Thetownend.com

http://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/news/article/staff-changes-828739.aspx

The club are seeking 5 volunteers at the club to take redundancy.  The fun starts now I guess...

Goodbye Curly...

Absolute joke.
How many board members do we currently have? Get rid of one of them and that's probably the equivalent of one "normal" staff member. Problem solved.

5 you say? OK, Jed, Callum "Gigs" Rice, Steve "Punchy" Murrall and "Who?" Hooper that makes four. And cancel the leases on their cars for the 5th plus a nice cash surplus. Job done.

don't be silly, they saved the club.

Good thinking, we could have a buyout bidding war from the plethora of interested parties who are all loaded.

I've heard rice has lined up the thing things (ting ting tribute) and simply dread (feat pliers, from Chaka demus and pliers) to play gigs this summer.

My mistake. Obviously I would willingly donate my liver and those of my two children for sale to medical science to ensure our enlightened and far-sighted board can drive around in the air-conditioned comfort they so richly deserve for the next however many years.

But who is going to save us from them!

It seems to vary, according to the alignment of the planets.

TBF, you cannot downsize the club, without casualties.

The concern is can this be achieved within a timescale that will see us avoid the A word. Clearly there's a long way to go yet, but we do still seem to have a lawn mower, which we've previously had repossessed.

It would be churlish to not show a little appreciation for their efforts, if this comes in the form of leased luxury cars then surely we can put up with the loss of a video analyst or ticket office employee to cover the more important costs. After all, our ticket sales will no doubt be well down on recent years so we can likely afford to cut back on ticket office staff.

I don't know why the likes of TAH, Cox and Benson can't be redeployed to sell tickets etc.

As I understand it, up until JedCo took over, Watkins was the only salaried board member. IIRC he was paid around £120,000 as shown on the last accounts. The other directors (Wray, Backhouse etc.) claimed expenses but these only amounted to a few thousand.

Now we've got JedCo and his mates all reputedly taking salaries of £50k+ and company cars, plus untold other people (Power) probably taking consultancy fees. And to pay for this, other staff have to make way.

Jobs for the boys, indeed.

They may need to. Both Jock (Dave) and Brian have both retired already, so it's 5 volunteers on top of these two.

5 non-playing staff members you say?

Well, TAH can probably come under that so let's hope he steps forwards.

Absolutely horrible time for those employees at STFC. I can empathise with them.

Inevitable though, nothing has suggested we (stfc) have a pot to piss in.

I don't mean that in an unsympathetic way.

I remember when Eddie Buckley, got made redundant, he just kept on coming in anyway.

I heard Jed & Co are hoping to form a link with Monkey World in Dorset.

Some of the chimps will be taking over some of the less demanding roles at the club.

Apparently there is one who has the makings of a cracking centre midfielder

Racist.

This is going to be death by a thousand cuts.

Just need that big euromillions win....

Unbeleivable I'm sure this lot wont be happy until they have cut back on everything they possibly can raped the club of what the can and left someone else to pick up the peices and rebuild the club from a v low point

mmmmm what a way to go

The trust will need to up their game. Do they have any businesses or money behind them? Fans needs to get on board and mount a takeover bid.
The current mob needs ousting

Woah, woah. Calm down. I like being a freeloader!

The Trust need to actually do something. So far they asked a bunch of questions and got fobbed off with one word answers - what was their response to it? A 'thank you but can you elaborate please?' statement with no follow up

it's a mess. As soon as u can get odds on next season I'm lumping on us to go down. Could go into administration I reckon too. Fans will vote with their feet. Grim times ahead.

This.

Quick question, why make this public?

Surely those effected would have been consulted first?

I'm guessing, it was for 2 reasons. It would have eventually been leaked to the press, and secondly it might be done to put pressure on those not prepared to accept voluntary redundancy.

Softening people up for the proper shit that will hit the fan....ie players leaving.

Going public was right I think. Word gets out, better coming from club than rumour mill.

Honda did the same.

Agreed. I joined about 6 months ago and have had no communication from them at all.

Feel for everyone behind the scenes at the club.

I don't know the ins and outs of who is on payroll etc... But if Rice and Hooper and other random anonymous morons are taking a wage out of the club while hard working dedicated staff are getting shafted then the club really is heading to the shit.

The board need ousting and fast.

Creditors are also rumoured to be going unpaid (as per the mysterious 'Fredi''s last post). *If* there is any evidence of that then that'd be the last straw for me and I'd completely agree that they need ousting.

Ive got 2 quid in my pocket.

Going to front a takeover bid. Wouldve already put more into the club than this lot..

It's all well and good wanting them out, but who replaces them?

By the time something happens, they've will have filled their boots.

Bit harsh on non playing staff, over the past five years, things have been positive all over the County Ground. They all deserve credit.

Pity this mob has made everything feel negative, it's hard not to feel it.

Maybe a polite letter to JW to find some more rich friends?

The same JW that due to his lack of backbone towards PDC has contributed to this mess?

It'd also be good to see the adver do a bit more investigative work on this (hi Sam  :bye:). Probably not in the usual remit of a local sports reporter admittedly, but if the shit is on the way towards the fan as we speak as some of us suspect then they'll have an important role to play. Some digging into the backgrounds of the shoddy fuckers driving round in Mercs would be a start, as would finding out whether there is any truth in the unpaid creditors rumour.

:bye:

The same JW that spent an agreed budget and was 3 months away from delivering championship football, communicated with fans and then got sacked off because the money man wanted out? Then yes...

As it stands (or perhaps as it stood??) by all accounts we were an attractive proposition for potential new owners. Debt free, top 6 league one side with a decent fan base. Other parties were interested before remember but Jed and his cronies were the only ones prepared to forgo due diligence to meet the deadline. Didn't the Peterborough chairman say we wouldn't struggle to find an owner and that he would have bid if not already involved with a club?

The longer this lot stay in and the more damage they do the less attractive we become.

Researching the "10/10 would bang" thread does not count

He did indeed and yet we're stuck with this bunch of clowns.

Are you thinking of another team?

As well as...
How long is Kmacs contract?
Which directors are being paid consultancy fees/salary?
Where is Paul Bodin?
What is happening to the proposed concerts?
What are we doing for pre-season?
Who is funding the club?
Have Crouch/Power passed the fit and proper persons test?
How can a club justify company mercs while making redundancies?
Have the club agreed to move to Beeversbrook?
What is happening with the lease of the CG?

The list goes on.......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7RIgs3eygo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7RIgs3eygo)

I just wish they'd come out now and say something along the line of "Sorry people we bit of more than we can chew, we have to keep things ticking over until we find a new owner" because this is what it seems like.

I'm usually quite optimistic and was willing to give the board a change, but I've lost all confidence now. We have a group of fuckwits in charge of our club  :suicide:

Well if Jed is going down the purely sustainable route where your outgoings (plus nice payments to him and his mates *purely an unproven allegation*) match your income then we may as well have fan ownership. If they aren't providing any money or experience which they clearly aren't then there's no real need for them....  We'd be no worst off finance wise with fan ownership and at least know those running the show have the clubs interests at heart!

atleast the club are being honest and open about all this.... less staff = Higher playing budget. In Jed we trust.

Very much this.  We've got season tickets but lost enthusiasm.

If we finish above the bottom four next season that'll be success.

Hi Jed, nice holiday?

So it wasn't just Cheltenham who told this lot to get stuffed. They also got laughed off by the mighty Forest Green Rovers!

They really are out of their depth and I am amazed that they managed to land a League 1 club, and a decent sized one at that.

I would like to know how much King has pocketed from his role as an 'Advisor/Consultant'. Sam - did you ever get to the bottom of why he (allegedly) failed the fit and proper test? What is the point of that test if people can be involved after in an unofficial capacity.

On a final note, has there ever been a bigger case of 'jobs for boys'  than Callum Rice? That said I don't know what Mr Hooper has offered so far either other than a supposed brawl.

I blame Sir William Patey a bit in all this, wasn't it his main task to find decent new owners?

No. His task was to find ANY new owners.

As has now become abundantly clear, Black didn't give a shit who he sold to, he just wanted out and fast.

.... Kinda miss the Fitton days now.

Guessing these redundancies are on top of the retirement of the ticket office manager and the old Scottish guy that had been there forever? I did hear they aren't being replaced and ticketing is being largeley outsourced but not sure if that's true.
If so with a reduction of 7 who will that actually leave in terms of full-time office staff? It's surely going to be right down to the bare minimum or is Jed's wife suddenly going to rock up and be the club receptionist or something....

Silly as it sounds I'll miss seeing Jock and the other old bloke in the ticket office.

I'm not a violent man

But I'd happily decapitate the lot of the fucking, raping, clueless cunts.

Dave, was ace.  Brian, customer service personified  >:(  (That was Brian on a good day)

Dave was always alright to me. The young lad ain't too bad either, stopped me getting a ticket one day. 

So glad my besties not there any more

Am I missing something?  Have we been bought by a billionaire? If we have to cut our cloth according to our means, surely that meant cuts across all areas of expenditure. If we ever reached the 'utopia' of fan ownership,  surely they'd have to do the same? Lots of knocking on here but very few alternatives being offered up.
Still, easier that way,  isn't it?

There's a clear difference between "cutting costs because there is no alternative under fan ownership" and "cutting costs while paying out consultancy fees and hiring flash cars for our non-investors"

With all the rumours flying around and very little of concrete coming from the club to allay our concerns, it's understandable isn't it? Besides complaining on the internet there isn't a great deal we can do when the Trust is so weak at present.

No one knows how much in consultancy fees is being paid out though, do they? Don't get me wrong,  I'm not overly enamored with the current lot, but it feels like we're making shit up due to the absence of real evidence. take away all the bullshit and rumours and what have we got? A current board with very little cash, cuts in budgets to keep us in business,  no knight riding in ala Andrew Black to prop us up and a lot of disgruntled fans because the new lot are shit at PR and even worse at communication.

