animal

That is a really inteligent comment - for a 10 year old. Please indicate why each of my statements is untrue. Fact: Michelle Evans has left. Fact: Redundancy letters at our successful academy now under the watchful eye of a kibble director have been out for a week. Fact: More well known faces set to depart. Fact: From my perch in the main stand I see and hear things of interest Fact: we are dependent on unpaid volunteers for stadium cleaning Fact: we needed their help to distribute season tickets Fact: after more than a year with strangely connected suppliers at the academy we have a hugely damaging overspend under this regime’s watch Fact: our general manager is employed by Kibble Fact: we are one unhappy workplace Is it not a wee bit ironic that a football club part owned by a children's charity no longer has a Child Wellbeing and Protection Officer ?

The Club keeps any negativity deliberately quiet. If you were in bother so would you. You can hardly blame them as the last thing they want is to draw attention to the abject failure of our promised ‘new professionalism’ in what is becoming a very serious situation. Fact: Michelle Evans has left. Fact: Redundancy letters at our successful academy now under the watchful eye of a kibble director have been out for a week. Fact: More well known faces set to depart. Fact: From my perch in the main stand I see and hear things of interest Fact: we are dependent on unpaid volunteers for stadium cleaning Fact: we needed their help to distribute season tickets Fact: after more than a year with strangely connected suppliers at the academy we have a hugely damaging overspend under this regime’s watch Fact: our general manager is employed by Kibble Fact: we are one unhappy workplace Don’t blame the messenger! See you at Pittodrie.

Eh, You want me to contact JIm Kibble to confirm what I already know to be true but you won't do the same. As for the current financial position, this will become clear at the AGM. Hope you are not too far away and can attend it.

Eh yes, The fact that she does not work there any more is a good indication. Friday was her last day. Although the web site has not been updated yet. https://www.stmirren.com/club/contacting-st-mirren/club-directory Child Wellbeing and Protection Officer Michelle Evans [email protected] Given recent events in Scottish football it was rather an important job. More staff set to leave in the next few weeks.

Yes but I have no doubt you would still not believe me so why not simply contact the club director in charge of the academy and ask him to confirm or deny the existance of the redundancy letters and the departure of the welfare officer. He does not seem to have a St. Mirren e-mail address so maybe try - Jim Gillespie Kibble Goudie Street Paisley PA3 2LG [email protected] Telephone 0141 889 0044 https://www.kibble.org/contact/ I'm sure he will be delighted to hear from you.

The Club's welfare officer, well known to many of us, left today ☹️ - more to follow. Question for SMISA members and directors – why are we making people redundant if the Club is in such a sound financial state ? Asking for a friend.

Sorry to have to say it, but I have just confirmed the redundancies and the debt from a second reliable source.

Was out for a pint today and met a couple of supporters who told me that requests for voluntary redundancy letters are out to Academy staff, including the top coaches (the very people that identify upcoming talent like McGinn, Reid, Erhahon etc) with the possible exception of one. My sources said this is not a case of a particular job being made redundant so it has to be cost cutting as it is a broad brush approach. They both also informed me that we are well over a million in debt now and the chairman only confirmed this was the situation under pressure of questioning at the recent SMISA meeting. I really hope this is not the case. The Academy is a proven success story and the core of our club. We totally depend on the team there for future gems. It should be the last stop for cutbacks!

Well done Jim Crawford and friends but where does this end? Volunteers now asking for a volunteer electrician for the club. How about a volunteer grounds man next. What happened to all the promises of professionalism from the Kibble folk ?

