' MEETING WITH VINCENT TAN '

Meeting took place at Treforest training ground, arranged 3 days earlier.

Four weeks ago today I was fortunate enough to meet Vincent Tan and spend a little over two hours in his company. When I say fortunate, I mean it in a way that I believe no Cardiff City fan has had such open access to Vincent Tan before this and it seems that nobody has had such a meeting since.

The season that has past is undoubtedly the most controversial City fans have undergone as a result of the re-branding.

From the two meetings I attended, a year ago, with a group of fans representatives and four club officials, Vincent Tan was constantly described as a man who gets what he wants, a man so powerful among his staff that nobody says no to him, apparently you don't even consider offering an opinion as if it is different to his then you are out of the picture. The picture of Vincent Tan that was painted was that of a dictator.

On initially meeting Tan, I was careful in my words and approach, after the introductions I observed his behaviour and how he interacted with those close to him and it became apparent very quickly that he was not the preconceived dictator that I had been led to believe he was.

Here was a man who was comfortable to chat, have small talk, talk about any issue that was presented. Over the course of the two hours, the dynamics of the conversations were changing, at the beginning it was others and I that instigated the conversations and he responded but it didn't take too long before Tan was asking the questions.

It demonstrated to me at least that here was a man who is approachable, who will listen to ideas and debate them, he showed genuine interest in what was being discussed and offered an olive branch that I believed was not there before but maybe it always was but we as fans had not been united enough, strong enough to seek talks with Tan himself.

There have been attempts at demonstrations, protest groups and talks with City officials but I believe we as fans have gone about it the wrong way.

After meeting with Tan himself, I genuinely believe that through dialogue direct with the man himself is the way to bring him closer to the fans and vice versa. If we want any chance of bringing blue back as a primary colour then we have to discuss it with the one man who makes the decision, there is very little point in asking club officials to deliver a message on behalf of the fans, as I believe it has to be said with feeling, emotion and show what it means to us and having a middleman would be futile and possibly unfair on any said employee.

Any possible talks would have to be respectful and I am sure that we as fans would have to compromise if we are asking Vincent Tan to compromise too.

As a starter I would suggest that we wear blue and fly blue flags at games to celebrate our love of being blue and the bluebirds and do not be disrespectful to the red.

Whether we like it or not, Vincent Tan likes red, the message should be 'We love Blue' and not 'f**k off red', if we go down that road then we are drawing battle lines and looking for a fight, we do not want to fight Tan we want to welcome him but show him what it means to us to be blue.

We are known as powerful fans and channelled in the right manner and direction I honestly believe that is our best possible chance to get somewhere to what we want but we must be understanding of the wishes and beliefs of the man who is bankrolling the club.

Before we can even try and compromise with Vincent Tan, we must start first and bring unity among our support and start singing from the same hymn sheet. There are far too many divisions among our support but I can see that we all want the same end, we have to get together and accept among ourselves that we need to compromise between ourselves before we even contemplate trying to go direct to Vincent Tan.

We need to be united and put any ill feeling that may have arisen over the past year to one side if we are to achieve anything towards what I hope we could.

Where there is will there is a way!

Will be interesting then to see how today's gathering goes

Will be interesting then to see how today's gathering goes

I really hope today's meeting goes well, hopefully there will be images of blue and lots of it, a message that we love blue.

That will be a step and a building block in helping achieve what we hope can be achieved

I'm pretty sure this is what I been saying since day 1.

Well said, totally agree

Meeting took place at Treforest training ground,arranged 3 days earlier.

Four weeks ago today I was fortunate enough to meet Vincent Tan and spend a little over two hours in his company. When I say fortunate, I mean it in a way that I believe no Cardiff City fan has had such open access to Vincent Tan before this and it seems that nobody has had such a meeting since.

The season that has past is undoubtedly the most controversial City fans have undergone as a result of the re-branding.

From the two meetings I attended, a year ago, with a group of fans representatives and four club officials, Vincent Tan was constantly described as a man who gets what he wants, a man so powerful among his staff that nobody says no to him, apparently you don't even consider offering an opinion as if it is different to his then you are out of the picture. The picture of Vincent Tan that was painted was that of a dictator.

