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The New Deal outline now emailed to Legacy Trust Members

So 800 odd members can chew on the offer overnight if they turn to their email inbox before the meeting tomorrow. Remember we have time in the 14 days after the meeting to read the full 50 page (maybe longer now) prospectus at the club and do not have to vote immediately. However if the deal is a good one and can take us forward to the next chapter in the clubs history then a quick resolution would certainly give the club more room to manoeuvre if any offers are made to GA in the next few days. By not securing loans against Adams Park it certainly appears to get off to a better start than the 'other American' bid at start of the year...
Do the Couhigs have deep enough pockets and appetite to invest, to enable GA to achieve promotion and maintain a position in the Championship - why not think big and positive!
Do they have the long term vision to keep financing the club should we be relegated?
The devil will be in the details perhaps however I think they will have been aware of other early bids in the last few weeks now , including the Dutch approach and lets see if there offer is sensible!
I have been very critical of the why the Board handled the Loan at start of year, however am impressed that they appear to have taken on board the criticisms levelled against them at various meetings. By chance I have meet the Couhigs outside of the club environment am as sure as 35 years in business can make me that they are the real deal as far as supporting the club is concerned.

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Comments

  • Will non Legacy Trust supporters get to read this proposal?

  • I deliberately haven't posted the details of the proposal that have been emailed as respecting confidentiality until and unless informed when the outline can be open for general viewing maybe never). Remembering that any clubs bidding for GA services would immediately then know how much the club had to play with if Wycombe want to make him a counter offer, if over 75% of members vote yes for the deal in time to enable the Board and Couhig to in principle make such an offer.

  • Note to Sunderland, Millwall etc ...you better have deep, deep, deep, pockets if you want to prise GA away from his contract at Wycombe! Why would he not want to stay with a club about to get Premiership level funding :)

  • I am bad at lots of things but I believe that I am a good judge of people. To this end I am going to vote yes. Before I retired, I attended numerous Residents Association meetings on behalf of a Local Authority which wasn't Wycombe DC. With all due respect to those who tended to dominate the meetings the most constructive ideas were put forward to me after the meeting took place which were sadly off the record. To this end I urge Legacy Members to be brave enough to ask questions no matter on how stupid you perceive fellow members will think of you.

    Chairboys Barmy Army.

  • Does anyone know where the shares purchased via the almost forgotten share scheme fit into all of this (if at all)?

  • @arnos_grove said:
    Does anyone know where the shares purchased via the almost forgotten share scheme fit into all of this (if at all)?

    A paper has been written summarising this and should be available with the other documents for inspection.
    I am happy to respond to any individual Trust Scheme shareholder who emails me direct or via [email protected]

  • @AlanCecil The document revshare scheme investors is mentioned but not included in the pack

  • I’ve read the email and that in conjunction with my judgment of the character of Rob Couhig means I shall be voting yes.

  • @JohnnyAllAlone said:
    @AlanCecil The document revshare scheme investors is mentioned but not included in the pack

    There are a number of documents that could not be sent out. As I understand it they will be available for examination from Wednesday 12 noon -7pm when some Trust Directors will be taking turns to be at AP during the whole voting period for those hours on weekdays, in addition to Saturday pre-match.

  • So Felicia will put money in. If all goes well then this will be recouped. If not it will need to be returned. Without this money we may not be able to pay bills that need paying now. @Dev has, I think, correctly pointed out that it’s not the size of the debt that kills you as such, it’s when debt has to be paid so I’m not in principle averse to acquiring it with a caveat. After all I have a mortgage much bigger than my annual income but am pretty confident I can pay the sum I need to pay each month.

    The caveat is that I don’t see laid out is how the debt we are acquiring, which is leading to presumably increased operating costs (players wages in a bigger squad) in some areas and presumably reduced operating costs in others (better supply chains or increased sponsor revenue or some such) will be safely serviced. The simple answer has been “more bums on seats, more spend on the match day experience”. But how are these objectives to be achieved? Is promotion essential or do Felicia have a business plan that works without it. For that matter does the business plan work if we ARE promoted this season and the gates don’t go up much or we go up and come back down after a season of Gazless piss poor performances.

