Change of Venue - ATD Q&A With James Brent

Thanks again to Andy, and I hope it all goes to plan and some good questions about Argyle get the answers we want to hear.

Have a good evening tonight to you all!

Hope its going well. Glad this missive didn't work.

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So will it be smiles or frowns all round? The tension is killing me.

I'm not happy!

You would think Andy would be writing it all up and posting it for those of us not able to make it to the venue.

mouldyoldgoat wrote:

I'm not happy!

You would think Andy would be writing it all up and posting it for those of us not able to make it to the venue.

It would have been the height of rudeness for me to be sitting next to James, hammering away on my Blackberry (that's not a euphemism, you mucky lot) while he's answering questions.

To give a brief response, it was an excellent meeting. James Brent, Peter Jones and Rick Cowdery were in attendance from the club. The questions were wide ranging; I put as many of the written questions as I could, allowing for time restraints and the fact that the people who attended wanted to ask questions too. Rick Cowdery has a copy of all the written questions. Those that weren't answered in the meeting will get a written response in due course.

I'm going to put together a full report of the evening, in collaboration with Rick Cowdery (we both tape-recorded the entire thing) and a full report will appear in due course. Sorry that at this stage I can't go into more detail but I want to listen back to it first so that I can be 100% accurate.

I can assure everyone who asked written questions that your questions were put to James and Peter exactly as they were written on here (Rickler - the answer to your final question was 'Boxers').

Bear with me, people, and a full report will be up asap.

Cheers Andy, your people wait.........

Andy_Symons wrote:

To give a brief response, it was an excellent meeting.

Echo all of that. We (and especially Charlie) asked a variety of questions, and got full answers to all of them, except where they concerned individuals or breached financial confidence. Plus, it wasn't so much a question and answer session as a proper mutual exchange of views.

Thanks and congratulations to Andy for organising it.

And some of us have got our packed lunches sorted for the next few days

seadog wrote:

Cheers Andy, your people wait.........

My people? Who do you think I am? No, don't answer that.

Of course, if anyone else who was at the meeting wants to post their thoughts, they're free to do so. There were one or two 'wee nuggets' of information in there. Gareth, Tim and the rest of the Trust Board might be interested in some of the information James gave us (ooh, I'm such a tease).

Well done Andy, I'm looking forward to reading what was said.

And well done to James Brent, PJ and RC for having the balls for the meeting after the crap they have heard from one or two idiots about the people on this site. I would imagine that some respect has been built tonight.

Just walked in the door.

What a decent (and clever) bloke James Brent is.

Excellent evening, very well done Andy. I think JB understands we are not all freaks and weirdos now.

Found the meeting very disappointing not one freak or weirdo there apart from myself.

Glad you said "not all" Cerbera. GJ would be most upset.............

Cerbera wrote:

Just walked in the door.

What a decent (and clever) bloke James Brent is.

Excellent evening, very well done Andy. I think JB understands we are not all freaks and weirdos now.

Yeah the real freaks and weirdos are abroad

No sign of the president tonight then?

Just back with time to make a coffee.

I can confirm that James Brent does eat babies.

On a plus note, in private conversation, he offered to send me some very good recipes. The man's a gentleman.

Bintang wrote:

Cerbera wrote:

Just walked in the door.

What a decent (and clever) bloke James Brent is.

Excellent evening, very well done Andy. I think JB understands we are not all freaks and weirdos now.

Yeah the real freaks and weirdos are abroad

You really are clutching at your final straw aren't you?

You are simply pathetic.

Andy_Symons wrote:

.

I can assure everyone who asked written questions that your questions were put to James and Peter exactly as they were written on here (Rickler - the answer to your final question was 'Boxers').

Glad that it went well and everyone had a good time.

And in fairness Andy...

As you and I both know. That question was asked in honour of Bex!

RIP and God bless her soul.

Rickler wrote:

Bintang wrote:

Cerbera wrote:

Just walked in the door.

What a decent (and clever) bloke James Brent is.

Excellent evening, very well done Andy. I think JB understands we are not all freaks and weirdos now.

Yeah the real freaks and weirdos are abroad

You really are clutching at your final straw aren't you?

You are simply pathetic.

You knew I was referring to you then

Rickler wrote:

Andy_Symons wrote:

.