I’ve just bought my season ticket. I thought long and hard about it. I grudgingly paid my £335. It’s the first time in 40plus years I have had very real second thoughts. I have not made up my mind about attending the Rangers or Celtic games. I will decide on the day. I might not be able to attend some of the now more common Friday night or Sunday lunchtime games so the season ticket probably does not make much personal financial sense any more. I coughed up to help the club I have supported over the years. My brand loyalty has been severely stretched. If a plumber, joiner or lawyer treated me in the way the directors of St. Mirren have recently I would take my business elsewhere. Much like my gas and electricity suppliers they have a virtual monopoly position. If I went to the cinema and had to listen to a number of folk singing sectarians songs while sitting in the freezing cold watching a boring movie I would just leave and never return. I certainly would not consider buying a season ticket for the so called family stand only to have my seat re-allocated three times a season. Looking round the stadium in the last weeks of the season there was a clear lack of young folk in most parts of the ground. The ever increasing cost of living will force many to rethink where to spend their leisure cash – if they have any. I gave up travelling to away games last season. Fan ownership seems to be pretty meaningless. So St. Mirren directors, like I suspect many season ticket holders, I have signed up for another full season but it might well be my last.

Regarding the Chairman’s e-mail - I would think that with the OF choirs in both ends of the ground, and judging by the current season ticket holders I know, it is more likely that this season there may be 300 LESS season tickets sold. If you don’t want to go to the OF games then it makes less financial sense to buy a season ticket. That is a thin edge of a very dangerous financial wedge. Fans without season tickets will possibly start to pick and chose their other games, not just the OF ones . The cost of living is soaring, energy bills are about to triple for some folk. Heat, eat or go to the game? In marketing terms, anything leading to the loss of season ticket holders is a very bad idea. I have no intention of paying, in effect, a ransom payment of £30 to “help retain the Tony Fitzpatrick stand for the home supporters”. In any case I actually have no idea how that would work in practice. The help “a buddie scheme” does not seem to relate in any way to the OF stand issue. The “two match ticket bundles” are welcome but add a further complication to things. I wonder how the budget for this season can be “already set” since the Club has no idea of the extent of its income from Cup runs or its final league place or 101 other variables. I as understand it, one final place higher in the league may cover the loss of income from restricting the OF fans to one end of the ground. A “family club” does not move its families from their usual seats to rent them out on a temporary basis to a bunch of folk who still live their lives in the 1690’s. With the exception of W7 the age profile of the Club’s supporters is frankly – old and getting older. We need more families and young supporters. What we don’t need is having to explain to our younger children who King Billy was and what his relationship was with the then Pope.

Given that the club will not tell us if the OF are to get both ends of the ground, I suspect many season ticket holders will be recluctant to rush to buy their ticket. I will be. I expect that as the pay early discount period ends there will be an appeal to sign up. and pay up. Maybe even an extension to the period.claiming how they need our cash and probably will need to let in the OF at both ends if we dont. Some will give in and pay up. The board will have a good laugh and tell us to take part in the consultation - NOT A BINDING VOTE. Regardless of the result the OF will be at both ends next season to serande us and our children with the hot hits of 1690 and 1916 and the like. Really hope I am wrong but fear I will be right - Buddies before bigots - Black and white before the orange and the green. P.S. I liked the suggestion I heard a few weeks ago - keep our families where they are - move the main stand folk to the family stand and put the OF in the main stand with our directors - bet they would not do that 😆

No 'might' about it - dont think either of the Kibble directors are. I know for sure Mr. McMillan is not a supporter.

I think this is a bit of the cart before the horse. Why not A) Tell us if the UDA/IRA chorus line are to get two stands then b) Tell us the price of season tickets C) Let us decide if we want to buy one.. It looks like we ask being asked to buy something at an unknown price without actually seeing what it looks like it. On balance I think I will give it all a miss for the first time in 19 years. I don’t want to listen to the old sectarian songs or even the new ones. So why should I pay for the experience ? This is 2022 not 1960 and certainly not 1690. Sorry St. Mirren I will pick and chose my games. I suspect they may be few and far between. Best of luck for the new season. Bye for now. It’s been fun. Maybe we can still be friends. Buddies before Bigots.

