Supporters Charter Group Apology

[True Ram]

Thanks for attending mate you have not let me down ?

[ariotofmyown]

5 hours ago, David said:

I haven’t felt comfortable coming back on the forum if I'm honest, ignoring the fact I insinuated what was said at the meeting would be out Thursday on the forum, I feel like I have let you all down and for that I’m sorry.

I'm glad you are back, were far more concerned with how you were doing rather than reading any meeting notes.

You've let no one down, it's been a tough and emotional undertaking, as well as ever-changing. Thanks for all your hard work, and all the mods hard work too.

[Mucker1884]

Good to have you back buddy.

'Tis all that matters, in truth.
As I said in my previous post (only post?) on this topic... This is your manor, and we are all nothing more than invited guests.
Still say there should be no need for any apologies... and certainly no need for you to be staying away.

Take care, bud.   

??

[i-Ram]

6 hours ago, David said:

We was not railroaded, if you have read the apology you would see I have said this is not the clubs fault and I stand by that.

If what I say isn’t read and accepted as the truth, as you say there is no need to say anything is there, as it feels like I am being accused of lying here.

 

David you seem to be taking this all very personally. Please don’t. Nobody on this forum as far as I have read, and particularly me, are critical of how you have behaved in this matter. I did read your note twice, and a third time this morning. You clearly went with the intention to represent and share our views. Extracts taken from your note:

I replied, that the meeting minutes were not taken and we would be sharing the information ourselves, which as I say I was under the impression would be allowed, why else attend? I thought I was being helpful.

I was going with the intention of asking the club if the minutes could be released within 24 hours or that we could release the information immediately. Obviously once we was told the minutes would not be taken all that went out the window and believed we was free to report back immediately, and that was the plan.

With my write up, I had no intention of adding any personal opinion, it would be just what was said and allow you all to read and take it as you will.

When the meeting had finished, an agreement was made where one statement would be written and signed off by all groups, this is the first time anything like this had been agreed, I was under the impression we would be allowed to report back as normal.

 

You might not like the term railroaded, and it may not be the right word, and I withdraw it, but it is clear to pretty much everyone - not just because of your circumstances, but from the replies offered by RamsTrust and Punjabi Rams - that the club and in particular the owner only wanted a sanitised account put out. Pre-meeting chatter of attendees having to complete NDAs, and minutes being suggested be prepared by the club and then withdrawn, just adding to the distrust of the meeting and it’s purpose.I have a problem with that given the current circumstances, many on here will have a problem with that, but the problem is not with you.

I would now close this thread if I was you, draw a complete line under it, and move on as if nothing has happened. You are a top bloke. Please, please don’t be getting down about the outcome.

[cosmic]

Don’t sweat it, @David. We all knew you were in an impossible situation - and your full explanation shows it was even more so than originally thought! Feel for you.

Just glad you’re doing okay, the abuse followed by your silence was concerning. 

[Chester40]

I don't follow anything other than this forum, am not on Twitter etc so don't really understand the wider criticism you refer to. On this forum the only criticism has been of the really weird way the club decided to communicate with the fans. Anything you said would have been taken and analysed/rehashed so I get your concern about posting anything. 

IMHO, the time has past, and everyone has moved on. If you have anything to add to what's already out there then just say it, but otherwise don't stress it, get back to posting as normal because life has moved on. The season has started and anyway from what has come out already its clear absolutely no one knows what happens next so please forget about it and join in with normal service. 

[jono]

I don’t go on Twitter, except once to give Vydra some support when everyone was on his back during Pearson’s tenure. It’s rather too full of certain types of voices who love to shout at people like like thugs in the middle of a mob whilst wearing a face mask, dark glasses and a hoodie

David, I don’t know you at all but for someone who, I guess is still relatively young, you are a voice of calm reason and maturity. Anything you say, I accept as being overflowing with the best of good intent. 
 

I hope you have been able to ignore any vitriol from the wrong quarters.

Thanks for all your efforts. Fans and folks of reason are all on your side and understand the work you do. 
 

?

 

[DarkFruitsRam7]

No issues with you at all David.

I have to say though, the official Rams Trust minutes seem pretty sparse for a 4-hour meeting.

