Thursday, 19 January 2012

Another tantrum

No doubt frustrated by their recent failure to secretly nominate, at the very last minute, three board members for the AGM vote, SAYNO have been at it again. The "story" in the Sun and their own article on their website relating to shares purchased after the 3rd October is yet another demonstration that this group merely wants to attack and smear the club they profess to care so much about. We continue to insist - and these articles do more than anything to prove our point - that these legally purchased shares are a complete and utter irrelevance to the future of CPO and Stamford Bridge.

Lets us ignore the very many that were purchased in order to vote "No" and the shares bought by original SAYNO committee members who never even owned one before 3rd October. Let us just look at why they continue to drone on about this matter. To them, a person buying a share in order to vote yes, whether "connected" to the club itself or not, is not genuine. They don't apparently REALLY believe the club should move or should have the ability to move, they are merely doing what the club have told or asked them to do. A good illustration of how "yes" voters are seen by some people was the "wall of shame" website set up by a certain individual before the EGM to abuse and "expose" "Yes" voters. You see, despite their protestations, what we have here is a group of people who simply consider everybody who would countenance a move away from Stamford Bridge as the enemy. It is as simple as that.

The issue of these purchased shares is grinding on because in the minds of SayNo it proves one thing; that Abramovich wishes to rape and pillage Chelsea FC for his own ends. They accuse him of "gerrymandering" (the latest in a long line of abuse and smears). They peddle the idea, repeated in the Sun, that Abramovich stands to make huge profits from the sale of Stamford Bridge. They try to cast him in the role of a Glazer or Gillette, or Marler Estates. That this is the most ludicrous notion of the lot seems not to bother them, despite the mountain of evidence to the contrary. They don't even consider the lunacy of suggesting Stamford Bridge would make him £700 million. It is a figure plucked from the sky. They don't even include the costs of a new stadium in the equation. To them, these "questionable" shares prove unequivocally that he is engaged in a "Land Grab".  It is quite breathtaking nonsense.

So why are these shares irrelevant? Well, the club lost the vote so it wasn't a very effective attempt to rig it. We also suggest it is irrelevant because for Chelsea fans with genuine concerns and doubts, the constant focus on something that had no effect on the EGM outcome will prove to be corrosive. And ladies and gentlemen let us tell you what this is really about. Sayno are aware of one thing; that they are in a small minority. The great majority of Chelsea fans, not just CPO shareholders, believe that the club probably needs to move and that despite what anybody thinks of him, Abramovich has only the best interests of CFC at heart. As old fashioned as that whole notion might seem, it is nevertheless true; the evidence is so overwhelming and so obvious we can't even be bothered to list it. Knowing that this is the majority view of Chelsea fans AND shareholders, they must try to find a way to boost their effectiveness. Why not try to smear the club and frighten fans into believing their ridiculous conspiracy theories? They tried a board takeover in what must rank as one of the most sneaky and incompetent coups in history. "Give us your proxies! Bring out your proxies!" Oops. Since that oft denied aim is now on hold, they revert to wild conspiracies and attacks.

A few questionable shares, then, represent almost their entire manifesto. The leaflets shouting that we could move "anywhere" is their other foremost policy.  They aim to try to make it impossible for people in future to purchase shares or to reduce what people can buy despite that being the sole purpose of CPO. Why? Well it is clear; because in their minds, anybody buying a share henceforth is obviously in the pay of Roman Abramovich. None of the shares purchased after 3rd October and cast as "yes" could possibly have been bought by a genuine fan. And none in the future will be either.  No REAL fan would buy a CPO share in order to vote for a stadium move would they? You vote "yes" and you are not a "real" fan at all. That is the inference and that is a very big reason why Sayno ought to stop haranguing people who legally purchased shares in CPO; because with every repeat of their mantra, more and more fans who support the club and who don't enjoy seeing its owner and the club itself abused, smeared and embarrassed by those who declare undying love for it will go out and buy shares in order to do one thing;  Vote Yes on future plans. And that, Sayno ought to be aware, will see them cast completely out of the process altogether

No comments:

Post a Comment