Skip to content

The Elephant in the Room?

The start of the season has been fantastic on the field. Is the increased wage budget the reason? The increased debt related to loans from Mr Couhig is us living beyond our means.
This is exactly what Bury and Bolton have been doing.

On a terrible day for lower league football we should remember this.

«13

Comments

  • wildwestfc = pain in the arse !!! ....... Trevor Stroud has made it clear we are not spending much more than we were last season and I believe him.

  • I hope you are right. I like what the Couhigs are doing but I’m worried about over spending.

  • @WildWestFC said:
    I hope you are right. I like what the Couhigs are doing but I’m worried about over spending.

    if richie says everything is okay...

  • Hopefully your confidence in Mr Stroud is not misplaced Richie!

  • Trouble is Richie, we couldn’t afford anything like last years spending without Mr Couhigs funding.
    If fans turn down Mr Couhig around Christmas or indeed if Mr Couhig changes his mind and walks away, hard to see how the club could possibly meet the contractural commitments for the rest of the season.
    On the other hand had we not taken Couhigs money, hard to see how the club could have survived for much longer as a league club at least.

  • @rmjlondon said:
    wildwestfc = pain in the arse !!! ....... Trevor Stroud has made it clear we are not spending much more than we were last season and I believe him.

    Where did he say that?

  • I'm trying get an answer from the Trust about the contingency plan in the event that Rob's bid is unsuccessful. On today of all days, we need to know.

  • That elephant is in a lot of rooms

  • There isn't a contingency plan, other than someone else coming in, or begging bowls, we would have 90 days to pay back money we didn't have earlier plus money invested since, yes richie investing usually means spending money.
    I'm in favour still to a point as without the investment the place was starting to crumble and the overstretched people who were doing a good job were starting to tire. We need impetus and cash to carry on and attract further cash and the owners have focus and likeability if the rest is yet to be proved. Sustainability or at least reduced losses would of course help going forward and of course we could find ourselves in the brown stuff regardless.
    Unfortunately waiting to fail and getting the next mug to cover it is league policy and has been for decades.
    Fan ownership should be the model but its clear the trust board were scared or bored of it and out of ideas recently however much we can be grateful for their hard work. It also requires a lot more from the tinpot EFL and the FA.
    Either way we are paying for it. Actually, whatever happens we will be so lets aim for some oversight and caution on the board and some assurances of the owners moving on in a sustainable way rather than chasing every pound if their scheme doesn't help. Club owners who have all but killed their clubs hanging on for a few good pounds back are the absolute enemy.

  • Imagine the old football league as a community of otters living happily by a river then one day the biggest otters move upstream dam the river and start eating all the fish.
    “We’ll Starve!” cry the smaller otters.
    So the fat otters throw them a sardine.
    “That’s not enough for us to survive on” say the smaller otters.
    After a little thought the fat otters eat half of the next sardine

  • Not sure sardines are found in English rivers, but a great example nevertheless.

  • Love it! Also, the sardines would be sponsored by a betting company.

  • @th100 said:
    I'm trying get an answer from the Trust about the contingency plan in the event that Rob's bid is unsuccessful. On today of all days, we need to know.

    At the end of day, that's the question that has to be asked, no matter how uncomfortable it makes those who are basking in the glory of signing some half-decent players.
    My impression is that nearest thing that there might be to a plan B is to come to an agreement to give the Couhigs 49% in return for writing of some of their loan (assuming that is something that they would accept).

  • Haven't they already got 49%?

  • I believe no one can own over 10% of the club as things stand, 100000 shares

  • @eric_plant said:
    Haven't they already got 49%?

    Don't think they own anything yet.

  • You wouldn't think that from watching them.

  • edited August 2019

    The Trust's response on Twitter re. a contingency plan:

    "The Trust Board has its normal monthly meeting this Thursday evening and will hopefully issue an update after that."

    Vague but something at least.

  • @NorsQuarters said:
    I believe no one can own over 10% of the club as things stand, 100000 shares

    I thought it was 49%

  • I've just had another look at the Trust presentation and it's made quite clear that until a vote takes place that the football club remains 100% Trust owned.

    Don't know how I got it in my head they'd already acquired a stake but I was completely wrong.

  • I thought the same as you Eric, that a minority stake was permitted without a member's vote. I assumed they had somewhere around 40-45% on this basis.

    Mandela Effect?

  • there will be no contingency plan as the members will vote for Couhig

  • Everyone needs a contigency plan

  • edited August 2019

    @eric_plant said:
    I've just had another look at the Trust presentation and it's made quite clear that until a vote takes place that the football club remains 100% Trust owned.

    Don't know how I got it in my head they'd already acquired a stake but I was completely wrong.

    The way I remember it, the initial communication from the Trust alerting the membership and fans to interest from Rob Couhig gave the impression that he would be taking a minority stake in the club initially, before pursuing a vote to obtain a majority stake at a later date. I don't have the initial communication to hand and it may not have said that explicitly, but that was what I and others inferred from it.

    When the formal presentation was made it became clear that Rob Couhig would not actually be taking a minority stake and that all investment would be in the form of loans, to be paid back in full, plus interest, in the event that a vote on allowing majority ownership is unsuccessful.

    Recent video posted by the club showed Rob Couhig talking of having the terms of the deal to take majority ownership finalised this week, with the suggestion that a vote on majority ownership would be held sooner rather than later. Given the current positivity around the club I can understand why Rob Couhig and the Trust board would like to hold the vote as soon as possible, since the probability of a "Yes" vote may be as high as it is going to get. Personally, I would prefer it if Rob Couhig was now to convert some of the current loans into equity as a minority ownership, which would demonstrate a longer-term commitment to the club (as opposed to a short-term investment delivering him good interest in the event of a "No" vote) and wait to have the majority ownership vote towards the end of the season.

  • Isn't it investment by repayable loan with no ownership, then vote.

  • A quote from Greg Dyke from the BBC website, which I heard on Radio 5 on my way to work.
    Former Football Association chairman Greg Dyke says Bury's problems stemmed from chasing promotion without the finances to pay for it.

    "Over the years some quite strange people have taken over and run football clubs and they don't necessarily know how to run them," he told BBC Radio 5 Live.

    "The real issue is most football clubs at the lower levels are paying too much for the players. What is remarkable is that this doesn't happen more often.

    "In the end if you're paying so much to buy players or for their wages and you're not getting that sort of money in, it's not a business at all is it?

    "Whether the Football League has got the nerve to bring in wage caps and all those sorts of things will be interesting."

    Has Mr Couhig passed the "fit & proper" test? It wouldn't seem to be difficult!

  • I see Michael Davies has got the old "tin tack"it will be interesting to see who replaces him. I found Michael straight talking and open to conversation, he attended the supporters meetings and tried to address issues and answer questions as best he could.

  • yes but was crap at this job and has been replaced with somebody who has some business acumen and the cash to back it up.

  • I have Ritchie on hide, but I'm pretty certain his post will be some sort of slandering of Mr Davies ability.

  • I would agree 100% with @rmjlondon on this

Sign In or Register to comment.