Thetownend.com

Good to see bills being paid already

He's here to play the bills "his words"  :pint:

Let’s see if Hodgetts wants to answer a question… perhaps could deliver Clem an apology at the same time. Don’t think he will to be honest.

What did Hodgetts previously say which upset a few?

Said he hated Home and Away, and never thought ‘Especially for You’ was a very good song.

People like that embody everything that's wrong with the world. 

He's a neighbors fan and prefers Natalie Imbruglia!

10 game package  question has come up.

they are looking at it, but needed to get season tickets sorted first.  

If demand is there...

Some of our fans don’t get it. Embarrassing.

At least 3.5 million debt

unsecured debt.

presumably there's more though. Gulp

Skeletons and spanners in the works!

£1m in efl hardship loans

wages all paid up now.

edit: June and July

Can't accuse Hodgetts of not asking awkward questions "last years season tickets money"

asked the wrong person though. needed done to the previous owner

Probably the same answer as they both seem ready for awkward questions

Too busy receiving a reach around from LP

Can you confirm if Lee Power had the season ticket money for him self?

Long pause, followed by i dont want to talk about the previous regime

Think that answers the question!

Exactly, silence is worth a thousand words!

He’s asking the wrong person surely?

Bloody right.

He's asking the question to both of  them then it goes quiet as they decide between them who's going to answer

He likes all cheese

Rob likes Spanish cheese but know idea what the two Bens like!

Pointless even having a phone in if we can’t establish what kind of cheese Ben&Ben like. Clem/Ben&Ben out

 :clap:

I think we'd be all be astounded by the amount of shit Power has presumably left behind.

Hopefully Clem can spend a season simply steadying the ship and getting us back on two feet.

Rob Angus sounds like a great bloke and it's fantastic having a proper fan working alongside the new owner.

Short term for the club will be difficult but cautiously optimistic about the medium to long term. Full support for the new board going forward. Come on you reds.

Well said  :clap:

If I’m worried about anything it’s that there’s one sole mother load of a skeleton that Power has left behind that could make Clem think it’s not worth it. The further down the line we go with Clem, of course, the lesser the worry will be. But knowing how slimy that cunt Power is, it’s still going to niggle me

Clem will invest. His window to walk away has been and gone. It’s probably like chasing losses as a gambler, he has already thrown a significant amount in. He will hold the vision and trust the process. At this point not even Admin would recoup his losses!

Could do with Ben and Ben being at the next phone in....

I was thinking the same and maybe for two hours like it used to be as Hodgetts seemed to be rushing his questions

Rob Angus take a bow.  Almost single handedly dealt with all the questions raised. Clem happy to allow Rob as CEO to answer which in a way is a good sign, proving he is a good delegator. As owner and sole investor he wants his CEO to take ownership of day to day matters, although the contrary view would be that there were some questions where i felt Clem would lead on i.e level of unsecured debt.

Clearly very significant inherited problems which must be an absolute minefield to work through and listening to the phone in made me realise how much is involved in running a football club, particularly one in such a difficult position as we are. Significant rent arrears and HMRC debt, wages not paid in June,  football creditors, EFL loans £1m, unsecured creditors £3.5m on top of the operational issues such as getting the stadium ready for Saturdays game.  Then there is the issues of getting players in!

If ever there was a clear rallying call for fans to buy season tickets and merchandise that was it. Forget issues around ST refunds, 3rd kit, etc get behind the club and support it. People such as Rob Angus deserve our support. I thought he spoke with great integrity and openness and his slight nervousness showed me what it means to him,  as a dedicated supporter, to now be the main person representing the club at such a difficult time.

ST's renewed +1 new one purchased, 3 shirts purchased and going to Scunthorpe with renewed enthusiasm. Dont care if it's going to be a difficult season on the pitch, let's all get behind the team and the club in whichever way we can.

Good post

Great post

I don’t understand the jitters about the debt.

Before Power shot himself in the foot re exemption rights, Axis were willing to pay in excess of what the mythical Able were reportedly going to pay - £7.5m.

