Who are the Shrimps Protest Group?

[thedoc]

https://shrimplythebestfootball.com/202 ... est-group/

[Keith]

"...not all Shrimps’ supporters are utterly complacent individuals who are prepared to be treated like mushrooms: kept in the dark and fed you-know-what by Jason Whttingham and his hateful Bond Group"

Not sure I agree it is about being complacent, rather a disagreement about what action can be taken and, more importantly, when. For example, you mention Blackpool supporters and Oystons. Their main campaign was the 'not a penny more' and boycotting home games. But, if we do that, impacting upon our cash-flow may have serious consequences on the club, rather than (or at least, before) Whittingham. If we can't pay wages, and get a points deduction, it may make the difference between League survival or relegation. Likewise, direct action such as Reading fans 'tennis balls', would also result in points deductions. There may come a time, when relegation is unavoidable, when increased direct action becomes the only way forwards, but not yet. Embarrassing Whittingham on his home turf may make him more motivated to sell and probably can't harm the club, but the new protest group need to tread carefully.

[redrobo]

I just hope that the actions taken on or near his home don't have the opposite effect.

He could well dig his heels in and drag any current or future negotiations into an extended time frame.

They may even put serious reservations into the thoughts of any prospective purchaser.

Remember he doesn't have to sell as the interest he gets from loans may be giving all that he wants.

[Billy bodger]

Who ever they are they have to make sure as, redrobo says, it’s effective and I must say that is a fine balance to get right, as it hasn’t to affect the Club and hasn’t to make JW dig his heels in or put off any new owners.
Putting out something positive about the Club could balance out there Protest. (How a great local Club we are).

Whoever they are I hope they they have some brilliant ideas.

[black morse]

I just hope that the actions taken on or near his home don't have the opposite effect.

He could well dig his heels in and drag any current or future negotiations into an extended time frame.

They may even put serious reservations into the thoughts of any prospective purchaser.

Remember he doesn't have to sell as the interest he gets from loans may be giving all that he wants.

Hasn't he already done this?????

[Keith]

He could well dig his heels in and drag any current or future negotiations into an extended time frame.

Didn't Derek say there was a US consortium, that (presumably) Whittingham binned off?
Wasn't there a local consortium that was rejected too?
Hasn't this already dragged on for, literally, years?

I genuinely don't believe that side of things could get any worse.

[thedoc]

"...not all Shrimps’ supporters are utterly complacent individuals who are prepared to be treated like mushrooms: kept in the dark and fed you-know-what by Jason Whttingham and his hateful Bond Group"

Not sure I agree it is about being complacent

Why?

So what is it then, Keith? Why do you think nothing has happened about the ownership issue for over two years as people on here argue among themselves about what to do – or whether we as a collective should actually do anything at all?

I’ve made the point that `not all Shrimps supporters’ are complacent but – unless I have totally misunderstood what you have written - you seem to be saying that we should all wait until the ship is dead in the water before we do anything at all. You seem to fear that being torpedoed by the EFL with `points deductions’ and whatnot would be a death knell for our club. In my view, though, it would actually be the coup de grace because we are clearly already about to sink without trace as we as a collective are too timorous – and perhaps too pathetic - to even try to do anything about it.

Direct Action in a situation like this is obviously worth a try. What’s the alternative? Sit on our hands as most of us have for the last two years and do nothing at all for fear of imaginary consequences? Isn’t that exactly what happened at Worcester Warriors? Blackpool fans had the guts to stand up to the Oystons. So why don’t we follow their example? It seems to me that if we were Tangerine fans, the Oystons would still be in charge of their club.

Good luck to the Shrimps Supporters Group. They may not succeed – but at least they will have tried. If I knew who they were, I would shake every one of them by the hand. They haven’t just endlessly fiddled as Rome burns – they have actually taken action – and god bless them all for that.

And that’s more than can be said for most of us on this forum and elsewhere. I hope that people reading this will make the effort to support the Shrimps Trust and their intention to protest before the Port Vale game. Many people didn’t last time it happened as the same siren voices who are obviously still so vocal wailed in the background that it would all end in tears

Don’t listen to them because it certainly will end in tears if we don’t.

