shambles...

[uptheus]

So in ur eyes how many of the 92 clubs improve year on year ?

It's about the intent on wanting to improve and the clear guidance of direction, and at the moment and for a number of months that as been lacking, hence the whole feeling around the club compared to 2 to 3 years ago.

I think we as fans have had to deal with more than most in terms of success up until a couple of years ago, and the fear is we could be returning to those days after such a short time of actually having some success.

The club had an opportunity to push on with the wave of good feeling around the club a year or so ago, but instead of riding on that wave it now feels as though we're going to crash into the rocks which is a shame.

Like I say, I hope I'm wrong, but the signs don't feel encouraging.

 

[Scotchegg]

So in your eyes we've progressed as a club on and off the field in the last season and a half, and more importantly in the last 10 months?

No. Read my words. In my view we have been relatively stable. No real progression but the wheels haven't fallen off either. And, looking back over the last 20 years l'll take this season over many of the others.

 

[horseman]

It's about the intent on wanting to improve and the clear guidance of direction, and at the moment and for a number of months that as been lacking, hence the whole feeling around the club compared to 2 to 3 years ago.

I think we as fans have had to deal with more than most in terms of success up until a couple of years ago, and the fear is we could be returning to those days after such a short time of actually having some success.

The club had an opportunity to push on with the wave of good feeling around the club a year or so ago, but instead of riding on that wave it now feels as though we're going to crash into the rocks which is a shame.

Like I say, I hope I'm wrong, but the signs don't feel encouraging.

Cannot really push on with players that don't want to be here when bigger clubs higher up the pyramid come calling, when your Manager has a wonderful opportunity to work with a Premiership club.
All these things were addressed but it just hasn't worked out this season, that's football.
De has stated he will not sell unless in the best interest of the club, has added that he can fund league 1 but will need outside investment to "push on".

 

[uptheus]

And that would be fairly common amongst all of us, the difference is “some” have been bashing de with the same claims even 2 years ago, infact even before he got here. Cry wolf to many times and all that

May be you need to revert back to the retro era!

Do you seriously believe that Charlie has this vendetta against DE because Darryl became owner and he didn't? Yes, he may have been disappointed, but I think even Charlie has let that one go.

I think you've also got to remember that Charlie backed by Stewart I believe ONLY created that consortium because they were concerned about Darryl/Mark's history, but even they would now say they were wrong in those initial years, but are now questioning the last 12-18 months club leadership/direction, and rightly so in my eyes.

 

[Scotchegg]

Do you seriously believe that Charlie has this vendetta against DE because Darryl became owner and he didn't? Yes, he may have been disappointed, but I think even Charlie has let that one go.

Really?

 

[uptheus]

No. Read my words. In my view we have been relatively stable. No real progression but the wheels haven't fallen off either. And, looking back over the last 20 years l'll take this season over many of the others.

Oh okay, that makes it alright then.

 

[uptheus]

I don’t think it matters who owns the club, if he’s not involved then there will be unwarranted questioning. Or is it just a coincidence that out of herd, Kassam, lenagan, de, Thais The only one who hasn’t faced full frontal questioning and criticism is ian lenagan who just so happened to appoint charlie as his advisor. Every owner should be asked questions of, even U must see that with de that started before he got here and hasn’t stopped since

And don't you think it's odd that if Charlie was Ian Lenagans close advisor that he was scrambling to put a consortium together to counter act the Eales/Ashton bid, but was too late.

 

[Scotchegg]

Oh okay, that makes it alright then.

And don't you think it's odd that if Charlie was Ian Lenagans close advisor that he was scrambling to put a consortium together to counter act the Eales/Ashton bid, but was too late.

It wasn't too late, Lenagan picked DE over his mate. What does that say?

 

[Deleted member 222]

May be you need to revert back to the retro era!

Do you seriously believe that Charlie has this vendetta against DE because Darryl became owner and he didn't? Yes, he may have been disappointed, but I think even Charlie has let that one go.

???

yeah it seems that Charlie has really let it go now.

 

[uptheus]

I just think Charlie, like Stewart etc want what's best for the club, and after initial concerns about Darryl I believed he did too, but I think that position has changed over the last year or so with him taking his eye off the ball in terms of what is best for the club!

 

[Deleted member 462]

I just think Charlie, like Stewart etc want what's best for the club, and after initial concerns about Darryl I believed he did too, but I think that position has changed over the last year or so with him taking his eye off the ball in terms of what is best for the club!

So do u agree that the same initial concerns over the Thai’s may also be wrong? And maybe it’s best to wait and see if those concerns are justified rather than jumping to the worst case scenario, and that it might be exactly what’s best for the club

 

[uptheus]

So do u agree that the same initial concerns over the Thai’s may also be wrong? And maybe it’s best to wait and see if those concerns are justified rather than jumping to the worst case scenario, and that it might be exactly what’s best for the club

Whereas, with Darryl etc I didn't know them from Adam so just crossed everything and prayed, but with Tiger there's more data/history that concerns me.

Answer me these questions, why did members of the OxVox committee think that Satori would have been good for the club, but Darryl didn't even though he apparently continued to ask him to raise his offer.

And what did OxVox think about Tiger and his aspersions for the club when they met him?

 

[YellowTaxi]

I was under the impression that whilst not winning Business Man of the Year, DE was not facing any issues off the back of the Learn Direct affair? So not sure the value in bringing this up again?