There is a huge difference between owners who have the clubs best interests at heart and are honestly trying their best and this bunch of chancers who have absolutely no interest in the well being of STFC and are only interested in lining their own pockets.

If you think otherwise I'm afraid you are in for a rude awakening pretty soon

You're pissing against the wind mate. The rumours are too deeply ingrained as fact now.

Try asking for some substance to the rumours. You'll just get shouted down and branded a 'happy clapper'.

yawn

Jed didn't deny the 250k figure, and he's denied everything else.

I agree that we don't know a lot, but we didn't know a lot during the Diamandis era either. A pattern of behaviour is emerging, and while it's not yet clear the Trust need to be getting organised as a precaution at the very least.

Ha ha

Fuckoff Olaf

We have one director or involved or whatever he is who has been involved with 17 companies, 13 of which have ceased trading owing creditors huge amounts. FACT

Others who now run the club have been turned down by other clubs due to their dubious past.

Do you honestly think this is going to turn out well?

What do you know that the rest of us don't which gives you any level of trust in Jed?  He's had plenty of opportunities to come out and refute some of the accusations and chosen to say nothing.

My take is less staff = more money for Jed and his cronies to pocket.

As a slight aside, I was surprised that my first installment for my season ticket came out a few days ago.  I wasn't expecting it to come out until the start of the new season?  Seems odd that it will run May-February instead of August-May.  Is that how it worked on installments this season does anyone know?

Pretty sure that's how it's been the last 2 years I've done it, Jo.

:)

The actual issue is that nobody knows any fucking facts, that's why so much credence is being given to some rumours posted by an anonymous guy on the internet. The fact the board haven't stormed out of any offices after threatening legal action make me think there might be some truth in it.

Who and which clubs?

Thanks.  I must admit I didn't read the small print, just assumed it wouldn't come out yet.

Leasing expensive cars is not cutting our cloth according to our means.

Yeah Benz is right

Cheltenham and the mighty FGR

you don't actually believe Dr Pierre Chang do you?

No at all. But I have no reason to disbelieve the current Cheltenham chairman who stated he was not prepared to sell to Jed et al.

And that is on the record

and FGR?

Did he, where was that stated?

Not saying that it wasn't but I haven't seen that anywhere, I was looking through the answers to the questions posed, and the only answers on that topic (which have been answered) are below.


Some consultancy fees have had to have been paid as a result of the takeover, but not as has been reported on some social media sites. Neither Jed nor Steve wished to discuss their remuneration, though there are written questions on this topic that have been submitted to them. Jed stated he has not taken any salary as yet.

Q: Is it true that new employees of the club (not intended to related to footballing matters) have been hired on significant salaries (over 50k)?

A: There are no salaries of that size.



A simple question to all those that want the board out already, what do you think would happen if they turned around tomorrow & said "Fuck it, we are off".


For what it's worth I don't have a lot of confidence in the board, but unless we get a multi-millionaire who is happy to piss away money at some point we are going to have to go through some pain

He's done fuck all at Banbury either after giving it all the chatter.

I'm all for given people a chance but I even I don't like this situation.

if Jed wanted to stop these rumours it's quite easy for him to do it he just needs to ring up the adver and do an interview and give the true facts....

There was an article in the Sunday Times about the current FGR owner, some ex hippy type who has made a fortune out of green energy.

He was the happy alternative to you know who at the time

He doesn't do interviews...as he might be misquoted.

Yeppers

I did have more to say but I keep forgetting my train of thought and deleting what I wrote.

My brother in law is a banbury fan and he wished us luck when he took over. Said he was dodgy as fuck

In all fairness that could easily be down to the fact Dale Vince the FGR owner is worth over £100million compared to Jed's £7million, rather than Jed coming across dodgy.

In my opinion though, the rumours going around about Jed & co could easily be disproved by a simple article, however, they have chosen not to do such thing, which makes me fully believe in Fredi and the other dodgy things going around the club at the mo. Being a community club whilst laying off staff but using the clubs money for lavish cars, when they all have cars in the first place doesn't really speak community does it.

Based on what?

Sadly true.

Don't want to come across as confrontational, but just what has to happen to convince you we are in the process of being butt fucked?

The more that comes out about this board the closer we are to Ricki Hunt style on the pitch protests. It shouldn't amaze me that we're back to this type of situation given all we've bee through in the past....but after the relatively quiet last few years, it does.

I don't know. Hard evidence? Facts? More than Internet rumours? What proof is there that they are anything more than inept? If they became involved for some nefarious means, why the fuck did Jed become involved in Banbury? I can't imagine there was much to rape and pillage from them.

FGR were touting for additional investment. Jed was laughed off, I'm not sure if the same people as now made up his consortium. This was after Cheltenham told them where to go.

I really don't know how they have ended up here.

Well that at least has been well documented.

You have any facts for these claims though?
FGR are the richest team in the BSP and don't require any additional funding. As their summer signings show.

The Cheltenham debacle is clearly well documented though.

 ???
where has it been stated that Jed has £7million - just don't believe that  :no:

He showed Sam Morshead a statement proving he has £7million to his name

although I'm surprised Sam didn't question why it was written in crayon on a cocktail napkin

Just because he has £7 million to his name doesn't mean he should invest it all in the club... I wouldn't if I was him, it would be like pissing money down the drain

Oh I wasn't saying he should invest it all, just stated his worth so we could use it in comparison to other clubs/previous owners.

This is the bit that really confuses as Jed clearly doesn't have £7m to his name, not even sure the Bentley was even his as his plate is now on a £500 Alfa.  Is the £7m the net worth of the entire consortium?

Do an interview with RS then - oh I forgot they have fallen out with them

Craig Lyus ‏@AdverSportCraig 35s
Big story on the back page tomorrow. Can't tweet it because I didn't edit the page. I'll let Morshead spill the beans as it's his article.

...and so, we wait.

 :popcorn:

Which player is off/been bid for then?

My money's on Thompson or McCormack is off.

I'm going for good news...


 :toocool:

And Munto Finance had a bank letter saying they had millions to invest in Notts County...and we know how that turned out.

I reckon its EXCLUSIVE - Jed reveals how he likes his steaks Rooooooaaaaaarrrrr!

Do we need Kasper Schmeichel?

Sven is on his way? Or are we boarding the Sol train?

So many questions unanswered.

What Jed should have said when taking over

"The clubs current budget is unsustainable. Unfortunately the reality is cuts will have to be made. We're currently operating on a budget which incurred losses to the previous owners and we're not going to spend more than we make. The cuts will be significant, but we'll still be one of the bigger budgets in League One. We'll be trimming the fat wherever possible and this includes board members who's hospitality and luxury's will be limited. Please back us and together we can make this football club successful."

Jed comes out and says that, he gets backed, we all face up to reality

What actually happened was whilst they did say they want to be "sustainable" but they also claimed that the budget and funds would be "similar" to the previous regime. Basically said whatever they thought people wanted to hear and tried to win some fans over by buying them a few pints.

Then the a bunch of tinpot, ridiculous and sometimes bizarre stories follow including fights and board members taking the piss with expenses and it does nothing to help their Del Boy image.

Understandably people have started to fill in the blanks because of this. At worst they're out to screw STFC over and completely pillage our assets and then fuck off and leave us in the shit. At best they're small time businessmen who are in way over their heads.

If the outcome of Black getting out was him wiping the debts for someone to come in with little to know money, resulting in the budget having to be slashed to balance the books(and selling Ritchie to keep the club out of admin), the club could have been handed over to the trust who could have done this and whilst not in an ideal position, we'd at least be a lot more comfortable with the reality of what's happening and know we're not all being taken for mugs.

No Danes, thank you.

Don't go all Coca Fola on us.

[url width=500 height=382]http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ltbtgjU70B1qztjn5o1_500.jpg[/url]

I'll be fucking glad when this is over.  Death by a thousand cuts someone said, damn right.

Slight correction for you.

I thought they said that but , in fact, there was one extra letter sneaked into the word "cuts"

Took me a while...but  :)

Flint wants out then.

Flint puts in transfer request...

Boooooooo - I was wrong (quelle surprise).

Farewell Flint, maybe.

Cunt

Bad news and Swindon Town are like Peaches and Cream.

Would be sad to see Flint go but if I'm not being paranoid (and if I am but am right) I think we might have bigger issues than losing a decent player or two.

Fuck me if the likes of Flint are wanting out then it's going to be a long season.

Can we blame him for wanting out? I don't think we can.

Surely submitting a transfer request is a bit unnecessary as we'd sell for any decent offer regardless?

Meanwhile Flint's tweeting about his ghostie.

That Joe Devera would be a good signing.

Great news he wants out, such an overrated defender. 

He'll sign for another rival league 1 club and then will end up playing league2/conference football in 2-3 years time.
 
 

.

We couldn't afford his wages.
I'm convinced we only kept Flint because he could be sold on for a fee.

Otherwise known as Matt Heywood Syndrome.

Its not great news, don't be ridiculous. Its fucking shit and anyone who says it isn't are only foling themselves.

Unfortunately we are back to the days of being skint and a bit shit. Its the reality of things.

Fuck this is going to be a shite summer. Think I will stay off here for a bit as it seems like it's only going to get worse

If we accept Flint's request and let him go then Alfreton Town have a 20% sell on clause ready and waiting.

Very disappointing, but possibly will result in a very favourable sale price. Having said that, where will the money go?

Does that mean Ward and Oakley as a CB partnership next year?

TAH.

...and a bad ass bitch

Craig Lyus ‏@AdverSportCraig 2m
Your lowest Flint bid was a packet of Wotsits, highest was £8.5mil. The Advertiser understands actual offer was somewhere in between

It looks like the club has received an offer...

Adver speculating again ;)

Ward will want out. He is on record as saying he didn't drop a league to settle for midtable.

