Martin Gray

[feethams flyer]

Appreciate massively what he has achieved in the last five years but he owes everyone and I mean everyone a massive apology .At the fans forum he insulted everyone from the chairman to the youngest fan of our club. The old ladies with buckets are the ones who paid his wages in the early years.

[darlo2001uk]

Spot on.

He is the laughing stock now.

Nobody is bigger than DFC - not even him.

[super_les_mcjannet]

I am happy to move on with Gray if he wants to stay.

Time to just get on with it, we do now need to move on.

[loan_star]

Spot on.

He is the laughing stock now.

Nobody is bigger than DFC - not even him.

Guess you want to drive him out of the club now? Just like the two directors who were forced out over the seat mistake?

[Vodka_Vic]

I am happy to move on with Gray if he wants to stay.

Time to just get on with it, we do now need to move on.

Which I hope is the message that most of the fans, John Tempest and Wayne Raper will give to him too.

[darlo2001uk]

Spot on.

He is the laughing stock now.

Nobody is bigger than DFC - not even him.

Guess you want to drive him out of the club now? Just like the two directors who were forced out over the seat mistake?

No I don't - you are putting words in there that I did not say. And nor did I want to see the directors resign over what was a genuine mistake.

But Gray's behaviour at the fan forum was a disgrace.

I hope he is big enough to stand up and apologise and we can move on - the ball is in his court.

[Craig09]

Im not wanting an apology martin knows we need a investor its just a shame it was Raj singh i really hope we do get another investor come in as we will struggle next season even with the budget we had this season with more teams going full time and better teams coming in the league

[al_quaker]

Im not wanting an apology martin knows we need a investor its just a shame it was Raj singh i really hope we do get another investor come in as we will struggle next season even with the budget we had this season with more teams going full time and better teams coming in the league

Define struggle - I doubt we'll get relegated. Does upper mid-table count as struggling? We're already a third of the way to plugging the budget deficit.

[theoriginalfatcat]

Im not wanting an apology martin knows we need a investor its just a shame it was Raj singh i really hope we do get another investor come in as we will struggle next season even with the budget we had this season with more teams going full time and better teams coming in the league

Define struggle - I doubt we'll get relegated. Does upper mid-table count as struggling? We're already a third of the way to plugging the budget deficit.

Might be some bigger contributions coming in now. Fingers crossed.

[darlo2001uk]

Im not wanting an apology martin knows we need a investor its just a shame it was Raj singh i really hope we do get another investor come in as we will struggle next season even with the budget we had this season with more teams going full time and better teams coming in the league

Yes he does. And many, many fans agree with him, so long as the process is done properly.

The way it was aired at the forum, without the knowledge of the directors, was wrong, and to try to work with Singh was naive and showed a lack of appreciation for what happened in 2012.

I would love to know who approached who in the first instance.

[Craig09]

Im not wanting an apology martin knows we need a investor its just a shame it was Raj singh i really hope we do get another investor come in as we will struggle next season even with the budget we had this season with more teams going full time and better teams coming in the league

Define struggle - I doubt we'll get relegated. Does upper mid-table count as struggling? We're already a third of the way to plugging the budget deficit.

Your proberly right but us darlo fans want the best of everything, say if we had the smallest budget in the league we still would expect the team to finish in the playoffs

[Ash]

I don't care if Gray stays or not tbh. He's done a great job but he's had the budget and the fact that we're a big club. He thinks he's bigger than the club and I'm starting to feel like with all of his academy ties and whatnot it is getting that way.

I'm not trying to drive anyone out but the way the club have handled this and Gray too has been a disgrace. We saved this club for us not for Martin Gray.

For the club to have a pop at keyboard warrior fans ... it is those same fans that mean we have a club.

I don't think Gray has the same priorities we do, we need to consolidate and ensure we are stable. Time for Gray to go and I won't be sorry.

[Mr_Tibbs]

Go and enjoy your holiday Martin. This will all be forgotten in a couple of weeks.

