3 New Directors Appointed Today

[Hants_red]

From the Trust

Club Board Directors

I’m sure by now many of you will have seen the club’s announcement regarding new appointments to the Club Board. Achieving success, remaining sustainable, and providing a good match-day experience is an aspiration that we, both Club and Trust, wish to pursue with all our hearts. As with any...

www.weownexetercityfc.co.uk

 

[ExmouthMart]

From the Trust

Club Board Directors

I’m sure by now many of you will have seen the club’s announcement regarding new appointments to the Club Board. Achieving success, remaining sustainable, and providing a good match-day experience is an aspiration that we, both Club and Trust, wish to pursue with all our hearts. As with any...

www.weownexetercityfc.co.uk

This is a classic PR release. Lots of meaningful nonsense but very little substance. “…… a good match day experience…..”. Who genuinely talks like that or wants that?! I want to see a team that competes and wins more than they lose. Also a team that progresses on the pitch. The first team is our core product and what should drive everything. You can understand players like Randall, who we can all see is different class, wanting to move on and achieve better things as soon as possible because hopefully he will have a long and successful career but one injury could end everything.
As Randall was an integral part of the team and this move didn’t come out of the blue, there should be a plan in place for a replacement to be signed and put straight in the team. It looks like Taylor is thinking it’s Coley. Is that what everyone else is thinking?! I don’t think so.….
The Trust should be playing a more hands on role in the direction of the club. I know they are but I’m not completely sure. It’s coming across like they are all one step behind the Club Board. No one individual has invested any of their own money, so everyone (The Trust) should be speaking and acting as one.
I hope people are not being manipulated into doing things that they don’t think are truly necessary. Strong characters are a good thing but you need to check them sometimes to make sure their values and aspirations are achievable with what you realistically have available in the short term and long term and crucially keep your customers happy! Fans are restless. The peasants are revolting (maybe!) but across Facebook and on here, people feel short changed and that isn’t going to go away long term.

 

[Pete Martin (CTID)]

As far as I'm aware, any appointments such as these have to be ratified by the Trust. The club board will make a case for each of the appointments but they will only happen if the Trust board gives its approval.

Very true Egg. Slightly odd though there there appear to be no minutes of the decision/ratification (unless I've missed them, in which case I apologise in advance). If the decision was made under 'Part B' then I would question whether it should have been.

 

[Matt Phillips]

Very true Egg. Slightly odd though there there appear to be no minutes of the decision/ratification (unless I've missed them, in which case I apologise in advance). If the decision was made under 'Part B' then I would question whether it should have been.

If they don't have voting rights, I don't think they need to be approved. The May minutes (which still aren't on the website, but I've been sent after requesting) show that Nick Hawker & Pete Holding were involved in the interviews for the new directors, and Clive Harrison & Elaine Davis for the new CCO.

 

[Sexton Blake]

This is a classic PR release. Lots of meaningful nonsense but very little substance. “…… a good match day experience…..”. Who genuinely talks like that or wants that?! I want to see a team that competes and wins more than they lose. Also a team that progresses on the pitch. The first team is our core product and what should drive everything. You can understand players like Randall, who we can all see is different class, wanting to move on and achieve better things as soon as possible because hopefully he will have a long and successful career but one injury could end everything.
As Randall was an integral part of the team and this move didn’t come out of the blue, there should be a plan in place for a replacement to be signed and put straight in the team. It looks like Taylor is thinking it’s Coley. Is that what everyone else is thinking?! I don’t think so.….
The Trust should be playing a more hands on role in the direction of the club. I know they are but I’m not completely sure. It’s coming across like they are all one step behind the Club Board. No one individual has invested any of their own money, so everyone (The Trust) should be speaking and acting as one.
I hope people are not being manipulated into doing things that they don’t think are truly necessary. Strong characters are a good thing but you need to check them sometimes to make sure their values and aspirations are achievable with what you realistically have available in the short term and long term and crucially keep your customers happy! Fans are restless. The peasants are revolting (maybe!) but across Facebook and on here, people feel short changed and that isn’t going to go away long term.

I have always supported a prudent approach to managing the Club and its resources. However there has to be a balance football has for many decades been a business and a business is all about selling a product or services. If the product is not good enough to attract purchasers it goes out of business. In our case the product is football and the purchasers ourselves the supporters.

Continue as we are and the quality of the product that we see presented to us on the football pitch will inevitably drop supporters will lose interest and the Club will struggle to survive. No business survives without investing in its product and it is time that the Board had a rethink and put some serious money into improving the quality of the players that are brought into the Club.

 

[Egg]

As Randall was an integral part of the team and this move didn’t come out of the blue, there should be a plan in place for a replacement to be signed and put straight in the team. It looks like Taylor is thinking it’s Coley. Is that what everyone else is thinking?! I don’t think so.….

