Wow

[Kernow Yellow]

Is the sale on a debt free basis.
What will the nature of the funding be from the new parties and will interest be charged?
If additional money is to be used to fund the playing budget, how will that affect losses and sustainability.
What happens when the new owners walk away, because they will at some point.
What has happened to Lenagan's debts?
What is the position with the KsStad?

Yes, these are indeed the key questions which need to be answered. But until we know the answers, and see what happens in the weeks and months ahead, I don't think we can describe anything as 'embarrassing'. I'm reserving judgement until we know more.

As for Waddock, I shed no tears at all. Indeed I'm quite pleased that he's gone. Assuming we sign some players I'm quite looking forward to a fresh start next season without the baggage of last season's abject capitulation hanging over the coaching staff.

[OUFC4eva]

Anyway, good luck and best wishes to Michael Appleton (and "Big Dave" if he is appointed)

[Jimski]

Mr Eales said, "I would like to add that I have been impressed with everything I have seen at the club over the past months".

Hmm, which club was it he was talking about again?

[Boogie]

Without knowing how far down the line the other consortium had got, I am pleased this is resolved now rather than August and for that I applaud IL.

I was looking forward to seeing GW build a team and there were some encouraging signs of a new playing style emerging. I thought his appointment was a good one and did not judge him on the tail end of the season which stated to go horribly wrong before he arrived. His removal is a touch ruthless but if he gets compensation he can move on and will turn up with a coaching role somewhere else.

Appleton mmm... He has not been at a stable club environment long enough to prove himself so I hope he is given time and if Darren Moore is going to be the assistant that is a new broom. His profile looks one of a determined individual and with an interest in grass roots football. Hopefully both of them will have a realistic approach to getting OUFC up to the next level using the best of our young players with some strong older characters.

On the pitch, we need obviously need a new striker with a consistent goalscoring record but the key for me is a strong leader in central midfield - someone to keep the ball moving and lead by example.

If those two positions are filled in the next 2/3 weeks I shall be pleased with the new management team and be back on here to congratulate them.

Off the field, long term having someone with a background in finance should work out OK but there are big challenges which I shall not repeat. I shall give Mr Ashton the benefit of the doubt and I was pleased to hear him say that he has not got everything right in the past at other clubs.

I woke up this morning with a glass more than half full feeling about all this.

For the doom-merchants - It could be a lot worse.

[SmileyMan]

Mr Eales said, "I would like to add that I have been impressed with everything I have seen at the club over the past months".

Hmm, which club was it he was talking about again?

To be fair, our ability to fuck up a perfectly good season in a couple of terrible months could be considered 'impressive' - no one is able to do this as consistently and effectively as us!

[Eric Pollard]

Well at long last after a summer of tumbleweed , which was verging on negligence. we have some action. And I welcome that.

Rather than go into immediate knee jerk mode, (which so many OUFC supporters do), all I can say is that we should be thankful that we had two well resourced candidates ready to take on ownership.

Lenagan obviously is stuck for cash, let alone being able to afford the stadium, he now seems to have problems allocating any sort of wage budget for the coming season. If no one was keen in talking us to the next stage that would have been the real crisis.

I can't get this anti Appleton hype, he is extremely well regarded in the football world . Crikey he was even Woy's first team coach at WBA and did a decent job at Pompey when the balloon was going up. Non supporting OUFC friends' reaction to the news was you got Appleton? you've done well to get him...

Short term we need a competitive squad and there is still time to get this sorted. Yes, Waddock getting the dump is ruthless but let's be honest the last two months of the season inspired no confidence at all. No doubt Coneman wil be on his way soon as well.

Medium term, Oxford desperately needs more houses and relaxed planning laws now means there is a property upside. With clever, well resourced business operators at the helm there is a chance our club can participate in the upside. Eales appears well connected - from what I hear there are even bigger hitters behind him.

Minuses? I was not thrilled that there seemed to be an in camera press conference yesterday. I sense Lenagan still does not understand how we feel justified in needing to know what is going on. I wonder how Eales and Ashton will handle the supporters - with Oxvox seeming to be partial to the local bid - this might be interesting.

As for Kassam, I see no cause for concern for him. I wish he was nothing to do with our club and yesterday's news MAY move things on in this regard.

[GodalmingYellow]

I like the proposed plan to buy the KasStad, sell it for housing to fund a new club owned stadium at Water Eaton, which is an excellent location.

Several rather large obstacles in the way though. Cherwell District Council who own the land are already playing hardball. Campaign to Protect Rural England are shoving their noses in as well.

Water Eaton would be perfect for OUFC. Great transport links with the new Chiltern Railways station and line upgrade, park & ride, room for car parking, A34, and bus links. It is also not a location where there is much housing at present and so should not have huge residential objections. It is a much better location for a conference and events centre. It is a short travel from the main significant residential areas and it is reasonably central for the county.