Subsequently, Axis only paid £212,500 for the club, so surely the remaining £7,287,500 is available to pay off the debts.

In fact, I reckon the debts are nowhere near that figure so there even should be some excess.

Or have I got something terribly wrong?

That's where I've been at myself.

Virtually every Supplier has not been paid.
I know one with a sizeable debt. Power cleared the shelves without doubt.
Just thankful the scumbag has gone.

As unpalatable as that is it should come as no surprise.

scorched earth policy - very stalinist

Surely, with all this information it should make Standings case so much easier.
Also, if and when the FA / FL are wanting to make a decision over previous wrong doings by Power / the club they must take on board and understand it was their decision suggesting Power was a Fit for purpose owner of the club in 2014. :(
As for the IRD. Surely Power would be liable for any and all money taken out of the club as personal drawings / Shareholders dividends etc. 
So many questions and it would still be very interesting to know who were Able. Did they happen to exist of just total imagination ?
Good luck sorting these issues out.




   

I missed the phone in, but can anybody confirm if we know the most important info related to the new owner and CEO, that of their favourite cheese?

Clem Morfuni, thinking this must be a trap - "all cheeses, how's that?"

Rob Angus, more familiar with the STFC fanbase - "Spanish cheese"

Perhaps not a first priority, but if there isn't Queso Morfuni in the STFC Shop in time for Christmas, we're just throwing money away.

Even though I guess there are probably much less varieties than France, "Spanish cheese" is quite vague. That said I can only really think of manchego off the top of my head, and I am not 100% sure that really is Spanish!

I'm really not convinced by 'Spanish cheese'. Sounds like innuendo.

I hope the trust is looking into this.

It's all a bit vague and conspicuous...

Apart from pocketing last year’s ST money was there any hint that Power May have done the same with the EFL loan money?

Not trying to defend Power, because his actions clearly show he’s a crook, but surely the ST money would have paid the wages for last season

I don’t think anyone needs to hint, it’s pretty obvious. We’ve had £1m off the EFL, season ticket money for last season, furlough payments during last summer plus whatever government business grants the club was able to take.

All that money coming in, but he hasn’t paid creditors, HMRC, the council, players wages last month.

No need to hint, the money is in one bank account .

What a travesty of questioning that is, why didn't they press the matter?!

'All cheeses'?! What the hell kind of answer is that!? Might as well say 'no cheeses'. Bleeding Kangaroo botherer.

Rob should have been more specific, bit of a let down.

#cheesegate

Far as Power pocketing money goes, I think it's pretty obvious he was in the club as long as required to take as much out and pay as little as possible, particularly since the court case started as he must have had an inkling he would be on the losing side of that.

If there's cash coming in but none going back out to pay rent/salary, it doesn't really take a genius to figure where it could have gone.

If there's been a change in ownership etc. does that mean our pukka pie catering contract is finally over and I can get a decent cup of tea that doesn't taste like someone's filled it from the sink at the back of the kitchen that's got all the dirty dishes in it?

Well, that’s the point. If he hasn’t paid anyone for a year it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out where it’s gone.

Hopefully, something he’s done is downright illegal. Wasn’t the EFL money ringfenced in any way to prevent crooked owners just pocketing it?

I thought it was only June where he didn’t play the players & staff.

Isn’t it the external suppliers that the crook didn’t pay.

To be fair I’m more concerned about the other dodgy dealings rather than the ST money.

Power warned in February that he wouldn't have enough money to pay wages etc after the end of March

Seems anything not nailed down and worth a few quid ended up in the crook’s pocket. Wages were paid until he decided he’d sold the club and wasn’t his responsibility any more - that alone must have been worth thousands.

The fact he hadn’t paid HMRC and rent for a year or so proves this shitstorm was well planned in advance.

I think I'll also play devils advocate and say deferring both those to pay staff may not be a stupid thing to do. ...

but

that's only true if the st money, EFL grants, sell ons and DJ money, Curran money, etc was less than that paid out.

that's guesswork, but I bet he got his transfer consultancy fees

and the Twine money. (unless that's what you meant by the st money?)

no, I meant season ticket money - early bird was finished before covid stopped play

If everything that we think he has done actually turns out to be true I think this maybe LPs last venture as a company director for a while

There may not even be any Scott Twine money yet, unless I've missed something, a fee will be decided by tribunal which may not have even happened yet.  I could be completely wrong of course.

