South Africans to return on Monday

[ivansneck]

The South African consortium hoping to seal a takeover deal for Notts County are set to jet into the country on Monday.

Reports today stated the group's purchase of the club had been plunged into doubt after Charter HCP boss Terry Pritchard, who is fronting their bid, was urgently admitted to hospital.

But after analysing documents from the club's solictors, Gateleys, it is understood Pritchard's team will now meet investors in London on Monday as they continue to push ahead with plans for the National League club.

The group have been in talks with current owner Alan Hardy for several months and, according to reports, a price of £6m has been agreed for the Magpies, who have been up for sale since January.

The consortium have already discussed increasing manager Neal Ardley's budget and have identified a training ground site with Notts currently without a base having severed ties with local non-league side Basford United.

Fans are eager for the deal to be completed given the team is back for pre-season training on June 24 with significant work still to be completed on improving the squad.

The club told the High Court on Wednesday they expect a sale to happen in the next 28 days as they avoided being wound up over an unpaid tax bill of around £200,000.

HMRC had instigated proceedings back in February, but it emerged that another creditor had since supported their petition to have the club wound up, although their identity was not revealed in court

[Chicken Balti Pie]

Where is this from?

[ivansneck]

Nottinghamshire Live

[matt_magpie]

When you take into account one they are spending £6 million quid and two the challenges of meeting face to face regular then perhaps people might understand that this was always going to take time. I don’t think there’s anything wrong apart from Hardy as usual giving over optimistic timescales trying to please people.

[Chicken Balti Pie]

Nottinghamshire Live

Cheers, it seems Leigh Curtis is rather more enthusiastic than the other doom and gloom media at the moment

[iamITK]

Cheers, it seems Leigh Curtis is rather more enthusiastic than the other doom and gloom media at the moment

but its fallen through!

[Oldstripy]

but its fallen through!

What proof do you have?

[iamITK]

What proof do you have?

My use of sarcasm

[LaxtonLad]

What proof do you have?

He doesn't need any. His monniker, iamITK, has been taken by some to mean " i am In The Know". He has provided no reason at all to allow us to believe he knows any more than you or I, Oldstripy, but some still believe he "Knows".

[BanjoPie]

My use of sarcasm

Don't be a pr@tt

[BigFatPie]

Seems like goodish news on the whole.

[iamITK]

Don't be a pr@tt

Not being a prat, I was quoting the doom mongers no here who claim they know the deal is dead.
Maybe the South Africans just like London and want to see some more sights

Its like some folk would only be happy if it all goes wrong and we fold, so they can say I told you so

[iamITK]

He doesn't need any. His monniker, iamITK, has been taken by some to mean " i am In The Know". He has provided no reason at all to allow us to believe he knows any more than you or I, Oldstripy, but some still believe he "Knows".

You will notice I wasnt claiming to know anymore than is out in the public domain. I am not claiming to know the deal is off and fallen through, unlike some on here who have no idea at all.

[Dunce]

Sounds interesting. 🤞🤞🤞

[BanjoPie]

Not being a prat, I was quoting the doom mongers no here who claim they know the deal is dead.
Maybe the South Africans just like London and want to see some more sights

Its like some folk would only be happy if it all goes wrong and we fold, so they can say I told you so

Ok, I take it back. Sorry

[maddogslater]

Ok, I take it back. Sorry
You know what Del boy calls Rodney, You...

[Bohinen]

You will notice I wasnt claiming to know anymore than is out in the public domain. I am not claiming to know the deal is off and fallen through, unlike some on here who have no idea at all.

iused2bITK

[iamITK]

iused2bITK

so did I >;)

[The_Don_ORiordan]

What do we make of this?

“But after analysing documents from the club's solictors, Gateleys, it is understood Pritchard's team will now meet investors in London on Monday as they continue to push ahead with plans for the National League club.”

Is it an Anglo-South African Consortium now?

[Chicken Balti Pie]

What do we make of this?

“But after analysing documents from the club's solictors, Gateleys, it is understood Pritchard's team will now meet investors in London on Monday as they continue to push ahead with plans for the National League club.”

Is it an Anglo-South African Consortium now?

It always was wasn't it?

[The_Don_ORiordan]

It always was wasn't it?