Planning gets in the way of most things though. Will it happen? I guess we'll see, but it won't be tomorrow or the next day.

[YF Dan]

While I hate the Kassam Stadium with a passion that burns inside, it does seem a terrible, terrible waste of what (for it's many faults) is a safe, modern-ish, working facility. Can a council really justify knocking it down, after the bloody lengthy battles it took to build it in the first place?

But, a properly designed stadium with decent transport links (and a direct link to London) would make me almost explode with joy. The environmentalist in me though at least hopes that at least some of the seats/breezeblocks/girders find a new home elsewhere.

But - What about London Welsh though? Would they share the new ground?

And would the new ground not still be built on the cheap anyway? Could we not still end up with a Deva-esque soulless monstrosity? After all the owners will have a lot of money to recoup...

[scooter]

If there is a profit to be made from developing the Kassam for housing why would FK sell.

[Snake]

If there is a profit to be made from developing the Kassam for housing why would FK sell.

He may have to because there is a buy out clause on the Kassam Stadium similar to the one that Barcelona are about to invoke to purchase donkey teeth from Liverpool.

WPL were too stupid or broke to use that, but this new bunch in control have taken the gamble it seems.

[OUFC4eva]

If there is a profit to be made from developing the Kassam for housing why would FK sell.

Welcome back scooter!!

I am certainly no expert here on building values as it depends on mix and density but the Kassam stadium footprint alone
is over 20 acres. Prime land with residential planning permission could fetch £1m per acre when sold to a developer
such as Taylor Wimpey/Persimmon depending on the location too.

Kassam would no doubt form a development company with TW and lock in huge profits a scheme
of this nature will no doubt produce.

All this if the City wish to play ball with him (Kassam)

[Dr Bob]

Knowing nothing about planning, nor the details of the lease with FK, maybe I am missing something, but why would we need to buy the stadium from FK in order for this to happen? If all the pieces fall into place, such that selling the Minchery Farm site for housing and related developments brings in an acceptable return for FK, surely all he would have to do was to agree to an ending of the lease the club signed?

The CPRE objections are entirely unsurprising and I cannot understand why anybody would criticise them for acting on their agenda, their raison d'etre. The issues and context, however, are changing with changes to planning regulations and national housing plans which have set targets for house-building right across the country, including within these county and district councils' jurisdictions. As a result, I suspect that with well-prepared plans and a cooperative approach between club and councils, the upsides may well far outweigh the potential downsides - especially once we add in the points others have made about the Brownfield character of part of the site, the transport-link benefits and so on. Or maybe my judgement is clouded because this location would be so much better for me.

[GodalmingYellow]

If there is a profit to be made from developing the Kassam for housing why would FK sell.

He may have to because there is a buy out clause on the Kassam Stadium similar to the one that Barcelona are about to invoke to purchase donkey teeth from Liverpool.

WPL were too stupid or broke to use that, but this new bunch in control have taken the gamble it seems.

I believe a deal might already have been done (in principle).

[GodalmingYellow]

Knowing nothing about planning, nor the details of the lease with FK, maybe I am missing something, but why would we need to buy the stadium from FK in order for this to happen? If all the pieces fall into place, such that selling the Minchery Farm site for housing and related developments brings in an acceptable return for FK, surely all he would have to do was to agree to an ending of the lease the club signed?

Because there is a massive cost involved in building a new stadium and buying the land. That gets paid for by the sale of the KasStad and surrounding land.

[tomoufc]

If there is a profit to be made from developing the Kassam for housing why would FK sell.

He may have to because there is a buy out clause on the Kassam Stadium similar to the one that Barcelona are about to invoke to purchase donkey teeth from Liverpool.

WPL were too stupid or broke to use that, but this new bunch in control have taken the gamble it seems.

I was going to ask about the buy out clause. Is that the magic £13million price tag?

If that's the case, then this could be really beneficial for the club. But supposing Water Eaton falls through, for whatever reason. What would we be left with? My initial thoughts are that at least we'd own our own (very mediocre) stadium again. With the kind of crowds we historically get and the money to be made from conferencing and suchlike, we would have one of the best incomes in the league, and enough to establish sustain ourselves as a League 1 club, I recon. And maybe we could turn the supporters bar into a proper pub, with real ale and outside smoking. Only one thing makes me worry - what if Eales and co buy the KS for themselves, holding it as a separate company to the football club? That leaves us in potentially disastrous situation. A football club of no material value sitting on a property gold mine in one of the most sought-after residential regions in Western Europe, in an economy structured around housing and land price inflation. The economist in me doesn't like the sound of that one little bit, especially after what happened to the dear old Manor. IL seemed to suggest that if the ground is bought it would be ours (I say 'ours', but i'm not a shareholder or 'member'). So it comes down to a question of trust at the moment. In the meantime nobody seems to want to speak to the fans (OV excepted).