[EtoileSportiveDeDerby]

No need to apologise, Ignore the bullies, look after yourself and "don't put it in writing"

[VulcanRam]

Club wants attendees to sign DNAs? 

Refuses to put minutes out? 

Agrees after key member leaves to put out a joint statement he knows nothing about? 

Attendees (agree or don't agree, I don't know) put stuff out anyway on Twitter and Radio Derby.

Supporters are left with half stories, conjecture and being none the wiser, while not knowing whether there is more to come.

David, who's clearly been a bit blind sided and wants to take time to ensure he is making accurate representation, gets stick on Twitter for it which clearly distresses him.

 

I'm afraid to say that imo this is solely on the club and it's handling of the matter. It's really hard to see how Mel or whoever it was organised this could have ducked the whole thing up more than they have. They've managed to turn what could have been a positive meeting with supporters into a total PR disaster. It's very noble of you @David to blame yourself but I'm afraid this is totally on the club and its handling of this. You've actually done the right thing and been unfairly lambasted for it.

[Anag Ram]

8 hours ago, David said:

I just want to apologise for the delay, my absence, my handling of the situation and try to explain what has happened.

The meeting on Wednesday was scheduled to end at 8.45pm, my last train home was 9.33pm, I slipped out just after 9pm as I didn’t have clothes, medication, toiletries with me as I wasn’t planning on staying overnight.

When the meeting had finished, an agreement was made where one statement would be written and signed off by all groups, this is the first time anything like this had been agreed, I was under the impression we would be allowed to report back as normal.

Being completely unaware of this, whilst waiting for my train I saw a conversation take place on my Twitter timeline discussing the meeting minutes, when would they be out.

I replied, that the meeting minutes were not taken and we would be sharing the information ourselves, which as I say I was under the impression would be allowed, why else attend? I thought I was being helpful.

Now I can see on reflection I was clearly naive in not appreciating the number of fans waiting online for what was said at the meeting, would see the tweet whilst was part of a conversation, which was also public and could be seen and shared by others. The tweet blew up online having been retweeted, I’m not exaggerating when I say maybe hundred or more replies, some abusive to the point where I had to turn notifications off as my phone was freezing with as I came back into an area with phone signal.

On the forum I did pre warn members not to expect anything Wednesday evening, the minutes can sometimes take a few days to a couple of weeks before being released. I was going with the intention of asking the club if the minutes could be released within 24 hours or that we could release the information immediately. Obviously once we was told the minutes would not be taken all that went out the window and believed we was free to report back immediately, and that was the plan.

Again, I was clearly naive to the fact fans on Twitter would not be aware of this, so when I wasn’t replying to all the tweets with thumbs up or down if it’s good news, or are we going to have a club next week the levels of abuse increased, despite my plea for being understanding I wasn’t in the position to do so.

With my write up, I had no intention of adding any personal opinion, it would be just what was said and allow you all to read and take it as you will.

As you will be well aware, all fans see things differently and I didn’t want to raise any expectations or disappoint fans, then receive more abuse as it wasn’t what they were expecting.

I put myself in this situation through naivety, but I don’t accept that the abuse was warranted at all, I have removed the twitter account from my devices and will no longer be active on that account, opting now for a private account as I have no interest in twitter fame.

I would seriously urge anyone that did send me abusive tweets to have a think how they talk to people online and their demands, if this is this what celebrities have to deal with on a daily basis, I’m glad I’m just a nobody!

Punjabi Rams, who I honestly can’t thank enough stepped in and put some tweets out from their account to give some information in my defence. You guys are awesome, didn’t need to do that but again, I honestly can’t thank you enough. Quick plug www.punjabirams.co.uk, @PunjabiRams on Twitter, go give them a follow if you are on there.

On the train home I started to do the write up on my notes app, realising I need to get this out asap, first thing to defuse the situation I felt I had created.

Thursday morning, as I was consulting my notes and finishing off the write up, there was a few things I wanted to fact check with the club were totally accurate, there has been times where things have been misheard in the past (Boycie ahem) and needed correcting, I didn’t want this to happen. We’re human, mistakes can happen, I believed I had time to ensure there were none.