I fear this is only the start.

I reckon Flint will go to Preston.

Of course its just the start. Ambitious players + no money = fucking off.

Thing is, whilst we have/had some excellent players for league 1, I think only Wes will have a sustained career in the league above.

Wow, next season can't come slow enough (as things stand).

I would welcome a Serbian player.

I know Viso, I know.

+ Troy (in a midfield role) and possibly Collins.

Never before has such an average player handed in a transfer request. Luckily he's worth money so hopefully we can get a half decent fee, but the fact that he can't pass/control a ball to save his life means I'm not bothered at all. League 1 is his level.

This name change isn't working, I miss being Coca Fola.

I make no apologies for abbreviating your new name.

hahahahaha . Nice try


Good call, he young so should get better, I think he has been unlucky to be on the bench so much.

Digby will be in goal next season.

No worries Stan.

TAH is going to step up next season!

People saying that Flint is an average player need to think about the lack of money we've got to replace him.  Playing a youngster alongside Ward is a possibility, then Ward goes and we're buggered. 

I can see a steady stream of players going out the door tbh.  The players aren't so dim to see the Board are a waste of space and the club is heading on a downward spiral.

I'm filled with dread about the next couple of months and next season to be honest.  I really think it's going to be 2011 all over again and what fun was that?

The 'fact' that a B&B owner from Lincoln with no football or business experiance whatsoever, nor connection with the club, is taking a salary (as has been admitted by Jed) and driving around in a nice new club funded Merc (as has been admitted by Jed) with no discernable role, whilst backroom staff are threatened with redundancy is 'evidence' enough for me.

And talking of evidence, is there any evidence that any of the current named "board" have invested a single penny in the club?

At least there was some optimism at the start of that season.

Its inevitable, that's what a £2M wage reduction means. It doesn't necessarily mean we will be uncompetitive (see Yeovil) but it does mean cheaper players and more chance of next season being a dud.

What will be telling is who comes in after the clearout. Mostly youth/prem cast offs and I'd say our chances of being fucked increase dramatically. A mix of youth and experience = more chance of a better season.

But the Black financed days are over and its hard to adjust. Wish the cunt could have stuck around until the end of the season :(

For me:
Concern #1 Is K-Mac up to it - we'll find out after a few months.
Concern #2 Are the board up to it - we'll find out after a couple of months.
Concern #3 Is the club financially on death row. I'd say that is far from clear. The number of back room redundancies is 5 too many but not as massive as I was expecting.

Sam Morshead ‏@SamMorshead_SA 2m

The Advertiser understands #stfc will turn down Aden Flint's transfer request. Club have already activated one-year option in his contract.

The lanky streak of fucking piss can fuck off if he don't want to wear the badge

He really needs to take his head out of his arse

Can they do that if the player wants out? What's the point?

Actually, maybe it's better to be filled with dread.  Anything positive will then be a bonus!


Agree with all of this.  It's what lies at the end of the couple of months that worries me.

Not if he's already been offered a better deal elsewhere.

Ideal situation for the board - 'we wanted to keep him, but what's the point if his heart's not in our project, we got the best deal under the circumstances, blah blah'

Seems Jed's latest craze is direct messaging people on Twitter saying things like "big news when it's all signed off"

well, lets hope its good big news then.

Some people on twitter sucking up to Flint "Oh please don't Aden'' etc etc. Get a fucking grip!!!

Massively overrated and replaceable, not to mention what an actual bell he is.

Get the money and fucking run!!!

New manager (Stuart Pearce) or exchanging Mercs to Cadillac SUVs

He's probably trying to line up some bunch of has beens to play (music) at the County Ground.

Fuck it, I can't and won't trust anyone on the board until they earn it.  it's just a 'jobs for the boys' asset stripping exercise as far as I'm concerned.

Yup.. He DM'd me the usual about "sticking together" and "moving forward" ect.. This came after I tweeted about the Murrall situation which he seemed not to even know of due to being on holiday, you'd have thought someone would have given him a call to tell him that his GM had threatened legal action against the local paper though, surely?

 I don't get it when people express surprise that the likes of Flint, are on their way. It's been highly predictable for a while that anyone who can move will move, and we'll need to make do with the remnants and kids.

 Inevitably, those that can move will tend to be the players that fans would rather keep, but there's a necessity to understand that it doesn't work that way....really all that matters is avoiding the A word. We'll get a bit of money for Flint, Foderingham and maybe Collins, so that should help.

and then what?

Flints a decent defender. A decent defender we can't afford to keep and one whose contract we only extended so we could get a better fee.

I really feel sorry for anyone facing the prospect of redundancy but this latest news is not that unusual. This  has happened several times over the past 25 years or so with several long serving members of staff being treated terribly by various Boards of Directors.
People like Dave Hollister, Paul Plowman and even Jean the laundry lady were all shown the door with little financial compensation given by so called respectable Directors.
I have not been impressed with the new lot in charge but at least the current staff have the option of going voluntarily, that was not a choice given to lots of others in the past.        

Why cant someone at the Adver do some proper investigation on these cunts that own OUR football club.  Im furious that jed and the cowboys are plodding along without any real communication with the fans.
Yes we all understand we and every club has to live within its means, but their is a way to do professionaly without utter contempt for the people who DO actually put money into the club....US.
My investment over the years is a lot more than one fucking pound...  where is my Mercedes?

Wait till McCormack goes

McCormack is out of contract.

Its if/when Wes goes that'll cause proper meltdown.

Definitely but, the way things are going, I'd be gutted for him if he stayed - if you know what I mean.   :cry:

Absolutely get it, he's too good not to be at a top league 1 team/playing in the Championship.

Surely the board would have to accept bids for players if this was to be the case?

If we can get 400k ish for him I say sell him. Look at where it got Ben Tozer and Leigh Mills!

Let me get this right then.....

We sell a player/let players go = ASSET STRIPPING

We refuse bids for a player = ASSET STRIPPING

Fucking outstanding logic

I may have been a little drunk, tired, and emotional...

Well they're clearly holding out for more money where Flint is concerned. But you can be sure he will be sold, along with several others.

If you think the garden is rosy I'd love to live in your world.

This board has taken us straight back to Diamandis territory and we are in big trouble..

Im not 100 percent convinced we are back in Diamandis territory or that the club owners are asset strippers. But certainly cost cutting and working on a lower budget is due to the lack of money they have to invest.

It is going to be a tough season for sure but we have all been here before and we will support the team through good and bad as always. Lets hope Kevin MacDonald can assemble a squad that can compete and keep us up - solidity is now the success for this next season

I am.
If anything this lot are worse.

Orange hats aren't going to touch the sides with these lunatics

A 'logic' which all falls apart when you take into account they didn't trigger the clause in Ferry's contract to hold out for a fee.

Agreed. Inexperienced, not minted, awful at PR - yes. Doesn't necessarily mean they are crooks. I am uneasy with the situation but until more hard facts come to light calls for them to be ousted are premature in my opinion.

We can be quite spoiled as a fanbase and have no divine right to expect someone to come in and stump up the cash to keep all our favourite players and buy our way to competitiveness.

As Yeovil and the like have proved you can do well without spending the Earth but it would be short-sighted to think that adjustment can be made successfully overnight (or in one off-season).

However long Jed and co are here, a move towards running costs that align closer to the club's income is a positive for the long term financial health of the club.

I've not seen anything yet that suggests asset-stripping or dodgy behaviour.

My perception all along has been that they are a bunch of chancers with very limited commercial know-how who are up for having a fun time running a football club.
When they took over they spouted a load of aspirations that are either unrealistic or they have no clue how to deliver and so are reacting to this in attempts to stop it spiralling out of control.

I have no knowledge of the real situation but all I've seen has reinforced this perception.

That's because we'd already had bids from Bristol City.. Whereas we'd had nothing concrete for Ferry, so they didn't take the risk.

Ferry was due to get a rise if they activated his extra year, that was the difference with the two I guess.  If it was more than he was likely to get at any other league 1 club he could have just refused to agree a contract from a club offering to buy. That would have left us paying high wages for a year with still no chance of recouping and fee.

yet they'd take the risk of rejecting bids for flint. what if no further bids come in?

Because his salary is a lot less than Ferry's

that's exactly what is happening.

Must be bad if Fatbury's back.

Hello Alec :bye:

Not surprisingly I'd forgotten about him.

Shame that we are likely to lose Flint. But, we have to realise that we are a selling club, and if now is the time to cash in to the maximum, then so be it.

I assume that TAH was signed on a big whack. Seems that there have been reports that we have been offering stupid money to players. I guess the fact that he has been injured all this time means that noone is likely to take him off our hands?

I have this vision of the Swindon management and board sitting in a dark and smoke filled room. There is a single light hanging low, just above a table with pictures of the players strewn everywhere. There are lots of shadowy figures in the background, watching events unfurl. The coaching team go on to discuss each of the playing staff. I picture the coaching staff picking players they want to keep, while the accountants chip in from the darkened recesses, vetoing moves due to the fact that the player in question costs too much or could attract a fee.

The midfield is discussed. Simon Ferry is cast aside by the coaching team (who don't rate him) as the shadowy figures remain happy and silent, putting away their arguments that he will cost too much. Alan McCormack is placed in the centre of midfield, amid shuffling in the shadows. A discussion ensues and a shadowy, overweight, pinstriped suited figure stroking a white cat, decrees that the club should offer him a smaller contract and see whether the 'multitude' of Championship clubs will come in with an offer for him. The picture of Lee Cox is thrown onto the table with the order being to 'make this one a valuable commodity to sell in January'!

On the defence side, Ward was seen as someone that was tied to the club, who could develop a youngster and could take on a second, unpaid job within the club. 'He's into healthy living, so sack the cook and make him cook pre-match meals'. Devera was therefore sacrificed purely to bring down wages.

