Administration

[jonny72]

No, that quote came from the 9am Patey interview live on BBC RS. The "potential administration" headline was on the 6:30am news

I was a bit confused when Patey was talking about an administrator as a specialist to help get the clubs finances under control. It's not rocket science though is it, we spend too much on wages and don't have enough income. Besides I doubt there are any better placed people than those at the club to figure out what needs to be done to get us breaking even.

So not sure what the benefit of bringing anyone in is.

[pauld]

Administration or not, looking to offload the club now has to be a concern for fans and the club. Why plough all that dough in to then try to sell up? I can only assume that they see it as too expensive a project. They have put in loads and the wage bill etc is high.

Because it used to be a "they" and now it's a "he". Fitton and Wray were always the driving forces on the football side, albeit minority investors, and they were all supposed to be in it together. Now there's been a parting of the ways and what was a fun project has turned into an ongoing (and expensive) hassle

[Arriba]

Because it used to be a "they" and now it's a "he". Fitton and Wray were always the driving forces on the football side, albeit minority investors, and they were all supposed to be in it together. Now there's been a parting of the ways and what was a fun project has turned into an ongoing (and expensive) hassle

well that worries me then. I have always known that we were relying on them funding us and withdrawing that funding could be a big problem for the club. Just didn't see that happening yet.

[BruceChatwin]

If we DID go into administration (and at the moment thankfully it seems a big and implausible if) then, frankly, it would be an absolutely disgraceful and inexcusable f*uck up by our owners having got us clear of debt and putting us back on a secure financial footing.

Going from debt free to £13 million in debt over 3 seasons, during which all the sounds coming out of the boardroom had been about how well the club was now being run and how clear a plan the owners had; would frankly be a catastrophically embarrassing and unacceptable act of mismanagement.

If they weren't planning to either a. write off that debt at a later date to keep the club on the footing they started at or B. see their investment through in the long run with a plan of redevelopment and promotions with the expectation of making some of that money back, then they should never have spent that money in the first place and put our club in jeopardy all over again.

 

[Boeta]

Looking at Venkys, Watford, the various scumbags at Pompey, and our own brush with BEST, I'm significantly more concerned by the prospect of a rushed sale to new owners with arms being twisted than I am that there's any real threat of administration

Watford's an odd one to include isn't it?

Bet their fans are having one of their most enjoyable seasons in ages.

The Pozzo family know what it takes to run two top division sides in a very sustainable way and every chance they'll be adding a third with Watford. Their business model and scouting network at Udinese is a brilliant example of a club being able to punch above its weight and sustain itself

[jonny72]

Going from debt free to £13 million in debt over 3 seasons, during which all the sounds coming out of the boardroom had been about how well the club was now being run and how clear a plan the owners had; would frankly be a catastrophically embarrassing and unacceptable act of mismanagement.

We were never debt free. When they took over they took on £8m of debt, which the club has always owed to the holding company. The debt has since increased by £5m over the seasons they've been in control.

[horlock07]

Been out on site all morning, freezing and come in to this... happy days.

Glad to read through all of this and I agree with much of whats been said, there is a lot of brinksmanship happening and its release into the public domain is doing no-one any good.

Couple of things....

The reporting of this is unhelpful, the original release by both the Adver and BBC seems to have been based upon half a story and quotes from Wray, is it really good journalism to base such a wide arching and potentially controversial story on quotes from a member of staff who was removed from his role recently? To give them the benefit of the doubt they may have got excited that they had a story but its just another example of how poor journalism is these days.

Was a little disappointed at the abuse that Black has been getting in certain parts (including at the start of this thread), people need to remember that without him we wouldn't be having this discussion now (or at least not be at the upper end of D1 whilst doing it).

Anyway we shall see, its never dull is it!

[DRS]

It's really not. It's local journalists reporting news. When the ex-chairman of the football club says the current owner is definitely looking to sell but a club with our history may have to go into Administration to enable that, that is news. People really need to learn to interpret the "cui bono"s on these things and stop shooting the messenger all the time

That's not what happened though Paul.BBC reported the admin story then spoke the Wray didn't they

[horlock07]

They stated the debt on the radio as; initial £9m (Fitton, Arbib, Black £3m each) unsecured, further £4m (Black £3m, Arbib £1m) secured - fuck knows what they're secured it against though.

Secured against the clubs league share or vote or whatever they call it which I assume has a value along with the value of the ground lease and good will I suppose.

That percentage breakdown is interesting as it suggests that Black only would have around 46% of shares whilst it has been suggested elsewhere that he has 95% - Any ideas.

[pauld]

Watford's an odd one to include isn't it?

Bet their fans are having one of their most enjoyable seasons in ages.

The Pozzo family know what it takes to run two top division sides in a very sustainable way and every chance they'll be adding a third with Watford. Their business model and scouting network at Udinese is a brilliant example of a club being able to punch above its weight and sustain itself

I was talking about the owner before the Pozzos who was a complete arsehole and nearly took them out of business

[BruceChatwin]

We were never debt free. When they took over they took on £8m of debt, which the club has always owed to the holding company. The debt has since increased by £5m over the seasons they've been in control.

I thought when they took over that they were going to write off that debt and take the hit themselves? So does that mean, as it stands, they haven't actually spent in a literal way any of their own money and as a club we have just as much debt as we started with when they took over plus another £5 million?

[pauld]

That's not what happened though Paul.BBC reported the admin story then spoke the Wray didn't they

That may have been the order in which it happened on the radio but that doesn't mean Wray/Fitton weren't the original sauce.

[pauld]

I thought when they took over that they were going to write off that debt and take the hit themselves? So does that mean, as it stands, they haven't actually spent in a literal way any of their own money and as a club we have just as much debt as we started with when they took over plus another £5 million?

They have spent the money. But yes the club still owes it to the holding company. But it's a "soft loan" in that unlike a bank loan there's less chance of the owners foreclosing on their own company, for example

[dogs]

There is more to this (or less, dependent on how you look at it) than meets the eye. It's some form of pissing match dispute between the owners and what the outcome will be or what they want from it remains to be seen. But I find it hard to see administration as a possible outcome, if only because it doesn't make any sense - all the debt is to the owners.

We know that Black has been funding the club and that he wants a write down of the original funding, either to increase his ownership and control or to make it more attractive to new investors. They stated the debt on the radio as; initial £9m (Fitton, Arbib, Black £3m each) unsecured, further £4m (Black £3m, Arbib £1m) secured - fuck knows what they're secured it against though.

None of this really makes sense when you consider the additional funding that (I presume) Black put it very recently. Why would he have done that if he was ready to pull the plug on it? Plus there is no suggestion that we won't make it until the end of the season or that there is any current financial issue.

I still think this is about Black wanting the original investments written down (or off) and nothing more.

This is why we will not end up in administration.

We should know from when the consortium first took over the club on how they operate - remember Fitton saying he would walk away when it all looked signed and sealed?

As has now being mentioned several times already today, this is just being used to push through any potential sale quicker.

[BruceChatwin]

And now we've got Di Canio's press conference to look forward to.

I'm already hiding under the table.