Must have missed that bit.

[Chicken Balti Pie]

Must have missed that bit.

I was reported that only one or two are from South Africa with some being presumably from Britain

[LaxtonLad]

You will notice I wasnt claiming to know anymore than is out in the public domain. I am not claiming to know the deal is off and fallen through, unlike some on here who have no idea at all.

Then please tell us what the initials in your name stand for.

[queenslandpie]

People have no choice but to be patient. Unless you have millions to invest you cant do anything about it. What will be will be.

[Bohinen]

People have no choice but to be patient. Unless you have millions to invest you cant do anything about it. What will be will be.

It's starting to bore me now. I don't think we should be selling our arses so cheaply. If these ****ers can't show Notts supporters a bit of respect, they should do one. The club is as good as dead anyway.

ITK my arse.

[queenslandpie]

It's starting to bore me now. I don't think we should be selling our arses so cheaply. If these ****ers can't show Notts supporters a bit of respect, they should do one. The club is as good as dead anyway.

ITK my arse.

Patience is a virtue. We know almost zero and as to who is to 'blame' for the delay if blame is even a correct word who knows. Thew whole situation for a sale is very complex with people from overseas, mediators who are unwell, a basketcase chairman, a middle company that owns assets that has the administrator chasing it and a complex lease arrangement surrounding Meadow Lane and all the rumours surrounding that. Very complex. A lot of boxes to tick and if things fall out of whack it quickly spirals I have been in these situations before on a smaller scale. Lets see what happens. We have a motivated seller and motivated buyers by all accounts and that what is really needed to get this thing over the line.

[ForeignLegion]

You'll have to have a rethink;what sort of a conspiracy theory is that?

[Simon the Pieman]

I would have thought Ollie wold have snapped their hands off by now. Beggars can't be choosers. He must be in a serious financial mess. If he lets our wonderful club fall then God help him.

[GranthamPie]

Patience is a virtue. We know almost zero and as to who is to 'blame' for the delay if blame is even a correct word who knows. Thew whole situation for a sale is very complex with people from overseas, mediators who are unwell, a basketcase chairman, a middle company that owns assets that has the administrator chasing it and a complex lease arrangement surrounding Meadow Lane and all the rumours surrounding that. Very complex. A lot of boxes to tick and if things fall out of whack it quickly spirals I have been in these situations before on a smaller scale. Lets see what happens. We have a motivated seller and motivated buyers by all accounts and that what is really needed to get this thing over the line.

I agree with Bohinen... it’s a farce. ST sales have fallen through the floor because of the lack of information about who is or who isn’t taking over the ownership of the club. I don’t care how complex the takeover is, if you treat the people who support the club with disdain, then you have broken the first rule. I’ve never seen a takeover with such cloak of secrecy about it... never.

My personal view is this.... this takeover is clearly NOT about owning a football club. The football club is secondary to the negotiations and as such, needs to be treated with the contempt it deserves. Developers are developers... they don’t give a fcuk about football and particularly not a tired old, worn out club like ours. Seem to me that both parties are nothing but a flock of opportunistic vultures, ready to pick at the bones of NCFC.

[ivansneck]

I agree with Bohinen... it’s a farce. ST sales have fallen through the floor because of the lack of information about who is or who isn’t taking over the ownership of the club. I don’t care how complex the takeover is, if you treat the people who support the club with disdain, then you have broken the first rule. I’ve never seen a takeover with such cloak of secrecy about it... never.

My personal view is this.... this takeover is clearly NOT about owning a football club. The football club is secondary to the negotiations and as such, needs to be treated with the contempt it deserves. Developers are developers... they don’t give a fcuk about football and particularly not a tired old, worn out club like ours. Seem to me that both parties are nothing but a flock of opportunistic vultures, ready to pick at the bones of NCFC.

I hope you are completely wrong, but it should surely be unacceptable that we don't know. The FA have got to look seriously at the ownership model they have allowed to develop at football 'clubs'. I regard NCFC as an important institution in the fabric of the Nottingham area and football as a whole in this country. It cannot be right that such an institution should be at the whim of mavericks like Hardy, or possibly the next owners if they are merely property developers.