Suggestion for SMISA Now that TF is leaving, this is the ideal time to return to having a general manager/CE who knows and understands the club. A Brian Caldwell type if there is such an animal. ☺️ I suggest that SMISA and its nominated directors support this. The current general manager who is not a St Mirren Football Club employee would not lose her job as she is already in paid employment. She would just return to her area of expertise.The club would not require take on an additional wage as TF is already paid by the club, so still only paying out one wage as is the situation now. The benefit is that the club’s day to day management would be done by an employee whose first loyalty would be to his or her’s employer, the club, and not to an outside agency which is paying her salary from money it raises through grants from taxpayers. I can’t think that even Baz will object to this. But Baz let’s hope we see more goals like Connor Ronan’s at Dens. See you there.

Fix this SMiSA! Having managed to watch the AGM proceedings at a friend’s house here’s a summary of Fibble’s achievements at the club according to Mr McMillan of Fibble. One seconded employee of Fibble entirely paid by the charity (taxpayer?) seconded to St Mirren as general manager (a scandal in my humble opinion) and they delivered fan ownership. That’s it then. Then for afters the St Mirren vice-chairman, Mr Gillespie of Fibble, when asked if he would comment on the training ground refurbishment made his entire contribution to the two hour meeting, One word - A blunt NO. (with a giveaway face like thunder). And that says it all. Shareholders in the club he is vice chairman of denied any engagement or explanation. Call in Sue Gray. We have discovered Boris Johnson’s cousin in Airdrie! They were obviously afraid of probing financial questions on the current position from Stewart Gilmour. Fix this SMISA. Don’t bother with the excuses Baz. It was all there to see.

Heard an interesting story at the game last night from a club insider. It seems that the email instructions of the AGM that was sent out was, as I said, not legitimate. Been told that the board have to quote, ‘been forced by the number of complaints to bring in some kind of live spoken questioning of board members to make sure they comply with companies house rules’. I have no reason to doubt this. This was not the format indicated by the club so we will see. If this is true it represents an incredible climb down and an embarrassment to the board and more so to Fibble’s self-proclaimed increased professionalism! Sorry to point to that Bazil, at least we agree on the goal last night. I nearly landed on the dug out. Maybe Goodie two Shoes might want to ask his contact if this is happening.

Just as predicted. The meeting’s content is selected. Board members get to know the questions in advance. So will prepare their answers before moving quickly to the next question “in order to get as many questions asked as possible”.And just to add insult the questions have to be emailed to a Kibble employee! Result? The entire proceedings are tightly controlled from start to finish and that since joining the board and taking it over, neither Kibble director has yet faced any fans meeting including at two AGMs. Thus denying fans the right of reply. The following was sent to shareholders today. My translation is in bold. Good Afternoon Shareholders As you are aware, we will be hosting our AGM on Thursday 27 January virtually via ZOOM conferencing. The details of Zoom have been shared with you previously. To help make this AGM run smoothly we would please ask your cooperation with the following: Meaning: To help us keep as far removed from answering the questions that matter please Prior to the AGM Meeting 1. If possible, can you reply to this email by 2pm on Wednesday 26 January if you are planning on attending the AGM virtually. 2. If you have a question you wish raised at the AGM, if you could again reply to this email by 2pm on Wednesday 26 January outlining your question, this will allow us to collate questions for the Directors in advance of the meeting. Meaning: we need to get our story straight so need to know what will be asked. Just like last year we can ditch the difficult questions. On the day of the meeting 1. There will be a virtual waiting room in operation where we will verify identity prior to the meeting starting Meaning: We hope there is not a room full of people watching at your end. 2. The waiting room will open at 7 pm and close at 7.30 pm to allow the meeting to start promptly. 3. Upon admittance to the meeting all cameras and will be turned off and sound muted. Meaning: Shareholders participation will be non-existent. You will not be allowed to speak. During the meeting 1. All cameras and sound must remain muted. 2. The Board of Directors will be visible and unmuted. 3. Any questions on the night should be emailed to [email protected], these will be grouped and forwarded to the chair for response. Meaning: On the night we will silence two way communication, therby controlling every aspect of the proceeding. This meeting is not legitimate. Will they answer the Asigura questions? Why did they act as Kibble and not SMFC directors to report JN to the SFA and then speak to the press immediately after? Do all directors agree with this farce? Are the financial rumours true as this meeting is considering figures that are over a year old? Watch the meeting with all this in mind and ask what is missing because as always it is not what is asked but what is not asked that matters.

