Re: Fans Forum 4th Dec : Thu Dec 05, 2013 9:59 am  

Highlander wrote:

I take it now we can remove Awford from the rack & replace him with Whitcu*t? Or is there still room for both?

I would also put Gerry Sutcliffe somewhere near as well. Will be very interesting to hear what he has to say,no doubt he knew nothing of all the poop that's been left.

So Omar left because of ill health

Re: Fans Forum 4th Dec : Thu Dec 05, 2013 10:01 am  

Adeybull wrote:

Clearly nothing, though? You are always a sensible and responsible poster, but are still falling into the trap of making assumptions. Yes indeed about the Sky money being a red herring, but what we were told last night boiled down to:

1 - OK DID put money in - much of it as loans not capital/gift though - but nothing like as much as people thought he had. (And, indeed, if the money was to be fed in in instalments to meet outgoings, then that would maybe not be such a surprise?)

2 - The big hole in the budget is because the budget was a crock of sheeite. Or, more to the point, there were several versions of the budget, depending on who the recipients were. Seems the budgets agreed with the RFL bore no reseamblance to the much larger budgets that individual managers we given and working to. Or to the budgets that the new board were given. THAT, and a raft of financial skeletons falling out of the closet, is what left "this big hole in the budget". Pretty well the way it was explained last night, anyway.

Moore said OK started with zero, and left it with minus £1.2m.

Having had access to one of the editions of the budget at one point, what I am able to say is that I have no reason to doubt anything we were told about the finances.

I take Moore's point but OK didn't start with zero, he started with a responsibility to put a SL team on the park for people to watch with no sponsorship, no lease on the ground, 50% Sky money and an understanding that even with full Sky money the previous board were losing 100k a month. That's a little bit different. Actually he started with a massive minus.

On the budgets I haven't seen them but have you ever met a new board who came out said the business they are taking over was well run? I haven't and Gerry Sutcliffe said the exact same thing in his office just after the take over.

My point is hold off on the rush to condemn OK. You know I think the actions of the Hood/RFL in the year before admin made matters much worse than necessary and I think both Guilfoyle and Sadler said different groups pulled out when they saw the books.

In short, OK is a restauranteur without any grounding in RL who didn't have to elbow anyone out of the way to buy a basket case. It looks like he failed and but the idea he and Sutcliffe left a situ worse than they found it sounds nonsense.

Re: Fans Forum 4th Dec : Thu Dec 05, 2013 10:48 am  

Were you at the forum?

The point I think Moore was making was that when OK took over, the club had zero debt (it was, after all, a completely new company) and significant operating costs to meet. It now has £1.2m of debt, and significant operating costs to meet. Simple statement of fact about why the financial position now is worse than then.

The interpretation (or misinterpretation) of what was said is down to you. My interpretation differs to yours, since I took it as a simple statement of fact.

If you were at the forum, you will also know that they made it clear that OK - and the rest of the previous administration - indeed had no grounding in RL, or in running a joined-up business involving sport, stadium, hospitality and merchandising. Again, not my interpretation, simply repeating what was actually said. He went on to say that OK seemed to leave all the day to day decsions to Whitcu*t, and used words to the effect that the latter was effectively out of control.

I'm not sure who has had dealings with and been involved in meetings with any of the OK administration. But as one who has, I saw with my own eyes very clear specific examples of where Whitcu*t had clearly not briefed OK, or may even have told him things that were not correct. Maybe he was telling OK what he wanted to hear. And for one of those points, which affected me and my colleagues very directly, I had to put him straight very directly indeed, in front of Whitcu*t.

When history comes to be written, although OK was his own worst enemy in some respects, I feel sure it will record that he was badly let down by some he relied on.

Re: Fans Forum 4th Dec : Thu Dec 05, 2013 11:01 am  

Adeybull wrote:

...
If you were at the forum, you will also know that they made it clear that OK - and the rest of the previous administration - indeed had no grounding in RL, or in running a joined-up business involving sport, stadium, hospitality and merchandising. ...