Flint was offered a contract that was more in line with the wage structure that the club want to introduce - He must be still on the original terms when he was signed in the Wilson era. The group then realise that Flint's agent is likely to be able to get a lucrative deal for him elsewhere, so Flints picture goes in the 'sell for as much cash as we can get pile', where he joins the Paul Caddis picture.

'Good! Good! Well done my pretty, pretties!' says the pinstriped man, stroking the cat.

The group then turn to TAH and place him in the back 4 with Ward. There is panic in the room! 'He's expensive! He's expensive!' they cry, 'But it would be good to get him back on the pitch and in the shop window for a possible January sale. Mwah-ha-ha !!! Mwah-ha-ha-ha !! Mwah-ha-ha-ha-ha !!!!' the pinstriped man chortles...............

I'll get my coat!

I really can't tell if you honestly see no cause for alarm or if you're just really committed to playing devil's advocate.

FYI cause for alarm ≠ branding the board as 'crooks' or 'asset strippers' based on little or no evidence but a cautious concern for what may transpire.

I agree with your second sentence there. There is clearly a need to be vigilant over the coming months but I feel some have overreacted too much too soon.

That's their prerogative but it irks me when people blindly ignore things like the fact we've turned down bids for two players because it doesn't suit a certain view (asset stripping crooks etc) and instead go on and on about Mercedes.

Have to agree with that totally.

These people are out of their depth, nothing more nothing less.

Fixed it for you Fatbury.

London red said it for me.

I'm by no means the only one. You should also ask others that are voicing similar opinions to mine. I also know of others that are choosing to be quiet.

Just because I'm not freaking out at unfounded rumour and sensationalist, selective opinion (for want of a better word) doesn't mean I think that all is rosy.

Just took a look at the photograph in the 'Town At The Top' book which shows the entire club staff for the Premier League season in 1993. Backroom staff numbers look to be around 17, anyone know if that figure is accurate?

£275k is a lot of money for a player with one year on his contract who could walk away for free next year, if indeed we were asset stripping or having a fire sale surely we would bite their hands off for it.

HEH - I like it.

On a more serious note - I personally have joined the Swindon Town Trust - http://www.truststfc.com/

and suggest that you all do the same - it may be helpful in the future whatever the motives or outcomes of the new board.

Oh Fatbury's back!

Its like a fucking Sunday multi-episode of Eastenders on here at the moment!

Its a lot of money for a league 1 defender full stop, i bet there isnt a long list of those who gone for more than that in the last 5 years or so

Could we realistically get much more than 275k + add ons?

I'm going to base this on the assumption that the Board, are trying to create a sustainable club, whereby any incoming funds match any outgoing funds, and that their take, however distasteful there is one at all, is fairly based on work done.

Starting in goal, Foderingham will go, no doubt. Think PdC might be interested in him, as Mignolet is likely to be sold. Don't think Bedwell is ready for 1st team football, so we'll sign a veteran keeper, for some reason I can see Steve Mildenhall back here.

N Thompson, may possibly sign, but if there is any truth in the Leeds story he'll go, which would be bonus money..

TAH, I suspect is long term injured, best scenario here is that he has to retire for insurance purposes so frees up a wage.  Ward wil stay, and may possibly be handed a coaching role. Oakley will step up for 1st team action...JMac, will stay, as no-one will take him at the wages we pay. Caddis will go to Brum, and A Rooney will come to us, fees undisclosed.

AMac will definitely depart, leaving a midfield of L Thompson,who will sign and Navarro, who will spend most of the season on the treatment table before departing in the summer. Roberts, will be a decent performer next season, especially in the latter stages when he is looking for a new contract elsewhere. Lee Cox, will get some 1st team action around December, and prove surprisingly popular. L Rooney will bench warm, before a loan spell at Newport County.

James Collins will be sold....Paul Benson will be loaned out...leaving a front combo of Wiliams, Storey who will sign and A Rooney.  The bench will then consist of the kids like Ferguson, Francis and Waldon....the numbers then made up by loans that KMac, who will be staying, can help Power arrange.

Hopefully, the fees accrued for Flint, Foderingham, Collins, and possibly Thompson, should be enough to cover costs for the summer.  We then have a much more manageable wage bill.

Realistically, the over-spending of the previous board is killing us now. Clearly we have a group of players on very good money and now we have to slash this budget, severe cuts need to be made.

The lack of communication is of course a bug-bear but there is a lot of over-reaction based on what the new board may or may not be up to.

Its still too early to tell what is going to happen but the reality is that going from Andrew Black's golden pot of millions to Jed and Co's cash converter model is a massive change.

Interesting times ahead for sure.

If you hadnt of disclaimed this was assumption/guesswork i'd have thought Dr Chang had hacked your account.

I'm in this camp. Yes, there's some stuff going on that could be explained better/is not exactly what we really want, but there's not actual evidence of half the stuff people are saying other than comments made by a poster on a forum, with no evidence to back them up. When asked for said evidence, poster refuses to give it.

I'm not comfortable with the way the club's going atm, there's a lot of things that could have been done better, but going mental and calling for the board's heads on a pike above the club shop/accusing them of criminal activity is going a bit far.

Their PR is shite, and that's the major place they're going wrong I think. If all this had a slightly rosier spin on it, I don't think there'd be so much hate for the new board. They fucked up their PR at the start and have failed miserably at every opportunity since.

I think the only way they could make it worse now is if they post some pictures of themselves kicking puppies whilst shitting on the Swindon Badge.

So why aren't you taking the middle ground then, instead of vehemently defending them?

FFS

I voiced my unease at the Greg Hall fella
It's obvious their PR is atrocious
It's clear that the answers given by Jed leave a lot to be desired
I have made it abundantly clear on numerous occasions that I am not taking their word for anything.
I want to hear from Crouch

I have NEVER vehemently defended the board or individual board members. I have just objected to people going on completely unfounded rumour and being selective in regard to what they choose to react to.

The real annoying thing about all this is the state of the club that Jed & Co inherited. Granted, admin was the only option should they not have stepped in, so for that alone I suppose we should be grateful, but they purchased a club with very little, if any, external debt, a huge rariety for a club of this size in this day & age, therefore obtaining a terrific platform for the club to push on irrespective of whether or not we'd been successful in the P/O's. They then proceeded to come out with bullshit statements such as the budget being similar to the one that Black & co had provided beforehand when reality tells us this is fucking far from the case. I suppose the point I'm trying to make is that a club which 3-4 months ago would have been seen as a unique investment opportunity for an individual/consortium (due to the level of debt involved) has now been cast back to where it was 5-6 years ago!!

Didn't we pay c£200k for him from non-league??

If TAH is worth £250k then Flint is worth a lot more.

£150k from Alfreton who I believe have a sell on clause aswell, not sure what the %ages are though!!

If I remember rightly we were in a transfer battle with Colchester for Flint, so £150k may well have been an inflated price to make sure we got him.

Which should ensure that any tribunal fee we get for him should be at least double that considering the fact he'd never played league football before he joined us and has improved hugely since.

Roooaaarr

But it won't go to a tribunal, as we have activated the year on his contract and next year he will be 24 so he can go for nothing at that point.

McCormack is refusing to sign a new deal, apparently has the same agent as Flint.

Yep, that's absolutely it. They don't give anything a way because they don't know themselves. It's quite clear we're in survival mode because their backers pulled out.

Tell you what though, if by some slight miracle we do well on our budget next season you could easily argue that the board aren't so clueless after all.

didn't Phil Spencer sign up most of the first team and youth  :hmmm:

McCormack set to leave after rejecting 2 year contract on lower wages.

He did say he wouldn't sign for less money so if we offered less money inevitable he would leave.

Will be remembered fondly for that goal at Northampton as well as generally putting in a good shift, wherever he played. Ok, he wasn't perfect and made some stupid mistakes in games, but I'll be sad to see him go.

If McCormack goes, which he probably will, then we'll need to find another leader.

I think that this will be very close to the truth. Think that if you add one or two young additions from the 'trial' games then it will be spot on.

Ward.

Ooh, good shout. Forget about him for a sec.

Where is it said about mccormack?

Leaders could be Ward, Navarro, Benson or potentially Cox.

Good point, I'm assuming he doesn't have a choice but to sign the deal then if that's the case!!

Cox will be a vital member next year in my opinion, highly impressed at both Pox and Plymouth. If Post Bad Bitches is still here then he too will be a vital member.

Both L2 clubs though.

Where've you seen this??

I think everything is stemming from that original adver report on May 10th:

“I won’t be taking a cut in wages. I’ve got a family now, I’ve got offers out there but I want this to be my first option. I want to stay here, I don’t want to be moving my family.”
http://www.thisisswindontownfc.co.uk/news/10411105.Swindon_is_Macca_s_first_choice/


Given the current cut in wage bill people are speculating that we won't meet Macca's demands:

He previously told the Advertiser: “There are some good clubs who are making calls and I’ve spoken to a couple of clubs already.

“I’m just waiting to see what Swindon say and go from there. I’d rather stay here than go anywhere else but the offer has got to be right here."
http://www.thisisswindontownfc.co.uk/news/10416792.Championship_quartet_step_up_chase_for_McCormack/?ref=mr

As someone said on here earlier in the thread, Jed was DM'ing people on Twitter last night and a lad I know showed me the messages where he said Macca had turned the contract down.

Not surprised considering how much he was allegedly asking for.

I would have been very disappointed if he was given anything close to it.

Another shining example of professional PR from our commander in chief.

No doubt I'm going to hate myself for doing this, but...........

How much was he asking for?

I'm assuming DMing is direct messaging & if that's the case why the fuck is our chairman using this approach to co-operate with our fans?

Dm him and find out

Not on there, it's fucking shit.

Because he's a complete knob.

Wouldn't DMong be a better term?

This, speak up chaps.

