Whilst I'm in no way an apologist for racism - our club has had a black manager and a black captain in the near past and I'm not ready to believe that everyone now thinks that we condone racist behaviour and language or that we have a crowd full of EDL/BNP thugs and numpties. I'd be the first to rip up my new season ticket and post it back never to go through the turnstiles again if that was the case.

Whatever was or wasnt said between Rudge and his accuser we can only speculate and its wrong to do so. Only they both really know if this was something inappropriate/taken out of context/misheard. Quite why the FA have taken nearly a year to confirm the charge is a little strange, but its no surprise that they would give the benefit of the doubt to the accuser after high profile incidents with John Terry/Anton Ferdinand, Louis Suarez/Evra and Clattenburg/Mikel.

Its a shame however that the club and Rudge in responding via the G&H have not qualified their comments with a wider statement totally condemning racism in the game and saying that there is no place for this anywhere in our club - on the pitch or in the stands - as well as denying the charge but accepting the result.

Well done to Neil for issuing that statement, it goes to great detail in answering the questions and reasoning behind the decision to "back" Rudgey.  Whilst we all have our own thoughts on the matter it is the board and Neil who is altimately responsible making (some often very difficult) decisions and live by them. I would like to say that such a statement should have gone out at the same time as the "we are backing Nathan" qoute so that the fans of CTFC and the local/national media understand the stance that CTFC is taking.

I firmly beleive that lessons have been learned over the last week regarding the way CTFC portrays its self and how ultimately that board are answerable to the fans. I also think this forum can/should be a valuable tool to the directors and fans alike to help act as a valuable communication tool, but maybe that is a step too far the immediate future (and before anyone asks, no I do not run this forum), and that trust on both sides needs to be gained to allow such a thing to happen.

Again thank you Neil and I will be passing my thanks in person on Saturday for the explaination. Lets hope this is a new dawn and that CTFC goes from strength to strength, it is after all what we all want even if we do have a rant and rage at times.

Thanks to the chairman making a statement as to why the board is backing Mr Rudge
I have a couple of comments to make.
 The statement should have starting by condemning in the strongest possible terms racism, which is the most important issue here.
If the chairman wishes for fans not to listen to rumour and speculation then the clubs views should be communicated quickly via the website or on the forum and not via the local media. Maybe in this case he was not allowed give his view, but a statement to this effect would have helped.
 I for one am not happy with Mr Rudge still being manager of CTFC. Last season run of 17 games without and win, poor discipline from himself and his players along with being found guilty makes me think he is leading a charmed life

Peter
Not quite sure how I am inflaming the situation
The chairmen, in his statement asked for the fans not to listen to rumour. Well as far as I am concerned a speedy response was required to a serious situation and during the week in took to make the statement speculation and rumour has been rife
Communication between the club and fans has been poor, so I was merely suggesting that putting the statement on the forum would inform as many fans as quickly as possible

Going to play devils advocate here and agree with the point that Frank makes concerning the racism charge/verdict.

The fact that the only communications that we received from the club following the verdict was "we are backing Nathan" which appeared on the G&H site, and correct me if I am wrong NOT the CTFC site showed just how remote the fans feel.

The was no expalination as to why he was being backed and with the past incidents and truama`s around Nathan 1st season in charge it is little wonder that there was rumour and speculation both on the forum, through fans chatting and via the media. The fact that the charge appeared in the national media and sent shock waves throughout the non-league community should have been anticipated and acted upon instantaniously not a week later.

It oftens appears to us outside of the boardroom that problems are swept under the carpet and are only acted upon when we fans force the hand of those incharge.

Football is all about personal views, arguments and often rumour. These are often due to the lack of information coming from the clubs, the fans want to feel included in information otherwise they will leave and never come back, this is especially true in todays econimic climate and at a non-league level where fans feel especially close to the clubs.

The club should be engaging with the fans to build that trust, in turn the fans will be able to offer advice, ideas and even offer help in fund raising. The club must become more proactive in communication, we have all been saying this for years and still we end up debating (or to qoute certain people moaning) the same old things week in, week out, incident after incident.

I would like to again say well done to Neil for the statement which I think we all agree was overdue, it was concise and expalined the situation very well.....just imagine if that was actually done the following day from the guilty verdict and what may not have been written on here and talked about by the fans.

Oh and one final note.....I AM A TRUE FAN

Last edited by Rockin (18/7/2013 10:14 PM)