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Other than some ignoramus on a message board has it been put forward as an option and would shareholders be prepared to transfer their shares to the trust?
'Only happy when you've got it often makes you miss the journey'
EGM - which way are you voting? on 20:33 - Mar 2 by James1980
Other than some ignoramus on a message board has it been put forward as an option and would shareholders be prepared to transfer their shares to the trust?
Not now, no
As we've seen, the Trust can be one thing one day, and something else the next, depending on who's on board. All good people, but that's not enough without proper leadership
EGM - which way are you voting? on 20:37 - Mar 2 by D_Alien
Not now, no
As we've seen, the Trust can be one thing one day, and something else the next, depending on who's on board. All good people, but that's not enough without proper leadership
Should have also asked, would they have been?
'Only happy when you've got it often makes you miss the journey'
EGM - which way are you voting? on 19:59 - Mar 2 by 49thseason
Good man! ( a presumption, apols if not). I don't know if the option was there to buy all of the Maastricht club .. I guess we will find out more in due course, the first imperative is the stay in the game.. as our backs are at the wall and we are now in Hobsons Choice territory. Hopefully on and off pitch matters will start to improve quickly once there is some cash in the bank and some new enthusiasm around the ground.
It's quite difficult to uncover the structure at Maastricht. There's a strong hint that the Local Government may have had ownership. It's also quite possible that the other 75% are still covering 75% of cash requirements or matching investments. I think that the argument regarding one investor doing the funding and many smaller ones benefitting is rather weak - they'd have to pay a dividend first! As I said earlier, we are where we are and most if not all of us know that.
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EGM - which way are you voting? on 22:50 - Mar 2 with 2467 views
EGM - which way are you voting? on 06:27 - Mar 3 by D_Alien
Yes, and i found the waters muddier after reading it than more clear. More water to flow under the bridge?
In addition, felt like a significant but welcome change of tempo in the writing contributions.. Hmmm...
[Post edited 3 Mar 7:08]
There is only tomorrow and then voting begins i believe for the EGM proposals. Maybe it was my fault for expecting more information regarding the recent influx of potential investors and their requirements. The Chairman suggested they will all want complete control of the club, 90%. If there was somebody out there that was willing to invest but also work alongside the shareholder I'm sure we would have heard by now. Not sure if the Chairman would have let us know but I would like to think our own supporters trust would have done, after all its the members and fans who purchased the Trust share. Anyway, we do need investment and we desperately need a new Chairman and board of Directors. A complete clean sweep and re-start of the club. People running the club who know how to properly engage with the fans and the local public, positive and dynamic Directors who have a track record of success and a positive vision for the club. We need a charismatic leader who we can all rally around and if its the Americans I hope they have already identified those people. If they think sticking with Gauge and his Directors will rally the fans it will backfire from the off, they've overseen us lose our league status and the club has been in constant decline since they came into the club, to the point it coud be liquidated in a matter of weeks. Thats a message that any new investors needs to hear. The way the shareholders have been railroaded into this vote at the EGM will never be forgotten by many..and 'railroaded' is the correct word, he sets a impossible deadline and suddenly presents HIS investor.
EGM - which way are you voting? on 07:24 - Mar 3 by TalkingSutty
There is only tomorrow and then voting begins i believe for the EGM proposals. Maybe it was my fault for expecting more information regarding the recent influx of potential investors and their requirements. The Chairman suggested they will all want complete control of the club, 90%. If there was somebody out there that was willing to invest but also work alongside the shareholder I'm sure we would have heard by now. Not sure if the Chairman would have let us know but I would like to think our own supporters trust would have done, after all its the members and fans who purchased the Trust share. Anyway, we do need investment and we desperately need a new Chairman and board of Directors. A complete clean sweep and re-start of the club. People running the club who know how to properly engage with the fans and the local public, positive and dynamic Directors who have a track record of success and a positive vision for the club. We need a charismatic leader who we can all rally around and if its the Americans I hope they have already identified those people. If they think sticking with Gauge and his Directors will rally the fans it will backfire from the off, they've overseen us lose our league status and the club has been in constant decline since they came into the club, to the point it coud be liquidated in a matter of weeks. Thats a message that any new investors needs to hear. The way the shareholders have been railroaded into this vote at the EGM will never be forgotten by many..and 'railroaded' is the correct word, he sets a impossible deadline and suddenly presents HIS investor.
