The Diary

29 October 2004: Me, You, And Jeremy Peace, Too!

A very truncated diary tonight, I?m afraid, as I?ve been so busy catching up with the absolute storm of personal replies to my more recent pieces. Replies to those who haven?t used the cyber-equivalent of green ink, that is. To those decent correspondents who haven?t received one yet, apologies. I am working on it, but what with a supporters club meeting tonight and a long hospital appointment tomorrow, I am somewhat behind at the moment.

As I suspected last night, the Supporters Club requested that anything said tonight stayed within those four walls, so I had to respect that. Not that there were any startling revelations; as I said last night, Jeremy simply doesn?t work that way. I can give you a brief outline of what was asked, for the most part, though. Not everything, sadly, as my memory for that sort of detail?s not all that good, that?s why I normally employ a notebook and pen, and an illegible scrawl more worthy of the medical profession at its most undecipherable.

Present on the top table tonight, along with our chairman, were Mark Jenkins, the club?s finance director ? we interviewed him for the fanzine the other season ? a new recruit, Jonathan Fuller, who, as Operations Director, is responsible for the stadium side of things, also the retail stuff. He does have an interesting pedigree. Originally from Carlisle United ? he knew Alan Ashman when he was both player and manager at the Cumbrian club, and was there when the chap who tried and failed to take over Man U was in charge ? he then moved to Charlton, and was there for around four years, including the time they moved from their various temporary homes back to The Valley. From there, it was up the M1 and M6 to Stoke City, from where he came to us. Well done, also, my other half, for correctly guessing his former occupation ? chartered accountant!

The buffet was generously provided by our chairman, and just before we kicked off, one amusing touch. Suddenly, the radio mike started to play up, emitting some very weird squawks and buzzes indeed. Said Alan Cleverly, the wielder of the errant object ?That?s Megson screaming!? We then handed over to SC Chairman, John Homer, who got us up to speed on SC negotiations with the parent football club, which are still ongoing, of course. He also said that the supporters club were going to send something to Gary in appreciation for all his hard work for the club over the past four and a bit seasons, and it would be extremely churlish of me to take issue over that; whatever the guy does in the future, I wish him every success. He won?t be out of work very long, that?s for sure.

Questions? As I said, I can?t go into detail, but here?s a very brief outline. There was a discussion about the circumstances in which our former manager departed, and that was then followed by a debate around what the next steps were. The question of whether players previously overlooked would now get a fair shake was raised, and mention was made of our very large playing squad, which is currently well over thirty strong. (One?s just gone, though, James O?Connor, on loan to Burnley today.)

The lack of matchday drinking facilities for grass-roots supporters was brought to Jeremy?s attention, as was a query about whether or not it was really necessary to close the Throstle Club at the end of last season. Supporters also enquired about what sort of budget the new incumbent would have at his disposal come the midwinter transfer window. And, talking about ?new incumbents? naturally enough, people were anxious to see an appointment sooner rather than later, and preferably before the Southampton fixture. How ?short? would the shortlist be, was another ? and by that, I don?t mean the candidates? respective heights!

We then moved on to the proposed Academy, the necessity for one, also the timetable for such a scheme to be put into operation. Another one for the panel; were they disappointed that attendances seemed to be down overall this season? And the problems surrounding the wearing of the much-vaunted white away kit were given an airing as well, including the reasoning why it was thought an all-red kit could clash with Southampton?s red and white stripes. Also, a query as to why the new kit wasn?t available to buy.

On to Club Shop matters, then, and a request from the floor regarding the possibility of having pre-printed replica shirts with names and numbers already on them; this would save a good deal of time on matchdays especially, as it would remove the need for the staff to have to waste time printing them on the spot. Another concern was the lack of legroom in the new stand, which meant some were standing up for games, to the undoubted annoyance of others who preferred to sit.

There was much, much more, of course; what I give you is but a pr?cis and a short one at that. The meeting certainly generated a wealth of lively debate, and it was also good to see Laraine and Dawn Astle at the meeting; ironically enough, although they?ve attended pretty much every away game this season thus far, they were absent from the Crystal Palace game, their first ?miss? for quite some time. That led to good-natured cries of ?you must have known what was coming, then!? from us Dick Eds on being told! Oh, and as she didn?t have one, we also gave her a copy of the current Dick, which has a pic of the Dovedale presentation in its cover.

And that?s about it for tonight, for the reasons I?ve mentioned. Tomorrow, I?m off to Dudley Road once more for what they charmingly call a ?pre-admission medical check?. The NHS have done wonders on my errant ?lump? actually, although I?m not so sure I wanted it to go quite that quickly. I let them poke me in all sorts of funny places tomorrow, then I get admitted the following Thursday for the actual op. Strange, that; when I asked the good doc the other week, there was very little mention made of actually keeping me in ? I was given to understand it was going to be a day-case, with only a slight chance of longer there. I can only hope they don?t keep me in any longer than overnight ? if I can?t go to the Southampton game, I?ll not be best pleased!

 - Glynis Wright

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