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Membership Update


barrymitchell

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Member numbers
 
We are conscious we haven't updated you on member numbers since our joint bid for the majority stake in the club with Gordon Scott was completed last month.
 
As of 3 August we had 1,373 members of the trust - numbers have actually crept up slightly since the deal was completed. Of that, around 12% are on the £25 per month membership, which is slightly ahead of our initial target of 10%. 
 
We had always said 1,000 was the minimum we needed to hit to trigger the deal - we are thrilled to have smashed that and want to thank every one of you for signing up.
 
The more members the trust has, the stronger we are financially and the greater our ability to benefit the club.
 
There is no upper limit on members, so please keep spreading the word to fellow fans that anybody can still sign up now at smisa.net
 
Spending trust income
 
As you know, the bulk of our income is going towards the share purchase and saving up the cash ultimately needed to buy out Gordon and achieve fan ownership.
 
But £2 per month from each member will be ring-fenced to be spent on the club as you choose, and at current membership levels, that is just over £8,000 per quarter. 
 
We are still finalising the details of the procedure for spending this but the plan is for us to survey members on where they want to see the money spent, speak to club about where they need investment, and compile the results into a shortlist of options for members to vote on via secure online ballot.
 
We hope to repeat this process every three months, meaning members will get four votes per year. We feel this will be a really good way to keep the membership engaged, while deciding how their money will help the club.
 
SMISA director
 
As has already been announced, Gordon Scott has asked SMISA committee member Dave Nicol to join the board of St Mirren as the SMISA representative.
 
Gordon was keen there be some continuity with the guys who had worked with him over the past year, and Dave - who had led on the financial and legal aspects of the deal from SMISA's side - was the obvious choice.

However Dave's appointment was only ever intended to be temporary, as one of the key points of the #BuyTheBuds campaign was that SMISA members elect their own director.
 
We are still working on a procedure through which this will happen, but the plan is to hold an election for members to elect one of their own on to the board before the end of the year.
 
It is important to stress that as things stand SMISA are only the part-owners of the club - ultimately Gordon controls the majority stake.
 
In practice, the club will be run by the board, as it always has been. But the key difference is that board now contains a SMISA rep, who can raise issues on your behalf for potential discussion.
 
If you wish to raise an issue with the SMISA director, you can do so by emailing [email protected]
 
Events and member benefits
 
We will have a number of events this coming season - the first being a fan party to celebrate the success of the bid after the Morton game on Saturday in the library at UWS. Entry is free but tickets are required. To sign up and for full details see our Eventbrite page
 
There will also be a number of events for those of you on the £25 per month and £2,500 premium packages - we are still working on these but will be in touch with details as soon as they are confirmed.
 
We will also be running a draw for each home game this season for a £25 per month member and a guest to watch that game from the director's guest lounge.
 
Cameron Sanderson was the lucky winner for the Morton game. The rest of you in that membership category have around a one in ten chance of winning at some point - we will be in touch if you do!
 
Football Pink Magazine Article
 
The Football Pink Magazine are writing a piece about St Mirren's Scottish Cup win from 1987 and along with some interviews from players from the team they're looking for fans' views and memories of the occasion. If you were there that day and don't mind answering a few questions about the game please drop as an email and we'll forward them on.
 
Contact details
Finally, we want to ask members to keep us updated with any change in your details using our contact page.
 
If you've changed your email address or phone number, we want to make sure you don't miss out on any events or benefits due to you.
 
All our updates will come from [email protected] so please add this to your address book to ensure our emails to you don't end up in junk mail.
 
Edited by barrymitchell
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1 hour ago, gazmc83 said:

If we have maxed out our player budget could The approx £2476 extra per month perhaps be used to bring in another (badly needed) midfielder , that's a half decent wage ... perhaps this could be put to members as a potential use of the extra £2 ?

I don't think we should be getting into the business of bailing out the manager for deficiencies in his signing policy. It would set a dangerous precedent, and detract from other areas that might benefit from investment.

Just my personal view, mind.

