and if people who went were asked not to mention it.
I would just like to clarify that I personally was not asked not to mention it (lots of negatives there). Answers off the record is a different thing and, like I said before, in my own view there was nothing worth mentioning anyway. I can have a personal suspicion that he would actually like things repeated too... but I'm going to take everything at face value just for the moment, and take it on trust.
Appreciate that just meant that they could easily have put a post on here as the club and asked people or put it on the website or something. Don't really see why they needed to involve you at a time when the slightest little thing sets people off!
Well some of my feedback was that a large forum is a total waste of time, as it ends up with people grandstanding with the I'M NOT GOING TO SIXFIELDS and not allowing any ability to push or follow up on pertinent questions (see how OSB was moved on from swiftly at one of the earlier forums in favour of these kind of statements) - so a large scale forum is a total waste of time, in my opinion . That is NOT the same as saying they shouldn't engage with fans, but pantomime is not the way to do it in my view.
I did, however, make a point of pointing out if there is a message they want out there, they should liaise with the SkyBlueTrust and, much as I would never expect Labovitch to speak for everyone else involved with SISU/Otium/CCFC, it was unfair to bring personal issues with a couple into it and he should leave those issues aside as it was unfair to deny the rest of the membership access, as each member had their own view, and was not defined by one total position on the subject.
Beyond that... there's absolutely nothing wrong with the research principle of a number of small groups to get feedback from a cross-section of supporters. That is perfectly normal practice, and doesn't have to have a sinister undertone! The best way I can ensure that there is no sinister undertone is by taking it at face value, and not engaging in accidental propaganda on behalf of SISU/ACL/whoever by regurgitating badly remembered off-hand comments... this thread suggests many are keen to be part of SISU's PR machine, and are disappointed they didn't get the opportunity! I would rather tell him to put anything he wants in the public domain through other channels... rather than use me to do so via a message board. (Again, I have to emphasise this is NOT what was suggested I should do, just my nagging paranoid suspicion!)
Now... I may be many things, but one thing I do have is half a brain, and the ability to ask relevant questions and follow them up - that's my training. The irony is that on this board a familiar refrain from some is OMG WHY DON'T THOSE AT SIXFIELDS CHALLENGE FISHER?
Well... given the opportunity to challenge Labovitch... I did just that, and it's still not good enough for some! I can't help it if I couldn't get the absolute killer answer but, tbh, he's an intelligent man and in a world of ifs buts and maybes I was unlikely to get that one way or another, wasn't I. My own understanding is illuminated, but I prefer not to just accept everything at face value, and accept I only hear one side. On the back of that meeting I now have some follow up questions running through my mind, but it's best I ask them to the relevant people to see if I get answers that help my understanding or not. I may never get the answers I want, may never be able to reach a conclusion, but such is life.
The question is... if I were to meet with people from the other 'side' would I then be expected to make everything public? No, I wouldn't. I have my own belief system that involves doing right by people if they do right by me, and that means respecting their right not to have things publicised needlessly - if there is nothing worth repeating, what benefit is there of coming on here and saying HA HA HA I MET LABO LAST NIGHT OMGUS HE LURRRRVES ME AN THINKS UR ALL A BUNCH OF COCKS BUT I AINT TELLING YA WHAT HE SAID INNIT BUT I NO EVERYTHING NOW LOL. Before I went, I was very keen to emphasise I didn't want to go and find myself quoted out of context at a later date, so it's only fair I extend the same courtesy back. Chances are, now he's met me he thinks I'm a cock anyway! Again, such is life.
There is no worthwhile game changing feedback to give, anything said is on these boards anyway or has little basis on the balance of evidence (yet?), so why this has to be blown up to monstrous proportions, I dunno. It's like some want me to repeat things to help an assertion become FACT.
As an aside, when I met McGinnity all those years back I asked why they were spending cash on the likes of Stern John, and not putting the money towards buying back ACL, so the club was in better shape long term. His answer was a decisive 'we *will* own the ground again' without any backing up how he intended to make that happen! Not only was he spectacularly wrong, he also proved why it was a good idea not to take an assertion and repeat it as truth...
