Magilton

[DLT]

Guess we will never know how close he was to signing for us at the end of March.

Might get a clue though if he appoints another ex-NorthernIreland international, from a conference team, to be his assistant.

[ty cobb]

Well we were led to believe that Magilton was coming if Merry took over. In fact it turned out that he was likely to come and do a job with Patto and sort our midfield out in the process thus surely keeping us up.

In all honesty I'd rather have a Patto Magilton combo then Jim Smith, not having been there for the glory years I can only go on what he has done since and recently it's not been a lot.

[Snake]

We were led to believe all sort of things would happen if Merry took control, so I donÔÇÖt think that Magic backing out of playing non-league football is the biggest disappointment!

[Resurrection Ox]

We were led to believe all sort of things would happen if Merry took control, so I don’t think that Magic backing out of playing non-league football is the biggest disappointment!

Missing Firoz already. Ah bless.....

[GodalmingYellow]

We were led to believe all sort of things would happen if Merry took control, so I don’t think that Magic backing out of playing non-league football is the biggest disappointment!

What were we led to believe by Merry that hasn't happened then Snakey boy?

[Mally]

I don't know what Snake meant but I was led to believe that we would avoid relegation and that they would buy the stadium along with the club. That will do for starters.

On balance I think (and certainly hope) Merry and his mystery partner(s) are going to be better for the club and its fans than Kassam was but we can't take that for granted and blindly accept everything he says. Words are cheap even when you say all the right things and even when they may mean the right things but its actions that count and so far they are very short on actions.

One big worry is that they might not be up to the job. Lets be honest nobody really knows anything about Nick Merry's business background other than some inconsistent stories about Microdentex, references to untraceable mining interests in Africa and some bloke on Radio Oxford saying Nick Merry used to own a couple of chip shops in New England. Oh yes and he used to have an antiques business.

Both Merry and Kassam have owned chip shops in the past and thats probably as far as the similarity goes. If it comes to a battle between Merry and Kassam over the stadium plans somewhere down the line I know whch one's most likely to be screwing the other one.

[GodalmingYellow]

I don't know what Snake meant but I was led to believe that we would avoid relegation and that they would buy the stadium along with the club. That will do for starters.

On balance I think (and certainly hope) Merry and his mystery partner(s) are going to be better for the club and its fans than Kassam was but we can't take that for granted and blindly accept everything he says. Words are cheap even when you say all the right things and even when they may mean the right things but its actions that count and so far they are very short on actions.

One big worry is that they might not be up to the job. Lets be honest nobody really knows anything about Nick Merry's business background other than some inconsistent stories about Microdentex, references to untraceable mining interests in Africa and some bloke on Radio Oxford saying Nick Merry used to own a couple of chip shops in New England. Oh yes and he used to have an antiques business.

Both Merry and Kassam have owned chip shops in the past and thats probably as far as the similarity goes. If it comes to a battle between Merry and Kassam over the stadium plans somewhere down the line I know whch one's most likely to be screwing the other one.

You were led to believe that we would avoid relegation? Come on Mark, you're too intelligent to even try to suggest that.

You were led to believe that the stadium would be bought with the club? Where/how were you led to believe that? Whatever happened to willing buyer and willing seller? People on this board aren't that stupid.

[Mally]

Yes of course I was led to believe that we would avoid relegation. The biggest argument for getting Kassam out was that we would be relegated if he stayed. Nick Merry said in his first programme notes &quotWe will be judged by success on the field but we will bring the best possible players into the club and take the club back to where it belongs&quot So far he's obviously failed on all of that but lets wait and see what happens next season before really judging him. I hope he delivers but I am concerned about whether he can.

As for the stadium all the way along Kassam said he would only sell the club and stadium together and the (admittedly) rumours and press speculation about Merry &amp Co was that they would buy both. I certainly think that OxVox believed this to be the case.

We don't know why it wasn't sold and whether this was Kassam refusing to sell or Merry not being able to buy but all the evidence leads me to think it is the latter.

[GodalmingYellow]

Yes of course I was led to believe that we would avoid relegation. The biggest argument for getting Kassam out was that we would be relegated if he stayed. Nick Merry said in his first programme notes &quotWe will be judged by success on the field but we will bring the best possible players into the club and take the club back to where it belongs&quot So far he's obviously failed on all of that but lets wait and see what happens next season before really judging him. I hope he delivers but I am concerned about whether he can.

As for the stadium all the way along Kassam said he would only sell the club and stadium together and the (admittedly) rumours and press speculation about Merry &amp Co was that they would buy both. I certainly think that OxVox believed this to be the case.

We don't know why it wasn't sold and whether this was Kassam refusing to sell or Merry not being able to buy but all the evidence leads me to think it is the latter.

Who led you to believe that Merry buying the club would avoid relegation, or even that getting rid of Kassam with 6 games left would do the same? I don't remember anyone in a position of authority making such heady claims, but I'd be delighted if you could show me.

I don't think Nick Merry's first programme notes were even intended to refer only to 6 games. He also said that he would try to avoid relegation, but if we were relegated, everything possible would be done to re-gain promotion. Its hardly leading one to believe that Marry buying the club would avoid relegation. Maybe you are more easily led than me.

