Gray Considering his Future

PierremontQuaker03 · Post by **PierremontQuaker03** » Thu May 11, 2017 8:05 pm

Gray is deeply disappointed that Singh will not be be investing in the club and will consider his future according to the Echo

DFC98765 · Post by **DFC98765** » Thu May 11, 2017 8:07 pm

Pretty sure there are other managers out there who would be more than suitable to replace him if he does go. I would rather keep Gray but not if he wants to try to hold us to ransom over budgets.

al_quaker · Post by **al_quaker** » Thu May 11, 2017 8:09 pm

I want Gray to stay, but he can't hold us to ransom over playing budget. Also, if he can't understand why we don't want that man involved in our club, then I'm not sure how much he understands about the fans.

He's misjudged the fanbase horribly, that much is clear.

The Golden Hairclip · Post by **The Golden Hairclip** » Thu May 11, 2017 8:10 pm

People are insane if they want Martin to leave. He's been phenomenal and is our best option going forward but we ALL need to work together - including Martin. Hopefully the boost the budget will come good.

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Quakerz · Post by **Quakerz** » Thu May 11, 2017 8:11 pm

It will be a huge blow if he goes, but at the end of the day any new manager would come in with an understanding of the budget for this season ahead, and the likelyhood that we will need to operate part time if we get to the conference.

There will still be takers.

End of an era if Gray goes though

al_quaker · Post by **al_quaker** » Thu May 11, 2017 8:22 pm

The Golden Hairclip wrote:People are insane if they want Martin to leave. He's been phenomenal and is our best option going forward but we ALL need to work together - including Martin. Hopefully the boost the budget will come good.

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I'm not sure many want him to go, but his recent actions have been (at best) misjudged, although I've no doubt they were borne out of frustration and wanting to carry on progress on the pitch. We can't afford the budget he wants, so he either works with it or goes. Those are his options - leave the courting of investors to his employers

Beano · Post by **Beano** » Thu May 11, 2017 8:30 pm

It would be a very disappointing way to finish one of the greatest eras in our history, but it is looking inevitable.

We are still a big fish and a great job at this level.

shawry · Post by **shawry** » Thu May 11, 2017 8:36 pm

al_quaker wrote: - leave the courting of investors to his employers

Problem is as volunteers his employers don't really have the time to do this.

I've got no real problem with the manager doing the courting, as long as the board are aware at the outset before any real contact us made to either allow or deny permission

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al_quaker · Post by **al_quaker** » Thu May 11, 2017 8:39 pm

shawry wrote:
al_quaker wrote: - leave the courting of investors to his employers
Problem is as volunteers his employers don't really have the time to do this.

I've got no real problem with the manager doing the courting, as long as the board are aware at the outset before any real contact us made to either allow or deny permission

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True - I'll amend that statement to "don't court investors behind the backs of your employers". If he had said at the outset he wanted Singh to get involved and the reaction had been the same as it has been, then we could have saved weeks of uncertainty.

Anyway, let's hope he stays. Clearly a good manager

dfc4me · Post by **dfc4me** » Thu May 11, 2017 8:53 pm

At the forum MG asked us to trust him. Well now is the time for HIM to trust US. We will raise the money both for the seats and the budget. MG you build another top 5 squad, let us raise the money and the board look for other income sources and let us have another good season.

DaveMc · Post by **DaveMc** » Thu May 11, 2017 9:12 pm

Glad that s all over now maybe we can continue the important part of raising the monies, we still need MG to manage the club, and thanks RS for the 10 grand.

Mr_Tibbs · Post by **Mr_Tibbs** » Thu May 11, 2017 9:48 pm

al_quaker wrote:He's misjudged the fanbase horribly, that much is clear.

That's a pretty damn fine excuse, in my book. Doesn't make him a bad person.

stigma · Post by **stigma** » Thu May 11, 2017 9:57 pm

I hope that Gray stays. I have enjoyed the last five seasons as much as the Hodgy years and that is largely down to Martin Gray.
I could never forgive Singh for what he did to us but we will need major investment to push on into higher divisions and I don't want us to stagnate as a part-time non-league club. On that point at least, I can understand Gray's motivation and don't blame him for trying. I would welcome an investor because I think we are reaching our limit as a fan-owned club. Just not Singh, never Singh.
I am really struggling with this idea of us being a fan-owned, fan-run club. Our board messed up with the ground designs and they knew there was a problem but they didn't tell us (the fans and owners) and didn't fix it. They kept quiet when they should have come out and been honest with us (the fans and owners). Only when the season was nearly done were we told that there was a problem. Too late. Playoff hopes dashed. And now the fans and owners are criticised by their own board for scaring Singh away. Unbelievable.
The next few months are going to be rough but if we can sort out the ground and keep Gray, maybe we will still be an attractive proposition to somebody.
Meanwhile, I'm off to get a Euro Lottery ticket; I'll trade you five mill for 1%.

