Greenridge Posted 27 January, 2009 Share Posted 27 January, 2009 With less than a week to run on the Transfer Window I doubt I'm the only one who is surprised that we still have the likes of Lallana and Surman on our books although there is time for that to change of course. I don't want to see them go but with our perilous financial position it appeared very likely that we would be forced into taking whatever we could get for these two to keep our creditors at bay. This, coupled with the signing of Saeijs, the change in Head Coach and impending new striker (ref Wotte) would indicate the message seems to be onwards and upwards yet the rumours of administration continue to hang over us and with apparent imminent effect. The above would suggest we are not anticipating a 10 point reduction anytime soon. What do you believe is the status / strategy of The Club right now? Are we on a sound enough financial footing that will allow us to push on to the end of the season with a serious effort to maintain our CCC status or do you think the Board have accepted administration is inevitable and therefore no point in selling of the company silver for that money to go straight into the coffers of Aviva et al. Or do you think the present Board are just treading water and awaiting some kind of takeover (Crouch etc)? I'm not sure I've expressed my thoughts very well with this post however the mixed messages I'm 'reading' from the activities of the club seem somewhat conflicting..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedelldays Posted 27 January, 2009 Share Posted 27 January, 2009 maybe no one wants surman or lallana....there are better young(ish) players in this league who have no moved...why would surman and lallana be any different..they have hardly been great have they probably why dyer is on loan again... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintRichmond Posted 27 January, 2009 Share Posted 27 January, 2009 With less than a week to run on the Transfer Window I doubt I'm the only one who is surprised that we still have the likes of Lallana and Surman on our books although there is time for that to change of course. I don't want to see them go but with our perilous financial position it appeared very likely that we would be forced into taking whatever we could get for these two to keep our creditors at bay. This, coupled with the signing of Saeijs, the change in Head Coach and impending new striker (ref Wotte) would indicate the message seems to be onwards and upwards yet the rumours of administration continue to hang over us and with apparent imminent effect. The above would suggest we are not anticipating a 10 point reduction anytime soon. What do you believe is the status / strategy of The Club right now? Are we on a sound enough financial footing that will allow us to push on to the end of the season with a serious effort to maintain our CCC status or do you think the Board have accepted administration is inevitable and therefore no point in selling of the company silver for that money to go straight into the coffers of Aviva et al. Or do you think the present Board are just treading water and awaiting some kind of takeover (Crouch etc)? I'm not sure I've expressed my thoughts very well with this post however the mixed messages I'm 'reading' from the activities of the club seem somewhat conflicting..... Don't worry ......... with just a few days to go, the great Businessman Lowe will off load at least a few ............. most likely at LESS money than it will take to replace them ......... a new version of " Negative Equity " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egreog Posted 27 January, 2009 Share Posted 27 January, 2009 They have both failed to fulfill early season promise.....but they may well go in the next few days when Saints desperately need the money and are left with no choice to sell at budget price Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trousers Posted 27 January, 2009 Share Posted 27 January, 2009 Could our situation with Barclays have eased slighty due to their statement to the LSE yesterday announcing they are in better shape than most pundits predicted? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scummer Posted 27 January, 2009 Share Posted 27 January, 2009 Could be that we are just holding out for higher offers than have currently been made. We are in a weak bargaining position, other clubs know this and are probably offering silly little offers for our players. We may find ourselves forced to accept these offers on the last day of the window. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenridge Posted 27 January, 2009 Author Share Posted 27 January, 2009 They have both failed to fulfill early season promise.....but they may well go in the next few days when Saints desperately need the money and are left with no choice to sell at budget price Sorry, I didn't explain myself very well. I used Surman and Lallana as examples but this concept would apply to any players i.e. we would be 'forced' into selling some player(s) to generate much needed cash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubai_phil Posted 27 January, 2009 Share Posted 27 January, 2009 Could our situation with Barclays have eased slighty due to their statement to the LSE yesterday announcing they are in better shape than most pundits predicted? or could our situation with Barclays have eased slightly because the club have been in dialogue with them or could Barlcays have said don't bother having a fire sale, we'll take over and liquidate in our own time or or or Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnB Posted 27 January, 2009 Share Posted 27 January, 2009 Maybe there are offers on the table for some of our players and the club is holding out for more, whereas the buyers are sticking to their offers in the knowledge that we need the cash. I seem to recall that we played a similar game with Forest when we bought Prutton (although I may be wrong). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blandford saint Posted 27 January, 2009 Share Posted 27 January, 2009 Tony Husband said on Radio Solent the other day that he had heard that there have been no offers for any Saints players. Outside the frenzied Premiership, there has been very little transfer activity, because hardly anybody has any money to spend. Most teams in January are looking for that instant fix, in our league usually loan signings. I don't think that any Premiership team considers Lallana or Surman will give them this instant boost. Besides, if the worst happens and we do go into administration other Championship clubs will be able to pick them up for peanuts. We might get some very late bids at the end of the window hoping we are desperate enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chez Posted 27 January, 2009 Share Posted 27 January, 2009 Could be that we are just holding out for higher offers than have currently been made. We are in a weak bargaining position, other clubs know this and are probably offering silly little offers for our players. We may find ourselves forced to accept these offers on the last day of the window. absolutely spot on. No matter what you think of both players, they are terrific prospects (both England U21 squad players) and the only real talent we have at the club. With players like Ledley and Fabian Delph seemingly having £6m price tags and Ben Watson going for £2m, Lowe is not going to let either leave for £1m or whatever. The key thing is how close are we to administration and is there a chance that Skacel will leave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alanh Posted 27 January, 2009 Share Posted 27 January, 2009 With less than a week to run on the Transfer Window I doubt I'm the only one who is surprised that we still have the likes of Lallana and Surman on our books although there is time for that to change of course. I don't want to see them go but with our perilous financial position it appeared very likely that we would be forced into taking whatever we could get for these two to keep our creditors at bay. This, coupled with the signing of Saeijs, the change in Head Coach and impending new striker (ref Wotte) would indicate the message seems to be onwards and upwards yet the rumours of administration continue to hang over us and with apparent imminent effect. The above would suggest we are not anticipating a 10 point reduction anytime soon. What do you believe is the status / strategy of The Club right now? Are we on a sound enough financial footing that will allow us to push on to the end of the season with a serious effort to maintain our CCC status or do you think the Board have accepted administration is inevitable and therefore no point in selling of the company silver for that money to go straight into the coffers of Aviva et al. Or do you think the present Board are just treading water and awaiting some kind of takeover (Crouch etc)? I'm not sure I've expressed my thoughts very well with this post however the mixed messages I'm 'reading' from the activities of the club seem somewhat conflicting..... It's possible that we don't have to sell either of them because the financial situation is not as bad as many on here and in the local press have made out. It's also possible that we might sell other players, for instance I'd have thought Rudi would be a prime candidate to go now that his ban is up. JP said that he thought that perhaps one player would leave in January in his interview before the Donny match. I don't think the board are waiting for a takeover - that's not Lowe's style - he gives the impression of planning for events that he has control over. Personally I don't think we are heading for admin as there have been no reports of us struggling to pay HMRC - which is the main reason why clubs go into admin. Provided we stay in the CCC, Barclays continue to support us till the end of the season and roughly the same number of season ticket holders buy again for next season then we'll be in a much better financial state as several of our big earners contracts will expire - Euell, Davis, John etc. Obviously I could be proved wrong if new information comes out tomorrow:eek: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trousers Posted 27 January, 2009 Share Posted 27 January, 2009 Did I read correctly the other day that the FA have extended the transfer deadline to 'first thing' on Monday 2nd Feb due to the 31st falling on a weekend? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weston Saint Posted 27 January, 2009 Share Posted 27 January, 2009 Could our situation with Barclays have eased slighty due to their statement to the LSE yesterday announcing they are in better shape than most pundits predicted? Must have missed that statement and nothing on the LSE site. Link? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Garrett Posted 27 January, 2009 Share Posted 27 January, 2009 Could our situation with Barclays have eased slighty due to their statement to the LSE yesterday announcing they are in better shape than most pundits predicted? They don't make big profits by losing money on non-performing companies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david in sweden Posted 27 January, 2009 Share Posted 27 January, 2009 With less than a week to run on the Transfer Window I doubt I'm the only one who is surprised that we still have the likes of Lallana and Surman on our books although there is time for that to change of course. I don't want to see them go but with our perilous financial position it appeared very likely that we would be forced into taking whatever we could get for these two to keep our creditors at bay. This, coupled with the signing of Saeijs, the change in Head Coach and impending new striker (ref Wotte) would indicate the message seems to be onwards and upwards yet the rumours of administration continue to hang over us and with apparent imminent effect. The above would suggest we are not anticipating a 10 point reduction anytime soon. What do you believe is the status / strategy of The Club right now? Are we on a sound enough financial footing that will allow us to push on to the end of the season with a serious effort to maintain our CCC status or do you think the Board have accepted administration is inevitable and therefore no point in selling of the company silver for that money to go straight into the coffers of Aviva et al. Or do you think the present Board are just treading water and awaiting some kind of takeover (Crouch etc)? I'm not sure I've expressed my thoughts very well with this post however the mixed messages I'm 'reading' from the activities of the club seem somewhat conflicting..... Like you I'm glad that these two might be staying, but finances aside..Surman has had a " satisfactory half-season " but if I'd been watching him ( as a Prem. scout ) ...I don't think I'd be over-excited...and in view of the fact that transfer talk came in August..and we've hit a world finanacial crisis since then, I don't think anyone would be willing to "experiment " with himunless they were really convinced about his quality. Many of our former "stars" who moved on ; Bridge, Walcott, Bale; BT, took 6-12 months of rumour-ising before they actually departed. Unless Surman, (suspended today) really sets the team alight and scores every other game - I don't expect him to be moving..certainly not for another 6-9 months. Lallana made a terrific impression at the end of last season, but injuries have set him back and no-one knows how " fit " he is? . No bidders just now. As for the others, Kelvin Davis did everything except give a pint of blood with his article on club commitment last week so I don't expect him to go anywhere - especially for the stupid sums I heard quoted recently. ( No-one else to talk about unless Rupert Lowe is away cooking up some fantastic deal to transfer Rasiak or Euell, who don't seem to be a benefit to the club at present.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trousers Posted 27 January, 2009 Share Posted 27 January, 2009 (edited) Must have missed that statement and nothing on the LSE site. Link? Actually, it was an 'open letter'.... same effect I guess... http://www.newsroom.barclays.com/Content/Detail.asp?ReleaseID=1494&NewsAreaID=2 26 January 2009 Open Letter from Marcus Agius and John Varley • SIGNIFICANT PRE TAX PROFITS IN 2008 • RECORD INCOME LEVELS ABSORB £8BN OF GROSS CREDIT MARKET WRITE DOWNS IN 2008 (£5BN NET) • RELEASE OF RESULTS AGREED WITH AUDITORS BROUGHT FORWARD TO 9th FEBRUARY 2009 • CAPITAL RESOURCES WELL IN EXCESS OF REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS CREATE LARGE PERFORMANCE CUSHION • NO FURTHER CAPITAL SUBSCRIPTION SOUGHT In view of the events in the banking sector last week, we have decided to communicate now with employees, customers, clients, and shareholders in this open letter in order to address the principal causes of concern which we are hearing. Writing in this way ahead of the release of results is unusual, of course, but the turn of events is also unusual. Our starting point is that Barclays has £36bn of committed equity capital and reserves; we are well funded, and we are profitable. However, we know that our stakeholders want to see the detailed figures for 2008 as quickly as possible. To enable that, we will bring forward the release of our 2008 financial results, as agreed by our auditors, to Monday, 9th February. When we announce our results for 2008, we will report a profit before tax for the year well ahead of the consensus estimate of £5.3bn. This is as reported in our statement to the stock market of 