alpine_saint Posted 26 February, 2009 Share Posted 26 February, 2009 Can someone please explain why the Echo website refers to Mike Richards as a Saints director ? Did I miss this appointment, or is it sloppy journalism ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ponty Posted 26 February, 2009 Share Posted 26 February, 2009 It's the Echo, mate. 'Nuff said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trousers Posted 26 February, 2009 Share Posted 26 February, 2009 Wouldn't be the first time this season that a senior position at the club has been kept under wraps.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trousers Posted 26 February, 2009 Share Posted 26 February, 2009 So, what did Mr Richards have to say? Can't see an online version of the article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saintwarwick Posted 26 February, 2009 Share Posted 26 February, 2009 So, what did Mr Richards have to say? Can't see an online version of the article He said bury your head in the sand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guided Missile Posted 26 February, 2009 Share Posted 26 February, 2009 He said bury your head in the sand.He quite rightly ripped the sh !t out of Wiseman, saying that he should wait until Saints are dead before he carried out an inquest. A lot more besides, but basically called for everyone to shut the **** up and get behind the club. I suggest that every fan reads the piece carefully... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Channon's Sideburns Posted 26 February, 2009 Share Posted 26 February, 2009 He quite rightly ripped the sh !t out of Wiseman, saying that he should wait until Saints are dead before he carried out an inquest. A lot more besides, but basically called for everyone to shut the **** up and get behind the club. I suggest that every fan reads the piece carefully... If its anything like his last little diatribe back in 2006 I think he is wasting his time....More of 'Rupert brings me Prawn Sandwiches and some Champers therefore I love him whatever he does'???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ottery st mary Posted 26 February, 2009 Share Posted 26 February, 2009 The Lavender Hill Mob push Mr Richards forward once again to lead The Majorettes into battle. Hold that stick steady Richey Old Boy. The Pom Poms are getting in my eyes. For Christ sake saint warwick and nick stop treading on my toes. Is my Ra Ra skirt straight Rupert. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldNick Posted 26 February, 2009 Share Posted 26 February, 2009 The Lavender Hill Mob push Mr Richards forward once again to lead The Majorettes into battle. Hold that stick steady Richey Old Boy. The Pom Poms are getting in my eyes. For Christ sake saint warwick and nick stop treading on my toes. Is my Ra Ra skirt straight Rupert. Ottery I read in the Ottery Saint Mary Observer that the local OneStop store keeps running out of tissues. perhaps it would be best that you stopped thinking of me 24/7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldNick Posted 26 February, 2009 Share Posted 26 February, 2009 If its anything like his last little diatribe back in 2006 I think he is wasting his time....More of 'Rupert brings me Prawn Sandwiches and some Champers therefore I love him whatever he does'????That article was very perseptive. It would be best that fans who ran into the Wilde bunchs arms be more careful that they criticise his views.He spoke out of the fevered masses to warn about their perils.Much like the whistleblower re the banks, nobody listened and look what happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ottery st mary Posted 26 February, 2009 Share Posted 26 February, 2009 Ottery I read in the Ottery Saint Mary Observer that the local OneStop store keeps running out of tissues. perhaps it would be best that you stopped thinking of me 24/7 The Honeymoon suite awaits at Sidmouth..Keep up the good work and make sure we beat Cardiff or I will hold you personally responsible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Channon's Sideburns Posted 26 February, 2009 Share Posted 26 February, 2009 That article was very perseptive. It would be best that fans who ran into the Wilde bunchs arms be more careful that they criticise his views.He spoke out of the fevered masses to warn about their perils.Much like the whistleblower re the banks, nobody listened and look what happened. Yes Nick... I am sitting in a hotel room in Guernsey doing something I never in my worst nightmare expected to have to do. I am writing a public statement about my involvement in Southampton Football Club because I fear for its future, and my fears have largely arisen as the result of the actions of people I have considered my friends for many years. Not that many people will know who I am, or what my involvement in Southampton Football Club has been over the last 16 years, and I have been very content with that. My involvement has never been driven by ego or a need for recognition but rather out of gratitude for the opportunity to be involved in the club and to help in whatever way I can. The recent public statements of my erstwhile colleagues, principally Messrs