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New Manager
Player announcement
New Chairman
Staff announcement
Fuck all

Could be a huge day/week this week so what do we think we will hear about today

I reckon there will be murmerings today but tomorrow will be when some explosive news happens.

I suspect very little today - Helps build the tension and anxiety.

New away kit?

New groundsman?

Power Lounge opening night VIP tickets go on sale?

fuck all until tomorrow/Wednesday/Thursday

Town target signs for someone else?

You know life isn't always a Craig David song!  ;D

I don't think we will hear anything until Wednesday or Thursday.

Is there any particular reason that we aren't hearing something reassuring from Clem Morfuni - even if it's brief and cliched (bear with me, better days are coming etc)? So far all we've had is a handful of indicators that something has changed but all we have is some positive seeming ITKers for reassurance set against a mass exodus.

I amagine Clem will have signed a NDA until transfer of shares is complete

He's too busy having multiple photos taken with his scarf over his head outside and around the CG.   :hmmm:

or what Shrivvy said. (I was thinking the same but wasn't sure if it would be part of a takeover, makes sense if one is required)

Before anyone says anything, that comment was a joke! I am not an ITK!

If Clem says the wrong thing it might be used by Power to slow things down.

It's best he stays absolutely shtum until everything is confirmed. It's just not worth the risk.

I’d imagine we’ve not heard anything because until there is an agreement in place, it’s not certain he will take over. This is about more than just signing a share transfer. He has to find out what he is buying (easier said than done) and then negotiate the terms of the transfer - eg, who takes the risk of gremlins that come out with another £1m liability in 6 months’ time that was not disclosed. Answer - probably Morfuni, because Power won’t foot the bill, which means Morfuni has to take even more time to look for those gremlins….

Fair enough all, I hope you're all correct, it's that straightforward and we do actually have a pause in the game of wankers pass the parcel that STFC ownership has been. I get NDAs covering the terms of a deal, or the state of the accounts etc but why it would cover that there is a change when there are so many leaks into the public domain I have no clue but nothing should surprise I suppose.

I imagine he is just waiting for the materials for the Town End bar to be delivered, then its full steam ahead.

According to the Trust it’s likely to take 2 weeks to get things done.

If that means no manager and no signings til then I reckon we’re going to struggle.

I understood it as up to 2 weeks but hopefully sooner.

Can no decisions on anything be made until then?

At least the 2 signings we have made are solid. No problems there.

They haven’t thrown in the towel yet either? Wow, maybe things are looking up.

I think '2 weeks' is just the trust being cautious.

that's what they said.

But what i didn't hear them say was when the process started.

This is it isn't it? If we are completely stuck until the whole process is over - lets assume 14 days from today then that's w/c 12th July and we're deep into pre-season where team bonding and fitness are almost certainly crucial. You would hope that we might be able to get a manager and players in but who signs off the contracts and the budgets for these players etc?

Of course the timing isn't ideal but at least on the face of it, July is better than September. We'd be in a right pickle if we couldn't do much until then!!

let's hope it's over in the next few days, not 2 weeks

every day from here is a day lost to our rivals.

hopefully recruitment is ongoing behind the scenes on the assumption it will unblock soon. That does assume the manager and/or DoF are lined up now though

I think I remember Clem saying weeks ago that he already had scouts in place looking for players

I’ve noticed your avatar has become very popular with people!

I suspect this is Ben Chorley's job?

I popped on Twitter the other day and it was everywhere.

There is absolutely no way they are not talking to managers players etc behind the scenes ready to

No doubt. But talking is no fucking good if they can’t actually do anything. Players aren’t going to hang on if there are other choices available to them.

If I’d been told six weeks ago that there was a good chance we’d have a new owner in place by mid-July, I would have breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Have we heard anything from Michael Standing at all? Is he likely to have an ongoing relationship with the club? As a football agent it could be that he sees a route to his money back through a working relationship here.

His objectives have aligned with Morfuni's in an enemy of my enemy manner to date we assume, but I guess some of the £6 million debt/debenture is/could be due to him? What happens there? There still seems a lot to potentially go wrong.

Players and managers will not mind waiting 2 weeks if we are offerring the best deal to them. If we are not then it doesn't matter anyway

It's Swindon Town.

They haven't actually signed yet just pre contracts, they can't sign properly until 1st July so can still back out if they wish to.

This is why I don't get the 'we just have to stay up' mindset.

