BBC News: Adam Rooney: Swindon Town striker in contract row with club

[RobertT]

fredi says...
8:25am Fri 31 May 13

Ok, time for a little "truth update".

I did this last time a big diatribe appeared.

Nothing in what is said is actually that unlikely, and in fact it is all quite probable.  It is being spun here as negative, but if you remove passion for the club from this and think pure business, it all makes sense:

Reducing budget - £4.5m is quoted, even if we spent a little less, it is too high for us.  We only just rake in £5m in total revenue, the wages cannot be that high without massive capital investment.

So, Fredi is right, and the "business" seems to be doing the sensible thing.

No player on more than £4k per week - which means someone or more than one are close.  The article in the Adver refers to other costs, which would be expensed rather than wages so treated completely differently.  Again, it seems both can be right.  If we have players on £4k a week, plus we are covering some expenses, that is just too much for a club our size in the league we are in.  It also support the large wage bill that Fredi seems to confirm.

Our current owners would sell - no shit.  I imagine once they've realised what they have picked up they'd be happy to pass on the risk.

The Board may have set a budget, Black's parting words seem to suggest he wasn't aware it was as high as it was and hence he replaced the man responsibel for setting it.  We then had no new capital to come in support, so spent less and sold Ritchie.  If anything Fredi's statement is just restating that for us.

The big one though for in this was the mention of meetings - this suggests it is someone from within in the way that sentence was written.  Maybe someone unhappy at the change.

Basically, everything Fredi says is probably based on some decent information.  They just have an agenda so make it all out to be bad.  It sure as hell isn't a great set-up right now, but I don't see it as being some great conspiracy.  We had a Board that got carried away, someone backed them for a while, they pulled out, the shit hit the fan, a mess is being tidied up, it will be painfull, it is necessary and not shady and people in the club will feel this pain directly because of it, the new owners would probably sell if their costs were covered.  Where is the news?

[DRS]

Spot on Rob.That agenda clearly has something to do with the Trust imo and old board members.

[PetsWinPrizes]

Spot on Rob.That agenda clearly has something to do with the Trust imo and old board members.

I'd disagree with 'Fredi' being to do with the Trust, knowing most of the Board members as I do, they are a measured and sober lot, seriously interested in long term future of the Club. Internet sh*t stirring would harm their efforts as much as it damages the Board.

[sonicyouth]

I don't understand why (s)he was unwilling to talk to Sam Morshead yet is planning to leak an official document to the Trust who presumably won't be able to do anything with it due to the sensitive nature of the document.

The bit about the BBC being blocked out doesn't make sense either, didn't they break the Rooney story yesterday?

Anyway, until fredi comes out with something that turns out to be 100% accurate I'm inclined to disbelieve them given that they were wrong about the concerts.

[DRS]

I'd disagree with 'Fredi' being to do with the Trust, knowing most of the Board members as I do, they are a measured and sober lot, seriously interested in long term future of the Club. Internet sh*t stirring would harm their efforts as much as it damages the Board.

Sorry wasnt implying Fredi is part of the trust,if it came across that way i apologise.

[PetsWinPrizes]

I don't understand why (s)he was unwilling to talk to Sam Morshead yet is planning to leak an official document to the Trust who presumably won't be able to do anything with it due to the sensitive nature of the document.

Didn't Adver Sam mention that he was contacted by 'Fredi' but he/ she couldn't offer any proof. Perhaps Tans wasn't far off with his mock up, and 'Fredis 'proof' was a bit Hitler Diaryish.

[Samdy Gray]

fredi = tans

[Bob's Orange]

Good work on the spreadsheet Tans!!

[sonicyouth]

Didn't Adver Sam mention that he was contacted by 'Fredi' but he/ she couldn't offer any proof. Perhaps Tans wasn't far off with his mock up, and 'Fredis 'proof' was a bit Hitler Diaryish.

I asked Sam a while back about it and he said he'd heard from fredi recently (around the 20th) but no proof was provided

[dalumpimunki]

Is there any information on this "contract" that certain posters seem to think that Rooney has other than the Adver article?

Because reading that it doesn't say a contract has been signed at all. It says there was a clause in his loan deal that stated he would be offered a 2 year contract this summer, at the end of his deal with Birmingham.

He couldn't (and still can't) sign a formal players contract with us, while still contracted to Birmingham, who will hold his players registration until July by the seem of it.

We're not talking about a board cancelling a players contract here and trying to avoid a court case. We're talking about a board reneging on the promise of a contract made by a previous regime (that were fucking insane by the seem of it), but trying hard to still hang onto the player.

If they manage that, and we keep Rooney on a more reasonable deal in line with the rest of the squad, than all well and good. If ginge throws a strop and fucks off then good luck to him (I'm sure there are clubs queuing up to sign a striker who's barely scored double fingers over a two year period, and pay him more than most players in the Championship).

I know this will open me up to abuse, but for all the stick that the new board have received, I'm struggling to see a decision that they've made so far that isn't pretty sensible in terms of getting the club  to support itself as a business.

This is another one of those for me. What alternative do they have after all? How would people be reacting if in 5 weeks time the Adver were reporting from the press conference of Rooney sitting down to sign his two year deal that would cost us over £800k?

[Batch]

fredi = tans

That' too well written with too little swearing to be Tans (sorry Tans).

I don't know if Fredi is spot on or a very good Troll. One thing that doesn't sit right with me personally is the way that on the face of it the old board screwed up. I believe that Nick Watkins is capable and honest and acted in the best interests of the club with the information provided. That information could have been false, or more likely to my mind simply changed when Black pulled the plug.

The reason for mentioning this is the '8K a week' Rooney thing. I am not saying its incorrect as a total cost to the club, but it does seem to have been trussed up a bit of a worst case like an inverse "sky sports Only costs 69p a day". It seems plausible Rooney's actual pay is within Fredi's claims.

It doesn't mean much I suppose. Fact is we seemingly can't afford Rooney and we should not put the club at risk to do so unless we are legally obliged, no matter how much that stinks. But the way things are being presented makes me wary of whether Jed is full of it, or genuine. Time will tell (or hopefully not).

[Trashbat?]

This was from an article on Rooney in early May, at the start it seems to indicate that there is a deal done already for him. But then he seems to say that his loan was with a view to a permanent deal and he hoped to stay.

Quite confusing over whether it’s a done deal and we have to honour the contract or if we are hoping to sign him just not on the original terms. If the latter is the case then I guess we can just pull the plug on the deal still.

http://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/sport/10397361.Rooney_targets_Town_stay__regardless_of_division/

The Advertiser understands that a deal was drawn up when Rooney arrived on an initial loan deal from Birmingham last summer which would ensure the move was made permanent this summer.

When asked by the Adver where he would be playing his football next term, the forward said: “When I originally came it was a season-long loan with a view to staying, so hopefully that will be in the Championship next year.” Asked if that meant promotion could be a condition of him remaining in Wiltshire, he replied: “Regardless of whether it’s in the Championship or League One I’m hoping to be here.”

[jayohaitchenn]

I know this will open me up to abuse, but for all the stick that the new board have received, I'm struggling to see a decision that they've made so far that isn't pretty sensible in terms of getting the club  to support itself as a business.

You won't get any abuse from me. Agree completely.

[Samdy Gray]

The trouble is, the average football fan doesn't reason with running a business sustainably.

[tans]

Fredi aint me. Id come up with a more imaginative name for start