FPP to take full control

2,000 replies!

 

Seeing as SD is at the centre of it all, the answer to the Countdown conundrum must be MENDACITY

 

I mean I don't really blame him because we are in a better position 2 months down the line and it does look a different proposition. If you were in his position, you know you wouldn't sell right now for a cut price. It'd be insane, because there's probably an evens chance that we're getting promoted at this rate. Adding promotion bonuses seems absolutely fine to me, at very least a league one promotion bonus is a very reasonable thing to ask for.

The paradox of this is that I agree with both Heaton and Norton, that Donald has been a poor owner and doesn't have the resources to run a club of this size beyond the current ceiling, but that he isn't as bad as some owners.

 

I'd imagine that would depend on the parties involved tbh. It's been mentioned a few times that it's not unheard of to sell for a price but have a built in extra payment due if promotion is achieved. In theory Donald could sell for the league one price but with a caveat that he gets an extra amount if we go up before the end of 21/22 (where a fair few of the people he brought here would still be involved and therefore he could claim to have had some hand in the promotion).

From what some have been saying it sounds as if he might also want a payment if we get up to the PL. If so that could definitely be a major sticking point, I don't think anyone involved at the club presently is top of the championship standard, so any second promotion would be purely down to work done by the new owners. An extra payment for a quick promotion from this league is fair enough, anything else is taking the piss.

Mind, whilst deals like that aren't unheard of, there certainly doesn't seem to be any rush so it might not be needed, both parties might be happy waiting until the end of the season and taking stock then. The main fan anger has subsided as results have improved so I don't think Donald will consider his position untenable at this stage.

 

I don't think he's been a poor owner at all. Because he (and his friend) have said some silly things, got a bit over-excited when they shouldn't have really, and not immediately bent over for the billionaires, people want to make him out to be a poor owner. He immediately stabilised a club in crisis and put together a team that came within a whisker of promotion so he clearly is capable of running the club well, but that all seems to have been forgotten the moment a group of rich Americans flashed a bit of ankle at us.

When Donald came in the talk was all about making the club sustainable. A club this size should be sustainable in the Premier League (Borussia Dortmund, eh?). Surely that is more desirable than being in thrall to a group of billionaires?

FPP might be brilliant owners, they might be terrible owners. We just don't know. You can't really use their involvement with the Marlins as a measuring stick as MSD (and let's not forget MSD and FPP are different entities) only own 7% of that franchise.

To slightly contradict my original statement, I don't think he's been a brilliant owner either. I just don't think its wise to assume that FPP are going to ride in on their white chargers and sweep us to glory.

 

Lovely stuff, I meant 'respectively' in that paragraph, ie: Heaton thinks they're at their limit, you think we could do worse

 

Yeah, I got that. It was more just an expansion on my earlier post after I'd thought about it for a while and which your post prompted out of me

 

Well he has played this game before and lost, playing the big man i demand this and that with FPP, and it failed. Greedy cockney twat. imo

 

*Greedy Oxonian twat.

 

Just my opinion here, but I dont believe FPP will takeover at Safc. Just think it's gone on too long. Just a hunch, but I reckon we're low on a bunch of priorities that they have. We need to move on.

 

That's my take on it now

 

I don't really think this is 100% accurate though. Donald didn't convince FPP to do a deal they didn't want to do, he's not a master negotiator and they held all the cards. He didn't talk them down to a loan for his own good. It sounds a lot like this was the offer on the table and he tried to talk them up to a majority takeover immediately, they didn't budge, and they got their slow potential way in for no risk.

I think it's slightly unfair to blame him if they were driving the negotiations. And I don't think a promotion bonus of £5m is a lot to ask, it indicates that FPP are not really interested in changing their method regardless of price.

 

The way I see it is this. Donald was full of enthusiasm. He was fairly honest about what he could afford and what he couldn't. He wanted to do the right thing and he wanted to involve the community (the seats etc). In fact, he behaved a bit like what he was, a non-league chairman. He thought he could apply those principles of openness and community engagement on a larger scale. Very admirable if you ask me. He found it harder than he imagined and things got a little bit difficult. He made mistakes but not through lack of care. He floundered a little and then, rather than recognising that he was trying hard, fans and the fanzines started to turn on him. He looked for the investment that he always said was required and those investors started to turn on the screw on him. Now, although he retains some enthusiasm, with everyone giving him a hard time, he's decided that he will sell but that he wants something out of it. I don't really blame him. If I was in his position, I'd be disappointed that people hadn't bought into my vision.

 

I'm happy with lots of what Donald's done but there are two things any club needs above all else, stability and leadership ...

.... that's where he's been poor imo.

Openly declaring that the club is up for sale, then suggesting that it will be quick, has left us in a poor position imo.

Parkinson is doing very well under those circumstances, how he motivates the players is a credit to him.

At the moment players don't know which division they'll be in or who the owners might be ...

... with all the loans and contracts running out our form is quite creditable.

 

I think there's at least three long thought out posts you've put on this thread and tend to agree with you entirely.

 

Did Donald and salmon pants not hawk around the fact that they had pulled off a huge deal that was almost over the line etc etc, this after the yanks came to a match! Donald said to be beaming about the deal that fans would be amazed at blah.

 

Don't know, did they?

Fans seemed to jump on it first if i recall. "Sundelland" T-shirts for example.

Just out of curiosity. who are you over on RTG?

 

Can't see anything happening on the takeover front until the close season.

 

So the deal done by end Feb was a white' lie then?

 

You mean the "hope to have a deal done by end of Feb" may not have happened. Also it's not the end of Feb, by my calculations there's 10 or 11 days to go.

Still haven't answered the other question. Who are you over on RTG? One of the WUM's come over for a bit of fun perhaps?