If we continue to pontificate about this issue without doing anything about it - as has become the norm on this site - we won’t have a club to protest about in the very near future.

This reality is staring us all in the face right now. So why are so many of us apparently pretending to themselves that it’s not happening?

It’s time we all got off our backsides and did something positive instead – before it’s too late...

[al1]

Well said Doc,I totally agree with your views,we have sat on our hands for far too long! When the Worcester Warriors situation began we were told by the 'board' that it would not effect us at all and we believed it,how daft do we all look now.too many 'influencers' on here and other platforms are too close to board members and will not rock the boat!Everyone needs to join the 'trust' and also listen to the new group,we are all altogether in this.

[black morse]

Well said Doc. I don't always agree with you but I do on this.

I joined the Trust from its start up, have donated to their appeal for the very situation we are now in and I sense a mood change in the fans on here and elsewhere. Vital that we act now. If you're a Morecambe fan you should be a member of the Trust for the cost of 2 pints a year!!!! The Trust is in contact with all parties including the BoDs for information but they will not be 'directed" by them.

Join the Shrimps Trust and go to the meeting on Friday. Don't moan about action taken if you don't have your say....not only on here but at the meeting.

[Keith]

"...you seem to be saying that we should all wait until the ship is dead in the water before we do anything at all. You seem to fear that being torpedoed by the EFL with `points deductions’ and whatnot would be a death knell for our club. In my view, though, it would actually be the coup de grace because we are clearly already about to sink without trace as we as a collective are too timorous – and perhaps too pathetic - to even try to do anything about it".

Damn right. Our League survival is paramount right now. If Derek and the lads manage to get third from the bottom, only to be dumped out of the Football League because some morons decided that a pitch invasion or chucking tennis balls on to the pitch, resulting in a points deduction, then they should never be forgiven.

If we do a Blackpool 'not a penny more' protest, resulting in non-payment of wages, and a points deduction that leads to relegation, then how does that help us?

We're in a different situation to Reading & Blackpool, at the moment.

[thedoc]

"...you seem to be saying that we should all wait until the ship is dead in the water before we do anything at all. You seem to fear that being torpedoed by the EFL with `points deductions’ and whatnot would be a death knell for our club. In my view, though, it would actually be the coup de grace because we are clearly already about to sink without trace as we as a collective are too timorous – and perhaps too pathetic - to even try to do anything about it".

Damn right. etc etc etc...

This seems to be an extraordinarily blinkered response to both what has been expressed on this topic so far and the actual situation we are facing as fans at the moment. You are surely not suggesting that the Shrimps Supporters Group are `morons’, are you? If you’re not – why use that term at all?

Simply assuming – as you clearly do – that any protest against Whittingham & Co must result in sanctions from the EFL shows how very narrow both your assumptions about this and the imagination you possess about the potential of positive, constructive LEGAL co-ordinated action by all Shrimps fans could produce actually are. You need to think about this Keith - to borrow Chris Sutton's favourite expression: you're better than this...

We don’t have to slavishly follow what fans at Reading, Charlton or anywhere else did – there are other ways of making the same point and I – at least – believe that there are those among us who can effectively plan and carry-out such a campaign. What we all need to do is contribute ideas to this campaign; consider what we can do to support it and – most of all - take a positive attitude to Direct Action instead of offering a constant stream of negativity such as that which you have contributed to this discussion so far.

At the risk of repeating myself: we all need to do something before it’s too late!!!!

Sitting on our backsides and saying `well - it won't work' or `it will just make things worse' is not only a philosophy of utter despair; it is also a recipe for disaster.

At this very late hour, IT IS NOT AN OPTION!!!!

[marky No.1]

Messenger_creation_1770224860409427.jpeg (183.02 KiB) Viewed 1300 times

[black morse]

Messenger_creation_1770224860409427.jpeg

Surely there is nothing there that the EFL could object to? Pity it is not on SKY.

[P/T Indie]

No but who's going to see it apart from people in the ground? Struggling to see what it will achieve unless it gets national coverage.