Interesting that we only have the monitored loan agreement listed on the naughty step at the moment.
There were 4 other items a couple of weeks ago including HMRC and the accounts etc.

https://www.efl.com/-more/governance/embargoes/

Indeed - and probably a marital separation also.

Ah, is seems clubs can agree a fee without needing a tribunal so probably already in Power's pocket.

Yeah I checked literally a couple days ago and there was the defaults in payments to HMRC amongst other things... does this mean first embargo has been lifted?

The last we heard of Twine was that the 2 clubs were looking to arrange a fee between them. I hope theyu didn't.

In regards to last seasons Season ticket money playing staff wages lets not forget they were furloughed for most of it as well

Cheers, I don't remember hearing anything.  Like you say, hopefully the fee is yet to be agreed.

That's very good news and ties in neatly with what Rob Angus said on the phone in. Should mean that more signings will be able to be made within the next few days. Just the EFL £1m loan to sort now to get stage 2 (the one that caps the wages) of the embargo lifted.

players paid in full though.
------
HMRC it was mentioned that a payment plan was agreed + 1st payment made.

also similar for rent.

I think that was on this very phone in
--
I read that EFL page as us being out of the um-bongo. yes!

My understanding (from a friend of a friend at MK)  is that a fee was agreed on the basis that it was paid upfront in one amount, rather than in stages (as is the norm), presumably so that a certain individual benefitted.

Also from what I hear it was a large up front sum which exceeds the most MK Dongs have previously paid for a player transfer £250k+.

:(

And any sign on straight into the pocket of you know who?

Well its not a surprise is it as that seems to be the way! where is the Freeman and DJ money that Power took back in March, a not insubstantial amount from what I hear.

bogle money. just been reminded.

very much "where's the money gone"

and to think some believed that a boycott would just hurt the club and not Power.

I presume there is no law against him taking every penny out of the club for his own use. As long as he pays tax or whatever on it. Wasn’t the fat fucker squealing about capital gains tax as well.

he was when he tried to rob Clem of the value of the shares her bought (the 15%)

Jed sold that off for a roaring ten years, didn't he? In the first batch of asset stripping. That contract must be up in a year or two.

I think I heard that contract managed to become annulled somehow.

There are new caterers, i think the people who do the food outside the ground have taken it all over

It didn't take a rocket scientist to work out that with the highest ticket price and one of the highest attendances in the league but lowest budget for years that he was pocketing money left, right and centre either, but most of our fan base still operated on a see no evil basis.

to be fair I thought that was going to be the reality of self sufficiency.

until I realised self sufficiency meant power could live  it up without spending his own money allegedly on things like high class hookers

Depends if you class £20 an hour as high class.....

That is a good sign as their food is much better.

He also later told the judge he had money to fund until September and then promptly stopped paying everyone at the first opportunity.

He should never really been allowed to takeover after a failed programme company and involvement in the demise of Cambridge, Luton and Rushden & Diamonds while he always seems to come out with money and smelling of roses.

Unfortunately as I understand it the fit and proper persons test does nothing but check if you have access to funds to run a club in the short term. It's pretty worthless.

You wonder how many clubs need to suffer at the hands of people like this before The FA impose bans.

So what criteria do the EFL use to try and weed out the wrong ‘uns - especially as the EFL is, essentially, the club’s themselves.

Best thing is for any prospective new owner has to lodge a bond that covers, say, 6 months wages and mandatory publishing of full accounts.

Don't forget that if it wasn't for those pesky kids Morfuni and Standing, Power would have left the accounts showing  the Matt Ritchie fee as money he'd loaned the business and be trying to get it twice.

The one on the corner of the Arkells and TE? Thank god, their food and drink is wayyyy better. Best news to come out of all this.

Jutty will be smiling from ear to ear.