I keep thinking it can't get any worse...

[GodalmingYellow]

The comment by Mally that WPL (principally NM) offered FK
gemstones in consideration for buying OUFC is an incredible
revelation but is most probably true knowing this club and the individuals
involved.

If Merry did indeed offer gems (diamonds/emeralds?) then I am
even more worried about Merry then I ever have been !

That's a rumour that has done the rounds for quite a while. I've never seen anything other than hearsay to back it up.

[Isaac]

The comment by Mally that WPL (principally NM) offered FK
gemstones in consideration for buying OUFC is an incredible
revelation but is most probably true knowing this club and the individuals
involved.

If Merry did indeed offer gems (diamonds/emeralds?) then I am
even more worried about Merry then I ever have been !

That's a rumour that has done the rounds for quite a while. I've never seen anything other than hearsay to back it up.

I have it on very good authority that the original offer was actually a jar of magic beans.

[Mally]

The comment by Mally that WPL (principally NM) offered FK
gemstones in consideration for buying OUFC is an incredible
revelation but is most probably true knowing this club and the individuals
involved.

If Merry did indeed offer gems (diamonds/emeralds?) then I am
even more worried about Merry then I ever have been !

That's a rumour that has done the rounds for quite a while. I've never seen anything other than hearsay to back it up.

What are you looking for a signed sworn affidavit?

On another subject why this debate about commercial versus residential versus retail etc. They all require the flattening of the stadium and the implied demise of OUFC.

[DLT]

The comment by Mally that WPL (principally NM) offered FK
gemstones in consideration for buying OUFC is an incredible
revelation but is most probably true knowing this club and the individuals
involved.

If Merry did indeed offer gems (diamonds/emeralds?) then I am
even more worried about Merry then I ever have been !

That's a rumour that has done the rounds for quite a while. I've never seen anything other than hearsay to back it up.

Well I certainly heard it from two good sources.

[Ascension Ox]

That isn't quite the point either, though it is related. The question is whether a better deal would have resulted if negotiations had been allowed to continue to a natural conclusion, rather than slow negotiations followed by a last minute rush, which in my view, WPL did not handle well.

That's quite possible of course. But there's another question, which is: would WPL ever have handled it well? Did they really have the money or potential to do the deal that they should have done, which would have been one that did not detach the club from the stadium, but which detached Kassam from both?

That is a good question.

At the outset, they claimed to have the money. Subsequent events suggest that if they did, they've used it elsewhere since.

Would they ever have got what we might regard as a good or fair deal? I don't know. Kassam is a very tough businessman to deal with, certainly one of the toughest I've ever met. He just does not give ground (no pun intended). I suspect a more likely outcome would have been that WPL would have pulled out of the deal and we would still have Kassam in charge.

In my view WPL panicked, not just because of the boardroom battle, but because in their minds at that time, League football was essential to their proposals succeeding, and they believed we would be relegated under Kassam. As it happened thye made no difference to that aspect, as we all now know to our cost.

In what context have you met Kassam GY?

[Ascension Ox]

There is a value to Kassam in the club being successful.

The Ozone as a whole relies on the businesses being successful and complimentary, the more people who go to games and also use the Bowlplex, Restaurants, Kids playzone, cinema etc, the better the rents FK will achieve for those businesses.

Very sensible comment.

[Ascension Ox]

The comment by Mally that WPL (principally NM) offered FK
gemstones in consideration for buying OUFC is an incredible
revelation but is most probably true knowing this club and the individuals
involved.

If Merry did indeed offer gems (diamonds/emeralds?) then I am
even more worried about Merry then I ever have been !

That's a rumour that has done the rounds for quite a while. I've never seen anything other than hearsay to back it up.

Half time tittle tattle.

[Myles Francis]

There is a value to Kassam in the club being successful.

The Ozone as a whole relies on the businesses being successful and complimentary, the more people who go to games and also use the Bowlplex, Restaurants, Kids playzone, cinema etc, the better the rents FK will achieve for those businesses.

Very sensible comment.

It is. But surely it was ever thus? Which begs the question, why did FK allow the club to go to rack and ruin? I have never understood this and it is why I have never gone along with the extreme conspiracy theories about FK using the club as the key to unlocking the potential for the whole site and then letting it die. It really doesn't add up.

[GodalmingYellow]

That's quite possible of course. But there's another question, which is: would WPL ever have handled it well? Did they really have the money or potential to do the deal that they should have done, which would have been one that did not detach the club from the stadium, but which detached Kassam from both?

That is a good question.

At the outset, they claimed to have the money. Subsequent events suggest that if they did, they've used it elsewhere since.

Would they ever have got what we might regard as a good or fair deal? I don't know. Kassam is a very tough businessman to deal with, certainly one of the toughest I've ever met. He just does not give ground (no pun intended). I suspect a more likely outcome would have been that WPL would have pulled out of the deal and we would still have Kassam in charge.

In my view WPL panicked, not just because of the boardroom battle, but because in their minds at that time, League football was essential to their proposals succeeding, and they believed we would be relegated under Kassam. As it happened thye made no difference to that aspect, as we all now know to our cost.

In what context have you met Kassam GY?

Why do you ask?

[GodalmingYellow]

The comment by Mally that WPL (principally NM) offered FK
gemstones in consideration for buying OUFC is an incredible
revelation but is most probably true knowing this club and the individuals
involved.