[Keith]

"...you seem to be saying that we should all wait until the ship is dead in the water before we do anything at all. You seem to fear that being torpedoed by the EFL with `points deductions’ and whatnot would be a death knell for our club. In my view, though, it would actually be the coup de grace because we are clearly already about to sink without trace as we as a collective are too timorous – and perhaps too pathetic - to even try to do anything about it".

Damn right. etc etc etc...

This seems to be an extraordinarily blinkered response to both what has been expressed on this topic so far and the actual situation we are facing as fans at the moment. You are surely not suggesting that the Shrimps Supporters Group are `morons’, are you? If you’re not – why use that term at all?

You appear to have skipped the important part of my original comment...

If Derek and the lads manage to get third from the bottom, only to be dumped out of the Football League because some morons decided that a pitch invasion or chucking tennis balls on to the pitch, resulting in a points deduction, then they should never be forgiven.

I've repeatedly asked what protests people are suggesting? I like the posters protest in Whittingham's back yard. I'm not sure how much difference it will make, if any, however, it is imaginative and may result in media coverage. I've explained why withdrawing funds from the club, such as boycotts or not buying pies etc is a bad idea.

What protests are you suggesting?

[thedoc]

I haven’t overlooked anything you have written Keith – I have dismissed stuff like you have quoted as the pessimistic assumptions of someone who doesn’t seem to be able to think of anything else more constructive than what you have stated which we as a collective could both plan and carry out. As I’ve said before, we don’t have to blindly follow what other club’s fans have done – some of which has created the nightmare scenarios you have so graphically outlined.

But talking about not answering questions – you haven’t answered my first one which was why you think that negative attitudes like those often so expressed on this site aren’t complacent and what else it is you think explains the extraordinary temerity which so many of us have as far as Direct Action is concerned. You’ve also not explained why you used the very emotive words `morons’ in one of your responses. Who are these morons? What influence do they have on the rest of us? Why do you clearly fear their apparent malign influence on the rest of us so much?

I’ve long been in favour of marches against the ownership and – to your considerable credit – you were on the last one. Co-ordinated slow hand-clapping and whatnot at specific times in games when everybody stands up is something I would like to see too.

Far more importantly, though, I also think that the Shrimps Trust should formulate a strategy which will actually hurt Whittingham. (I’ve asked them in the last couple of weeks to explain to us all what precisely it is – interest on loans; cash cow; potential asset-stripping in the future for instance - which makes him clearly so determined to hold onto our club.) Once we actually understand this, I’m sure we have the wit collectively to concentrate our efforts on ways to undermine these aspects of his ownership.

However, what I think is neither here or there: I’ve even less influence on fellow supports than you have. What I find galling about your attitude is that your constant stream of negativity about even trying to affect the situation we face as a collective probably influences other people to adopt a similarly pessimistic attitude. You have a brain in your head Keith – you should be using it to help formulate a strategy such as the one I have just suggested that takes the fight to Whittingham and his crew instead of just twiddling your thumbs and being so passively fatalistic about getting involved at all.

[Keith]

You’ve also not explained why you used the very emotive words `morons’ in one of your responses. Who are these morons?

...because some morons decided that a pitch invasion or chucking tennis balls on to the pitch, resulting in a points deduction...

I'm seriously unsure as to what you are missing here? If anyone believes that direct action SUCH AS a pitch invasion or tennis ball protest, that disrupts a game, is 'a good thing' then they are morons.

If you look, I shared the 'poster' protest in a thread on here, and think it was worth doing. If you are suggesting "direct action", then please share what form this will take, as some people may have widely differing thoughts as to what it means.

[thedoc]

Ok Keith – Shrimps Vices is your baby and you can say whatever you like on it – who’s going to stop you? Repeating the same mantra which you have persisted with throughout this thread – that yet again unspecified `morons’ could spoil everyone’s party - ignores the key point I have tried to make to you, which is that this can be avoided if we make a collective effort to think of a better way of doing things.