Wiseman and Thompson, have however been too much and I have to try to communicate to the fans and the shareholders the reality of the current position of our Club. The Southern Daily Echo felt it necessary to describe me as "the one in the red and white scarf" when reporting on the away game at Brighton last season so I feel obliged to give you a little of my personal history, particularly bearing in mind Keith Wiseman's comment that last Thursday was a sad day for Southampton supporters'. I am a supporter of Southampton Football Club. After many years of paying on the gate, along with many other Saints fans I first bought season tickets for myself and my father when we signed Kevin Keegan, the only way we could be sure of getting in! Through the kind offices of Brian Truscott we eventually progressed to the lofty heights of the Centre West benches, immediately below my wife and her father, Charlie Knott, who occupied the front row Centre West stand seats which had been in their family for many years. I was then fortunate enough to be invited to join the board of Southampton Football Club in February 1990 when Guy Askham was appointed Chairman and they needed a finance director (unpaid) to replace him. This overlong introduction is necessary following the recent publicity suggesting that the only "real" supporters are the dissenting directors rather than the majority of the board who remain behind the existing strategy to take us back to the Premier League where we belong. There is a myth around that football has only recently become a business. I can assure you that it has always been so and that the advent of the Premier League simply added noughts to the problem that was always there how to compete with the "big clubs" and those with rich owners. Once I joined the board, away trips became a thing of the past as I caught up with the day job' at weekends, compensating for the time I spent at the club during the week paying bills, preparing accounts and budgets and carrying out the executive role, part time, now in the very capable hands of Dave Jones. In 1997 I became Finance Director and subsequently Chief Executive of a plc based in Guernsey, but I remain resident in Southampton and a reverse tax exile' earning my money in Guernsey but paying UK tax. Hence my location when writing this statement. Guy Askham has been involved as a director of the club for over 35 years, the first 25 years as finance director and then Chairman in very demanding executive roles. In the last ten years he has provided very valuable support and advice to the full time executive which we now have. I would ask you to consider why it is that Guy and I, who have both had considerable experience of the executive roles in Southampton Football Club are on the opposing side to the four other non-executive directors in the current dispute. Is it possible that we have a better understanding of what is required to run a major football club in the modern era? The exception is of course Paul Thompson, a past Chairman of West Bromwich Albion. The circumstances in which he left West Bromwich Albion have been widely reported and suffice it to say that their boardroom was far from united. Is this a coincidence? Paul has only been on our board for a little over two years and he and his family have had several investments in football clubs. I am not going to join with my erstwhile colleagues in disclosing the happenings in the boardroom except to say that the day will live long in my memory when, following his family's sale of 10% of Southampton Football Club, Paul stated in a board meeting "Chairman, I have not sold any shares in SLH". My only interest over the last 16 years has been the best interests of Southampton Football Club. The phrase "the best interests of Southampton Football Club" has been much devalued over the past couple of months as my colleagues, who paid as little for their shares as I did, have pocketed £250,000 each "in the best interests of the football club". Mr Thompson, who admittedly paid more, or sorry his family, have pocketed £1.25 million or thereabouts. I spent a lot of time with Ian Gordon and Brian Hunt trying to persuade them not to sell their shares, as they could pledge them to Michael Wilde if that was what they felt was best for the club. I actually said to them that the only reason for selling was if they wanted the money. They sold. Keith Wiseman told me not to even try to embarrass him' over the sale of shares, so I didn't. You will remember that Keith was the only member of the old board' to have previously sold any shares during his ill fated term as Chairman of the FA when he sold shares to ... Rupert Lowe! No doubt in the best interests of the football club. I believe I hold my shares on trust for the supporters and the City of Southampton. My shares are not for sale until they relieve me of that trust. I make the decisions I feel are right for the club regardless of how popular that might be. This coming season is probably the most important in the club's history with the final year of the parachute payment and now with the even greater rewards of Premiership status from 2007/8 onwards. I have spent a lot of time with