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5 minutes ago, Drew said:

I don't think we should be getting into the business of bailing out the manager for deficiencies in his signing policy. It would set a dangerous precedent, and detract from other areas that might benefit from investment.

Just my personal view, mind.

Yeah that would be my view too.

The manager knew his budget and decided how best to spend it.

I think he bought well to be honest, but at the moment we're without MacKenzie & Quinn and unfortunately that's two big players from the spine of the team and it's hurting us.

Not really sure why Ben Gordon hasn't featured mind you. At all!

Anyway, I digress. Giving the manager more money from the fans would be madness.

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11 minutes ago, div said:

Yeah that would be my view too.

The manager knew his budget and decided how best to spend it.

I think he bought well to be honest, but at the moment we're without MacKenzie & Quinn and unfortunately that's two big players from the spine of the team and it's hurting us.

Not really sure why Ben Gordon hasn't featured mind you. At all!

Anyway, I digress. Giving the manager more money from the fans would be madness.

I agree on the signings, though do feel we are light in central midfield, even with a fit Quinn.

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38 minutes ago, gazmc83 said:

Not so much bailing out the manager I was more thinking helping us to improve our squad further therefore giving us more chance of promotion....

Anyway was just a thought ..

Presumably the board will come up with a number of options to vote on for the £2.

I had it in my head that one of the options would be money towards players. Perhaps I've imagined it but I thought maybe this was mentioned at a Q&A.

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20 minutes ago, Julian Banjos said:

Presumably the board will come up with a number of options to vote on for the £2.

I had it in my head that one of the options would be money towards players. Perhaps I've imagined it but I thought maybe this was mentioned at a Q&A.

I suppose there is no reason why it shouldn't be an option, just like any other.

Did SMiSA not contribute towards the fee for Stewart Kean back in day? That said, very changed days now, with SMiSA having a very different status. On that point, should it still be classed as, and called, an 'independent' supporters association? Bit of a misnomer now, I'd have thought.

Anyway, back on topic, I'm not convinced at all that the additional monies available after the bid is serviced should be gambled on transient variable such as a player.  If it could be shown to be enhancing the status of the club and it's future prospects, fair enough, but few signings for the money we're talking about would tick that box with any level of certainty.

Edited by Drew
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I could maybe see the sense if there was a fund built up and a signing in the winter window to give us a better chance of getting over the line.  Much prefer just keeping it in the bank until it's an amount that can deliver something tangible that will deliver some value to supporters/the club for years.

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2 hours ago, Drew said:

I agree on the signings, though do feel we are light in central midfield, even with a fit Quinn.

 

I felt Hardie was a mistake as he's the fourth forward with only two starting places available I'm tending towards what Lex said on P&B
 

Quote

 


Cause Rae's f**ked it in a word.

I think he signed up Clarkson early on cause he didn't think he would get Sutton. Then Sutton said yes so he couldn't say no, so we have both.

I then think he signed up Hardie cause he didn't think he would get Shankland. Then Aberdeen said yes and Rae (inexplicably in my view) seems to really rate Shankland and he couldn't say no to him either, so we have both of them too.

We now have 4 strikers who all want to start and who can all can make cases for starting and only 2 at most can. Personally I would rather we played with 1 striker and 3 central midfielders, but that's not an option as we have more strikers than centre mids.

This means we will always have two strikers in the park which in turn leads to us being continually over run in midfield. It also means that whereas our striking and centre half options look great, we are woefully short in other areas of the park as all our budget has been used on those two positions.

We have started with Mallan and Hutton in every competitive game so far, not cause the partnership between them is working in midfield - it clearly isn't - but because we simply don't have any other centre midfielders available. They will likely start together on Saturday too.

Thankfully it's still August and there is time to remedy the mess Rae has made. Although I think will need to move players on to get someone in, I hope he does. I would terminate either Shankland or Hardies loan and use the money to get in a defensive midfielder.

 

 

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I think having 4 good striking options is perfectly reasonable.