16th January. The profit is struck after all costs, impairment and market valuations. Whilst it includes a number of individually significant items, it mainly reflects strong operating profit generation. The profit includes the gains arising from the acquisition of the Lehman Brothers North American business, and also the gain on the sale of our closed life business. Also included in the 2008 results are some £8bn of gross write downs (£5bn net of own credit, hedging and attributable income) relating to credit market exposures in Barclays Capital. This amount is arrived at by applying year end valuations and marks to market. It is derived on a consistent basis with, and includes, the comparable numbers for the first half of 2008 which were £3.3bn gross and £2bn net. In the interests of clarity and transparency, we are reporting these numbers on a gross and net basis. We will provide extensive details as to the level of write downs and marks by asset class when we report our results on 9th February 2009. Our ability to absorb this level of write downs is derived from the strong and diversified income performance in Barclays Capital and from the substantial revenue generation of our retail and commercial banking and investment management and wealth businesses in the rest of the Group. In other words, these figures demonstrate that although we have been heavily impacted by the credit crunch, our income generation was at a record level in 2008 and has enabled us to withstand this impact and still produce strong profits. As a result of the capital raising announced on 31st October 2008, our capital base has been substantially strengthened in accordance with the capital plan agreed with the UK Financial Services Authority. In consequence, our year end capital ratios, expressed on a proforma basis to reflect the conversion of the Mandatorily Convertible Notes, are approximately 6.5% for the Equity Tier 1 ratio, and 9.5% for the Tier 1 ratio. These ratios are as we announced in our statement to the market of 16th January, and are computed after including the combined impacts on our risk weighted assets of the weakening of sterling and the pro-cyclical effects of the International Basel Accord. On the basis of the above year end capital ratios, we calculate that the Group's Tier 1 capital exceeds the regulatory minimum required by the FSA by an amount equivalent to some £17bn in PBT. This scale of loss absorption capability, when looked at in the context both of the solid and diversified profitability of the Group during the stress test of 2008, and of the substantial write downs that we have taken, gives us confidence that our capital resources are sufficient to manage Barclays safely and prudently even in these difficult markets. For these reasons we confirm in this letter that we are not seeking subscription for further capital - either from the private sector or from the UK Government. Our capital position could benefit further from two other sources, which we describe below. First, on 19th January the UK Government announced a comprehensive package of measures designed to support the UK economy by helping borrowers and lenders. We welcome that package and, alongside other banks, have started a dialogue with the Tripartite Authorities which will enable us to determine the terms on which, and the extent to which, we would wish to insure certain assets on our balance sheet through the UK Treasury’s asset protection scheme. The procuring of insurance would have the effect of reducing capital consumption (which would allow the writing of new business in the UK). Second, the FSA has announced a programme of work to reduce significantly the requirement for additional capital resulting from the pro-cyclical effects of the International Basel Accord. That reduction would be a source of further ratio strengthening. Before closing, we should say a word about current trading. Recognising that 2009 is not yet a month old, and that the global economy will remain weak, we can tell you that customer and client activity levels have been high. As a result, we have had a good start to 2009. In particular the operating performance of Barclays Capital, benefitting as it is from the now completed integration of the Lehman business, has been extremely strong. The trends that lie behind the strong operating performance in Global Retail and Commercial Banking in 2008 are again observable in its performance in January. We take this opportunity to thank the employees of Barclays for staying focused, and also to thank our customers and clients for their business. Marcus Agius, Chairman John Varley, Group Chief Executive -ENDS- Edited 27 January, 2009 by trousers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West End Saint Posted 27 January, 2009 Share Posted 27 January, 2009 I think we are still desperate to sell and a lot of business gets done at the 11th hour this month I would not be surprised to see 1 or 2 go but our prized assetts are not as highly regarded as we thought no bidding wars for our players so if they go it will be at knock down money which is a shame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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