on. Could cheaper training facilities be found, cheaper away game transport? A cheaper brand of apres-match Pizza?
7. Concentrate on increasing revenue streams.
Sell some player sponsors ffs
8. Get the Mayor to sort it out
An "At the Scene of the Crime" photo in The Advertiser featuring our new Mayor couldn't do any harm

there ya go http://www.galwayunitedfc.ie/events/...d-support.html