dubai_phil

Ah, what a difference. Professional Corporate PR, as opposed to "spinning what the boss tells you to say". All takes time. Shame the pourage contract couldn't have been "canned" in admin, but then I guess if one contract gets cancelled then others like players or whatever may go the same way... Let us HOPE that for the next round of negotiations the "up front investment" (ie CASH NOW) gets scrapped and we go for "A Corporate Social Responsibility Decision" that balances the customer needs with a healthy regular income stream. ie - Let a local smaller independent brewery jv with a local caterer to provide a service and BEER that we would want to buy AND are ABLE to buy and let them pay the club week by week rather than in one large "up front" outlay. The amount the club makes will be the same, just spread over time

My first trip here I have an unexpected day to kill tday after my conference. Am in a nice hotel on International Drive, and have to leave tomorrow morning at 9am. Where should a 50 something nutter go for the day? Disney/Universal/Epcot etc etc etc I don't really enjoy queuing on my own with a zillion kids and I ain't as good on high Octane rollercoasters as I used to be, have done EuroDisney a few times and it was ok when not busy with mates but here I am just me and my rental car... (Oh and I played golf twice with a Tour Pro who was at the conference since I got here so don't need any more!)

There is a lot to "cast blame" around wih the whole process of our admin, and there are some comments in TL's post that really did cause me to "raise my eyebrows", but there was something that happened during the admin process which leads to one REALLY important point that we should consider while making our arguments. In the early stages, Fry "magically" produced a "confidential" bid from IRELAND. That came out of the blue for fans and other bidders alike. Just think back, what happened? Day One Irish zillionaires will "do the deal tomorrow". Next day - zilch, nada nothing..... At NO time did anybody know that there was any "firm" interest from any parties other than MJ or Pinnacle. Now I think Pinnalce have a huge amount to answer for, but to accuse them of KNOWINGLY obstructing ML's bid is wide of the mark. Sure they should never have got to exclusivity, and there are many MANY questions about how that happened which should be answered, but as far as we the fans, and hence the people bidding, there was no other BID. Fry's "strong negotiating stance" and the Irish issue meant that anything he "implied" about "people waiting in the wings" was taken as being simply a "ruse" to get a better outcome from the deal for the creditors. The moment he felt that a bid had kept back some funds for the business of running the club, it was his JOB to "screw, squeeze, bash and bully" every last penny of that money out of the bidders for the creditors. Which is a very careful way of saying "IMHO" the two parties at the table in the days before Pinnacle gained exclusivity probably had good cause not to believe anything Fry was telling them. So Pinnacle should NEVER have got to exclusivity, it was THAT decision and act that ruined our pre-season, and the consequence was that we VERY nearly lost ML, but they would not have KNOWN that he was out there, nobody did until about 24 hours before the deal was done

You Wes and the others are loving this.... But not as much as me who has watched it all while being able to say "Told You So" since the beginning. :partyman: :smt082 I ain't gloating because I saw it coming, I'm just finding it all feeds into a series of fantastically funny moments after so many years of gloom and doom at our end of the M27... I'm luvin' it

Of course, another answer could be that a Saints fan sent him a business plan they knew would not work......

Hiya, sorry I'm late. Just in the pre-conference Golf Scramble... Holy cow did my luck turn for a change - one of the 4 no-showed so we could allow any one of us to take an extra shot Then found out we had a Tour Pro from the Nationwide Tour in Canada in the team! 19 under par. That's the round of a lifetime! Meanwhile if you want a complete off the wall guess at this then go back to my comments about "Dark Forces" Then an off the wall and independent idea from my analysis would be "possibe influence exerted by a secured creditor who loaned the club money after adminsitration was called" Again, whether our dear constant reader chooses to believe it or not, a bid (not ML) was made on the Wednesday before Pinnacle was accepted including the proposal for the cash deposit. As pointed out at the time, legal counsel had an issue with one of the terms of the bid that was being demanded from the selling party and as such the bid was withdrawn. As I said happy to meet FF if possible on Tuesday for that beer (heck maybe NC could get us a couple and get the full picture!) :-)

Priceless well done!