[Post edited 3 Mar 8:23]
A few days a go I asked why 90% and an informative answer was posted
So again if they want control of the football club why 90% and not total control of 100%!
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EGM - which way are you voting? on 08:27 - Mar 3 with 2123 views
EGM - which way are you voting? on 08:17 - Mar 3 by Duckegg
A few days a go I asked why 90% and an informative answer was posted
So again if they want control of the football club why 90% and not total control of 100%!
Who are the two individuals mentioned in the Trust newsletter last night? Are they individuals that would reveal red flags? Is anybody really confident about what is going on here? Could the unkown persons lined up to buy the 10%, also be promised the other 90% once the club is signed over? It's all very funny how this has suddenly come about in such a short time span.
[Post edited 3 Mar 8:31]
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EGM - which way are you voting? on 09:16 - Mar 3 with 2033 views
The consensus of opinion from those I spoke to yesterday was we have no choice. In fact one chap in the bar before the game seemed to know all about the new owners, as he was telling the bloke from radio Manchester, he offered to speak to the journo so perhaps we can all hear about it on radio Bolton.
The rain cleared, the sun came out and it was looking like a nice afternoon, then the football started and reality kicked in. Those who worked out you could have a beer in the sunshine and watch the football over the fence, definitely had the right idea.
If these yanks have got plans to redevelop the Ratcliffe, and all the other investments Gauge mentioned, then come on, let’s hear about it. Why so secretive? Who will be on the board? What are the aspirations for the team on the field? So many questions and so little time to answer them. Maybe the bloke in the bar knows? Having been involved on both sides of takeovers, people tend to make all sorts of promises before the deal is done, then the moment it is, the mask drops and we find out what the real plan is. We haven’t even heard the promises from the buyers yet, we don’t really know who they are. All we know is what the bloke selling our club is telling us. What we’re not being told is what concerns me.
Sorry TS - Railroaded doesn’t do it justice, nowhere near.
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EGM - which way are you voting? on 10:57 - Mar 3 with 1887 views
EGM - which way are you voting? on 08:27 - Mar 3 by TalkingSutty
Who are the two individuals mentioned in the Trust newsletter last night? Are they individuals that would reveal red flags? Is anybody really confident about what is going on here? Could the unkown persons lined up to buy the 10%, also be promised the other 90% once the club is signed over? It's all very funny how this has suddenly come about in such a short time span.
[Post edited 3 Mar 8:31]
I think (however I am no legal or financial expert) that once you own 90% of shares in a company you can do a "compulsory acquisition of shares" to get the other 10%. Which I find interesting because would they have to pay to buy existing shareholders out? and what value would be put on the existing shares, the 50p/share they will pay for their 9,000,000 or the £2/share paid by myself and many others to fight off Morton House. Of course it's all irrelevant as with 90% they can do what they want, including mortgaging the ground gor extra income.
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EGM - which way are you voting? on 14:10 - Mar 3 with 1689 views
EGM - which way are you voting? on 13:14 - Mar 3 by sxdale
I think (however I am no legal or financial expert) that once you own 90% of shares in a company you can do a "compulsory acquisition of shares" to get the other 10%. Which I find interesting because would they have to pay to buy existing shareholders out? and what value would be put on the existing shares, the 50p/share they will pay for their 9,000,000 or the £2/share paid by myself and many others to fight off Morton House. Of course it's all irrelevant as with 90% they can do what they want, including mortgaging the ground gor extra income.
If they did remortage the ground or take loans against it they wouldn't even need to inform the supporters or the Trust.
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EGM - which way are you voting? on 14:14 - Mar 3 with 1675 views
EGM - which way are you voting? on 14:14 - Mar 3 by D_Alien
That's why full auditing remains essential.