On initially meeting Tan, I was careful in my words and approach, after the introductions I observed his behaviour and how he interacted with those close to him and it became apparent very quickly that he was not the preconceived dictator that I had been led to believe he was.

Here was a man who was comfortable to chat, have small talk, talk about any issue that was presented. Over the course of the two hours, the dynamics of the conversations were changing, at the beginning it was others and I that instigated the conversations and he responded but it didn't take too long before Tan was asking the questions.

It demonstrated to me at least that here was a man who is approachable, who will listen to ideas and debate them, he showed genuine interest in what was being discussed and offered an olive branch that I believed was not there before but maybe it always was but we as fans had not been united enough, strong enough to seek talks with Tan himself.

There have been attempts at demonstrations, protest groups and talks with City officials but I believe we as fans have gone about it the wrong way.

After meeting with Tan himself, I genuinely believe that through dialogue direct with the man himself is the way to bring him closer to the fans and vice versa. If we want any chance of bringing blue back as a primary colour then we have to discuss it with the one man who makes the decision, there is very little point in asking club officials to deliver a message on behalf of the fans, as I believe it has to be said with feeling, emotion and show what it means to us and having a middleman would be futile and possibly unfair on any said employee.

Any possible talks would have to be respectful and I am sure that we as fans would have to compromise if we are asking Vincent Tan to compromise too.

As a starter I would suggest that we wear blue and fly blue flags at games to celebrate our love of being blue and the bluebirds and do not be disrespectful to the red.

Whether we like it or not, Vincent Tan likes red, the message should be 'We love Blue' and not 'f**k off red', if we go down that road then we are drawing battle lines and looking for a fight, we do not want to fight Tan we want to welcome him but show him what it means to us to be blue.

We are known as powerful fans and channelled in the right manner and direction I honestly believe that is our best possible chance to get somewhere to what we want but we must be understanding of the wishes and beliefs of the man who is bankrolling the club.

Before we can even try and compromise with Vincent Tan, we must start first and bring unity among our support and start singing from the same hymn sheet. There are far too many divisions among our support but I can see that we all want the same end, we have to get together and accept among ourselves that we need to compromise between ourselves before we even contemplate trying to go direct to Vincent Tan.

We need to be united and put any ill feeling that may have arisen over the past year to one side if we are to achieve anything towards what I hope we could.

Where there is will there is a way!

Gwyn has been saying that all season

"When the subject of the re-branding was broached and Tim suggested that a return to blue or a compromise kit of some sort would win Tan much favour with the supporters, the club's major shareholder apparently told him in no uncertain terms that Cardiff's first-choice colour will remain as red for the foreseeable future and if the fans want anything different they will have to find themselves a new owner."

Carl I believe that VT does realise he has made a mistake with this rebrand and he is looking for a way to reach a compromise, but it is going to take someone with the courage to talk to the man and sadly those within the club don't seem to have it.

Next season there will only be 2 clubs, Chelsea & Everton, with Blue as the primary colour of thier club which means our "Away" colours will be available to be worn at 16 our of 19 away games, West Brom may be a clash because of the Blue/White. A commitment from the club to do that would be a big step forward in my opinion.

A simple commitment like that would a believe show a level of respect to our traditional colours which was missing this season and would be well recieved by the fan base.

Carl, as you know I changed my mind/attitude about Tan after meeting him, but I still do not believe he is right about stripping our identity from us and his words to me on that, I do not agree with.

Tans words were Red brings happiness,it's the way forward, it's the future, it brings luck, I don't buy in to this one second.

Why I changed my mind on Tan was , Tan was willing to listen and talk about many things and laugh with it, his sense of humour was funny.

I also believe like you Carl, All our fans should of turned up, support the team, cheer them on, but All been prominent in BLUE and that would of been the best protest of all. To many fans embraced the Red, so Tan believed we had accepted it. Tan, his PA and Simon Ling said that they did not realise that so many were still against it and they had not been told it.
They then realised it in the last few home games and last few away games and totally Respect us for it.

Carl I believe that VT does realise he has made a mistake with this rebrand and he is looking for a way to reach a compromise, but it is going to take someone with the courage to talk to the man and sadly those within the club don't seem to have it.

