Thinking beyond the removal of Brown - we could do worse than have Dave Marshal as chairman - he probably still has a few shares in the club and more so than any of the board that might be left he has shown honesty and integrity and a passion for the club itself - which is more than can be said about the board puppets. Dave's proven honesty and integrity would also go a long way to capturing investement from supporters and the local and possibly national community which the current regime have totally lost. So major shareholders save and improve your investment by getting rid of Brown and bring honesty and integrity back to the club.

This is my greatest concern. If the current chairman was to go, who would take his place? Dave would always be my choice, but do you always get what you want in life? It is very much in the hands of the shareholders. Getting them to see it in the same way as the supporters I suppose is the key.

Why did Bruce Black leave, would he come back ? Would we want him back ? I didn't know him but he seemed to be intelligent and have some business sense.

I'd be happy to have Dave Marshall as chairman if I thought he had the business experience and contacts to rebuild a badly damaged company. As far as I am aware he has not run a company, far less recovered one that was in tatters. I would also have serious questions to ask about someone who sunk so much of his personal savings into an organisation that we all knew was being run by an ignorant idiot.

Being to negative guys - Dave may not have enough experience or business acumen but I am sure he could enlist the support of those that do - we need change at the club and someone to lead the change - someone who will put the club first instead of someone using the club for personel gain. I am sure a team could be put together to improve the financial side of the club and be much better led by a sparkie than a teaboy. At this moment in time for the future of EFFC we need leadership by someone all sides respect to pull it all together - I dont see anyone else on the horizon.

I agree with Mike, someone like DM would be perfect for the position, someone who was a true East Fife supporter could pull the fans together and have us all working towards a common aim, there are many varieties of skills in our support and once the burden of Brown is removed the club will reap the benefits, I am certain of that.

Mike, your criteria would make every single one of us fit to be chairman of East Fife FC. If you can't see anyone else on the horizon, that's no reason to stop and accept the first person you see.

I'm not being negative about Dave Marshall, i'm being realistic. like everyone else, I want the very best for East Fife. That means making sure that this time the club gets it right. Dave Marshall is popular only because he eventually resigned - what we had all implored him to do for months. But popularity won't make anyone a success as chairman.

Whatever we think of him, Brown is a smarter cookie than marshall. He has out-manoeuvred Marshall at every turn. Encouraged him to part with £10,000, gave him a powerless seat on the board, ignored him at board meetings, then ensured he had the support of every other director to allow him to blow away a vote of no confidence. Which forced the proposer to resign.

In the harsh financial world of the boardroom of a professional football club, we need more than goodwill to rescue this club.

Look harder Mike, there are options.

If the option is Willie Gray,i might still be on the mound for a very long time ti come!!!!To be honest,alot ov guys have asked me this question,un as a protester,i have not got a clue who would take over.If Broon goes,does the protest still continue?I mean the guy that takes over,will he still be a Rankin puppit,only more "stealth" about it?

I agree with enfifer for once,It must be a no to Willie Gray,I don't know who I would want as chairman,personal feelings would go for Davie Marshall he has always been trustworthy as I have said along,I think it would be good if we could get back my old drinking partner Gordon Dow or Bob Moreland,I suppose everyone will have their own views,But one thing for sure is the BROWNS,HAMILTON and MACKAY MUST G0!!!!

DM has done very well, belatedly.

As has been posted by others, he was initially run round by DB.

As for Chairman, business acumen as well as PR skills are needed, DM is a thoroughly decent individual but I dont know that he fits this profile.

Dont jump to conclusions folks, just because DM has come to the fore recently does not a Chairman make.

This is not a criticism of DM, who is doing very well right now, just a realistic appraisal of the position

Now, now Sir John dont knock Mike for coming up with an idea, for once he's said something positive and that needs to be encouraged. I agree hs's way off the mark but positive thinking has to be nurtured.