I’ve already explained two of the elements of Direct Action I would favour – co-ordinated slow hand claps and more marches, for example - but I’ve also made the point that we should as a collective put our heads together to create a campaign which hurts Whittingham where it really hurts: in his pocket.

I invite everyone who has actually read what has been said on this thread to judge whether or not those of us who say that focused protesting against our detested owner and Direct Action to reinforce that campaign has its merits or not.

This thread has clearly run its course and I don’t intend to add anything further to it. You haven’t even attempted to address the key questions I have asked you; ie: if passive, fatalistic attitudes such as your own aren’t caused by text-book `complacency’ then how else can they be explained? - or who the `morons’ you clearly have such fear of actually are and what malign influence you have observed from this shady group of individuals to justify such fear. You clearly aren’t going to – or can’t – answer these questions but – as I’ve said before - Shrimps Vices is your baby and you can say (or, more importantly, fail to say) whatever you like on it.

[Billy bodger]

The protest group must have realised how far they can go and from what they have done they have not acted like morons. Better ideas of course will help, but publicity of our plight and bad the effect on the Club from the ownership’s failure to sell the Club is for me a major part of what the fans of Morecambe FC should be doing. The shaming and slamming of JW is included in that and the protest group can play a big part in that.
I would also like to see the Shrimps Trust having a regular slot on Beyond Radio highlighting what is happening at the Club till we are sold (if ever ). How about the Trust getting on the local radio down in the Buckhurst Hill area, or someone from the protest group maybe better?

[black morse]

The protest group must have realised how far they can go and from what they have done they have not acted like morons. Better ideas of course will help, but publicity of our plight and bad the effect on the Club from the ownership’s failure to sell the Club is for me a major part of what the fans of Morecambe FC should be doing. The shaming and slamming of JW is included in that and the protest group can play a big part in that.
I would also like to see the Shrimps Trust having a regular slot on Beyond Radio highlighting what is happening at the Club till we are sold (if ever ). How about the Trust getting on the local radio down in the Buckhurst Hill area, or someone from the protest group maybe better?

As said before any ideas for the Trust should be sent e-mail to hello@shrimpstrust.co.uk

[Billy bodger]

The protest group must have realised how far they can go and from what they have done they have not acted like morons. Better ideas of course will help, but publicity of our plight and bad the effect on the Club from the ownership’s failure to sell the Club is for me a major part of what the fans of Morecambe FC should be doing. The shaming and slamming of JW is included in that and the protest group can play a big part in that.
I would also like to see the Shrimps Trust having a regular slot on Beyond Radio highlighting what is happening at the Club till we are sold (if ever ). How about the Trust getting on the local radio down in the Buckhurst Hill area, or someone from the protest group maybe better?

As said before any ideas for the Trust should be sent e-mail to hello@shrimpstrust.co.uk

[Keith]

Just to be clear, as I've obviously failed to be so far...

I'm not suggesting that the protest group, or anyone else, has gone too far.

I am saying that ANYONE, protest group or individuals, who invade the pitch, throw tennis balls on or take any other form of direct action that could result in a points deduction AT THIS TIME, would be morons.

Equally, AT THIS TIME, a 'not a penny more' style campaign, similar to Blackpool's would only harm the chances of Football League survival.

Having, [for example] a 'sit-in' protest on the concourse approaching the stadium, that gets media attention, may be a good idea, as this would not result in a points deduction.

If, [for example] by the end of January, if we are cast adrift at the bottom of the table, with relegation nailed on, and Whittingham still throttling the club, THEN it may require a different level of protest.

At the moment, giving 100% support to Derek & the players is the best way to help the club.

[marky No.1]

Brilliant video by them

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/18FRPMehJj/

[BerlinWaller]

Brilliant video by them

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/18FRPMehJj/

My Son put the video together, it's amazing!

Whatever your feelings are about the actions being taken, put them to one side and join the march on Saturday.

Some of you have had the fortune to watch this club over many years. You have shared moments, taken your kids and made life long friends over these years, let's make sure that the young generation have a club to follow and make all their own memories over many years.

This is our club, not Whittinghams!

[marky No.1]

Well done him !