[BanjoPie]

I hope you are completely wrong, but it should surely be unacceptable that we don't know. The FA have got to look seriously at the ownership model they have allowed to develop at football 'clubs'. I regard NCFC as an important institution in the fabric of the Nottingham area and football as a whole in this country. It cannot be right that such an institution should be at the whim of mavericks like Hardy, or possibly the next owners if they are merely property developers.


Sadly it is not an institution but a business and there is no sentiment in business

[SwalePie]

Does anyone else think that it's a bit harsh to start attacking the potential new owners before they have even become the actual new owners or is it just me?

[ivansneck]

Sadly it is not an institution but a business and there is no sentiment in business

That's my point, the FA should not allow institutions to be owned like businesses

[queenslandpie]

Does anyone else think that it's a bit harsh to start attacking the potential new owners before they have even become the actual new owners or is it just me?

Its not just you. Its a manifestation of frustration and decades of bad ownership at Notts I am afraid. Its getting to the point where less and less people actually remember what a good owner is and as such the instant reaction is to be a negative nancy. Its not correct but its understandable.

[SwalePie]

Its not just you. Its a manifestation of frustration and decades of bad ownership at Notts I am afraid. Its getting to the point where less and less people actually remember what a good owner is and as such the instant reaction is to be a negative nancy. Its not correct but its understandable.

Yes sadly it is. Let's hope that for once, as a fanbase, we are pleasantly surprised out of our long-held but understandable suspicion and cynicism.

[queenslandpie]

Yes sadly it is. Let's hope that for once, as a fanbase, we are pleasantly surprised out of our long-held but understandable suspicion and cynicism.

Swale only time will tell. I have a few decades left yet I hope so lets see. Im not expecting a lot I did slightly raise my eyebrows at the suggestion of a plying budget increase. I wonder who is feeding Leigh this stuff.

[The_Don_ORiordan]

Does anyone else think that it's a bit harsh to start attacking the potential new owners before they have even become the actual new owners or is it just me?

It’s hard to attack someone when you have no idea who they are, what their intentions are and if they in reality even exist as a serious contender.

This is very much like brexit, it started with a bunch of lies and idiotic plans which a lot of folk bought in to, led by a deluded fool unable to deliver any promises despite it costing a fortune. No one wants to leader to remain, everyone is sick of the uncertainty and just want it done with.

qldpie is bang on the money when he says is created out of previous mistrust.

The last decent owner (imho Pavis) had periods of rough times and was criticised heavily. Dunnett too had his moments (roeder)

So the question is, who would want to be the owner of Notts County and why?

We’ve reason to be suspicious.

[BigFatPie]

Does anyone else think that it's a bit harsh to start attacking the potential new owners before they have even become the actual new owners or is it just me?

Yes.
They were the saviours a few weeks ago because they weren’t Alan Hardy and now they’re villains because the takeover is taking longer than expected so they must be hiring the bulldozers as we speak.

We know nowt so there’s nowt to say.

[MagpieMike]

I agree with Bohinen... it’s a farce. ST sales have fallen through the floor because of the lack of information about who is or who isn’t taking over the ownership of the club. I don’t care how complex the takeover is, if you treat the people who support the club with disdain, then you have broken the first rule. I’ve never seen a takeover with such cloak of secrecy about it... never.

My personal view is this.... this takeover is clearly NOT about owning a football club. The football club is secondary to the negotiations and as such, needs to be treated with the contempt it deserves. Developers are developers... they don’t give a fcuk about football and particularly not a tired old, worn out club like ours. Seem to me that both parties are nothing but a flock of opportunistic vultures, ready to pick at the bones of NCFC.

Surely that's pure conjecture. Did you notice Fawaz court case against the new owners of Rushcliffe Rovers the other week? Won around £4.5m plus costs. - That suggests all wasn't done well with the Florest takeover, in the sense that the new owners believed these were costs they shouldn't have to pay. Fawaz clearly thought they should, and the judge agreed. Shows how complicated a takeover is. Our potential new owners wouldn't want a shock of taking over the club for an agreed price and then finding hidden extra debts. Then there is the complication of the City Council and Hayden Green Trust with the ground.

