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Very sceptical of this I'm afraid. Mark Porter - more faces than a town hall clock, goes on Praise and Grumble and slags people at the club off - I bet he won't have said half of that here, more concerned with making himself the centre of attention and getting inside info. I'd have much preferred another open fans forum, or God forbid Flitcroft sat down with the media and answered some frank questions. Instead we've had an in-house podcast, and now Carol grabbing a select group of fans who she can give a slight inside view into the workings of the club in exchange for their loyalty and spreading the good word on her behalf. Sorry, it means little unless Flitcroft comes out and explains what he's actually doing and takes some responsibility, instead of another attempt by Carol to get people to love him.

A joint statement that didn't really say anything at all. All talk and no action or solutions. Why not release a transcript of the meeting? Why not organise an open fans forum? It's all well and good saying the club was 'open and honest' and then not providing anything to back it up. Carol's open letter told me everything I need to know about what they think of fans and their opinions. Why wasn't Flitcroft there if his role was the significant part of the meeting? Must be scared of being called out without scripted questions and club edited podcasts. I'm sick of hearing 'biggest game of the season','must win', 'back the lads' and 'we will improve' and then the fans doing their best to get behind the team and then ultimately getting beaten comfortably every single game. I actually think the fans have been quite patient with how things are being handled by the club. We are abysmal on the pitch and all of this was avoidable, the past 18 months have been a car crash. They've been living under a rock and hiding for months.

Reading between the lines, the fans told Carol they want Flitcroft held accountable for the last 14 months of failure on the pitch, and she said no. It's hard to feel all that enthused about the meeting if the end result is the root cause of our ongoing malaise remains in post. It's also not like the fans haven't been getting behind the players already. There's only so much encouragement that can be given when we're playing as we are, with three league wins in nearly six months.

I think what people are frustrated at rob is the fact that things have been explained to a handful of people and the rest of us are left here guessing. If anything id expect a 'supporters club' to now explain to us fans what was said in the meeting. I dont expect the club to provide a transcript but the fans that were there should now be saying we asked about January and this is what we were told. They should relay the message however it seems like thats not going to be the case so i really dont see the point of the club announcing the meeting. As it seems like its a weve discussed things but were not telling you what was discussed. So who has the conversation really benefited?

Don’t see what the point in any of this is in all honesty, the statement itself is whole bunch of nothing. Try winning some games, that’s all they have to do or what anyone should care about.

A high proportion of the beef from posters on this thread doesn’t seem to be about the statement itself, but because they weren’t invited to the meeting, which is a bit entitled in my opinion. It smacks of jealousy to me, to be frank. Am I annoyed I wasn’t told about the meeting? No. Am I annoyed I wasn’t invited? No. How can I be. I’m a Vale fan. I buy my season ticket and spend my money at the club. But, I don’t give up my free time for the club, I haven’t attempted to arrange a meeting myself. The people who did attend, obviously did and do all this, so there shouldn’t be any resentment because you weren’t invited. It’s ludicrous. With regards to the statement itself, of course it’s written how it is. The minutiae if the meeting, the individual personal comments likely made, obviously cannot be included. It’s a public statement from a professional business and it cannot include criticism about members of staff etc it could leave the club, an employer, open to all sorts issues (constructive dismissal case for example?). All I’m taking from it is dialogue has been opened between the club and its customers. Whatever you think of the Shanahans, DF etc, that’s got to be a positive surely. The ability to listen and communicate was not something V2001 / Smurhwaite were ever open too. And no, I’m not a happy clapper, and no, I’m not happy with where we are in the league, the recruitment over the last 18 months etc but my recourse is through my wallet, that’s it. I have no other entitlement to anything else and nor should I.

Any prediction from the coaches wives on this one?

You want to be very careful making assumptions were you at the meeting? No Do you know what questions I oir any other member asked? No I stand by what I said on Praise & Grumble unlucky I don't own the club and also I don't have the money to buy the club. I also don't hide behind a profile I'm quite happy to meet you for a discussion, or alternativley if you want to stand for election and donate hours of your time to make a difference feel free to do it!