I'm in the US this week (fookin Alligator by the 13th hole - what's THAT all about?) heard a really funny one. Seems the big plan is that SBT is pushing the PL to re-open the discussions about global franchises for PL teams... Seems he has a deal for his cash to save face, all he has to do now is rename the club Baghdad Skates and they'll be playing in the Green Zone next season. Flybe looking at doing a deal for home games apparently

Interesting article about his early days here with interviews with our Academy guys http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/sep/20/theo-walcott-interview-arsenal Love jet lag I get in first!

lol another way of looking at it, like FF's better tho

I hope to get time to do that beer before the Brizzle game, can fill in the allegedly blanks :-) Mind you sitting here by the Intercoastal Waterway watching Pelicans Dolphins and chicks while bbq'ing some USDA Prime T-Bones.......

I read that Morgan is starting to be more consistent and starting to look as if he will fit in this league. Is this a coincidence or could it be that we now seem to play people more regularly and they are finally starting to get match fit?

Or that Pompey got bought by a Saints reject :smt082 :cool:

So, a broker in the Middle East has a client who wants to lend MJ the money to take over Southampton and save us from the horrors of Admin whilst getting rid of Wilde, Lowe and the the rest of the "hangers on" My job is to make contact and ascertain the viability of the investor. Emails are sent, draft business proposals are exchanged, but the agent will not sign an NDA. The money man is based out of Abu Dhabi, but lives in Dubai, he has a successful track record in leading acquisitions of "soccer clubs in England"... My job - check him out, see if he is serious and viable..... So, with some help from a very good friend I get a list of the basic requirements... Who is the buyer? What is his standing and reputation? Would he pass the FL FAPP test? Does he have the funds? Will he be the beneficial owner? Is he a tyre kicker? So, off I go, Problem 1 - He was involved in the Man City takeover, so the problem comes is he independent from undue influence re the FAPP? Problem 2 - He doesn't have any actual money of his own (source was local business contacts). This leaves his source as either his friends in Abu Dhabi (who are family members of the owners of Man City) or his other best friend, Mr Thaksin... and suddenly we have not only the FAPP problem but we have the "Beneficial Owner" problem. Problem 3 - His cv locally and his standing in the business field? Problem 4 - Is he worse than Rupert? Now, being fair, all I have to go on are friends and contacts made over 16 years, and no doubt, "The Principle" almost certainly has no idea what is being done by the Middlemen in his name, and there has never been a formal "Dunn & Bradstreet type search. So, after about 3 days of work, the word goes back to MJ..... And, yep, here it is Hypo...... Mark Jackson turned down Sultan Bin Trump as a partner to buy Saints as not being of suitable standing, finances or likely to pass the FL approval process. He knew that the club was in trouble, he new that he could have saved it and been a hero, and maybe even got a nice job out of it (Chairman Jacko!) and yet, he looked at it and said, no, this woud be worse than Rupert. SBT was not deemed good enough to even fund Whacko's dreams.... And yet the Skates welcomed him all those months ago with open arms. Guys, up the road my sympathy

Just popped on here to say the story is being slowly told on the poopey thread on the main board. Should help add some context

:smt082 Welcome back dear constant reader, to a tale that, depending on which side of the bed you awoke from this morning could be the horror tale from the land of nightmares, or it could be the beginning of the end for any chance of our fishy friends holding any last hope for their season. Yes, this tale will have more typos than the Grauniad, and worse sentences than Dan Brown, but here goes. In those hectic final days before the fall of Rome, urban legend holds that the saviour of our club was turning no stone, sparing all expense in the search to re-finance our failing CCC heroes, the legend remains, but his hordes of global superstars were on the case. In these dark days, our own Pantomime Villain was seeking far and wide to be able to "Do a Bournemouth" and pull a last minute rescue out of the fire. Yes, Mark Jackson's consortium were seeking the finance to mount that elusive rescue bid. Now here lies the first true horror, urban legend had held that the fabled MJ was funding the dream by leasing a couple of dodgy second hand copiers, but oh no, the middlemen of the world were in full flow, the dodgy brokers and agents were burning the midnight oil and spending nothing on international calls via Skype & MSN in the search for a saviour.... And then, in the misty depths of the first week of April came a call...... "I have a guy in the Middle East who has a client who wants to buy a football club..........." Oh, not another one, came the reply, hell, put him in the queue on hold behind the King of Saudi, The Shah of Iran and the Queen of Sheba, but move Mickey Mouse and Dan Williams down the line.... And so, from the depths of the command bunker that was the MJ strategy headquarters, the word went out.... Phil, help, we've got someone down your way and I need to go meet Paul Allen and Steve Jobs next week, can you sort this out? So here we are, what a tough decision, do I cancel Bullfrog & Karaoke Night or do I drop everything and charge to the rescue like some latter day Lawrence of Arabia........ Part two will be available shortly after I open a can of Bud... How on earth is that stuff called beer?

