Fan ownership

[stevie]

 

Yesterday's events probably left most of us a bit shocked,I was gutted to see Jamie Mac released but Ann Budge and Levein need our backing,the players,new and old will need the same fantastic support as last season.

In a few years we will see the club handed over to the fans,before this happens the whole place has to be overhauled and rebuilt.Only a few short months ago it looked a distinct possibility that Hearts could disappear forever,we've all helped save the club and probably feel more a part of the club than ever before,which is why losing the players yesterday was sad to see and hard to take.

 

Some of the reactions have made me fear what will happen when the club is handed over to the fans,some of the pant wetters will never be content.

 

[ToadKiller Dog]

Fan ownership works well enough in Germany , neither we or the Germans are unique it will be fine if the right structure is put in place , and right board elected .

 

I trust the majority of the 8000 members to come to a sensible decision on any vote we have to take .

Internet pant soakers are not the real world , the internet exaggerates everything

[McCrae]

I think you have hit the nail on the head regarding the potential problems of fans ownership. Sometimes difficult and unpopular decisions need to be made.... Could these sort of changes be done under fan ownership? It will depend upon structures put in place to govern the management of the club. We don't want fans directly effecting the day to day management of the club.

 

Just look at the mess at the Co Op, collective management doesn't always work out well.

 

 

[Dalstonjambo]

I think some fans have skewed ideas what fan ownership will be. We will have a say in who is appointed to a board we won't have day to day running of the club.

 

I don't want that either. I just wanted the club to survive and not to be in danger again.

[Craig Herbertson]

As far as I can see fan ownership just means that big business doesn't own the club. The fans pay the money and instead a select group of Hearts minded people with special abilities, direct affairs. I think this is really good. The thought of a fan like me or my pals having anything to do with the serious business aspects of the club is frightening. For example, The Gary Locke decision is one that I couldn't have made. Any decision to keep Gary on would have been mostly about passion and commitment. I've read here from fans that Gary was rapidly improving, had the backing of the team and deserved his chance. All good arguments and one's I agree with. I think he gave his all The clinical decision to replace Gary shows that another plan is in place and that the head will rule the heart. Individuals are not the club.

 

The plan is in the statement - it's about the long term future of the club. I wouldn't even be surprised if the main goal was not simply to get us back next season into the premiership - something I think Gary could have done. The goal is to have a club that a) exists and goes from strength to strength.

 

It's important to realise that our DOF was in charge of the National team and attempted to change the Scottish game. I believe he will try to do this now with Hearts as a starting point. Personally, if a few years of hard work and lean times mean we create a fantastic team and an enduring club in the future, I'm happy with this. I will though, write a grumpy letter if Hearts haven't won the league at the end of five years

[ollie2004]

As far as I can see fan ownership just means that big business doesn't own the club. The fans pay the money and instead a select group of Hearts minded people with special abilities, direct affairs. I think this is really good. The thought of a fan like me or my pals having anything to do with the serious business aspects of the club is frightening. For example, The Gary Locke decision is one that I couldn't have made. Any decision to keep Gary on would have been mostly about passion and commitment. I've read here from fans that Gary was rapidly improving, had the backing of the team and deserved his chance. All good arguments and one's I agree with. I think he gave his all The clinical decision to replace Gary shows that another plan is in place and that the head will rule the heart. Individuals are not the club.

 

The plan is in the statement - it's about the long term future of the club. I wouldn't even be surprised if the main goal was not simply to get us back next season into the premiership - something I think Gary could have done. The goal is to have a club that a) exists and goes from strength to strength.

 

It's important to realise that our DOF was in charge of the National team and attempted to change the Scottish game. I believe he will try to do this now with Hearts as a starting point. Personally, if a few years of hard work and lean times mean we create a fantastic team and an enduring club in the future, I'm happy with this. I will though, write a grumpy letter if Hearts haven't won the league at the end of five years

 

Is that the Premier League or the Champions League?

[Paolo]

I think some fans have skewed ideas what fan ownership will be. We will have a say in who is appointed to a board we won't have day to day running of the club.

 

I don't want that either. I just wanted the club to survive and not to be in danger again.

 

You are almost correct. We will have a say in who is appointed to the FoH board. The FoH board will then have a say in who is appointed to the Hearts board.

 

This is as far as our decision making will go, unless you own shares directly yourself, in which case, you will also have a say in who is appointed to the Hearts board.

 

No more influence will be had. I am happy with this - in fact seeing some of the posts since yesterday, I am delighted.

[swanseajack]

At Swansea we were on our knees a few years back, the supporters trust was set up and we now own around 20% of the shares in the club. We have elections every year and I think we have 2 seats on the board. It's fair to say that they have had to put up with a few questions this year, but it has worked very well for us.

 

If we don't think that the folks elected to the board are working in our interests then they wont be re-elected... I would make a guess that this is what you are working towards?

[Watt-Zeefuik]

Fan ownership is just democracy -- nothing more, nothing less. It can be set up very badly. It can be set up very well. The devil is in the details.

 

We need to make sure that the ownership structure elects representatives to the board who are accountable in elections but are not constantly looking over their shoulder at fan sentiment. I have confidence that most Hearts fans, when it comes to elections, will take the long view and not jerk their knee on subjects such as "Lockie deserved better" or some such.

 

We have CL as director of football, and he made the decision to not renew Locke, Brown, and Combe. If we were fan owned now, the decisions for the board to make would be, "Do we need a DoF? Is that a good management structure?" and "Is Levein the right man for the job?" If Levein is DoF, he needs to have authority to hire and fire whom he pleases for the head coach position. The board should stay out of that and restrict itself to policy governance and the hiring of the right top managers.

 

Ann Budge's comments on the catastrophic state of affairs in the front office at Hearts should be enough of a reminder that ownership by a businessperson does not mean good management or good decision making.

 

Were I voting on representatives to the board right now, I would be picking folks like Ian Murray and perhaps one of the moderators of JKB. I don't think they would fly off the handle at sentiment or insist on throwing silly money at old players. I would, in essence, wanting to be hiring them to do the job of managing the club at the director level, and judging them on the competitive, organizational, and financial health of the club. In short, I want them to do the hard work of making decisions, not me.

 

This is not mob rule. It's representative democracy. I believe FoH have been very careful about setting up a good structure, and I'm looking forward to having a say.