Michael Wilde and Rupert trying to persuade them to work together during this very important year for the club but thus far to no avail. Rupert would genuinely, I believe, step down if he believed it was in the best interests of the club, as would all of us who have been involved as both executives and non executives over the years. We have all experienced the tough decisions in deciding we could not afford the team strengthening we would like to see as fans. Our own demise would be a much easier decision. I have got to know Michael Wilde over the past couple of months and I like him, (although he is a very expensive lunch date!) I don't know Patrick Trant but Mick Channon speaks well of him and my wife's family and his have a long association through sport. Lee Hoos is a very likeable man, but I do not know Jim Hone or Ken Dulieu. The proposed "new board" might prove to be very successful given time but we do not have that time. The success of Southampton Football Club over this past many years has been through evolution not revolution. It may be that changes are needed but we should not chop the head off' the club and replace it with unknown quantities in this vital year. My belief is that the club could not be better positioned to regain its place in the Premier League. Andrew Cowen and his team are continuing to achieve magnificent results off the pitch to help finance our activities on it. The stadium, training ground and academy speak for themselves. Most importantly in George Burley we have an exceptional football professional who, together with Clive Woodward and Rupert Lowe, form a management team which is, in my view, by far the best equipped to give us the success on the pitch which we all crave. I have always said to my dissenting directors that I would support a better alternative to the current management. To date nobody, including Michael Wilde, has shown me a better alternative. The campaign against Rupert Lowe is about personality. Running a football club is about character and your current board have character in abundance. I will not, therefore, take my thirty pieces of silver and will go to the EGM where the shareholders can tell me if they disagree with my view. If I have to go I can think of worse ways to be remembered than as "the man in the red and white scarf". Hmmm...so he 'holds his shares in trust for the supporters and the City of Southampton'??? Right then Mikey, what's YOUR BREAKING POINT WITH LOWE??? Relegation to the lowest tier in 50 YEARS??? You have some tough calls to make this year.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krissyboy31 Posted 26 February, 2009 Share Posted 26 February, 2009 Most importantly in George Burley we have an exceptional football professional who, together with Clive Woodward and Rupert Lowe, form a management team which is, in my view, by far the best equipped to give us the success on the pitch which we all crave. Mmm :-k Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Channon's Sideburns Posted 26 February, 2009 Share Posted 26 February, 2009 Mmm :-k I wonder if that was the section that Nick reckons we should have listened to???? What a shame he didn't mention our award winning catering or the Radio Station eh?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alain Perrin Posted 26 February, 2009 Share Posted 26 February, 2009 I wonder if that was the section that Nick reckons we should have listened to???? What a shame he didn't mention our award winning catering or the Radio Station eh?? Was Mike Richards right though - was his suspicions of the 'anyone but Lowe' mutual suck-off well founded? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldNick Posted 26 February, 2009 Share Posted 26 February, 2009 I wonder if that was the section that Nick reckons we should have listened to???? What a shame he didn't mention our award winning catering or the Radio Station eh??Well it depends really.Had GB had his whole tenure under RL no doubt the whole buying playing policy would have been different.I noticed when RL came back he complained that we had allowed Crainie, Blackstock to leave (not sure if he mentioned Mills). I may add that GB left us in a higher position in the league than we have been in 2 years and is now Scotlands manager. (whether he is right for that is another thing ,but professional people thought he was ) As for the sneering about the catering, what is wrong with supplying the customers good quality isnt that something that a lot whine on about? When that was said we were a PL club and had a thriving corporate business. The radio station was a great idea, having a radio station that was sending out the Saints message across the region even into enemy territory.I will tell you that if Pompey had their own radio station broadcasting into Southampton and we had never had the same , you lot would be on here saying why didnt RL spend a little of all that tv moey and do the same. The more i think about it the more I realise that all he did was not bad and so thank you for reminding me of those very good visionary ideas he instigated as well as the stadium the acadmy and alos getting rid of the free buses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eurosaint