FALKIRK seem to be able to hold real meetings.

Since Fibble arrived our AGMs have slipped from November to December to January. Last year’s was by Zoom because it was necessary. This year it is not. Were I a shareholder I’d ask why other teams have held AGMs during the pandemic, indoors and outdoors. The 1877 club’s windows, high ceilings, two doors into the main stand, another into the corridor and entrance doors (opening on four sides) make it quite possible to hold the AGM safely. Packed corporate hospitality continued during covid, with more people and less ventilation. The AGM could even be held outdoors in the main stand. Teams bigger than ours do this annually. Why were shareholders not asked if they liked the idea? The apathy created is why the board/Fibblefeel they can get away with a Zoom AGM that allows them to pick and control questions, give short answers and move on quickly before things hot up reducing an important AGM to a tightly controlled Q&A session. Fibble directors are avoiding the people they are supposed to represent. Think on that. They have never faced shareholders who have saved St Mirrentwice in the past. They are suffocating real debate and treating real St Mirren supporters with contempt.They should hang their heads in shame. We all know home support is on the slide. Fibble’s profile is so low it is all but underground. After the ‘contracts to friends scandalof summer, the unfinished training ground fiasco, the first Fibble General Manager, their report of the club to the Revenue, their jump to attack the Chairman by press release unknown to their fellow directors after a mysterious ‘Rangers fan’ (there is one on our board) revealed his ill-advised comments is hardly surprising. Fibble have brought nothing to our club except to disillusion the few remaining staff in a club now disjointed by warfare in the boardroom that is an open secret. No wonder they chose Zoom. Watch it all happen without a squeak.

Hello Bazil85 you are very quiet on this topic. Usually defending Fibble long before now - are you OK mate ? Heard there was a SMISA board meeting on Monday night and a SMFC board meeting last night. Anyone have any news ? We got more info when Stewart Gilmour was in charge.

Heard that Saints have quietly settled "out of court" with the ex ticket office manager for around £20,000. I have no reason to doubt this information because my source been on point with everything else. This attempt to compensate for what was said to be unfair dismissal overseen by Fibble’s (second) general manager and the Fibble supporting CE who did not follow proper procedures is just another example of the club losing money hand over fist. Told decisions are being made without the full knowledge of non Kibble supporting board members. Wonder how much is left of the Scottish government loan? Also told financially we have to make a top six place because of overspending.

“We would stress for us to play that out in public would not be in the best interests of St Mirren. On that basis we ask for understanding and realism from members over what SMISA can publicly say.” MEANS Something serious is going on but keep giving us your money. Don’t expect us to tell you what is going on. In any case Fibble’s expensive lawyers would not be too happy if we told you what was going on.

