dubai_phil

Made that point before as well. WE ARE A LEAGUE 1 TEAM. However, once we acknowledge that fact, there is no issue in (for example) selling Surman and buying two League 1 standard experienced footballers. A nice lump of a CF and a Wotton with at least some pace and passing ability. We have the basis of a good squad with now 1 year experienced kids on affordable wages, as we shed the overpaid "stars" we should be able to replace with players who can do the RIGHT job at this level, not try to play some surreal version of PL or Dutch style football. the days of spending 75% or more of our income on poor performing players has hopefully gone for ever

YOu know what though? I hope to hell he actually gets that opportunity!

Nope and neither are you. But unlike some of the new arrivals on here we have BOTH tried to be balanced. However I have said I don't mind who buys us as long as it is SOMEONE, and I have never commented on who is the better bid, merely analysing what is likely going on behind the scenes or attempting to point out a few misconceptions. I've made the point before that once you leave the UK for whatever reasons, supporting Saints and this sad cyber world we live in in one of the last links we have back to the reality of a real life and a sense of community and belonging. I honestly cannot bear the idea that is all about to disappear because of an idiotic sequence of gambles. My gripe at the Pinnacle led bid has simply been that they chose to start their bid in the public eye when all but the Channel Island builders kept quiet. And my worry about THAT was that we had seen what happened before when people tried to buy us in public. Right now I am pretty sure all that matters as GM said on another thread is who can come up with a 500k punt on a risk and pay a deposit, most likely by tomorrow.

The internet warriors desperate to know everything, they demand to be able to judge the merits of our potential saviours. Couple of points 1) When the admin that (one or two) advocated came along we lost ANY rights to protest, moan or demand answers. We are in an airplane that has no pilot, get used to it 2) Didn't we all LEARN something in the last few years? Whenever anything was posted, leaked, spun or announced what happened? - Absolutely sweet eff all So this time round the ONLY reason we know anything is because Pinnacle went public and made statements to the Echo and their plants arrived on here. The ONLY other story was somebody saw MJ at SMS and decided that was worthy of a front page, followed by a simple one off basic level statement by Stuart Green - then nothing Maybe the silence is the only hope we have, and maybe Pinnacle have finally learnt that lesson in the past week

Trying to hit a moving target blindfolded while being pushed downhill on a skateboard. It is NOT easy, it is perfectly clear that these consortiums have come together very quickly, it doesn't seem to be "one rich person" and even if it was, they would still have to get a team together. You'd need someone with SOME knowledge of the club (eg MLT) as well as people with some form of sports management background and also some form of businessmen simply to cover all the tasks and experience needed to be involved in the running of a club. So you have to get all your own bits sorted out, then have to sit with Fry and then work out the implications of the negotiations on your legal status, playing squad budget, break-even points, ticket prices etc. One small concession in the fry meeting could change your whole squad building plan which then throws into doubt your cash-flow plan. It isn't easy

Here's a nasty idea... Nobody knows who is behind the bids at the club due to NDA's So phone up Umbro on Monday, say you are part of the background team working on the takeover and trying to get a feel for what new away kit the club could have so you can build it into your cash flow plans and ask them to send a salesman down to you with samples pdq.. Then pick a few favourites post them up here and bingo Oops sorry that was an evil thought... they may not be very happy when they find out forget I ever mentioned it