lol, well guess I'm banned again then. Was having the 9 holes of my life - 7 pars in 9 FFS, then went off and watched Dolphins and Pelicans frollicking amongst the OAP's in this strange town (Venice Beach Florida) 2-0 win hell I'd have taken 1-0 with the ball bouncing in off the ref's backside. Lol at the moaners, we had good performances in the past and got nothing, we won, we're off and I'll take the 3 points like that every week until the end of the season thankyou very much

wow it's 96F here in Florida and we had not one but two penalties in one game this season. Always happy to take a didgy win to get us ging. Off to scare old people on the golf course now keep em coming Lambo

I can confirm that Nic is completely correct. 6X in England is all about finding a pint of Wadsworth's finest. However, last week on vacation it may well have meant something completely different

Actually, if I hadn't just had a 9 hour flight and a 4 hour drive, I could tell you that it is actually even funnier than that... But you are so very nearly right, just the wrong blueprint Maybe tomorrow after golf, I have a decent web access here at my mates... jeez venice Beach, nice place but I reckon I'm the youngest person here by at least 3 years. Cheers for the 6X Wendesday Nick, was good to catch up

Interesting. MLT's book is on sale at Heathrow in T5, so it isn't just a local special. Had a bog display and picture as well, and was on special offer at 12.99 Tough call but afraid Dan Brown won, better cure for jet lag here in Florida, youch 15 hours time difference since Sunday....

Told that story to all my old employees as an example of staying observant, one lass gave it the "that never happens" She then went on hols to see her brother in Aus with her Dad on Cathay Pacific. Arrived back and proudly showed off her bra - which had Richard Gere's autograph on it. Almost identical tale - she didn't recognnise him during the whole conversation he just talked about how he had been doing Aids charity work in Bangkok and was just looking to chat about anything but work. So it does happen and as she said after - she was somewhat embarrassed when he did the "hey I tell you what, why don't you get your Dad to take a picture of me signing your bra line" and then the why would I want a charity worker to... oh oops! Will dig through the classic movies on the flight home tomorrow and see if I can find one of his, just an old softie at heart

Was on an Emirates flight from Beirut back to Dubai, It had a stop over in Larnaca. I had a seat in an emergency exit and for take off there were two Emirates Girls crew sitting facing me in the jump seats, one was going out with a mate of mine After sitting around an hour we started to taxi. The chick I didn't know starts the whole safety briefing, I wink at the one I did know... The chick gets to the bit - If there's anything I or any memeber of our crew can do for you to make your flight more enjoyable please let us know.... at which point I say - oh, that's nice, I'll have a BJ then. Which was picked up by the PA mike, as were the fits of hysterical giggles as she tried desperately to finish the rest of the announcement. Well, at least I got a glass of champers from 1st class sent back to me afterwards. Poor lass was red as a beetroot all the way back as all the expats on board kept pinging the call buttons saying "I say any chance of joing the queue" (ps this was a few years ago before PC land was invented) and of course, she was Oirish

Carp damn blast and curses Here I am jetlagged after my vacation, still doing the washing and my trip to Florida for work that was supposed to be Thursday is now 7:45am tomorrow....arrrgghh My humble apologies to our dear constant reader (sorry Mr King) but the magical fairy tale will have to wait until I find a wireless network in Venice Beach over the weekend. Have a good weekend and we're assured a win on Saturday now as I will be somewhere off the Gulf with a 6 pack and a fishing rod before conferencing myself across to Orlando. Hope to get to a pub selling 6X in Salisbury tomorrow night on my stop over though!

See? there speaks someone who knows nothing about the game... Watch some action, go get a beer Watch some action, go get a beer Watch some action, go get a beer Watch some action, go get a beer Watch some action, go have a pee and get a beer as it's the two minute warning 2nd half Watch some plaction, beer get a glow simples. Saw the first ever game at Wembley Vikings v Cardinals, and then 49'ers v Dolphins Marino & Montana for the 1st quarter but the REAL value of the game is you normally get through more beer than during a decent day at cricket and you don't miss a thing. What ever happened to that bloke who was on Channel 4 doing the NFL show when it all started being shown back in Blighty?