Meet the Owners Q&A tonight! Wednesday 1st February

Discussion of all things related to the club and first team
Jamie
Posts: 470
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2021 11:51 am

Meet the Owners Q&A tonight! Wednesday 1st February

Who's going?
What questions would you ask?
Will it be filmed?
Lord Elpus
Posts: 643
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2021 3:09 pm

I'm going and have submitted some questions. Will probably post something on here tomorrow.
RogerB
Posts: 146
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2021 5:10 pm

I hope those attending will have the chance to challenge any answers and ask for clarification if the brothers slip into corporate speak tonight. I look forward to any reports on here.
Josh2002
Posts: 532
Joined: Fri Jan 22, 2021 3:11 am

Am going and have submitted questions. I believe it was said before that it will be filmed.
Jamie
Posts: 470
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2021 11:51 am

If people could summarise here if they attend it would be much appreciated,
I planned to travel down to attend, but have been ill, and swamped with work.

Following questions would be of interest...

1) Would be interested to hear why so many long standing staff and volunteers have left.

2) Has the money circa £200-300k been paid into the club account, as was stipulated in the proposal for the vote to go through.

3) What is the plan to improve the squad this season, with players leaving and having not been replaced.

4) What is this seasons objective, ie avoid relegation, ongoing plans of level club wants to be at etc.

5) What is the amended and extended planning application for the 3G pitch, as not stipulated on planning application.

6) If 3G pitch is not approved, what are their plans - are they still interested, have they explored alternative locations for a training facility, perhaps in partnership with Hampton Rangers, local school, Richmond college, other venues etc.

7) Is Mel Gwinnett to be manager next season, or will he "move upstairs" with a new manager appointed.

If anyone happy to ask any of those questions and feed back the answers, it would be appreciated.

Thanks
Josh2002
Posts: 532
Joined: Fri Jan 22, 2021 3:11 am

You can still submit questions, using this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIp ... w/viewform
TW10
Posts: 346
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2021 8:21 pm

What were the key takeaways?
Lord Elpus
Posts: 643
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2021 3:09 pm

I went. This is a rough outline, based on what I heard, although others may have read different things into it or I may have got the wrong end of the stick. Both the brothers were there, as were Mel Gwynnett and Jacques LeBars. It lasted about an hour and was filmed.
Stefano started off answering the question “Why Hampton”. The gist of this was that they are interested in professionalising and developing from the club’s own funds, which will obviously have to be run sustainably. Lots of talk about pride and aspiration for the local youth. He talked for quite a bit of time, including about showing to their backers what we can do and how it can be done. There was also a comment about wanting the club to be around for another 100 years.
There were some questions about the volunteers leaving. One quite emotional. Stefano spoke about how he recognises that they may have caused offence in their discussions with volunteers etc-this wasn’t intentional and they apologise, which did sound very sincere. But he also stated that they want the club to feel inclusive to everyone who comes, or is new to it, not just those who have been coming for years or who already have familiarity with the place and the individuals that were here. They are also keen to listen. Their reasons for making changes are that they wanted to pay staff properly and keep this fully above board, and this has led to many volunteers, including some who were paid, leaving. This was their choice. Former volunteers are always welcome to come back. The new way of doing things had to be adopted if things were going to be run on a more professional way, acceptable to businessmen putting money in. He genuinely sounded apologetic about any upset in the way this was done.
Apparently any investors or co-owners have invested in the club and have actually put their money in by the sound of it. The brothers call the shots at the club on the day to day basis.
Re. the new pitch-it isn’t necessarily for a commercial enterprise. They want youth teams (of all ages) Women’s teams, academy etc all to be able to use it, as well as the first team being able to train on it. If it doesn’t happen this season they will keep trying.
I do think Stefano came across as being sincere and committed. There is a slight tendency to lapse into the kind of “corporate speak,” phrases like "adopting a shared vision" etc, which makes some feel a bit suspicious (he's much better when he doesn't do this) but I came away feeling like we have something to get behind. I really hope I’m not proved wrong in the future though.
Mel Gwynnett spoke about his background…he was asked to go and work at Exeter City on a voluntary basis when they had just gone bankrupt and had been relegated (I think to the National League?) He was involved in turning it into a community club, run on a sustainable model, which eventually went back up into the league on a much stronger footing. There were clearly discussions about Mel getting involved here right from when the brothers first considered taking over the club. He came to a game at Hampton as early as last season to see it for himself although it is a bit unclear as to when it was suggested he could be given a job here-I think it’s fair to draw the conclusion this may have been some weeks before Gary McCann eventually went. Others may be able to clarify this. Seems pretty clear no other managers were under serious consideration.
Mel IS well aware of the need to recruit but he isn’t prepared to pay over the odds, although he is constantly ringing clubs higher up trying to bring in loanees, proper ones who are up to the level, not just kids by the sound of it. He is waiting to hear about bringing in two players from Championship clubs on loan before the weekend. You’re only allowed 12 loans a season and we need to mindful of that. Mel reckons he does have contacts who can scout and recommend players to sign from more local areas but he seems most interested in players let go by bigger clubs. He clearly sees Exeter and Barnet as being models in how to run a club, as long as it can be done sustainably. He believes we will stay up because we will get the right players in and we will be too good to go down. But if the worst happens and we do, he will be here to get us back up again. The brothers are also committed if we get relegated.
Steve Bates and Dale from the Academy are doing coaching roles at the moment as they know the players well. Mel is skilled and experienced in developing coaches and may well bring in his own guys at some point when they are ready.
I have to say Mel is very impressive and articulate in how he comes across. He definitely isn’t the typical non-league football manager who talks in cliches and depends on a little band of journeymen who follow him round, which is so often seen at this level. It’s a refreshingly different approach, I am intrigued to say the least and wish him all the very best.
Shepperton Supporter
Posts: 1607
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2021 10:18 pm

