If the club is only £1, why doesn't the Trust "go for it"

As above ... why not ?
If this Trust means what I think Trusts mean, why doesn't it go for it. This may well be the only chance a Trust will ever have to own the club, allbeit on a temporary basis, that I believe may well lengthen.
Why does the club have to be bought for a £1 by a total stranger, and a dodgy stranger at that who is not a fan, Peter Ridsdale ? The footall authorities would be delighted at another Trust getting involved.

A football literate person like Ridsdale or Dunford, neither of whom I personally like, can always be employed at a reasonable salary to take care of the nuts and bolts, and who better to keep an eye on this executive role, and it's remuneration, than a Trust ?
Something tells me Ridsdale would be dead against such an outcome and that would speak volumes. Why did not one Farm person ask him that ? He himself has said he doesn't really WANT to own the club. Well, put him to the test, offer the successful bidders an alternative.

I believe this Ridsdale ownership thing is not exactly what we've been told, and this whole bid may well be a long planned exercise.

Interesting;

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Greenskin wrote:

Interesting;

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It just gets worse.................. wonder if there was a rich Arab out the back ?

I am quite stunned by today's events. I always thought that going into administration was our best option as at least then someone independent would sort out the mess at Argyle.

But we got Guilfoyle, Heaney and Ridsdale.

But is it a bad thing?

Since the day that Stapleton and Evans sat down and stitched up the population of Plymouth and Argyle fans throughout the world by wrecking 100 years of existence, this was always going to happen and it's exactly what it was designed to do. The only difference is that it'll be some other greedy bastard milking everything instead of Stapleton....although I would wager a months salary that Stapes is WELL involved in this.

The funny thing about it is that if Stapes isn't involved and if Toddy and Co. were never introduced, it would be Stapes in Healey's seat and the avivas would be partying with Jester hats and prawn sarnys with Ponty reporting on it.

Nothing's changed really.

Damon Lenszner wrote:

I love the idea of the club being owned by the fans and it may not be as impossible as people think. I may just be living in dreamland here but here goes:

Tuesday comes and goes and the PBs fail to make the payment OR they make the first payment but due to the involvement of KH the eague refuse to allow the sale of the Club to them.

The viability of the 'backup' plan of Brent still depends on
A) The Council buying back the Stadium (albeit for a fraction of the original sale price) and Lombard accepting that sum.
B) Reduction of the Football Debt - no figures mentioned but my own guestimate is that Brent is looking to pay only 1million of the £3million due.
C) Supplying Ridsdale with 'working capital' to the tune of £1million to cover the first year's defecit.

Now for a moment let us just replace Brent's backup plan with the Fans Back up plan.

A) Politically it would be a whole lot easier for the Council to justify a Fans ownership rescue package than it ever would for them to justify it within a privately owned company plan.
B) A very different conversation would be had if the fans were negotiating the reduction of the Football Debt with the players rather than Ridsdale representing Brent.
C) A Fans owned club then goes to its own fanbase (individuals and corporates) and says Help Us. How many more season tickets will be sold if we owned the Club ourselves? How many of the shafted local companies would come back as sponsors knowing their money wasn't going into the pockets of more property speculators? Again a guess, but after all that has happened I reckon we would sell 50% more season tickets if we owned the Club ourselves.

And now for the little piece of information that might, just might be able to swing it our way. The Football League does not want to see Argyle (or any League club) die. There is a fund that can be tapped into for a long term loan - backed by a viable and sustainable business plan - that could enable us to have the amounts we need to make this work.

I have spoken with Chris about a contact at the League and I believe he has emailed him over the weekend. If and only if the vast majority of us can unite behind a plan drawn up by the Trust then there is no reason at all we couldn't succeed. If Exeter can do it I am damned sure we can.

PS. There are fans who have knowledge of running a football club and I am sure would be only to happy to help - wouldn't they Peter?

As per PASOTI 'BUY THE CLUB' thread.

Thoughts?