Posted 26 February, 2009 Share Posted 26 February, 2009 Well it depends really.Had GB had his whole tenure under RL no doubt the whole buying playing policy would have been different.I noticed when RL came back he complained that we had allowed Crainie, Blackstock to leave (not sure if he mentioned Mills). I may add that GB left us in a higher position in the league than we have been in 2 years and is now Scotlands manager. (whether he is right for that is another thing ,but professional people thought he was ) As for the sneering about the catering, what is wrong with supplying the customers good quality isnt that something that a lot whine on about? When that was said we were a PL club and had a thriving corporate business. The radio station was a great idea, having a radio station that was sending out the Saints message across the region even into enemy territory.I will tell you that if Pompey had their own radio station broadcasting into Southampton and we had never had the same , you lot would be on here saying why didnt RL spend a little of all that tv moey and do the same. The more i think about it the more I realise that all he did was not bad and so thank you for reminding me of those very good visionary ideas he instigated as well as the stadium the acadmy and alos getting rid of the free buses. The catering has never been anything other than ordinary! The radio station was losing a few hundred thousand a year and eventually went out of business! These projects were a distraction to what should have been the main aim of keeping the football club at the highest possible level ! Rupert's obsession with non first team issues were nothing more than a smokescreen and did nothing to benefit the wellbeing of SFC ! All IMHO of course ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alain Perrin Posted 26 February, 2009 Share Posted 26 February, 2009 The catering has never been anything other than ordinary! The radio station was losing a few hundred thousand a year and eventually went out of business! These projects were a distraction to what should have been the main aim of keeping the football club at the highest possible level ! Rupert's obsession with non first team issues were nothing more than a smokescreen and did nothing to benefit the wellbeing of SFC ! All IMHO of course ! To be honest the Radio station was a great thing for any fan living outside of the Solent reception area. Before the days of internet streaming, getting the radio on Sky was one way for me to keep in touch with games I couldn't make. ... so as a 'faraway' fan I'd never criticise the spend on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eurosaint Posted 26 February, 2009 Share Posted 26 February, 2009 To be honest the Radio station was a great thing for any fan living outside of the Solent reception area. Before the days of internet streaming, getting the radio on Sky was one way for me to keep in touch with games I couldn't make. ... so as a 'faraway' fan I'd never criticise the spend on that. Strangely enough I could never get it on my part the Isle of Wight (still can't get radio Hants) but my son in Belgium listens to it on matchdays on the net ! Ps. I don't actually blame Rupert for the reception zones, I'll leave that to Stanley ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
um pahars Posted 26 February, 2009 Share Posted 26 February, 2009 To be honest the Radio station was a great thing for any fan living outside of the Solent reception area. Before the days of internet streaming, getting the radio on Sky was one way for me to keep in touch with games I couldn't make. ... so as a 'faraway' fan I'd never criticise the spend on that. Given the initial cost and losses of The Saint, then it might have been cheaper to bus/fly in all our far flung fans for free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trousers Posted 26 February, 2009 Share Posted 26 February, 2009 Why didn't today's Mike Richards article warrant an on-line version? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpine_saint Posted 26 February, 2009 Author Share Posted 26 February, 2009 Why didn't today's Mike Richards article warrant an on-line version? The Echo must think there is some revenue to be had today in this - it will probably go on-line tomorrow. But's lets face it, we are not exactly missing Moses on Mt. Siani, are we ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldNick Posted 27 February, 2009 Share Posted 27 February, 2009 Given the initial cost and losses of The Saint, then it might have been cheaper to bus/fly in all our far flung fans for free.but not is all about profit.Factor in the cost of advertising to such a wide audience and then the costs are not so bad.It would be hard to quantify how much the on air plusses the station earnt. Having a radio ststion filing the airwaves with Saints talk and propoganda was a great thing.i recall it advertising gamestickets and other saints business related things that in turn earned revenue.it also made us look an modern and go forward club.it is something that RL should not be criticised fore as it was a sensible idea that if we had stayed up would still