Hi Sensible I respect both yours and Plymborn's views but I personally think we have been condemned not saved .... would be a sad old world if we all thought the same. I also think it was deliberately left to the last minute so they'd be viewed as saviours not villians in all this ..... nothing I've seen has changed my opinion that the whole adminstration process has stunk from the word go ! In the supermarket today, you'd be surprised at how many conversations I overhead condemning whats happened up at Home Park ! I haven't made this decision lightly Sensible it will kill me not going to Home Park, but I have to stick with my gut feelings about this whole sorry mess and stay true to my principles. If we need a better playing staff then Risdale had better put his hand in his pockets after all he's only paid a £1 for the club. For us fans having to go to matches to get a better playing staff, both Risdale & Heaney end of profiting from it too, and no matter how much I try to tell myself any different I refuse to put money in their pockets. I reckon Sir Peter will be given his marching orders within 6 weeks too ( I hope to dear god I'm wrong) .... anyway I'm off to get ready for my last match for the duration, and lets hope its our first win ! Keep the faith, Keep it Green !
I for the life of me cannot see were anyone at present is making a profit from PAFC. Heaney wiil make nothing from the football club.........his profit will come from developing the ground......forget him,a longish lease will control him as landlord for a few years. No one can surely believe that Ridsdale is getting Argyle for just a pound.........he will have to put money in. Heaney and B.I.L.will give as little as they can get away with for this season..........so Ridsdale needs to get possibly two directors on board to put money in the kitty to help him this season.
Changing the subject a tad Plymborn do you reckon we'll get to know who the other 12 are, or do you think they'll wish to remain hidden ? Risdale still have his September appointment to contend with first, although I reckon he'll manage to talk his way out of that as well lol
I don't think we'll be told who make up B.I.L............it probably doesn't matter anymore once they off-load the football club.
I would be very surprised if Ridsdale has or will put any personal money into your club - he has no great personal wealth. He put very little if anything into Cardiff whilst Chairman, other than to convert his £500K bonus payment into share capital rather than taking the cash in 07-08 - the fact that we didn't have any at the time may have had a lot to do with that. Running cost funds were always sourced from the loan market, and even the fans for the advanced ticket sale fiasco. Ridsdale is an able chairman in that he has the ability to wheel and deal in this sector that is probably second to none. What you have to ask yourself is at what ultimate expense to your club. If it works out he will be seen as the Messiah. He'll try anything that's for sure, and if you have little choice at the moment, you have nothing to lose - except ultimately your club.
Plymouth fans. Just beware. Ridsdale is a brilliant speaker. Loads of fans including our loads of our own have fallen for it. Facts regarding him at all clubs are there to see. We were heading for the brink without the Malaysian bail out. Right place right time for Borley. Cant accept that. If the Malaysians accepted Ridsdale then why did Borley do the deal. Maybe its the opinion that no one trusted Ridsdale? Sparkeys opinions are close to spot on without saying the bloke should be kept away from football clubs. He wont invest unless he sees a profit.
He got rid of Sam, built the new stadium and got the Malaysians on board so not all bad. not a bad day at the office - if it hadn't been for the 'ticket fiasco' would ccfc still exist?
If our club goes forward eventually and we end up being solvent and able to compete with all the other clubs in whatever league we are in then who would begrudge Ridsdale or anyone else a profit? I don't go much on the bloke either and was reminded by my son yesterday that I had said previously aka Leeds and Cardiff that the man should never be let near a football club ever again. That was pre any involvement in Argyle. I haven't suddenly grown to love the man and part of me still thinks the original statement was right. But, I say again, there was nobody else at the time and he has played his part in our club not being liquidated. He cannot possibly have made anything out of Argyle so far and unless he is a success then won't. Therefore anything he gets will have to be on the back of that success where we the supporters benefit as well. You cannot lay any blame at his door this time for creating the shambolic situation at Argyle previously. That was set in place long before he arrived. The difference this time is he is the shinning knight not the villain so far. We will just have to see what he can do and does. Lets be honest we have little choice do we.
Those at the top of any organistion are judged by their results - or at least that is normally the case. Love him or hate him Risdale delivered a new stadium, produced the financial wherewithal to create a near promotion winning team and a cup final appearance , engineered a near miracle escape from liquidation (which he may or may not have helped create) and found, on the evidence so far, a decent set of foreign investors. When he took over we were languishing near the bottom of our league and ended up near the top. He's an experienced chairman and savvy at this level. Of course he invested zilch of his own money, managed to extract funds from the club in controversial circumstances in particular his money making wheeze which persuaded the fans to invest in advance season tickets for new players when the money was used to pay off the debt. He didn't profit personally from this episode but there have been a few instances which have led many to the conclusion that he is not entirely trustworthy. He got paid well for his time at Cardiff through consultancy and other forms of creative remuneration and has had a few run ins with HMRC. That said few people can deny that Risdale left the club in a better state than that which prevailed when he first arrived so my judgement is that Risdale was a qualified success and - let's face it - the only one who stepped up to the plate when it looked as though Plymouth would go under. Whether he can pull another rabbit out of the hat there is anyone's guess.
