WATR (The Rovers Trust)

[Forever Blue]

On 27/07/2024 at 21:30, Miller11 said:

 

We are a membership organisation. For us to take a public stance like that and effectively set back the progress we have made towards aligning with the Fan Led Review and tear up the MOU we worked extremely hard to have implemented, we’d need a very definite mandate from our membership. 

At present we have no widespread calls from our members to radically alter our approach. If there comes a point our board believe this to be the best course of action we’d have to set the wheels in motion for some sort of consultation with our members. I’m sure there will be some discussion on our future direction pretty soon after August 21st.

When asked why WATR weren’t calling for the owners to leave you responded with the above. 
 

Re your last sentence: now that August 20th has come and gone with no resolution, is the discussion on WATR’s ‘future direction’ underway? Or is it still ‘Venky’s In’?

[RoversClitheroe]

On 24/08/2024 at 10:08, Forever Blue said:

When asked why WATR weren’t calling for the owners to leave you responded with the above. 
 

Re your last sentence: now that August 20th has come and gone with no resolution, is the discussion on WATR’s ‘future direction’ underway? Or is it still ‘Venky’s In’?

WATR need to send a poll to all members asking what the remit should be.

[OldEwoodBlue]

WATR are terrified of upsetting the club and their MOU.

That is why they have gone silent.

Club has told them to buzz off of until end of September (earliest) and WATR have just said.... but please will you still tickle our belly ?

[ABBEY]

what's the trusts official stance now after pasha basically said we are not important to the venkyscum? 

will they be coming out with an official statement fully against them now ?

 

[DeeCee]

Get real! Appreciate your (your, you're, youth, yon), passion.

Ain't gonna happen 🥴

 

[MarkBRFC]

I do find it a bit of a strange operation to be honest.

Trust was set up because of these owners running the club into the ground, yet the Trust also seems terrified of upsetting the said owners from the outside.

Going off the FF minutes, seems like the club are annoyed about this £30 off adult ST's this season (that the Trust claimed as there doing and were delighted with) and to be honest I'm fully expecting rises next season back to maybe £399 early bird or something.

[ABBEY]

me too.. 24 hours since I asked and a good few days since pasharse came out with it and still no trust statement. defo a bit strange Mark ain't it.

[J*B]

1 hour ago, ABBEY said:

me too.. 24 hours since I asked and a good few days since pasharse came out with it and still no trust statement. defo a bit strange Mark ain't it.

Just for the sake of harmony and clarification, there’s very limited ‘official’ responses from @We Are The Rovers on BRFCS. Their official comms come through their own internal emailing system and if you’re a member you should have access to that.

Some of the WATR board members use BRFCS for personal opinion and discussion, but for clarity the idea of this thread isn’t for them to host a Q&A.

[Mattyblue]

Is brfcs not a stakeholder?

Surely a Comms lead for WATR would very much want to interact with a forum like this that is highly engaged.

[ABBEY]

so the trust is nudge nudge wink on a shhhhh hush hush.

not being funny but why is the trust thread pinned then.  Surely tho they shouldn't be cloak and dagger behind closed doors and should offer as much information for publicity purposes .

there  should be a public statement in my  opinion as to whether they want them in or not seeing as pasha as officially said the lunes in pune don't give a flying cluck about us.

before me shadow gets gobby it's a general question and yo can pin anything..I know what he's like

 

Edited September 27, 2024 by ABBEY

[Herbie6590]

4 hours ago, ABBEY said:

so the trust is nudge nudge wink on a shhhhh hush hush.

not being funny but why is the trust thread pinned then.  Surely tho they shouldn't be cloak and dagger behind closed doors and should offer as much information for publicity purposes .

there  should be a public statement in my  opinion as to whether they want them in or not seeing as pasha as officially said the lunes in pune don't give a flying cluck about us.

before me shadow gets gobby it's a general question and yo can pin anything..I know what he's like

 

For absolute transparency, WATR are presently a paying sponsor of BRFCS.com & in return they have a front page advert, presence in the Match Centre & this pinned thread as part of the deal. 
The sponsorship ends on 31/10/24 so we will be looking for new partners to replace WATR in the fullness of time. 
 

If anyone knows of a suitable potential sponsor…😉

[RoversClitheroe]

Just received the email.

Is the point of the trust more to partner with Rovers as opposed to challenging them?

[den]

On 27/09/2024 at 11:12, J*B said:

Just for the sake of harmony and clarification, there’s very limited ‘official’ responses from @We Are The Rovers on BRFCS. Their official comms come through their own internal emailing system and if you’re a member you should have access to that.

Some of the WATR board members use BRFCS for personal opinion and discussion, but for clarity the idea of this thread isn’t for them to host a Q&A.

From previous experience, it’s very difficult for any rovers fans body to reach supporters or members without having a presence on here.  Emails don’t replace discussion. You get very little feedback from emails, nor do you know whether they’re being read. 
 