be an asset we could have been proud of.As I put before if Pompey had done it first we would be spitting mad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offix Posted 27 February, 2009 Share Posted 27 February, 2009 The article is nothing but smug, pompous, verbal diarrhea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saint1977 Posted 27 February, 2009 Share Posted 27 February, 2009 He quite rightly ripped the sh !t out of Wiseman, saying that he should wait until Saints are dead before he carried out an inquest. A lot more besides, but basically called for everyone to shut the **** up and get behind the club. I suggest that every fan reads the piece carefully... I don't like Richards but for him it's not that bad a piece and he does highlight what a g!t Wiseman is and how much he had creamed off from mugs like us. Richards has as well and the article highlights for me GM quite clearly that none of these carrot crunchers should ever have been allowed anywhere near our club. The Directors and hangers should keep it shut unless they are willing to invest or takeover the mess but the fans need to keep the pressure up on these morons and I'm cross that Wiseman wanted to re-write history yet again when all the fans have had enough of these pathetic squabbles and that includes Lowe at the AGM as well. Richards is right on the blame game being counter-productive but if he right and Lowe does blame Harry for going down Lowe really is deluded - that was the product of a poor squad of 40+ players and Wigley. I can't stand Harry either but let's be honest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saint1977 Posted 27 February, 2009 Share Posted 27 February, 2009 (edited) That article was very perseptive. It would be best that fans who ran into the Wilde bunchs arms be more careful that they criticise his views.He spoke out of the fevered masses to warn about their perils.Much like the whistleblower re the banks, nobody listened and look what happened. Yes but Richards was making huge money on a pathetic investment and the club got nothing out of it. It's a bit easier to whistleblow from a better moral position than Richards occupies. I'm not some socialist that begrudges profit but in this case it wasn't warranted and also involved trampling all over George Bowyer as well. I agree with him on Wiseman though - I wouldn't let Wiseman run a bath. Edited 27 February, 2009 by saint1977 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldNick Posted 27 February, 2009 Share Posted 27 February, 2009 Yes but Richards was making huge money on a pathetic investment and the club got nothing out of it. It's a bit easier to whistleblow from a better moral position than Richards occupies. I'm not some socialist that begrudges profit but in this case it wasn't warranted and also involved trampling all over George Bowyer as well. I agree with him on Wiseman though - I wouldn't let Wiseman run a bath.at that stage when he was posting he could have sold his shares for a damn sight more than he could now. He could have sold when KW or LM did and made a mint, but no he has kept them. I dont know him or his motives but his wording at the time was correct IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Channon's Sideburns Posted 27 February, 2009 Share Posted 27 February, 2009 at that stage when he was posting he could have sold his shares for a damn sight more than he could now. He could have sold when KW or LM did and made a mint, but no he has kept them. I dont know him or his motives but his wording at the time was correct IMO. The one thing Richards doesn't state though is why he still supports the Lowe/Wilde axis... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eelpie Posted 27 February, 2009 Share Posted 27 February, 2009 The article is nothing but smug, pompous, verbal diarrhea. A sop to Rupert after their row? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpine_saint Posted 27 February, 2009 Author Share Posted 27 February, 2009 We know Wiseman is a conveniently forgetful hypocrite, but really, calling Richards (who came out with that drivel in 2006) "perceptive", for stating the bleedin' obvious about Wiseman, has to rate as one of the daftest things I've read on here in a long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldNick Posted 27 February, 2009 Share Posted 27 February, 2009 We know Wiseman is a conveniently forgetful hypocrite, but really, calling Richards (who came out with that drivel in 2006) "perceptive", for stating the bleedin' obvious about Wiseman, has to rate as one of the daftest things I've read on here in a long time. I cant recall you coming on here during the Wilde bunch days saying any of that Alpine. The 'bleeding obvious' that the Wilde bunch fired more duds than a eunach seemed to evade you as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostBoys Posted 27 February, 2009 Share Posted 27 February, 2009 Please don't take away my perks just because I only paid £100 for my shares in the first place. Rupert is my hero and if he goes I will have to pay for my share of the Ex-Directory Box again - boo hoo. Complete rubbish trying to rationalise greed and abject failure and stupidity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpine_saint Posted 27 February, 2009 Author Share Posted 27 February, 2009 I cant recall you coming on here during the Wilde bunch days saying any of that Alpine. The 'bleeding obvious' that the Wilde bunch fired more duds than a eunach seemed to evade you as well. I'm having difficulty following your point. Are you accusing me of singing Wiseman's praises at some time in the past ? Is this another one of your odd recollections like me slagging Pearson off ??? :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidthesquid Posted 27 February, 2009 Share Posted 27 February, 2009 Mike Richards hits back at former Saints board colleague Keith Wiseman ... 