Thread by @mfemigs

I know much of what will be said in this thread was said last night by others but, just in case, here's my take on the meeting last night between fans groups and the Latics board. It's a 17 tweet thread. Anybody wanting salacious details will be disappointed, btw #wafc 1/

On a general note, @TalalAlHammad32 was very open during the whole meeting. There's an always an element of "salesman at work" adopted in these things, by one side or the other, but he never declined to answer any questions. In fact, there may have been times when other 2/

board members probably would have been happier had he not been quite so open, but his approach was appreciated. The key take away I got was that there is a real determination that the club is moving towards a much more sustainable business model 3/

The committment to the club, of both the owner and the board was re-affirmed in very strong terms. Talal, himself, pointed out that, if the clkub looks bad, he looks bad, and he wasn't happy about that, so things have to change on many fronts. When questioned about funding 4/

we were told an asset had been sold, specifically a property in London, that had raised £33m. The funds had taken longer to transfer than anticipated, causing the last delay in salary payments. This money is now ringfenced against future losses 5/

The club accept losses are inevitable in the short/medium term, and intend to limit those losses to 20% of budget. For example, if a budget is set of £10m, £2m of the fund will be available to cover an actual spend of £12m. I think this is a sensible approach 6/

for a club like Latics, which will always struggle to turn a profit. Again, the committment of Abdulrahman al Jasmi was re-affired in the strongest terms, even with these projected losses. On the subject of budgets, it was acknowledged that spending had gone far 7/

beyond expectations in the last 12 months. Talal openly acknowledged that mistakes had been made, and that there had been a degree of naiveté in setting expectations in line with the budget required to run a football club 8/

The original plan was a 2-year one, and getting promoted from L1 immediately caused unexpected issues. The irony of this was not lost on the board, it has to be said. On the back of this conversation, I raised the topic of Mal Brannigan, and specifically the 9/

nature of his departure. Understandably, the board members would not be drawn on this, insisting it was an amicable arrangement, but that a new structure and change of direction was needed to take the club forward. I pushed Tom Markham on it privately, after the meeting 10/

but he was again insistent on there being no problem, and that it was planned for Brannigan to come into the club to say goodbye to people he hadn't been able to see before leaving. This, to be honest, was the only part of the meeting that I'm not fully convinced about 11/

There is an acknowledgement that things like the ticketing system haven't worked, but the club are tied in for the rest of the season, and plans are in place to rectify the problem before next season. Shaun Maloney was also at the meeting and was, I have to say, 12/

extremely impressive. His passion for Latics is obvious, and he has a clear vision of how to make not just the team, but the club, better. He also acknowledged things will be difficult in the short term, as we have one of the oldest squads in the division, and change will 13/

need to happen gradually. This led to a wider discussion about just how much needs to be better at the club, in terms of fan engagement and capturing the information that allows the club to improve in this regard. A new commercial manager has been appointed, and expectations 14/

set in terms of increasing commercial revenue. I wasn't sure what to expect from the meeting but I definitely left feeling better about how things would be from now on, than I was before. I'm not the easiest person to convince on a lot of things 15/

but I left the meeting optimistic, even if a little cautiously, that we're now finally on the right track. There is a definite acknowledgement that the ball was dropped in many areas, and I got the feeling there is no small degree of embarassment felt 16/

at all levels of the club, regarding that.

If anything isn't clear, feel free to ask, and I'll answer as best I can #wafc 17/