I'm not convinced by the suggested property development angle. We have an excellent stadium, and limited scope for additional development on the land, even with everyone agreeing to it. Of course if new owners want to build a state of the art 60,000 seater stadium with monorail, and a car park on the (former) city ground, I won't personally object....

[ncfcog]

I think I saw somewhere the SA consortium has exclusivity over a deal at this time. If so I would expect their visit next week to have the intention of getting the deal done.

I'm assuming AH is after a deal that pays him in full what he wants (£7m?), if that is the case the consortium probably want him to make sure he uses the money to clear certain debts, otherwise the offer would be vastly reduced and spread out over a number of years.

If the former has been agreed the club and new owners would be debt free, if they are meeting investors next week then that would indicate a single payment and if AH is sensible there is no reason it can't be done by end of the week?

[Frigiliana Pie 1]

Does anyone else think that it's a bit harsh to start attacking the potential new owners before they have even become the actual new owners or is it just me?

I expect that when the new owners reveal themselves and set out their intentions and ambitions for Notts County, there will be another outburst of criticism and cynicism from some posters on these boards. But we should all remember three things...

1. Everyone should be given a fair chance to prove themselves.
2. No owner that we get is going to be perfect.
3. The most important thing is that they keep Notts County going.

From what little I know at the moment, the SA lot look quite promising, because it seems they are likely to deliver the much needed training ground.

[placidpie]

But why go to the bother of assigning the debt to Hardy? (if it even can be done?) . Why not just pay the quid and take on the debt with a clause for contingent liabilities? Or am I being particularly obtuse?
Fact is, it's all just guesswork. We really have no clue as to the substance of anything we have heard.

[ncfcog]

But why go to the bother of assigning the debt to Hardy? (if it even can be done?) . Why not just pay the quid and take on the debt with a clause for contingent liabilities? Or am I being particularly obtuse?
Fact is, it's all just guesswork. We really have no clue as to the substance of anything we have heard.

I would imagine there is a list of creditors that has been made available to the buyers. If AH wants a lump sum deal then it is not beyond likely that the buyers would insist on him personally taking responsibility for some of that debt. Again, this might work out better for AH than a deal over many years with a small up front payment. All guesswork of course!!

[SwalePie]

All guesswork of course!!

Jolly good guesswork though methinks ;)

[ncfcog]

Jolly good guesswork though methinks ;)

Ssshhhh . . . >;)

[DelroyFacey22]

What do we make of this?

“But after analysing documents from the club's solictors, Gateleys, it is understood Pritchard's team will now meet investors in London on Monday as they continue to push ahead with plans for the National League club.”

Is it an Anglo-South African Consortium now?

It says Pritchard's team will meet the investors in London, not meet investors from London. At a guess I'd imagine there aren't many direct flights from South Africa to East Midlands Airport but Charter HCP is also based in London (and Gateleys have an office there) so why would they meet anywhere else?

[Notsohumblepie]

I would imagine there is a list of creditors that has been made available to the buyers. If AH wants a lump sum deal then it is not beyond likely that the buyers would insist on him personally taking responsibility for some of that debt. Again, this might work out better for AH than a deal over many years with a small up front payment. All guesswork of course!!

"The final warranty, and representation made by the seller is that there are no claims, liens, or other encumbrances on the rights or, property that is being sold"

Obviously there is no property , but it's a standard clause, easily amended to any other " assets"

[legs77]

We just have to trust the courts were given solid proof of a takeover.

They also may not be living in South Africa either they could be flying in from anywhere in Europe for example I think its safe to rule out the chicken mob no chance is it them.

[SwalePie]

They also may not be living in South Africa either they could be flying in from anywhere in Europe for example I think its safe to rule out the chicken mob no chance is it them.

Is this baste on anything or just a peri peri random thought? Sauce?

[Dunce]

I heard they were flying in from Turkey, and the meeting was in Peckham.

[Oldstripy]

We just have to trust the courts were given solid proof of a takeover.

I think the court must have seen solid proof, if not we would be in administration now.

[SwalePie]

I think the court must have seen solid proof, if not we would be in administration now.

I'd say so too ;)

[Old_pie]

I think the court must have seen solid proof, if not we would be in administration now.

On that basis they must have seen solid proof last time too. In fact it may as well as be considered a done deal yea!

