dont_do_it_doug. Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 (edited) 4 hours ago, Ingram85 said: Bit harsh to lambast those who weren't there from day one? It's not an us vs them/I'm a better protester than you deal is it? I thought it was us vs the bad apples at avfc? If you are trying to recruit people along the way this mentality has to change to attract them. That's how it snowballs. You can't blame people for reacting the way they have to the postponement. By giving abuse to then you have effectively stopped them from ever joining the cause. Yes it's not nice to receive criticism when you've worked so hard for something but by biting your tongue now and rebuilding again these people may have got back on board with the idea. I've offered my help for the Chelsea game but if I'm not sure if there is a protest going on or not can I be blamed for making back up plans to see my family or will I be labeled fair weather for it? Will I be made to feel bad for not helping from the get go? What, so one post in 3 weeks where one of us has gotten drunk and lost our rag and that's what we are now? Seriously. Come on. I've been posting on here for over a decade. Apologies if I upset anyone, I'd had a hard day. I never have been much of a politician! Edited March 13, 2016 by dont_do_it_doug. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markavfc40 Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 16 minutes ago, onmeedson said: Well done to all the guys actually doing the work on behalf of our club, people are expecting a revolution and the total removal of lerner If you thought that was what our group was about mate then you were wrong unfortunately. In terms of Lerner you can't force him to sell. The club is up for sale. The only way we could force him to sell it would be to find him a buyer or buy it ourselves. What we have asked of Lerner is that he becomes a more motivated seller and prices it at a level it will sell. That can't be to just anybody though and has to be to somebody with the means and vision to give the club a better future. Whether we like it or not that could take some time and hasn't been helped by the recent accounts and the imminent relegation. In the meantime though we asked of the club two other things. One of those has been addressed whether by coincidence or by reaction to the protests/open letter. I don't care which. We have postponed today's protest in acknowledgement of progress made off the pitch, where the main focus should be at the moment, but fully intend to protest again if the two other requests on our open letter are not actioned. Whether that be because of the threat to protest, an actual protest or by sheer coincidence we don't care. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davkaus Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 (edited) edit: misread Edited March 13, 2016 by Davkaus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YGabbana Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 If you thought that was what our group was about mate then you were wrong unfortunately. In terms of Lerner you can't force him to sell. The club is up for sale. The only way we could force him to sell it would be to find him a buyer or buy it ourselves. What we have asked of Lerner is that he becomes a more motivated seller and prices it at a level it will sell. That can't be to just anybody though and has to be to somebody with the means and vision to give the club a better future. Whether we like it or not that could take some time and hasn't been helped by the recent accounts and the imminent relegation. In the meantime though we asked of the club two other things. One of those has been addressed whether by coincidence or by reaction to the protests/open letter. I don't care which. We have postponed today's protest in acknowledgement of progress made off the pitch, where the main focus should be at the moment, but fully intend to protest again if the two other requests on our open letter are not actioned. Whether that be because of the threat to protest, an actual protest or by sheer coincidence we don't care. But the same fools who have contributed to the absolute mess we are in still have jobs and still make the decisions at the club until they are sacked. So no progress has been made really. Its obvious to see that 99% of the posters here think you've made a mistake. Maybe you should of consulted everyone in a thread like you did when the original idea came about. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted March 13, 2016 Moderator Share Posted March 13, 2016 The biggest mistake the organisers have made is thinking the appointment of little and Bernstein has anything to do with the protest. I disagree with that. It may have been unintentional but I think what they have done with this postponement is they have aligned themselves with the appointments and made it look like their protest has directly brought about the positive appointments. Whether they have or not is actually immaterial because the perception might now be that protests get results. Perception is key, and the next protest might not face the scepticism that this one faced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markavfc40 Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 (edited) 13 minutes ago, YGabbana said: But the same fools who have contributed to the absolute mess we are in still have jobs and still make the decisions at the club until they are sacked. So no progress has been made really. Its obvious to see that 99% of the posters here think you've made a mistake. Maybe you should of consulted everyone in a thread like you did when the original idea came about. I disagree I think progress has been made. I think brining proven football nous into the club above the manager is a big plus and had that have been the case years ago, given the levels of investment, then we would not have found ourselves in this position. As for those who remain I fully expect a number of them to get their P45's before or come the end of the season. Maybe we should have consulted. Fair point. We don't represent all supporters though. Far from it. We have received a lot of criticism from supporters for even protesting, saying we are wasting our time and are nothing more than mugs for spending our money and walking out.The decision made to postpone we felt was right and was done with the best intentions. There is nothing stopping you and others from walking today still though. 