Professor

According to an item on Radio Solent at 5.25pm (Tues) the deal may be done later to night, otherwise early tomorrow. If it happens tonight it will be on BBC South TV news at 10.30pm. Expectation is that the member of the Leibherr family will remain in the background and that a group of people will be appointed over a few weeks to run the club - as Randy Lerner has done at Aston Villa.

Probably won't be this if what has been said on here is correct, that its not the Leibherr Group but a consortium that includes a member of the Leibherr family.

Just have to be patient because there is nothing to stop a potential buyer from pulling out right up to moment when the agreement is signed. Fry cannot say the deal is certain because no deal ever is until it has happened. The intervention of Pinnacle, which seems to have been the cause of the delay, is the biggest thing to complain about over this, and its very sad that MLT was talked into supporting it, as it was only his name that gave Pinnacle any credibility. Mr Lynam has a lot to answer for.

Certainly. The company in administration is SLH Ltd. SFC Ltd is an asset of SLH and SFC is not in administration. The players contracts are with SFC, they are NOT assets of SLH. If SFC had failed to pay the player and staff wages the football club itself would have become insolvent and players contracts would have been unenforceable - all could have walked away for nothing. So, apart from the fact that no club can hold onto players who want to take a better playing offer elsewhere, the sale enabled the club to survive. Therefore SFC has been retained as a saleable asset, which when sold will provide funds for the creditors of SLH. DMG/AS/KD have to make the most of the limited time they have as footballers so playing in Div1 would not be a good career move for them. If SFC or the SLH Administrators had resisted the moves when the money could save the club from extinction that would have been downright Dumm.

Maybe Alpine Saint started this thread because he didn't understand that Administrators handling a football club, do not work in the interests of the fans, or the club, but for themselves (the fees) and the creditors. Thats why Administration is not something that anyone should see as an easy option, not least because of the risk that the club could cease to exist entirely. If Fry does complete the sale he will have done a good job as far as most fans are concerned.

Its unlikely the new owners (may tomorrow bring them on) will provide huge amounts of cash at the outset, as to do so might provoke problems over the money paid to the Administrators for the club. Fans might need to be patient for a while.

Of all the potential managers why on earth does anyone bother to suggest Nigel Pearson? He did little for Saints but has achieved promotion for a club with lots of money to spend, which almost any other half competent manager could have done. Apart from that he will presumably want to stay at Leicester. Whether the new owners will want to give Mark Wotte a run, will depend on what technical advice they have, so we shall have to see, but he seems to know what he is doing. But it is important is that if Wotte is retained the fans give him full support, just as they should if anyone else gets the job.

Thanks for the friendly comment but I must defend myself by saying that its certainly not me who keeps bring up the ghost of christmas past, but I do keep reading his name on here. What I am doing is complaining about that, just as you purport to do now...... Regretfully your name was one of those I had in mind, your post at 2.26pm on Saturday being an example, but to be fair, there are worse cases. So by all means lets promote the burying of the past and concentrate on keeping fungers crossed that the Leibherr story is true.

The obsession of a few people over Lowe is very sad. Its almost inconceivable that he would want anything more to do with SFC since his attempt to rescue the club after the Wilde/Crouch/Dulieu/etc debacle ended in failure, but its interesting to speculate that if he did return, just how many posters on here would be lining up to jump off the Itchen bridge! You can almost name them...... Returning to reality - if the Swiss Consortium is the Leibherr family that would be fantastic news. It also makes sense as amongst other things, Leibherr manufacture port machinery and must have a lot of their equipment at the docks and the container port. http://www.liebherr.com/lh/en/691.asp

Here we go again - more mindless criticism of the people who are running the club we all love. It was just this sort of thing that encouraged Michael Wilde in his ill-fated attempt to take over the club back in 2005. If Mark Wotte is confirmed as manager by the new owners he deserves to have the full support of every fan, both on and off the ground. As for this theme that 'Dutch' is used almost as a term of abuse - Dutch didn't do Chelsea much harm and some of the most respected players and coaches are Dutch, so why not give it a rest.

Strange isn't it that people whose only qualification in professional football is watching the game from the stands, know more about team selection and tactics than people who do the job for a living. If a fan doesn't understand the tactics it is more likely to be a lack on the part of the fan than anything to do with the manager.

Insolvency Administrators are notoriously cautious so for Fry to say he is 'confident' a sale will be concluded shortly, means its as good as signed. The re-appointment of Mark Wotte and Michael Svensson could only have been done with the Adminstrators agreement, so things must have been moving in the right direction all week.

It is to be hoped that MLT has separated himself from the Pinnacle operation. Its a shame he ever got involved because it was his name gave a lot of people more confidence in Pinnacle. But maybe Lynam should have been given less credance when he started posting on a message board - not very professional.

As someone who seemed to be promoting Administration months ago as the way to save the club, maybe Mr AS believes that the Administrators should be working for the benefit of the football club. They are not. Their only responsibility is to the creditors, and therefore to raise the greatest sum that they can from the assets. A going concern may raise the most money and its clear that Fry and Provan (there are two of them) have been working on that basis but its up to the bidders to show the colour of their money. It seems that there are still two horses in the race - the Swiss Group and the Overseas Consortium - and that F/P have been talking to one or both since last week, with a proposed deadline of this Friday to complete. There nothing we fans can do, so its hope and hold your nerve, but things are no worse now than they were a week ago, maybe better with the fog of Pinnacle cleared away.