1:43pm Friday 27th February 2009 Comments (11) Have your say » I had to read Keith Wiseman’s statement in Saturday’s Daily Echo a couple of times before I could find any reason for it. I found its tone to be pompous and critical and there was particular irony in its reference to events towards the end of last season when he was very critical of the timing of Messrs Wilde and Lowe’s move to regain control of the club. How can this statement benefit the club? Why now, on the day of another vital home game? And then I found it. ‘When the history of the last few years at the club comes to be written it will not be those who dared to stand up against Rupert whose reputations will suffer……….’ Mr Wiseman is fond of talking about ‘when the history of Southampton Football Club is written’. Perhaps he intends to write it himself? If he does, I suspect few of those involved may recognise it. ‘Not my fault’ But it would seem he has written Saints off as doomed, is concerned about this reputation and wanted to get his own ‘not my fault’ out before anyone else. Ego is one of the drivers of concern about reputation. In recent months I have seen the Club tearing itself apart in the press and at the AGM; all kinds of huge egos have been on display with lots of ‘not my faults’ and attempts to blame others. Rupert blames Harry for relegation and Leon for the financial mess, Michael blames Leon, Leon and Lawrie blame Rupert for everything and Mr Wiseman seems to blame everyone except himself. So Keith has decided this week to blame Guy Askham and myself perhaps feeling safe from response as Guy left on holiday on Friday and I rarely speak out. The last time I issued any statement was prior to the EGM which removed me from the Board. In that statement I said, amongst other things, that ‘My involvement has never been driven by ego or a need for recognition but rather out of gratitude for the opportunity to be involved in the club and to help in whatever way I can’. Nothing has changed so I have no concern for what ‘history’ might make of me, whether written by Keith Wiseman or anyone else. Keith’s piece is, as usual, full of his personal opinions which he states as if they are facts. He states that ‘A positive and revived future for the club is wholly dependent upon Rupert and Michael standing down’. What he doesn’t do is tell us what his alternative is, back to the Board removed in 2008 perhaps, but in any event I am sure it will involve a return of Mr Wiseman to the Boardroom and away from that draughty old perch as Leon’s guest. Is it just a return to the ‘anyone but Rupert’ theory which served the club so well last time? Or is it just the typical critic’s position of ‘I don’t know what we should do but I don’t want to do that’. So who is to blame for the club being in ‘potentially its worse position in more than 50 years?’ I certainly accept my share. Anyone who has been a Director for 16 of those years has to be in part responsible and I am sure during that period I made many mistakes. If he was here, I am sure Guy Askham would agree that, during his 35 years on the Board he also made many mistakes. Mr Wiseman may have made no mistakes, we will have to await the history to be certain, but he is very proud of his 20 years as a Director. There is a saying that ‘the man who never made a mistake never made a decision’. What was his contribution during that time? He was certainly the first Plc director, and possibly the only director of any company, that I have met who freely admitted to me that he was not familiar with accounts or balance sheets and made no attempt, so far as I am aware, to address this during his entire period in office. This is the man who served on the Remuneration Committee that approved significant increases in Executive Directors pay in a two-year period when revenues were tumbling, agreed termination payments to Executives totally £600,000 – including Lee Hoos, who popped up only weeks later in full time employment at Leicester and ultimately was the man who was ‘acting’ Chairman of the Plc at the AGM. One thing I know that Guy, and to a lesser extent I, did get right, with others, during our time on the Board was maintaining the financial stability of the club although, as fans, it was often very hard to agree to sell or not to buy much needed players. When the EGM removed us, the financial position was strong although the new Board did feel the need to change the year end with the effect of including costs for the month