Building houses on the car park?

[Snake]

There are lots of unanswered questions in this thread so it must be my turn by now to ask one instead of responding.

Has admin (a) banned the entire OxVox Committee from contributing to this board or (b) do the Trust just not know what is going on or (c) they can’t be arsed to tell Us or (d) they would love to but IL would have to approve it?

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Moving on to strengthening the squad issues in the winter transfer window, Leroy Lita is as of today free for a loan deal and OUFC could get him for peanuts as he’s desperate to play and score.

[Kernow Yellow]

There are lots of unanswered questions in this thread so it must be my turn by now to ask one instead of responding.

Has admin (a) banned the entire OxVox Committee from contributing to this board or (b) do the Trust just not know what is going on or (c) they can’t be arsed to tell Us or (d) they would love to but IL would have to approve it?

To be fair, this is not the OxVox forum, and there is a statement on the subject on the OxVox website, not that it's particularly enlightening. I agree that it's a shame that posters such as Brahma Bull and Matt D don't post on here so much anymore, but maybe they've got better things to do with their time, or are just bored of the petty criticism the Oxvox committee seem to attract merely for trying to run a voluntary organisation in their own time.

Speaking of which, I had a look at Yellow Voice (the forum for bitter OxVox committee haters) for the first time recently and nearly lost the will to live. What a bunch of uber-critical, self-important moaners.

[Snake]

There are lots of unanswered questions in this thread so it must be my turn by now to ask one instead of responding.

Has admin (a) banned the entire OxVox Committee from contributing to this board or (b) do the Trust just not know what is going on or (c) they can’t be arsed to tell Us or (d) they would love to but IL would have to approve it?

To be fair, this is not the OxVox forum, and there is a statement on the subject on the OxVox website, not that it's particularly enlightening. I agree that it's a shame that posters such as Brahma Bull and Matt D don't post on here so much anymore, but maybe they've got better things to do with their time, or are just bored of the petty criticism the Oxvox committee seem to attract merely for trying to run a voluntary organisation in their own time.

Speaking of which, I had a look at Yellow Voice (the forum for bitter OxVox committee haters) for the first time recently and nearly lost the will to live. What a bunch of uber-critical, self-important moaners.

Having just checked out Yellow Voice it seems to have more contributions and been updated more recently then the sub-thread that seemingly acts an internet forum for the Trust in the other place.

However, I agree with you that the most recent official OxVox statement reads like something you find in the matchday prog or in Pravda.

[slappy]

It's quite difficult to comment when we don't know what impact this proposed development would have on the club, and it's ongoing financial viability.

It's starting to feel more like a Coventry situation, where the club get so little from the stadium that the club is financially screwed.

Filling in the corners with flats still leaves room for a fourth stand of say 3,000, and a ground capacity of 15K. Would we ever need bigger than that? In 12 years we've only had 11 attendances over 10,000.

[Kairdiff Exile]

In 12 years we've only had 11 attendances over 10,000.

That, for me, is the issue. We get one really big crowd each season on average. Is it worth the expense of building a fourth stand for that once-a-season big game? Currently, in Division 4, clearly not - particularly when 5,000-odd fans would rattle round even more conspicuously the other 30-odd times a year in an even more sparse atmosphere.

Even if we were playing at a Division 2 ("Championship" if you must) level, how regularly would we reach more than 12,500? Two, three times a season? Average attendances at the Manor suggest so. And that ignores the fact that we are currently light-years away from playing at that level any time soon.

Having said that, if my EuroMillions jackpot comes in, I'll be constructing a two-tier safe standing curva in the car park end, and to hell with the facts and figures.

[Hog]

But if the fourth stand is built as a condition of the planning permission then it doesn't really matter whether it's full or not because it won't have cost OUFC anything (unless the rent goes up!) and at least it will 'complete' the stadium and help to keep the wind out and the 'atmosphere (!) in!

[Brahma Bull]

I'm here and pleased to confirm not banned from making comments.

Part of my frustration is that for one reason or another only four/five committee member are active on forums. It is difficult but we have to respect those who don't wish to participate. Some actually (and I found this hard to believe) don't/refuse to even go on forums and that is down to a combination of reasons including unjust criticisms, work constraints, not having the time or interest, not being involved in certain issues and therefore won't comment. The result is it leaves four committee members to contribute - Matt D is active on this forum and I joined because I quite enjoy the topics and debate and to provide a second OxVox voice. I also contribute to Yellows Forum along with Mark, Gavin (Scoob) and Maurice - it took time to get Mr D over there but then he only posts in the OxVox section.

I also have a habit of posting plenty of personal views and this can get easily mixed as an official trust viewpoint. Yet those who are committee members and post on forums also have a responsibility to post in a manner that is expected of them when representing the Trust, to act professionally and responsibly whilst protecting the organisation. That can be frustrating I guess and enables justified criticism when people want to know a little more.

Regarding this news story I think it caught a number of people on the hop and by surprise. Taylor Wimpey refused to make any comment despite being invited to do so by the media. Michael Crofton-Briggs spoke and suggested the developer makes representation to community groups (OxVox being one), the local community/residents and the football club about their proposal. At the moment I can confirm OxVox haven't been approached but I expect we will at some point in the process.

As a Trust we have also spoken regularly to Michael and members of the council throughout the last year. That began in December 2012 when we started to apply for the stadium to be listed as an ACV. Those talks have continued since the application was approved and continue to do so. People know we have spoken to Firoka during this process. The Trust statement states (however blandly) that we have had positive discussions with Oxford United and Oxford City Council about the stadium’s future development and hope to have the opportunity for dialogue with Firoka Ltd and Taylor Wimpey about their plans. There isn't a lot more that can be said until the proposals are seen and discussed.

I do think though that this presents a number of opportunities for the football club. I think it right to say that we will support proposals which are to benefit of this football club. Rightly a large number of questions are unanswered and need clarification.

Lenagan doesn't have to approve anything I post on forums and the Trust is quite independent. However, I will defend him when I think unjust criticisms are being thrown at him http://www.yellowsforum.co.uk/thread/16 ... lTo=359224

[Matt D]

the statement doesn't say too much because, as BB says, plans are yet to be seen, discussions are yet to take place - so is there any point in having an 'official trust voice' add to the speculation? i think we've been actively focused on the issues around the stadium for the last 18 months at least, and as well as the ACV, information gathering from a range of places is an important part of that. however, lots of it can be rumour, speculation, or allegation, so until you are able to confirm or triangulate that information, i don't think it's right or helpful to have oxvox coming out and adding to this. and, as most on here will either know or be able to see, there's a certain amount of politics being played here, so care is required.

as to why i don't post as much on here: well, it's really as my life's just got a lot busier since the days when i was a regular rageonline poster. there are plenty of well-informed people on here whose views i'm always interested to read, so i do still check in here, but as this reply shows, it's not that often. i look at the yellows forum and its oxvox section as often as i can as i think i 'should' as a trust officer, but both on there and here, by the time i see discussions about the club, team, and matches, it's usually some way into the discussion and i don't feel i've got much to add that hasn't been said already. so i don't tend to post that often as a consequence.

in terms of the trust's relationship with the club in what it says, my experience is that ian lenagan 'gets' supporters' trust independence. that's not to say he always likes it; but he understands why it's important. indeed, when the club have occasionally included something we've said on the official site, there's been no attempt to edit that. so, for instance, they quoted us saying we'd taken an opposite view from the club on whether prices should go up for this season.