Fan on the Board Reports - 2012

January

We are currently hovering just above the relegation zone only two points clear, after watching us have most of the play at Bristol City I honestly thought we would come away with a point as a minimum, how disappointing was that, especially after the Palace result, we needed something to give us a boost, I hate getting beat by Palace especially at home, I suppose the only way to look at it is it was their cup final and whatever happens they will always live in our shadows no matter what division we are in.

Saturday we travelled deep into bandit country, expecting our minds to be taken off of our current league position I thought we would be easy winners and get straight into the next round, I was sorely wrong, a poor performance against a lowly team didn’t do anything to fill anyone with confidence, the players must have wanted the ground to open up rather than have to walk past our travelling fans, I would hope they remember the disappointment they saw and heard from fans and try to ensure they put in a better shift next game, there was a big positive for me at the game and that was the appearance of Sean Batt, he was only on for 12 minutes but he impressed me and showed promise, I know he is not fully recovered but a bit of match fitness can only help towards his full recovery. Once again we bagged a high profile big draw, we never seem to get a big draw.

We have been given 1436 tickets for the game at West Ham, months of negotiations have gone on to get this amount of tickets, we initially asked for West Ham to match the 2000 tickets we make available to them at the Den, we felt as there were no issues at the home tie West Ham and their Safety Advisory Group would agree but they wouldn’t, it seems at times the authorities treat us differently from other clubs, we do seem to get the brunt of low ticket allocations and the moving of kick off times, the club do try and push back to get more tickets and keep kick off times at the normal 3pm on Saturdays, we obviously have a bigger say at the home games and as such we have been able to keep most kick off times normal, but away we have less leverage against the local clubs, police and Safety Advisory Groups.

I have been getting many emails asking about team selection, transfer targets and transfer budgets, any decisions regarding team selection etc are ultimately made by Kenny, Kenny has his reasons for every decision taken, Kenny does explain his decisions to the board both on a weekly and monthly basis whether it be on the day of the game or at our monthly board meetings. There is a an obvious need for discretion, that is why this type of information is very rarely in the public domain not just for us but for all football teams, there are solid reasons behind this, I called Kenny to let him know what fans were asking for and he explained that the information people are asking for should always be kept private, if the club were to let fans know everything regards salaries, transfer targets, injuries, bust ups and other contentious issues not only would our fan base know but so would our competitors, this would hamper our chances of moving players out should we need to, Kenny also mentioned that at times players move to a club from another part of the country and find it hard to settle this can also affect their performances.

Kenny made it clear he is fully aware of our need to improve in the 2nd half of the season, he realised we are lacking creativity and goal scoring opportunities, he is looking at moving some people in and some out in a bid to turn the season round Kenny is confident he can do it.
It has been well reported in the press that Darius Henderson has been involved in an altercation in a club/restaurant until a full investigation has been carried out by the authorities there isn’t too much that can be said, Darius has the full backing of the club and is being selected for games when fit as per normal.
I know everyone at the club will want to wish Darren Purse all the best at Plymouth, Darren is one of the players who through his career I have always said I would like him at Millwall, he has always shown the battling passionate Millwall qualities we all love, coming from a Millwall family and a Millwall fan himself it must have been great for him playing for the club he has followed all his life.

There has been a lot of talk regards players using social networking sites i.e. Twitter, Facebook etc, I spoke to Kenny and he told me that there is no club ban on using such sites, players are just asked to consider the impact on the club when posting both personally and professionally.

Throughout my term I have been asking for people to come forward and quiz the directors with any questions they might like to ask, for some reason there has never been any takers but I have managed to get 10 fans who will be coming in before the Birmingham game to have a meeting with the directors that are available on the day, we will have Andy Ambler, Trevor Keyse and Constantine Gonticas, I will take notes and get a short report out after the meeting.

With the transfer window on top of us, John Berylson along with the other directors have decided to invest more money into the club, some of this money will be made available for Kenny to go into the transfer/loan market, what fans need to take into account is that although the board have cut club loses substantially over the last 5 years, we are still losing a 6 figure sum each month so a percentage of any new investment will be apportioned to ensuring the club is able to run as a going concern in the coming months, existing wages need to be paid and the gates do not come anywhere near covering the outgoings all this said money has been made available to Kenny.

I know we all have our idea and opinions on team and transfer target selection, the ultimate decision lies with Kenny. With the current financial climate everyone is trying to hold on to every pound (or dollar) they have, a football club is no different, the board and everyone in the club have worked tirelessly to reduce the losses, we are still losing money every month, if we weren’t there would be no need for the chairman and fellow board members to continuing bailing the club out, hopefully at some point this may change.

The investment from the chairman and his fellow directors in the last 5 years well exceeds £20million with the chairman investing the lions share (pardon the pun) It would great if we could get more fans through the gates to take some of the burden off of the chairman and board members, the only way I believe to do this is through increased gates and the formula is pretty simple, win football matches and fans will come along, so if you know any lapsed fans who you think you can get back give them a shout as we are all in this together.

I don’t normally “bite” in regards criticism, if anyone has an issue with the way I carry out my role I am very willing to listen to their complaints and take on board anything constructive, if anyone does they can contact the MSC or the club to raise any serious concerns, one thing I refuse to have aimed at me is issues around my integrity, it may have been a throw away comment on an unofficial website but it did annoy both me and my family, it was suggested that I receive financial benefits from the club in the way of my car and other benefits that are given to the company I work for, I have carried out the role for 5 years and in that time I have never taken a single penny in expenses or payments or given a car!! The club have never given my company any work or benefits, if I attend any functions i.e. player of the year or testimonials dinners I pay for my table, I do get match-day tickets for myself and a guest but I feel that compensates for the 20 days a year I take off of work to attend board meetings and other functions in order to give the role my full input.

I hate the fact I am having to explain myself, the accusation is so far from the truth, in fact I introduced one of my clients to the club and my client has now used the Den for their team meetings and used the facilities non match days every month for the past 4 years raising a 5 figure sum for the club which we all know is well needed, I have also matched up the club with another contact from a major car manufacturer with the hope a deal can be done that will help the club save even more money, if you know anyone you think can do a deal with the club or sponsor the club in anyway drop me a line you never know it may work out. Anyway that’s my rant over.

I am now in my third term, I am enjoying the role I haven’t had any opposition the last 2 elections on the first re-election the other candidate stood down very close to the election and in the last one the opponent wasn’t able to stand as he was on a ban at the time of applying, both elections were open to all members.

Finally I have a had a few complaints regards racial abuse/chanting at the Palace game, I have asked people from different areas in the ground if they saw/heard anything but no-one saw or heard anything, if you have any information that can help either confirm or deny these complaints it would help me a lot.

As always anyone has any questions drop me a line.

Pete.

Millwall Supporters Club, c/o The Den, Zampa Road, London SE16 3LN  -  phone: 07895 022 325  -  email: info@millwallsupportersclub.co.uk