10 minutes ago, BOF said: It may have been unintentional but I think what they have done with this postponement is they have made it look like their protest has directly brought about the positive appointments. Whether they have or not is actually immaterial because the perception might now be that protests get results. Perception is key, and the next protest might not face the scepticism that this one faced. Thank you Brian. We hope so. Edited March 13, 2016 by markavfc40 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onmeedson Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 I never expected anything, the perception by a few. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post dont_do_it_doug. Posted March 13, 2016 Popular Post Share Posted March 13, 2016 The next protest from us will be OTDO74 vs Chelsea... Again I am sorry for my outburst last night, it was dumb. It had been a really tough couple of days, making a hard decision as a group to the criticism that followed. I went out for a few drinks with mates to chill out, which I did, then for some insane reason stumbled on to Villa Talk to learn that we'd been fingered by Tom Fox! I should know better. Please don't judge an entire movement by that. Like I said, no politicians here. Just ordinary blokes trying desperately to make a difference. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferguson1 Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 (edited) 19 hours ago, dont_do_it_doug. said: Edited March 13, 2016 by ferguson1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferguson1 Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 Sorry had trouble posting? DDID, no need to apologise mate as the criticism of you and others has been a little OTT over the last 24/48 hours in my opinion! We all have choices and we can all agree and disagree, but ultimately we all want to reach the same goal. A successful running football club! Moreover, hindsight is a wonderful thing and we all say things that we later regret but takes a bigger person to say sorry, again in my opinion. Hope things don't fizzle out mate. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villarule123 Posted March 13, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted March 13, 2016 Still struggling to understand why you would postpone today's protest, yet say the next one will go ahead? Is it to show respect to Little? Is it to say to the club that you approve of the appointments as a first step? If it's because of the above, a simple statement release could have done that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted March 13, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted March 13, 2016 I disagree with that. It may have been unintentional but I think what they have done with this postponement is they have aligned themselves with the appointments and made it look like their protest has directly brought about the positive appointments. Whether they have or not is actually immaterial because the perception might now be that protests get results. Perception is key, and the next protest might not face the scepticism that this one faced. But that isn't the perception. At all. I believe that's what the organisers were aiming for. But they've missed. Fair play to them for having the balls to make that sort of decision. But I'm not going to pretend they've done the right thing as a result. This is a huge balls up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted March 13, 2016 Moderator Share Posted March 13, 2016 I said it might be. That still remains to be seen. We won't know what the overall general perception is yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 (edited) 36 minutes ago, villarule123 said: Still struggling to understand why you would postpone today's protest, yet say the next one will go ahead? Is it to show respect to Little? Is it to say to the club that you approve of the appointments as a first step? If it's because of the above, a simple statement release could have done that. Both. We did that bud - http://outthedooron74.co.uk/news Quote Out the Door on 74 v Spurs postponed but Out the Door on 74 vs Chelsea will go ahead as planned. It is pleasing to note that the club is taking positive steps by appointing individuals of the calibre of Brian Little as an adviser to the board and David Bernstein on to the board of directors. In light of this development we feel it is fit and proper to temporarily postpone the ‘Out the Door on 74’ protest for Tottenham on Sunday. This is in no small part due to the immense respect we have for Brian Little, a man who is truly woven into the very fabric of the club. He is rightly considered a club legend and we believe it is the correct decision that his first game back at the club is to be untainted by organised supporter protest. We do not take this decision lightly and we know this will come as a disappointment to many. They have taken steps towards granting request number 3 contained within our letter to Randy Lerner, whether by design or accident. We