MLT showed in his statement last week that he didn't really know what was going on and was just acting as a PR front. It is a shame that he allowed himself to be used as it was his name that made people feel that Pinnacle had some credability. It was always hard to see how he could chair the club with no business expeience and without control of the finances. The 10 point penalty was never a make or break issue and seems to have been latched onto as an excuse by Pinnacle. According to the Echo there are still two horses in the race - The Swiss Group and the 'Overseas Consortium', but unless one of them pays for exclusivity, and very quickly, its hard to take them seriously. I wouldn't recommend any wrist-slashing until Friday, and even then, lets remember this is only football, there are other things in life.

Hmm, interesting how love can spring from the most unlikely relationships........ player and spectator, but there you go.... But if MLT really wants the Chairman's job, and if he has any real influence over the money man (or men) he needs to explain that 10 points in one season is a small price to pay for a club that is going to be around for a lot longer if the purchase goes ahead.

If Fry is correct that Pinnacle will only complete the purchase if the FL back down on their conditions, that would end the Pinnacle bid. We must now hope that either the Swiss, or the MJ group pay up for exclusivity asap. Maybe there are other issues for Pinnacle, but if its just the -10 penalty they are missing the point that every other club in the league will consider the penalty to be the minimum necessary in the interests of fairness, for a club discarding its debt. Of the other two bids, the Swiss seems to be favouirite, but we must expect Fry to go for whoever puts their exclusivity money on the table first. Wondering how Saints shirts would look with a white cross on red incorporated into the stripes!

The blackmail by the FL is wrong, but in fairness to the other clubs in the competition, Saints should suffer a penalty for the Administration, which will ultimately give the club a financial advantage. The club will improve its standing in the football community if it accepts the penalty and gets on with it. If an appeal were to see the penalty removed because of the technicality of the two company situation, other teams are bound to feel cheated. Fans who just care about Saints at any cost, and not about football, may not care, but if you care about a fair competition then you should allow the FL to have their way.

TL is being polite to the FL and encouraging politeness - one reason being that to stir them up into animosity would simply add to the difficulties not reduce them. The fact remains that the FL are trying to blackmail the new owners into agreeing that one of the FL's own rules - the right to appeal a disputed decision of the FL to the FA - should not apply in this instance. (Remember the blackmail applies not just to Pinnacle but to any potential buyer) However, there is another issue - that of morality and fairness. The fact is that Saints were relegated fairly and squarely and that the club now expects to compete from a stronger financial position with its past debts removed by the administration of SLH. To have a points penalty as a balance against SFC's new financial strength could be seen by the wider football community as entirely fair and reasonable. So, what if Pinnacle accept the FL's blackmail and the points deduction? If the team is good enough for promotion, even with -10 points they would still be at least in a play-off position at the end of the season and if achieving that from a -10 start should have a strong chance of winning through. If they fail, then, its just one season, and in 2010 they start again but from a level playing field. Does it really matter whether the Div 1 episode is one year or two, if the new owners can genuinely build a team of CCC and subsequently Prem standard?

It is the following sentence that implies that the FL will try to prevent an appeal:- The Football League has the responsibility to ensure all League clubs start the season with certainty as regards the competition they compete in. That does not mean that Pinnacle have to accept the decision if they have legal advice to the contrary. It depends on the strength of that advice, and how weak the lawyers feel the FL's position might be. The doom and gloom on this thread isn't really warranted. Pinnacle have the legal opinions and without seeing those, fans can't really take any view about the risk of taking the FL on. The FL statement is not entirely accurate anyway as there can never be certainty at the start of the season as to whether clubs will incur points penalties, or appeal against them, as the season progresses.

Its my understanding that the Football League's own membership rules include provision for any decision of the FL on applying its rules to be subject to a right of appeal to the FA. It appears that, as with Leeds, the FL is trying to intimidate the new owners of SFC to get them to set aside a protection that is built into the FL's own rules. It must be right for the Pinnacle Group to try to resist this. The lawyers must be considering if there is a winnable recourse to law if the FL do not back down.

I agree that this is absolutely right. A right of appeal is an essential part of natural justice, a principle that the courts have upheld time after time. This is not just a football issue but goes far wider. It is deeply offensive that the FL should try to use the present situation to get SFC to set aside its legal rights and it certainly raises doubts about the integrity of the people running the FL.

If Wotte is appointed the new owner(s)/ board / chairman will have their reasons for doing so, their decision being based on facts, some of which will not available to the average fan. Equally, if they decide not to, that will also be a decision based on facts, not on predudice. What is so depressing is that some fans seem to think that they are experts on running a football club, despite the fact that most of them have done nothing more than kick a ball in a park with jumpers as goal posts. Whoever is appointed. how about giving him a few months to show what he can do before beginning the carping, even before the guy is in the job.

Speculation is entertaining but as we don't know who will appoint the manager, maybe we should be worrying about who will be Chairman and whether it will be anyone with any football experience or connections.

Mike was so right to start this thread but its worse than boredom, because of total uncertainty about chairman, board, manager, and an inadequate squad that may be weakened before, or even if, it is strengthened. Third division football for the first time in nearly half a century, and a -10 point start that suggests the season is a write-off even before it begins. Pre-season optimism usually lasts until September, but this year it hasn't even got out of bed. I hope I'm wrong, and I'm glad that like Wes, the Professor will be travelling. For those taking early holidays, lets enjoy the distraction and hope that we have something better to talk about by August.