Yes, we are at a disadvantage and we should not expect promotion as a result. But if Clem's genuine then the manager should have a decent budget to work with and be able to put together a reasonable squad by the time the season starts, with more to fill in later. We should still be able to put together a better squad than quite a few other teams in this league, albeit it with less time to prepare and some of the manager's first choices would already be taken (which is usually the case anyway)

Some people act as though we'd be operating on a threadbare squad of shit players and youths throughout the season. I don't get it, why would that be? I expect the manager to show he has what it takes to get us promoted in the 22/23 season, and just staying above the dotted line won't cut it.

It's taking Clem long enough to get this takeover sorted, what signs are there he'll be more competent at staff recruitment or any other aspects of running the club? 

Some feedback from the Trust on our accounts. Most has already been covered but thought I would share anyway.

https://truststfc.tv/stfc-accounts-review-year-ending-may-2020/

re this bit - Profit of c£0.6m in 2019 was recognised as turnover in 2019, which has been reclassified as an admin expense (due to lack of detail, this is hard to explain at this point, but does appear quite odd)

Is it possible that this could be 'fiddling the books' and could potentially get the club in trouble? Or merely some kind of allowed accounting adjustment?

Surely fiddling the books is nothing to do with club, per se. It’s the fiddler.

I've no idea, hence my question. You are probably right but we've been caught out in the past as a club financially haven't we?

I'm no expert, but generally disposal of assets is a balance sheet transaction, not one that hits the profit and loss account.

Would 2019 coincide with the Highworth training ground? Could be something to do with that. £600k is a lot of money to "lose".

Without full details it's difficult to tell, but I'd hypothesise that something was sold for less than book value. Originally the sale price could've been accounted for as income, ignoring the loss, but has since (correctly) been restated as a cost due to it being sold for less than it was acquired.

Did the club by the land for the training ground, or did Power?

My understanding was that Power bought the land and the club would pay a "peppercorn rent" for using it.

I haven't got time to look now, but pretty sure on the training ground planning application the club were the applicant, but they served formal notice on Lee Power as landowner - I vaguely recall this may have changed during the determination process.

Wouldn't it be funny if Power cocked up and accidentally gave the land to Clem as well?

That's what I'd presume - the correction is to ensure the Accounts are as accurate as possible given what would be available to the new owner to identify any issues.  Something was booked wrong in 2019 (very wrong) and it's clearly obvious given the info that had to be disclosed, so it has now been corrected while they have the chance.  Same goes for the Transfer fee received which was booked as a Directors Loan account transaction.  You do not accidently get that wrong, but you can correct it.

To a point.  But when the carrying value of the asset being disposed differs from the value realised on disposal, it will generate a profit/(loss) on disposal that would have to pass through the P&L.  What seems to have happened here, though - and this is such a basic error that it's difficult to believe those involved weren't incompetent or dishonest - is the P&L effect was posted through the Revenue line.  That's an accounting howler.  Not surprised it had to be corrected/restated.

Any profit or loss on the disposal would go to the P&L

The clock is ticking

Just need the deal ratified and announcements will be made.
Fingers crossed the Manager confirmed this week.

Let's hope so Dukey whoever we have lined up!

I assume given the timing its likely to be an unemployed manager and not someone in work like Cooper or Flynn as has been reported/rumoured?

A very good ninety minutes to bury news coming up. At least one football club will sneak something out.

Definitely.

Ricketts maybe

Cheers Duke.

However you look at it we are hopelessly not ready for the season.
Need to get this deal official, approved and then make the announcements.

Lets hope its day(s) not weeks then

Given that the trust seem to think any decisions on staff appointments can’t be made until the deal is complete, let’s hope if the manager is announced this week, that’ll mean the deal for the club will also be completed.
Ricketts is a good shout. My brain hurts trying to figure out who Clem would want as boss.

Somebody with Caddis as assistant.

I'm convinced that Ricketts will manage us at some point.  Too many Swindon connections to be able to avoid us forever!

Still have a feeling that it might be Tisdale, has been linked with us so often and is local.

That said Holloway has been linked so often too, and it’s never happened

I don't think it will be Ricketts, Tisdale or Holloway, I think we will be somewhat underwhelmed by the first appointment, just something in my water. Just a gut feeling. Probaby be a manager who most fans will say "should have stuck with McGreal".

Isn’t it more like ‘he should have stuck with us’? Will we ever know what went on.