Thanks for that whoops............to many people want to judge Peter Ridsdales time at Plymouth by his time at Leeds and Cardiff...........past history..........instead of what he has done here. Who recognized the extent of the crisis at PAFC.....when others were in total denial or didn't realize.........we mustn't forget that there were at least three accountants on the board at the time. Who rolled up his sleeves and got stuck-in to the disaster that had been created........while others now luckily gone.......cried into their milk just wanting their money back. Peter Ridsdale is the equivalent of marmite........you either like him or hate him............I at present have seen nothing at the moment other than positives during his time at PAFC. Even if in the future it goes belly-up.......he will still need thanking for saving us from the taxman when liquidation looked the only result. To those that can't accept Peter Ridsdale just remember...........it's better to have the enemy you know than the one you don't.
A refreshing post which looks beyond the negative we usually hear regarding Ridsdale. Thank you Whoops
You are both right about what you say about the man, he did indeed identify the growing crisis at the club and he has done wonders for the club so far, but I am still uneasy about the situation. When the news broke that the club had gone into admin and that the hearing was in Leeds I thought it a bit odd. Then I read that he and Brenda knew each other from years ago, again something in my head said oh! Notdistant wrote the other day in reply to someones post that there were not a lot of people breaking down the doors to HP wanting to buy the club and that Brenda had no leverage to force BIL to hurry up the sale. I know nothing about big business or admin protocols and I have to accept that he knows more than me, but I think he is wrong. Brent and Buttivent were waiting in the wings as well as others who we have no idea who they are. When BIL started to miss deadlines, why didn't Brenda say to them he would start looking at other options. If they were that eager to buy then they would have made more of an effort to do the deal and if that scumbag heaney was holding everything up then they could have dropped him. I feel that with the deal including Risdale buying the club, it has been a far too 'cosy' agreement between the admnistrators, Risdale and the PB. Ijust feel that all the delays were a way of possibly pushing the club into liquidation and leaving the way open to grab HP without the inconveniance of a football club on the site. I will continue to support the club, going to games when I can and buying my shirts when I want one, but I watch with interest what Risdale does. COYG!!!
Mouldyoldgoat................................I wouldn't be too concerned about so called investors waiting in the background. I worked for an Insolvency Practitioner (IP) and you find that there are always people sniffing around in the hope that they can pick up scraps at less than their true value. Always they claim their motives are honourable but when it comes to the crunch they nearly always disappear and some later moan to creditors that they have been dealt with unfairly by the IP. An IP has a legal duty to broker the best deal for creditors; at some point he has to decide who is serious and who is not and normally after this process selects a preferred bidder. I don't know what happened in Risdale's case but clearly the IP felt that he offered the best prospect for the business to survive. Holding the hearing in Leeds I agree is a little odd as normally hearings are held where the creditors are mainly located but it is perfectly legal and was probably held there for Risdale's convenience rather than that of his creditors. It is not a major issue. I must admit that Risdale's involvement with Plymouth is a strange one but he is a master at wheeler dealing and will not be working for the club gratis. But if the club survives almost any price must be worth paying even if Risdale ends up profiting.
Plymborn, not like marmite, more like cod liver oil. Everybody hates it, but sometimes its good for you. Ridsdale has demonstrated he is untrustworthy, but I think he does things with the best of intentions. I'll echo what some of our guys have said above, a new stadium, the best results for many a year, several trips to Wembly and new investers who have stabilised the club. I thank him for what he has done, but wouldn't want him back. I hope the outcome for you is as good as it was for us. Not perfect and some animosity, but a good result in the round. We didn't need to go down the Swansea route and take admin, we're clearing our debts.
On that note should swansea be made to pay off all the suppliers that they did not pay when they when into admin ? I know the point of admin prevented this and it did happen some time ago but if they had any decently they should at least offer to pay the people/compaies they ripped all those off all those years ago now they have all the money from the prem.
Now, now blue, be careful, we'll have the Swans on here wth their 'bitterness and jealousy' jibes if you carry on. Good point though.
Or Leeds or Southampton or Portsmouth or......................................us maybe eventually. It ain't gonna happen gentlemen.
Risdale is a good man to have when you have no-one else to turn too. He will do a good job for you because he needs to. He wants to get something out of it after all. The trick is to get rid of him when the you are back on solid ground. Leave him there too long, and he will do one dodgy deal to many and cause fresh problems. Let him get things turned around and back in order....and then piss him off quick smart! Gat - Maybe this is not my place, but i think you boycotting games is more harmful to the club and players on the pitch than the people you mention.