If Merry did indeed offer gems (diamonds/emeralds?) then I am
even more worried about Merry then I ever have been !

That's a rumour that has done the rounds for quite a while. I've never seen anything other than hearsay to back it up.

What are you looking for a signed sworn affidavit?

On another subject why this debate about commercial versus residential versus retail etc. They all require the flattening of the stadium and the implied demise of OUFC.

No, just looking for a reliable source.

The debate re use of the land is kind of the far end of the discussion about why Kassam holds most of the cards in any deal to buy the stadium.

[Ascension Ox]

Always interesting to hear some war stories about our marvellous landlord.

[DLT]

There is a value to Kassam in the club being successful.

The Ozone as a whole relies on the businesses being successful and complimentary, the more people who go to games and also use the Bowlplex, Restaurants, Kids playzone, cinema etc, the better the rents FK will achieve for those businesses.

Very sensible comment.

It is. But surely it was ever thus? Which begs the question, why did FK allow the club to go to rack and ruin? I have never understood this and it is why I have never gone along with the extreme conspiracy theories about FK using the club as the key to unlocking the potential for the whole site and then letting it die. It really doesn't add up.

It doesn't add up at all. Kassam wanted to be successful even up until the last days. What he wasn'tprepared to do was allow money to be blown on what he thought were luxuries, that staff at the club had come to expect as essential. Merry and crowd reinstored all these perks and the staff loved him for it. Made no difference on the pitch though.

Kassam appointed to wrong managers at the right time andthe vice versa. He should appointed Denis when he got rid of Shotton. But no one moan about the Kinnear show arriving. Everyone moan about thr argies arriving then moaned when they went. He handled managers appallingly and never went through the right interview proceedure (apart from asking me and others and then ignoring our advice).

Backto your original point, Kassam didn't want to fail. He just couldn't get it right. He should have sacked the moaners in his staff early doors, but he felt that would create a riot. Instead he let the jolly of crew walk round all day spreading a moaning culture.

[Snake]

That is a good question.

At the outset, they claimed to have the money. Subsequent events suggest that if they did, they've used it elsewhere since.

Would they ever have got what we might regard as a good or fair deal? I don't know. Kassam is a very tough businessman to deal with, certainly one of the toughest I've ever met. He just does not give ground (no pun intended). I suspect a more likely outcome would have been that WPL would have pulled out of the deal and we would still have Kassam in charge.

In my view WPL panicked, not just because of the boardroom battle, but because in their minds at that time, League football was essential to their proposals succeeding, and they believed we would be relegated under Kassam. As it happened thye made no difference to that aspect, as we all now know to our cost.

In what context have you met Kassam GY?

Why do you ask?

You know you shouldn't ask tricky questions like that.

[Snake]

Very sensible comment.

It is. But surely it was ever thus? Which begs the question, why did FK allow the club to go to rack and ruin? I have never understood this and it is why I have never gone along with the extreme conspiracy theories about FK using the club as the key to unlocking the potential for the whole site and then letting it die. It really doesn't add up.

It doesn't add up at all. Kassam wanted to be successful even up until the last days. What he wasn'tprepared to do was allow money to be blown on what he thought were luxuries, that staff at the club had come to expect as essential. Merry and crowd reinstored all these perks and the staff loved him for it. Made no difference on the pitch though.

Kassam appointed to wrong managers at the right time andthe vice versa. He should appointed Denis when he got rid of Shotton. But no one moan about the Kinnear show arriving. Everyone moan about thr argies arriving then moaned when they went. He handled managers appallingly and never went through the right interview proceedure (apart from asking me and others and then ignoring our advice).

Backto your original point, Kassam didn't want to fail. He just couldn't get it right. He should have sacked the moaners in his staff early doors, but he felt that would create a riot. Instead he let the jolly of crew walk round all day spreading a moaning culture.

The biggest OUFC mistake that Kassam made was not stepping back completely from the running of the club and appointing a proper Chief Exec on a proper salary once the ground move had been completed.

But hey, being a good learner from his business mistakes he’s now done that, and in agreement with the vast majority of the fans he in effect let Nick Merry run it, with the bonus being that Nick’s not paid anything from Firoka.

Just my opinion mind..

[Pe├▒a Oxford United]

Backto your original point, Kassam didn't want to fail. He just couldn't get it right. He should have sacked the moaners in his staff early doors, but he felt that would create a riot. Instead he let the jolly of crew walk round all day spreading a moaning culture.

The trouble with this view is that it portrays Kassam too generous, too nice, too ready to let things go. Does that strike anybody as convincing? Wouldn't it be more reasonable to suggest that people found him unpleasant to work for when they could find him at all, that he communicated no sense of interest or enthusiasm in the club or in what they did, and that he had no idea as to who a good manager might be or how they might need to work.

Kassam presumably knows a very great eal about his business, but it doesn't follow that he understood very much about a very different sort of operation. A common error.

Nor was it what he was primarily interested in. I've said it before and no doubt I'll say it again, but it's hard to see how any organisation can prosper long unless there's enthusiasm from he person at the top. Until the club either falls into the hands of such a person - somebody for whom it will be Priority A - or goes bust, the latter being the more likely eventuality - there is no chance of it recovering.

In my opinion the only person who's been around in the last twenty years who fitted that description was Robin Herd. But Robin, of course, had too little money and too much to drink. But before the money ran out the club was thriving - not because he was spending vast millions (though he was spending, and probably too much) but because it was a good place to be.