Fri May 11, 2012 9:08 am
Firstly, I do not condone in any way shape of form any of the racist abuse that some have apparently leveled at our owners.
This has been a giant disaster right from the start. It has been handled appallingly from top to bottom.
1. No doubt the Malaysian's intentions for the re-brand were good. However, I would love to know just how far our directors went in warning them of the huge backlash this could cause. It doesnt take a rocket scientist to know this was going to be a hugely emotive issue and they should have been warned that this could get out of hand and to brace themselves for the worst.
2. The leak has done enormous damage and put the club on the backfoot before they had had a chance to properly meet and discuss the re-brand in more detail. It may have been that the board could have won the Malaysians round without this ever entering the public domain.
3. The meeting with Alan Whitely I feel was a crucial moment. It transpired at that meeting that there was nothing anyone could do and that it was non-negotiable. The fans werent told there would be a chance to meet the Malaysians and engage in dialogue, we were told that the Malaysians were effectively saying like it or lump it. This attitude antagonized the fan base more than anything. If we were told there was room for compromise and talks were ongoing things would never have descended to the level that they have. As can be seen from TG's statement yesterday there was room for further dialogue and he is a reasonable man, why werent the fans told this????????
4. As soon as this became a huge story TG should have got on a plane and met with the fans. The majority who were against the re-brand were hoping for an amicable meeting with the Malaysians in order to understand their intentions and to hopefully strike a compromise. I'm sure that if this had been done quickly passions would have cooled and both the Malaysians and the fans would have got what they wanted.
This has been a terrible few days for all concerned and I'm sure everyone of us wishes things had been dealt with differently at all levels. It's been a steep learning curve and wires have definitely been crossed. Never a dull moment being a Bluebird!