I found that statement to be bland and sterile. It was full of high level good intent "we are all in this together" mentality. The author is a club employee, with input from the owners. I fear this is another attempt to stem the tide of supporter discontent that has misjudged the mood. The DOF has sacked two managers based on performance. However, his record is pretty dreadful but he seems to be above and beyond criticism. There are a number of specific issues I would like to raise with the owners and to receive answers. I would then wish to publish my own account of such a meeting. This will not happen we know. I remain supportive of the Shanahan family. I am not wholly disheartened about our impending relegation to Division 2, we've been there before many times. I am disheartened by the sterile corporate "<ovf censored>" that is presented to show that all is well. I am even more disappointed about the poor decision making of the DOF and the apparent shabby treatment of some players who served us well.

Absolute bilge as per. More statements than points this year.

Statement says nothing. We meet, we exchange views, nothing agreed. Please support the team. I find it really patronising. The fans have been probably the best they have been all season since Moore took over really backing the players. Frustrations about other issues have been left at the turnstile. I will be very honest and say I’m getting really pissed off with the club. For 2 years they keep acknowledging communication needs to be better yet here we are still. All that needs to happen is the DoF to front up and explain what’s happened in the transfer window. It’s not rocket science. How I feel whatever the outcome I’m done. No more season tickets, I’m fed up of being treated like a child by the club.

They all had to stand with one hand on the bible and say i trust in the process, the whole process and nothing but the process

I’m also getting sick of them asking us to support the club. The atmosphere against fleetwood was great. As was derby. The Flitcroft chants only come out once it’s clear to fans it’s all over. And rightly so.

The only prediction I'm making for this game is that a mysterious new poster called "Lowe Expectation" will be doing marks for the players come Saturday night

It seems apparent to me that whatever the club say or do now will not be enough for a fair proportion on the people on here, and possibly the fan base in general. Derision follows everything they say or do. However it's not a question of what they say or do that counts for the foreseeable, it's what happens once the 11 picked players do in the remaining 12 league games. It's good that the fans have called for a meeting and it's clear that supporters concerns were put forward, whether or not the concerns are acted upon remains to be seen. I'm not really too concerned with the details of the meeting, I'm rather more concerned with 3.00pm on Saturday.

I would have thought that talking to people face to face is preferable to shouting at the internet.

Pointless statement which is just a load of words rather than actually anything of note. Do your talking on the football pitch. Where it matters. I'm bored of statements. They mean nothing now. Oh and by the way, the club having a sit down with several groups does not fix anything with fan base. None of them people represent me or my feelings for a start. If I'd had a royal invite to this cosy chat I'd have told them that the real reason you've had it rough from the fans is because the football side is <ovf censored> and you've not paid attention. You've let someone who has proven to be out of his depth continue to undo the good work on the football side and when fans have voiced concerns you've doubled down. In short, you've brought it on yourselves so <ovf censored> sort it. It's not about the fans. Never has been. They've backed this club and continue to do so.

I love it when a poster makes incorrect assumptions about a poster.

I love it when fans criticise some people who have tried to do something about the situation whilst sitting on their backside in front of a computer.

Ok, despite not being involved I will offer some context. I have been a part of B&G in the past but chose not to be on this occasion. This was not a meeting that Carol initiated or handpicked. It was set up by some fans and Carol had no say in who attended. I think Hancock facilitated. The joint statement clearly had to be agreed between the parties. I imagine stuff that was said isn’t in the statement - rightly or wrongly. The fans who attended gained absolutely nothing. They gave up hours to try and get Carol to see what the fans are seeing - from what I’m inferring through this, to little avail. PVFC doesn’t exist without Mark Porter. That’s all I know of it.

In my opinion, that's a welcome move. I think the vast majority of fans are still very much behind the owners, it perhaps just needs an open and frank discussion like this just for all to get back on track with things like communication and so on. It's not going to solve the football issues, but a conversation never was, but it hopefully does start to reset the relationship between fans and owners.