Darlo_Pete · Post by **Darlo_Pete** » Thu May 11, 2017 10:51 pm

It would definitely be a backward step if Gray left us, he has done so much for the club in his 5 years at the club. I'm sure once the dust has settled on all of this, we can move forward together. I always fancied Gregan to take over, when Gray had had enough or moved on to bigger and better things. If Gray leaves I assume his backroom staff would go with him, so there would be no chance of Gregan taking over.

Yes Gray misjudged the feelings of the fans, but it is probably the first major thing he has got wrong, in 5 years here.

al_quaker · Post by **al_quaker** » Thu May 11, 2017 10:58 pm

Mr_Tibbs wrote:
al_quaker wrote:He's misjudged the fanbase horribly, that much is clear.
That's a pretty damn fine excuse, in my book. Doesn't make him a bad person.

Absolutely - it's a mistake, but certainly shouldn't be terminal.

Ironically, because of Singh's actions, it may end up being a pretty minor mistake - Singh pulling out at this stage has hopefully averted a major split in the fanbase.

I hope we can all move on from this, with Gray as the manager, and look to how we take that next step, even if it isn't as soon as I'm sure we all ideally would like.

Comfortably_numb · Post by **Comfortably_numb** » Thu May 11, 2017 11:09 pm

We should all remember - no one person is bigger than the club. We carried on after Knowles, Little and Hodgson.

MG goes....someone else steps in....the next episode begins.

Darlo_H · Post by **Darlo_H** » Fri May 12, 2017 12:03 am

Martin has been with us since the start of all this. I'd have hoped he, if anyone, would understand that financial stability and transparency are at the very heart of what we're trying to achieve here. We must be very careful in whom we take investment from, and Singh rang far too many alarm bells and his thin-skinned response through someone else seems to confirm this.

Whether he's lost sight of that, or our success has heightened his ambition to the extent he thinks he's outgrown the club I don't know, but he's gone down a little in my estimation with his handling of all this. No one man is bigger than this club and it's future.

He'll forever be remembered as someone who did a massive amount for this club, but it's such a shame if this is how his tenure here ends. Wonder where he'd go from here?

shildonlad · Post by **shildonlad** » Fri May 12, 2017 4:08 am

al_quaker wrote:I want Gray to stay, but he can't hold us to ransom over playing budget. Also, if he can't understand why we don't want that man involved in our club, then I'm not sure how much he understands about the fans.

He's misjudged the fanbase horribly, that much is clear.

Agree with this. Gray is not Rafa benetez in the premier league and unless gray is on the board is it his place to go looking for investors especially controversial ones

shawry · Post by **shawry** » Fri May 12, 2017 6:56 am

Without being funny, it's everyone's job (even ours) to be searching out possible investors if that's the route we take. It could be argued MG is actually in the best position to do that as he probably has more spare time.

I have wondered if MG didn't mean to mention the investment so much at the FF (as he had the board to speak to first)I but felt that he had to do something to move on from the negativity.

Let's face it the focus has now changed from abusing the board/ex board members to chastising Grays perception of fan feeling.

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lo36789 · Post by **lo36789** » Fri May 12, 2017 7:05 am

No offence but it was obvious Gray's intention was to spark a reaction. The board weren't even aware of the investments but his entire message focussed around it.

It was a calculated move to force the boards hand because he knew the fans would immediately be asking for updates on the investors.

From what I understand the negativity had been moved on from. The fundraising initiatives had been launched this was the opportunity to galvanise support behind fundraising and he did the absolute opposite. He didn't even mention the fundraising.

I think people are giving Gray way to much credit. He wants to get the best return for the work he puts in as any person would do so it's not a problem. All the statements are that no man is bigger than the club yet they are immediately followed by contradictions that the club almost must bend over backwards to accommodate the wishes of individual men.

MikeinBlack2 · Post by **MikeinBlack2** » Fri May 12, 2017 7:20 am

Martin Gray will only leave if Martin Gray want's to leave! Local interest has been quite high in this so maybe now Raj has withdrawn his interest others may be pondering becoming involved. Who knows?

Spyman · Post by **Spyman** » Fri May 12, 2017 7:25 am

I hope Gray stays, but I hope he's learned from it and realises the damage he's caused.

Now is time for him to accept that if he manages this team, he does it with a budget set with the bigger picture in mind.

The alternative is money runs out again.