Haha

Not sure which bit of twitter is making me feel more repulsed? Jed Dming people, or the people either licking Flints bum or sending him "eff off then you twat" tweets

All of it is cringeworthy

Surely that's exactly the type of shit 99% of people use Twitter for?

Can't people just talk about nice things like cats and what they had for dinner??

Oooohh I know one of the accounts ladies was made redundant today too

I'm sure she will appreciate you telling everyone on here.

You lot want gossip - I deliver?  :nod:

Because that's what Facebook is for.  Twitter is for trolling and arse licking celebs.

About the playing side and the board, by all means.

But 'gossip' about normal people like me and you with bills to pay losing their jobs?

don't get your panties in a bundle because your source failed to deliver

What are the chances it was Fredi?

If you looking for a bite your not gonna get one off me  :zzz:

Oh and Red Frog I don't know as I don't know the person in question I'm afraid?

Give us a nibble

Nomnomnom  :I'm a complete mofleakin Deak

That ok for ya?  :girlgiggle:

We've turned down £300,000 for flint from city now.
Interesting.

That's a bit quick since they only made the announcement yesterday?  I thought they had to go through a consultation period?

How long until your wedding JFW, can't be long now?

This is the kind of brinkmanship that will cost us our club.  

[url width=350 height=350]http://www.jeancity.co.uk/user/products/large/104782_1.jpg[/url]

They obviously want him big time. Need to milk this for a bit more methinks. £500k anyone?

Voluntary redundancy though.

City have obviously set aside some cash to go out and buy a centre-back. The trouble is, we don't know how much they'd be willing to pay and how close 300K is to their limit. I reckon' that'd be the maximum anyone would be willing to buy Flint for, surely? Although, I suppose it's a win-win situation, decent money or a decent player.

Forget about Jed & Co. being a bunch of twats - if City are willing to pay that sort of spondooliks - bite their fucking hand off

One good punch put him on the floor - what kind of CB is that?

Saturday!!  :eek:

Three rejected bids at an inflated value for a player who had a transfer request rejected when everything that isn't nailed down is supposed to be up for sale? Confused? Yup

Ooh exciting.  Have an absolutely fantastic day  :) :)

Certainly puzzling

Maybe Jed and co are just idiots rather than crooks?

I'm genuinely starting to think that this time next year Sky One will be showing a hilarious Office-style sitcom/mockumentary using footage from the next 12 months.

Thankyou x

Alfred ton have a 20% sell on so I'm guessing we are looking for 250k back, therefore 330k will probably be enough.

Ah yes.

The Flint situation is all very odd, but it's risky rejecting decent bids when the player has requested a transfer.  If he's genuinely intent on going, we could end up having to take far less in a couple of months.  Of course Flint might decide he wants to stay, but I imagine he's after more money?

Perhaps they've only offered 50p up front, and the rest in 254 easy instalments.

Does that mean your forum name will change?

300k and freeing up the wage of a player described as the most average player ever to ask for a transfer - how dare he! - would buy us:

a couple of so so players for a couple of years
even more grass seed
a leaving do for our voluntary departees
a month's phone bill to help agents sell more players
pre-season tour transport (and back) to Supermarine
some hair dye
three taxis back from Adver Towers
a party pack of Stella
a year's subscription to PR Monthly
two sets of nets at the new training ground

...and there'd still be change to afford some Ticketmaster charges.

I really, really don't get it.

Noooooo ill always be JFW to the TEF!

I can see it now... [url width=900 height=675]http://flowtv.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/david-brent-dance-bbc-the-office1.png[/url]

Yep that's 3 bids for him now. They can keep coming back for all I care. Personally I can't see Flint being involved either way next season regardless of whether he goes or not.

The thought that Flint could potentially go for more than Ritchie makes me want to both laugh and cry.

4 members have staff have taken voluntary redundancy.

http://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/news/article/redundancy-process-complete-832613.aspx

with the recent news that there are going to be business meetings, the refusal to sell Aden Flint for tuppance and that we are trying to bring in Mason from Spurs, are we sitting a little more confortably?

I’d be very surprised if Flint was staying. It’s very early on to sell him and season ticket money will see us through until the start of the season. A bit of bidding competition is a good thing.

City know they'll get their man...and don't need to pay his wages through the summer when we might will

He's gone......just getting the price right now.

As Brucie would say:

'higher, higher'

Honestly, if Flint is worth £300'000 my cock's a kipper

A player's worth is surely however much a club is willing to spend on him? If he doesn't want to stay here and we can make a bit of money on him, then everybody should be happy (not DV obviously). Ok defender but definitely not irreplaceable.

Spot on.

I think DV would suggest, that your argument is a bit simplistic. Take Greer, for example, we sold him for £250K but he was worth a lot more. The relegation season of 10/11, would likely not have happened if he'd stayed. Fitton wouldn't have left the helm, opening the way for PdC to have to break the bank to get us back up. So you could argue Greer was worth several mill to us.

Absolutely right. But Aden Flint isn't Gordon Greer. So I'm not sure what your point is? Flint isn't as important to our squad as Greer was and definitely isn't captain material (at least not yet). He also hasn't got the wealth of experience Greer had. If we do struggle next season it won't be because we sold Flint.

I don't disagree about Flint, just putting myself in DV shoes, which are probably horrible and sweaty.

Chris tanner is leaving

:D

That's a shame, he always seemed a decent chap. Hope he has something better lined up in the near future.

and even more to AB  :(

He's been with the club for a while I think. All the best for the future Chris!

About 10 years methinks

It's an interesting point that is brought up about Greer, the thing he had (which I don't believe Flint does) is the ability to make his partner look a better player.

None of the centre halves we had looked anywhere near as good without Greer as they did with him.

I'm hoping that the same is true about Darren Ward, both Devera & Flint looked much better towards the end of the season playing along side Ward, than they did before him.

If that is the case, a half decent replacement may be able to do the job

Thats bad news. I understood he was quite settled til the change at the top.

Got a lot of time for Chris sad news

Me also. All the best Chris

So TAH might be? Has anyone got any proper info about his injury or whether he is ever going to be back or just medically retired? If medically retired, I can see a massive legal case against the club!

Troy isn't far off. I know there were fears a while ago but I am told that his recovery is going well and rumours about him retiring are wide of the mark.

In other news, I am told that McCormack is close to signing for a Championship club.

Yawn.

How insightful......

http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/sport/swindontown/news/10416792.Championship_quartet_step_up_chase_for_McCormack/

Keep it coming Chang, I fucking love it!!!!  :D

Troy is at St Georges Park at the moment doing some rehab.

Sounds like he needs it with all the time he's allegedly spending in Old Town bars - Source courtesy of Dr Chang.

Pleb

Aden Flint is a solid regular first team player. As was Greer.

People said Greer was easily replaceable - it took us 2 and a half years to sign Darren Ward.

No, Flint is not as important to us as Greer but right now Flint is still our first choice centre half and selling him will have a negative effect on our first 11.

The key is of course in the replacement. In the last couple of years we've replaced Matt Ritchie with no one. Charlie Austin with Elliot Benyon, Sean Morrison with no one. Billy Paynter with Vincent Pericard and Gordon Greer with Andy Frampton - all downgrades, so I won't hold my breath...

Really? I would place Ward above him everytime purely for his footballing brain and organisation. Flint is (like a number of centre halves we have had in the last few years) a very good player when he has a brain next to him, a little like Ifil (albeit better).

Surely Ward and Flint are both first choices as things stand, we generally play with 2 centre backs. I know we haven't seen much of TAH, but thus far he has looked more limited than Flint.

If TAH can stay fit I think he'll be as good as Flint.

Unfortunately Ward is now 35, so he's going to start creaking soon. Hopefully his diet of eating pine cones or whatever he does will keep his body going that bit longer. We are certainly going to need him!

Well, as we have play with two centre halves we are going to need someone in alongside Ward.

Unless you think Joe Dev....nevermind!

Seem to remember us getting Aden Flint to replace Morrison, no?

I think he'll be better.

We will need 3 centre backs though, so room for Flint and TAH in squad.

Well we must have splashed out on TAH for a good reason I suppose. J devera was shaky in his first month or two. I am not writing him off yet.

It's all academic anyway. It would be a major surprise to keep flint given he wants out. At least we are trying to do out on our terms.

Exactly. He's only played about half a dozen times, and some of those in midfield. Devera is a good comparison I think in terms of being a bit patient with him.

He won Exeter's player of the season for a reason.

Because the rest of their squad was utter gash?

Joking aside, I thought TAH was excellent when I saw him on the TV against Brighton, have only seen him once after that, playing in midfield, which was carcrash viewing as has been mentioned before.

Yeah, pre-season and against Brighton, TAH was good. I can only imagine he'll be better with Ward alongside. I think the observation that Town defences have been good when we have one 'shouter' and one 'doer' is pretty accurate.

The most irritating part about Frampton was we had already purchased Flint and either wasn't playing him or we'd loaned him back to his old club or something wasn't it?

TAH looked absolutely class on the four or five occasions I saw him (at CB) Admittedly not the best footballing centre-back I have ever seen but he has all the attributes.

I think his reputation took a bit of a hit by Paolo trying to turn him in to the next Yaya Toure which backfired spectacularly.

If he can stay fit, he'll be a big player for us....but that's a huge if.

Ward and Archibald-Henville will work.

Have I missed something, but isn't TAH still long term injured?  Our centre backs are likely to be Ward and Oakley.

Its only the end of may reg, got two months to sign someone

TAH is the new Milan Misun....

Wasn't TAH back in training toward the back end of last season? Hopefully he'd have finished his recovery for pre-season so he can get a little bit of match practice.. I reckon' he'd work well with Ward as well, I was pretty impressed with him early in the season, even alongside McCormack who was a bit out of his depth as a centre back in League One.

No. Lots of people have seen TAH play. No saw Misun at all.

Jed has spoken: "Understand concerns but all I will ask is for you to have patience & stay with us as it will save a lot of apologies shortly for abuse "

A lot of stuff from Jed on twitty last night. Concerts in July apparently.