believe it is only correct that we show those in charge of the club, including Brian, the same level of respect we feel as supporters we deserve. However please be advised that we are merely pausing and that ‘Out the Door on 74’ vs Chelsea (April 2nd) is still to go ahead, as will other forms of mass protest through till the end of the season. We are still angry, we are still disaffected and we remain extremely sceptical. As supporters all we want is what is best for this great club we all love with an unrivalled passion. It is too early to know whether this is the beginning of a determined attempt by the club to fundamentally change direction or merely spin to appease the fans. In the interests of fairness to supporters the club needs to act with extreme haste in stating clearly and precisely what roles they will be undertaking within the boardroom. We eagerly await word from within the club to confirm precisely what roles Brian Little and David Bernstein will fulfil. In addition we are calling on the club to now engage with supporters, publicly address the requests stated in our open letter and inform us as to what the next step will be towards providing us with a brighter future. Up The Villa. Aston Villa Protest Group. Edited March 13, 2016 by dont_do_it_doug. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 20 minutes ago, Stevo985 said: But that isn't the perception. At all. I believe that's what the organisers were aiming for. But they've missed. Fair play to them for having the balls to make that sort of decision. But I'm not going to pretend they've done the right thing as a result. This is a huge balls up. Sure. But we're talking about a few hundred people having input here, many of whom for reasons that are understandable feel wronged in some way. You don't know the general perception at the ground, we're going to try and find that out today before we spend the next few weeks trying to win people like yourself over again. We made a decision we felt was right, we released those reasons in a statement, we've been around to explain, and I urge you to read it again and try to take it in the genuine nature Aston Villa Protest Group intended. Because we aren't going away Ben, even if that message has been lost. I'm off the game anyway. Up The Villa. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 15 hours ago, sne said: I was actually thinking of a similar analogy Mine goes something like this. The union rallies the workers at the factory to strike for fair wages and better working conditions, but cancels the whole thing in the last minute because the board decides to put in fresh urinal cakes in the toilets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markavfc40 Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 15 hours ago, sne said: I was actually thinking of a similar analogy Mine goes something like this. The union rallies the workers at the factory to strike for fair wages and better working conditions, but cancels the whole thing in the last minute because the board decides to put in fresh urinal cakes in the toilets That is unfair. As a group we made three requests of the owner. One of those has been met so we have paused. To use your analogy: The union rallies the workers at the factory to strike for better wages, shorter working hours and an increase in annual leave. It suspends action to acknowledge the factory owners have actioned one of those requests and to then allow time for further talks still with the threat that another already arranged strike will take place at a future date if the other requests aren't actioned. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PieFacE Posted March 13, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted March 13, 2016 Hmmm I think the decision to cancel it today is a bad one. I'm still out the door on 74. On my own, on my own, on my own... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 Just now, PieFacE said: Hmmm I think the decision to cancel it today is a bad one. I'm still out the door on 74. On my own, on my own, on my own... Go for it. You won't be on your own This "union" may have called off today's organised "strike" but there's nothing stopping the individual making a stand. AVPG have no right to do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted March 13, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted March 13, 2016 Sure. But we're talking about a few hundred people having input here, many of whom for reasons that are understandable feel wronged in some way. You don't know the general perception at the ground, we're going to try and find that out today before we spend the next few weeks trying to win people like yourself over again. We made a decision we felt was right, we released those reasons in a statement, we've been around to explain, and I urge you to read it again and try to take it in the genuine nature Aston Villa Protest Group intended. Because we aren't going away Ben, even if that message has been lost. I'm off the game anyway. Up The Villa. I believe you won't give up. And I respect you all massively for it. What I'm saying, and what I've been saying the whole time, is you'll now have lost a hell of a lot of support and momentum that you'll struggle to get back. You'll basically be back to the pre-everton state for the Chelsea game, whereas you could have been on the back of two games momentum. I do believe this is the end of the out the door protest. I hope I'm wrong, but a lot of face will have been lost from this. Honestly, the best possible scenario is that people ignore your postponement and walk out today anyway. If that happens then this can be saved. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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