Mock Cuncher wrote:

[quote=Damon Lenszner]I love the idea of the club being owned by the fans and it may not be as impossible as people think. I may just be living in dreamland here but here goes:

Tuesday comes and goes and the PBs fail to make the payment OR they make the first payment but due to the involvement of KH the eague refuse to allow the sale of the Club to them.

The viability of the 'backup' plan of Brent still depends on
A) The Council buying back the Stadium (albeit for a fraction of the original sale price) and Lombard accepting that sum.
B) Reduction of the Football Debt - no figures mentioned but my own guestimate is that Brent is looking to pay only 1million of the £3million due.
C) Supplying Ridsdale with 'working capital' to the tune of £1million to cover the first year's defecit.

Now for a moment let us just replace Brent's backup plan with the Fans Back up plan.

A) Politically it would be a whole lot easier for the Council to justify a Fans ownership rescue package than it ever would for them to justify it within a privately owned company plan.
B) A very different conversation would be had if the fans were negotiating the reduction of the Football Debt with the players rather than Ridsdale representing Brent.
C) A Fans owned club then goes to its own fanbase (individuals and corporates) and says Help Us. How many more season tickets will be sold if we owned the Club ourselves? How many of the shafted local companies would come back as sponsors knowing their money wasn't going into the pockets of more property speculators? Again a guess, but after all that has happened I reckon we would sell 50% more season tickets if we owned the Club ourselves.

And now for the little piece of information that might, just might be able to swing it our way. The Football League does not want to see Argyle (or any League club) die. There is a fund that can be tapped into for a long term loan - backed by a viable and sustainable business plan - that could enable us to have the amounts we need to make this work.

I have spoken with Chris about a contact at the League and I believe he has emailed him over the weekend. If and only if the vast majority of us can unite behind a plan drawn up by the Trust then there is no reason at all we couldn't succeed. If Exeter can do it I am damned sure we can.

PS. There are fans who have knowledge of running a football club and I am sure would be only to happy to help - wouldn't they Peter?

As per PASOTI 'BUY THE CLUB' thread.

Thoughts?[/quote]

I'm disgusted to think that 'Cockney Green' could worm his way back into being a director in control of the club.
That's my first thought.

In principle, this is what I'd like to see happen in the apparent absence of a potential buyer interested in the football.
My reservations include the sort of people who might gain positions of influence in a Trust owned Argyle.
It could work and could unite us all, creating a vibrant fanbase but there would need to be a fair and democratic process for leadership.

I'm all for a Trust owned club too, but it has to own the ground .. not a trust at the whim of money men landlords, and taken over by Damon Lenszner, Mark Russell and Ian Newell. The Trust needs to understand that the Area action plan needs to be adhered to. I cannot support a Trust owned club that turns it's back on the city community by cheering on it's landlords to concrete over the park .... not acceptable at all. One of my main reservations with the Trust is they have still not published their view on what development they would back in the park. For me, any football club has to fit in with the wider community plan.

penzancepirate wrote:

I'm all for a Trust owned club too, but it has to own the ground .. not a trust at the whim of money men landlords, and taken over by Damon Lenszner, Mark Russell and Ian Newell. The Trust needs to understand that the Area action plan needs to be adhered to. I cannot support a Trust owned club that turns it's back on the city community by cheering on it's landlords to concrete over the park .... not acceptable at all. One of my main reservations with the Trust is they have still not published their view on what development they would back in the park. For me, any football club has to fit in with the wider community plan.

Add Brent to that list. Why was he meeting with them in the Holiday Inn last week? Maybe the GT's were there to offer their support to him (as were the Trust). But what was Newell doing? Offering to get "mobilise" Pasoti behind Brent in exchange for a place on the board?

That's my issue with the Trust as well PP and what's happened regarding the democracy of the Trust?

To be honest though I've come to terms that Newell and his "mob" will end up having an interest in the Trust, I'm not sure it's a bad thing. Like any new organisation the Trust needs people initially to carry out the donkey work, people like Newell and the G&T's are perfect for this. Once that's been carried out of course Newell and Co. will be dumped to one side when their end game is realised and a new and far more profession set up will be acquired. It's the evolution of things and in a democracy we all know what will happen, control freaks don't last long in a democracy.

That's why Newell was at the hotel Frank, he sees himself on some sort of crusade representing the Green Army going into battle. Not a thought of how his actions may effect the future of people's wage packets or if the club will be able to continue into next season or if he had a mandate to do what he done. That's why he wouldn't last 5 minutes in a democracy, he knows it, we know it and why we should all be happy to let him do the do the donkey work and then vote people like him out so that new leaders with a professional take on things can run the shop.

After the dust has settled I would love to see a Trust owned club but it'll take years rather then weeks for the dust to settle. It's a great idea but not an idea for the short term.

The Brent thing is now fascinating. It all hinges on whether Brent knew Ridsdale was sleeping around with Heaney whilst bedding him. It could be that Brent knew ll along of the last minute Heaney bid, and that his involvment really is a last minute insurance arranged by Ridsdale if the Heaney thing fails. I find it hard to believe that Brent could be suckered by Ridsdale.

However, IF Brent has had his nose put out of joint by Ridsdale's last minute 'coup' with Heaney, he will have dropped him like a stone, leaving a spot for a Trust, or in the new parlance, an alliance..... that would be my guess at the moment. I wouldn't have a problem with a Trust owned club, but it has to be an effective trust, not one that sits nicely in it's new comfy puppet seats while the real power lies with Ridsdale and ANOther property developer that has no empathy with the city park.

I would add one caveat here and it pains me to say it.... IF I had a choice between Ridsdale being involved with the club OR Newell, I would have Newell ... at least he is a fan, despite his personal failings.

PS ... just seen your comments Gob I like your style ... let him do the donkey work and then kick him into touch in an election .. do a Churchill on him

PP, are the, I think they were called "Friends of Central Park", still in existence?

If so, maybe exploring a relationship between them and the Trust wouldn't be a bad thing?

GOB wrote:

PP, are the, I think they were called "Friends of Central Park", still in existence?

If so, maybe exploring a relationship between them and the Trust wouldn't be a bad thing?

Yes, they are. I'm a friend of Victoria Park myself.
Don't worry, the other 'green' movement are on the case and many many councillors are on board.

I would sy it's a bit early to accept this trust thing, until we se hopw this effects Ridsdale. It might be his intention to hide the real goings on behind a puppet Trust in order to gain Council and fans' approvals, while all along, the preferred bidders or Brent get what they want.
I've just seen Lenszner's comments and in particular his sudden public revelation that Brent would want to negotiate the football creditors down to a third of the total. He also asserts that a 'Trust owned' club would be more likely to coerce the football creditors and PCC.
Ridsdale is a caligula, a clever soul, and I ouldn't put it past him to offer the £1 ownership to a 'trust', while he retains all the real power in the club as a CEO or Chair, while Heaney still does his worst in the park. Don't forget, Ridsdale has said on occasion he might not have a board ... wouldn't be much for him to offer three or four seats to the sell out merchants. I think any environmentalists would be very well advised to wait this out and see what comes out of Ridsdale's mouth. I wouldn't mind betting there may well be an announcement soon from Ridsdale that the 'Trust' option is being explored, and he'd be in favour of it. He's the one to watch in all of this..

Good points!

If it wasn't the club that was involved this would make an amazing story to follow with the characters involved, the twisting and turning and the under the table dealings that are going on!

GOB wrote:

Good points!

If it wasn't the club that was involved this would make an amazing story to follow with the characters involved, the twisting and turning and the under the table dealings that are going on!

And who would have guessed this would happen on that fateful day when Ridsdale stopped at Home Park on holiday.

Rickler wrote:

I'm disgusted to think that 'Cockney Green' could worm his way back into being a director in control of the club.
That's my first thought.

Pls remind me what cockney green did. I remember the name but not a lot else.