Does anyone know ofthe changes behind the scenes?

[Piemonte]

Power must surely have got some shares for his million quid.

If not I'd think he was a bit mental. but the good kind of mental

[rockincockinrobin]

Bill Power IN, Mark Devlin IN

Bob Holt OUT, Sandy Gray OUT, Wills Family OUT, Willie Carson OUT, Mike Diamandis OUT.

I'm sure everyone would agree.

Bill Power to take over the club (i hope)  

[Nomoreheroes]

I dont know enough about this, but would like to say two words:

Terry Brady

NMH

[janaage]

I for one would not like to see the Wills family gone.  Fair enough maybe take more of a back seat but after all they have done for this club, especially in these recent dark days, to say you would like to see them gone is a little out of order, in my opinion.

Without that family we would have gone under a long time ago.  Having said that I would love to see Bill P as chairman and guide us up the league where we would all love to see us compete.

[stfctownenda]

I think all of us are a tad worried about the situation and can see groundhog day materialising again.  In my opinion the Wills family have been legendary in keeping us alive as a club and I for one as a supporter will be forever grateful to them and Mike D for the job he has done under heavy criticism behind the scenes but I do feel now is the time for them to pass the reigns to Bill Power, the Wills family have taken us as far as they can and with Bills finance and passion for football and Mark Devlins financial knowhow we have 2 guys who can take us to the next level.  Best agreement for all would be that the Wills family get a good pay off still keeping some shares and Bill & Mark take over, everyone happy  

[janaage]

But that should not mean that the Wills family should be forced out of the club they obviously care so much about.  Yes hand the reigns to Power, but they can still be a part of the club.

[STFC Bart]

No one disputes what the Wills family have done for the club, however their ability to allow their club to be run by people (dunwoody) with another agenda has to be held in question.

I for one will not be giving the cllub any more money ift he worst does materialise-

[Bogus Dave]

well glad we've got that sorted then

[el duque]

Article on the Beeb, sorry if it's been posted can't be bothered to sift through the silt and all...

The problems appear to have begun when new director Bill Power and Mark Devlin started to take more control over the footballing side of the business.

Some of the decision made – particularly the amount of money being spent have upset some of the longer serving board members. This is a situation not helped by the inevitable lack of communication between the groups as Power and Devlin recover from injuries sustained when their aeroplane crashed.

 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/content/articles/2006/09/18/stfc_180906_feature.shtml

Perhaps I've got completely the wrong end of the stick, but...

If that article is to believed then I'd have to say good on the Wills family. It seems entirely sensible to me that decisions on outgoings should be agreed on by a majority of the board. Surely that is what they're there for.

Also, given what has happened over the past few years (particularly the era of the previous much heralded big name manager + overweight has-been combo) it might be sensible to err on the side of caution as far as Swindon Town are concerned.

If new parties want to increase the spending, then it does not seem unreasonable to expect them to cover them themselves, or to have some sort of viable business plan to cover these outgoings.

I don't know the details of the situation, but given the limited information available, that would seem to be a fair summary of the situation.

From what I've seen of what Mark Devlin posts on this site, he seems a decent, level-headed chap. Certainly not the sort to agree to silly amounts of money being spent that are going to get the club into trouble in the short or long term.

One just hopes that this is all the result of a misunderstanding, and that it can be sorted out with a bit of sensible discussion.

[Piemonte]

No one disputes what the Wills family have done for the club, however their ability to allow their club to be run by people (dunwoody) with another agenda has to be held in question.

I for one will not be giving the cllub any more money ift he worst does materialise-

So Bart, what is the dunwoody agenda?

[Dazzza]

Adver update.....


There’s no infighting’
By Craig Lyus
 
Bob Holt
OVER-BUDGET Town have been forced to make redundancies but Bob Holt insists there is no boardroom power struggle at the County Ground.

Long-serving secretary Linda Birrell has been told there is no longer a job for her as the club look to make cutbacks off the field rather than on.

While Bill Power and Mark Devlin continue their recovery from last month's plane crash, the remaining board members held a management meeting' yesterday to address several issues including spiralling wages.

No contact has been made with Power since the accident on the opening day of the season but Holt maintains there is no infighting' between himself, the Wills family and the two recuperating former QPR men.

continued...
He said: "In business people rub each other up the wrong way sometimes - that's just human nature, it's the same in any marriage.