OK so you are saying Kassam led you to believe that Merry would buy both club and stadium together. Well Merry &amp Co have certainly tried, but Kassam doesn't seem all that keen, given that the asking price and terms have apparently been met.

OxVox were well aware of the possible separation of club from stadium.

All the evidence leads you to believe that Merry isn't able to buy? All of it? I'd love to hear your support of that point.

[ty cobb]

There were actually 8 games left when Merry took over. Surely you can't have been happy with the players brought in?

AG - Liability when two better keepers on the bench. Dropped then picked again then injured giving away a goal. Released on a free transfer yet to be picked up.

SG - Complete waste of space. If this was one of the ex internationals we were getting thank god the other 4 (or so it was reported) didn't turn up. Now coaching in the football powerhouse that is NZ.

GH - Did nothing. Since been released and still a free agent.

JS - Injury prone midfielder meant to be quite good. Turned out to be a average injury prone midfielder.

N'Toya - The only good signing out of the lot, a good goalscorer. However, has also since been released and yet to sign on for anyone.

If these were the best possible players we could bring in then it's no wonder we've kept on so many of the useless tos$ers from last season.

I would have hoped that Merry buying the club gave us a better chance of avoiding relegation. In hindsight (although I did also think so at the time) we'd have been better off with Patto in charge.

Bringing in the tosh that we did we disrupted the squad who were finally playing as a team and filled it up with loan players who clearly weren't that interested. Not a wise decision and one that I get more annoyed about the more it sinks in what division we're going to be in when the likes of MK Dons, Scumden and Wallsall, came down.

[GodalmingYellow]

There were actually 8 games left when Merry took over. Surely you can't have been happy with the players brought in?

AG - Liability when two better keepers on the bench. Dropped then picked again then injured giving away a goal. Released on a free transfer yet to be picked up.

SG - Complete waste of space. If this was one of the ex internationals we were getting thank god the other 4 (or so it was reported) didn't turn up. Now coaching in the football powerhouse that is NZ.

GH - Did nothing. Since been released and still a free agent.

JS - Injury prone midfielder meant to be quite good. Turned out to be a average injury prone midfielder.

N'Toya - The only good signing out of the lot, a good goalscorer. However, has also since been released and yet to sign on for anyone.

If these were the best possible players we could bring in then it's no wonder we've kept on so many of the useless tos$ers from last season.

I would have hoped that Merry buying the club gave us a better chance of avoiding relegation. In hindsight (although I did also think so at the time) we'd have been better off with Patto in charge.

Bringing in the tosh that we did we disrupted the squad who were finally playing as a team and filled it up with loan players who clearly weren't that interested. Not a wise decision and one that I get more annoyed about the more it sinks in what division we're going to be in when the likes of MK Dons, Scumden and Wallsall, came down.

Whether I was happy with the signings or not is completely irrelevant to this discussion, and to avoid clouding the issue, I'd be happy to discuss that on another thread if you want to.

[Baboo]

Bringing in the tosh that we did we disrupted the squad who were finally playing as a team and filled it up with loan players who clearly weren't that interested. Not a wise decision and one that I get more annoyed about the more it sinks in what division we're going to be in when the likes of MK Dons, Scumden and Wallsall, came down.

Yup, I think you're not far wrong. I said we should have stuck with Patto at the time and obviously have not changed my view now.

[Kernow Yellow]

[quote=&quotGodalmingYellow&quotWhether I was happy with the signings or not is completely irrelevant to this discussion, and to avoid clouding the issue, I'd be happy to discuss that on another thread if you want to.[/quote]

Since the subject of this thread is Jim Magilton, and how he might have signed for us had Patto remained in charge, I'm surprised you don't think this is the place for such debate, GY.

For what it's worth, this is the one area where I think the new regime really did screw up, and yes, the chopping and changing of personnel in the last few games contributed to our relegation in a big way, imo. We just have to hope that those mistakes will be learnt from, and Jim puts together a more consistent line-up who can gain confidence from familiarity with each other out on the pitch. I seem to remember him doing just that some years ago, a few miles down the road...

[GodalmingYellow]

Since the subject of this thread is Jim Magilton, and how he might have signed for us had Patto remained in charge, I'm surprised you don't think this is the place for such debate, GY.

For what it's worth, this is the one area where I think the new regime really did screw up, and yes, the chopping and changing of personnel in the last few games contributed to our relegation in a big way, imo. We just have to hope that those mistakes will be learnt from, and Jim puts together a more consistent line-up who can gain confidence from familiarity with each other out on the pitch. I seem to remember him doing just that some years ago, a few miles down the road...

Well 2 out of 12 previous posts may have been, but then the third post changed all that. But then why let a fact get in the way.

And if you are going to take that line, surely only Jim Magilton postings allowed...

[Resurrection Ox]

Bringing in the tosh that we did we disrupted the squad who were finally playing as a team and filled it up with loan players who clearly weren't that interested. Not a wise decision and one that I get more annoyed about the more it sinks in what division we're going to be in when the likes of MK Dons, Scumden and Wallsall, came down.

Yup, I think you're not far wrong. I said we should have stuck with Patto at the time and obviously have not changed my view now.

Its all history now. We are where we are. Who knows whether Patterson would have kept us up? Idle speculation.