New board member

[Sarge]

5.8 million tourists in 2016

many of whom are dropping in on Oxford city centre for half a day whistle stop look, in between visits to London & Stratford upon Avon

 

[holdsteady]

Newcastle market games to all the stag dos that go up there for a weekend, people who are away from home tend to spend more as well.

 

[ZeroTheHero]

Surely the situation is simple.

Knock down a couple of decepit old colleges and build a city-centre stadium with a classroom or two for them to use?

 

[Witney Wag]

many of whom are dropping in on Oxford city centre for half a day whistle stop look, in between visits to London & Stratford upon Avon

Bicester Village more like for shopping

 

[werthersoriginal]

+ the championship is the third most watched league in europe (in terms of attendances) and over 30 countries around the world have broadcast rights. in particular ESPN in the US show the games. BeIN sports in Australia and SSPORTS throughout Asia. There is a huge worldwide TV audience at that level.

Not many may be bothered to watch Preston v Aston Villa but they may be swayed by Oxford v Villa because they have heard of the City.

We need to open our minds and accept that we must embrace these markets if we want a sustainable club at a higher level. I am glad we have a chairman with certainly the vision, and hopefully skills and people in order to achieve it.

We should be targeting the tourists that visit oxford (anyone have annual visitor figures?) if our attendances can be increased by 2 or 3 % from tourists in the city that would be awesome. Better facilities and championship football would help there too though.

Didn't we have a load of germans at a game last year on a stag do? more of this = more money for better players

How on earth would they find the ground? It’s impossible to give directions to

 

[West Oxon U’s]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/play/p06k5dgx

The full interview from Saturday with Zaki Nuseibah which starts at around 27 minutes 40 seconds in.

 

[Scotchegg]

As @LondonRoader keeps making references to the "Investors" and the "Board" as if they were two separate entities, I thought I'd refresh this thread.

I'd guess that most have warmed to Zaki during this time, but how do we feel about the wider board members?

 

[Neville60]

I guess because I don't know any of the board personally, I can not comment which makes me feel bored ?
This could change when KR is given the funds to bring in some more top-class players, and they are shown to be trying to keep the current squad together.?☺

 

[Neville60]

As @LondonRoader keeps making references to the "Investors" and the "Board" as if they were two separate entities, I thought I'd refresh this thread.

I'd guess that most have warmed to Zaki during this time, but how do we feel about the wider board members?

I think one of them is quite wide, rotund in structure ?

 

[Golden Dr Otto]

As @LondonRoader keeps making references to the "Investors" and the "Board" as if they were two separate entities, I thought I'd refresh this thread.

I'd guess that most have warmed to Zaki during this time, but how do we feel about the wider board members?

Did your friend ask you to put the feelers out?

I still have no idea on their actual intent or who all the people in the shadows are and what they want / contribute individually.

 

[Wallop]

Did your friend ask you to put the feelers out?

I still have no idea on their actual intent or who all the people in the shadows are and what they want / contribute individually.

This - very odd post from ScotchEgg.

I agree with Ricky's sentiments. If they would be more open on their intentions, this would be very helpful. Until then (and indeed showing that their intent is backed up by tangible results), I remain cautious.

 

[Shropshire U]

Being third in the league gives a good feeling all round, especially after the poor early form.
I think that most fans will put this down to: 1. KR getting more things right than he gets wrong 2. The arrival of Garry Parker 3. The leadership shown by Mous within the squad 4. The mature heyday of James Henry combined with the 'extra' factor provided by players like Brannagan, Baptiste and Dickie, and the presence of Taylor.
It feels like the jury is still out on the board members. We are in a good position and fans will be expecting the board to prioritise player retention and squad strengthening.
The single biggest thing the board could do to get the fans very much on side would be to demonstrate a very active commitment to getting us a better stadium, with 4 sides and which we own.
Actual negotiations to sort this might need to be hush-hush, but there is no reason why the board cannot come out with a well publicised statement of intent and timeline to the fans.