"But there is nothing to suggest there is any power struggle because we haven't spoken since the accident and I can't contact them.

"The only meeting we've had with Bill was before his accident. How can there be a rift if we haven't had the chance to speak to him?

"Since then all we've had is an email from a family member saying he is too ill to return to work - which is fair enough because it's no small thing to fall out of the sky.

"The problem we have now is that we are over-budgeting in all areas.

"I'm writing to Mark Devlin to ask him when he expects to be back at work to address the situation.

"If Bill comes back and says I'm going to fund the club' we'll step back and say fine. But at the moment he's not there."

A bone of contention that has fuelled rumours of disharmony is the signing of Paul Ince.

Holt is concerned that the deal has stretched finances to the limit.

"I was slightly alarmed at Paul Ince signing," he said.

"That put us well over the 60 per cent wage cap and we've had to negotiate with the Football League about that and we needed a big donation from James Wills.

"Again if Bill Power is willing to cover those costs then fine.

"But we have had to make a redundancy to a person at the club.

"She has been a stalwart for six or seven years now and it's sad because Linda is a friend.

"But we're not a Championship club. We're a League Two club with aspirations to go higher and we need to cut our cloth accordingly.

"We must focus on the playing budget and that means we have to make cutbacks elsewhere. It's the same as any other business."

Holt also reaffirmed that no approach has been made to invest in the club by an outside party but any serious offer would be considered.

"We have not been approached officially or unofficially by anyone looking to invest in the club," he said.

"If someone came along with an offer that can be substantiated, then the board would be duty bound to put that offer to the shareholders with the appropriate recommendations. But that hasn't happened."

Holt also denied speculation that Dennis Wise is set to take over as manager at Leeds United - to the best of his knowledge anyway.

"There has been no approach for Dennis as far as I'm concerned. At least I hope not."

[DribblingSissy]

Perhaps I've got completely the wrong end of the stick, but...

If that article is to believed then I'd have to say good on the Wills family. It seems entirely sensible to me that decisions on outgoings should be agreed on by a majority of the board. Surely that is what they're there for.

Also, given what has happened over the past few years (particularly the era of the previous much heralded big name manager + overweight has-been combo) it might be sensible to err on the side of caution as far as Swindon Town are concerned.

If new parties want to increase the spending, then it does not seem unreasonable to expect them to cover them themselves, or to have some sort of viable business plan to cover these outgoings.

I don't know the details of the situation, but given the limited information available, that would seem to be a fair summary of the situation.

From what I've seen of what Mark Devlin posts on this site, he seems a decent, level-headed chap. Certainly not the sort to agree to silly amounts of money being spent that are going to get the club into trouble in the short or long term.

One just hopes that this is all the result of a misunderstanding, and that it can be sorted out with a bit of sensible discussion.

Completely agree with el duque....this is only blowing up out of proportion, but the reality is that for the good of the club we are erring on the side of caution.

Financial matters in business are never straight forward, but the summary above wraps it up pretty nicely, the events of the last few months will not have bankrupt us, but with the focus being shifted to more on the team (spending i mean) then we have to compensate unless we get further investment......so for the good of the club, its more money from those spending it, or paycuts and redundancies in areas we can cover.

Its not as bad as people make out......in fact i'm encouraged by the way that we are getting some (if only) details of whats going on and I am sure we will get more shortly.

[Dazzza]

Similar noises from the WDP with MD's side...

http://www.westpress.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=150309&command=displayContent&sourceNode=150308&contentPK=15462546

[pauld]

I for one would not like to see the Wills family gone.  Fair enough maybe take more of a back seat but after all they have done for this club, especially in these recent dark days, to say you would like to see them gone is a little out of order, in my opinion.

Without that family we would have gone under a long time ago.  Having said that I would love to see Bill P as chairman and guide us up the league where we would all love to see us compete.

 What Jan said.

[Supercake2]

really sorry but i haven't read the rest of the posts to see if this topic has come up.

but reading the adver today it shows again poor management that the club has over budgeted again! has the club not learn't anything from the past.

Im all for bringing in players like ince to try and boost fan morale and fan base. but does the club need to make further cuts across the club to do it, after all before ince the team was on a great unbeaten run and the playing squad looked good enough to challenge for the league.

the club cant afford many more mistakes surely? and this looks like another blunder to me.