Things just keep on happening at this crazy football club of ours! Today's news sees the end of Pentith Developments' and British Rail Property Board's attempts to seek a Judicial Review over the granting of planning permission for the Minchery Farm multiplex. Judge Jowitt decided this morning that there was no case to answer and so legally there can now be no challenge to the planning permission. The main obstacle now is the deal with Taylor Woodrow, which apparently has hit “contractual difficulties” according to Kassam at the AGM yesterday. If this goes wrong it could scupper the CVA, which could have disastrous consequences for the club's future, so let's hope that Mr Kassam and Messrs Taylor Woodrow can resolve their difficulties soon. One presumes that they are not insurmountable. It is our understanding that Thames Water have reached an agreement over the value of their share in the new stadium company.
Other news from the AGM include the agreement of shareholders to end their 10% discount on season ticket prices (apparently there were dark mutterings about this); the ending of the Small Shareholders Representative post on the board (Geoff Coppock's former role); the purchase by Kassam of the Priory pub, adjacent to the Minchery Farm site, for use as a supporters club; the news that, in order to complete the stadium in time for next season, a number of short cuts and reduced specifications are having to be made (at least in the interim); the sale of Phil Gilchrist was forced because Leicester City offered cash up front and the player wanted to leave.
Firoz Kassam, in a busy couple of days, has announced that Mickey Lewis is to be caretaker manager until a permanent replacement for Shotton is appointed. Lewis has expressed his desire for keeping the post, but Kassam has said that there have already been a number of applicants. One name being bandied about is Denis Smith, heavens forbid; others include Mark Wright, Gary Parker, Ray Houghton, Steve Cotterill, Ron Atkinson etc (check out the Rage Online poll for further options). Kassam claimed on Central News that money would be available to any new manager to bring in his own players.
Paul Gerrard is currently negotiating a new contract at Everton.
It has been brought to our attention by an irate reader that we should not have implied that the attack on Kassam in yesterday's Oxford Mail was linked to their support for Jim Rosenthal and the Gang of 4. Obviously this implication is groundless and we apologise if anyone was offended, whatever the merits of the article in the Mail. To be fair, today's leader praised Kassam for his “sound financial business record” and for taking on United despite its problems.