New Owners - Soon?

[northlondongull]

I get the impression that there probably were/are two other offers however these are not worth entertaining...I could offer to buy the club tomorrow but the board would not be smart to move it forward.
If those offers were ones which may help to take the club forward then why wait for other people to make an offer?

[Alpine Joe]

torq2u

the Board told us specifics last week that could have been divulged a long time ago? Which may have saved us the rumour that Steve Tully was our new gaffer, for example. They chose to tell us specifics about the Gus and Eunan deals, again which could have come out before and saved some speculation and criticism of their business acumen.

Reasonable points made by torq2u, but I do wonder if there's a lot to be gained, and if the Board wouldn't just be setting themselves up to step onto a never ending treadmill of denial. The speed with which unfounded criticisms and rumours can be churned out shouldn't be underestimated. Half a minutes typing on a popular forum and it's successfully launched. I'd rather the Board ignored the tittle tattle, rose above it, and confined the use of their time and energies to the important issues and decisions they are faced with.

Will giving specifics on the Gus and Eunan deals have achieved anything towards making fans take less notice of those who initiated the speculation or criticised the Board's business acumen ? I greatly doubt it. Within days there'll be just as much speculation and criticism being initiated from those very same sources, and just as many people willing to happily believe them.

gullpower

I feel that I have been duped.

I came away from the forum last week with the impression from the Board that there were two others being spoken to but there were two definite offers on the table - the Board were choosing which one was best for the club. Now we are told "We've been talking to people today. It shows promise, but until people actually come up with an offer, we're still considering all of the parties that have approached us."

So what happened to the two definite offers? Did I get that wrong? Or were they just a ruse to appease fans at the forum?

I can't stop myself having a sneaking admiration for this type of post, where someone has clearly worked so hard to find a way of misunderstanding things. Given the severely limited material there was to work with, managing to generate a 'Chairman dupes fans' scandal out of it should entitle gullpower to free life membership of TUST if nothing else . As a general rule I'm convinced that responding only aids and abets TUST members mischief making, but let's assume that gullpower genuinely does feel he's been duped, perhaps even more so than by the narrative of his cherished 'punk football' book, and see if it's not possible to help him out.

The Board has a couple of firm offers on the table. In due course we'll get back to these people in order to inform them whether it is their offer that was or wasn't the one that was eventually accepted. There is still a real hope that other offers might materialise that will be an improvement on those already received, and it is obviously those people who we still need to be talking to, and who the Chairman was in negotiations with yesterday. 'Promising' is a good sign, but after yesterday still no firm offer that the Chairman can say tops the two offers already on the table. Therefore nobody has been knocked out of the running as a result of yesterday's talks, i.e all parties remain under consideration. 'So what happened to the two definite offers ? asks gullpower, and of course the answer is 'absolutely nothing, any assertion that anything has happened to them is entirely bogus. They sit firmly on the table in exactly the same position they were at the time of the Fans Forum. Meanwhile the Chairman will continue talks with those still considering adding bids of their own.

[Southampton Gull]

What is hard to understand about a Board getting into bed with a group of people who have the sole intention of getting the club on the cheap by dangling a ridiculous loan agreement before them? 125k with interest that has already piled another 10k onto that total with no hope of the current board paying it back yet they are still holding other bidders at bay by demanding their initial investment back. On what planet do they see themselves getting that back after allowing Dean Edwards enough control to shaft them for another 20k just to release his hold on the shares. They might well be nice people with initial genuine intentions but the best thing they could do now is pass the mantle to one of the other interested parties who would not only be able to send GI packing but also invest enough money into funding a decent promotion bid rather than paying back the board for their reign of incompetence.

[Tarrboy1]

Well said Dave!

[ferrarilover]

No, ferrarilover, it is not the same thing at all. We have never asked the board for 'personal' information, and certainly not on the tasteless level you state.

Surely you can appreciate that a football club is a unique type of business? They might 'own' it on paper, but it's 'our' club as much as theirs, and we will still be here when they have long gone. That's if we have a club to support.

You have entirely ignored the last 18 months. We are in this situation precisely because the current board cannot afford to keep the club alive. They never could. They clearly have no more money of their own to put in, and haven't had for some time. It seems they thought that TUFC could be run on cash flow ... well, maybe it could (c.f. Mike Bateson), but not the way this current lot run the club.

It's not unique at all. It's a business. It's owned by someone who isn't you. Just because you feel an affinity to it, that's unlucky. It's double unlucky when we're talking about selling to another business, especially one which has shareholders to appease and absolutely no interest in the history or the culture of our fanbase.

You're letting your heart get the better of your head. This is a private business transaction. What you're asking IS personal. The business belongs to Dave and his friends. What he is doing with that business is as much your business as it is if he sells his house, or his car. You're only entitled to information if you are party to the sale.
Yes, you'd like to know, because you're concerned about the future of the matchday XI, but your concern and your curiosity will quite rightly remain unsatisfied because the bit that's actually changing is bugger all to do with you.

