I don't think it's Methven, but I'd wager that it's someone who knows him and Methven might even have access to the account. The tone of a lot of the posts (patronising and dismissive) sound exactly like how Charlie posted on the Oxford forum. So I think it's either one of his close contacts who is cut from the same cloth or maybe just a random dafty who is trying to mimic it simply because he's a troll and wants people to think he's Methven. Methven did post a lot on the Oxford forum so I've often thought it a near certainly that he reads the SMB and very likely that he posts. Maybe kildare is a ruse and he's someone else though!
Surely not even the King of the Trolls would put in that amount of effort when there's so little benefit. So, in my mind, there has to be some kind of connection to Methven. It's typical of the man to believe everyone else is so gullible that his superior intellect will put everyone else in their place. Incidentally, my post on rtg earned me a lifetime ban which is of little consequence as I'd only gone on to put the record straight which I did. It was inevitable that I'd be banned, due to the infantile nature of the Mods over there. My post received over 60 likes which shows that there are loads of reasonable people, shame they're so often drowned out by the trolls who flocked onto that thread to attack me.
This. Thought he was Methven when he first started posting because I think he joined up in about August time of last season. Plus the fact I knew that Charlie looked on the SMB because my dad caught him looking at it on a Sunday morning after a game when he stayed over at the Roker hotel and Charlie was on the next table at breakfast and he walked past and saw him looking at the boards. But now you realise he's not actually Kildare, but he's definitely involved in some way, nailed on.
I posted this message, below, and the first response was from Jardine, followed by Abu Dhabi, niceonemarea, PhilSAFC, Colin Todd and all the resident Trolls attacking me, calling me a liar, deliberately messing Sunderland supporters about, etc. I only responded in kind but the original post was deleted, because it had caused the bickering ... ... FFS, the same people are constantly bickering about me when I'm banned. They come over here, to see what I'm saying, then go back to bicker about me even more. As the attacks continued I found I was banned for life. The board snitches like niceonemarra and Abu Dhabi, who report to the Mods, were boasting about how they'd driven another poster off the board. The lunatics are running the asylum over there mate Reiver said: "I may be wrong, I may be right but there's currently no evidence that it has or hasn't fallen through ... despite the hysteria each Echo/Chronicle/media article engenders. Someone negotiated a deal, with Donald, that was agreed by both parties, a done deal. Fuhrman said as much to a friend, Ben Brown, who showed me the messages between them. They're the only messages I've ever seen from any of 'FPP' and it was just a huge coincidence that I met Ben Brown at the time the deal had been agreed. Sadly I've only ever been ITK with Newcastle due to a solicitor I met while working for Sheikh Tahnoon of Abu Dhabi. He was the one who told me Ashley would be peddling Staveley which I posted, on here, weeks before it happened. The outstanding message from Fuhrman was that 'he'd just bought Sunderland'. When I posted this information I received confirmation by PM, on RTG, from someone who gave me details only a person involved could know. He's someone who stands to make a sizeable sum if the Americans/an American buys the club so he has a vested interest. Since that time they've sent other information that has proved to be 100% correct. I've also received various messages from someone at a Sunderland supporters group, a friend of Methven who I met up with at matches including Lincoln away and two posters on here who've been hit and miss but generally correct. They choose not to post because one is salaried at the SOL, the other has posted info before and was immediately jumped on by the resident trolls. Methven going, McGeady being peddled, Ross sacked, etc were posted by me, on their word, well before the media or fanzines reported it. The post about McGeady was well in advance of anyone else and at a time when he was considered to be our best player and untouchable. It's very easy for people to say 'you know nothing' which is why they do it. If it involved any effort such as providing any evidence, quotes or even reasons why. I didn't ask to be contacted and didn't think I'd end up receiving such a flood of messages. Nor am I in constant touch with Dell, Donald, Fuhrman or anyone else at that level, I've never claimed to be. I'm not an accountant or businessman so, unlike GOM or Kittens, I don't even understand the significance of some of what I post or ever made out I did. There were some things I repeated that were wide of the mark but nothing worse than the kind of things the Echo, BBC, fanzines, etc were guilty of. I've always tried to distinguish between what I consider to be true as opposed to speculation, gossip or simply my guesses. I'm just another daft Sunderland supporter so entitled to any of that just as anyone else is. In fairness Donald has told so many people so many things that it's difficult to sift the truth from all the lies. I've received way more 'information' than I've posted because it's been from people I'm not sure about or being unable to have it corroborated. I've been contacted by all manner of lunatics claiming to represent the club, threatening me with legal action, etc. Much of what I've posted has been passed onto me by decent Sunderland supporters, who I either know personally or respect on the forums, and my only real first hand ITK facts are Fuhrmans WhatsApps which I saw myself. People can either take or leave what I post, I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything or 'trying to make a name for myself'. I have to much love for my club and the supporters to mess people around as some kind of game on a chat forum. Besides I'm too well known, and recognisable, to risk retribution for deliberately having people on. Part of what I was shown, by someone I trust implicitly, was a list of feasibility study titles which I assumed we're commissioned by FPP /Dell but never actually confirmed as such, who else could it be though tbh? These included an appraisal of the potential at the AOL which coincided with a visit from 'FPP'. Other studies were on the renovation of the SOL which they'd deemed 'scruffy' especially in the corporate areas, the area around the ground, the club image including the badge, etc all of which seemed quite reasonable for someone looking to buy and develop a club. After all, these weren't plans, just studies which would cost a fraction of the cost of a takeover. People of this stature surely wouldn't be expected to buy a club then start doing research into the options for development. This is the mistake Ellis Short made and look how that turned out. Some people have made far too much of these studies which isn't my problem but, of course, I'd love it all to happen, I'm a Sunderland supporter! After all of this I'm told Donald then believed the Americans were so enamoured with the project, which involved him running the show, that he could now chance his arm and ask for two bonuses. He may have thought they'd already put in so much time, effort and money they wouldln't be worried about paying a little extra. So he asked for a £5 million 'performance bonus' for promotion and another, double the first, for reaching the PL. At which point the whole thing soured and the 'buyers' said the original agreed deal was the only one they'd accept. The suggestion is that the deal now wouldn't include a salaried contracted position for Donald meaning he'd only break even or perhaps lose money. So his only two options are to accept the initial offer or find a buyer who'll offer more. The Americans are still there, haven't altered their position in months and are currently the biggest investors. If someone makes a better offer they'll have a decision to make but, as things stand, they'll eventually own the club, when Donald's luck/money/credibility runs out They'll become owners by default and that's my honest opinion based on what I've been told ... ... take it or leave it."
