My Letter to Bill

[DannyBezza]

Fantastic letter Stu.

 

Hate to say it but this Sat will be the last time i step foot into Vale Park. Sat's will not be the same.

[stupers]

I'm not even going tomorrow. I don't feel like protesting anymore, that's just how bad it's got

[Jimmy]

A Great and true letter Stuppers and Fosse69 just as impressive and from the heart.......

 

PLEASE Stu come to the Protest and i will stay outside with you and a few others for the duration of the game.

[melv]

I'm not even going tomorrow. I don't feel like protesting anymore, that's just how bad it's got

 

Get yourself down there.Last protest,final push of the season.

===============

[melv]

A Great and true letter Stuppers and Fosse69 just as impressive and from the heart.......

 

PLEASE Stu come to the Protest and i will stay outside with you and a few others for the duration of the game.

 

Staying outside is the way.

 

Will TCs be open so we can use the bog's if needed(anyone know)

[JB78]

copies of this should be handed out alongside Mark Simms letter at tomorrows match

i am going to go into the ground after kick off and then leave during the early part of the second half and go round to LS main entrance, i dont think i will be able to stomach more than 30 mins of the farce on the pitch tomorrow

even if we score i cant see the point of celebrating it as it will be pointless

[stupers]

I'm already down south for the weekend i'm afraid. A decision made on a health issue and the need for some rest, rather than me venting my spleen!

[johnstreet]

perfect letter, thanks

[Jacko51]

Brilliant letter, Stupers!

[melv]

I'm already down south for the weekend i'm afraid. A decision made on a health issue and the need for some rest, rather than me venting my spleen!

 

Fair call there and respect to you.Enjoy your rest.Your health is far more important.Good luck,take care.

 

Dunna forget to send a copy to Sentinel.

[DannyBezza]

I'm not even going tomorrow. I don't feel like protesting anymore, that's just how bad it's got

 

Get down tomorrow Stu.

 

Its the last one.

[Bycarsbill]

Just gone this morning, pretty much sums up my feelings. Enjoy.

 

Dear Mr Bratt,

 

I am writing to you out of courtesy to inform you that both my father and myself are not going to renew our season tickets for the 2011/2 season. I felt the need to write to you after witnessing one of the most bizarre and ridiculous seasons in any club’s history. I feel as if the blame for this lands squarely at you and the other directors door. I’ll attempt to explain why.

 

Firstly your managerial selections. It is fair to say that you hit the jackpot with Mickey Adams. He revitalised the club at a time when we’d hit rock-bottom (or so I thought). The man gave us hope, playing solid, winning football and galvanising the support that was desperately needed to give the club to get out of this division. It was sad to see him go to Sheffield United, but I felt confident that we could find an adequate replacement. You said that you were going to appoint someone who would continue Mickey’s good work. You then decided to appoint Jim Gannon, who has a history of doing things his own way and set about changing the way the club played football. This was a mistake, but you had the opportunity to back him several times publically (the player mutiny, bus gate) and failed miserably both times. No wonder he felt like everyone was against him, even his own boss was.

 

You then followed it up with appointing Mark Grew and Geoff Horsfield. We didn’t have many options left at this point I’ll agree. But on the previous occasions you’ve appointed caretakers I don’t think Grew has ever come into the conversation so it perplexed me a little that he was given the reins. Never the less, we continued and stumbled towards abject failure. Again you and the board must take the rap for this.

 

Your managerial appointments have never been the most inspiring. Sinnott was a mistake, someone who’d never managed a professional outfit was always going to struggle to make any impact at our level, particularly after you’d cut the budget for the previous manager and left him hamstrung in the transfer market after selling his best player. Then we move on to Dean Glover. What on earth were you thinking at this point? Yes, a legendary player but having already given him the caretaker reins before and stuffing it up, what made you think he was going to do any better this time? Andy Porter would have been a better bet, and would have infuriated the fans less, but I get the feeling the fan’s welfare is not on your top list of priorities.

 

I’ll get on to your overall running of the club now. Let me first say that I’m an accounting student (CIMA), have a sports management degree and work as a finance analyst in the Banking Industry. Therefore I feel somewhat qualified to put my feelings forward to you. Starting with the accounts, which are an absolute disgrace. Not only has the club lost £350k 2 years on the trot, but we’re now in completely over our heads in debt. I don’t begin to know how the hell we get ourselves out of this situation at the current time. We must be living hand to mouth currently I expect. You can try and blame it all on the Britannia Save & Support scheme, but you must have seen that coming having seen the BOE base rate dropping. It doesn’t seem like you budgeted for the drop in income for that at all. The other question is why you using it as part of a yearly budget? If you’d spread each payment over 2 or 3 years and used it on players contracts then you wouldn’t be in the situation you are in now. Blowing each year on the budget wasn’t a wise thing to do.

 

The fact that the auditors gave a ‘qualified’ opinion on the company accounts is rather damming too. Over the club’s ground valuation I believe. You think that because you’ve put that money into the stadium then it automatically adds on to the value of the building? I’m sorry Bill that’s just not how it works. You also claimed that the club couldn’t afford to revalue the ground prior to the accounts too. That’s not great news is it for the cash flow? I also take issue with you over your rather flippant remarks regarding Mo Chaudry’s valuation work. Particularly as he used the same person you used 5 years back to do the ground valuation. That would have been a better way to go than getting someone completely different in to do it. Or perhaps you knew Butters John Bee didn’t agree with your valuation and didn’t use them because of that. I guess we’ll never know if that was the case or not.

 

The overall running of the club from the outside looking in is not good. Thank goodness Ted retired from the ticket office or it would have been completely terrible. I have too many tales of Ted’s poor customer service to put in this letter. Was it proper business practice for him to lock up the ticket office so he could chat up the woman behind the marketing department’s counter? Me thinks not. Thank goodness we’ve now reached the digital age in the ticket office anyway, one day we might even be able to purchase tickets over the internet and phone. I live in hope.

 

The business has no structure, it’s in the same place it was when you took over 7 years ago. Graham Mudie does not count as a Marketing Director, when he’s only part-time. The business should have been cut down into functions, and have a head of function for each department. I know this is not the case. It’s you and the other directors all hands to the pump, doing all the jobs to keep the wolves from the door. A charming effort on your part, but don’t you feel a bit silly that the club has no structure to 7 years on. I feel at this point it is my duty to congratulate you on appointing a CEO, at last. You, Bill should have never been CEO of Port Vale. You had no experience of running a football club on a day to day basis, or any business of that size for that matter. As far as I know, you were a miner, then a financial advisor. The ethical position of being both Chairman and CEO is at best hazardous. You get to vote on strategic decisions (I presume there have been some made) and then are in charge of implementing them whether you voted for them or not. This is not right, and yet again the blame lies at your door. I’m sure you had your reasons for taking up the post, 50,000 of them I presume.

 

Finally, I close with the takeover and investment strategy. As far as I can see there is only one strategy you’ve had in place. To get people to invest money in the club in return for no control over their investment. The accounts of the past 7 years are hardly a ringing endorsement for investors. Mike Newton wanted to be chairman for 25% of the club. It sounds ridiculous in principle, until you realise that NONE of the current directors have that amount of shares personally. Then Mo Chaudry, a self-made millionaire worth £50m and of the local community comes forward looking to purchase the club. I myself had heard some rumours about shaky business dealings in the past, so I went down with an open mind to Baddiley Green Working Mens Club to hear what he had to say. The man and his team’s passion to get Vale back on the right track blew me away. It wasn’t the figures they were talking, it was the vision of turning Port Vale into an actual business that really impressed me. The CEO-in-waiting was particularly impressive. You can see these people mean business.

 

You then have spent the last 3-4 months basically doing everything you could possibly to ignore this bid, attempting to discredit it in the local press (I refuse to listen to hearsay on OVF, I prefer to make my own mind up). This is my eyes has been the most disgraceful part, suggesting that bids haven’t been sent, ignoring deadlines and generally just being the most ignorant man in Stoke-On-Trent. I know you don’t stick around for the end of many games anymore, but why don’t you stick your head out the window after a game and see what people think of you now. They (and me included) used to think of you as a decent man with Port Vale as your priority. I don’t think that is the case anymore, and neither do they. The discourtesy you have shown to one of our own, Mark Sims over the past 2 weeks has just shown for whatever reason that you are determined to cling to power.

 

To confirm, I will NOT be renewing my season ticket while you, Peter Jackson, Graham Mudie, Stan Meigh, Glenn Oliver and Mike Lloyd are still at the club. I really hope the upcoming EGM will show you up to be the most useless and inept board that Port Vale have ever seen. I hope we get rid of you and can start a new chapter in the clubs future. The fans deserve it. I will be signing myself up http://www.starve-em-out.co.uk this morning. They’re not all fake names on there Bill, even if 50% of them are real, you’re just about to lose over £200,000 of income for next season. Who is going to pick up the bill for that? You’re losing your fan base. Do the right thing for Port Vale, resign along with all your other board members and recommend the Mo Chaudry bid to the shareholders. It is the right thing to do, then maybe you can still leave the club with some pride, having saved the club from the brink 7 years ago.

 

Yours Sincerely

Stuart Kerby

 

Congratulations--one of the most level-headed, objective summaries to date. Be very interesting to see whether you get a reply?

[For Us All]

Superb letter Stuart which needs to be spread far and wide.

[melv]

Congratulations--one of the most level-headed, objective summaries to date. Be very interesting to see whether you get a reply?

 

The chance of getting a reply will be very very low.That's the way they are ignorant,arrogant,spineless,faceless,disrespective.

[the old bycars tea bar]

fantastic summery of events stu thank you, i think you have put into words what most of us feel and would like to tell mr bratt