It's what Stewart Day did at Bury. Left a shell of a club and walked away, impossible for the club to ever recover from that. He even persuaded Forever Bury to donate their shares, all purchased by the fans ( just like ours). The fan base fell for it apart from a few discerning voices who were quickly shut down by those who thought they would enjoy the ride! Getting hold of the stadium is the key to it all.
[Post edited 3 Mar 14:55]
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EGM - which way are you voting? on 15:20 - Mar 3 with 1509 views
EGM - which way are you voting? on 14:44 - Mar 3 by TalkingSutty
It's what Stewart Day did at Bury. Left a shell of a club and walked away, impossible for the club to ever recover from that. He even persuaded Forever Bury to donate their shares, all purchased by the fans ( just like ours). The fan base fell for it apart from a few discerning voices who were quickly shut down by those who thought they would enjoy the ride! Getting hold of the stadium is the key to it all.
[Post edited 3 Mar 14:55]
Although unlike bury I don't think any of us are of the "enjoy the ride" mentality, it's pure and simple a gamble and one that we really have no choice but to accept. If we don't pass the resolutions at the egm then we don't exist. If we do pass them we have to hope the new investors are more Fenway Sports Group and less Stewart Day.
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EGM - which way are you voting? on 15:50 - Mar 3 with 1467 views
EGM - which way are you voting? on 15:20 - Mar 3 by sxdale
Although unlike bury I don't think any of us are of the "enjoy the ride" mentality, it's pure and simple a gamble and one that we really have no choice but to accept. If we don't pass the resolutions at the egm then we don't exist. If we do pass them we have to hope the new investors are more Fenway Sports Group and less Stewart Day.
You don't know that we won't exist though if the resolutions aren't passed, you're just believing what one man is telling you. In a year of a general election do you honestly think politicians/ councils etc are just going to sit back and let a club that has a awful lot of money tied up in its stadium just go into liquidation, it won't happen, it would be political suicide. We aren't a financial basketcase. If Simon Gauge stops funds after the end of March and there are still credible investors which need exploring then I'm sure money could be raised or borrowed from somewhere to buy us that critical time to explore EVERY opportunity. I would suggest that we need to tell Simon Gauge that he doesn't own this football club and he needs to respect that we have shareholders and a supporters trust to consider. If he refuses to do that and there are other credible options then let's have a vote of no confidence in him and as a fan base reach out ourselves and speak to the council/ interested investors/ local businesses/ politicians etc. Why is it that everybody just accepts Simon Gauge at his word? I repeat, this isn't his club to just do with as he pleases, he obviously thinks it is though.
By the end of March he's admitted he can't do anything else and assured us of liquidation, he actually stated that. At that point as a fan base and hopefully in conjunction with other interested parties we then see if we can bridge the financial gap until we have a credible investor/ plan in place. If Simon wants to start being inclusive then he could join in but it seems inclusivity isn't something he's very good at. We all fought hard to keep hold of this club and now we are on the verge of voting to hand it over to persons unknown because one man has set a ridiculous deadline. He'll have to wait until all avenues have been explored would be my advice and if he stops funding then we send out a very public SOS for funding to be made available to bridge the gap. If there is no other interested parties whatsoever then i take on board the panic but last week we were told potential investors have come forward. We are being dictated to by one man and its about time it stopped.
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EGM - which way are you voting? on 16:16 - Mar 3 with 1395 views
EGM - which way are you voting? on 15:20 - Mar 3 by sxdale
Although unlike bury I don't think any of us are of the "enjoy the ride" mentality, it's pure and simple a gamble and one that we really have no choice but to accept. If we don't pass the resolutions at the egm then we don't exist. If we do pass them we have to hope the new investors are more Fenway Sports Group and less Stewart Day.
Is it really that binary? I know that’s what Gauge says, but will it we actually cease to exist on the 8th March? Voting down the resolutions would undoubtedly set in train a sequence of events, but we have no verified information, other than from the man who tried to secretly sell the club to some wrong uns in November. We know nothing of his deal or about the people he’s selling our club to. What we do know for sure is voting for the resolutions will undo all the work of fans, the trust, shareholders over many years. We will have no influence or control whatsoever we will be the ones who don’t exist for sure. Either way it will be a rollercoaster ride, but we do have a choice which one to get on.