What does Matt Taylor know in comparison to the rest of us who have never seen Coley kick a ball?!

 

[Benjisheps14]

What does Matt Taylor know in comparison to the rest of us who have never seen Coley kick a ball?!

Fair point Egg, and we may not actually be looking for a direct replacement for Randall anyway as MT has said we have tweaked the formation this year (3-4-2-1) knowing that Joel was leaving.
Generally though our 1931 player has been someone that was a development player with potential so I can see why some would be surprised if Coley is ready to step into the first team and be as successful as Randall. Like you said though we just don't know and maybe he is ready.

I agree with a lot of what you have said in the last 24 hours regarding the club and MT. I think there is so much good going on behind the scenes at the club and believe the powers that be have done excellently in securing the fee that we have gotten for Randall as well.

I still believe in what MT is doing (grabs tin hat) and will wait to pass judgement on this summer's transfer business until the window is closed. I think at this point even you must understand why many fans feel a little bit disappointed with what has transpired this summer. With a couple of injuries, it now all seems a little bit of a mess unfortunately. We are now asking Grounds and Dieng to play 90 minutes on Saturday which Matt has said they aren't ready for which again is due to the fact that they were brought in late to pre-season probably due to Matt missing out on other players.

I still don't think there is any need for the mass overreaction by some on here, but like I said I see both sides of it and understand the disappointment as things stand right now. When Matt talked at the end of the season about the improved budget he even came out and said that it was now up to him to bring in the 'serious quality' players that were needed. Up to now I wouldn't say he has succeeded in doing this, but 2-3 real quality signings before the window closes and I still think we can be right up there.

I do think that it's a real shame that we now seem to be entering the season with many frustrated and underwhelmed, especially as the fans are now coming home. I really hope that the frustration felt by some can be put aside on Saturday and everyone really gets behind the team to make the return of fans a special event and not a really frustrating and negative day!!

Obviously a signing or two would help this and hopefully MT will deliver!

 

[Edward]

If they don't have voting rights, I don't think they need to be approved. The May minutes (which still aren't on the website, but I've been sent after requesting) show that Nick Hawker & Pete Holding were involved in the interviews for the new directors, and Clive Harrison & Elaine Davis for the new CCO.

This will be boring, sorry.
An extract from the Club’s Corporate Governance Manual, filed alongside the Articles of Association at Companies House, provides some relevant background.
Clause 2.4.1 states:
The Board consists of the Chair of the Board (non-voting), Finance Director (FD), two skill-based Directors and one skill based non-voting Director, and four Trust nominated Directors.
The Board may appoint up to 2 non-voting Associate Directors and a non-voting in-house Legal Counsel.
In addition, Clause 2.4.1 goes onto say the Articles of Association entitle the Trust to nominate half of the Board of Directors.
Interestingly (perhaps), the Articles do not provide any facility for non-voting directors and merely state decisions are taken on a simple majority of those present.
Elsewhere, the agreement between the Trust and Club makes clear the Board can appoint two non-voting Associate Directors for a maximum period of a year.
So, right now, it would appear there are 13 directors, of which just four (Davis, Hawker, Holding and Harrison) have been appointed by the Trust. This appears to contravene the Articles.
The non-voting Chair is Richard Pym. Keith Mason (the FD?), Suzanne McQueenie, David Clough and Andrew Rothwell have been on the board for a while so they are presumably the four Directors permitted by 2.4.1 t o give the even 4:4 club/trust split.
After that, it gets a little tricky as there seems no basis for Mr Tagg to be on the board (unless one of the other Club-appointed Directors vacates their seat). Also, although 2.4.1 states that three further non-voting members can be appointed, it is hard to see which of the recent appointees (Bawden, Tipper and Hart) could be regarded as the in-house legal counsel. In any event, their terms cannot extend beyond a year.
Of course, there may be an intent to alter the articles but it would have been best practice to do this before the appointments were made. The Governance Manual also outlines the process that must be adopted prior to the appointment of any directors. I presume this protocol was followed.

 

[SEA Grecian]

I still believe in what MT is doing (grabs tin hat) and will wait to pass judgement on this summer's transfer business until the window is closed. I think at this point even you must understand why many fans feel a little bit disappointed with what has transpired this summer. With a couple of injuries, it now all seems a little bit of a mess unfortunately. We are now asking Grounds and Dieng to play 90 minutes on Saturday which Matt has said they aren't ready for which again is due to the fact that they were brought in late to pre-season probably due to Matt missing out on other players.

It would appear that we had to wait for Swindon to cancel Grounds' contract before we could sign him and Dieng went back to France which is apparently why he was late joining.

 

[Benjisheps14]

It would appear that we had to wait for Swindon to cancel Grounds' contract before we could sign him and Dieng went back to France which is apparently why he was late joining.

Yep both on one year deals though. I actually think Dieng will be a good signing. Grounds I think has been brought in as back up.