dubai_phil

Well, if I was cynical. When there was one real bidder, there was another mystery bidder When there are two real bidders, there is another third mystery bidder negotiation tactics for dummies chapter 1 I believe But then in reality maybe there is somebody else out there who has a hell of a lot of work to do - draw up their own business plan, contact the critical people they would need involved, oh and of course, if foreign, overcome a small obstacle about a legal money trail to move funds from overseas into the UK and comply with anti-money laundering rules. Or, possibly even to convert a large stockpile of assets into actual CASH that can be paid to buy the club. Rich people tend not to have 8mil sitting in their current account That last bit is a big issue and one of the historical reasons that Liverpool were not bought at the time by Dubai Inc

Mike Osman is FRENCH??

Is it just me or is nickh becoming more like GB with his endless stream of excuses after the match? What next, the grass was too long? :-) Let's face it the Legends match would have still been on if they'd given us the jobs of managing the two teams!

Didn't seem to be that popular/successful at Brizzle either http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/sport/John-deal-didn-t-work-admits-Bristol-City-boss-Johnson/article-986719-detail/article.html

If they can hit what sometimes on here seems to be a moving target then thank God for that. But remember that many salesmen are forced at some point in their careers to read Sun Tzu's the Art of War, and although I and many others doubt the ability of you know who to read, he isn't the brains behind the bid. I'm sure that book also has a prominent position in Fry's briefcase which is why it takes so long

And if it is not a smokescreen? To assume makes an ass out of u and me as they say. What is important is that Fry ACCEPTS a bid that saves the club. to do that both parties need to be talking to him. Let us hope that is the case, we're a long way out on a limb as a club and it would be horrific not to have a safety net

I'm pretty sure he'd say he would rather have not been involved, but as Paul Allen is not around, somebody had to help to get a team together to build a plan for a sustainable future and a push back up the Leagues. The best comment last week post match was along the lines of "well nobody else seems to be trying, what happens if nobody does come in with a bid?". After that I'm afraid the 5th pint of Guinness took hold and I'm afraid things are a little hazy.

Well, FF did write a humourous and clever thread stating that in fact it was Hitler's fault that we are where we are today so I suppose this is a fair analogy

The only problem I could see with your legs was that they weren't hollow enough for all the booze afterwards! You & our Norwegian fan seemed to be having fun in Reflex. I'm just glad I caught a passing beer scooter when I did. Friday was a wipe-out for me!

A neutral wise "old" head and a voice of reason, who helped to drive the abortive attempts to get the 3 amigos to talk to each other by chairing the Runnymede and other meeting and spent many months working with all parties to try and find some common ground in our darker days, and an all round good guy and successful businessman. He's been mentioned quite a bit on here in the past, was at the Forum match chatting away and is genuinely concerned about the club HTH

Sad news, best wishes and condolences to those left behind RIP Dean

Ah so it isn't the MJ consortium now, it's the Stuart Green one. That may come as a surprise to some no doubt (Wait for the I told you so's)

Let's just start with - Can we have a club that could allow us to do this annually first. Darn I forgot the whole bananaman Svennson style interception and mazy dribble thingy. Didn't want to keep the unfair thing going though, but people are right about everyone screaming to the players to put the ball out, think even the lino was trying to get the game stopped at that point. I'm sure one of them looked up saw the problem and then kept going;)

tee hee, well of course those under 250 posts are never given that golden key which will put them onto the club's secret intranet, they don't get to use all those web cams and hidden mikes that the shareholders put in during their battle with the execs:p Now if only we knew the password, apparently worldclasscatering is too long

