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Re: New(er) Consortium

Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2014 8:51 am
by SWA
To be fair, I don't think the Facebook page was set up by Charlie.

Re: New(er) Consortium

Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2014 8:52 am
by Isaac
Got this from the other side
Charlie Methven has been in touch with OxVox today and as promised we are keeping you updated on contact from any party. Before I start i should say that OxVox is not backing any party at this point we want to hear from all parties including Ian Lenagan.

Charlie outlines the following plans his consortium has:
• Funds in place to purchase the Kassam Stadium subject to Firoz Kassam being willing to sell
• Funds in place and the desire to try and make Water Eaton a reality
• Any stadium would be an asset of the club’s or held in a trust for the club
• Invest up to £3million into the club to make it competitive and targeting promotion over the next two years
• There would be no debt placed on the football club any investment would be equity based and any loses would be the consortium’s debt not the club’s
• They would like to have a supporter representative on the board

Charlie outlined that his group has the backing of the Donald family, who as many know are one of the wealthiest families in Oxfordshire. It’s key to stress this is the Donald family not just Stewart Donald who owns Eastleigh. They have submitted a formal bid for the club and are waiting to hear back from Ian Lenagan.
We have approached Mark Ashton and also Ian Lenagan for an update as you all know. Should we receive any further info we will relay this. Once again I stress we are not in a position to support any party as we don’t know all the facts and that is precisely why we keep urging all parties and the club to get in contact with us or release information in the public domain.

Seems far too good to be true to me, first question has to be "what's in it for the Donald Family?" and "why now?" I'd much rather they were up front with this as otherwise it looks like pr guff to get the supporters onside.

Re: New(er) Consortium

Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2014 10:44 am
by SmileyMan
Isaac wrote:Got this from the other side

(snip)

Seems far too good to be true to me, first question has to be "what's in it for the Donald Family?" and "why now?" I'd much rather they were up front with this as otherwise it looks like pr guff to get the supporters onside.
Spoken like a proper Oxford fan! :D

Re: New(er) Consortium

Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2014 11:18 am
by theox
CPRE are not pleased with the idea of a new stadium.

http://www.cpreoxon.org.uk/news/item/23 ... ater-eaton

Re: New(er) Consortium

Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2014 11:27 am
by Snake
theox wrote:CPRE are not pleased with the idea of a new stadium.

http://www.cpreoxon.org.uk/news/item/23 ... ater-eaton
Given that Debbie Dance and Co at the Oxford Preservation Trust made a fuss about building at Minchery Farm I predict that there will be something from them as well very soon. And then it starts getting really heavy with the nearby residents who are not into footy making their objections known.

As I said earlier in this thread, this is 1998 revisited and will take years to resolve, if at all.

Re: New(er) Consortium

Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2014 12:01 pm
by Kernow Yellow
Snake wrote:What concerns me the most is that this is a very grand and complex plan and it will take a while to come to fruition. It’s like the crisis in 1998 all over again and that took years to resolve. In the meantime there are simply too many interested parties with a finger in Oxford United’s pie to expect an instant result. Does anyone think that Ian is going to dig into his pocket again for new players this summer while this rumbles on?
Completely agree with this. It was surprising to see OCC come out so strongly in support of a new ground at Water Eaton (and Cherwell, whose patch its on, did not rule it out either). But as you say these things take years if not decades. How will the club be funded in the meantime? IL running it reasonably prudently has lost millions - do the Donalds et al have bottomless pockets? Who are the 'et al' even?

Myles seems to be in the know about something or other, but has forsaken us for some rabble-rousing on the Other Place.

And an even bigger question mark hangs over the intentions of the original Ashton bid, who are reported to be closer to a deal anyway.

Meanwhile our squad is seriously deficient, our manager (who on last season's evidence may not be much good) is completely hamstrung by the situation, and the pre-season games start in little over a week. Fun times!

Re: New(er) Consortium

Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2014 12:34 pm
by SWA
OUFC have called a news conference for 2PM. I'm guessing Lenagan is going to make an announcement.

