I don’t mind a protest march – I’ve been known to go on many of them. After all I grew up in days when they became a way of life!
When people feel passionately it’s what they do but they expect their opponents to knock ’em and give them a hard time. T’was ever thus – whatever the cause.
Like most, I’ve been on both sides of the fence and hope I understand the feelings of all those involved.
I must admit it’s been a long time since I’ve felt the urge to chant slogans as I traipse along a route designated for such events.
That’s probably because as a journo I’ve always felt that neutrality is a reasonable place to inhabit, PLUS I’m not a massive joiner of causes these days – I kinda like individuality but hey, each to his own.
When West Ham fans march on March 10 to make a point about how the club is currently being run, I will understand the passions involved and totally respect those involved for allowing those feelings to be known and their emotions shown.
I think the planned march has already had an effect at boardroom level where we have seen website announcements, TV interviews and radio broadcasts with David Sullivan addressing various issues.
Many won’t believe a word he has to say and to change the habits of an individual’s lifetime is desperately hard so any good intentions he holds must now be shown to have real substance. Actions speak louder and all that!
I believe his feathers have been ruffled by the march for had they not been I don’t think he would have said a word so it’s my view that publicity has already had quite a big impact.
To those who are marching, fair play to you – you are doing what you believe in and no-one is gonna knock you for that. Let’s just make sure all stays peaceful.
To those who aren’t – myself included – it’s time to stop the bad mouthing and simply hope that as a result of the recent activities we see changes at the top which have a serious long term bonus on this great football club we all love so passionately.
Well said Hugh. Whether you support the march (and I do), let’s respect each others views and hope that this is the start of some long term change that benefits everyone who supports West Ham United.
I respect the opinion but I am still not sure what precisely is the aim that the march is to achieve ? Can anyone associated who knows please inform us non marchers ?
I think its simple really it shows that the majority of west ham fans are fed up with the way the clubs being run and fed up of false promises and lies by the board ..IMO simple
It’s as Hammerkip said, to show that a significant proportion of fanbase are fed up with the way the club is run, hugely unprofessional both on and off the pitch! The fact that the heritage of the club and its fanbase has largely been ignored since the move. The failure of the Board to deliver on so many fronts, the bulls*t, the lies, the constant platitudes.
Yes certainly in some ways that could be true nickh but on the pitch we are turning things around, we have scored some cracking goals this season both individually and as a team, in defence we look a lot more solid with a number of clean sheets, something that didn’t happen under Slav.
The terms lies and promises are very debatable. Did anyone actually promise something? surely they were statements of intentions. Is it a lie if those intentions are not met? I don’t think so. There are endless factors that affect intentions. When the board said we’ll attract better players – surely people with an ounce of intelligence knew that involved doing quite well in the league. We were doing well when that intention was declared but then Bilic lost it. The fans kept singing ‘super slav’ – couldn’t they see that they were ‘lying’ and not helping the cause.
Well I believe Karren Brady promised to exceed our expectations. I also believe the Board have constantly oversold what they intended to do, or indeed are capable of doing, on many counts, both on and off the pitch They have made many statements of intention, and when they realised they could not deliver, rather than be open and transparent about things, they have put forward a constant stream of platitudes. Hence the distrust which exists today.
To run an effective campaign, it’s essential to have clear objectives, which the marchers seem to lack. Watching the video, it seems to largely be a case of two old blokes moaning about how ‘fings ain’t wot they used to be with a group of people who missed out when we moved. Even given the best of intentions, the Board can’t turn back time; for better or worse, decisions have been made; the old ground isn’t there any more, so lamenting it’s demise – and while it held fifty years of memories for many of us, it wasn’t really fit for purpose in the 21st century – is pretty pointless. The new place might not be perfect, but it does give 20,000 more fans the chance to see the team, which has to be a good thing. We never won much at the old place, so things can’t really get much worse on that front in Stratford.
My point is, if we are to unite, let’s have a cohesive plan, not a nostalgic hark back to days gone by and fluffy aspirations that can’t be met. Set reasonable targets and ask the Board if they will undertake to meet them. However many disgruntled people march, if they all have different agendas it will be impossible to properly measure the response. It’ll just end up a shambles. The worrying thing is that we’re West Ham, and history says you wouldn’t like us when we’re angry. And once the march ends with nothing concrete achieved, some people will almost certainly be angry.
Or maybe an ongoing campaign of discontent is what we’re after? The Board own the club – and the club only still exists as West Ham because they intervened when we teetered in the verge of extinction – and unless a so far unknown billionaire buyer suddenly appears, they’re not going anywhere. If I’d stuck £100m of my own cash into my club – as loans or gifts – I’d stay the course until someone made me an offer I really couldn’t refuse. But if I could afford the £100m in the first place, what size of offer would it take to make sell up?
Just spotted this….. could it be?
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6369534803225640960
Solidarity brothers (and sisters)!