Sounds like things are happening, will just have to wait and see what comes to fruition.

Jeds said on twitter he rates us 8 out 10 that we are going up, that's good enough for me  :clap:

Quality players coming in as we'll as major new revenue streams  :clap:

I think we'll need to reserve judgement until we see something concrete...

Do I believe it ...............nope  :no:

Seems confident.I think he has a few good things to announce soon,can still see a few players leaving but hand on heart think we will replace them.

Although I'm not a fan of his tweets, Jed has been fairly amusing on Twitter. I liked this one:


Oh yeah, he said the concerts are on in July and the income is 100% guaranteed...


Which is good, if a little surprising. Must be good acts then!

Ooh a friendly at banbury on a friday night. 15 mins from my house. :pint:

Fans are very naive arn't they. Anyway you will not be drinking Mr Tanswell as we are going to make you drive!

Shes already said she will give us a lift!

Or maybe willing to wait and see?

No fun it that though. Better thinking everyone is a cunt i reckon.

Anything that could be bad news is instantly believed by some on here, yet anything that could be positive is treated with disbelief and scorn. Maybe there's just a lot of negative, whinging cunts that follow the club?

I like the fact you are whinging at the whingers :)

It's my mission.

You should have been at the q+a.

No one else could get a question in edgeways!

@MichaelGiles @wbgra1 @Gypsyalex1990 ' OK ' I will .. want to have a beer on it as I may have some inside info on Thompson's & Wes ... ;)..

Intriguing tweet from Jed this morning  in response to someone saying "get back to me in a couple of weeks when Thompson and Wes have been sold"

I think he means that he'll have a bet (a beer) on Wes and Thompson not being sold as he has inside information - being chairman obviously..

Jed may be a little bit daft, but I'm not sure he'd admit to wanting to sell Wes and Thompson on twitter.

I wonder who Jed's source is?

Dr Chang

Of course it is!

Concerts to be announced tomorow then.

I think I must of unfollowed Jed on twitter at some point? Oh well

From the adver

Two back-to-back shows have been announced with a festival feel to them, The first, on July 26, will feature, Katy B, Wiley, Tulisa, Tinchy Stryder, Ms Dynamite, Luminites, McKnasty, Alexis Jordan and SD*Jem.


Doors to the gig open at 5pm and the music will start from 6pm.

The following night it is time for a bit of 90s pop nostaligia with Peter Andre, 911, Blue, Atomic Kitten, Liberty X, Honeyz, Five and B*Witched all taking to the stage.

Doors to the gig open at 4pm and the music starts at 5pm.

Well its not for me! But obviously hope its a success.

Good thing is we get paid regardles.Obviously want it to go well so we can hold more

That's not a bad calibre of shit music, actually

That 2nd day should sell out quickly

That sounds like 2 of the worst days imaginable for me!

However as others have said, I hope there is a good turnout and we make some cash from it. I would actually like this board to be a success after all the shit our fans have been giving Jed and co so far.

So, if there was a loaded gun pointed at you and you had to choose 1 out of the 2 days, which would it be? Day 2 for me, and surely Ms Dynamite is in the wrong category?

I would pay good money not to go to either.

But obviously I hope plenty of people go and we make lots of money.

I'll take my chances with the loaded gun.

The 90's Revival one is doing some pretty serious venues and good business so hopefully its success can be replicated at the CG.

I hoped for The Vans Tour....

Van Halen and Van Morrison? Nah, won't happen.  ;)

Not with that attitude.

:)

No PJ & Duncan?

I'm out.

The Mrs went to Big reunion at the BIC, she said the place was absolutely full.

Hopefully it makes the club a decent bit of money, as well as making a bit of money for Swindon as a whole.

One for the money and free rides.

Hopefully we get some money out of it and the pitch is fine, no interest in either personally but good to see the CG in use.

psyche!

That first day is a nightmare. Just awful. The second day is pretty inoffensive. They should do a proper 90s revival starring Let Loose, Alicia's Attic, The Lightning Seeds and Space

That place holds 6,500 people. Wonder how many these will sell.

Fair play to the board for doing what they promised. Maybe Callum Rice isn't such a useless teapot after all.

What a load of shite, honestly. But, money is money for the club.. or for Jed..

watch us wreck the pitch, watch us wreck the pitch...

It will probably appeal greatly to a certain sizable proportion of the towns population though.

That 2nd day is a great shout from the Board, this reunion stuff seems pretty massive at the moment.

We've certainly got enough gobby little chavs in Swindon to make Day 1 a sell out and a place to avoid like the fucking plague. Will they have to buy a spate seat for their pitbulls / rottweilers etc. .
I won't be going to either but hope they are a success.

It could be Chas and Dave for all I care, just as long as it's a success.

According to Jed the money is guaranteed anyway but if it works, it could be a nice little boost to the coffers each year.

Hopefully the money is directly invested in the club. That'd be the real marker of whether the gigs are a success for the club or not really, no point in a load of profit that we never see.

Is there any mention of exactly how much each gig will pocket the club Jeds Lucifer like pockets of Hell.

1.8M ish. Sounds a lot to me, but then I wouldn't know about this stuff.

That does sound a lot, if the fee is put aside for the running of the club then thats a great deal.

Worth more than the impending sale of Charlie Austin in sell on clauses to us.

 

and Chas 'n Dave are worse than...who,in those line-ups? ;) :)

Wasn't that figure the total for all of the gigs.

Didn't they initially state that it was a series of 6, (can't remember if that was 6 weekends or 6 gigs).  If that were the case, it would make the £1.8m estimate far more believable.

Based on those figures, at the worst they should make £300k out of that weekend.

Yeah its 150k a day

Absolutely. As terrible as the 'music' will be, I couldn't care less as long as it sells out. Just glad I won't be able to hear it

That works out probably about the same as an extra cup game then in the amount I would think.

 Isn't the deal that the shows are being run by Avalon....I'd assume Town would get a fee, for use of facility and the rest goes to the promoter, which is fair enough.  I can't help but feel for the pitch though.....

I've only ever heard of about 3 of the acts on the list.

But Peter Fucking Andre...

The fact I've heard of most of the acts on the 2nd day but none on the first day probably means I'm getting old.

So the little cunt that told me Noel Gallagher was headlining is a lying fucking shit  :no:

Ms Dynamite? Perhaps they could extract the surname and shove it under the stage.

Day 1 is a who's who of chavvy acts - I bet half the town will be out in force.

Day 2 is a who's who of washed up, past it shite.

As long as we profit and the pitch is fine, who cares.

If they can sell out the O2 arena, I'm sure they can sell out Swindon.

We were never going to get massive acts like Muse etc.

I knew it would be this sort of deal. We could all have hoped for a two tone gig with The Specials and Madness headlining a night, but realistically it was always going to be something like this.

I think we need to give Rick Wakeman some credit for pulling this off.  It's from the pile it high & sell it cheap end of the market, but it should pull them in and make some money.  Still not sure what he's going to do for the rest of the year when these concerts are over though.

to be fair both the line ups are very different, but very typical of the music tastes of swindon. not to my tastes i must add. I think it'll be a success.

I bloody love Chas and Dave.

I am just shocked they are happening.Afterall Fredi said they were not happening.

hmmmm is Fredi = Dr Chang under a pseudonym?  :hmmm:

Love how people seem to think its been booked to suit he musical tastes of the town? Surely it's just whoevers touring and needs a venue?

Damn you and your wise thinking.

Am I the only one who things the 2nd night would be good fun, in an ironic way?

Pity they don't have Snap! or The Venga Boys playing.

I think you are

Not really to my musical tastes in the slightest but pleasantly surprised that they are actually going ahead and there is at least some 'names' in the lines up...

It will be interesting to see how the ticket sales go for this. I'd imagine they'll just sell DRS and Arkells then on the pitch. Town End was used only for Elton John and a photo posted from there showed you couldn't see anything so they sacked it off for Brian Adams.

I like acts from both days but may look to get a couple of tickets for day 2

Interesting that the concerts are so early, does this get round the issue of planning permission and getting the council involved for licences etc

Nah. The majority of the target audience where tags as part of their asbo's. If they are not home by 10 the police are sent looking for them.

Mentioned day 2 to someone at work who saw most of those acts at NEC recently and she was gutted to find that Peter Andre is hesdlining but it's was on whilst she's on holiday.  Definitely not my cup of tea, nor most of us here judging by the comments, but there's a massive mainstream market for this bubblegum.

Kinda wish The Cartoons were on there.

Their album was the first album I ever bought.

I feel ashamed by that.


I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought they were twins. Rick Wakeman at the CG would be a laugh.  Everyone who said we need the Venga boys is right, and not getting the Lightning Seeds is a shame...

I suppose this first concert will test the waters a bit, hence the more marketable stuff, and then hopefully once the creases are ironed out we'll get some decent acts in.

Take that Fredi!

Wonder what the capacity will be

Don't think they are on the line up.

Maybe that's a future gig?

I cant really see them putting on anything more than mainstream pop, to be honest. Which is a bit of a shame really, would be nice to see some diversity. There just doesn't really
 seem to be much of a demand for alternative music in Swindon

If you think about it, by definition alternative is bound to have a smaller demand....it's what makes it alternative.

Did they not also say that they were looking at holding gigs at the CG not just on the pitch, Could the Legends lounge not hold a few smaller alternative gigs?

Just one of the many ways the town suffers through not having a university.

I stand by the opinion that a Ska gig with Specials/Madness supported by smaller Ska bands would have sold a fucking shit load of tickets....but sadly other than that I can't actually imagine a gig that would sell well that I would actually go to, state of music for you.

That says more about your small minded musical taste than anything else

I'd probably quite enjoy them I reckon.

It certainly is not my kind of music and I wouldn't fork out for a ticket. If I was there, however, I'd have a few beers and have the craic.