I decided, and this was not requested by the club but to send my write up to them, asking if they could read it over and everything I had written was totally accurate, leaving ??? <—— fact checks where I was a little cautious over.

They agreed and I again naively yet again assumed that this would be back with me in a few hours……despite the previous night listening to just how busy they have been.

Now whilst I understand and totally agree that this meeting is important, the club staff are as I’m sure you can imagine really busy, now I need to really stress here that this is in no way the fault of the club, this is on me 100%.

No tweet, no forum post, none of this situation exists.

Meanwhile The Supporters Charter Group are scratching their heads as to why I’ve gone it alone, I can only apologise to them also, as I say I was under the impression that we would all be reporting back ourselves which I have explained privately with them.

A single statement isn’t something I would have been personally happy with but that is what was agreed in my absence.

I haven’t felt comfortable coming back on the forum if I'm honest, ignoring the fact I insinuated what was said at the meeting would be out Thursday on the forum, I feel like I have let you all down and for that I’m sorry.

Just to add, this apology wasn’t asked for, it's something I feel is owed to you all.

Should someone have gone that could have stayed all evening? Ideally yes, although Paul (Boycie) was unavailable to attend. Since the formation of 2017 it has only been either myself or Paul that has attended, I didn’t feel it would be right to send someone new which in hindsight was the correct call, they may have also not been able to attend until the end of what I’m led to believe turned out to be almost a 4 hour long meeting, putting themselves unwittingly into a similar situation I have.

I know you are all frustrated, the accusations of attention seeking, sitting on information, teasing, trying to get more views, followers etc. and even censorship on the forum are simply not true, they come from people that do not know me or how the forum is run at all, which is disappointing hearing it said by members that have been on the forum for a number of years now.

Finally, I do want to say thank you to those who have sent supportive texts, PM’s, DM’s, tweets you name it over the last few days, despite asking to be given time, it’s you who I put the hours in for, I will learn from this and work on handling things better in the future.

I would also like to thank the moderators who have been trying their best to keep on top of the situation, without them this forum would have crashed and burned over the last few days so please be respectful to them, even if at times you do not agree with decisions they have made. 

David

 

David

You did what you felt was best at the time as you have always done on here.

That is all that can be asked of a person.

Please don’t try not to let other people’s general dissatisfaction with life affect yours.

You are a noble human being and those with an ounce of sense will see that.

[Gisby]

@DavidI can’t really add any more to the messages of goodwill & support that have already been posted on here other than to repeat its good to have you back. Let’s move on and please don’t let this episode trouble you any more. Life’s too short buddy. Regards Gisby. 

[ollycutts1982]

@David first and foremost I appreciate you putting the apology out there although not needed in the slightest. As for the backlash you received, totally uncalled for, those little cretins need to crawl back under their rock and have a good hard look at who they are. 
 

For me personally the work you do on this forum is second to none. I truly hope it is a source of enjoyment for you and doesn’t become a chore. Without you and the other moderators we wouldn’t have such a great platform to discuss all things Derby. I see the forum like a family, we may not always get on, we may disagree, fall out, name call and argue but we all have our beloved club at heart. We are lucky to have you, as are the club lucky to have such a forum for their supporters. 
 

Keep your chin up, on the whole from what I’ve read these past few days the vast majority of the forum is behind you. Testament to that is members defending you in your absence. 
 

I suppose there is a lot of ill feelings and uncertainty towards the club at the minute due to numerous issues and I guess many thought a lot more information would come out from the meeting, otherwise why hold it. 
 

Keep up the excellent work but remember you yourself are far more important. 
 

COYR

[GboroRam]

53 minutes ago, jono said:

David, I don’t know you at all but for someone who, I guess is still relatively young, you are a voice of calm reason and maturity. Anything you say, I accept as being overflowing with the best of good intent. 

Have you seen his hairline? 

[Bald Eagle's Barmy Army]

I’d love to know the average age of people who give abuse online. 
 

I preferred the world of waiting for the ‘Green Un’ paper to come out at 6pm on a Saturday than the social media craze that we will now have forever. 