An excellent summary by Lord E.
Agree about the impression of Mel. Had a chance to have a chat later and that confirmed my view that he is not the run of the mill non league manager and that we have appointed someone who has brought into the vision and has experience of how the model can work.
Think it is all about recruitment, if we can get in the players, probably on loan, survive this season then we might see a standard of recruitment that will make the fans happy. It’s about avoiding the drop this season, but seems confident it can be done. Could be exciting times ahead.
TW10
Posts: 346
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2021 8:21 pm

Thanks Lord E..any thoughts on what is the real motivation of the backers and the brothers? is it monetary or glory? Ultimately It has to be one of the other? After all neither the backers nor the brothers will be doing this for entirely benevolent reasons? All this talk of "professionalism" of how the club is run raises the question of what are the playing targets of the club over and above not getting relegated. Is it to be solid at step 2 or to go higher? The documentaries surrounding Salford, Wrexham and Dorking provides an insight into how challenging and expensive that can be. I personally think "going higher" is impossible just given the infrastructure and facilities at the club. I agree the whole this is interesting but also surreal and a bit odd.
Jamie
Posts: 470
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2021 11:51 am

Thanks for posting Lord Elpus.

What I can't get my head around is why people didn't think to ask questions before voting to give the club away.
The supporters trust board said they had been in discussions for months or so, but doesn't seem the actually asked much, or stipulated conditions.

I still don't see why someone taking over the club would have such a fear of a supporters trust. The supporters will never stop the club progressing or improvements, but is there as a safety net if things go wrong.
Lord Elpus
Posts: 643
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2021 3:09 pm

TW10 wrote: Thu Feb 02, 2023 10:06 am Thanks Lord E..any thoughts on what is the real motivation of the backers and the brothers? is it monetary or glory? Ultimately It has to be one of the other? After all neither the backers nor the brothers will be doing this for entirely benevolent reasons? All this talk of "professionalism" of how the club is run raises the question of what are the playing targets of the club over and above not getting relegated. Is it to be solid at step 2 or to go higher? The documentaries surrounding Salford, Wrexham and Dorking provides an insight into how challenging and expensive that can be. I personally think "going higher" is impossible just given the infrastructure and facilities at the club. I agree the whole this is interesting but also surreal and a bit odd.
What's their real motivation? Well that's the million dollar question isn't it? I don't know that we're likely to get an answer to that. I genuinely can't see how it's monetary but then I'm no expert in business or finance. So I have no alternative than to say it's for the glory, or to prove to others that they have the ability. Their targets last night seemed pretty clear-they want to take us into the league. And before everyone piles on and says how ludicrous, yes, I have massive doubts that too, surely with our infrastructure and facilities we'd never be able to manage it. Stefano said something about how you need to aim for the stars, so maybe that means they'd be happy with the National League (ie the league above us) but who knows really. They did talk a bit about upgrading facilities as they were needed. I completely agree about it being interesting but also surreal and a bit odd though. For the moment though it might be worth taking it at face value because there are clearly some interesting times ahead.
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