TAKEOVER *NOT* CONFIMRED

[blythspartan]

Good god

https://youtu.be/L3h3wSQ1UFc?si=-EygF0e_ASXruhL5

It’s a tad cringing, but not a bad attempt.

I did think I hope fans of other clubs don’t see this.

[From Despair To Where?]

Pre 90s racism and hooliganism was very much a symptom of wider social problems so if you're going to take a bunch of racist hooligans and shove them in a pen overflowing with piss every weekend for 9 months of the year, they're going to indulge in their favourite past-times.

The bigger issue was every fan bring tarred with the same brush. That, at least, has changed.

[Mr Optimist]

Pre 90s racism and hooliganism was very much a symptom of wider social problems so if you're going to take a bunch of racist hooligans and shove them in a pen overflowing with piss every weekend for 9 months of the year, they're going to indulge in their favourite past-times.

The bigger issue was every fan bring tarred with the same brush. That, at least, has changed.

Football was still a game for the working class (in the main) in the 80s, pay on the day and just roll up and stand on the (crumbling) terraces. If you told people in polite company you went to football games they’d assume you were some sort of oik and a member of the social underclass and the police treated you as such, you were fair game for the police if you went to football, who are the courts going to believe, the word of a policeman or, in the public’s eye, a young pissed up working class yob. I’ve seen many get nicked in the 80s for being in the wrong place at the wrong time just so the local coppers get their arrest quota for the day. Funnily enough they never nicked those they thought may put up a fight and would grab people from the edges of the crowd instead. No wonder normal football fans grew to not trust the police at the football and have zero respect for them.

[tmesis]

The Genevra philosophy, according to their website, is

https://genevra.net/philosophy

Football as we knew it is dying. A hedge fund looking to protect it's investors money. No mention of fans, community etc. Bah humbug!

Was there ever a time when it was better? Clubs went bust before the PL too - Maidstone and Aldershot for example. Plus, I associate pre 90s football in this country with racism and hooliganism.

I've become very disillusioned with ownership and financial issues in our game, but nostalgia is a great deceiver. There was never a golden era of "football as we know it".

The difference in the past was that the sums involved were much lower, making it much more likely that a local businessman would take over, and they'd be less likely to see the club as something they could sell for a profit a few years later.

It is quite surprising to see how low some of the amounts were. When Spencer Trethewy claimed to have saved Aldershot, he did it with just £200,000.

Even taking inflation into account, that values Aldershot in 1989 as being worth about the same amount as a 4-bedroom house.

[Stranded]

Nixon now reporting that Ashley only has interest in the stadium and being landlord not club owner.

[Snowflake Royal]

Well he can do one then.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

I always thought that Ashley would throw his hat in the ring, but would only ever pursue us if there was a good deal to be had, or if we were in administration and needed a route out where he could pick us up on the cheap. I wouldn't have thought he'd have bought us for anywhere near some of the money quoted, not even £30m.

[Sutekh]

MB said not quite there yet on signing, still one or two points to iron out and agree on.

Also revealed he and Selles have agreed to postpone their wages until ALL staff have been paid in full.

[WestYorksRoyal]

Thank God Bowen is here. Imagine where we'd be with the Kia recruitment model and lack of leadership.

[Snowflake Royal]

MB said not quite there yet on signing, still one or two points to iron out and agree on.

Also revealed he and Selles have agreed to postpone their wages until ALL staff have been paid in full.

Ok, now that's class.

[6ft Kerplunk]

I'm taking the cynical approach that it's harder for him to get sacked if he's owed wages.

[blythspartan]

Hearing MB speaking before the game makes me think that exclusivity might not be happening anytime soon.

I can imagine that Dai is making negotiations very difficult and it sounds like goalposts/deadlines are being moved.

[WestYorksRoyal]

Hearing MB speaking before the game makes me think that exclusivity might not be happening anytime soon.

I can imagine that Dai is making negotiations very difficult and it sounds like goalposts/deadlines are being moved.

Who knows what he's playing at. Had he sold us immediately after relegation, who knows how much more we'd have been worth than we are in our current situation. It feels like the longer he drags this out, the worse it will be for him.

[rightroyalkneesup2]

Hearing MB speaking before the game makes me think that exclusivity might not be happening anytime soon.