    I’m still minded to vote ‘yes’ but I am hoping to hear tomorrow some more details of the business model. I don’t expect detailed numbers but something like “our maths has shown us that to service debt and operate with the average championship playing budget we need 2000 more supports a game and all supporters spending £1.50 more a game and this is how we’ll get that” I’d be a little more comfortable.

  • Having read the summary of the investment agreement, I will be voting to accept.

    I think the alternative is to continue with the current Fred Karno's circus running the club, which to my view, is the bigger risk to the clubs future.

  • To all those saying they'll accept this offer I make one plea - only do so once you're certain that the Couhigs have the ability to subsidise the club for a good many years. If they cannot make those assurances - and their plan to move us onto a sustainable footing takes longer than envisaged - they will have to sell. And - unless the legal document contains assurances to the contrary - they will be able to sell to whoever they want, even if they are totally unsuitable.

    You may like the Couhigs. But if you have even a shred of doubt about their ability to fund the losses of the club in the medium to long term, think very carefully about signing away your right to choose a better owner in the future.

  • @aloysius - I respect your apparent doubts as to the viability of the offer. However can you suggest a realistic way to clear the debt of £2m within the prescribed time period in the event of a no vote, failure of which will leave the club in immediate dire trouble?

  • I note in the summary document that there is no reference to the Trust protecting the club colours (quarters, yes, but colours not specifically mentioned). Hopefully that’s just because it’s a summary and doesn’t include all the details...

  • edited October 2019

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  • edited October 2019

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  • @mooneyman I share your absolute disregard for the current members of the Trust board, a bunch of non-league plodders entirely unsuited for the intricacies of League Two, let alone League One football. Could a better board made up of the elite of Wycombe's fan base do better? Yes, absolutely. Could that elite clear the debts wracked up by the incumbents within the necessary time frame? Alas, no.

    I put on record back when the Trust took over the club from Steve Hayes, on the original Gasroom, that I thought it a noble concept doomed to failure - an experiment that would be lovely to see work but only likely to under a wholesale culture change that would see a move to fan-owned football across the English leagues. That hasn't materialised and nothing in the last few years has really changed my mind (though, I repeat, the Trust did itself absolutely no favours by protecting the tight clique already running the Independent Supporters' Trust rather than actively seeking out the best talent available to it).

    But to answer your question, the only realistic way is to take on new ownership with deep pockets. I'm just not sure the Couhigs have pockets deep enough. The facts are these: The Couhigs only came onto the scene after the Trust's preferred bidders, Bill & Jim, pulled out. There have been at least four parties interested in taking on the club in the last year: Bill & Jim, Andy Hayman, the Couhigs and the Dutch / Swedes. And that's without the club ever being marketed properly. We are a very attractive prospect - near Heathrow, punching above our weight in League One, debts not overwhelming. Finally, we know this whole process has been shrouded in secrecy and run by people that I, and many others, have no confidence in.

    So my answer is this. If the Couhigs can't commit to funding club losses in the medium to long term, reject them. Announce the club is on the market and seeking investors. And then run the process in a transparent manner so we the fans (and let's not forget, the owners) can judge which is the best option and vote accordingly. And yes, I appreciate that raises issues over short term funding. So make a condition for all parties that want to bid that they have to put money up at the start of the process to pay for running costs, with all parties committing that the eventual winner will pay the other consortiums back. Like Bill & Jim first and the Couhigs now, that shouldn't be too huge a stumbling block. Both invested before a vote.

  • Genuine question Aloysius.Since you are so critical of the current Supporters Trust board and since you have so many perfectly valid questions and apparent answers to those questions, why have you never bothered to stand for election to the board yourself?