[SwalePie]

On that basis they must have seen solid proof last time too. In fact it may as well as be considered a done deal yea!

I understand further significant progress has been made today. Fingers crossed for Monday/Tuesday's big pow-wow down in 'That London' then.

[maddogslater]

I heard they were flying in from Turkey, and the meeting was in Peckham.
Ha, brilliant

[countygump]

I understand further significant progress has been made today. Fingers crossed for Monday/Tuesday's big pow-wow down in 'That London' then.


I heard the same. Could be time to let the takeover of the lease, sorry, leash.

[lunaspie]

I heard they were flying in from Turkey, and the meeting was in Peckham.


Are they supplying seed money for the youth system ?

[Gubbie]

I heard they were flying in from Turkey, and the meeting was in Peckham.

The main man is called Garry

[countygump]

Scoop Curtis is in buoyant mood, nottttttttttttttt !!!


Hi Pieman, yep totally agree with you about the mess the club are in. As I wrote yesterday, the people who are the victims in this are the fans and the staff at Meadow Lane. I would love to give reasons to be optimistic but right now I cannot. This has been going on for too long and I am sure everybody is worried, angry, frustrated and anxious. I know I am. I know there are people who have yet to buy season tickets, but my advice to anybody doing that would be to pay by credit card rather than cash just in case we get to July 10 and the worst case scenario occurs. I am aware there are potential owners waiting in the wings to buy it out of admin who aren’t involved in the bidding process right now. They don’t believe the club is worth anything more than a £1 given the debt. With regards to the South African consortium, Terry Pritchard is in hospital right now which has delayed matters, but there is a meeting scheduled for Monday between the investors and his team.

https://www.nottinghampost.com/sport/football/football-news/notts-county-webchat-live-leigh-2952499

[SwalePie]

Scoop Curtis is in buoyant mood, nottttttttttttttt !!!

Yes he seems to be on a real downer today. Must be tedious to have all this mind-numbing rumour and counter-rumour cack to cover instead of footie though I suppose.

[slack_pie]

Scoop Curtis is in buoyant mood, nottttttttttttttt !!!


Hi Pieman, yep totally agree with you about the mess the club are in. As I wrote yesterday, the people who are the victims in this are the fans and the staff at Meadow Lane. I would love to give reasons to be optimistic but right now I cannot. This has been going on for too long and I am sure everybody is worried, angry, frustrated and anxious. I know I am. I know there are people who have yet to buy season tickets, but my advice to anybody doing that would be to pay by credit card rather than cash just in case we get to July 10 and the worst case scenario occurs. I am aware there are potential owners waiting in the wings to buy it out of admin who aren’t involved in the bidding process right now. They don’t believe the club is worth anything more than a £1 given the debt. With regards to the South African consortium, Terry Pritchard is in hospital right now which has delayed matters, but there is a meeting scheduled for Monday between the investors and his team.

https://www.nottinghampost.com/sport/football/football-news/notts-county-webchat-live-leigh-2952499

Sounds a bit gloomeh. You know it's bad when the local reporter advises to use a credit card in case the club disappears in the coming weeks.

[Chicken Balti Pie]

Jesus, someone needs to remove his shoelaces and any sharp objects from him. Never known him so downbeat

[SwalePie]

From the ongoing webchat...

12882

[placidpie]

Swale, you seem to believe your source thats presumably told you something, so I take it you are unconcerned? Is there any way these professional potential new owners can see what radio silence does to their potential acquisition, do you know?
I have sources, none of who are anything to do with prospective owners, and I do have concerns.
Its ok saying that staff arent twiddling their thumbs while all this is going on, but what can those staff work with? A skeleton playing side, filled with uncertainty as to their futures, a pitch that has had minimal work done this summer, no assigned budget and nowhere to train.
Its ok saying new owners have a site in mind, do we think they are just going to leave a surface suitable for a professional team to train on, unrented? Meanwhile, debts are mounting and our media team have nothing they are allowed to say. I'm not a pessimist but I'm nervous.

[Old_pie]

Swale, you seem to believe your source thats presumably told you something, so I take it you are unconcerned? Is there any way these professional potential new owners can see what radio silence does to their potential acquisition, do you know?