It’s a difficult job that they’ve tasked themselves with. Without significant membership numbers they could struggle to be taken seriously. They will have to face criticism of being either too pro club management or too anti club management. It’s a very, very difficult job to be effective enough to actually change anything of significance.  Their task becomes harder as their aims become more radical. I honestly wish them well but numbers give them relevance. They should use this m/b to help push their ambitions as much as possible IMO.
 

 

[Herbie6590]

On 02/10/2024 at 12:24, den said:

From previous experience, it’s very difficult for any rovers fans body to reach supporters or members without having a presence on here.  Emails don’t replace discussion. You get very little feedback from emails, nor do you know whether they’re being read. 
 

It’s a difficult job that they’ve tasked themselves with. Without significant membership numbers they could struggle to be taken seriously. They will have to face criticism of being either too pro club management or too anti club management. It’s a very, very difficult job to be effective enough to actually change anything of significance.  Their task becomes harder as their aims become more radical. I honestly wish them well but numbers give them relevance. They should use this m/b to help push their ambitions as much as possible IMO.
 

 

WATR (as Rovers Trust) started out as a pressure group with the sole intention of having an infrastructure in place should the owners suddenly pull the plug. Once it became apparent that the Raos were in it for a longer haul than many envisaged, this gave the Trust an issue to confront, as the single purpose allowing members to align behind was proving to be irrelevant. 
 

What we have seen subsequent to the Wild/Grabko years is an organisation looking for a unified purpose & an approach - and in fairness the current leadership has transparently adopted the approach of cooperation to try & gain credibility and influence. What it is NOT now, clearly, is an action group. 
 

The challenge therefore that WATR has to wrestle with is whether to say “this I what we stand for…join us if you agree” or to poll the wider fanbase (including non-members) and try to represent the consensus view that emerges. It’s analogous to a political party - does a party say “these are our policies - vote for us if you agree” or does it seek power by adopting popular policies? We’ve seen both approaches in recent years. 
 

For WATR - credibility comes with increasing membership numbers, they need to work out whether their current stance is likely to lead to more people joining, than being more confrontational. 

FWIW I think with every passing day, the anger and antipathy towards the Raos diminishes (in aggregate) as new generations of fans start to follow the club and the older fans who remember what it used to be like (& could once again be) are increasingly marginalised, stop going and sadly leave this mortal coil! 
 

Bloody hell…that’s depressing…sorry everyone…😆

 

 

 

[Herbie6590]

This deserves a wider audience IMO 

 

[Herbie6590]

[Mattyblue]

End of the day does the majority of the fanbase desperately want new owners? I wouldn’t say so, so WATR are merely following the herd with their approach.

[Forever Blue]

What the club needs more than anything right now is a critical friend. 

[Upside Down]

11 hours ago, Herbie6590 said:

But it is unreasonable that Rovers are not a top priority.

If it isn't, sell up and fuck off.

[Bronzed A Donis]

10 minutes ago, Upside Down said:

But it is unreasonable that Rovers are not a top priority.

If it isn't, sell up and fuck off.

And we never have been, it all comes back to this,  anyone who thinks Venkys give 1% of care to Rovers and not themselves is deluding themselves.

[Mattyblue]

 

How’s that worked out?

Edited October 6, 2024 by Mattyblue

[ABBEY]

1 hour ago, Upside Down said:

But it is unreasonable that Rovers are not a top priority.

If it isn't, sell up and fuck off.

and every group or whatever should be ramping pressure up now ...minimum 

[47er]

On 28/08/2024 at 06:19, OldEwoodBlue said:

WATR are terrified of upsetting the club and their MOU.

That is why they have gone silent.

Club has told them to buzz off of until end of September (earliest) and WATR have just said.... but please will you still tickle our belly ?

I've deleted that email some time ago so can anyone confirm I read this part of it right?

I'm referring to the recent transfer window and the (paraphrased) comment that, since the summer transfer window was such an unqualified success supporters shouldn't expect much activity in January!

Do I remember that right?

If so, its a scandal. We had £29M come in for 2 players alone and spent fuck all. Did no-one speak up about it?

If I've got it wrong, I apologise in advance!

Edited October 6, 2024 by 47er

[tomphil]

Item number 9 on there is perhaps the most cronic of the lot and i refuse to believe people employed by the club are that stupid and so far detached as if they were top level politicians in government.

The owners on the other though i'm not so sure although iv'e long thought Waggot likes the average of 3 or 4k per season match by match payers as that brings in more than selling another 3 or 4k ST's.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Surely people can see why the Club feels adrift and abandoned,detached from its once close knit and loyal local fanbase?

THE FOLK RUNNING THE SHOW DONT GIVE A FIG!

We want at best Supporters running the Club,you know,folk with our best interests at heart,their fingers on the Pulse at Ewood.

If not that,at least real Football People who give a toss and want to invest for success in the future...we will never be able to flourish under this abhorrent Ownership.