[cheron85]

8 hours ago, David said:

I just want to apologise for the delay, my absence, my handling of the situation and try to explain what has happened.

The meeting on Wednesday was scheduled to end at 8.45pm, my last train home was 9.33pm, I slipped out just after 9pm as I didn’t have clothes, medication, toiletries with me as I wasn’t planning on staying overnight.

When the meeting had finished, an agreement was made where one statement would be written and signed off by all groups, this is the first time anything like this had been agreed, I was under the impression we would be allowed to report back as normal.

Being completely unaware of this, whilst waiting for my train I saw a conversation take place on my Twitter timeline discussing the meeting minutes, when would they be out.

I replied, that the meeting minutes were not taken and we would be sharing the information ourselves, which as I say I was under the impression would be allowed, why else attend? I thought I was being helpful.

Now I can see on reflection I was clearly naive in not appreciating the number of fans waiting online for what was said at the meeting, would see the tweet whilst was part of a conversation, which was also public and could be seen and shared by others. The tweet blew up online having been retweeted, I’m not exaggerating when I say maybe hundred or more replies, some abusive to the point where I had to turn notifications off as my phone was freezing with as I came back into an area with phone signal.

On the forum I did pre warn members not to expect anything Wednesday evening, the minutes can sometimes take a few days to a couple of weeks before being released. I was going with the intention of asking the club if the minutes could be released within 24 hours or that we could release the information immediately. Obviously once we was told the minutes would not be taken all that went out the window and believed we was free to report back immediately, and that was the plan.

Again, I was clearly naive to the fact fans on Twitter would not be aware of this, so when I wasn’t replying to all the tweets with thumbs up or down if it’s good news, or are we going to have a club next week the levels of abuse increased, despite my plea for being understanding I wasn’t in the position to do so.

With my write up, I had no intention of adding any personal opinion, it would be just what was said and allow you all to read and take it as you will.

As you will be well aware, all fans see things differently and I didn’t want to raise any expectations or disappoint fans, then receive more abuse as it wasn’t what they were expecting.

I put myself in this situation through naivety, but I don’t accept that the abuse was warranted at all, I have removed the twitter account from my devices and will no longer be active on that account, opting now for a private account as I have no interest in twitter fame.

I would seriously urge anyone that did send me abusive tweets to have a think how they talk to people online and their demands, if this is this what celebrities have to deal with on a daily basis, I’m glad I’m just a nobody!

Punjabi Rams, who I honestly can’t thank enough stepped in and put some tweets out from their account to give some information in my defence. You guys are awesome, didn’t need to do that but again, I honestly can’t thank you enough. Quick plug www.punjabirams.co.uk, @PunjabiRams on Twitter, go give them a follow if you are on there.

On the train home I started to do the write up on my notes app, realising I need to get this out asap, first thing to defuse the situation I felt I had created.

Thursday morning, as I was consulting my notes and finishing off the write up, there was a few things I wanted to fact check with the club were totally accurate, there has been times where things have been misheard in the past (Boycie ahem) and needed correcting, I didn’t want this to happen. We’re human, mistakes can happen, I believed I had time to ensure there were none.

I decided, and this was not requested by the club but to send my write up to them, asking if they could read it over and everything I had written was totally accurate, leaving ??? <—— fact checks where I was a little cautious over.

They agreed and I again naively yet again assumed that this would be back with me in a few hours……despite the previous night listening to just how busy they have been.

Now whilst I understand and totally agree that this meeting is important, the club staff are as I’m sure you can imagine really busy, now I need to really stress here that this is in no way the fault of the club, this is on me 100%.

No tweet, no forum post, none of this situation exists.

Meanwhile The Supporters Charter Group are scratching their heads as to why I’ve gone it alone, I can only apologise to them also, as I say I was under the impression that we would all be reporting back ourselves which I have explained privately with them.

A single statement isn’t something I would have been personally happy with but that is what was agreed in my absence.

I haven’t felt comfortable coming back on the forum if I'm honest, ignoring the fact I insinuated what was said at the meeting would be out Thursday on the forum, I feel like I have let you all down and for that I’m sorry.

Just to add, this apology wasn’t asked for, it's something I feel is owed to you all.

