RAWA the RR and the rest of the groups who drove SD out.



North Yorks Mackem said:
Do you think he wouldnt have sold up if they hadn't have put his name to it?
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Perhaps not. We'll never know. It was the only one of the group that put it's name to it which had any meaning. Ie they are supposed to be the bridge between club and fans, the others were just few guys running fansites.
 
Lanchester said:
Where did they claim they were speaking on behalf of "Sunderland fans"?

Personally, I think RAWA should have consulted their members, as they are a membership organisation and it has just given Donald a really easy stick to beat them with, but I see no reason whatsoever why a website or a fanzine has to consult its readers before issuing a statement.
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Who is the “We” in their statement?
 
Sweeper said:
Who is the “We” in their statement?
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You'd need to ask them but I took it to mean the organisations who had agreed the statement. Nowhere did they claim they were speaking for "Sunderland fans" but you have assumed they did. If you're going to try and catch them out on issues like that, at least be accurate about what they did and didn't say.
 
Well said GG. It is the voiceferous (however you spell it?) self righteous few, who, in imo, make out they are the voice of the majority of SAFC fans.

I don't know what the majority think

But it its always the dissenters that make most noise
 
Lanchester said:
You'd need to ask them but I took it to mean the organisations who had agreed the statement. Nowhere did they claim they were speaking for "Sunderland fans" but you have assumed they did. If you're going to try and catch them out on issues like that, at least be accurate about what they did and didn't say.
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"
“For those at the Bolton match, you’ve earned some stripes. You were there when the club reached the lowest point in its entire history and it felt like it. A few fine saves from McLaughlin stopped us from losing at home to the bottom club in League One. As the chants for Super Kev reverberated around the stadium it became clear that the fans do not agree with the chosen appointment of Phil Parkinson. When he took a defender off for another defender the venom was too much for many to conceal. We were playing out for a clean sheet against a team that were nearly out of business less than 6 months ago.

SAFC is a club with a proud history that deserves so much better than what we are currently being offered. As it stands we don’t know who is running the organisation within the club.

We don’t expect to be playing in the Champions League, but we don’t expect to be set up defensively to the bottom club in League One at home on what is traditionally the biggest game of the season in terms of attendance. Nobody knows what the long term plan is and any trust that fans had in the boardroom has eroded.

These are the fans who set attendance records for the division. The fans who have endured years of ineffective leadership within the club. Yet here we are. The ones hurting the most as a result of our current situation. Stewart Donald must act now. “Things can only get better” has been a defiant chant in recent times but the sentiment is a flawed one. Things can get worse…and it continues to get worse. If there is a realistic offer on the table he must admit that the enormity of the task at hand and cut his losses. For our club to move forward now change needs to happen on the pitch, in the dugout and in the boardroom.”

Looks to me like they believe that they are speaking for all fans.
 
Lanchester said:
You'd need to ask them but I took it to mean the organisations who had agreed the statement. Nowhere did they claim they were speaking for "Sunderland fans" but you have assumed they did. If you're going to try and catch them out on issues like that, at least be accurate about what they did and didn't say.
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They clearly weren’t trying to speak on behalf of RAWA members, as it’s since come to light that they didn’t even bother to consult their own members before they released the statement.

So again - who is the “We” in their statement? It’s obviously not the RAWA members (who they didn’t ask). You say it’s not SAFC supporters generally - fair enough.

So who?

Was this statement put out on behalf of five RAWA committee members and three random blokes who record a podcast outside the toilets in the Harbour View? And these people haven’t purported to speak for the rest of us? If not, what’s the value of the “statement”, and what’s the point of being an (overlooked) RAWA member?
 
Rik-Safc said:
Perhaps not. We'll never know. It was the only one of the group that put it's name to it which had any meaning. Ie they are supposed to be the bridge between club and fans, the others were just few guys running fansites.
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In hindsight I probably agree they should have waited til their meeting on the 16th. I think they may feel the same. But I understand their frustration and emotion following the Bolton game. It shows they care.

I'm certainly not going to have a gripe with committed fans who have stuck by the team in their darkest days. Many have taken the easy option and stopped going.
 
Guinness Guzzler said:
Yes it is. RAWA has a load of ordinary members, anyone can join. Then there are reps (one for the SMB, there's a BLC rep, LGBTQ rep, female supporters rep, disabled supporters rep and so on who are meant to be able to feedback from the group they are representing). Then there's 5 elected roles - a chair, 2 vice chairs, a secretary and a treasurer.

The RAWA members weren't polled. Furthermore the SMB rep has said that he wasn't aware they were backing the statement until he saw it, so they seemingly didn't consult the reps (or at least not all of them). That is slightly worrying for me because it sounds like it was a decision basically taken by the 5 elected people (or maybe even just the chair/ vice chairs). I think most are pretty worried about aspects of Donald's ownership, but leaving aside whether you agree on this one instance, it sets a worrying precedent if a group seemingly representing a large number of fans is actually taking decisions (major ones) based solely on a few people's views.
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I think the podcast(s) were gonna put out a statement regardless, and ALS/RAWA backed it. I know they didn’t lead on it.
Whether it should’ve been Donald Out, or more of a ‘stand up or sell up’ message is obviously up for debate, and maybe only time will tell.
I think the main thinking behind was to try and show some unity, and that our fans were fed up with the way things are going.

