I didn't expect this!

Anything yellow and blue
ty cobb
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I didn't expect this!

Post by ty cobb »

Interesting to hear Nick Merry say that he had approached another club before buying Oxford. And there I was thinking he brought Oxford because he loved the club, not because he wanted to own a football club.

This transfer window should prove to be very interesting, we need to push on and get out of this division this season, if he is as serious about this as everyone makes out he is we need 2 decent creative players brought in.

Does anyone else understand this wage cap - last season it didn't stop us bringing 5 players in for the last 10 games despite (apperently) being at our limit and now we can't seem to bring anyone else in this season becasue of it, yet a team like P'Boro have no problem smashing their wage cap, it seems to me that if a owner is rich enough to fund things then the wage cap doesn't seem to be a issue,
Snake
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Post by Snake »

It also turns out that it started when Merry was approached by Geoff Coppock about a year ago, who told him that FK might sell.

As for the wage cap, we don’t even know the finer details of the rules as only club secretaries have been given copies and they cannot be found on the web.

What we also don’t know is just why, for God’s sake, did we allegedly spend right up to the cap rules instead of leaving some of it for later for the kind of scenario we now find ourselves in. It’s not as if we have any financial rivals in the Conference.

Lots of questions, but hang on, we can’t ask any of them because the club won’t hold a fans forum, even when we were flying at the top of the league.
Baboo
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Post by Baboo »

Not just creative players but some who can actually run quite fast as well would be nice. And it seems like another forward would not come amiss either given we have 0/4 fit ones. Whatever happened to Billy Beechers?
It does seem madness to have spent up to the cap with no / little held back as a contingency.
Lots of questions indeed but we are better off under Nick than Firoz. Aren’t we? Yes of course we are says he trying to convince himself. There, I’m convinced.
neilw
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Post by neilw »

&quotbut we are better off under Nick than Firoz. Aren’t we?&quot .........

It's quite clear, based on postings here, from those who were very close to the Big K, that we aren't.

Isn't it just great that now we are in free fall we can really lay in to the new regime, eh. Oh, it would have been so much better had Kassam stayed around in order to have kept his disciples in the know.
Frank
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Post by Frank »

Hearing Jim and Nick whinge about the wage cap is getting on my nerves, although I guess there is a small chance its PR so that prices are not inflated for players in the window. However, if we go for any player in the window, any team will want the best price.

In a previous posting I said that I cannot believe there is anything other than a &quotPlan A&quot and that that is to get out of the C League first time.

Like most others on here, I do not know the ins and outs of the wage cap thingy, but if, the owners (who ever they are) are serious about getting out 1st time, they should INVEST NOW to ensure ( as much as is possible ) that we do get out. Invest in what? - Players! at least one creative m/f and a striker who knows where the net is.

FK had 3 or 4 chances to invest as we do now and he didnt - and look where that got us.

I know we are in the conference, but Jim has all the contacts - doesn't he? Thats what everyone said when he took over!

Lets hope for the transfer news soon - as Jim did say &quotearlier than later&quot in his interview. I would have hoped its all cut and dry - so I'll guess we'll see.

I read a post somewhere about - if we were still with FK and AN Other manager now, the fans would be shouting much louder, and I agree. On that same tone, it was noticable at the last home game, that the fans even got annoyed with Gilly - quite loudly.

Hope some of it makes sense - I lost the type twice!

Fed-up Frank
DLT
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Re:

Post by DLT »

&quotneilw&quot wrote:&quotbut we are better off under Nick than Firoz. Aren’t we?&quot .........

It's quite clear, based on postings here, from those who were very close to the Big K, that we aren't.

Isn't it just great that now we are in free fall we can really lay in to the new regime, eh. Oh, it would have been so much better had Kassam stayed around in order to have kept his disciples in the know.
I will happily rise to the bait Neil.