It's a harsh dose of brutal reality. One for which you and so many others are quite alarmingly unprepared. Sadly, reality is what it is. You will find out when the new owners want to tell you and not a second before. I wish it wasn't the case. I wish I was involved and at liberty to pass on all the information in the world, but I'm not and the present parties are and they don't give a toss about you. Today, you're nothing but a service user. A number on a computer screen. A figure in a balance sheet.

Awful, but true.

Matt.

[portugull]

As usual Southampton Gull has absolutely nailed it with his post today.

I think maybe the answer is we the fans raise £125,000 (£250 x 500 fans) to pay off GIL. Then we discuss the future with the Board without GIL being in the frame.

[Yorkieandy]

It's not unique at all. It's a business. It's owned by someone who isn't you. Just because you feel an affinity to it, that's unlucky. It's double unlucky when we're talking about selling to another business, especially one which has shareholders to appease and absolutely no interest in the history or the culture of our fanbase.

You're letting your heart get the better of your head. This is a private business transaction. What you're asking IS personal. The business belongs to Dave and his friends. What he is doing with that business is as much your business as it is if he sells his house, or his car. You're only entitled to information if you are party to the sale.
Yes, you'd like to know, because you're concerned about the future of the matchday XI, but your concern and your curiosity will quite rightly remain unsatisfied because the bit that's actually changing is bugger all to do with you.

It's a harsh dose of brutal reality. One for which you and so many others are quite alarmingly unprepared. Sadly, reality is what it is. You will find out when the new owners want to tell you and not a second before. I wish it wasn't the case. I wish I was involved and at liberty to pass on all the information in the world,Matt.

Which is why I don't go anymore and exactly why the club should be reformed and run by fans FOR fans. If that is in the sunday morning pub league then so be it.

What's amusing is everyone discussing interested parties that are considering buying the club and saving it. There are none. They are just prolonging the inevitable.

Reform or vanish forever. Those are the only two choices IMO.

[Southampton Gull]

Andy, I know you're a distance away but there ARE interested parties prepared to do what you say can't be done. Quite why you find that amusing is beyond me.

[Plainmoor78]

As usual Southampton Gull has absolutely nailed it with his post today.

I think maybe the answer is we the fans raise £125,000 (£250 x 500 fans) to pay off GIL. Then we discuss the future with the Board without GIL being in the frame.

And the board will still tell you to **** off. There are other liabilities that have not been revealed, we certainly owe money to at least one other creditor, and on top of that the club is hemorrhaging £180k per annum.
All you would be doing is handing your hard earned dosh to GI for nothing in return.

[portugull]

Plainmoor 78 I am very sorry but I failed to make, the obvious, clear. The obvious is that If the Board fail to find a buyer from the various interested parties they are going to have to make a choice between GIL and a deal with the fans providing of course we can demonstrate in a very short period of time that we can raise sufficient cash to pay off GIL and the other creditor who I assume is Mr Masters.

It would be madness to pay off GIL and end up with nothing.

Although there are interested parties the reality is that the Board have not been successful in tying down a deal. The crunch question the Board may have to eventually address if they dont do a deal this year is do they sell out to GIL or give the fans the option to raise the cash necessary to pay off GIL and the other creditor and stabilise the club.

Hopefully the position will become clear in the next 14 days if and only If the information given by the Chairman to the Fans Forum is still correct, namely 2 offers are on the table and 2 further offers expected.

[Southampton Gull]

Any takeover is going to go to the wire because of the position the Board are taking in insisting on recouping their investment.

There's no 'deal' to be had with GI as if the club default on the loan it passes to them automatically and the longer Phillips and Co insist on getting their money back nobody else is going to buy them out. Hopefully they've budgeted for the VAT bill.........

[Dazza]

Can't see it at the wire somehow. If it goes to GI I presume they get now't back. Or you claiming otherwise Dave. ?

[Southampton Gull]

I'm not claiming anything mate. GI can sit back and do nothing, they're already in the driving seat for a loan that was strictly favourable to them. I wouldn't put it past them to offer to keep Phillips in the hot seat though.

[Plainmoor78]

It has been suggested on another forum that the insistence of some board members that they remain on the board after any sale is what is holding things up. Wasn't it said previously that GI would keep the current board if they took over?

[Neal]

"but I'm not and the present parties are and they don't give a toss about you. Today, you're nothing but a service user. A number on a computer screen. A figure in a balance sheet.

Awful, but true."

If that's the case they are not business men, if you don't look after your customers you aint got a chance. Given that most TUFC fans stick by the club, and lets face it ts a crap product at the moment. If however that is the case they are the arrogant "Keyboard w@nkers". BUT I don't think they really do have this view, and the quote above is someone getting a little bit annoyed because they cant be heard.