Frank's cousin

******... oh well doomed to more crap then and having to pay for it...how could they sign a contract for this in the current situation?

Today must be a special day as first I agree with Wes, and now with Trousers ;-)

PTED - quite a few on here seem to suffer from this, no? ;-)

LOL See ther are some things that unite us all! ;-)

So 610 posts and no new news and no advance really on post 1? ;-)

Also the lower down the leagues we are te less attractive we become for parents and kids who teh scouts have identified - yet things such as teh Academy set up the facilities adn the history of players such as bales and Walcott going on does influence things - so yes we do need Staplewood both for firts team AND teh academy.

The need for secrecy - OK so no one wants to be associated witha 'failed bid' - I can understand that fans could be dissapointed by a failure BUT this is hat I find a little backward and in some respects limiting and old school about teh way many still do business in this country. If there is fair competeition and yu loose - why the shame, why not be open an up friont about your bid, your 'Manifesto' and your strategy - and if you fail or do due diligence and the figures dont stack up, be able to reveal exactly why - NO one is going to have a ago at someone who honestly feels that following review of contracts etc that their business forecast and models simply dont fit given the resources the bid has... the system as it stands allows for those driven by the desire self publicity driven by ego to join the race only to later with draw and save 'face' by hiding behind either generalised nonsense or NDAs with 'unnamed backers' -.... and its that that fuels the cynicism and sceptics...

Sorry, NIck, any serious bidder is NOT going to be put off by 30 or so sceptics on a web forum, they will expect some concern and some questioning from certain quarters and will be prepared to win them over with their business plan knowing that it is right for the club in its present circumstances - or they will just think that its a few trouble makers and ignore them. If 'put off' by a few miserable old scrotes such as us I respectfully suggest they were never really serious and we become s convenient 'excuse' when they pull out... IF MJ pulls it off and has a decent sustainable plan, I will be the first in line to take my hat off to him, shake his hand and apologise for the cynicism and support a new regime - but if what you ahve heard includes 'warning's that a few post on here could 'upset' teh bid, then that would worry me even more...

You would have thought that an administrator would ahve created a kiind of super version of the new HIP (Home information Pack) with all these details spelled out to improve the time frame for a sale. Mind you if offereing a super New HIP maybe that would also fuel rumours of Strachans return?

Thing is... yes a 'clean slate' is very desirable, but to be honest unless we have someone with inexcess of 30 mil oavailable, i am not sure its the best way to go... surely the best way is 3-5 mil for the club which clears the Barcalys debt and then come to a new contracts with AVIVA that guarrantees them ALL thei money back + interset over a slightly longer term with clauses that dictate the repayments based on which division we are in - allowing the new owners to invest appropriately in improving the the playing side of things... especially when its clear we have bids that are strugglinmg to raise in excess of 8 milin total - and likely to overstretch certain backers as well...

Nickh - sorry, but i dont buy the leaked stuff etc - i would with respect suggest that nobody serious about taling over at teh club will be talking to anyone not directly associated with the deal, apart from info leaked that is designed to find its way into the media to generate interest or publicity, or is complete and utter ******. I suggest this because peviously I have heard such ****** first hand form one of the curent interested parties. We as fans are so desperate to hear positive news and also our own egos are naturally boosted by thinking we have been brought into a select group of hush hush wink wink ITKers that we want to believe and so are less vigilent than we would normally be and more susceptable to the accepting these visions or glory. As any other fan, right now we need anything that will save usand yes we should be grateful to anyone who coms in, but my head warns that unless those that do have a strong track record of being able to turn around companies on the brink, and the experience and knowledge to work within a strict financila framework, which may be at odds with fan expectations, it wont be long before we are in the same boat again - I dont believe that teh current front runners have that necessary knowledge or experince and more importantly controlled egos to make it work and it scares me...

Due diligence -UHm... five days... in our case t should be pretty transparent what we owe, but perhaps more interesting will be what the current contractual obligations mean for our cost base. The key will be for someone with sufficient experience of running businesses that need turning around (eg hopefully not folk with track records of previous buisnesses going into admin or being liquidated) and bullsh i t free approach to not overstating the potntial to fans, or making promises the wallet simply cant back up...

Still think the issue is simply money... we have had no interest from anyone who has tey clout or willingness to individually fund a takeover - only a couple of groups who have pulled together enough relatively rich individuals who have in theory pledged funds, but then when it gets to parting with the cash or looking at the finer points of the deal, start to get cold feet.

Probably still on your ignore list so you wont see this, but this is sadly also my opinion.

Should that not bbe White Star Southampton...what with them old maritime connections and all? (All Titanic jokes aside)

NO, i susupect he called the deadline demand as at teh time it was made we were 10 days away from paying the next salaries - since then CRouch has made his contribution to stay the execution and 'extend' the deadline -

Which would support teh speculation that the backers might struggle to liquidate sufficient of their assets quickly to provide the cash necessary to support the bid?

Sorry but as I understand it AVIVA have first charge on SMS - so if SLH is liquidate and SMS Ltd even if sold to a seperate party does not pay the mortgage it revertys to AVIVA ownership - complicated by the fact that I dont know whether the loan note contract is in SLH name or SMS ltd...

Hi Si I think Fry wont be playing games at all and will accept at the very end any bid that is greater than the estimated liquidation sale - the brinkmanship is in keeping more than one party at the table to ensure a bit of rival bidding and improve the bids - the best of which in theory will become teh preferred bidder and enter contractual negotions stage... It seems to me that to date Fry is probably frustrated because both Pinnacle and MJ/SG bids showed initial promise in outline but have failed to demonstrate proof of funds to the level of the outline bids ...

Sorry did not see this post - but i presume you have to be able to guarrantee you can fulfil your fixtures by the mid JUne dealine? Do you think we could provide such a guarrrantee with no team?

Uhm not sure - I think we just cease to exist - we could still be sold if SHL holding is liquidated as an asset which I guess is what they are kinda doing now - if no buyer is found teh registrations as you say become worthless adn they walk in which case SFC Ltd is nothing - and would need to strat recruiting players - 3 deivion relegation? not sure what the ruling is here for liquidation - I thought you just started again at teh bottom of teh pile?

If liquidated then its the end - sorry - player contracts are cancelled and all satff contracts ripped up. SMS would belong to AVIVA so up to them what is done with it the club would cease to exist and all this talk of blue Squre seems wishful thinking - If someone buys teh stadium they could then set up a new club to play therein and this club like all others would need to satrt from scratch recruit players and enter the league at the bottom of the rung - some of teh kids might still be there but no first teamers or reserves really as these would seek professional contracts at other clubs - liquidation is the knightmare....

Personnaly I like the Liger idea better

Need more width!

Assuming approx 2 mil from sponsorship advertising and commercial sales budget of about 7.0-7.5 mil? that compares to last season of about 15 mil costs so serious cutting still to be done.... thats the scary part how can that be achieved?