Bumped into a ‘connected friend’ in my local Morrisons this morning. Chat soon came around to Kibble (or FIBBLE as she calls them) and their threats of legal action against our club board and SMISA board members should they dare to speak publicly about the chaos (and now bullying) they are inflicting on our club. She tells me concerns are being raised in some concerned quarters as to just what FIBBLE are up to. As all this unfolds and Fibble delay this year’s AGM, just as they did last year’s, the manager and players are having to put up with the result of their contracting to ‘professionals’ such as their discredited ‘supplier’ Asigura Ltd. Remember them? FIBBLE suppliers given stadia catering, security, and refurbishment of the training ground. Thanks to their increased professionalism our players still have no washing facilities at their own training ground and are having to change at St Mirren Park then journey back and forward to and from Ralston in this climate! Buildings at Ralston are unfinished and if planning applications are be believed proper permission for some of the works, tarpaulin flapping in the rain, has not even been secured. Remember FIBBLE also forgot to tell you that they wanted the manager gone last year when team was playing well (the team had had facilities back then) and reaching semi finals. Our manager deserves our support before he becomes as disillusioned as the fans and walks. Hibs? Have a look at this link from when they came in and the claptrap we were fed. https://www.stmirren.com/all-news/3591-board-members-from-kibble ASIGURA FACILITIES MANAGEMEET WAS INCORPORATED ONLY 4 DAYS AFTER THE RELEASE OF THIS NONSENSE. NOW THERE IS A COINCIDENCE! Time to back the manager, the players and the St Mirren supporters on the board and tell FIBBLE where to go now. Maybe take their second (Fibble staff member) general manager with them and ask the CE Tony Fitz why he backs them at all !!!!

At least many more people are reading this thread and commenting on it. It’s very important that this remains a debate and discussion rather than a tit for tat point scoring exercise. However it’s hard to agree when we see comments here like Baz85’s that problems have been ‘most short term’ and what he refers to as ‘legacy issues’ that pre-date Kibble. Or that tensions are the result of the Chairman’s ‘idiotic tweets’. Tensions? It’s open boardroom warfare. Believe me Baz, while you may think problems short term I’d ask you just to take a look around at matches. Listen to fellow fans like I do, saying how disillusioned they are, not with the poor results but with the club in general for all the reasons that appeared earlier on this thread. Looking across to the West Stand in midweek in a ‘crowd’ of 2,300 I knew we were about 1000 down on season ticket holders, let alone PATG. We scraped 6,000 v Rangers with them in two stands. Crowds are down and dropping, which has been the case right from the off. (For comparison November 23 2019. Saints 2 Ross County 1 Attendance 4,708). I knew there and then that stadium catering was suffering sales-wise. That the 1877 club would be suffering. That costs across the board were probably outstripping income. All of which hurts the club. All the talk I hear is that problems kicked in from the point Kibble’s new professionalism became involved and started a systematic clear out of anyone they could not control. I won’t list them all again, its easier to say Tommy Docherty, Campbell Kenney and one of the back office are all that’s left at the ground. Furthermore two Kibble attempts to discredit the club and remove one or more directors without so much as a care for fans and other shareholders let alone SMISA have now failed. And a Digby Brown lawyer/director has tendered his resignation without even a thank you from the club. Well if it matters to Digby Brown it bloody well matters to me and almost every fan I spoke to today and for the past umpteen weeks. Chris Stewart is a loss to the club. These people are playing fast and loose with our club because they do not care. It is not the club they support and they have not put one penny of their own money into it! Think about that. And remember it does not matter a damn to them what league we play in. If we were to be relegated they would not lift a finger to help us back. Even though I agree John Needham’s online comments were not the actions I would expect from a St Mirren director he must be supported in his efforts to protect the club. What's next then? Here’s something to think about. Our AGM. None of the Kibble representatives on our board have yet faced any kind of scrutiny or questioning from St Mirren supporters or shareholders. It would suit them perfectly to continue this situation by selecting another ZOOM style AGM. This must be avoided at all costs. I would suggest they will (if they turn up) face a forensic grilling at a physical AGM. I’d suggest the 1877 club as a venue for its capacity, high ceiling and space if social distancing is an issue to ensure this happens. When we played that 2019 game against Ross County we finished the season with the club united as never before. Outsiders have since found a way in and destroyed any semblance of unity within our club. They don't care. They joke about it and one of them not so long ago loved to show his pals a St Mirren strip on his mobile only in green and white. Attempting to re-write what has been going on since the professionals of Kibble arrived and began to take over almost every aspect of the running of OUR club like does nothing to add to the debate. I hope, just hope, others agree with that and that an AGM MUST be face to face!