Next season there will only be 2 clubs, Chelsea & Everton, with Blue as the primary colour of thier club which means our "Away" colours will be available to be worn at 16 our of 19 away games, West Brom may be a clash because of the Blue/White. A commitment from the club to do that would be a big step forward in my opinion.

A simple commitment like that would a believe show a level of respect to our traditional colours which was missing this season and would be well recieved by the fan base.

Totally with you Gary and All our fans should be wanting this and going for it, also every fan who still wants our identity back should wear it, at least sometimes and Never Red.

Four weeks ago today I was fortunate enough to meet Vincent Tan and spend a little over two hours in his company. When I say fortunate, I mean it in a way that I believe no Cardiff City fan has had such open access to Vincent Tan before this and it seems that nobody has had such a meeting since.

The season that has past is undoubtedly the most controversial City fans have undergone as a result of the re-branding.

From the two meetings I attended, a year ago, with a group of fans representatives and four club officials, Vincent Tan was constantly described as a man who gets what he wants, a man so powerful among his staff that nobody says no to him, apparently you don't even consider offering an opinion as if it is different to his then you are out of the picture. The picture of Vincent Tan that was painted was that of a dictator.

On initially meeting Tan, I was careful in my words and approach, after the introductions I observed his behaviour and how he interacted with those close to him and it became apparent very quickly that he was not the preconceived dictator that I had been led to believe he was.

Here was a man who was comfortable to chat, have small talk, talk about any issue that was presented. Over the course of the two hours, the dynamics of the conversations were changing, at the beginning it was others and I that instigated the conversations and he responded but it didn't take too long before Tan was asking the questions.

It demonstrated to me at least that here was a man who is approachable, who will listen to ideas and debate them, he showed genuine interest in what was being discussed and offered an olive branch that I believed was not there before but maybe it always was but we as fans had not been united enough, strong enough to seek talks with Tan himself.

There have been attempts at demonstrations, protest groups and talks with City officials but I believe we as fans have gone about it the wrong way.

After meeting with Tan himself, I genuinely believe that through dialogue direct with the man himself is the way to bring him closer to the fans and vice versa. If we want any chance of bringing blue back as a primary colour then we have to discuss it with the one man who makes the decision, there is very little point in asking club officials to deliver a message on behalf of the fans, as I believe it has to be said with feeling, emotion and show what it means to us and having a middleman would be futile and possibly unfair on any said employee.

Any possible talks would have to be respectful and I am sure that we as fans would have to compromise if we are asking Vincent Tan to compromise too.

As a starter I would suggest that we wear blue and fly blue flags at games to celebrate our love of being blue and the bluebirds and do not be disrespectful to the red.

Whether we like it or not, Vincent Tan likes red, the message should be 'We love Blue' and not 'f**k off red', if we go down that road then we are drawing battle lines and looking for a fight, we do not want to fight Tan we want to welcome him but show him what it means to us to be blue.

We are known as powerful fans and channelled in the right manner and direction I honestly believe that is our best possible chance to get somewhere to what we want but we must be understanding of the wishes and beliefs of the man who is bankrolling the club.

Before we can even try and compromise with Vincent Tan, we must start first and bring unity among our support and start singing from the same hymn sheet. There are far too many divisions among our support but I can see that we all want the same end, we have to get together and accept among ourselves that we need to compromise between ourselves before we even contemplate trying to go direct to Vincent Tan.

We need to be united and put any ill feeling that may have arisen over the past year to one side if we are to achieve anything towards what I hope we could.

Where there is will there is a way!

Dear Mr Curtis,

Don't be so blinkered. Please don't take this the wrong way as its not a slight on your integrity at all. I enjoy your posts and Echo script in the main.

Although the full reason you got to meet Vincent Tan for a couple of hours was all pre planned and a stage act, you are known within as SH sheep in the corridors of power. Those sheep are required for the ultimate sacrifice as the full script of the act is to convince SH to place his balance of loan notes into share in the Club . In that script is the leaking to Reuters of a story that then gets picked up locally and ensures the message gets back to SH. It's all arouse and the stock market situation is pure fabrication in an attempt to corrupt the mind and decision of one Mr Sam Hammam.