As was mentioned before, Nick Merry was our saviour, Kassam wanted to take us on a journey and Sartori promised us Premier League glory. The only ones that have brought us any success in the last 20 years are Lennigan (and Wilder) getting us out the conference and DE (and MApp) getting us promoted to league 1 and 2 Wembley finals.

Mentioning Sartori seems odd. He may have made promises, but unlike the others he was never in a position to implement them.

The reason why it's worth bringing up learndirect is to find out what kind of Chairman we have. The best guide we have about what he's up to now is to look at his previous performance.

When working at Lloyds he used money from two companies it owned to sponsor his own Formula One team and had to resign. He was also a shareholder in a firm of headhunters which carried out assignments for LDC. Certainly a little dodgy.

LDC was owned by Lloyds bank - and was state owned. Learndirect was launched by the government as a charity and taken private by LDC in 2011. At that point it had no borrowings but the group of companies became heavily laden with debt.

Revenues went up but profits fell. At the same time, Learndirect’s parent companies, Pimco (Holdings) and Pimco 2909 paid out tens of millions of pounds in management fees, dividends and interest payments. It was turned into a cash cow and seems to have been used to extract as much money as possible.

Oxford United has had some funds invested. It have made a few million in player sales. It's reasonable when asking what happens next to see if there's pattern in Eales' dealing. I'm not Myles by the way. Just a curious fan.

 

[HeyMcAleny]

This is, at very least, interesting. I think we need to be consistent in our appraisal of OUFC chairmen, past and present. Kassam still attracts scorn for only being interested in maximising the amount of money he can accumulate.

I've previously argued that this is 'normal' behaviour for a businessman under our system, even if there is an unscrupulous edge involved. Perhaps the same applies to Mr Eales' activity, and OUFC is just the latest vehicle through which he hopes to increase his wealth?

Are you suggesting that he might be in this for anything other than increasing his wealth? The thought had honestly not occurred to me.

 

[Scotchegg]

Mentioning Sartori seems odd. He may have made promises, but unlike the others he was never in a position to implement them.

The reason why it's worth bringing up learndirect is to find out what kind of Chairman we have. The best guide we have about what he's up to now is to look at his previous performance.

When working at Lloyds he used money from two companies it owned to sponsor his own Formula One team and had to resign. He was also a shareholder in a firm of headhunters which carried out assignments for LDC. Certainly a little dodgy.

LDC was owned by Lloyds bank - and was state owned. Learndirect was launched by the government as a charity and taken private by LDC in 2011. At that point it had no borrowings but the group of companies became heavily laden with debt.

Revenues went up but profits fell. At the same time, Learndirect’s parent companies, Pimco (Holdings) and Pimco 2909 paid out tens of millions of pounds in management fees, dividends and interest payments. It was turned into a cash cow and seems to have been used to extract as much money as possible.

Oxford United has had some funds invested. It have made a few million in player sales. It's reasonable when asking what happens next to see if there's pattern in Eales' dealing. I'm not Myles by the way. Just a curious fan.

The reason for mentioning Sartori is that he is often used as a comparator to DE. The fact is that it is easy to make promises, and much harder to deliver on them. DE has delivered roughly what he set out to do. He has made mistakes and the last year has not been great, but equally in contrast to recent times it has been far from bad.

The learn direct situation is interesting but is not comparable to Oxford in my view. The player sales have given DE some money back, but the kind of returns he would want if he saw us as a cash cow. He could have cashed in on Ledson and Eastwood, kept Pep drifting through his contract and spent nothing on Brannagan and Dickie. But he has put his hand in his pocket or sought the funding support of others. Either way, we as a club benefit.

 

[Berliner]

You don't become a millionaire by being nice...

 

[LondonRoader]

Crikey, peeps are up early there must of been a team meeting early doors.
Can't be bothered with this merry go round of quibbling, he said she said.

Before anyone quotes and replies, no I'm not a real supporter who needs to dissect every facet of the club, all I want to do is watch the football and get behind the team.

Mods how do you switch off these email replies?

 

[YellowTaxi]

I think there was a time where the plan for increasing his wealth was based on increasing the value of his asset through buying good young players, selling one or two each year, and moving the club up through the divisions and perhaps reaching a deal on the stadium.. There was a plan to engage the local community with brilliant use of social media, and Eales himself engaging with fans.

We played some great football, under Appleton (and occasionally under Pep too).

That plan seems to have changed. Nobody knows what has replaced it.

 

[Marked Ox]

What about it? We have been (relatively) stable in league 1. We have one trip to Wembley. We have sold Sercombe, Lundstrum and Johnson for decent money despite none of them wanting to be here. We brought in a young and highly respected manager who wanted to bring his own players in - and that has proved to be a failure. DE is now looking to repair that mistake and time will tell if he does. But it could be a damn sight worse before we start shouting about a shambles.

Could be worse like this:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football..._the_day&ns_source=facebook&ns_linkname=sport

 

[radicalox]

I suppose I'm suggesting that, as a non-OUFC fan until he took over, there can be little motivation other than to make money. I'm not even saying that's a bad thing, but it's probably a fact.

(Perhaps I'm not as easily influenced by his 'standing on the away terrace' and 'being approachable in pubs' actions as some. He's ultimately a chairman, not a dyed in the wool fan. Got a feeling this might provoke a reaction though!)

Hmm don't quite agree here. If he was out to make money alone, there are far safer and reliable ways than buying a football club. DE as a shrewd businessman would know is. I think like many chairman , he bought oxford as his new toy, and it is obviously perfectly reasonable to assume he genuinely cares about that new toy. However, whether he is now bored of it and wants it out now is possible, but the jury is still out imo.