Morton Club Together Updates

[TRVMP]

I was going to type something like "Having a professional staff, on the other hand, is important..." but a cat jumped on me so I got distracted.

[Guest capitanus]

7 hours ago, irnbru said:

I don't really have any issues with the MCT people being volunteers but I'd feel a lot more comfortable if we had more paid staff running the club business. If we hire wisely then they'd pay for themselves. 

Well the club's General Manager, Chris Ross, the club secretary, Brendan McEleny, the Commercial Manager, Lesley Anne Webb are all salaried employees of the club responsible for running the club business, i'd imagine there are others there too.  They seem like competent folk, I dont see there being a problem with some volunteers assisting about the place like there has been for years.

[Guest capitanus]

7 minutes ago, TRVMP said:

I was going to type something like "Having a professional staff, on the other hand, is important..." but a cat jumped on me so I got distracted.

Cat my arse. 

Why not just admit that you find Exeter City's chief of ticketing operations pretty amusing.  I know that I do.

 

[TRVMP]

She's still here. Carefully guarding the Morton-themed blanket my mother-in-law made for us. 

[Guest capitanus]

I love cats. 

They're like Dogs, only better because you dont need to walk about picking up shite after them.  

 

[TRVMP]

And they'd think you were a right weirdo if you did.

[hayfever]

6 hours ago, capitanus said:

Cat my arse. 

Why not just admit that you find Exeter City's chief of ticketing operations pretty amusing.  I know that I do.

 

It was chief of ticketing and retail operations thank you. Don't forget all those programmes I sold.

[vikingTON]

8 hours ago, capitanus said:

Well the club's General Manager, Chris Ross, the club secretary, Brendan McEleny, the Commercial Manager, Lesley Anne Webb are all salaried employees of the club responsible for running the club business, i'd imagine there are others there too.  They seem like competent folk, I dont see there being a problem with some volunteers assisting about the place like there has been for years.

The GM is on a diddy-level contract that doesn't fully cover the responsibilities of the job though, not least given the shitshow that he is taking on at multiple levels (for example, dealing with Interstadia's continued, gubbins presence). I don't want to see an MCT director 'helping out'/sticking their oar in whenever the GM isn't around or is too busy to make a decision, unless it has already been agreed what that decision should be.

The club and MCT should produce some sort of organisation chart to explain how the two distinct bodies will now cooperate in practice. This will hopefully clear up legitimate concerns that many fans and members have about having a professional management and oversight of club affairs - there is a valid place in that structure for volunteers as well. They will have to stick to those defined roles and relationships though which is the most difficult task. 

[Guest capitanus]

5 hours ago, hayfever said:

It was chief of ticketing and retail operations thank you. Don't forget all those programmes I sold.

So, you sold an occasional scarf too.  Did you also work on the Pie stall?

[irnbru]

5 hours ago, vikingTON said:

The GM is on a diddy-level contract that doesn't fully cover the responsibilities of the job though, not least given the shitshow that he is taking on at multiple levels (for example, dealing with Interstadia's continued, gubbins presence). I don't want to see an MCT director 'helping out'/sticking their oar in whenever the GM isn't around or is too busy to make a decision, unless it has already been agreed what that decision should be.

The club and MCT should produce some sort of organisation chart to explain how the two distinct bodies will now cooperate in practice. This will hopefully clear up legitimate concerns that many fans and members have about having a professional management and oversight of club affairs - there is a valid place in that structure for volunteers as well. They will have to stick to those defined roles and relationships though which is the most difficult task. 

Aye, there's this and the others mentioned aren't really responsible for leading anything or developing us as a football club it business. 

[LargsTON]

22 hours ago, Cet Homme Charmant said:

Congratulations to all involved, but having witnessed so many false dawns over the years my optimism is firmly in the 'cautious' category. While I'm glad it's finally done and dusted, I still have my concerns about the long term viability of fan ownership, especially as many of those heavily involved are doing it only on a free-time basis, and with a part-time general manager. It goes without saying that I hope these concerns prove to be unfounded and we go from strength-to-strength, but at this minute I'm far from 100% convinced. More than happy to give the guys the benefit of the doubt for the meantime though, and of course I wish them all the best. 

Ill be honest.  The only way I fear MCT will take us is on a continual downward spiral.  I've zero faith in the fan ownership model at this level therefore I'm completely underwhelmed.  I'll happily invest if I start seeing signs of progress but I won't hold my breath based on early evidence.

[Cet Homme Charmant]

1 hour ago, LargsTON said:

Ill be honest.  The only way I fear MCT will take us is on a continual downward spiral.  I've zero faith in the fan ownership model at this level therefore I'm completely underwhelmed.  I'll happily invest if I start seeing signs of progress but I won't hold my breath based on early evidence.

Agree that some of the early signs are worrying, but it's still very early days. So although I share your concerns that we could end up on a downward spiral to Airdriesque perma-diddydom, or perhaps even worse, I'm not writing them off completely just yet. I think in around 18-24 months it will become clear in which direction we're heading, but I'd by lying if I said I was super confident it will be the upwards. 