Has anything been said in the press re SJP and it’s structure? It wouldn’t surprise me if it needed a lot of work but that’s the first I’ve heard of it being known about
I still use rtg but it is just full of bickering arseholes you cant post anything over there without some idiot trying to be a smart arse with a reply , for what it's worth cheers for the updates and just ignore the knackers like jardine not even worth wasting your time on them
Perhaps I've spoken out of turn but TBF I've been flooded with messages over the last 6 months. I think the lad, himself, has mentioned it. He's at a large engineering firm who worked on the student accomodation near the ground. Another engineer was on the job who advised John Hall. The plan was to not only bully the council into allowing a new stadium on the Town Moor but lumber them with the stadium as a 'venue'. Thereby they'd not only relinquish responsibility but avoid the massive cost of demolition. The two engineers got on and would pop to the Strawberry for a couple after work. He told the Sunderland fella that there are places, in the top levels of various parts of the ground where the constant expansion and contraction of the steel, together with ageing concrete, is starting to cause cracks. However, the overriding worry is that the place is unbalanced, something Newcastle supporters like to call quirky and unique. In a modern stadium, like bowls, the structure 'supports' the next section and stresses are passed along like a Mexican wave. At SJP there are areas, like the away section which act like a massive wind sock but are unsupported on one side. So the whole thing twists back and forth. As you'll know, from being a kid, if you flex a piece of metal enough times you'll eventually snap it. Reading back through this post has actually made me laugh out loud because of what Ashley said about being stuck with the club forever. If all of this stuff is true, and people know about it, that could be the reason these takeovers never go through. It wouldn't surprise me if Ashley was unaware, when he bought the club, and now feels bitter .... ... and it would be hilarious if he actually thought the club owned the ground!
**** it mate it's a shame trolls ruin the place yet dont get banned. Having this forum is canny and I can only see more good posters making the move or using both. It's a disgrace how you got banned for that post like. Mention anything about you or takeover and Jardine is all over it like a rash.
I I also heard it was a done deal from someone who was in a position to know. But nothing is ever final until the ink dries so we are where are. Still very likely to happen though.
I'm now if the opinion that, when Fuhrman said it was a done deal, he believed that was the case ... ... it's still a done deal if Donald accepts it but no one can actually make him.
I didn’t hear it was that antagonistic. There is often a gap in valuation between a seller who wants the buyer to pay for ‘future growth’ that they will forego and a seller who only wants to pay for what it is today. It’s a fairly normal sticking point. The situation with SAFC is fairly obvious - ‘growth’ means promotion. SD doesn’t want to sell at a League One price if he thinks he can get SAFC up. Any buyer wouldn’t want to pay SD a Championship price whilst the club are in League One. The promotion bonus thing was never going to fly because then it would be SD getting a pay-out from the investment by FPP. But if SD can earn the promotion himself, he will have deserved his price. The loan/investment was a mechanism to reach a compromise that suited both parties, but as I have said several times, it only affects the eventual transaction price and the division in which it occurs. Like any transaction that is not complete, both sides retain the right to walk away, but SD (or Madrox anyway) has £35m of debt to pay back before he can reclaim the £12m or so that he and JS put in. What I don’t understand is why SD gifted CM 6% of Madrox? That was an insanely generous finders fee.
There is definitely some subterfuge with him, the difference between his first posts, that were almost perfect grammar, spelling and typing, and his posts shortly after are remarkable and the typing errors an obvious decoy.
That and the fanatical support of the owners. But once he was realised the account was a busted flush, the criticism of the owners began. Bit like the spelling - looks like an act.
Reverted to type when I had a look the other day. Something along the line of how can fans say that we spend no money? These loan / short contract players are doing well and they aren't cheap to bring in. Riding on the coattails of the team doing well.