Scoring goals is the hardest part of the game and it's the most valuable bit.

If we can get a settled and competent defence, one that doesn't ship goals from routine balls down the middle for example, then I think still think we will do well this season.

A lot has been made about the midfield being too light but if you actually watch the highlights from Saturday we could easily have scored 4 goals ourselves, with or without either of the two penalties we should have been given.

The reason we lost on Saturday wasn't anything to do with the strikers, or the midfield. We lost on Saturday because we defended like a pub team.

I'm hoping MacKenzie can be that big hairy arsed no nonsense brute of a centre half that we've been after for about a decade now. If he is, and he is a leader, then we'll do just fine.

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10 minutes ago, div said:

 

The reason we lost on Saturday wasn't anything to do with the strikers, or the midfield. We lost on Saturday because we defended like a pub team.

Not really buying that one. We are being steamrolled in midfield in almost every game , there is no protection for the back line. Mallan and Hutton , in their current roles , simply won't do. The most worrying factor for me is that Rae was questioned about the shape of the team and lack of a worker in midfield recently,  within my earshot , and he had little or no concerns !<_<

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1 minute ago, billyg said:

Not really buying that one. We are being steamrolled in midfield in almost every game , there is no protection for the back line. Mallan and Hutton , in their current roles , simply won't do. The most worrying factor for me is that Rae was questioned about the shape of the team and lack of a worker in midfield recently,  within my earshot , and he had little or no concerns !<_<

I wasn't there on Saturday bud but looking at the highlights I see two goals lost by thumps up the park, that's nothing to do with the midfield.

I'd certainly concede I have concerns about the strength in the middle of the park but on the same tact I don't subscribe to the theory that we shouldn't have let Goodwin go.

It's not actually Jim Goodwin we need in there, it's a player in the mould of Jim Goodwin.

Must be a holding midfielder in the 20s is there not? Anyone ready for a game in the firsts?

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Just now, Dibbles old paperboy said:

Did GLS and the SMISA team not say that the £2 per month was going to be put towards a rainy day fund which would be used February to April most seasons to help with cashflow issues which crop up towards the end of the season?

I'm pretty sure it's up to the members to decide where it goes but I'm not sure who decides what the members get to vote on :-)

I also know £2 of the £12 is kept aside but I don't know how much of the £25 a month membership is kept back, is it also £2 or is it more?

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44 minutes ago, div said:

 

It's not actually Jim Goodwin we need in there, it's a player in the mould of Jim Goodwin.

Must be a holding midfielder in the 20s is there not? Anyone ready for a game in the firsts?

Darren Whyte?

Others will have seen him more than me but he's ready physically. Also seems mature, a leader on the park, tidy footballer.

Don't know if he might end up as a centre half though. Has already been on the bench this season.

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1 hour ago, div said:

I'm pretty sure it's up to the members to decide where it goes but I'm not sure who decides what the members get to vote on :-)

I also know £2 of the £12 is kept aside but I don't know how much of the £25 a month membership is kept back, is it also £2 or is it more?

A survey of what members want money spent on will be done and the club will be asked what they need money for, the two will be put together and a list compiled for members to vote on.

Each and every members subscription (regardless of the amount they pay) will have £2 set aside for the members to decide on where to spend it.

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1 hour ago, buddiecat said:

A survey of what members want money spent on will be done and the club will be asked what they need money for, the two will be put together and a list compiled for members to vote on.

Each and every members subscription (regardless of the amount they pay) will have £2 set aside for the members to decide on where to spend it.

Sounds sensible. How often is this being proposed mate, quarterly?

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16 hours ago, Bud the Baker said:

I then think he signed up Hardie cause he didn't think he would get Shankland. Then Aberdeen said yes and Rae (inexplicably in my view) seems to really rate Shankland and he couldn't say no to him either, so we have both of them too.

This bit really shows that TC has a blinkered approach on Shankland and therefore his "view" should be taken with a pinch of salt.

Shankland scored 10 goals for us last season and without him we would have been in deeper doo doo than we were.

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