Smaller demand, yes. But in Swindon the demand seems to by minute.

Which enables the few aficianados, to feel majorly superior to their peers, so a good thing ?

Don't really like any of the acts that are on, but people have different tastes and if people like Tulisa and other such shite it's up to them. Probably would be a good craic if you were there as well as Flashheart says...

With enough booze inside me, I'd join in.

Whoaoah, mysterious girl.........

It seems there was some mis-communication over tickets then, adver reporting in their article that tickets were on sale today and giving out the website etc and today it get's announced tickets not on sale yet and no date has been fixed

I wonder if the concerts will go ahead

Have you seen it?

http://www.thebigsummersession.co.uk/

Oh for the love of god

There is negativity and there is negativity

Here, have this rope

 :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

fucking hell

Presumably if it's a glitch then, yes....if something more complicated then maybe...no.

You two need to be locked in a dark room, only to be let out for funerals

or stabbed

Marshall arts, the talent, agent company have a poster made up for it.

http://www.marshall-arts.com/images/tbss_poster4.jpg

definitely sounds like it's not going ahead then

So the concerts and Flint deal have convinced many that all is good?
Short memories. Early days yet.

BBC Wilts tweeting that McCormack likely to turn down the One year contract we've offered as he wants stability of a two year deal.

I am not sure everyone thinks all in the garden is rosy, but there are at least signs of them delivering on some of the stuff they said they would do. Little steps in the right direction.

Not as far as I'm concerned. I used to manage a rock/metal pub in Birmingham, I met enough musical elitists to last me a lifetime. I love talking to people about all different kinds of music. Listening to not so mainstream music shouldn't make anyone feel superior

No hard feelings really, anyone would have done the same in that situation.

No, not at all mate

I just get a tad annoyed at the people who seem to actually take pleasure in anything in the remotest bit negative

I have held my tongue on the whole situation, and will continue to do so until a lot more facts are known and not just stuff attributable to rumour and scare mongerers

That's true. But I hate people talking about footballers wanting 'security'. What they want is as much money as possible.

It'd make sense if it was in his mid 30s but he's 29 years old.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsQYzpOHpik

Cheltenham has a university but doesn't attract any decent bands either.

If we were serious about keeping him, rather than the club making a lame effort to be able to say to the fans "we tried", we wouldn't have offered a one year deal to last season's captain/utility player. I never expected him to stay anyway, it's just another demonstration of quite how skint we are.

And whilst I am at it, I just came across McCrory's tweet about Watford's play-off defeat. Harmless on one level, but unbecoming of a supposed football league chairman. Unprofessional, embarrassing fool.

Its got to be a working class University....like Sheffield,Liverpool etc.....Eton and Cambridge are other Posh gaffs like Cheltenham....that wont draw the crowds :sherlock:

Not at all, I just tend not to listen to 'Chart Music' and music which sells significantly well.

But a University snob would know that Cheltenham isn't one of the great Universities like Oxford, Cambridge and Hull.

Definitely, it could all be a smoke screen for what may follow.  We wait to see.


Tend to  agree.  He was highly unlikely to accept a 1 year deal if he can get longer elsewhere.  Possibly the club were hoping that was the case to get him off the wage bill?

What did the tweet say?

Macca has stated that it was the fact that he was offered less money.......he didn't want more.

Anyone thinking that  lower league player is going to remain at a club after being offered less money is deluded.

We had good cup runs and made the playoffs....the club made good money last year.

As a pro he wants the best deal financially....where that is dosn't matter to him.....he owes the club nothing.

The same probably goes for Flint.

but when you think of the extras like getting to meet Mcknasty as well a host of other superstars that he could do if he stays

Yeah and we spent a lot more than we made. We're cutting our cloth due to having to. I don't expect any player to take a pay cut,  but I also don't expect the club to pay silly money for a 3rd division footballer (which is probably what we were paying).
Good luck to him, good player for us.

Are you trying to say we made a profit? 

:hmmm:

I'm guessing Leefer's point is that the club made a lot of 'unbudgeted for' revenue if that makes sense!!!

So...... it makes financial sense to pay too much for players to (possibly) earn unbudgeted revenue, even though you still operate at a loss overall?

Not a dig at you Freddy

It can (the key word being can) make financial sense to pay a little bit extra in order to have a better team. Which in theory (the key word being theory) will gives you better results and thus more televised games, a better finishing position, better cup runs and hell maybe even promotion. See Bournemouth.

It's not a guarantee, its a bet, a gamble.

The more you bet the higher the potential rewards.

I don't disagree about the speculate to accumulate idea you're suggesting but I don't think Bournemouth are a valid example, they've spent far far more than 'a little bit extra'.

And the higher the catastrophic losses, which you seem content to continually ignore

How much extra will next season as aChampionship club bring?

I'd strongly suggest the betting metaphor made that point clear.

Has Macca gone?

If the investment in players that were apparent to all were made we'd be a championship club now.

The potential upside is fantastic.

But what if the gamble fails?

I've no idea of the figures but the way Bournemouth are spending combined with their losses there is no way you can describe that as a 'little bit extra'. They made a loss of £3.4m in 11/12 and that will have increased this season. Bristol City's losses were much higher and they still got relegated.

It's irrelevant anyway as both clubs have a rich wanker who is willing to throw money at it and we don't.

Black could afford to gamble, I suspect Jed is not in such a fortunate position. I'm afraid it looks like we have to live with that.

I think the good people of the TEF have enough intelligence to work out what happens if the gamble fails without me having to spell it out


Black couldn't afford the gamble, that's why he split. Which is a shame.

My initial point included the term 'financial sense'.

Do you think it makes financial sense to take a big gamble that could potentially see the end of the club?

No but I haven't suggested that and neither did leefer originally.

You are going to a worse case scenario. Not every potential gamble has to be club destroying.

He could, he just had enough half way through so decided to bet in play and take the price. Admittedly a a hefty loss in his case but probably not as much as if he continued to play.

We overspent by approx £2m last season and didn't get up. How much more do we have to gamble? I suspect a couple of seasons like that and it becomes club destroying without a sugar daddy to bankroll us.

What was he ever going to win though? Unlikely he'd ever see his money again, any success at the club clearly meant nothing to him and if he'd waited until the summer and we got promoted we'd be royally fucked if we had to make budget cuts after being promoted

Black could afford to bankroll the club, he just didn't want to. Spending large amounts is all well and good so long as the benefactor can afford to and perhaps more importantly wants to, Andrew Black had no interest in Swindon Town, whereas someone like Lansdown at City wants to fund the club (as a fervent supporter) and can afford to.

All very true Sonic. Which does beg the question of why he got involved in the first place. Something I have no idea on I'm afraid.

So what are you suggesting?

Fuck me.

There isn't a set figure where the gamble suddenly pays off.

If Black had loaned the club the Ritchie fee instead of selling, on a low interest rate and we got Promoted everyone would be better off.

We got taken over by a bunch of mates/business associates who fancied trying to run a football club. They subsequently all fell out with each other and Black was the last man standing.

That happened in 2008 and has happened again in 2013 it would seem...

Would like to see Cox stay to see what he can do, especially if Macca is off. Luke Rooney not so bothered. There is a player in him but he's not worked out IMHO.

Fuck me! Is there not?! Other than the £2m plus the Richie fee then?!

Apparently, obviously.

It was a laugh when his mates were involved as well.  Wray and Fitton were football people, so Black could take a back sat.  When they started to fall out and Black was left on his own, it all changed.  Not what he envisaged.  I still can't understand why he needed out so quickly, but can understand why he needed out.

That spending a little bit extra on players to get/keep better players could prove to be a good gamble/investment in the long run.....

....or it might not (for those who are unaware of how gambling works)

If he'd stayed to the end of the season, or beyond, it would have only meant more losses for him to cover. It's clear that Black had no interest in the football club and had grown tired of the slow process of finding a buyer, he saw an opportunity to use a deadline to his advantage and did so.

We all know how gambling works DV.

What you seem to be missing is that somebody has to pick up the bill if the gamble fails. If the gambler (board) cannot or will not pick up the bill then the club is right royally fucked.

In that case I'd rather Jed and co didn't take a gamble with our club as its highly likely they haven't got a big enough stake to play. Hopefully they've got enough stake to keep playing at a low risk strategy though.

Yes, but he didn't have to commit to another year then welch on it. Arguably sticking it out could have seen a better return, had the gamble come off.

He was clearly so desperate to get out he was all too willing to sell assets, and ultimately the club, to whomever wanted them.

I thank him and want to kick him in the nuts in equal measures.

This is why I think he really didn't give a fuck about the club and found it a nuisance.

That about sums up how I feel about him too Batch. It's the hope that kills you though.

Yes I agree, otherwise he couldn't have done what he did. So frustrating.

Black got involved to support a best mates brothers joint bid at being a football club owner and had some money behind him just in-case.  The original business plan however was very similar to the one we are being poorly told about now.  Namely, cut our cloth, find new revenue streams and invest a little in youth players only who may be worth a sell on fee, offer short term deals to the older players who have no resale value.

Unfortunately, our two main men in Fitton and Wray fucked up the business plan.  Firstly while we actually turned a profit one year, we sold too much and ended up getting relegated when the players with no resale value gave up rather than fucking off.  Then Wray convinced everyone the best plan was to release the purse strings, get Di Canio in and back him.  It worked on the pitch, it royally fucked us off it and Black had enough well over a year ago a signalled out (by agreeing to sell in the summer).  It seems Wray couldn't go along with this, closed his eyes and covered his ears and carried on telling Di Canio to go for it.  Black got really annoyed, got rid of his mates brother and forced a sale to get this shit cuntflap waste of money off of his hands before his nesteg began shrinking further.

We all hate such basic common sense as it has no place in our passionate supporting of our football club.

