Gordon Mockles

Easy tiger. Are you ever light hearted and cheery?! FFS! :smt073 FWIW, I still think it's Jim Ratcliffe. Could be completely wrong but it's all supposition. Get over it.

Why should he reveal who the backer is, until all is complete? I think people should be more patient. He has had the decency to keep us all updated and people should respect the complexity of negotiations. As mentioned on another thread, it may be The Pinnacle lawyers are seeking/awaiting assurances from the FL so as not to expose the club to the risk of further points deductions if we are to accpet the minus 10 (re: the CVA issue, as the holding company, not the club is in admin so the football club will not have a CVA). It's not always black and white. Just keep patient and don't lose faith. They seem to be working hard and astute enough to iron out any potential pitfalls. Best get it right now than rush in and leave rules and legal issues which could come back to bite the club on the ass!

Heard Sky saying they were keeping with the story too. I'd just love to see the end of this drawn out saga. Us Saints fans deserve a break!

Well said. Fight fire with fire and I'm please Pinnacle have the common sense and professional attitude to NOT be steam rolled by the FL (with their very chequered history) who "make it up as they go". Also, accepting the non-appeal clause could leave us on very dodgey ground and with further deductions, judging by the actions of the FL towards many smaller clubs.

Good point. If we legally accept SFC (the club) were docked the points, not the holding company, they could use the CVA rule and dock further points from the club. Let's be real, Mawhinney and his board of cronies are insidious little f*ckwits and can't be trusted. Unless you're a big club *cough* in which case, the rules can be changed to suit another agenda...money possibly.

When there was a bust up with Mary Corbett he was quick to pick up the phone to the Daily Mail and make up blatant lies to his mate Sale! The tw*t!!

Fair play for caring enough to explain and actually treating the fans with respect. We've had a rough old ride but it's heart warming to know our potential new management our both professional and respectful. Not a lot to ask. I truly hope all can be resolved Monday. I still won't be nice about the Football League though. Cantankerous, obstinate, hypocritical old fools!

Different sized club with a different board, different contacts in different positions of power. Making no aspersions whatsoever but you do have to wonder how some decisions are brought about. What was the deal with West Ham?! Were they bought out before admin? Shame if it wasn't the same situation but sadly think it was not. Personally, I'd like to see a big club fall. But in that, the Football League/FA would have itself failed, and they won't let that happen. It's all a case of big boys and their games. Sadly, the minions suffer!

I do think UP has a very valid point and I entirely agree. Earlier, I was seething at the Football League and the manner in which they operate but, after calming and contemplating, fairness is the over-ruling issue. I am still furious with the manner in which the FL have acted but sense has also shone through my terminable frustration. I would rather we take the 10 points on the chin and then rebuild, having suffered the same penalty as the many other insolvent clubs before us. The entire reason the 10 point pentalty was imposed was to prevent football clubs benefitting from administration (unsustainable finances) and to keep the sport fair and competitive (let's ignore the big money men associated with Man City and Chelsea as that's an entirely different argumentfor another day). If we escaped the 10 point deduction, we would have benefitted from admin., found a loop hole in the rules, made the FL look even more foolish than presently and, worst of all, opened up a huge, gaping hole in the proverbial football dam, potentially flooding Mawhinney and the Football League with a tidal wave of legal cases from clubs previously deducted points and the ensuing financial losses. I am unsure what will happen Monday but I am bemused to think the pathetic conduct of the Football League could jeopardise the very future of our Footbal Club, namely The Pinnacle takeover. It feels so unjust, after such continual built up optimism, perpetually shattered by every twist & turn in the never ending saga of Southampton Football. Shocking!