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EGM - which way are you voting? on 16:24 - Mar 3 with 1356 views
EGM - which way are you voting? on 15:50 - Mar 3 by TalkingSutty
You don't know that we won't exist though if the resolutions aren't passed, you're just believing what one man is telling you. In a year of a general election do you honestly think politicians/ councils etc are just going to sit back and let a club that has a awful lot of money tied up in its stadium just go into liquidation, it won't happen, it would be political suicide. We aren't a financial basketcase. If Simon Gauge stops funds after the end of March and there are still credible investors which need exploring then I'm sure money could be raised or borrowed from somewhere to buy us that critical time to explore EVERY opportunity. I would suggest that we need to tell Simon Gauge that he doesn't own this football club and he needs to respect that we have shareholders and a supporters trust to consider. If he refuses to do that and there are other credible options then let's have a vote of no confidence in him and as a fan base reach out ourselves and speak to the council/ interested investors/ local businesses/ politicians etc. Why is it that everybody just accepts Simon Gauge at his word? I repeat, this isn't his club to just do with as he pleases, he obviously thinks it is though.
By the end of March he's admitted he can't do anything else and assured us of liquidation, he actually stated that. At that point as a fan base and hopefully in conjunction with other interested parties we then see if we can bridge the financial gap until we have a credible investor/ plan in place. If Simon wants to start being inclusive then he could join in but it seems inclusivity isn't something he's very good at. We all fought hard to keep hold of this club and now we are on the verge of voting to hand it over to persons unknown because one man has set a ridiculous deadline. He'll have to wait until all avenues have been explored would be my advice and if he stops funding then we send out a very public SOS for funding to be made available to bridge the gap. If there is no other interested parties whatsoever then i take on board the panic but last week we were told potential investors have come forward. We are being dictated to by one man and its about time it stopped.
If the motion is passed, I too don't see how the club continues. I'm not taking Simon's word for it and I too find it hard listening to him and his tone towards supporters. I'm taking the word of fans I trust, fans I know well and quite frankly it's time we realised this current model at the club is completely outdated and impossible to sustain.
We were pretty much told at the fans forum that to kick the can down the road for another month would cost us £160,000 I think, someone correct me if I'm wrong but how do we raise that money? We raised money for weeks to fight off Morton House and got a third of that total. It's all well and saying that about Politicians and councils etc. We already owe the council the best part of half a million according to Simon and our MP is George Galloway who is too busy trying to p!$$ off Labour and Conservatives to bother about football. Neither politicians or council stopped Bury from going bust did they? Or Macclesfield?
Far too big a risk, without a plan going forward to vote another way for me unfortunately. I completely get how it's a massive step into the unknown and unfamiliar, but we don't have a viable choice in the timeframe we have.
If I hadn't seen such riches, I could live with being poor
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EGM - which way are you voting? on 16:31 - Mar 3 with 1313 views
EGM - which way are you voting? on 15:50 - Mar 3 by TalkingSutty
You don't know that we won't exist though if the resolutions aren't passed, you're just believing what one man is telling you. In a year of a general election do you honestly think politicians/ councils etc are just going to sit back and let a club that has a awful lot of money tied up in its stadium just go into liquidation, it won't happen, it would be political suicide. We aren't a financial basketcase. If Simon Gauge stops funds after the end of March and there are still credible investors which need exploring then I'm sure money could be raised or borrowed from somewhere to buy us that critical time to explore EVERY opportunity. I would suggest that we need to tell Simon Gauge that he doesn't own this football club and he needs to respect that we have shareholders and a supporters trust to consider. If he refuses to do that and there are other credible options then let's have a vote of no confidence in him and as a fan base reach out ourselves and speak to the council/ interested investors/ local businesses/ politicians etc. Why is it that everybody just accepts Simon Gauge at his word? I repeat, this isn't his club to just do with as he pleases, he obviously thinks it is though.