Which new owners? This whole "game" has been taken out of AH's hands as far as I can see and it is just vultures circling around the court waiting to see who blinks first. No-one wants to meet AH's valuation and as I've said before why pay £6m or whatever when it can be acquired for the cost of £1 plus writing off a couple of debts including the mounting HMRC figure.

As far as who are the other creditors interested, unless it is the milkman I'd reckon it's the Paragon administrators wanting their pound of flesh.

[slack_pie]

Swale, you seem to believe your source thats presumably told you something, so I take it you are unconcerned? Is there any way these professional potential new owners can see what radio silence does to their potential acquisition, do you know?
I have sources, none of who are anything to do with prospective owners, and I do have concerns.
Its ok saying that staff arent twiddling their thumbs while all this is going on, but what can those staff work with? A skeleton playing side, filled with uncertainty as to their futures, a pitch that has had minimal work done this summer, no assigned budget and nowhere to train.
Its ok saying new owners have a site in mind, do we think they are just going to leave a surface suitable for a professional team to train on, unrented? Meanwhile, debts are mounting and our media team have nothing they are allowed to say. I'm not a pessimist but I'm nervous.

I'm stuck somewhere in the middle, but slowly edging towards your point of view. On the one hand, Swale clearly knows something about the SAs and seems impressed and optimistic, but on the other hand, our local reporter - who should know more than any of us - is about as negative as it comes.

At the end of the day, you are right - even if the SAs come through and are decent owners, we're going to be so far behind in our prep for next season that it's already looking like a massive struggle.

This is a huge shame. If we'd got all this sorted, ahem, 7-10 days after the Swindon game, and the SAs had ambition, there's no reason why we couldn't start the season in positive spirits and mount a serious challenge - which is exactly what this club needs. Instead, we've been left in the lurch for so long that that now seems impossible, takeover or not.

[BigFatPie]

I'm stuck somewhere in the middle, but slowly edging towards your point of view. On the one hand, Swale clearly knows something about the SAs and seems impressed and optimistic, but on the other hand, our local reporter - who should know more than any of us - is about as negative as it comes.

At the end of the day, you are right - even if the SAs come through and are decent owners, we're going to be so far behind in our prep for next season that it's already looking like a massive struggle.

This is a huge shame. If we'd got all this sorted, ahem, 7-10 days after the Swindon game, and the SAs had ambition, there's no reason why we couldn't start the season in positive spirits and mount a serious challenge - which is exactly what this club needs. Instead, we've been left in the lurch for so long that that now seems impossible, takeover or not.

Hopefully there is lot of prep work going on, lining signings up, training etc. Even if that’s limited or non existent there’s no reason we can’t challenge. Everything was sorted early last pre season and it did us no good.

[LilCrazyKim]

It's interesting what Curtis is saying about potential buyers ready to pounce and pay nothing if we go into administration. That's surely an extra incentive for Hardy to cut a deal before then.

I'll guess we'll have more of an idea about where things stand tomorrow where we're due to be officially elected into the NL. They'll want to see that we're actually capable of competing next season. I agree with Slack, at this point I'll be happy with a nice boring season where not much happens (but this is Notts County and in the 33 years I've been watching them we've had maybe three of those).

[McCullochisGod]

Hopefully there is lot of prep work going on, lining signings up, training etc. Even if that’s limited or non existent there’s no reason we can’t challenge. Everything was sorted early last pre season and it did us no good.

Dream on.....who is sorting this so called prep work out?

[SwalePie]

Swale, you seem to believe your source thats presumably told you something, so I take it you are unconcerned?

I wouldn't say I'm unconcerned. Until it's all signed, sealed and delivered it's only 'potential' new ownership. I do have a reliable sauce of information which makes me quietly confident that if it goes through we will all be pleasantly surprised. If you remember back a couple of weeks I was sworn to secrecy and I'm not about to give the sauce any reason to cut the information supply line.

[McCullochisGod]

Yes he seems to be on a real downer today. Must be tedious to have all this mind-numbing rumour and counter-rumour cack to cover instead of footie though I suppose.

Maybe he's becoming a realist and not another dreamer fantasist?