The thing is McGreal was sold a club with Power in charge, working with his mate Jewell and told that he will have untold riches to sign players. Then all of a sudden thats all taken away from him. First his mate Jewell goes then the transfer budget disappears totally and then the takeover happens(or will), leaving him with no Power, no Jewell and no budget, almost overnight.

I fully understand him leaving.

I suspect we will never know the real reason, for McGreal to come out and say what happened (if your summary is broadly correct) he is going to look a very naive fool.

“I fully understand him leaving“ I think most on here do too. Hopefully he’ll never get to “run” another football club again and that McGreal and his assistant get a decent gig somewhere else.

I wouldn't say a fool, he was brought to the club under false pretenses by a close friend who too was led up the garden path by a mate who owned a club without any way of funding it.

I predict the new man will be unveiled today!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hamKl-su8PE

Christ! It’s not Karl Robinson, is it?

Rule nobody out....

Oh I absolutely accept that. This season will be a challenge based on preparation but I'm still hopeful that we'll be bringing in a calibre of player that can lay the foundations for a proper go at promotion next season.

Steve Evans  ;)

I wonder if the ‘McGreal 6’ are still knocking about?

I think given the timeline we're really going to have to 'make do' and if the appointment is underwhelming then so be it.

Tisdale, surely. Local and knows the divisions.

Thankfully not.

Can you give us mere mortals a clue please Banbury?
I might make the next few days more interesting

Is Banbury saying that Clem has a manager who's out of work currently ready to come in?

Yes

If it's somebody that Clem agreed on a while back, you'd hope they will already have players lined up. They might even have contracts agreed to and ready to be signed.

Are we to understand that the Duke of Banbury has taken over the role of official TownEnd ITKer?

I wonder how much of that changed when McGreal was appointed?

Anyway, I guess whoever it is will be working on that now

Tim Cahill ;)

Tansmedia exclusive

Thinking back, the trust in their most recent Facebook update I beleive alluded to deals/players being ready/looked at once all is finalised.

I mentioned this point a couple of pages back which is why Banbury’s comments are rattling around my head.

Duke has always been the GOAT when it comes to actually ITK. Just subtle with it.

Times like now where I wish we had the Adver at the same levels it was 2006-2013 where we'd receive regular updates on the goings on of our takeover sagas. Know it's not possible anymore due to the lack of funding Newsquest assign to the sports desk.

The Duke has always been one of the best connected fans and posters on the TEF, I trust him 100%.

Not forgetting NDA’s and the small matter of Sub-juice.

Come on Swindon.

This week has been excellent for English football so far - let's make it even better.

Announcements, please.

Harold Bishops ghost as his assistant

PDC

As you know JJ if Duke reveals anything it's usually spot on

I would be very, very surprised if the building blocks for next season were not being cemented in place on TOP of the foundation that Clem has already outlined in his recent interviews. I would wager that he was as certain as he could be that he’d get control of the club sooner rather than later. To leave it until later (whenever that transpired and certainly not September after the Power v Standing court case) would have dire consequences for the plans, hopes and aspirations he has for this club. Revisit the interviews if you need confirmation of the direction of travel he has embarked upon.

As has been mentioned and I think alluded to by Clem too is he has backers who will propel the club at the appropriate times with the monies it needs in a managed and I’m sure sustainable way. Therefore the wheels in the first chapter of Clems reign are turning NOW, the legal paperwork takes a bit of time but those ready to take the driving seat know time is of the essence and it will be pushed as hard as it can to be ready to walk straight in to SN1 the moment they get the keys and put new locks in the doors. That is why the Supermarine game was put back and that I sure is why McGreal and his assistant resigned they’re not the anointed ones. It’s happening, it really is, just be patient.

Maybe this supposed hold up with the takeover is why McGreal legged it. Didn’t want to be in charge of a team with hardly any players and forced to play the kids. Much like what happened to Bolton when they got tonked every week.

What supposed hold up, everyone ITK has suggested it will happen sometime this week, has that now changed?

EDIT - Seen other thread now, as you were.

As most people know...buying a house is a ballache with delays etc...this will drag on for a bit im sure.

Thinking new ownership and of course a new manager is miles away yet

Certainly when it comes to ownership, don’t think we’ll see a new owner until September. This is personal with Lee power. Sabotage

and the club could fall

but Power has a lot of cash tied up in this. so maybe not

We could be the next Bury