You Mr Curtis are known as a close confident and friend of Sam Hammam. They need you to bend his ear. They need you to like Vincent Tan, your falling right into his hands and others when you write script like this today.

Carl I believe that VT does realise he has made a mistake with this rebrand and he is looking for a way to reach a compromise, but it is going to take someone with the courage to talk to the man and sadly those within the club don't seem to have it.

Next season there will only be 2 clubs, Chelsea & Everton, with Blue as the primary colour of thier club which means our "Away" colours will be available to be worn at 16 our of 19 away games, West Brom may be a clash because of the Blue/White. A commitment from the club to do that would be a big step forward in my opinion.

A simple commitment like that would a believe show a level of respect to our traditional colours which was missing this season and would be well recieved by the fan base.

Totally with you Gary and All our fans should be wanting this and going for it, also every fan who still wants our identity back should wear it, at least sometimes and Never Red.

The question is then Annis how do we get the message to VT, should we set up some online petition or something like that.

I cannot believe that VT will consider any request to use our "Blue" strip on as many occasions as possible in anyway disrespectful.

A very small price for the club to pay but in return they will, in my opinion, gain a huge amount of goodwill from the fans and ALL without VT losing face.

"When the subject of the re-branding was broached and Tim suggested that a return to blue or a compromise kit of some sort would win Tan much favour with the supporters, the club's major shareholder apparently told him in no uncertain terms that Cardiff's first-choice colour will remain as red for the foreseeable future and if the fans want anything different they will have to find themselves a new owner."

That's exactly the thoughts and mind of Vincent Tan. There will be no change.

Tan is playing Curtis to get his own way for 28 million reasons.

Good post but the mere mention of the rebranding brings the red mist down which prevents any meaningful dialogue with some fans that's why i can't see the unity most of us want to sort this problem out.

Carl I believe that VT does realise he has made a mistake with this rebrand and he is looking for a way to reach a compromise, but it is going to take someone with the courage to talk to the man and sadly those within the club don't seem to have it.

Next season there will only be 2 clubs, Chelsea & Everton, with Blue as the primary colour of thier club which means our "Away" colours will be available to be worn at 16 our of 19 away games, West Brom may be a clash because of the Blue/White. A commitment from the club to do that would be a big step forward in my opinion.

A simple commitment like that would a believe show a level of respect to our traditional colours which was missing this season and would be well recieved by the fan base.

Totally with you Gary and All our fans should be wanting this and going for it, also every fan who still wants our identity back should wear it, at least sometimes and Never Red.

The question is then Annis how do we get the message to VT, should we set up some online petition or something like that.

I cannot believe that VT will consider any request to use our "Blue" strip on as many occasions as possible in anyway disrespectful.

A very small price for the club to pay but in return they will, in my opinion, gain a huge amount of goodwill from the fans and ALL without VT losing face.

Simply keep wearing and celebrating in blue and boycotting red. That's all we can do.

Carl, as you know I changed my mind/attitude about Tan after meeting him, but I still do not believe he is right about stripping our identity from us and his words to me on that, I do not agree with.

Tans words were Red brings happiness,it's the way forward, it's the future, it brings luck, I don't buy in to this one second.

Why I changed my mind on Tan was , Tan was willing to listen and talk about many things and laugh with it, his sense of humour was funny.

I also believe like you Carl, All our fans should of turned up, support the team, cheer them on, but All been prominent in BLUE and that would of been the best protest of all. To many fans embraced the Red, so Tan believed we had accepted it. Tan, his PA and Simon Ling said that they did not realise that so many were still against it and they had not been told it.
They then realised it in the last few home games and last few away games and totally Respect us for it.

Tan has changed your mind? Just as he wants you to do. You fell for the bait don't swallow the hook.

"When the subject of the re-branding was broached and Tim suggested that a return to blue or a compromise kit of some sort would win Tan much favour with the supporters, the club's major shareholder apparently told him in no uncertain terms that Cardiff's first-choice colour will remain as red for the foreseeable future and if the fans want anything different they will have to find themselves a new owner."

Carl, as you know I changed my mind/attitude about Tan after meeting him, but I still do not believe he is right about stripping our identity from us and his words to me on that, I do not agree with.