As with all the Sunshine Boys you seem to believe that asking questions as unreasonable as 'who actually owns the club and have they the money/inclination to support what might be a loss making venture in the medium term' means I am anti the Smith/Merry regime. It means nothing of the sort and you find anywhere on the net when I have criticised them and their actions so far?

In the past I asked lots of questions, and got lots of answers,which were published at length. I also found that when I asked Kassam questions he answered me honestly.

He had his faults, majorly not being able to appoint a decent manager and then trust the right ones. Those he trusted generally shafted him (Kinnear at his best). Those he didn't got shafted by him (Denis being prime example).

Yes he was a tight fisted bastard in later years for sure. But each manager was given the cash they wanted to do the job initially, just some, like Atkins always wanted more.
Baboo
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Re:

Post by Baboo »

&quotneilw&quot wrote:&quotbut we are better off under Nick than Firoz. Aren’t we?&quot .........

It's quite clear, based on postings here, from those who were very close to the Big K, that we aren't.

Isn't it just great that now we are in free fall we can really lay in to the new regime, eh. Oh, it would have been so much better had Kassam stayed around in order to have kept his disciples in the know.
Blimey - when will this ever end. Hardly laying in to the new regime is it. And there should now be a new lot of disciples in the know shouldn't there.
Personally - I think we are better off now. I'd had enough of the old but the new is not at this point in time delivering to expectations &amp I'll repeat again - If the &quotfreefall&quot - not my words was happening under FK etc we would be close to rebellion now. But - as ever we need to get behind the (current) regime and team, however difficult that is to do seeing the poor performances before us. And yes I wouldn't mind knowing who actually owns the football club I support.
Mally
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Re:

Post by Mally »

&quotneilw&quot wrote:&quotbut we are better off under Nick than Firoz. Aren’t we?&quot .........

It's quite clear, based on postings here, from those who were very close to the Big K, that we aren't.

Isn't it just great that now we are in free fall we can really lay in to the new regime, eh. Oh, it would have been so much better had Kassam stayed around in order to have kept his disciples in the know.
Very difficult to decipher the layers of irony and sarcasm from the &quotsincerity&quot in that posting.

At least under the previous regime we knew where the money came form and we knew where it was going. If we had any doubts or questions then at least we were given the opportunity to ask some questions. For example we knew Firoz's Bentley was paid for out of his other income streams - I'm not so sure who's paying for Nick's though. It certainly isn't from MicroDentex according to Dun &amp Bradstreet.

The wages cap does bite harder in the conference than the league but the richest club the conference has ever seen should surely find a way through the restrictions to buy its way out of a crisis? It would be nice to be able to ask how Nick, Jim and the mystery man plan to do that but it looks like we'll just have to wait and see.
Kernow Yellow
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Post by Kernow Yellow »

Yawn.

Ty Cobb tries to start a reasonable discussion about the present state of things at OUFC on and off the pitch, and the rest of you go back to squabbling about Kassam.

He's irrelevant now - why can't people judge what's going on now without having to use the previous regime as some kind of yardstick?

[ducks]
SteMerritt
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Re:

Post by SteMerritt »

&quotKernow Yellow&quot wrote:He's irrelevant now
The soft splash as the baited hook enters the waters of the Rage Online Forum pond.....
neilw
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Post by neilw »

The current level of critism of Merry and Smith, generally speaking, I believe to be somewhat, unjust, unfair and unnecessary. Yes, it's right to question, However, we all know that, at present, even if desired, it may well be difficult to be as open as would be expected.

Merry and ?, who may well be out of their league when it comes to pulling off a significant property deal, are having to transact with a ruthless uncompromising vendor who, given the opportunity, will rape them senseless. Knowing that, should Merry and ? not be given the benefit of doubt, at least in the short term?

The comparisons to Kassam on specific actions are futile. Comparing spirit and motive, Kassam was, first and foremost, involved with the club for personal greed and gain. Yes, he probably did want the club to succeed, but wasn't prepared to recognise that his autocratic approach and the culture he created was never going to lead to anything other than failure, regardless of funding levels. In addition this man's ethics, concerning all things OUFC, are, and probably always were, immoral at best.

