Lessingham Canary

Thanks Diane, a lot of ground has been covered, but barely scratched the surface so far, guess that was always going to be the challenge for a new panel, not that anyone needs reminding, in our first year we have seen too many changes in club staffing within roles that interact with the OSP, we have had BK8, winter wonderland, Tap Gate, The Crouch Report, Mountaineering announcements and less than satisfactory football to watch, in many ways it has been a baptism of fire. Agree we could possibly do more in keeping the wider fan base aware / involved, also agree that it should not just be on here, we are planning to have our own meeting as a panel ahead of the next meeting with the club in July and can certainly add that to our list, as well as having a social media expert on the panel, we have a PR guru, an ex FA employee to mention but a small selection (all true fans) that make for a really committed and supportive panel of members that represent many facets of the NCFC fan base. With the new head of supporter engagement imminent and a clearer line of responsibility within the club in terms of Zoe Ward and Sam Hall for ongoing involvement with the panel i believe that the 2nd year will be a lot better structured and therefor more productive. @ncfcstar @Feedthewolf will add anything they feel i have not mentioned that is relevant.

This, by a PHM ! football in Scotland has suffered for years at the hands of the ugly sisters, we are now seeing it in England and the threat of implosion in football is real, Leicester winning the league was akin to St Johnstone but alas will be a very a rare occurrence.

@NewNestCarrow Maybe a read of the supporters charter on the club website will explain ?

The minutes should be on the club site later this afternoon.

Oh Dear @Greavsy you really are passionate about our club, i'm not convinced of that, you seem to be looking at every possible way of having a dig at the club, and with regard to the OSP im not sure if its jealousy on your part against the people who are on it, or just another attempt to undermine and discredit the club? if you feel you would be up for joining the OSP then your chance will come, as you know. you said "I just think, personally, that customer interaction either direct or via the OSP is poor to non existent, and that's exactly what the panel was set up to eradicate" that is not what it was set up for at all, in simplistic terms, it is purely to act a sounding board for the club, which is why i guess when you hear quotes from other fan groups on topics, such as the drum, we are not part of it, and wouldn't expect to be. The "atmosphere" meeting you mentioned was a meeting for several of the fan groups to discuss fans returning to the stadium in full numbers, and how flags were not allowed owing to restrictions at that time. Like the rest of us you will see the OSP minutes on the official website soon, where everyone will have access and i'm sure you will in your own imitable style critique.

Always redactions, still any drumstick to beat the club @Duncan Edwards

Patience @Greavsy just waiting on Sue Gray to sign off for distribution, regarding timescales most large organisations take longer but I’m sure they will get quicker as we move forward.

Til, I hadn’t seen the article until about 15 mins ago, not sure why or who at the club mentioned OSP as we haven’t been involved in that one, will ask the question.

@Greavsy I can confirm the drum was not on our agenda, we have been at a meeting a while back where the atmosphere was discussed, but the drum was not in the mix. The minutes should be out over the weekend / Monday, just the task of getting the relevant sign off.

And i thought poor old Steven Whitaker was probably the peak 🤔

@Greavsy , i'm sure all things will come in time, the challenge is the OSP is simply a collective of people invited to be a sounding board, which could be argued is progress. Since its formation the panel as a whole are keen to offer more than that, as they feel such a channel can add real value. Unlike other official groups where there will be a constitution in place which gives them a framework to work within, in simplistic terms they have a good governance practice with all the parameters agreed in writing, which of course brings responsibility and accountability for all. We are a long way of that, and maybe we will get to that (maybe we wont) and that in turn will give a voice as well as an ear, and of course an opportunity to have communication flowing between all. I would stress, its not a reluctance of the club or panel members to make this work in everyone's interest, we are 6 months in (2 full meetings) changes in key personnel at the club, pandemic etc, we are it seems to those watching not moving anywhere at any pace, but on reflection both with our set up and what we have seen at other clubs, we are making progress (albeit slowly) and that is a credit to those who are on the panel and the club management.

Guys some very pertinent points made by Wolfie, with regard to the OSP the biggest challenge is around peoples expectations on all fronts, from within the club, the OSP members themselves and of course the wider spread of supporters. As Wolfie has intimated, the OSP have a desire to have a positive impact where possible, at this moment the panel is a collection of supporters (voted by fellow fans) who are invited by the club to be a sounding board on a range of non footballing (thankfully) topics. We as group have done our own work and are currently presenting this to prepare the way for a productive 3 way relationship between the club, supporters and the OSP. We have looked at a large number of clubs (personally over 30) who have similar in place, and there are many that are resisting, and while there are a few we can admire at the progress made, Norwich City are actually one of the better, and in the top 3 when it comes to its intentions, we would anticipate our next couple of meetings sees and agreed blueprint to take the panel forward. The Crouch report as has also been alluded to by Wolfie, is a vehicle that if all clubs embrace in the correct manner will open the way for much better supporter /club relationships, and as we know this is very early days, but again our club is actively taking the initial findings with the right enthusiasm. Would think that in time as the club gets used to having a supporters panel, and the panel has a clear blueprint it works to the more obvious it will become to all. I feel any off field concerns are going to be a lot easier to address than our on field are at the moment, having said that we looked better last night than we have done since the Man Utd game, and Idah had his best game yet, so i think we will score on Saturday and poor old Everton will be on the receiving end of a 1-0 thrashing. 🤞 OTBC

Surely it must be Barca ? does Barrow even have a professional football club ? (Sorry Barrow)

No but they will utilise focus groups to gauge the direction they wish to take and what reactions may be, the big one locally a few years ago was Norwich Union and the change to Aviva, at least the club didn't feel the need to employ Bruce Willis in a yellow cab to announce the change.

Smith said on Tuesday Cantwell missed out on Newcastle for COVID reasons, so could be 10 days of self isolation for Todd.

We could start a crowdfunding page, or if it is old like mine the colours will have faded and look crap anyway.

@TIL 1010 think that's unfair, probably what wasn't clear is that when we "sat round the table" there was representations from other fan groups as well as us. So a large group of people not a small minority, we were asked to keep it confidential (not unreasonable from the club to ask that, as final decision on how and when it would be launched had not been agreed). The question of it being a justifiable expense is something as a shareholder (which you are) might want to raise at the next opportunity.

@ncfcstar makes the point, yes the OSP were part of the consultation process via a presentation, and also right at our beginning we took part in a focus group which touched on all the points in the questionnaire as already mentioned around what the club stands for etc. When we had the presentation made to us, we were able to see how the new crest performed on all digital media (including the digital signage in the stadium, and for the minor enhancements the difference was night and day. We live in a digital world and we have to move with the times, we have retained the crest with minor adjustments / improvements (subjective) ? that's the rationale for the change,it is logical and not to upset supporters by introducing change for change sake, hopefully we won't have this debate for another 50 years.

We thought the use of a shire horse was a touch genius, think we will grow to love it 😉

I expect / hope we will move the ball forward quicker, with purpose and use wingers (we have players with pace to burn) !

Don't get too hopeful, they have to get past Barrow next and not sure they will 😉

I have completed the survey, hope you have to @Greavsy & @TIL 1010 very important bit of information gathering for the club 😉

I can confirm i have seen the wall of fame, and as well as "hall of famers" and every player to represent the club, pretty sure there is a section showing all managers in their own right.

I got sent this, not sure what it means 🤔

Sad news, he was a great man, also anyone who likes reading Autobiographies have a read of his "Silversmith" and get a great perspective on a great human being and sad loss. RIP