[SwansQuaker83]

Let's see, who else can we drive out of this club?

I completely understand Gray's frustrations at the time of the forum given the shocking mismanagement of the ground situation by the board. He misjudged the feelings towards Singh. That's ended now. It seems like everyone involved with this club scans social media, so they should realise that in the main our fans want investment. And the search for suitors as well as people to become involved voluntarily, shouldn't stop here. MG should by all means use his contacts, but communicate with the board. I really hope he stays... I believe he can build a squad on a shoestring that can punch above its weight. I also think he can take our production line forward. Time for everyone to unite, not slag off Gray and force him out...

[m62exile]

Well let's be honest - the opinion on social media and on here over the last couple of days has been the managers are ten a penny and whilst Martin's done a good job if he thinks he's bigger than the club then he can toddle off.

I'm very clear that he has been the critical constant in the last few years, most of the squad play for us because of him and if (maybe when) he decides he isn't respected round here we'll be in a hell of a lot worse position than we are now.

[My opinion]

Let's see, who else can we drive out of this club?

I completely understand Gray's frustrations at the time of the forum given the shocking mismanagement of the ground situation by the board. He misjudged the feelings towards Singh. That's ended now. It seems like everyone involved with this club scans social media, so they should realise that in the main our fans want investment. And the search for suitors as well as people to become involved voluntarily, shouldn't stop here. MG should by all means use his contacts, but communicate with the board. I really hope he stays... I believe he can build a squad on a shoestring that can punch above its weight. I also think he can take our production line forward. Time for everyone to unite, not slag off Gray and force him out...

No body will force him out..He is his own man and will make his own decision regardless of who says what.
Like Ash, I don't care if he stays or goes..However, I will never trust him again and I won't be one of those who sing his name at future matches..I thought it was a disgrace that he went behind everyones back and talked with Singh..

[tezza]

There can only be one outcome.

Go back to his outburst at the FF.

His ambition has outgrown the clubs resources.
He gave the ultimatum.
He stated we were a "laughing stock" which seems hollow now

He has no guarantee of success next year , additional £80k or not.
Year on year we see the playing budget has been overstretched and resources redirected to compensate.
How would it look if 3 months into the season we were sitting second bottom, what would be the attitude of fans who had again stumped up?

You cannot have a division of this magnitude and expect to all row in the same direction.

For MG the clock stopped ticking when his friend RS pulled the rug. Bad judgement of where your loyalty should have been MG

[Ash]

Last paragraph sums it up perfectly Tezza.

[Feethams 1966]

Let's see, who else can we drive out of this club?

MG should by all means use his contacts, but communicate with the board. I really hope he stays... I believe he can build a squad on a shoestring that can punch above its weight. I also think he can take our production line forward. Time for everyone to unite, not slag off Gray and force him out...

Agree completely. I just hope we don't hear in a day or two that Martin's resigned. We've been through too much together and we need him more than ever. Time to let bygones be bygones and move on.

[tezza]

Go and enjoy your holiday Martin. This will all be forgotten in a couple of weeks.

You think so?

[Ash]

Can he build a squad on a shoestring? I've only ever seen him churn through signings 'til he finds one that fits and overspend on the budget.

[Quakerz]

Can he build a squad on a shoestring? I've only ever seen him churn through signings 'til he finds one that fits and overspend on the budget.

To be fair, the cut was 80k, now it's 55k because of the boost the budget.

It's not ideal for him as it stands, but neither is it a shoestring either.

And in his defence I don't think he's overspent on his budget, I think it's a case of we've usually over-estimated our figures and given him a budget that's too large in hindsight?

[Yarblockos]

Can he build a squad on a shoestring? I've only ever seen him churn through signings 'til he finds one that fits and overspend on the budget.

To be fair, the cut was 80k, now it's 55k because of the boost the budget.

It's not ideal for him as it stands, but neither is it a shoestring either.