I can assure everyone who asked written questions that your questions were put to James and Peter exactly as they were written on here (Rickler - the answer to your final question was 'Boxers').

Glad that it went well and everyone had a good time.

And in fairness Andy...

As you and I both know. That question was asked in honour of Bex!

RIP and God bless her soul.

Indeed, Ricks. I think Bex would have thoroughly enjoyed the evening, and that final question was answered with good humour by JB. For now though, time to hit the hay. I'll start work on the report tomorrow.

Echo thoughts on a good evening. James Brent, Peter Jones and Rick Cowdery gave some good answers and gave away some snippets that I don't think are in the public domain- JB had to keep checking that he had said what he shouldn't.

Seems they are not interested in the internet wars (made clear from the start) which PJ referred to as small websites. They have been reading ATD (well PJ has) and his favourite poster name is MouldyOldGoat and he made reference to the volume of posts Jock makes!

A figure was given to the 20% share offer to the Trust, but it was clear that the Gasboard is the way to go- the argument against the Trust was that it only represented a small proportion of fans at its peak (1500 out of 7000) and the Gasboard is seen as all encompassing. JB stated that the purpose of the Gasboard was to give a critical eye over the club and to ensure that recent events (with Argyle) weren't repeated. The Trust 20% offer does not include a seat of the board but they would be entitled to a percentage of profit.

Playing budget- similar level to this season but PJ said a few of the high earning players will finish their contracts soon. The highest earning player (this season) is on £9k/week! JB stated that the WC bid didn't cause the £20m debt (at a cost of £1.1m) it was the player contracts (with lack of relegation clauses). Relegation clauses will be in all player contracts (whilst JB on board), if a player refuses they won't be signed.

The debt to staff is being paid at £200k per season and is budgetted for. A question was asked about the lump sum payment (c. £2m) at the end of the 5 years (and how it would be paid) and JB mentioned 50% of unbudgetted income was being used- the lump sum figure has already been reduced and will be amoritised.

Forza Verde will remain in blocks 3 and 4. The zoo corner will not be re-opened for foreseeable future due to police costs. With the zoo corner closed, Argyle are police free, with it open policing is needed.costing roughly £30k per game. The Torquay game was mentioned and despite the 13k crowd, the benefit was lost in funding the police. If we permanently open the zoo corner, we will be under police control and they can decide on numbers, costs etc. The police are also looking to charge for policing football related areas (e.g. city centre) which is another reason why the club wants to avoid being a police controlled match stadium. Police will only be used for bigger games (e.g. ECFC).

Safe standing- JB is favourable as long as its not restricted to L1 and L2- if it is we won't go forward.

The board/ club aim is to achieve safe Championship status (based on fan numbers etc) but will the club need to adjust with the improvements. JB quoted the large jump in average wage costs going up the leagues. The club will be run sustainably and money won't be thrown at new players if we can't afford it.

JB also said that the Argyle fans have been poorly treated and that is why he wants fan involvement (GasB) to succeed and Argyle were talked about being a community club. He wants improvement in fan experience- buying an argyle shirt for a decent price and made of good quality. The 'Membership' scheme (ST) aims to include fans as members of the club rather than just a seat.

Greensam question asked about Argyle player and whether it could feature games for exiles. RC said that it could not be done directly after the game due to BBC and Sky rights but would look into it.

There is more!

Thanks to Andy and Anne for organising and to James, Peter and Rick for attending.

Yes, Bex was given credit for the question about trunks or boxers.

Actually, briefly, my response to the evening was mostly positive but not completely.

With the provisos that I used to give but stopped doing (ie that I would love a society where there was a more equitable distribution of wealth .... but we ain't going to have one) - if we are going to have a millionaire owner, then Mr Brent seems a genuine, committed and well-intentioned bloke. He also struck me very clearly as a tough man to deal with but that isn't a bad thing when running Argyle. I accept the claim that he was a reluctant bidder and that personal gain wasn't his initial response. There seemed to me to be a tacit admission that he does stand to make financial gain out of his ownership. But it was said fairly forcefully, by Peter Jones, that the only alternative to Mr Brent was to lose the club. I would love for there to be fairy godmothers/fathers but I do know they don't exist. Love the one your with seems an important consideration at this point.