Tans words were Red brings happiness,it's the way forward, it's the future, it brings luck, I don't buy in to this one second.

Why I changed my mind on Tan was , Tan was willing to listen and talk about many things and laugh with it, his sense of humour was funny.

I also believe like you Carl, All our fans should of turned up, support the team, cheer them on, but All been prominent in BLUE and that would of been the best protest of all. To many fans embraced the Red, so Tan believed we had accepted it. Tan, his PA and Simon Ling said that they did not realise that so many were still against it and they had not been told it.
They then realised it in the last few home games and last few away games and totally Respect us for it.

We the fans have been lead down the garden path about a no compromise from the club who have their interests only at heart. Twice I have seen Tan walk on the pitch, once after promotion was gained and once when we were presented with the cup. Both times he was welcomed with the "We will always be blue" and I hope that hurt him because sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind.

Carl, as you know I changed my mind/attitude about Tan after meeting him, but I still do not believe he is right about stripping our identity from us and his words to me on that, I do not agree with.

Tans words were Red brings happiness,it's the way forward, it's the future, it brings luck, I don't buy in to this one second.

Why I changed my mind on Tan was , Tan was willing to listen and talk about many things and laugh with it, his sense of humour was funny.

I also believe like you Carl, All our fans should of turned up, support the team, cheer them on, but All been prominent in BLUE and that would of been the best protest of all. To many fans embraced the Red, so Tan believed we had accepted it. Tan, his PA and Simon Ling said that they did not realise that so many were still against it and they had not been told it.
They then realised it in the last few home games and last few away games and totally Respect us for it.

Like f**k it does

"When the subject of the re-branding was broached and Tim suggested that a return to blue or a compromise kit of some sort would win Tan much favour with the supporters, the club's major shareholder apparently told him in no uncertain terms that Cardiff's first-choice colour will remain as red for the foreseeable future and if the fans want anything different they will have to find themselves a new owner."

Carl, as you know I changed my mind/attitude about Tan after meeting him, but I still do not believe he is right about stripping our identity from us and his words to me on that, I do not agree with.

Tans words were Red brings happiness,it's the way forward, it's the future, it brings luck, I don't buy in to this one second.

Why I changed my mind on Tan was , Tan was willing to listen and talk about many things and laugh with it, his sense of humour was funny.

I also believe like you Carl, All our fans should of turned up, support the team, cheer them on, but All been prominent in BLUE and that would of been the best protest of all. To many fans embraced the Red, so Tan believed we had accepted it. Tan, his PA and Simon Ling said that they did not realise that so many were still against it and they had not been told it.
They then realised it in the last few home games and last few away games and totally Respect us for it.

We the fans have been lead down the garden path about a no compromise from the club who have their interests only at heart. Twice I have seen Tan walk on the pitch, once after promotion was gained and once when we were presented with the cup. Both times he was welcomed with the "We will always be blue" and I hope that hurt him because sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind.

" hurt him " ? Matters like that don't hurt him, he thrives on it.

"When the subject of the re-branding was broached and Tim suggested that a return to blue or a compromise kit of some sort would win Tan much favour with the supporters, the club's major shareholder apparently told him in no uncertain terms that Cardiff's first-choice colour will remain as red for the foreseeable future and if the fans want anything different they will have to find themselves a new owner."

Carl, as you know I changed my mind/attitude about Tan after meeting him, but I still do not believe he is right about stripping our identity from us and his words to me on that, I do not agree with.

Tans words were Red brings happiness,it's the way forward, it's the future, it brings luck, I don't buy in to this one second.

Why I changed my mind on Tan was , Tan was willing to listen and talk about many things and laugh with it, his sense of humour was funny.

I also believe like you Carl, All our fans should of turned up, support the team, cheer them on, but All been prominent in BLUE and that would of been the best protest of all. To many fans embraced the Red, so Tan believed we had accepted it. Tan, his PA and Simon Ling said that they did not realise that so many were still against it and they had not been told it.
They then realised it in the last few home games and last few away games and totally Respect us for it.

We the fans have been lead down the garden path about a no compromise from the club who have their interests only at heart. Twice I have seen Tan walk on the pitch, once after promotion was gained and once when we were presented with the cup. Both times he was welcomed with the "We will always be blue" and I hope that hurt him because sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind.