I can imagine that Dai is making negotiations very difficult and it sounds like goalposts/deadlines are being moved.

Who knows what he's playing at. Had he sold us immediately after relegation, who knows how much more we'd have been worth than we are in our current situation. It feels like the longer he drags this out, the worse it will be for him.

And us

[Linden Jones' Tash]

Thank God Bowen is here. Imagine where we'd be with the Kia recruitment model and lack of leadership.

I can't see how much worse it could be a than in the bottom 2 of League 1 and losing to an injury time goal from a non league side on ITV1 on a Sunday afternoon...

Don't get me wrong, I want better times, but given MB is pretty much in charge of all things football, I don't get how he gets absolved of all the bad stuff...

[paultheroyal]

Thank God Bowen is here. Imagine where we'd be with the Kia recruitment model and lack of leadership.

I can't see how much worse it could be a than in the bottom 2 of League 1 and losing to an injury time goal from a non league side on ITV1 on a Sunday afternoon...

Don't get me wrong, I want better times, but given MB is pretty much in charge of all things football, I don't get how he gets absolved of all the bad stuff...

What do you expect him to do with a bunch of free transfers, academy kids, free agents and to appoint someone / anyone who would not want to come here! He has now deferred all his wages to help others. He has come out today to back the fans and support the protests.

Thank god we have Mark Bowen I say!

[Linden Jones' Tash]

Thank God Bowen is here. Imagine where we'd be with the Kia recruitment model and lack of leadership.

I can't see how much worse it could be a than in the bottom 2 of League 1 and losing to an injury time goal from a non league side on ITV1 on a Sunday afternoon...

Don't get me wrong, I want better times, but given MB is pretty much in charge of all things football, I don't get how he gets absolved of all the bad stuff...

What do you expect him to do with a bunch of free transfers, academy kids, free agents and to appoint someone / anyone who would not want to come here! He has now deferred all his wages to help others. He has come out today to back the fans and support the protests.

Thank god we have Mark Bowen I say!

I'm just saying that the OP said it would be worse w/o MB.

We are second bottom and just lost to a non league side - empirically, it's not like we are defying gravity.

I mean it's nice that he's not responsible for any of the footballing issues that we have, despite his job title and role.

[paultheroyal]

I can't see how much worse it could be a than in the bottom 2 of League 1 and losing to an injury time goal from a non league side on ITV1 on a Sunday afternoon...

Don't get me wrong, I want better times, but given MB is pretty much in charge of all things football, I don't get how he gets absolved of all the bad stuff...

What do you expect him to do with a bunch of free transfers, academy kids, free agents and to appoint someone / anyone who would not want to come here! He has now deferred all his wages to help others. He has come out today to back the fans and support the protests.

Thank god we have Mark Bowen I say!

I'm just saying that the OP said it would be worse w/o MB.

We are second bottom and just lost to a non league side - empirically, it's not like we are defying gravity.

I mean it's nice that he's not responsible for any of the footballing issues that we have, despite his job title and role.

With the cards he has been dealt with....

[YorkshireRoyal99]

What do you expect him to do with a bunch of free transfers, academy kids, free agents and to appoint someone / anyone who would not want to come here! He has now deferred all his wages to help others. He has come out today to back the fans and support the protests.

Thank god we have Mark Bowen I say!

I'm just saying that the OP said it would be worse w/o MB.

We are second bottom and just lost to a non league side - empirically, it's not like we are defying gravity.

I mean it's nice that he's not responsible for any of the footballing issues that we have, despite his job title and role.

With the cards he has been dealt with....

You could also play that argument off against the managers we've had in the past few seasons as well, Pauno, Ince and now Selles and we all know none of them are great, but also haven't been helped. But they (most of the time justifiably so) have come in for a pounding off many fans.

I think MB is ok generally speaking and would do a lot better in a lot better circumstances. However, he's been Head of Football Operations for a couple of seasons now and in that time our "Football Operations" have been dreadful.

[Snowflake Royal]

No one is really saying Bowen is brilliant. But he's been involved in most of the few positives we've had, and looked to be doing a very credible job of a rebuild until Dai stopped paying players and taxes on time, scaring off anyone half competent.

The managers have generally been getting sub par performances out of squads that should be capable of better. The squad we've got has some duffers, but give a lot of these players a season of games, a decent manager and a solid pre-season and they can perform a lot better.