Your Chairman Jon Workman had this to say in an email to WWST members yesterday:
The number of messages landing in the inboxes of Trust Board members, echoing the sentiments of many online, warrants a few words from the Board Chair after another week of change in the world of Wycombe Wanderers.
I personally was surprised at the announcement of Michael Duff leaving the club. I admired his football acumen, his openness on what was needed to improve performances, and he had a pedigree of success. He arrived at the club with a set of players not his own and I know, from my conversations with Dan Rice and what was shared at the last Fans’ Forum, that Michael had personally selected or inputted into the decision to recruit every one of the new arrivals in the summer. Yet performances were not always translating on to the pitch and performances were not translating into points.
As Chairman of the WWST Board, it is not my role (nor my ability) to intervene in footballing matters. As the WWST board, whether previously under the Couhigs or the present Ownership Group, we will represent the fans’ opinions but ultimately it is the OG who will, and should, make footballing decisions. It is for that reason I am not going to evaluate the decision on Duff’s departure, but suffice it to say I’m sure that there were a number of reasons why the OG decided to go down this route, and at this time. It is also not my place to comment on the choice of any interim, new or future Head Coach / First Team Coach as, again, these are footballing decisions made by the group who now owns 90% of our club. It is however all of our roles to support whoever is managing the team.
So whilst I won’t intervene in footballing matters, the past week has shown that the role of the Wycombe Wanderers Supporters Trust has never been more vital. Our stated goal is to ensure there is a positive future for Wycombe Wanderers – our Club. Our strategies remain (a) to be a good landlord of Adams Park (b) grow our supporter base & (c) be a trusted (and where necessary critical) friend to the ownership group. We will ensure our members voices are heard, and we have regular dialogue with the ownership group to do this. We also feel it is imperative to ensure that the elements which made The Chairboys such a unique club are not lost as we move forward. We will not step in the way of progress – in fact we encourage it – but building on what worked well in the past will ensure a future that brings the fans along the journey – happily.
And there is nothing that creates happiness in football better than winning, so I personally am pleased that we have finished a tough week with 3more points from an excellent away win. We do have a good squad of players, and I firmly believe we can compete at the correct end of the table come the end of the season. But to achieve that, we all need to rally behind the players and the coaches – vocally supporting them will give them the right impetus to get ourselves up the table.
We have Board Meetings the last Thursday of most months (eg the next meeting is Thurs 24th September – see below) and have our Annual General Meeting on November 26th. I encourage everyone to join us to share their thoughts. I also encourage more fans who want their opinions shared to become members, and members to encourage their friends and family to join us too. Just go to https://wwst.org.uk/membership
The annual price of membership has not changed for years (£30/adult, £21/seniors and £1/under 18s) and the more members we have the more influence we will have, and the more we can ensure a positive future for Wycombe Wanderers – our club.
COYB.
Jon Workman
WWST Chairman