The BIG day out Part Three It's half time, we've played some football but let's face it they are better organised than us Nick doesn't just look the part after all. When we've played the ball out of defence through the middle we've looked good, but that final third thingy that bugged Saints all year is nagging at me. Big Dave up front has been winning just about every knock-on header but they always go forwards to where he was supposed to be, with Granty still looking dangerous cutting in from the wing. Time for the talk. What to say, it's got to be done, it's CLICHE time. You're playing great football, keep it simple, get rid of the ball though - don't mess around in our own third. Keep the shape, enjoy this moment you are playing really well, all that stuff comes out along with a clapping of the hands and random patting of backs, then the buzzer goes, another HooYah and they're off. But a problem looms, my lad at CB has to get the last train to Oxford at 9pm so was about to get changed, DLT calls me over and says he only thinks he can last to 75 minutes so can we bring the lad back on? I say it's his call, it's his evening and then uh oh, how to get the lad to the station in time? The boys are on the pitch, the game starts, where are the abusers? They could help - no sign of them - of course, they're outside having a fag! A panicked sprint through the concourse, some emergancy pulls on a smoke and a round of heavy negotiations and we have a volunteer by the name of Schumacher to get him away after the game - phew can relax again and focus on the game. Fos1 is in at CB, he's looking the part, the bald-headed tough guy thing. We worry about Hamster - can we get him back on to finish his 45? We look more comfortable now, the knock downs are replaced by the runs of Nexstar, he's through on goal OH NO! where was the clinical finish? Scudamore is making an impact in midfield, granty keeps going, Baj limps out the fray another victim of the Nickh warm-up routines?? We're through again - arggh no, blinding save by their keeper, blinding save by bananaman in our goal, Griffo causing problems man this is a GOOD game of football! 20 mins left Fos1 looking for instructions to throw caution to the wind, keep your shape I reply, not yet, it will come (well something like that) another near miss for us ARRRGGHH - that's it the carefully positioned drinks bottles HAVE to take a kicking - they do. DLT comes off - apart from a magic moment when the Lino & I share a joke as to whether a challenge had actually been in slow mo, he's played a blinder, he was everywhere. The lad is back on. Fos1 wants to push up, plenty of time, Hamster gets back into the action terrier like in midfield and covers back to allow fos to venture Liptakesque towards their box. Somebody's moaning on the flints - how the FOOK do you get a yellow card in a game like this? They're losing it the composure's going. 10 mins left another circling motion with the hands to the ref and a thumbs up (sorry nick it WAS done) and BigDave is asking if I want him to go up front. To everyone's suprise, including my own I utter the immortal words - no Dave I want you to sit in the hole behind the front two, there's a lot of times when the ball is dropping in that area and you're the exact man to pick it all up. Wow, I've gone to a 4-3-1-2 formation after slating it all year - wow that's the 3rd change of shape in one game - that's TWO more than JP in all his time here! Big Dave starts nudging the ball on then a loose ball, a blistering shot from 47 yards which curves Ronaldoesque, the keeper leaves it, it hits the post the rebound is there and YEEESS an 85ish minute equaliser. Oh that's great, the perfect end to a great day a 3-3 draw. A quick look at the watch, blimey, the lad's gotta get his skates on (so to speak) the ball's played forward and YESSSSSSSSSS OMG! YESS ok I admit it I jumped up and down and clenched both fists and screeched and hugged the rest of the guys as if Saints had just scored an 89th minute winner. I look across at Nick, the shoulders have slumped. I think, oh no that isn't a fair way to end it, then I think YESSSSSSSSSSS! The final whistle, damn not allowed champoo in the changing room, son sprints off loads of handshaking, hugs and grins on the pitch, well played's and after that - just a blur. I seem to remember seeing sandwiches, I gave Granty the champoo he deserved it for the work, I rushed the lad out to Schumacher - it's already 8:45 and he makes the station in 7 minutes. Suddenly the rumours start (wouldn't be a forum do without them) meeting in concourse bar, players lounge bar open and suddenly almost everyone has gone. The abusers call to say they have gone to Dockgate 4 I pass the word to the guys I see and whoosh back to Jury's Inn to dump the car, grab a lift to the bar and oh bliss those first 3 pints of Guinness tasted Soooo good. We hear stories, they swap war wounds, but you know what? the real moments came as all of us just took a moment, stepped back and went OMG what just happened? That evening was truly a Mastercard Moment - Priceless Something I won't ever forget and you know when you normally get home from a trip and show people your "holiday snaps" their eyes glaze over? Oh no, not this time, everyone I have sent the link to has said the same thing - wow, you lucky basta*ds To everyone, well done, you made an old man very happy:-)

Depends of course on what day the money for the wages actually leaves the bank account. Last minute rescue.com would have to get an non-refundable deposit into that account first. As they will have to still do some form of due dilligence, that means TIME at least to clear a wire transfer

Sorry, you are wrong. Already posted elsewhere. A bid is with Fry. MJ's name is not on it. As Weston then says, after that point what goes on is nothing we can guess or speculate about, wait for the press conference or the sudden nothing happening statement. IF THAT happens, anyone else got a better idea what to do?

How would I know? I don't even know what Experian is over here! How about another way. As an example ONLY, would you need to credit check Paul Allen if it was him and he showed you his last 6 months bank statements? But my host at the weekend who knows this stuff said they had systems for doing this stuff quickly HTH

The worrying issue is that there has only been one confirmed bid received. That bid would have had to be made with a full proof of funds and a fixed completion date upon which payment would be due. Not sure how easy it is to fool one of these on-line credit check systems these days

Thanks Mike that makes a big difference. Fry could have been in the sh1t if it had been HIM that said it to them as a direct and attributable quote. We can put the tin hats away for a while then

The IRB do a huge amount of work on expanding the game globally, as seen by their 7's series and the emergence of teams like Kenya. Japan will probably be favourite as hosts for the event on that basis, although an English tournament will likely bring in more money as we have a larger base of fans. Some of the minor teams will go through a qualifying tournament, looking at how they are building the regional stadiums, it would appear more likely that SMS would host something like Kenya v Uruguay than England v Australia, but going to see ANY match in ANY form of a World Cup IS a special moment and should be taken if the chance comes up. It will also prove to be a feather in the cap for the City as a whole and HOPEFULLY for Saints with all the global coverage

Away from Reading he has never really been that successful. Having taken them into the PL he probably has a large salary which League 1 is unlikely to be able to afford But experienced and a sensible "safe" appointment, so would be surprised if he is not at least "in the frame"

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/4364179.Talks_held_up_again_in_twist_in_takeover/ Well, somehow we sort of guessed this might happen. As Pinnacle seem to have done most of their stuff in the media spotlight, wonder when they'll make a statement

Injury updates? So everyone recovered? I cannot BELIEVE it - bl**dy 1.50 boots - in such a disorganised rush last week, never time to dump them in the washing machine or thought to give them a sanitising spray - and I've only gone and got a nasty dose of athlete's foot from them BSTDS! At least I have a souvenir of the day grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr