Does IL have a clue?

[Brahma Bull]

Well I think todays events have nailed the answer to this question, wrong wrong wrong wrong on so many fronts.

Completely agree.

[Dr Bob]

Well I think todays events have nailed the answer to this question, wrong wrong wrong wrong on so many fronts.

Completely agree.

Today has shown just how wrong I was to put so much trust in him earlier in the year.

[GodalmingYellow]

Well I think todays events have nailed the answer to this question, wrong wrong wrong wrong on so many fronts.

Completely agree.

So do I.

[SmileyMan]

I can confidently predict that the number of people who will care about it if we get promoted next season: 1

[GodalmingYellow]

I can confidently predict that the number of people who will care about it if we get promoted next season: 1

Can you also confidently predict how many will care if the club goes bust as a result of excessive spending that cannot be repaid?

We all want success, but that is pointless if there is no club to support.

[SmileyMan]

Can you also confidently predict how many will care if the club goes bust as a result of excessive spending that cannot be repaid?

Yes, but why should I? There seems to be an awful lot of groping around for reasons to hate this deal, but frankly, two days ago we were staring down the barrel of a season where at best we were going to languish mid-table with no squad, and at worst we'd flirt with relegation thanks to our usual injury crisis and a manager with a record of 1 win in 8.

An incredibly rich person has decided to make our club his plaything. Hasn't done Chelsea or Man City any harm. Maybe it'll go wrong in the future....or maybe it won't.

[GodalmingYellow]

Can you also confidently predict how many will care if the club goes bust as a result of excessive spending that cannot be repaid?

Yes, but why should I? There seems to be an awful lot of groping around for reasons to hate this deal, but frankly, two days ago we were staring down the barrel of a season where at best we were going to languish mid-table with no squad, and at worst we'd flirt with relegation thanks to our usual injury crisis and a manager with a record of 1 win in 8.

An incredibly rich person has decided to make our club his plaything. Hasn't done Chelsea or Man City any harm. Maybe it'll go wrong in the future....or maybe it won't.

That is so short sighted, and precisely the approach that very nearly sank the club 15 years ago.

Why should you? Because presumably you want to support the club beyond the next few seasons.

It hasn't harmed Chelski because Ibramovich wrote off his debt turning it into shares.
It has hurt Man City as they have been heavily penalised for breaching financial fair play rules. It will hurt them a lot more if their owners get bored with their plaything.
It hurt the likes of Portsmouth, Leeds and others very badly, when their underwriters decided to stop reaching into their pockets and those clubs have much more support than we do.

What is the point of promotion if the following season begins in the Ryman Premier League?

[SmileyMan]

Can you also confidently predict how many will care if the club goes bust as a result of excessive spending that cannot be repaid?

Yes, but why should I? There seems to be an awful lot of groping around for reasons to hate this deal, but frankly, two days ago we were staring down the barrel of a season where at best we were going to languish mid-table with no squad, and at worst we'd flirt with relegation thanks to our usual injury crisis and a manager with a record of 1 win in 8.

An incredibly rich person has decided to make our club his plaything. Hasn't done Chelsea or Man City any harm. Maybe it'll go wrong in the future....or maybe it won't.

That is so short sighted, and precisely the approach that very nearly sank the club 15 years ago.

Why should you? Because presumably you want to support the club beyond the next few seasons.

It hasn't harmed Chelski because Ibramovich wrote off his debt turning it into shares.
It has hurt Man City as they have been heavily penalised for breaching financial fair play rules. It will hurt them a lot more if their owners get bored with their plaything.
It hurt the likes of Portsmouth, Leeds and others very badly, when their underwriters decided to stop reaching into their pockets and those clubs have much more support than we do.

What is the point of promotion if the following season begins in the Ryman Premier League?

Again with the negativity, but you haven't addressed my other point - where was the club headed this season without this deal? Players sold and not replaced, diminishing income streams and a chairman who could no longer bankroll the debts. That isn't a recipe for success.

I say let's give the new setup a chance before we write it off. Sure, I'd love a community owned club with its own stadium and a healthy regular gate of locals sending their kids to the academy, but that isn't what we've got, and it won't happen until a massive fan wins the Euromillions.

[Geoff]

That'll be me tomorrow!

[ty cobb]

So maybe we are in a better position than we were a month ago but as it appears IL had essentially given up that's not saying much and shouldn't mean we shouldn't get the answers GY and others have asked. A private equity man and someone like Ashton are only here to exploit OUFC. The debts IL has run up from mismanaging this club are just as much as a millstone around our necks as the stadium issue.

If we somehow manage to get lucky out of a stadium deal the money will be going back to IL and these new guys in the same way that Kassam got lucky on the Manor and profited from the land deal which left OUFC with nothing.

Everything IL has said of late seems to be bollocks. Taking ages to get the right manager in who is someone he can work with and build for the future was crap he may as well have given Wilder a two year deal if he was just going to let the new guys do as they wished. Still not your money Ian when you can just add it to the debt of OUFC. Our new manager seems to be a yes man, taking over troubled clubs and his record is shocking his agent must be amazing.

This is essentially the end of the IL era but like Kassam we can't shake him off but I do wonder if all those who were so desperate to get him in regret it now? Massive debt a long spell in non league trusting a con man to run our club and passing the club on to people who seem to be here to just make a quick buck (good luck with that guys!). He can't be proud, despite the soviet era press conference he gave as we are no better off on the field and a hell of a lot worse off off the field.

I can though see why he wouldn't sell to CM I mean offering to pay off none of the debts was never going to fly was it?

[SmileyMan]

That'll be me tomorrow!

Thank quantum for that, because I'm terrible at picking the numbers

[Geoff]

That'll be me tomorrow!

Thank quantum for that, because I'm terrible at picking the numbers

All I shall need from you on Wednesday is your list of preferred players.

[GodalmingYellow]

That is so short sighted, and precisely the approach that very nearly sank the club 15 years ago.

Why should you? Because presumably you want to support the club beyond the next few seasons.

It hasn't harmed Chelski because Ibramovich wrote off his debt turning it into shares.
It has hurt Man City as they have been heavily penalised for breaching financial fair play rules. It will hurt them a lot more if their owners get bored with their plaything.
It hurt the likes of Portsmouth, Leeds and others very badly, when their underwriters decided to stop reaching into their pockets and those clubs have much more support than we do.

What is the point of promotion if the following season begins in the Ryman Premier League?

Again with the negativity, but you haven't addressed my other point - where was the club headed this season without this deal? Players sold and not replaced, diminishing income streams and a chairman who could no longer bankroll the debts. That isn't a recipe for success.

I say let's give the new setup a chance before we write it off. Sure, I'd love a community owned club with its own stadium and a healthy regular gate of locals sending their kids to the academy, but that isn't what we've got, and it won't happen until a massive fan wins the Euromillions.

Try substituting the word negativity with reality.

You can't just ignore those points and still claim to be a supporter.

I don't need to address your other point and in any event it is more than outweighed by the other concerns. However, if you give me a choice between mid-table obscurity and going bust, I choose the former every time, as would the vast majority of supporters.

This has nothing to do with your notion of community club. It has to do with being responsible in the long term over short term aspirations.

[GodalmingYellow]

That is so short sighted, and precisely the approach that very nearly sank the club 15 years ago.

Why should you? Because presumably you want to support the club beyond the next few seasons.

It hasn't harmed Chelski because Ibramovich wrote off his debt turning it into shares.
It has hurt Man City as they have been heavily penalised for breaching financial fair play rules. It will hurt them a lot more if their owners get bored with their plaything.
It hurt the likes of Portsmouth, Leeds and others very badly, when their underwriters decided to stop reaching into their pockets and those clubs have much more support than we do.

What is the point of promotion if the following season begins in the Ryman Premier League?

Again with the negativity, but you haven't addressed my other point - where was the club headed this season without this deal? Players sold and not replaced, diminishing income streams and a chairman who could no longer bankroll the debts. That isn't a recipe for success.

I say let's give the new setup a chance before we write it off. Sure, I'd love a community owned club with its own stadium and a healthy regular gate of locals sending their kids to the academy, but that isn't what we've got, and it won't happen until a massive fan wins the Euromillions.

Try substituting the word negativity with reality. The new owners have already agreed to spending of half a million over and above the losses that Lenagan created just on a bigger squad and paying off Waddock. That's an additional half a million that will need to be paid back to them. The new shareholders have already said they will want their money back and are not prepared to lose money over Oxford United. These are venture capitalists, they are in it for them and them alone. That's what venture capitalists do, and when they realise that spending is not the way to get success at OUFC, they will want their money back. And if they own the stadium, it will be the stadium that funds paying them back.

Maybe you weren't around each time the club so nearly went bust in the past, but you can't just ignore those points. Sticking your head in the sand because you want 3 points each week isn't good enough.

I don't need to address your other point (and you haven't addressed any of mine at all!) and in any event it is more than outweighed by the other concerns. However, if you give me a choice between mid-table obscurity and going bust, I choose the former every time, as would the vast majority of supporters.

This has nothing to do with your notion of community club. It has to do with being responsible in the long term over short term aspirations.

[SmileyMan]

GY, GY, so good he wrote it twice!

First up, I didn't realise you had a monopoly on deciding who is and isn't a supporter. I don't need to justify myself to you, but I've never worn a football shirt that wasn't yellow since I was five. I've seen every bust and felt all the pain. I sat and watched this past season die in the Newport mud.

Your attitude is based entirely around your speculation that everything will go wrong. You have zero evidence for this, other than it's happened to us before so it will happen again. Contrary to your statement, venture capitalists expect to lose[/i] money on a good portion of investements. If you want a guaranteed return, then you stick it in a bank and hope the economy doesn't go Cypriot. Anything they say about getting their money back is designed to give confidence in the investment, nothing more. It's City language, nothing more.

You might be OK with mid-table obscurity. Me, I'd like something less than 30 years old in the trophy cabinet before I shuffle off this mortal coil.