My thoughts on 'No to the takeover"

[Lancer]

Going into FP on Friday I was handed a flyer giving me information on a group calling themselves "No to the takeover"

I'm not going to repeat their arguments here you can read them yourselves on their blog at.....

www.notothetakeover.wordpress.com

My thoughts are:~

1. Currently the club is not making enough revenue to sustain us in Division 1 with any hope of going into the Championship. Even with 18,000 turning up every home game we will not be able to go forward.

2. Fratton Park, as we all know requires rebuilding for that we need £millions (many of them). So having sustainability in the players market and going forward up the leagues plus rebuild the stadium is a none starter. We will live our life in Div II or Div 1.

3. Do you want fans in the future to be relegated to watch the crappy football we have been forced to watch over the last few years plus put up with the poor officials who run the games in these Divisions ?

4. I enjoyed the Premiership and looked forward to every home game...... I could live with the Championship but not in the two lower divisions, which without investment we will be relegated too.

5. Personally I think should we be taken over the board must have a place for a FANS board member or perhaps those with Presidential shares have some kind of voting power..........

What do you think ?

[philphillips]

Very surprised how quiet this board has been about this proposed takeover......personally in my humble opinion the issue of no fan representation on the board is going to be a Hugh stumbling block for a lot of shareholders. (Including family members). Personally I was disappointed at the way Michael Eisner went "public" with his views in his "exclusive" with the news......so much for exclusivity/due diligence! I was totally underwhelmed with his comments......unless I've got the wrong end of the stick there was no firm commitment to either redevelop Fratton Park and increase capacity or a new stadium. It appeared he was only committing to making the crowd safe and getting it back to the 20,000 level. As for the Heritage Group........why do we need that, just get the fact that the Club name, Colours, nickname, ground name etc can,t be changed and put it in a signed contract.......or am I missing something? Making noises about getting to the Championship and even the premiership is pie in the sky if this time round we are not ready with a better/increased capacity holding stadium, better/bigger hospitality opportunities etc..........the devil will be in the final details however I can already see splits in the fan base about this takeover.......my view for what it's worth can be summed up very easily.........some people have very short memories.......and finally if Michael Eisner had't surfaced what were the stadium redevelopment plans........how were we going to cope with the safety issues etc, or have we been "kept in the dark" or are we being fed PR spin so that this deal goes through? More questions than answers at the moment......ill stay on the fence till all is revealed! �� As for the Poll......good idea Lancer but how about another undecided (at the moment) option?

[lovedeanblue]

I too felt it became public too early. I did hear an interested American was in the city but I just wanted us to get out of this awful division. I didn't get one of the flyers Friday but I do know that a respected ex Poster on here did get given one and he tore it up. I have read that Eisner is going to do a Q & A session the Thursday evening before the Cheltenham game. Happy to listen to what he says then. I don't doubt that some Board members have become comfortable sitting in the Directors Box but I would ask them to listen and make their decision as to what is best for our club, not necessarily for themselves. Lancer the Refs we get in the main are EFL referees, they do all 3 Divisions normally so don't necessarily expect there to be much difference sadly. I still think one of the worst officials I have seen was Mr Swarbrick (Oxford here last season), he of course is a PL Ref. Indeed he was at St Fairies on Saturday.

[Lancer]

Thanks Phil and Lovedean - Must say I do agree with both of your comments.

Perhaps the reason not many have been on here talking about a takeover is this forum is not very user friendly - is it ?

[PompeyScarf]

It's too early for a black and white poll like this.

What is Eisner in it for? Does he look at Arsenal and think 'I'd like a piece of that?' Even if he says the things we'd like to hear - what guarantees are there he'll stick to his word or that his son will have the interests of the club at heart and want to succeed?

We got promoted today as a fan owned club. The fans saved it and it's achieved a promotion. This is gold - it's priceless. For me, this is how clubs should be run. I don't want to regress to keeping things in-house, or being in a situation where the supporters are just cash cows (Arsenal again). Catlin's monthly updates are brilliant and you can see he genuinely cares for the club and what people think/want. Does Eisner get this? Because it won't take long for people who care for the club long term to know whether they're being stitched up or not.

I know we require investment for the ground and to progress - but this club and people everywhere need to be respected.

[Lancer]

Perhapss your right it might be to early - but some are already jumping on the waggon such as these "no to the take-over.

[lovedeanblue]

There seems to be some who are totally opposed to it without even listening to what is on the table. If those on the board are cosy in their Directors Box seats, which I hear, I'd ask them to consider the club not their chuffing seats. I haven't a clue who the guys were on Friday handing out the fliers, I know two ST holders who ripped theirs up. I am quite happy to wait for the Q & A session 2 weeks on Thursday, I wish those who say No would do the same.

[lovedeanblue]

Promotion, 'Arry off to triffic, fantastic, his 7th at least spiritual home, Brum. Mrs May then called an election. The latter two were announced on my way up the a34 today. Anything else happened ?

[pompeylee]

I've had another day of sunshine & efe's, no change there ��

[lovedeanblue]

I've had another day of sunshine & efe's, no change there ��