Now do the sums. What it's cost us and what could have been

[durhampie]

Never thought of it that way, but now you mention it a new Mondeo isn't something to be sniffed at.

I consider myself well and truly patronised.

I got a new Audi every 3 years, so what does that make me..

[Elite_Pie]

I got a new Audi every 3 years, so what does that make me..

I suspect it makes you a person who got a new Audi every 3 years.

[McCullochisGod]

Did he not have to pay a former Director £1m back too that the man had loaned the club against his property?

[slack_pie]

You are also not correct in saying AH is sole owner of Paragon interiors plc. He has had two other significant shareholders since 2001 & 2005 . Factually , the club is beholden to that board of three shareholders of which AH is only 1 vote.

Notts county owes them over £4m and is paying them interest.

That alone isn’t an issue. That they can refuse to invest/loan anymore st anytime is a concern if cashflow bites.

That they can call the loan if paragon itself needs cash to remain solvent at any stage in the future is a concern.

My point made in my initial post remains, asking questions of and keeping a chairman accountable for his actions and financial / debt management of the club we love is prudent and important.

To say “it’s AHs money he can do what he wants with it “ is a little reckless in my opinion

Where do you get your info from, michelinnotts? Personally, I've never bothered to look too close in regards where the money is coming from. As a fan I care that we have a good team and are progressing on the pitch. To be honest, the spectre of financial meltdown is one that Notts fans will always have to live with.

The way I see it, we either struggle to survive in L2 with little investment, probably resulting in our eventual relegation to non-league, or we have an owner willing to put large amounts of their own money into the club. With the latter option, it's only really a matter of time until that owner has enough, or runs out of money. At that point, we are either lucky enough to find someone else to take over the costs of running the club and drive us forward, or we are ****ed and duly end up where we started once again.

Since I've been supporting Notts, every time we've received significant investment it has resulted in short-term success followed by longer-term failure. Even if Hardy's investments pay off and we eventually make it back to L1, we are still more likely to find ourselves back at the bottom lf L2 than the Championship. That's just the way it is at a club like Notts. Financial insecurity is a constant threat. All we can hope for is something to celebrate along the way, and at the very least a club to support.

I do admit to being concerned that Hardy - who is a wealthy local businessman, not a Russian oligarch - is throwing good money after bad, and I wonder how long it can go on for a man who, at the end of the day, hasn't built his businesses up just to see them fall. Only time will tell.

[slack_pie]

I got a new Audi every 3 years, so what does that make me..

Bourgeois and rather profligate?

[SolSigns]

Bourgeois and rather profligate?

! At least he uses his 'let 'em eat cake' mobiles to follow Notts!

[magpie_mania]

Michelin strikes me as extremely well-informed and very articulate....the main theme of his argument is simple.....AH is lending Notts a lot of money, and charging interest, from a company that he is not in sole control of.....at any point Paragon can (a) stop loaning Notts cash....and (b) call in part, or all, of the loan?

It puts last night's loss in the Checkatrade into perspective, £10k lost in that one game, £350k for the tournament as a whole....monies that both Coventry and Lincoln have banked the last 2 years, and presumably spent to get themselves promoted and in 1st place respectively....no wonder AH is having 2nd thoughts

I understand exactly what his argument is. What I don't understand is where he gets his information from, and why he goes into such detail.

[drillerpie]

If we've only got 300k in assets and 4m worth of debt to Paragon, wouldn't the directors of Paragon, whoever they are, be extremely foolish to call in the debt and only get 10p to the pound when we go into admin?

Can't see that happening to be honest.

[Bohinen]

Where is David Hindley these days?

On the general picture, the accounts for 2017 which have been quoted, show the picture when Hardy had owned the club for two months.

As he had to fund the purchase of Notts from Trew, who had a similar sized Directors Loan and debts to the HMRC and other football clubs, I would imagine he didn't whip 6 million pounds out of his back pocket to pay for them. He instead used cash available to one of his companies (and it clearly is his, whoever the other directors are).

He has said all along that the club is losing a lot of money, this is not news to anyone. But standing by and doing nothing whilst we go out of the League, which may well have been the Trust's chosen tactic, would not help the financial situation. So he has taken positive action. If it doesn't work, that won't be good, but I think we need to give it more than one week to find out.

[ncfcog]

If we've only got 300k in assets and 4m worth of debt to Paragon, wouldn't the directors of Paragon, whoever they are, be extremely foolish to call in the debt and only get 10p to the pound when we go into admin?

Can't see that happening to be honest.

This 10p to the pound stuff is absolute rubbish as well. Every customer of mine that has gone bust in the past owing us money, and there have been a few, we have never got anything back let alone 10p!!