CanadaSaint

Why doesn't that surprise me?

Let's nor forget, though, that Fry doesn't work for us. They still need to make the best proposal for the creditors. But they certainly seem to have the money to do that.

Wow! I await the links indicating their hobbies, links to Southampton, non-links to MJ, MF and RL, rich people's toys, and inside leg measurements. Please God there won't we any sh*t for GM to unearth. This is going to cause a run on F5 keys - get yours while you still can!

There may be a name attached, Thorpie, but he says he's "only acting as a negotiator and (is) not one of the investors". Echoes give me the willies, so Hop Suisse it is!

Somebody needs to put this thread out of its misery. BANG!

Wes, there's a world of difference between consciously investing in something and taking control of a loanee company in the (possibly vain) hopes of getting some of you loan money back. And "international financial services" can cover a lot of things - including venture capitalists and hedge funds.

That's never going to work. Aviva have a clear business focus and they can't step in and take control of completely unrelated businesses just because their loan goes sour. They'd end up owning and operating all kinds of stuff - and they'd almost certainly screw most of it up. These finance companies budget a delinquency rate and budget to wave goodbye to money in situations like this. It's just one of their costs of doing business.

You're really p*ssed off about that barbeque, aren't you?

I didn't see anyone address Chez's post - that angle interests me. If the entity that the new owner is buying is SFC, how do they gain any ownership and control over the stadium? Do they buy that from the creditors (AVIA)? If they are buying SFC (for the team) and at least some of the assets of SLH in order to own and control the stadium, why wouldn't they need a CVA? Sorry if I'm being thick here but I thought Chez raised a good point.

So could this:

We've tried hard to make "Only one club in Hampshire" true.

Easy there, sailor. Given your finances I think you'll be in the Blue Sky before us. At least you have the stadium for it.

It would be great if they really were that well tuned in to our club, and even better if they were now to approach MLT and invite him to become part of their bid. Hopefully they're too smart to offer him the chairmanship. He'd be a wonderful asset in many areas but he doesn't need to be thrown into a pressure cooker role like that.

True, but I remember being sixth in the Prem and playing in the FA Cup Final not much more than five years ago. That's a massive fall in anyone's book.

How can the bid still be on the table if the "middle east bidders" (I assume you mean backers) withdrew? Don't tell me, MJ has found new backers. Again. Or should that be again, again, again?

One of the things that shocks me (although it's hard to tell accurately from this far away) is that the media seems so "ho hum" about it. We were a reasonably successful and well-supported Premiership club just five years ago, and now we're on the brink of extinction. Is the media so besotted with the rich and mighty that they can't see that our collapse could well be the forerunner for many more collapses? Can't they see that the game is starting to fall apart at the seams? This should be national news considering that it's our national sport but even the local media seems hard pressed to keep a decent handle on the storyline.

Come on, Ginge, where's the spirit? It's not like you'd have very big shoes to fill, is it? If you can drink a lot, dress poorly, speak unintelligibly and lose games on a consistent basis, you're well qualified.

I'm a positive kind of guy but I haven't seen even one good sign in the past ten days, just a continual worsening of the situation. The Swiss didn't make a move yesterday and Pinnacle have gone deathly quiet. Now we're selling players before a new owner arrives, which strongly suggests that there's nobody out there right now. I don't think the club will die, not with all the proven potential, but it seems clear to me that we're going to go right to the brink.

As long as we're meeting contractual obligations we'll have the right to set a reasonable price and get it - even while we're being operated by an administrator. The clubs who want those players will pay a reasonable price or lose them to another club willing to pay the price. We're not quite at the fire sale stage but obviously very close to it.

It's hard not to view the sale of players as being anything other than life support - buying some time in the hopes that one of the parties will complete. I don't think it would be happening unless Fry was fairly certain that the Pinnacle bid is dead as a doornail. They'll probably blame it on the negative reactions of fans and media because it won't be their fault of course. While the inflow of funds buys Fry some time, it sure as hell doesn't give us any chance of a decent start to the season. Sickening days indeed.

Any new doubts delivering untold negativity could arise now?

Did you miss out an "IMO" or do you know that to be the case? If you're right I'm sure GM will have no problem coming on here and confirming that the apology was sarcastic. And what about Duncan's removed e-mail or link? I've posed what I think is an important question for all of us who post on here - especially those who do so with little regard for potential consequences of their words.

It wouldn't surprise me if some shots have been fired across a few bows in relation to things posted on here. GM's apology might be sarcasm but I'm more inclined to think it results from outside forces - because his comments were way the hell over the top and because he's not the apologizing kind. TL's appearance on this thread yesterday was interesting, and there was a little warning in there (If you're going to make comments like this, do it to my face) that, I suspect, was aimed not just at GM. Duncan has disappeared since yesterday, and I understand that an e-mail or a link he provided was removed. Are these things coincidences?

But it seems clear to me that Pinnacle can no longer meet the terms on which they reached agreement with Fry and, by extension, the creditors. The creditors are therefore in no position to dictate the terms and point a gun at any potential acquirer because they essentially have no offers on the table. Until they realize that "50% of f*ck-all is still f*ck-all" they won't be getting any acceptable offers from Switzerland, the Middle East, Timbuctoo or any damn place. So we're heading for an agonizing week. I just hope that good people (MLT and Crouch) can salvage some semblance of self esteem from this, and that we still have a club at the end of it. I have my doubts.

So you weren't trying to make a legitimate point but exact some kind of childish personal retribution. No wonder you encounter problems on here. But, for what it's worth, I share your fears about where the club is heading.