And in his defence I don't think he's overspent on his budget, I think it's a case of we've usually over-estimated our figures and given him a budget that's too large in hindsight?

Yep, he's never overspent and has always worked within the budget he was given, like you say that turned out to be too high.

With Boost the Bidget being a pitch that ends in 80 days, I presume that means we can't take any of the pledges if we don't hit 80k. So it's either an 80k cut or nothing.

[lo36789]

pledges have already been taken on boost the budget. My first amount went out on 1st May.

[al_quaker]

To be fair, the cut was 80k, now it's 55k because of the boost the budget.

It's not ideal for him as it stands, but neither is it a shoestring either.

And that £25k budget contribution has come from less than 6% of last seasons average attendance (98/1739). If we can get that up to (roughly) 20% then hey presto, everyone has a better team to watch and MG has his budget back

[Yarblockos]

pledges have already been taken on boost the budget. My first amount went out on 1st May.

Hmm, so how does it work? I thought you had to reach the target to take the money in these fundrasiers.

[Quakerz]

With Boost the Bidget being a pitch that ends in 80 days, I presume that means we can't take any of the pledges if we don't hit 80k. So it's either an 80k cut or nothing.

No.

The boost the budget doesn't work like that. It's donations rather than shares. We don't have to hit the target before we can begin collecting the money.

If you for example pledge £10 a month, it will be taken by direct debit every month until the end of March, so that means the boost the budget will go up by £120 as it stands because you'd make 10 payments. My first amount was taken 28th April.

If you donated a one off payment, then the boost the budget total would go up by that amount.

You can even pledge a weekly direct debit donation too.

[Quakerz]

pledges have already been taken on boost the budget. My first amount went out on 1st May.

Hmm, so how does it work? I thought you had to reach the target to take the money in these fundrasiers.

Because it's donations rather than shares.

[al_quaker]

You can even pledge a weekly direct debit donation too.

Yep - I've gone for a £3 a week DD. One pint less a week, and over the course of the year it adds on £150 to the budget. I don't miss it from my bank account, its healthier for me, and, while £150 doesn't sound a lot it soon adds up with multiple people contributing. Get involved everyone, even if it's only a couple of quid a month - its our way of competing with some of the bigger budgets while we are in our current ownership model

[Q8Quaker]

There can only be one outcome.

Go back to his outburst at the FF.

His ambition has outgrown the clubs resources.
He gave the ultimatum.
He stated we were a "laughing stock" which seems hollow now

He has no guarantee of success next year , additional £80k or not.
Year on year we see the playing budget has been overstretched and resources redirected to compensate.
How would it look if 3 months into the season we were sitting second bottom, what would be the attitude of fans who had again stumped up?

You cannot have a division of this magnitude and expect to all row in the same direction.

For MG the clock stopped ticking when his friend RS pulled the rug. Bad judgement of where your loyalty should have been MG

Utter Guff!

MGs outburst at the FF followed on from him finding out all the hard work on the pitch over the season was negated by the club failing to understand the ground grading required for competing in the play offs. This was in addition to the revelation by the board that no strategic plan exists to develop BM to FL standard.

Over the past five years MG and his staff have achieved everything you could possibly ask of them. If he has been provided with a budget that overstretched the clubs resources then that is hardly his fault!
However, there has been a series of cock ups and near misses relating to the off field activities which beggar belief for an organisation of our size and annual turnover. If issues such as the lack of seating had occurred at Hartlepool or Salford we and others would be laughing at them i.e they would be a laughing stock.

I don’t blame the directors who have stepped up to the plate one jot for any of the problems that have occurred. As stated at the FF they have had no handover from previous regimes and they are overwhelmed by the workload. On top of that, they face a barrage of criticism from the ‘know it all’s’ whenever anything goes wrong. The fault lies with the club (us) not providing the necessary resources to manage the off-field activities and until that is fixed we will continue stumbling from one crisis to the next.