" hurt him " ? Matters like that don't hurt him, he thrives on it.

Yes could well believe it hence why I used the word hope.

"When the subject of the re-branding was broached and Tim suggested that a return to blue or a compromise kit of some sort would win Tan much favour with the supporters, the club's major shareholder apparently told him in no uncertain terms that Cardiff's first-choice colour will remain as red for the foreseeable future and if the fans want anything different they will have to find themselves a new owner."

Carl, as you know I changed my mind/attitude about Tan after meeting him, but I still do not believe he is right about stripping our identity from us and his words to me on that, I do not agree with.

Tans words were Red brings happiness,it's the way forward, it's the future, it brings luck, I don't buy in to this one second.

Why I changed my mind on Tan was , Tan was willing to listen and talk about many things and laugh with it, his sense of humour was funny.

I also believe like you Carl, All our fans should of turned up, support the team, cheer them on, but All been prominent in BLUE and that would of been the best protest of all. To many fans embraced the Red, so Tan believed we had accepted it. Tan, his PA and Simon Ling said that they did not realise that so many were still against it and they had not been told it.
They then realised it in the last few home games and last few away games and totally Respect us for it.

We the fans have been lead down the garden path about a no compromise from the club who have their interests only at heart. Twice I have seen Tan walk on the pitch, once after promotion was gained and once when we were presented with the cup. Both times he was welcomed with the "We will always be blue" and I hope that hurt him because sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind.

" hurt him " ? Matters like that don't hurt him, he thrives on it.

Yes could well believe it hence why I used the word hope.

Understood.

As I and others have said wearing blue at games is the most powerful protest of all.simple but very affective especially when its live on tv shown around the world.keep that up and it won't be long before where back to blue.

As I and others have said wearing blue at games is the most powerful protest of all.simple but very affective especially when its live on tv shown around the world.keep that up and it won't be long before where back to blue.

Agree. Red wasn't just manufactured by Tan as a figment of his imagination to being lucky though,there is far more reason than he's corporation are letting on to his customer base. Fans only have ONE choice - keep wearing blue.

Carl, as you know I changed my mind/attitude about Tan after meeting him, but I still do not believe he is right about stripping our identity from us and his words to me on that, I do not agree with.

Tans words were Red brings happiness,it's the way forward, it's the future, it brings luck, I don't buy in to this one second.

Why I changed my mind on Tan was , Tan was willing to listen and talk about many things and laugh with it, his sense of humour was funny.

I also believe like you Carl, All our fans should of turned up, support the team, cheer them on, but All been prominent in BLUE and that would of been the best protest of all. To many fans embraced the Red, so Tan believed we had accepted it. Tan, his PA and Simon Ling said that they did not realise that so many were still against it and they had not been told it.
They then realised it in the last few home games and last few away games and totally Respect us for it.

Tan has changed your mind? Just as he wants you to do. You fell for the bait don't swallow the hook.

When I say changed my mind, I mean I was led to believe Tan unapproachable by certain people, including Club officials and that def was not the case. But don't worry nothing will change my opinion about the Stripping of Our Identity. I want and will continue no matter what wanting our Identity back and will never like.accept or buy the Red.

Good post.

We'll always be blue.

Lets get this right, did you have a pre arranged meeting with Tan one on one, or did you just turn up when he went to see the kids play and out of courtesy he spoke to you.?

Lets get this right, did you have a pre arranged meeting with Tan one on one, or did you just turn up when he went to see the kids play and out of courtesy he spoke to you.?

It was arranged for a few of us to meet him.

Lets get this right, did you have a pre arranged meeting with Tan one on one, or did you just turn up when he went to see the kids play and out of courtesy he spoke to you.?

Sounds more like it. Anyone could have gone.

Hang on, can someone tell me where the dialogue was went the colour change actually happened yet people who have spoken to him are no wanting dialogue to change it back ?

Hes played you like a piece on his chessboard at the end of the day.

Hang on, can someone tell me where the dialogue was went the colour change actually happened yet people who have spoken to him are no wanting dialogue to change it back ?

Hes played you like a piece on his chessboard at the end of the day.

Are you pissed or just illiterate.