[placidpie]

Which new owners? This whole "game" has been taken out of AH's hands as far as I can see and it is just vultures circling around the court waiting to see who blinks first. No-one wants to meet AH's valuation and as I've said before why pay £6m or whatever when it can be acquired for the cost of £1 plus writing off a couple of debts including the mounting HMRC figure.

As far as who are the other creditors interested, unless it is the milkman I'd reckon it's the Paragon administrators wanting their pound of flesh.

I absolutely agree with you. A non league club worth more debt than the Munto tribe left (according to what I've seen) can't be saleable, surely? No need for the cloak and dagger approach. If it were that confidential, nothing would have been leaked at all?

[cjpieman]

I wouldn’t have thought anyone would travel from another country just to squash the deal....that would be done by email.
So positive on that front.

[slack_pie]

I wouldn't say I'm unconcerned. Until it's all signed, sealed and delivered it's only 'potential' new ownership. I do have a reliable sauce of information which makes me quietly confident that if it goes through we will all be pleasantly surprised. If you remember back a couple of weeks I was sworn to secrecy and I'm not about to give the sauce any reason to cut the information supply line.

So you are party to information beyond the identities of the buyers? I mean have you received more info since they asked you to take those names down?

[LEPiePie]

I suppose one silver lining in all this, despite it being not ideal is there isn't a transfer deadline in the NL.
We could see movements into October, incoming at least.

I have a feeling we will be sorted either way by the last week of June.

[theory_extinct]

Hopefully there is lot of prep work going on, lining signings up, training etc. Even if that’s limited or non existent there’s no reason we can’t challenge. Everything was sorted early last pre season and it did us no good.

Tried to ask last week what kind of prep work was going on, but scoop (despite complaining about only talking about non-football related issues) didn't answer. I would have assumed he'd have been in or around the club trying to find out that sort of thing.

[SwalePie]

So you are party to information beyond the identities of the buyers? I mean have you received more info since they asked you to take those names down?

Yes and those names may also be distracting in the grand scheme of things.

[Simon the Pieman]

No matter how positive I try to be the situation gets more and more worrying, by the day. It wouldn't be quite so bad if Hardy wasn't involved. I just cannot trust the imbecile. Very worrying indeed.

[jackal2]

Bump

[MAD_MAGPIE]

No matter how positive I try to be the situation gets more and more worrying, by the day. It wouldn't be quite so bad if Hardy wasn't involved. I just cannot trust the imbecile. Very worrying indeed.

After the weekends revelations about Alex Mays identity and the fraud conviction, the lip service club statement and the NEP article today I have come to the same conclusion.

There is only one thing he can do now and that’s terminate all talks with this group and deal with a more credible group. If that is the South Africans then that is who it should be.

History will judge Alan Hardy not only on his time as chairman but also who he ultimately sells the club to.

[Chinola]

So whoever is ‘in the know’ and has names or ‘sources’ can you just reveal them now please? It’s got to the point where people like me are willing to ditch the whole thing.

If we have names then we can do some checking to see if the South Africans are kosher.

The future of the club is far more important than keeping sources tight.

[jackal2]

Or alternatively we just wait and see, because there's really no choice. Whether we like it or not, the only person who can decide what happens to the club is Alan Hardy, so in that sense there's little point wasting energy and emotion on things we cannot control. It might be a good idea to reserve some of the harsher judgements on him though, because insulting people doesn't generally encourage them to see things your way.

[Chinola]

Where have I insulted him? I haven’t in that post at all.

Secondly I don’t agree with wait and see, the Alex May stuff could have gone under the radar without the revelations and we are all better off for knowing about it.

So the more openness the better at this moment in time. I remember when people tried to shut down talk about Munto and Russ King, sometimes it’s worthwhile knowing uncomfortable truths.

[jackal2]

Where have I insulted him? I haven’t in that post at all.

Secondly I don’t agree with wait and see, the Alex May stuff could have gone under the radar without the revelations and we are all better off for knowing about it.

So the more openness the better at this moment in time. I remember when people tried to shut down talk about Munto and Russ King, sometimes it’s worthwhile knowing uncomfortable truths.

Sorry, although I was replying to your post, I wasn't saying you had insulted Hardy. I was referring more generally to some of the harsher comments by certain folk on social media.

[Chinola]

No apology needed! It’s getting late!