I agree wholeheartedly with Stu's feelings, football is corrupt from top to bottom since Bosman and Sky. As fans though we also have to bear some blame, we had dreams, we had hopes and aspirations, we belonged in the Premier League, we demanded PL quality signings. When we only paid 90k for a player we abused both him and the board-room. We begged for Rudi to be signed, we listed HCDAJFU players from the top echelons of football. We demanded investment while we were in the PL, we almost gleeful revelled in the fact that GB had a war chest when we were in our 2nd year in the Championship. During those "heady days" we were all amazingly arrogant and naive, the gravy train would continue forever, we were just unlucky we had a moron in charge instead of a rich uncle. In truth, none of us really understood, we were so much better than those other poor souls who's clubs were going bust, hell one of us even won a competition to allow the club to be able to pay BWP 6k or whatever a week to be offside and miss one on ones. The fact is that finally, we have woken up to reality, suddenly we are all staring into a bottomless pit. We have realised what a mess has been made but also what a mess football REALLY is and as fans in many ways that old saying "Pride goes before a fall" has been shown to be true. We now see what is needed to rebuild this club, we now understand much better the fans of other clubs who almost sneered at us for the crazy money we were paying out, and we look back up to the so called "promised land" and realise what it really is all about - a bunch of "crooks" ripping us off and feeding at a trough we filled for them EVERY week, be it their Ferrari or their Directors Box lunches. We have been taken as mugs as fans, you lot back there have been taken as mugs by your so called "elected representatives", it GODDAM hurts to realise that you have spent a great deal of your life being conned into providing a life of luxury for a bunch of complete W**KERS. But of course, we STILL ask the question - how much money will the new people have to invest in out team.... we still haven't really learnt have we, and the new owners won't be able to start or win a revolution to change it all on their own will they? We ALL know football revolutions don't work!

Posted the problem on page 9,752 of D Day thread It's been discussed on here that there is no warranty that the information supplied to Pinnacle by Begbies is correct in regard to liabilities and contracts, so full "due dilligence" is required. IF Pinnacle were made a preferred bidder last week they would have been doing this, but that doesn't appear to have happened as Pinnacle would have incurred a lot of cost and could have been "gazumped" during their 2nd round of due dilligence. Fry likely needs a non-refundable deposit on Monday, to pay the wages, the deal is likely down to who has the cheque book out for that first. As I said before paying 400k or so as a non refundable deposit with no guarantee there is nothing nasty still to be found is a big step

The Saturday morning hangover guess as to what is going on I think there is probably a difference between bidding a price to buy the club and offering an amount of cash to buy the club. eg From previous takeover threads EricofArabia and I found about 7.90 quid down the back of our sofas. We offer that as cash but say we'll pay back the remaining 8,999,992.10 from cash flow next week. That goes back and forth to creditors who want it reversed so we go and look for a bigger sofa. (as an EXAMPLE) Then when they agree the cash price and the amount to pay, the buyers probably say they need to make sure that all of the documentation regarding the actual debt and all the contracts of supply, sponsorship, employment etc don't have any nasty surprises From what I have read on here it seems that the administrators probably dig out all that information but thanks to lawyers probably don't want to accept any liability in case they missed something so, caveat empor, the buyers have to go through the books themselves. That bit is I believe a hungover person's precis of what this preffered bidder status is all about, and could take a couple of weeks before the money gets handed over But the problem is that Fry needs to pay the wages so probably needs a non-refundable deposit So you have to pump something like 3-400k into the club just to get to see if someone you never met has made a mistake and landed you with some unexpected liabilities. Not many lawyers or even company shareholders would let you do that without some form of safety net, and Fry probably doesn't have one. So, maybe instead of doing the preferred bid part and instead of talks, maybe (sorry MAYBE) he let Pinnacle have a quick look to minimise the risk to their principles money. It's one thing to "gamble" 8 or 9 million on turning around a business over a period of time, but another all together to gamble 3-400k that someone you've never met hasn't made a mistake and left you with a debt of another 5 million due in brown paper bags somewhere in a broom cupboard Anyway, that was the general consensus in the pub last night, no idea if it helps understand why it could be good news that nothing happened. Hope there's a test match to listen to today while F5 ing

Well. my part of the world goes to work on a Sunday. But I think you forgot to apply the DuckwortFry48hoursLewis method to your maths

Thanks Roswell - priceless I think we have missed a crucial concept in this thread It was 32C here on the way to the pub and fine and sunny all day, how's Area 50 whotsit (I know I just did that on purpose to wind you up!)