Going up would have meant jack shit to Black - losing another £1m in the process would.  Ritchie was sold by the CLUB, Black sanctioned it as he wasn't giving us anymore money and agreed to give the takeover a few days to complete as grace.

Black took his gamble 5 years ago, it never paid off and began causing problems about2 and a half years ago, so the end game was not sudden.

So, any talk of him speculating is wide of the mark because why should he when he's already spent millions more than he originally thought he was going to?  Going up may raise money, but most clubs seem to give a good example of how financial prudence just doesn't exist in most football club boardrooms in this country.  Black knows that, Wray as someone he trusted showed what happens, Fernandes at QPR being another sensible example who spunked all the cash without thinking.

Instead of going on about it all (not aimed at any one person), maybe we should be concentrating on how we can ever hope to influence making the club work. The new guys, good or bad, are trying the same template Fitton went for but they don't have the big cash sat in reserve for when they lose the plot.  That is what we should prepare for - support their plan, prepare for it going wrong.  It might not be because they want to strip the club, it could work out fine, but it might go wrong again and someone needs to be ready for that, just in case.

Ramble over

One thing that cannot be underestimated is the choice of Di Canio specifically - Wray's own hero. Of course he wouldn't tell his hero to y'know stop spending so much and be a little bit more sensible with signing players and casting them aside etc.

I do also feel that if Black was a good businessman he'd have been a bit closer to what was going on.  It's all very well people blaming Wray for allowing the spending to get out of control, but why didn't Black ask more questions earlier?

and it was fine, and I supported it, on the basis everyone was on the same page.  Black wasn't and the evidence shows he never was in reality, so we were sold a bit of PR that the plan was in place.  The November alarm bells should really have rung louder and Wray should have swallowed his pride and risked fucking Di Canio off when he balled about no new signings.  In hindsight, it might have kept Black around long enough to have a proper handover of the club even if Di Canio left a few months earlier.

He did, he told them he was selling up as he didn't want to fund it anymore.  The new owner died during due diligence so he was forced to continue bailing the business out with contracts agreed.   In November he started the process to force the sale as quickly as possible and nearly lost patience entirely with the club by threatening admin.

It still grates with me in the way he engineered his exit.  We were on the verge of doing something special and he fucked off. His money, his choice I agree. But I'm not and am never going to like it, and I am not going to apologise for mentioning it from time to time.

As for the new board, I've invested in a new season ticket. I'm not overly excited by the breakup of the squad but its inevitable with the reduced budget. Not sure what else we can all do to support the plan.

I'd suggest having a fan owned back-up, as was being thought of in the past, but a clear offer to help support the current board by the Trust would be a good start.  Making it clear it is not a threat, just a disaster recovery plan.  Even Diamandis and Wills were offered that to start with, they just had some severe hate issues with the fans!

Oh, and the whole sorry affair has shown one thing.  Wray can fill the void left by Max Clifford.  The new board could learn a thing or two from him around PR.

Maybe Wray and Fitton should have shared the job one day at a time, as between them it seems it could have worked but it looks like they took a backseat when the other had their time in charge.

If work had been started on fan ownership a couple of years ago, when Black decided to leave it would have been ready and waiting to take over. The time to prepare isn't when the shit hits the fan, it is now.

Though as you say, it needs to be done carefully and to work with rather than against the current owners.

Yes, I had forgotten about that to be honest.  Do we know when that sale collapsed?


I feel exactly the same Batch and unfortunately I will remember him for that rather than any good he may have done previously.  We're still yet to fully see what the longer term effects could be.

I think the sale fell through either July or August (I want to plump for the latter).

This was Black tweeting on the subject, probably suggest August is a better bet:

"Anyway as the (first) sale of the club was going through FL approval Di Canio and Spencer presented us with a new contract with only a few days to accept. I said it wasn’t my concern as I thought I had sold the club. The contract went through and then I ended up owning the club again. It seemed to be a very one sided contract. I had no choice but to accept it. A couple of months later I replaced Jeremy and relations started breaking down very quickly. I hadn’t been happy with what had happened over (Swindon defender Paul) Caddis and I had had a sense of humour failure when the club breached the wage cap and went into embargo. I had repeatedly asked at the board for all player transactions to be communicated and I had had (sic) virtual radio silence. "

He also mentioned he told everyone he was selling at the start of the 2011/12 season.

Has anyone ever identified who the now sadly deceased new owner was to be?

Still can't understand why people hate black for walking away,  why should he consider pissing further cash up the wall at a project that had already gone septic and cost him friends?  I love the fan logic (aimed at no one) that he should bung another half a million at it on the off chance that we get promoted but god forbid we will create merry hell if season tickets go up 10% or pies 50p.

I know this thread went off in another (and interesting direction), but what did our chairman's tweet say?

Being a Luton fan, you can only imagine.

I assume it's been deleted as the only one I can find says something like 'I'd like to say sorry to Watford for their defeat but I can't. .. ha'.

Oh dear, BBC Wilts report the club are in dispute with Adam Rooney over the validity of the contract he signed that kept him with us until 2015. We are claiming it is invalid as it was signed under the previous board.

Obviously more detail to it than has been reported. I assume he had an automatic option as part of the loan agreement.

A contract's a contract - no matter if it was signed by the previous board.

I would like to hear the clubs stance on this but it seems as though Rooney is on a fair whack which we are not prepared to pay. (inb4 negative remark/we're doomed)

I wondered why he was so keen to stay.

It is BBC Wilts though.

In my experience a more reliable source than the Adver - they certainly get the bigger town related news anyway.

A contract is never just a contract when lawyers get involved. Its a shame its come to this, assuming KMac wants him.

Like you say, presumably a high value contract in a backdrop of cuts..

I misread that last sentance and thought you were being very disparaging about the current under contract players at STFC!

Give it a few months and it may turn into a prophesy :)

I think if the whole Andrew Black thing doesn't show that the trust really should own a % of the club then nothing will. Pity he didn't hand an amount over when he wanted out.

This! (was basically what I wanted to say)

Agreed

I cannot see a situation where a contract of employment is conditional on there not being a change of ownership, or any shortfall other reason why the new board aren't obliged by it. All I can assume is that they hope Rooney sticks two fingers up at them and finds a club that wants him. If he pursues it, the club could find itself liable for any shortfall between his earnings elsewhere and what we offered.

We don't know the details. Brilliantly tinpot though.

I would assume that normal contracts would just be covered by way of TUPE regulations as they have just been transfered to the new co. However I wonder in Rooney's case whether its a question of when the contract comes into effect, i.e. if an agreement to enter contract was signed by old co, does it bind new co?

The Adam Rooney deal is a bit confusing, if the paperwork was all in place to make it final and we'd signed it, why didn't it happen in Jan?

This could well be a money issue but on the other hand it could just be that KMac doesn't want him and can get a forward who will give us more options

Presumably  AR is currently still employed by Birmingham and the claim from him is that he's been offered employment on agreed terms by STFC upon expiry of his current contract.
If due diligence had been completed properly this would have been sorted prior to the takeover.  May well be a consequence of the "do the quickest deal" attitude that got Jedco the club.  He was prepared to take the risk of such things so must be prepared to deal with the fall-out.

Apparently good news on its way...

But will it be schadenfreude?

It was a share sale (as far as I know) so there wouldn't be a TUPE transfer. The new hold co just take  on the liabilities of the existing company. With no DD of course, they didn't know what those liabilities were.

Pox going bust!??

Jed hasn't found a few bits of loose change down the back of the sofa.

On Rooney, we couldn't have signed a contract more than 31 days before the expiration of his current deal no?

Could be the problem, cheeky signed contract in the drawer?

Jed's learnt how to tie his laces?

Jed has realised his PR is crap and has employed Bob Holt.

You just know the good news will be something slightly crap like the dates of the concerts or something? Nothing important player related etc

Ah! I think I misunderstood you.

When I read your post I assumed that you knew something. But now I'm starting to think that the post was more of an encouraging 'Chin up chaps! It'll all be ok in the end!'

"Looks like today will be a good news day Town fans..." is what they've put up on facebook...

Have Alisha's attic been added to the second day of the 'music' festival?

Surely Birmingham pulling out of paying for Caddis has some sort of effect on the agreement in place to sign Rooney, if it was part of the deal. I personally think that Rooney is a poorer all round player than Williams and Collins anyway, and if the contract is relatively big money they are right to do what they can to get out of the deal.

No, Rooney was always unrelated to any potential Caddis deal.

Over 300k a year Rooney is on.I would try get out of it aswell  :D

Ah ok

So by my bad maths he's on about 6.5k a week? Thats barmy for Lg1.

Got to be McCormack signing on? He's off on holiday today, so probably agreed to go somewhere.

Yeah Brentford

Roberts is on a similar wage.

News at 4pm.

Probably be existing players agreeing to a new deal

Happy with that

Who were they again? Storey, N.Thompson and McCormack?

Hollands?

Its just going to be longer contracts for Thompsons isn't it/Wes maybe, not going to be anything exciting.

New players can't join until July 1st after all

My word, it really is the Thompson's. Pretty sure that was rolled out as good news a few weeks ago.

Reckon they were offered contracts a few weeks ago but have only signed today.

BOOM!

I'm going to start calling you Dr Chang.

How do you know?

Its good news the Thompsons are signed up. Far better than the alternative.

Dream on.

What Tin Tin up front, Captain Hadock in midfield and Snowy the Dog replacing Rockin Robin as mascot.

Anything would be better than Rocking Robin and his fucking haka - which the guy on the mic creams his pants over!!

You can't hear that guy at the top of the DRS but that Robin haka is cringeworthy. However if the kids enjoy it then I guess it has its purpose.

I sit half-way up the DRS and can hear him loud and clear - and the crap music they play before the game and at half-time.  It's no wonder the opposition supporters have a good laugh at us in the critical 15 minutes before the game - a time when they should have been winding the home fans up to crank up the atmosphere!!