of June and reducing the balance sheet value of £3million. I cannot say whether Mr Wiseman was involved in this decision as he does not claim to be familiar with these things. From a position of reasonable financial strength in 2006 the Club has deteriorated to the equivalent of ‘a smoking hole in the ground’. All the fault of those ‘nasty executive directors’ appointed by Michael Wilde, the previous board tell us. Simple then, all Michael Wilde’s fault. Well, actually, perhaps not. No doubt he or his advisers recommended their appointment but the Board is required formally to approve all Directors appointments and the Remuneration Committee approve the contracts and recommend them to the Board. Even if you accept that their appointment was down to Mr Wilde, and the ‘White Knight’s’ choice was not questioned at the time, their subsequent control was not. At the time of the Executive appointments there were four Executives and six Non Executives. Quite rightly there is a corporate governance requirement for non-executives to outnumber executives on a Plc board specifically in order to retain control. So what went wrong? Paul Thompson, having sold his ‘family’s’ shareholdings at a profit, did not seek re-election in November 2006 at the AGM and no replacement was proposed. First mistake. In February 2007 Mr Wilde, no longer the White Knight, (no money being invested, lack of investors etc) was asked to resign. No replacement was proposed. Second mistake. This was critical in fact because it was now 4:4 with an Executive Chairman (Ken Dulieu) with a casting vote. The position was then compounded by the appointment of one further Executive Director (Andy Oldknow) and Brian Hunt retiring with no replacement. Executives 5 Non Executives 3. It is ironic that their removal of the man the previous Board wish to blame for ‘the nasty executives’ taking control, was what actually handed it to them. Even the most naïve of businessmen should not, in my opinion, have allowed this to happen. Whatever Mr Wiseman might like to think, the drastic decline of the club’s finances in the last two years is the driver of the team we now have on the pitch. The ‘youth policy’ was born of necessity not design and even Keith’s, in his view, relatively inexpensive alternatives are beyond us. Does Keith really not understand the severity of the financial situation the Club is in? Mr Wiseman says I am one of ‘the few benighted shareholders who have kept Rupert in particular in power…’. I obviously knew it was an insult but confess I had to look up what ‘benighted’ actually meant. ‘In intellectual or moral darkness’ I think is the definition he wished to convey. I know how fond Keith is of assuming a high moral stance but wonder if it actually stands scrutiny in this case? There is an old axion in football which Mr Wiseman has managed to overcome. That is that ‘To make a small fortune out of football you need to start with a large one’. Keith’s original investment of £2,500 (he declined to take up any shares in the rights issue to fund the stadium) has so far yielded him over £320,000 in sales to Rupert and Michael (the very people he now wishes to stand down!). He was also, I am led to believe, the only non-executive to vote with the executives in favour of the SISU offer, which would have relieved him of his remaining 168,000 shares. My original investment was also £2,500 but I did invest £10,000 in the rights issue, a small amount in football terms but quite a sum to me at the time. I have never sold a share. I have never viewed my shareholding as an investment, considering it more akin to a valuable season ticket. I do, however, remember my surprise when, shortly after the takeover of Secure Retirement, Keith expressed concern about having ‘such a high proportion’ of his ‘net worth’ in one ‘investment’. He seems to have addressed those concerns quite well for one who professed to me no financial expertise. I spent a number of years as unpaid Finance Director. So far as I am aware Mr Wiseman has never had an executive function with the club or any other business apart from his ill-fated term as Chairman of the FA during the time of the ‘votes for cash’ scandal, in which I am sure he was blameless, but which led to his resignation. I will let others judge which of us could be said to be ‘in moral darkness’, and just who should be ‘ashamed for having allowed the present situation to be reached’. As I said at the beginning it would seem Mr Wiseman believes Saints are doomed. The ‘anyone but Rupert’ regime has left us financially critically injured and the shock of the necessary ‘surgery’ may yet kill us. But we’re not dead yet, so will the Coroner please wait until we are before giving his opinion on the cause of death. I do not like make public statements but could not let Mr Wiseman’s latest missive go unchallenged. At this particular time it is not important who is to blame for what and it can certainly be shared by us all. Now, for Saints’ sake, can we all shut up about it and get behind what is left of our club to get us back from the brink of oblivion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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