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al_quaker · Post by **al_quaker** » Fri May 12, 2017 8:58 am

I hope we get a decision soon. The vast majority want Gray to stay and I hope he realises that, but if he decides his heart isn't in it anymore then give us as much time as possible for the difficult task of finding a replacement.

I hope he also realises that a lot of people are open to the idea of external investment - just not from the man who nearly killed the club. He may still get that investment he wants, just not this season.

tdk1 · Post by **tdk1** » Fri May 12, 2017 9:03 am

One thing I would say is that Gray is, i think, a year into a five year contract. I don't want to lose him, but he does know what our financial situation is, and I couldn't accept him walking away then getting another job without the club receiving a decent amount of compensation.

I want Gray to be out manager and to use another set of skills to make us sustainable and successful with the current model, but it's up to him really. But if, for example, pools wanted him, i'd expect them to stump up some money to get him.

I'd also argue that one of hodgy's great strengths was his ability to get decent money for players signed on a free to aid the club - de vos, for example. I think we need to become more of a selling club to become more sustainable. None of us want to be losing our best players, but ultimately that's what well run clubs at our level have to accept. Look at peterborough's policy in recent years, even if they did get a leg up to get started, for how it can work.

tezza · Post by **tezza** » Fri May 12, 2017 9:07 am

He did it to himself. If he did not realise that bringing RS to the table was going to be contentious, then he has serious judgement issues.

In most any company employee disagreeing with company policy, philosophy operating practice , invariably ends up the same.

We have just cleared the RS issue up, prematurely in my opinion. We could have used the net café and the detailed proposal to have listened and considered. Possibly taken a further £40k of the wanker, and gained great PR by saying on your bike.
MG ..Taxi

biccynana · Post by **biccynana** » Fri May 12, 2017 11:39 am

Doesn't look like York will come calling. Mills has signed a contract for 17/18.

Craig09 · Post by **Craig09** » Fri May 12, 2017 12:05 pm

Ive heard gray and management team are going to resign next friday, wether that true lets wait and se

MKDarlo · Post by **MKDarlo** » Fri May 12, 2017 12:29 pm

I will start by saying I don't want Martin to go. He has done fantastically well and delivered year on year success for us. He has done a superb job and is an asset to our club. I like the man and admire his success. None of the following comments should be seen as an insult or in any way disrespecting anyone.

IF it is possible for our ambitions and his to be met together then wonderful. However, we can not be held to ransom over the playing budget nor can we jepordise the future of the club we saved. Martin is, after all, only the manager and an employee of the club. He is not omnipotent and he can be replaced. There are people out there who would want the job and would deliver security for us within a reduced budget.

If we cant meet his ambitions then we send him on his way with a glowing reference and our heartfelt thanks and admiration for a job done superbly well. He will succeed in the game and has, sadly for us, outgrown our ability to help develop his skills and successes further.

murtonquaker · Post by **murtonquaker** » Fri May 12, 2017 12:32 pm

He went about things the wrong way, why he thought we would back the man who nearly killed us I do not know, the man whose mess Martin Gray picked up in 2012.

My opinion may not mean much to people, I have only been a fan for the last 10 years, having just watched teams my mates supported for years, mainly Newcastle and Sunderland and on the odd occasion a former league team on the coast between Peterlee ans Middlesbrough. But I first started watching football at Roker Park with my late granddad, so having watched Sunderland, was partly a reason I chose to watch Darlo later on, with Marco Gabbiadini being my hero when I was 9, I enjoyed watching Martin Gray play as well, I liked him as a player and recently as manager, the links were there long before I took my love for Darlo to he next level.

In my opinion, I never wanted Singh anywhere near the club, but I did want him to go ahead with the netcafe and see what he had to say, I cant blame the man for backing out, but he could have at least had the balls to answer us.

As for Martin Grays position now, I want him to stay, for me I always wanted Martin Gray to be the man who took us back to the EFL, if that is not to be, then so be it, plenty people have said, no one man is bigger than the club, even if that man is Martin Gray, if he wants to throw his toys out the pram, thats up to him, we can survive without Martin Gray and when the time comes and he leaves, I will be gutted, but I will also say "Thanks for the memories Martin" and think about the good times, the scenes at the Team Northumbria game in 2013 and Whitby last year are 2 moments I will never forget.

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Darlo_H · Post by **Darlo_H** » Fri May 12, 2017 3:13 pm

biccynana wrote:Doesn't look like York will come calling. Mills has signed a contract for 17/18.

Mills was always going to stay, doubt MG has had his head turned by them. Can't really see where else he could go in the immediate future though.

Unless he fancies going for the job with the kitten-stampers up the road? Would think they'd have their sights set on someone a bit more proven at that level like, but you never know.

Darlo Uncovered