On the consultation subject, I think this post on the SMB sums it up better than I could:-

I understand the point completely but there is a committee that is elected democratically that is elected democratically to run the organisation for a year and sometimes that involves making some judgement calls. The committee were consulted and the co -opted reps were also consulted. The latter is important as the point of having co-opted reps like @Ghandi Floss is so we can hopefully take the temperature of the majority of fans that way. And of course the tide has generally turned these past couple of weeks - in and out the stadium.
When it came to deciding when and how to become active on this it was done quite quickly, without time for a full consultation.
It's not perfect but I think the co-opt process and the central committee election means we've acted with what the majority of fans and members want. The overall reaction is testiment to that I think.

I’m new to all this kinda thing, so not sure how it’s all meant to work.
I mainly got involved cos I was pissed off with how our fans were treat like shit, and the way the club was falling apart, under the Short/Bain regime.
As I said previously, I just want a team that competes on the pitch, and for my little lad to enjoy going to home/away matches with me, as much as I do with him.
And the lads who started the RAWA, and the other reps I’ve met, are just regular lads who want the same. I know they’d rather be involved in positive things like last season, rather than all the negative shit under Short/Bain.

EDIT. The reason I didn’t know about it was because I was out on the drink said night. I was invited, and certainly wasn’t in any state for consultation anyway!
 
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I’m not a fan of Donald , far from it, but I thought before today and Doncaster that we needed to wait till the end of the window. Painful as the results were we’d just make ourselves as a club look ridiculous and the new manager needed his players not the ones we all knew were not quick or powerful enough to win this division. I want an owner with a clear plan but post FPP , new board members, window , post Methven I think it needed to play out. Not defending Donald’s shit awful decisions - the Maja saga, the timing of the ‘sale’ last summer, academy etc - but in big organisations things can hit the ground slowly and it seemed there were seeds of change.
 
Ghandi Floss said:
I think the podcast(s) were gonna put out a statement regardless, and ALS/RAWA backed it. I know they didn’t lead on it.
Whether it should’ve been Donald Out, or more of a ‘stand up or sell up’ message is obviously up for debate, and maybe only time will tell.
I think the main thinking behind was to try and show some unity, and that our fans were fed up with the way things are going.

On the consultation subject, I think this post on the SMB sums it up better than I could:-

I understand the point completely but there is a committee that is elected democratically that is elected democratically to run the organisation for a year and sometimes that involves making some judgement calls. The committee were consulted and the co -opted reps were also consulted. The latter is important as the point of having co-opted reps like @Ghandi Floss is so we can hopefully take the temperature of the majority of fans that way. And of course the tide has generally turned these past couple of weeks - in and out the stadium.
When it came to deciding when and how to become active on this it was done quite quickly, without time for a full consultation.
It's not perfect but I think the co-opt process and the central committee election means we've acted with what the majority of fans and members want. The overall reaction is testiment to that I think.

I’m new to all this kinda thing, so not sure how it’s all meant to work.
I mainly got involved cos I was pissed off with how our fans were treat like shit, and the way the club was falling apart, under the Short/Bain regime.
As I said previously, I just want a team that competes on the pitch, and for my little lad to enjoy going to home/away matches with me, as much as I do with him.
And the lads who started the RAWA, and the other reps I’ve met, are just regular lads who want the same. I know they’d rather be involved in positive things like last season, rather than all the negative shit under Short/Bain.

EDIT. The reason I didn’t know about it was because I was out on the drink said night. I was invited, and certainly wasn’t in any state for consultation anyway!
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Fair enough Ghandi.keep up the good work.
 
MADBOB THE MAKEM said:
Well muppet SD confirmed the £10 mill is put aside not been touch ready to pay back to FPP.
so all the points i made have turned our right. HOWEVER not a time to get all excited yet.
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He also pointed out 5 mins later in the same interview that he has used some of the loan to top up the parachute money he had used.
You and sd are similar you both talk in riddles
 
MADBOB THE MAKEM said:
To the heads of the above groups who have driven Stu to leave the club, and have through their statement put the word out to the 3 prospective buyers of our once great club, that if it's not going their way, they will get all the fans to mount protests and kick you out.
So any groups or individual looking at us as a club to buy, well I am sure they will be thinking FUCK that for an investment.
The social media used by the above groups has a world wide platform and as the investors will be seeing the hate speak coming from the said groups, I am sure they will see the damage they have done.
Instead of discussing it with SD they put out a statement for the world to see, and make us a laughing stock.
Now loads of you who think I talk shite, well lets see what happens when we have no investment funds to work with as Stu pays it back to the Yanks ON FRIDAY this week and we have no one to buy/ fund new players who were lined up to come in next week.
So well done the groups above HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!
You so called righteous supporters have fucked us right over OH and PS that's not shite that is the truth.
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Bang on the money
 

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