Re: New(er) Consortium

Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2014 12:59 pm
by theox
Stewart Donald has tweeted out that he believes the Ashton deal has been finalised.

Re: New(er) Consortium

Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2014 1:26 pm
by GodalmingYellow
theox wrote:Stewart Donald has tweeted out that he believes the Ashton deal has been finalised.
It has been done.

Re: New(er) Consortium

Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2014 2:25 pm
by Dr Bob
GodalmingYellow wrote:
theox wrote:Stewart Donald has tweeted out that he believes the Ashton deal has been finalised.
It has been done.
Indeed, but not (I guess) in the way most of us expected. Not sure what to make of the initial news, but cannot help feeling the consortium made up of United supporters has been hard done-by.

Re: New(er) Consortium

Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2014 2:41 pm
by Snake

Re: New(er) Consortium

Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2014 2:53 pm
by Kernow Yellow
Dr Bob wrote:
GodalmingYellow wrote:
theox wrote:Stewart Donald has tweeted out that he believes the Ashton deal has been finalised.
It has been done.
Indeed, but not (I guess) in the way most of us expected. Not sure what to make of the initial news, but cannot help feeling the consortium made up of United supporters has been hard done-by.
Yeah, it remains to be seen what this means in terms of the short-, medium-, and long-term future.

If we hadn't heard of the local consortium in the last few days (and who knows frankly how realistic that all was), how would we feel about today's news? New investment, new stadium plans, new manager. It's not as if pre-season plans have been disrupted (though they're very late starting obviously). It might not be all bad. I'd expect to see some exciting transfer activity pretty quickly to prove to Us that they mean business...

Re: New(er) Consortium

Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2014 4:35 pm
by Snake
All that fuss and for what? Same Chief living in Monaco and a reshuffling of the Indians. Same rent, same three sided-wind tunnel, same debt (just now owed in part to more than just WPL). The only winner is Waddock with the compo he’ll get. And maybe Hylton too. Oh, and IL spending more of his time on ‘Stadium Acquisition’- that’s really inspiring given his promises and track record so far.

I wait with baited breath for the next 'five year plan' to emerge.

Above all to a large degree it shows how out of touch OxVox have been in the communication channels with Rent Boy. Let’s hope they get on better with the Rent Boys. Over on the other side OxVox are running a competition to win a free membership. I’d guess second prize is two free memberships.

Re: New(er) Consortium

Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2014 8:10 pm
by Hog
Snake wrote: Above all to a large degree it shows how out of touch OxVox have been in the communication channels with Rent Boy. Let’s hope they get on better with the Rent Boys. Over on the other side OxVox are running a competition to win a free membership. I’d guess second prize is two free memberships.
Well, quite! And now the 'leader of Oxford United fans' is on the other side acting as spokesperson for that nice man Gary 'Seven Eighths' Waddock!

Re: New(er) Consortium

Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2014 8:58 pm
by Snake
I think it’s wait and see time, just like when Smith and Merry took over. A few decent signings and everyone will be onside within weeks, top seven at Christmas means ditto. Expect a fans forum very soon while there is nothing to criticise and a flashy PowerPoint presentation is probably being polished as I type.

It’s just how things pan out in the long term is concerning as again OUFC have a venture capitalist owning at least 50.1% of the shares and another one owning the ground and the big uncertainly in the medium term is how the housing stuff will pan out. That of course depends on how smart they are in dealing with a number of Councils who come from different political parties.

In the short term every penny ‘invested’ until a proper ownership of the ground and some surrounding infrastructure to bolster the finances is put in place means more debt. But good luck to whoever really is in charge ‘cos 18 years of hurt is enough since that 4-0 win over Peterborough.

The best bit for me is that IL can now fuck off back to Wigan with his pockets a lot emptier after yesterday’s deal because he’s not moved the club forward one inch since he took over so we’ll hear no more bullshit from him in future, plus the fact that his ‘soft debt’ will no doubt have been reduced as part of the buyout arrangement.

I look forward to reading more details in the public domain, but as per usual will have to scratch around for the truth through the usual sources.