I commend the Shanahan's for having such a meeting as it can improve and maintain the contact and relationship with the club's customer/fan base as long as the fans understand their place in this. However, the downside is that if the "baying mob" don't get their way things can slide downhill even quicker and it can undermine the position of the leader of the organization. For all the titles Carole is the leader of PVFC, she appoints leaders of various departments to help her get the job done and achieve objectives at PVFC. Every business has one leader who listens to their reports and makes decisions on which they swim or sink. A business cannot be run by committee or a group of fans as ask 10 people a question and usually 10 different answers will be received. Carol will know what's caused the Vale to be in the relegation zone of Lge 1, she doesn't need consultants to tell her it's poor recruitment. She will also know the Lge position and remaining in Lge 1 are the two objectives that carry the most weight by far for the club, not training pitches or the Bycars bogs and internally she will be thinking to herself and talking to others to find out why, what are the reasons the recruitment has been so poor this last 4 windows and working/making plans to rectify it somehow. Out of this whole sorry mess it will be a disaster for PVFC if the Shanahan's decided to sell up now, the finger points at Flitcroft for the poor recruitment but Carol may decide it's the size of the budget, the wage cap etc that's the problem or something related. Lessons have to be learned from this to ensure it doesn't happen again. I appeal to fans to be patient with Carol as she has a track record of making the right decisions at the appropriate time. I just wish I had 5 million quid to gift the club.

Ah yes nice feel better now that theyve had a chat and decided to do a whole lot of nothing over it and tell us absolutely nothing that was discussed feel really in the loop after reading that bunch of meaningless words . How many times do they have to acknowledge there communication hasnt been good before they actually start to improve this. Sick of hearing we need to do better. Do better then?

Just comes across as a statement to try and appease the wider fan base and quell unrest. Which won’t happen.

Cheltenham are not as relevant as Shrewsbury. Simply put we need to win on Saturday. It is a true 6 pointer. Win and we cut the safety gap to three points to Shrews…lose and it is 9! That would be that.

What makes you think the fans insisted Patrick Shanahan was there?? I’ve seen no suggestion that was the case. There is so much rubbish being made up on this thread it will end up in the fiction section of the library.

Flitcroft has already done major damage regardless of what the club might do to try and rectify that. To keep him in his role is, in my humble opinion, unjustifiable.

The message is exactly the same as the ‘open letter’. Stop criticising DF, employing DF wasn’t a mistake, get behind the club, no more negative chanting, DF is going nowhere.

You're not going to solve all the problems with one meeting. However, if that meeting clears the air and opens up communication channels, gives the owners food for thought etc that surely has to be a good start.

Agree, no one can deny his passion and a shame he feels he has to withdraw. I know he wears his heart on his sleeve and after reflection I suspect he will be back. Phil if you do see this post, don't let the minority get to you. You can always block certain posters who you feel are not worth the hassle. COME BACK SOON mucka👍

Yes and there was a statement with a summary of what was discussed. Isn't that telling the supporters what was discussed? I wasn't at the meeting, so I don't know what was said but to me the statement seems to give a reasonable summary. I don't need to hear every word uttered and I'm not sure there should be the expectation to do so Perhaps others disagree with me. However, what is more important to me is that it looks like this will herald regular discussions between fans and the club and a chance for both sides to talk to each other and raise concerns. I don't expect a single meeting will solve all the issues. This meeting is a first step and for me it's a positive that the club and the fans groups are talking again.

Been involved in a number of these sorts of things at work before now. If they are listening, then it's good. It could also be trying to manage the message somewhat, most likely. Job done it seems, has been posted on here to clarify and urge people get behind the team. Which to be honest, I think 99% of us already are. I don't appreciate the inference that support for the club on the pitch and criticism of the backroom being mutually exclusive. They aren't. Fans are, and are willing to do both. It's good that they listened but the only thing that matters is results and ultimately that's where the club and leadership will be judged, but they know that. I can guess they are trying to stave off any whiff of protests, but I don't really see that happening just yet. Many fed up seem to be declaring they will walk away for a bit for their own well being instead in the mean time. I've thought about the same, but it hasn't reached that point for me yet. I'd suggest the club focuses on the number 1 task of getting points on the board and saving our L1 status. The communication improvements needs to wait until the summer. Would be a very good idea to have a strategic review and rethink how these things are done and delivered. It all seemed to be pretty good at one point under Carol's tenure, round about the time there were lay offs, Martin left and others including Colin Garlic. Those are some of the big mistakes the club has made from the 'community' point of view. Something the club seems to try to place more importance on than the playing budget and recruitment.