p.s I may have used journalistic licence in my previous post one crucial bit may have been embellished hic good night all may I suggest you check back in on Monday and have a real weekend

Woo hoo! It was Friday today - I nearly forgot how important that is. Well the really good news is That after an undisclosed number of Bullfrogs and Jaeger Bombs it seems that yours truly won the "If Carlsberg did Karaoke nights" competition at Rock Bottom this evening with a stunning version of Video Killed the Radio Star, There was a late attempt by nickh to claim that I was in fact miming the chorus and had brought on a sub illegally, but no, I won fair and square and I intend to email Fry in the morning and see if he would accept my Aed 500 (96 quid) Drinks voucher as proof of funds to take over the club. Seems to me that is a lot more than Pinnacle managed today, with luck I could get him to go to Rock Bottom on a Monday to cash it which being 25% off night means my 90 quid bid goes up in value. Damn I'm on a roll - last week the Home Team, this week Karaoke, next week THE WORLD! Meanwhile if anyone is interested I hear Fry is still talking

Wrong thread and an hour late Lost season finale was discussed on the D-Day thread about 2 hours ago

That's easy, two words NOTHING HAPPENED

D-Day The movie The Longest Day Pretty damned apprpriate really

It's really weird, can you imagine speaking to forum members, and basically re-visiting our who is backing Mr Lynam thread, throwing out all the is it overseas? could it be Monaco? is it Philip Green/Sultan of Brunei then having another member getting a call and being asked for his thoughts on being taken over by xyz simply because he was in a pub.. We truly have slipped into the Twighlight zone Oh BTW may I recommend Angels & Demons for our assembled stressed out F5'ers. It is completely brain dead formulaic drivel without the bad hair of Da Vinci Code and a perfect antidote to being on here all day

Phew that's cleared up - no neither are wise Seems the Echo tried to spook some people they know with a story saying yadda yadda as if it was common knowledge. They then thought it was the Echo saying it was rather than the Echo saying is it? Interestingly it was a name that was mentioned in conversation after the game in the pub when people were speculating about who the other bidding group could have been backed by. So no, we don't know and panic over seems the Echo is recruiting bar staff as their sources these days

Sorry mate sent me a txt saying Echo is trying to find out who is bidding for the stadium alone. One + One means it's obviously Samstag or Lundi as we all know SSSSSSSSSSSShhhhhhhhhhhh it's D-Day today let's not spoil the fun

ooh just had a txt Looks like the Echo may be ITK Oh & I won

Nobody ever mentioned on here is worth a fiver

Ah, so that's interesting, after all the waiting with it now being 30 minutes to going home from work time THE Friday appears to have followed my carefully researched process by actually now forgetting to be Friday. In this case according to calculations, the addition of the Duckworth-Fry48hours-Lewis ruling Monday must be a strong candidate to become the new Friday Oh so now looks like a great 2 days of "Lost" weekend for you lot, at least my Friday today was really Sunday and it's only one day of weekend left to wait down here respectfully IMHO I think

Repeat of previous comment End game Doesn't mean people are not talking Sale of stadium alone and the club going bust means only one thing for the person who will own the stadium - we become franchise FC or we rent it to someone who needs it would be my guess. Maybe time to put away Sun Tzu and dig out the Gideons

Probably THE most accurate post on here for weeks

End game time by the sounds of it. My guess would be that Fry has probably reached his last timeline in which to push a deal through, so he is now less likely to be playing the parties off, more "this is what you need to do" day. Someone else has mentioned it is now probably about the structure not the price. Sounds like decision day unless a curve ball comes in. Let us hope something happens from somewhere. Oh and Saint Richmond, one comment for you that was very loud and clear after the Forum Match. Any of the old crew/hangers on (my words not his) will be welcomed back at St Mary's - as long as they pay for their match tickets. With regard to Lowe in any way being involved in the running of the club - no no and of course no - source was Stuart. HTH