[9 Strathblane Crescent]

1 hour ago, LargsTON said:

Ill be honest.  The only way I fear MCT will take us is on a continual downward spiral.  I've zero faith in the fan ownership model at this level therefore I'm completely underwhelmed.  I'll happily invest if I start seeing signs of progress but I won't hold my breath based on early evidence.

I'm sure you're not alone in having doubts. But if we all followed your lead and never joined then we would almost certainly be on a downward spiral. The more people who join the better chance there is of MCT making a success of Morton and making progress. That has to be one of MCTs major challenges to get more people to take a leap of faith and sign up.

[Cet Homme Charmant]

40 minutes ago, 9 Strathblane Crescent said:

I'm sure you're not alone in having doubts. But if we all followed your lead and never joined then we would almost certainly be on a downward spiral. The more people who join the better chance there is of MCT making a success of Morton and making progress. That has to be one of MCTs major challenges to get more people to take a leap of faith and sign up.

That's a fair point, but it's also reasonable to hold off from parting with hard-earned cash until the competency of the MCT leadership has been established. So far they've failed to do so, IMO. 

[vikingTON]

46 minutes ago, Cet Homme Charmant said:

That's a fair point, but it's also reasonable to hold off from parting with hard-earned cash until the competency of the MCT leadership has been established. So far they've failed to do so, IMO. 

Nope, it's really not reasonable any more tbh. They have gone from an idea to having the majority holding in the club within 18 months. The original deal that Golden Casket was terrible: MCT responded to that and changed it. Given the circumstances, we've come out of the Rae era cul de sax relatively unscathed and that's an undoubted success.

That of course doesn't mean that MCT directors get carte blanche to run the club as they want. But the deal is done, they - we - now own the club and so it's absolutely time to be inside that tent in whatever capacity suits you, rather than just carping on the sidelines as before. 

[irnbru]

1 hour ago, Cet Homme Charmant said:

That's a fair point, but it's also reasonable to hold off from parting with hard-earned cash until the competency of the MCT leadership has been established. So far they've failed to do so, IMO. 

Don't agree with this. The purpose of fan ownership is that there's not a set leadership so if fans aren't happy that can change. 

I think making it clearer that this is the case has been a bit of a failing from the start though with the comms around it and no real clarity around what membership means. The updates are generally telling members stuff rather than encouraging ongoing  engagement so it gives off the sense of a closed shop but it shouldn't be (and isn't by the constitution). The delay in giving detail on delays of the deal, etc didn't help this either. 

Edited September 30, 2021 by irnbru

[Cet Homme Charmant]

22 minutes ago, vikingTON said:

Nope, it's really not reasonable any more tbh. They have gone from an idea to having the majority holding in the club within 18 months. The original deal that Golden Casket was terrible: MCT responded to that and changed it. Given the circumstances, we've come out of the Rae era cul de sax relatively unscathed and that's an undoubted success.

That of course doesn't mean that MCT directors get carte blanche to run the club as they want. But the deal is done, they - we - now own the club and so it's absolutely time to be inside that tent in whatever capacity suits you, rather than just carping on the sidelines as before. 

I lost a fair bit of confidence in the competency of MCT over the summer, and until that confidence is regained, I'm holding off. Fair fucks to you and anyone else who are happy to hop onboard now, but it's too soon for me.

[Cet Homme Charmant]

10 minutes ago, irnbru said:

Don't agree with this. 

Fair enough, we can agree to differ, but I simply don't feel ready to risk my hard-earned cash on a venture that until now has done little to justify it. You obviously do, which is of course your choice, but I'm not there yet.

[irnbru]

58 minutes ago, Cet Homme Charmant said:

Fair enough, we can agree to differ, but I simply don't feel ready to risk my hard-earned cash on a venture that until now has done little to justify it. You obviously do, which is of course your choice, but I'm not there yet.

I don't think it's been a great start but there's been a lot done in a relatively short space of time (along with a pandemic that's been thrown into the mix to make everyone's life more difficult) so give them the benefit of the doubt. 

Going back to my other point though, the judgement shouldn't really be on the people (the model should mean they come and go) but on the structure and how members can get involved. If the collective of fans have an influence then we'd all be happier. 

While I've said a lot has been done, I think one of the main areas for improvement is to focus on the input of members rather than it being an us and them approach like it appears now. For example, if you felt that by joining you had a voice and some influence, you might feel differently but there's been nothing to suggest you would apart from it being something people expect from fan ownership. 

[TRVMP]

I haven't yet subscribed not because of any reservation over MCT (all of these I've had have been met) and not because I disagree with the model. I haven't subscribed because there's still a ton of hoops for overseas subscribers to jump through that I frankly can't be bothered dealing with; and the Direct Debit system is managed by an individual using a personal email address, rather than something properly governed. It's a Hamilton Accies/Nigerian prince situation waiting to happen, and I'd rather MCT get that sorted before it occurs. If that is done, I'd happily sign up.