Ok, for complete clarity. Here is how my day went... I had to go to physio and while there my phone rang. It was a participant from the meeting. He told me there was a post on the forum where a poster had said Carol called the meeting and that was wrong, the fans did. He said the fans also selected which supporters attended the meeting as again it had been suggested Carol had handpicked some fans to attend. He asked me to post that clarification as he was busy and unable to get on the forum. I posted it while waiting for my treatment. I got home and I've been cooking tea which is why I haven't seen the multiple responses caused by me missing a word out until now. And that's it. I wasn't there. I don't know what was discussed. I don't know who exactly who was there apart from the Vale fan who called me and the list of names on the statement. All I know is personally I think it's always a good idea when the club agrees from a request from supporters to meet and air their grievances. Why? Because it shows the club is willing to listen.

We all know it's coming .......

Flitcroft is responsible for everything but accountable for nothing.

I found this quote the other day which is so true: “The belief that there is only one truth and that oneself is in possession of it seems to me to be the root of all that is evil in the world.” There are two sides to every story.

To be honest Rob the Joint Statement didnt give much away.

Just my sofa.

That meeting was arranged with the thoughts and concerns of ALL the supporters. Dont you, or others commenting on here, feel that us supporters deserve to know some of what was discussed in the meeting. Good or bad we should be told.

I am currently sitting at my laptop.

Probably my fault for leaving a crucial word out... Nor were the FAN participants selected by the club Apologies if that caused confusion. This was in response to a claim Carol instigated the meeting. I was told the fans requested it.

Clearly the Supporters Club, the Black and Gold Group, the North London Valiants, and the club itself each selected their own participants. Rob was responding to a poster who claimed the meeting was "Carol grabbing a select group of fans".

So the supporters group insisted that Patrick Shanahan was present but declined to invite the man responsible for everything that touches the football and is the target for 95% of fan’s derision??? Sorry Rob but I’m not buying that.

Weirdly negative way to dismiss designing a kit that broke club sales records and then to also criticise him for celebrating a promotion. Wish I could fail to keep up with the competition if it meant me getting £180 million my way.

Because I don't think it's going to be in any way as clear cut as that. Sadly, I don't think Carol will be getting rid of DF. The change, if it does take place (and I may well be wrong), will be much more subtle and nuanced than that. My best guess is that to save face, DF will still "be in charge" but with a much bigger input into player recruitment from DM. Only time will tell. Regrettably, as we all know, most of the damage has already been done and I fear this season is one we're all going to want to forget!

What a load old tosh, just another smoke and mirrors exercise by her. She’s too stubborn to change anything or listen to sensible advice. The fans will still be there long after she’s gone and it won’t matter which league we’re playing in. Put the club up for sale and please leave NOW. The only problem I foresee is that potential investors wont touch it unless they can pinch a bargain, which won’t happen with her or won’t be interested until it’s hit rock bottom. I’m not familiar with Patrick’s qualifications so can someone please appraise me of them. Designs a crap away shirt that a 9 year old could have done, joins in the dressing room celebrations by getting his stupid fricking long hair shaved off by Cov, replaces Garlick and now attending meetings of this magnitude.FFS, she hasn’t got a clue about running a football club she’s failed to keep up with the competition.

His surname is Shanahan?

Instead of hiding behind corporate spiel, why don' t the club out with a quote that simple folk like me can understand: "Darren Moore will be in charge of his own recruitment of player's for the 2024/25 season"

David Flitcroft, get yourself <ovf censored> off out of our club

👏👏👏👏👏 sorry to see DI go, probs my favourite poster, but can totally understand his comments here about being frustrated and needing to take a break - guess you wont read this DI, but hope you are back soon under a new user-name mate 👏👏👏👏