Without wanting to sound flippant; do the new board have that grounding?

I'm sure I remember reading in the T&A one director described himself as an ex-southerner with little knowledge of RL.

Re: Fans Forum 4th Dec : Thu Dec 05, 2013 11:01 am  

Adeybull wrote:

what I am able to say is that I have no reason to doubt anything we were told

Quite.

As you have repeated ad nauseam over several years, no matter who is in charge at the club.

Re: Fans Forum 4th Dec : Thu Dec 05, 2013 11:11 am  

hindle xiii wrote:

Without wanting to sound flippant; do the new board have that grounding?

I'm sure I remember reading in the T&A one director described himself as an ex-southerner with little knowledge of RL.

They are strong in debt management with excellent financial controls. Which , at this moment, is what we need.

Re: Fans Forum 4th Dec : Thu Dec 05, 2013 11:13 am  

Adey with you having dealings with OK and previous set up,is that why you haven't been on here for a while before now ?

Re: Fans Forum 4th Dec : Thu Dec 05, 2013 11:14 am  

M@islebugs wrote:

I You know I think the actions of the Hood/RFL in the year before admin made matters much worse than necessary and I think both Guilfoyle and Sadler said different groups pulled out when they saw the books.

I believe "the books" to which you refer were in fact the projections and supporting info prepared by, and provided to prospective buyers by, the Joint Administrators. What I saw certainly was.

And the forecast cash funding requirement they showed would likely have put off most prospective buyers. At the time, I wondered at what seemed serious prudence in the projections, but the actual funding requirement out-turn would seem to have fully vindicated that prudence.

Re: Fans Forum 4th Dec : Thu Dec 05, 2013 11:17 am  

Directors Mark Moore, Ian Watt and Andrew Calvert claimed in a statement that “as each day goes by the board continues to receive more information detrimental to the stability of the business”. They added: “The last administrative team struggled to understand the full impact of running this club and stepped away from the business with large outstanding debts which the club now needs to recover from.” http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/s ... __/?ref=eb ==================================================== Cheers OK/Sutcliffe,I saw you coming a mile off. Now given the above is published fact(?)were Elliot Whitehead and Bateman sacrificed to keep the club going?Yes,imo,and as I said at the time,very convenient both were the only players where money could be gained and BOTH "suddenly" wanted to leave and the club were skint ,despite OK's rhetoric in the press.How much did Sutcliffe put in? and then walked away--ill health my ar*e.Was Sutcliffe ill as well?Was it contagious? No,imo,the chickens were coming home to roost so they scarpered. How the fooook has such a great club found itself in this position and run down by incompetent imbeciles? Trevor must be turning in his grave.

Directors Mark Moore, Ian Watt and Andrew Calvert claimed in a statement that “as each day goes by the board continues to receive more information detrimental to the stability of the business”. They added: “The last administrative team struggled to understand the full impact of running this club and stepped away from the business with large outstanding debts which the club now needs to recover from.” http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/s ... __/?ref=eb ==================================================== Cheers OK/Sutcliffe,I saw you coming a mile off. Now given the above is published fact(?)were Elliot Whitehead and Bateman sacrificed to keep the club going?Yes,imo,and as I said at the time,very convenient both were the only players where money could be gained and BOTH "suddenly" wanted to leave and the club were skint ,despite OK's rhetoric in the press.How much did Sutcliffe put in? and then walked away--ill health my ar*e.Was Sutcliffe ill as well?Was it contagious? No,imo,the chickens were coming home to roost so they scarpered. How the fooook has such a great club found itself in this position and run down by incompetent imbeciles? Trevor must be turning in his grave.

Re: Fans Forum 4th Dec : Thu Dec 05, 2013 11:29 am  

Highlander wrote:

They are strong in debt management with excellent financial controls. Which , at this moment, is what we need.

I think I may just go hibernate in my bed until February, anyone do any comfy beds or mattresses?!