Weston Saint

Spoke to Matt Le Tissier this afternoon. Will not repeat the conversation but he is aware of what is going on, that Pinnacle are still talking and that he has been contacted by the "Green/Jackson" Group.

Nick, Salz is a good man and a fine Saints supporter. He was touted for Chairman when the Execs were ousted but he was aware it was a poison chalice without investment and he did not have the funds to make a difference. However he worked hard behind the scenes trying to make a difference advising Crouch on non football matters (Crouch would not let him near any football decisions) When Lowe came back it is well known the two did not see eye to eye on running Saints. Salz had to take a bi of a back seat. He has powerless to avoid Lowe putting us into Administration. He has spoken to the Administrator and looked for funds to make a difference. As yet he has not beeen able to raise enough to meet the sort of figures the Administrator says will satisfy the creditors. Let's stop all the squabbling of "my consortium is better than your" or "that consortium is a joke and will fail" (not aimed at you alone Nick) Time will tell. None of us knows the outcome of any of it at present.

I know David as well and if he is Kelso he is well out of order and does not deserve to be defended. Whoever it is he is wrong about the deal being done. Why is this group spending more than £100,000 on due diligence with forensic accountants and legal team if it is a done deal? Why has the Administrators not given them preferred bidder status. Done deals are when deals have been done, not before!

As far as I can tell from reading various media snippets nobody has been offered a new contract. Discussions have taken place and potential contractural terms worked out and agreed in principle. Of course Wotte is going to assume he will stay in charge and will want to demonstrate to any new owner that he is pro active in his approach and that the team can hit the ground running at the start of next season. Good on him but decisions cannot be firmed up until we know who has the money, how much is available and the desires of the new owners. Wotte's contract was only until the end of the season with an option to renew for another year although relegation may have changed that. Looks like he wants to stay and is sending out that message. Time will tell but personally I do not feel he has the tactical knowledge to manage us going forward but that is for another thread already in existence.

I know Morph and he is certainly not female.

I think you must have fallen off the wall Nick

One more thing. Reading this thread and others many seem to assume that Marc Jackson will have some influence or say in the running of SFC should "his" consortium be successful in purchasing the club. As far as I am aware he is not putting any money of his own so why would he be part of the end product?

Knowing many who are in the Salz camp don't knock them. They are passionate Saints Supporters. They are very successful business men. Their skills are sought after particularly in the UK and they have no need to work if they do not want to. Their only weakness is the inability to be able, themselves, to commit enough money to Saints to make them front runners to purchase from the Administrator. They will not waste his time (as tyre kickers tend to do). They had preliminary talks the week we went into Admin. I suspect Fry has them within his radar should all else fail. Morph will know doubt put me right if I am wide of the mark.

But you look at it first with your own eyes not rely on the Estate Agent or Car Salesman telling you how good it is. Same thing here. Due diligence then the £500,000 non returnable deposit in advance of full exchange of contracts.

Robbie I think you misunderstand the position. As I understand it there are two parts of due diligence. The first is to look through the information the Administrator provides as to the state of the club, it's finances and future contracted costs (the players contracts). He will not provide such information until he knows the interested party is serious and proves he has the funds. Once they have looked at the information they then make an indicative bid. Because the Administrator will not provide a guarantee that all the information is correct and no hidden shocks the second part, after he has accepted the indicative bid, is to carry out the second due diligence by bringing in forensic accountants and legal team. Cost circa £100,000. What Fry wanted to undertake the second part was a non refundable deposit of £500,000. That has been the stumbling block and no takers. Because of the impass he has now reluctantly granted the second stage to one team but because of the lack of deposit is refusing to give them preferred bidder status meaning he can still talk to others and give them the same opportunities. To say the "Jackson Group", for want of indentification, is behind the due diligence game is wrong. They lead at present. Their worry is paying out such further investigation costs without exclusitivity could mean someone else could come in and do the same possibly rendering their costs as wasted but that is a chance they are taking as time to save the club is fast running out. It is possible the "Pinnacle Group" will return to the table but my understanding reading posts on here is that they suffered a fatal withdrawal of funds from some of their consortia. There is rumour of a "overseas group" but if so why give the "Jackson Group" access? Finally the "Salz" group seem to be keeping a watching brief in case of failure and may be positioning themselves try to step in as the "bid of last resort" Their team is excellent but lack the money of the others. Anyone want to disagee with my view?

Actually Le Tissier said he was not sure he would stay if we went down....we did not in his time so no need for a decision but Jones is saying nothing different in my opinion. Agree though his strike action here was well out of order. Would never wish him harm though.

It gets trashed by some when it is posted so just wait for official announcements. Matters are progressing

Suprised you say that Rich. His tactics particularly using the diamond formation was a big mistake but he does not know any other way.

That made me smile in a comedy sort of way.

Who says he is not? This is not a simple I will pay you this for that.

Don't think so Nick. Just nice to know there is a fall back out there

Picking up from Morphs post today and what I know of the figures Salz and his team have at their disposal, it would seem so but like everything there is no certainty.

Good to hear Salz is still taking an interest and awaiting an invite to bid. Surely it is obvious what this is about. It is not about the wily old fox waiting his chance. It is a Saints fan who can get some money together from a group of weathy fans to save Saints if all else fails. He is the SOS we tried to be, the port of last resort. He and the Administrator knows his group do not have enough money to compete. But if all else fails......

Well you have all had your say. Doubt you will hear anything more other than from the Administrator and not this week is my prediction.

I have to endorse Phil's post above. Marc Jackson has spent an inordinate amount of time trying to save SFC. He has had his highs followed by his lows and not much sleep. Whatever the outcome, and it is far from certain we will survive, at least he and Stuart Green are trying with the help of some knowledgable and helpful individuals. Give the guy a break. I can understand the doubts from his past history but if you do not want to say anything nice or encouraging try saying nothing and wait and see. If it goes tits up you can smerk but ask yourself "what have I done to help" as SFC sinks forever.

That is not my understanding of the matter. It was the bounced cheques that led Lowe to call in the Administrators. He had a fiduciary responsibility to do so. there was no chance of funds coming in from any other source.

Although without knowledge of what went on that would be my take on it as well.

Barclays did not put us in Administration, Lowe did because we were no longer a going concern. All Barclays did (as they were perfectly entitled to do) is not honour cheques drawn over the overdraft limit after the deadline for player sales had passed and it was obvious expenditure would far outweigh income in the months that followed.

I am not aware of Cowen being anywhere near this matter now or in the future. He has other interests keeping him busy.