Clifford Nelson

If a deal is happening it is happening tomorrow after whoever is the real power behind the bid decides to accept whatever FL has got on the table. If not, it is dead. It only means that whoever else comes in will have to accept the deal instead, whatever it means for SFC. FL don't negotiate, they never have, so why would they now? Whether that makes the deal unfair, unjuste or even illegal, that's it. They know how to get what they want and they have all the power, and Pinnacle has none. It isn't right, but it's the truth. There is, I think, a possibility to sign the deal and then sue them for unfair business practices, but it's a long shot. I had promised to eat my hat if they changed their mind. I'm putting the tasty old thing away now. The end is here, take it or leave it!

Yupp, Hamilton Hexies!

See my reply to David, which really was meant for you. Trust me, you don't want to see that team. It would be like going to Fratton Park, but worse!

Nobody with a sense of dignity wants to see a bunch of rats, dressed in black, playing in a concrete bunker in Solna when you can go to the 1912 Olympic Stadium in Stockholm on the 5th July to watch Djurgar'n, the team of the Millennium! OK this season has been less than brilliant, but things are looking up and the Tifo at home is something else. Saints fans ought to learn from it. Log on to http://www.dif.se, there is even an english translation. Sadly it's seldom entirely up to date.

The FL will not under any circumstances change their mind, and today's empty space that we are all staring into is the lack of change and the time it takes for them to answer Pinnacle's letter all over again. It is a terrible abuse of power, as Mark Fry says, but that is nothing new, and nothing directed especially at Saints. Why would FL care if Saints didn't compete next year? They would only promote another club or run League One with a team short. Let the truth sink in: THIS IS OUR CONCERN, NOT THEIRS! My consideration of eating an old hat if they change their mind seems less and less risky for every hour that expires. I'm getting increasingly convinced that Jim Ratcliffe is the man behind this, because he is used to playing hardball, taking things to the wire and squeezing blood out of stones. I don't think he can believe that things aren't going to change, but then he's never dealt with the FL before. I just want to get back to football and all the normal boring discussions.

According to South Today Pinnacle have sent another letter to FL suggesting a different agreement. As I forecasted previously that will be countered sometimes tomorrow with a polite and diplomatic "Get stuffed!" Their mind is made up: With several other bidders seeming interested in Saints give me just one single reason for why they should risk upsetting all the other clubs in League One. This is never, never, never going to happen. Please, note FL's track record! The risk of me eating an old hat has already receded from when I poste last about an hour ago. COYR and all that jazz, I want to start dreaming about the team and next season. Just imagine having an argument about a lousy left back for example. Seems like heaven!

On historical evidence, I think, FL never, ever change their mind, so I think Pinnacle is at the end of the road: Either accept or reject! If they accept that further negotiation is not going to get where they, and we, would like to go, then the decision is easier. It couldn't possibly take that long to ponder, could it? Good news is that since they still seem to believe that there is mileage in negotiating, they couldn't have been in the game before! As someone who has been in negotiations before, the writing is on the wall. Nothing is now going to change. There is no point in believing in that, so to wait and wait again is just losing time. If I'm wrong there are plenty of old hats to eat.

Tony Lynam is right in asking us all to keep our feelings under control. If it is true that the Football League is trying to make membership dependent on Pinnacle not even having a fair hearing, that is called blackmail and it has no place in either business or football. Maybe I'm naive, but I thought it was illegal. I hope that this takeover is the last for a very long time, so to get it right to start with will help.