By the end of March he's admitted he can't do anything else and assured us of liquidation, he actually stated that. At that point as a fan base and hopefully in conjunction with other interested parties we then see if we can bridge the financial gap until we have a credible investor/ plan in place. If Simon wants to start being inclusive then he could join in but it seems inclusivity isn't something he's very good at. We all fought hard to keep hold of this club and now we are on the verge of voting to hand it over to persons unknown because one man has set a ridiculous deadline. He'll have to wait until all avenues have been explored would be my advice and if he stops funding then we send out a very public SOS for funding to be made available to bridge the gap. If there is no other interested parties whatsoever then i take on board the panic but last week we were told potential investors have come forward. We are being dictated to by one man and its about time it stopped.
All fair points but why should Rochdale Council who have a duty towards its 220,000 residents give a toss about a football club that is important to only 2,000? less than 1/100th of the town. Especially when budgets continue to be squeezed? It won't be political suicide the vast majority of this town doesn't care. This town is apathetic to all its sporting clubs it has always been. Yes we all fought hard to keep this club out of the hands of Morton House, but I know that I can't do that again as I simply don't have the money. We need a larger fan base and all of them to contribute probably via monthly direct debit a larger amount of cash than the trust membership fee, such as Lincoln and Exeter do and even then there is outside investment. It's a great idea in theory, I just doubt that we can raise enough money even to keep us going while all other avenues are explored. I don't like the situation, I really don't like the timing of it and the pressure it has put on us as fans to decide the fate of the club. I also want the chairman, and maybe others on the board removed once the situation is resolved because of this.
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EGM - which way are you voting? on 16:35 - Mar 3 with 1291 views
EGM - which way are you voting? on 16:31 - Mar 3 by sxdale
All fair points but why should Rochdale Council who have a duty towards its 220,000 residents give a toss about a football club that is important to only 2,000? less than 1/100th of the town. Especially when budgets continue to be squeezed? It won't be political suicide the vast majority of this town doesn't care. This town is apathetic to all its sporting clubs it has always been. Yes we all fought hard to keep this club out of the hands of Morton House, but I know that I can't do that again as I simply don't have the money. We need a larger fan base and all of them to contribute probably via monthly direct debit a larger amount of cash than the trust membership fee, such as Lincoln and Exeter do and even then there is outside investment. It's a great idea in theory, I just doubt that we can raise enough money even to keep us going while all other avenues are explored. I don't like the situation, I really don't like the timing of it and the pressure it has put on us as fans to decide the fate of the club. I also want the chairman, and maybe others on the board removed once the situation is resolved because of this.
A council we already seen to owe the best part of half a million pounds to as well let's not forget.
If I hadn't seen such riches, I could live with being poor
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EGM - which way are you voting? on 16:45 - Mar 3 with 1258 views
EGM - which way are you voting? on 16:35 - Mar 3 by ChaffRAFC
A council we already seen to owe the best part of half a million pounds to as well let's not forget.
I was under the impression that we had paid back the council money early which was one of the reasons we are cash poor, of course the council may very well have given/loaned us othe money which I don't know about, quite happy to be corrected. Once again I have to say that on this board people disagree and have opposing views but despite being passionate it has not sunk to abuse and remains civil.
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EGM - which way are you voting? on 17:10 - Mar 3 with 1163 views
EGM - which way are you voting? on 16:50 - Mar 3 by sxdale
I was under the impression that we had paid back the council money early which was one of the reasons we are cash poor, of course the council may very well have given/loaned us othe money which I don't know about, quite happy to be corrected. Once again I have to say that on this board people disagree and have opposing views but despite being passionate it has not sunk to abuse and remains civil.
Nor should it sink to abuse, we're grown ups and should be able to debate without having to resort to that.
Simon mentioned on the POF Podcast last week that he was owed £566,000 and then mentioned the council as part of the debt so I took that as being the other part of the debt of a million pounds and would sound right as being "friendly" debt which he mentioned on Thursday.
If I hadn't seen such riches, I could live with being poor
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