More like an egotistical, tory boy, cantankerous old men's club....pig headed ignorance that refuses to move with the times, no matter how it effects others, their personal agendas & already flawed and chequered reputations. I'm all with Pinnacle. I'd not let the FL take the pish out of principal. Typical Saints though. You can never expect good fortune. I was foolish to believe (50x after being let down, hopes built up...) we were at a brave new dawn (hence hew avatar, new horizons!). Nope, if the past board weren't bad enough, it could be the football league itself & the remnants of the recently departed (that hypocritical, smug, goal post moving, arrogant b*stard Mawhinney) settling old scores and killing of our long suffering club in the process. Ok, maybe over-reaction but I am extremely fearful. Pinnacle won't have the p*ss taken out of them it seems (and rightly so) and now we've an emergency meeting Monday with the gaggle of old farts (FL) who strive to do as they please without one iota or care for smaller clubs or the football community. All power and position with them. If only they could control bungs and corruption in football as well as they moved goal posts, changed rules & incompetently attempted to run a football league. We'd have no problems then! All hypothetical, of course! I didn't really mean that *splutter* An extremely unhappy Mr Mockles! :mad:

Change the record Nick! As many on the forum state, Crouch would only be on the board, not running the show. Besides, he's earned his seat (if so). He's done more for Saints and put more money into the club than Lowe and Wilde combined (without half the damage!) and he's shown he actually cares, unlike his predecessors (who were watching us burn while they warmed their hands).

I'm still convinced its' Ratcliffe. As you just said (and I previously mentioned), Ratcliffe has an uncanny knack of making money (esp. from the ayling BP, or dwindling businesses in need of shrewd financial injection). He seems to strongly use his financial backing to get what he wants. Saints fit into this profile perfectly. Maybe other business opportunities tied in with the club. Also, his rebuilding strategy of 5 years coincidentally links up with the Echo article about Pinnacle proposing a five year plan to get back to the Premiership. http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=13433&page=18 (check some of my comments on here) I've read suggestions and nothing has been posted which makes me change my mind. Only time will tell....

F*ck me sideways! Thanks for that Phil. I'll sleep sounder tonight after that. I don't think we'll need a high I.Q. to work that out. I doubt even the contestants on Q.I. could make sense of that. Have they been selling under the counter potcheen in the Dubai markets again?!

Or eating Rasberry Pop Tarts!!

=

HaHa! BRILLIANT! You've either been watching too much of that awful film, Angels and Demons or you just know the Catholic Church Conclave selection process better than I!

Well, there's some interesting points coming out but I think some of you are fundamentally wrong in the essence you assume that Ratcliffe's business debts (which is how these sort of companies operate re: acquisition) have diminished his personal wealth so much that he cannot afford to buy a football club. This is peanuts in comparison to a refinery or process plant and SFC may be a business Pinnacle expect to make profit from, or break even enough to become competitive and sustainable. Process plants and huge revenue industry like the oil and chemical industry are massive money spinners and leveraged buyouts and loans are common place but this would not necessarily restrain a hugely wealthy man like Ratcliffe (from 10th to 25 on the rich list doesn't make him poor). If you're suggesting smaller business ventures should desist, then why his recent business enterprise in the New Forest (if you're adopting that view point). That's small time to a man of his wealth. Also, having spoke to some people connected in these circles (won't mention how online), he is reputed as having an uncanny knack of making money (as is clearly evident) so who's to know what will happen, if my theories aren't total pie in the sky. Equate a billionaire (or thereabouts) spending out on a football club to a highly paid solicitor splashing out on a car. Just because solicitor A has lost a case and some money, doesn't mean he still can't afford a pricey sports car. If Ratcliffe was that hard up, he'd not have just built a 5 star hotel in Lyndhurst. Oh, and correction on the company address. I am sure there was some business connection with Lymington but you're quite right in stating that INEOS are based in Lyndhurst. In fact, most of INEOS' main businesses operate from Lyndhurst (INEOS Technologies, INEOX Oxide, Oligomers, Olefins & Polymers Europe, INEOS Nitriles all all Lyndhurst). I digress. I, along with a few others on here, still believe we may be on to something. If we're all wrong, kind of fun guessing and no harm caused. Lightens a lunch break and saves wasting money in a beer garden (although much prefer the latter). Who knows?! He may have also wanted to remain incognito because he's seen a business opportunity in other areas as well as the club (Using the water, Meridian Land, Industrial Estate areas to assist other acquiring other business, Planned devlopments, using the club as leverage for planning or working with the council...???)....if at all it is Ratcliffe. As for the club being a huge distraction. People in Ratcliffe's position make the key, important decisions but have teams of directors and highly intelligent managers working under his hierachy so I am sure he finds free time outside of business and is able to delegate. Besides, if it is Mr Ratcliffe, he's merely involved with the finance and some decisions. He would have employed Lynam to work as the middle man, with Lynam working closely with the Chairman of the football club. Matt Le Tiss (as has been suggested). Hey! I am probably completely wrong but kills an hour! I have tired my best to ignore the forum and anything Saints related during this takeover deadline. Mainly, to avoid the anguish of wait but too many people have been talking in my circles recently and I had to get involved and have a nose. Instincts and all. It's our club after all! We'll all find out one way or another by the end of this week...I hope! :smt113