Should someone have gone that could have stayed all evening? Ideally yes, although Paul (Boycie) was unavailable to attend. Since the formation of 2017 it has only been either myself or Paul that has attended, I didn’t feel it would be right to send someone new which in hindsight was the correct call, they may have also not been able to attend until the end of what I’m led to believe turned out to be almost a 4 hour long meeting, putting themselves unwittingly into a similar situation I have.

I know you are all frustrated, the accusations of attention seeking, sitting on information, teasing, trying to get more views, followers etc. and even censorship on the forum are simply not true, they come from people that do not know me or how the forum is run at all, which is disappointing hearing it said by members that have been on the forum for a number of years now.

Finally, I do want to say thank you to those who have sent supportive texts, PM’s, DM’s, tweets you name it over the last few days, despite asking to be given time, it’s you who I put the hours in for, I will learn from this and work on handling things better in the future.

I would also like to thank the moderators who have been trying their best to keep on top of the situation, without them this forum would have crashed and burned over the last few days so please be respectful to them, even if at times you do not agree with decisions they have made. 

David

 

David - As far as I'm concerned there is absolutely no need for any apology - you do a sterling job leading this forum for us and I personally appreciate all the hard work you put in to provide us with a place we can come to discuss the club we all love 

Its an absolute shame that some of our fans, and some here, cannot appreciate the work you (and the other Mods) put in to provide this for us - and the level of abuse you have received I find appalling when you constantly go out of your way to find us more information about the club and what's going on

You have my full support and trust and whatever you can/can't say here I choose to assume is down to your own good judgement

I hope you feel better today than the last few days, hope you know how much the vast majority of us here appreciate you and the work you do, and please don't let the vocal minority of grey faces keep you down

 

Chris

[Tombo]

23 minutes ago, GboroRam said:

Have you seen his hairline? 

Think it's right that his moderators come into this thread to counterbalance all the love with a few little cheap shots.

Keeps him honest

[Mostyn6]

I’m not comfortable @Davidthat it’s clear you’re beating yourself up and somewhat embarrassed or apologetic for something that’s truly nothing. 
 

One thing is clear is that when things aren’t great at DCFC, a lot of ‘entitled’ fans channel their anger and aggression into the wrong areas. 
 

in THAT season, fans turned on Dean Sturridge (on RD at the time), turned on matchday stewards (I was one), turned on each other and generally were very poor losers, this feels similar. 
 

you owe nobody anything. I hope you soon realise that your commitment and contribution alone, and that’s not including your character, personality and dedication to posters/fans alike, should allow you to stand up straight, chin up and proud. Don’t be bowing your head in any circumstance! 

[Mostyn6]

Admittedly, I’ve not seen any abuse to @Davidas i binned off twitter a couple of years ago. Was any of it good? He deserves some abuse just to keep him grounded. Especially for missing that penalty against Italy. Oh hang on… 

[SFox1993]

9 hours ago, David said:

I just want to apologise for the delay, my absence, my handling of the situation and try to explain what has happened.

The meeting on Wednesday was scheduled to end at 8.45pm, my last train home was 9.33pm, I slipped out just after 9pm as I didn’t have clothes, medication, toiletries with me as I wasn’t planning on staying overnight.

When the meeting had finished, an agreement was made where one statement would be written and signed off by all groups, this is the first time anything like this had been agreed, I was under the impression we would be allowed to report back as normal.

Being completely unaware of this, whilst waiting for my train I saw a conversation take place on my Twitter timeline discussing the meeting minutes, when would they be out.

I replied, that the meeting minutes were not taken and we would be sharing the information ourselves, which as I say I was under the impression would be allowed, why else attend? I thought I was being helpful.

Now I can see on reflection I was clearly naive in not appreciating the number of fans waiting online for what was said at the meeting, would see the tweet whilst was part of a conversation, which was also public and could be seen and shared by others. The tweet blew up online having been retweeted, I’m not exaggerating when I say maybe hundred or more replies, some abusive to the point where I had to turn notifications off as my phone was freezing with as I came back into an area with phone signal.

On the forum I did pre warn members not to expect anything Wednesday evening, the minutes can sometimes take a few days to a couple of weeks before being released. I was going with the intention of asking the club if the minutes could be released within 24 hours or that we could release the information immediately. Obviously once we was told the minutes would not be taken all that went out the window and believed we was free to report back immediately, and that was the plan.

Again, I was clearly naive to the fact fans on Twitter would not be aware of this, so when I wasn’t replying to all the tweets with thumbs up or down if it’s good news, or are we going to have a club next week the levels of abuse increased, despite my plea for being understanding I wasn’t in the position to do so.

With my write up, I had no intention of adding any personal opinion, it would be just what was said and allow you all to read and take it as you will.

As you will be well aware, all fans see things differently and I didn’t want to raise any expectations or disappoint fans, then receive more abuse as it wasn’t what they were expecting.

I put myself in this situation through naivety, but I don’t accept that the abuse was warranted at all, I have removed the twitter account from my devices and will no longer be active on that account, opting now for a private account as I have no interest in twitter fame.

I would seriously urge anyone that did send me abusive tweets to have a think how they talk to people online and their demands, if this is this what celebrities have to deal with on a daily basis, I’m glad I’m just a nobody!

Punjabi Rams, who I honestly can’t thank enough stepped in and put some tweets out from their account to give some information in my defence. You guys are awesome, didn’t need to do that but again, I honestly can’t thank you enough. Quick plug www.punjabirams.co.uk, @PunjabiRams on Twitter, go give them a follow if you are on there.

On the train home I started to do the write up on my notes app, realising I need to get this out asap, first thing to defuse the situation I felt I had created.

Thursday morning, as I was consulting my notes and finishing off the write up, there was a few things I wanted to fact check with the club were totally accurate, there has been times where things have been misheard in the past (Boycie ahem) and needed correcting, I didn’t want this to happen. We’re human, mistakes can happen, I believed I had time to ensure there were none.

I decided, and this was not requested by the club but to send my write up to them, asking if they could read it over and everything I had written was totally accurate, leaving ??? <—— fact checks where I was a little cautious over.

They agreed and I again naively yet again assumed that this would be back with me in a few hours……despite the previous night listening to just how busy they have been.

Now whilst I understand and totally agree that this meeting is important, the club staff are as I’m sure you can imagine really busy, now I need to really stress here that this is in no way the fault of the club, this is on me 100%.

No tweet, no forum post, none of this situation exists.

Meanwhile The Supporters Charter Group are scratching their heads as to why I’ve gone it alone, I can only apologise to them also, as I say I was under the impression that we would all be reporting back ourselves which I have explained privately with them.

A single statement isn’t something I would have been personally happy with but that is what was agreed in my absence.

I haven’t felt comfortable coming back on the forum if I'm honest, ignoring the fact I insinuated what was said at the meeting would be out Thursday on the forum, I feel like I have let you all down and for that I’m sorry.

Just to add, this apology wasn’t asked for, it's something I feel is owed to you all.

Should someone have gone that could have stayed all evening? Ideally yes, although Paul (Boycie) was unavailable to attend. Since the formation of 2017 it has only been either myself or Paul that has attended, I didn’t feel it would be right to send someone new which in hindsight was the correct call, they may have also not been able to attend until the end of what I’m led to believe turned out to be almost a 4 hour long meeting, putting themselves unwittingly into a similar situation I have.

I know you are all frustrated, the accusations of attention seeking, sitting on information, teasing, trying to get more views, followers etc. and even censorship on the forum are simply not true, they come from people that do not know me or how the forum is run at all, which is disappointing hearing it said by members that have been on the forum for a number of years now.

Finally, I do want to say thank you to those who have sent supportive texts, PM’s, DM’s, tweets you name it over the last few days, despite asking to be given time, it’s you who I put the hours in for, I will learn from this and work on handling things better in the future.

I would also like to thank the moderators who have been trying their best to keep on top of the situation, without them this forum would have crashed and burned over the last few days so please be respectful to them, even if at times you do not agree with decisions they have made. 

David

 

No need for an apology David , you rock! Keep on rockin' and i hope this hasnt effected you too badly mentally as im sure the people who have hounded you are concerned fans like you and me. Hope you are ok David & COYR.