A few missing the point here - over the past umpteen years with the odd exception we appear to have had one man bands dragging the club along and being used for personel gain to the detriment of the club - to get the club back on track we need someone like Dave who all sides can trust. The club has lost a lot of support among officialdom and the public for various reasons over the past few years because of some of our chairman - we firstly need to redress this problem by installing someone who all sides can trust - yes we need to get finance into the club but no one is going to give anything with the pr we have had over the past few years. We need a trustworthy figurehead to show we have put the old type of regime behind us and I am sure a financial team can be put together to get investment into the club - I mean lets face it have the present board done anything to bring investment into the club - NO. Look at the wages they pay the players have they done anything to improve this to attract better quality players? Dave is also retired I believe which would allow him to have his finger on the pulse full time. Lets face it with Dave at the helm and a financial team behind him we could do no worse that the present regime. Life is a learning curve and sometimes you have to go out on a limb to try and improve things - and I say this in the knowledge that some of Dave's ideas on football and certain players I totally disagree with.

Does Davie actually want to run as chairman?Does he want the responsabilty un the au the "shite" that goes with the job?Maybe Davie would just like to do what he's already doing at the club.One things for sure however,i hope hes there in some capacity,whether it be an adviser,P.R or hands on.

I think any new board that we have at the Fife has to be a combination of a few things. Business acumen, PR skills, community developement person and fans representation.

There are probably many other skills required but the new, inclusive board can appoint sub-committees to help out.

A business plan by the person that wants to be Chair is essential IMO. And not a BP just for the major shareholders to see. A plan that, unlike the jokey one read out at a fans forum, actually includes plans for the football side and not just making the community eat healthier.

Fans United Will Never Be Defeated

Personal views, not the Trusts' blah blah blah,

First of all, removal of Derrick Brown is paramount but what is not desirable is a power void, similar to the current one that exists on the playing side.

Perhaps organisation of a consortium who would take of over the running of the club would be of great importance NOW in order to be prepared for the start of the season and be ready to deal with the transfer window conditions.

What this would really require would be finding the appropriate businessmen with the clubs interests at heart.....sooner rather than later.

There are already models of good management in place, no need to re invent the wheel. Probably the common features of these models are the recognition of private, public and community involvement in the working of the company. This recognises, that this is the structure of all communities. If one of these three components takes over at the expense of the other two the company falls. Our club is an example of this happening. Taking out the premier league clubs (although there are good examples) Clubs such as Clyde,Peterhead,Gretna,Raith,Forfar,are a few clubs that would appear to be following the private,public, community partnership and to varying degrees of success. However, the supporters believe in the way the club is going forward

I don't fully understand the management structure that is in place, so I hope what you say is true about good procedures already in place apart from the one interest (BROWN/RANKINE) coming to the fore at the expense of the other two (public/community) but I think what I was getting at was that if the protest had the backing of appropriate businessmen who were ready to step in as chairman/directors, it may have enhanced credibility. I don't mean this as an insult as the protest already is strong and powerful.

If Brown were to go, you wouldn't want a cronie of his on the board deciding that they should succeed him and continue in the same vein.

You are talking sense Onlooker (M Black too incase you feel left out!).

Onlooker, I totally agree with what you say.....we need to find some way of involving local business with a view to providing a credible alternative to the current regime. The current protest is the first stage but we need to look at who may be willing to take us forward.

Ladyfan......thank you for your inciteful comment

Ladyfan....apologies, miss read your comment!

There's always one!

Put Simply;
Private is Investors, local and national business. SFA.

Public is local council, politicians, organisations, grant awarding groups etc.

Community is Supporters, Local People, Trust, Supporters group, Young Fifers etc

I wouldn't mind Mike Flett as Chairman with Dave Marshall as Vice Chairman. What does anyone else think ?

Haven't seen Mr Flett at any of the public meetings or on the mound. Is he even a shareholder?

"Mike Flett as Chairman" Why?

Does anyone really know who he is?

Dave Marshall has many attributes i.e. Enthusiasm,experience of the workings of the club, respect of the fans and plenty of time to devote to the club( unless he plans to sit on numerous SFA committees). Maybe as vice chair he would be an invaluable asset but I doubt if Dave would even wish to be chairman.

I would certainly boot out MacKay and Hamilton and Betty Brown, not sure about Andy Hain or David Stevenson don't really know much about Stevenson and Hain was in Oz for the no confidence vote.
As for Willie Gray, let's say the jury's out on that one.

Let's start by marching on Saturday and getting rid of Brown.