I was shocked at the figure he quoted to enable the Trust to buy the 20%. It was also made crystal clear that under his tenure no fans' group will ever be offered a seat on the statutory board.

The only issue club that I still feel unaccepting of is the GASB/Trust split. Points were made about the democracy of the GASB representing all fans. In discussion during the interval, the suggestion was made that over a relatively short period the GASB and The Trust would become one and the same. I am probably even more against the setting up of the GASB as an unnecessary confusion that runs the risk of divisiveness and destructive of the Trust. Maybe I'm missing something. I will go away and sleep on it.

Overall, with some reservations, I thought it was a positive evening and I went away, as I have on previous contacts with him, with the impression of a good owner who will try to make Argyle work. The evening was something that he, Peter Jones & Rick Cowdery didn't have to do. After all, this is a small web-site when compared to pasoti and, as was pointed out in various ways, even more insignificant when measured against the Argyle crowd on a Saturday - not to mention the diaspora. The summer - where more structure is in place and with new signings - becomes the next period in which to make judgements. So far, I'm pleased enough.

Thanks Andy!

I can wait till 9am tomorrow, no problem.

Chemical Ali wrote:

Echo thoughts on a good evening. James Brent, Peter Jones and Rick Cowdery gave some good answers and gave away some snippets that I don't think are in the public domain- JB had to keep checking that he had said what he shouldn't.

Seems they are not interested in the internet wars (made clear from the start) which PJ referred to as small websites. They have been reading ATD (well PJ has) and his favourite poster name is MouldyOldGoat and he made reference to the volume of posts Jock makes!

A figure was given to the 20% share offer to the Trust, but it was clear that the Gasboard is the way to go- the argument against the Trust was that it only represented a small proportion of fans at its peak (1500 out of 7000) and the Gasboard is seen as all encompassing. JB stated that the purpose of the Gasboard was to give a critical eye over the club and to ensure that recent events (with Argyle) weren't repeated. The Trust 20% offer does not include a seat of the board but they would be entitled to a percentage of profit.

Playing budget- similar level to this season but PJ said a few of the high earning players will finish their contracts soon. The highest earning player (this season) is on £9k/week! JB stated that the WC bid didn't cause the £20m debt (at a cost of £1.1m) it was the player contracts (with lack of relegation clauses). Relegation clauses will be in all player contracts (whilst JB on board), if a player refuses they won't be signed.

The debt to staff is being paid at £200k per season and is budgetted for. A question was asked about the lump sum payment (c. £2m) at the end of the 5 years (and how it would be paid) and JB mentioned 50% of unbudgetted income was being used- the lump sum figure has already been reduced and will be amoritised.

Forza Verde will remain in blocks 3 and 4. The zoo corner will not be re-opened for foreseeable future due to police costs. With the zoo corner closed, Argyle are police free, with it open policing is needed.costing roughly £30k per game. The Torquay game was mentioned and despite the 13k crowd, the benefit was lost in funding the police. If we permanently open the zoo corner, we will be under police control and they can decide on numbers, costs etc. The police are also looking to charge for policing football related areas (e.g. city centre) which is another reason why the club wants to avoid being a police controlled match stadium. Police will only be used for bigger games (e.g. ECFC).

Safe standing- JB is favourable as long as its not restricted to L1 and L2- if it is we won't go forward.

The board/ club aim is to achieve safe Championship status (based on fan numbers etc) but will the club need to adjust with the improvements. JB quoted the large jump in average wage costs going up the leagues. The club will be run sustainably and money won't be thrown at new players if we can't afford it.

JB also said that the Argyle fans have been poorly treated and that is why he wants fan involvement (GasB) to succeed and Argyle were talked about being a community club. He wants improvement in fan experience- buying an argyle shirt for a decent price and made of good quality. The 'Membership' scheme (ST) aims to include fans as members of the club rather than just a seat.

Greensam question asked about Argyle player and whether it could feature games for exiles. RC said that it could not be done directly after the game due to BBC and Sky rights but would look into it.

There is more!

Thanks to Andy and Anne for organising and to James, Peter and Rick for attending.

Like to echo the thanks to Anne, James, Peter and Rick.

PS, I always liked that PJ bloke!

A good evening last night.
A nice chance to meet a few people.


As peggy says no need to make any sandwiches this morning for work.