Lyndhurst based. Could be something in that. I've been phoning, texting, delving, googling & pondering on everything to date (the snippets which may be true) & all seems to point to Ratcliffe. If not, we've been given red herring rumours or there are some freaky coincidences! I'll put my neck out anyway in what I've heard, read & researched this wk!

Think the same myself and had a few friends put that name about. Also, been considering things. Well, FWIW, I still think it’s Jim Ratcliffe. The Chemical engineer turned Ineos Boss from Beaulieu?! The Five Year plan line on Wiki sounds all too familiar eh?! Also, if he’s reclusive, may tie in with the reports previously about it on this forum/The Echo and the comments about “the client” seeming to prefer anonymity (judging by the content of Tony Lynam’s statement and the desired set-up of Pinnacle). http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/search/4408515.Five_year_plan_for_Saints_to_get_back_to_the_Premier_League/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Ratcliffe http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/search/4326015.Question_marks_over_fortune_of_Hampshire_s_richest_man/ Always found it very interesting how Radcliffe likes to use high yield debt to finance his deals, buying unwanted operations from groups such as ICI and BP selecting targets based on their potential to double their earnings OVER A FIVE YEAR PERIOD. Sounds a similar strategy to the Pinnacle Group eh?! Certainly makes you wonder. http://www.moneyweek.com/news-and-charts/jim-ratcliffe-the-secretive-and-opportunistic-dr-no.aspx

Who said Lynam is taking in anything?! I'd hope he's overseeing the takeover, not wasting time on here. What a ridiculous post! Some of the idiotic theories and supposition by some posters on here is laughable!

As expected really and as I've been saying, be patient. Good things come to those that wait and no news can be...GOOD NEWS! Too many people on here lack patience (I admit, we're all bursting to know and I'm not the most patient person but, in this case, it was obvious it wouldn't happen overnight). Without meaning to state the obvious, football takeovers can be tricky and complicated things and you just KNOW the paperwork, contractual side (possible litigation) and general bureaucracy can't have been made straight forward and easy when you consider the track record of a certain (recently departed) chairman. I am hoping, after this decade and more of stifling leadership and dwindling fortunes (bar the odd glimmer and spark which was never allowed to fuel a healthy cataclysm of success - in fact, any positive signs were veritably extinguished) we will finally be able to dust ourselves down, put the past behind us and look forward to a brighter future (without the usual, well justified trepidation that shadows most Saints fans). COYS and here's to happier times. It's a crying shame we had to sink to League One to shake off the rot but that we have and I am confident of a brighter future for all.

In fairness, considering the club we support, I expect there's quite a few Christian names preceeded with Saint/St.

Oh no you don't! (without meaning to sound Punch and Judy esque!)

I think points look good in general, regardless of the game! Next time you embark on a War and Peace epilogue, maybe spare that a thought!