  • @aloysius. So we spin the wheel with the future of the club and hope someone steps in before we go under. As a trust member I can’t speculate on what the market for a league one club is in the middle of the most uncertain times this country has faced since the last war. I can only make a judgment on the offer put to me and the immediate consequences of turning it down.

  • @glasshalffull it's a fair question - sadly working 13 hour days and living in London means that football is a once a fortnight treat for me rather than something I could take responsibility for.

    @BuckinghamBlue all four offers - and who knows how many others - have been made in said circumstances. Brexit is a straw man in this context, I'm afraid.

  • @LeedsBlue said:
    I note in the summary document that there is no reference to the Trust protecting the club colours (quarters, yes, but colours not specifically mentioned). Hopefully that’s just because it’s a summary and doesn’t include all the details...

    Previous statements have said the enshrined rights will be protected, so hopefully that will be clarified tonight.

  • @aloysius said:

    @BuckinghamBlue all four offers - and who knows how many others - have been made in said circumstances. Brexit is a straw man in this context, I'm afraid.

    Not entirely. The £ is a lot cheaper to buy than it otherwise would have been. That means the Couhig’s cash, or indeed any other foreign holding converted into £ goes a lot further.

  • @aloysius said:
    @glasshalffull it's a fair question - sadly working 13 hour days and living in London means that football is a once a fortnight treat for me rather than something I could take responsibility for.

    @BuckinghamBlue all four offers - and who knows how many others - have been made in said circumstances. Brexit is a straw man in this context, I'm afraid.

    You're still speculating and Brexit isn't a straw man argument its part of the context in which I have to make my decision.

  • Cant help wondering if the Adams Park office doors are wide enough for the heads of the "elite" of Wycombe's fan base to fit through...............

    Simple fact is that the trust board were judged by the members to be the best skilled of those people who actually put themselves forward to run the Trust on our behalf. Against the odds. they have succeeded in maintaining League Football at Adams Park over an extended period and in finding credible purchasers when it has become clear that Wycombe cannot stand alone against the tide of owner "investment" in its competitor clubs. Its always easy to smipe behind an anonymous keyboard, but personally I think I (and in my view all Wycombe supporters) owe every one of them (past and present) a huge debt of gratitude.

  • @glasshalffull said:
    Genuine question Aloysius.Since you are so critical of the current Supporters Trust board and since you have so many perfectly valid questions and apparent answers to those questions, why have you never bothered to stand for election to the board yourself?

    Good point. @aloysius is someone whose posts I’ve long admired but, to me, the most recent ones, although cogent as ever, seem ill-timed.

  • @DevC said:
    Cant help wondering if the Adams Park office doors are wide enough for the heads of the "elite" of Wycombe's fan base to fit through...............

    Simple fact is that the trust board were judged by the members to be the best skilled of those people who actually put themselves forward to run the Trust on our behalf. Against the odds. they have succeeded in maintaining League Football at Adams Park over an extended period and in finding credible purchasers when it has become clear that Wycombe cannot stand alone against the tide of owner "investment" in its competitor clubs. Its always easy to smipe behind an anonymous keyboard, but personally I think I (and in my view all Wycombe supporters) owe every one of them (past and present) a huge debt of gratitude.

    @DevC who are the "the "elite" of Wycombe's fan base"? Can you be more specific?

  • It's about as good a point as saying "if you're so critical of Boris Johnson how come you've never stood to be Prime Minister?"

  • Wisdom after the event there @eric_plant !

  • I've no idea @peterparrotface. @aloysius introduced us to the concept of the "elite" of Wycombe's fan base (my bold)

    @aloysius said:
    @mooneyman I share your absolute disregard for the current members of the Trust board, a bunch of non-league plodders entirely unsuited for the intricacies of League Two, let alone League One football.** Could a better board made up of the elite of Wycombe's fan base do better? Yes, absolutely. **Could that elite clear the debts wracked up by the incumbents within the necessary time frame? Alas, no.

    I cant say I'm any more comfortable than I suspect you are with such a phrase.

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