We don't know much about Merry and ? at present. However, the indications are that these are decent people. Intuition says that these may well be the type of people you'd wish to own your football club. This may of course be wrong, time will tell. But hold fire on making judgement on them for being distant and elusive. At present, considering the circumstances, patience should be afforded.

All this over reaction from fans is because we've lost a few games. What we do have in the form of a grumpy miserable yorkshireman is the most experienced proven working manager. Jim'll fix it. If he doesn't, then at least we know we've gone with the best option available to us. He does know what he is doing.

Regarding the wage cape, in defence of Smith, I think his starting point was too high to do what he may have wanted to: Hargreaves, Basham, Dempster is a fair chunk with little return.

In summary, Merry, Smith and ? deserve a little more time and support for what I believe they are trying to so. Clearly the next 3 months we will reveal all both on and off the pitch.
DLT
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Post by DLT »

Back to Ty's post then.

No I don't understand the wage cap thing but from what I hear it is clearly structured to impede a larger club that drops into the conference from wiping out the competition for a season.

With all these initiatives to ensure a 'healthy' competition there has to be balance.

And it all depends on where you start from. If the rules are decided at the creation of the league and the members remain unchanged (NFL) then they can be more austere than we see in English football.

But surely a club which attracts 5 times the number of paying spectators than another should be rewarded with a considerably enhanced allowance to spend on wages.

And....... what are the penalties for breaking cap? Would the football league block our return if after winning the league it was discovered we spent 100K too much on wages under Conference rules, but well under what theirown rules dictate.
Mally
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Post by Mally »

The current level of critism of Merry and Smith, generally speaking, I believe to be somewhat, unjust, unfair and unnecessary. Yes, it's right to question, However, we all know that, at present, even if desired, it may well be difficult to be as open as would be expected.

Merry and ?, who may well be out of their league when it comes to pulling off a significant property deal, are having to transact with a ruthless uncompromising vendor who, given the opportunity, will rape them senseless. Knowing that, should Merry and ? not be given the benefit of doubt, at least in the short term?
I don't think there is that much criticism of Merry and Smith at the moment beyond the usual football tactics and selection comments that you will always get when results aren't going well. There a number of questions being asked about Merry and ? but that's understandable considering his refusal to name his partner, the clouds of fog about his background and no fans forum in the 9 months plus since the takeover.

As for being out of their league, if &quot?&quot is Lenegan then he shouldn't be out of his league at all in dealing with Kassam. Also using word's like &quotrape&quot in this context is completely over the top and something that many people will find offensive.
DLT
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Post by DLT »

If the ? was Lenaghan alone I would be happy.

When I have heard him speak he sounded completely clued up and on the ball.

He was clearly visible during the takeover, at the press conference and being interviewed on RO in NM's kitchen. To then disappear completely from public view raises concerns I probably don't need to have.
ty cobb
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Post by ty cobb »

The comparisons to Kassam on specific actions are futile. Comparing spirit and motive, Kassam was, first and foremost, involved with the club for personal greed and gain. '

Ok so this is why Kassam was involved, he wanted to make some money. I thought Merry got involved becasue he loved Oxford and wanted to see them 'back to where they belong'. Somewhat worrying then that he has admitted that he looked at buying another club previously. Does anyone ever know if Mr Merry ever attending any games apart from when he was on our books?

The last chairman who supported us since he was a nipper and loved the club has recently been involved with a bid to buy Liverpool - I just get worried with the similarties between Heard and Merry especially when they refuse to hold a fans forum.

That said I feel they have sorted out a lot of the off the field issues BUT no one has any idea about how that is being funded, loans, donations balancing the books?

As stated previously if they are serious they need to invest this Jan and ENSURE we get promoted this season otherwise I fear the goodwill of the fans and 6,000 gates will not hold up.
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