 

[Foley]

Being third in the league gives a good feeling all round, especially after the poor early form.
I think that most fans will put this down to: 1. KR getting more things right than he gets wrong 2. The arrival of Garry Parker 3. The leadership shown by Mous within the squad 4. The mature heyday of James Henry combined with the 'extra' factor provided by players like Brannagan, Baptiste and Dickie, and the presence of Taylor.
It feels like the jury is still out on the board members. We are in a good position and fans will be expecting the board to prioritise player retention and squad strengthening.
The single biggest thing the board could do to get the fans very much on side would be to demonstrate a very active commitment to getting us a better stadium, with 4 sides and which we own.
Actual negotiations to sort this might need to be hush-hush, but there is no reason why the board cannot come out with a well publicised statement of intent and timeline to the fans.

Surely it is not that black and white?
Do you not think thsy the Board should take a lot of credit for:
- taking on the training ground (which is often talked about positively by the players and management)
- investing so much in the youth development .
- investing in players such as Brannagan, Dickie. Gorrin, Taylor

The Board have made clear that they are trying to resolve the ground conundrum (which previous owners have failed to resolve)
NMcM has promised that there would be clarification on the ground by the end of the season.
I not sure that specific timescales cloud br put on what is going to happen more than what has been said so far?

 

[Scotchegg]

Did your friend ask you to put the feelers out?

I still have no idea on their actual intent or who all the people in the shadows are and what they want / contribute individually.

It might surprise a few to know that there doesn't have to be a conspiracy behind everything I post. It was simply after yet another posts separating the "investors" from the "board" I noticed that this thread was in the "Similar threads" section below.

The have been some things that have changed considerably in the last 12 months, and others that have has less obvious changes. Zaki has been much more hands on, and without doubt, our communication structure and day to day operations are better for this. As a consequence, Tiger has also come across as more focused and his fan engagement is generally more honest and insightful than we saw before.

Behind the scenes, there is no doubt that Anindya Bakrie, Horst Geicke and Erick Thohir (silent partner?) are involved more in the future development of the club. Geicke is involved in billion dollar developments and will be the "builder" of any stadium build. His connections are huge and will ensure that if and when we do look at a new build, that this will hopefully be as seamless a process as we could wish for. He is also independently wealthy. Bakrie is also worth a few quid, and I'd imagine that his remit would be to promote the Oxford brand throughout the far east and to bring in further investment through sponsorship or tv/media sales. Again, only guesswork, but I would think that this would be far more likely if we were a Championship side. Erick, whilst not currently on the board, has been involved with a number of football clubs and I'd guess that he is more about the "train set" than the day to day events, but is, again, a very wealthy man.

Now, I'm sure others will have different opinions, but unlike the posts of Myles and The Hawk, I've yet to see any real concerns being raised about the business dealing of this group. Is it simply due to the fact that we are performing better on the pitch so turning a blind eye to off field issues, or are we more accepting of the board as a whole?

 

[Golden Dr Otto]

I think your last paragraph is relevant that people tend to ignore concerns when the things on the pitch go well.

Stewart Donald would have no issues up north if they’d won the play offs or had 9 points more this season.

Equally it helps when you don’t continually get hauled up in the press for missing tax payments although given recent player sales and cup runs that would be even more inexcusable now.

I’m still yet to be convinced but as ive said in other threads they’ve certainly improved the day to day operations and the PR.

 

[Paul Cannell]

f**k it, I'll have a go.

[optimistic spin, nicely wrought]

Now, I'm sure others will have different opinions, but unlike the posts of Myles and The Hawk, I've yet to see any real concerns being raised about the business dealing of this group. Is it simply due to the fact that we are performing better on the pitch so turning a blind eye to off field issues, or are we more accepting of the board as a whole?

I assume you are acknowledging the (or some of) concerns raised by @myles and The Hawk are real. Is it the season of goodwill?

To the gravimum:

there really aren't many posters who enjoy the put-downs and opprobium that disagreeing with the messageboard majority or with some of the more obnoxious messageboard trolls so going against the flow is hardly popular, this tends to reduce negative comment.​

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And when they do they get tired of it apart from one individual who clearly has a personality disorder and needs help (clue: it's not you and it isn't me )​

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the vast majority of the posters on here are not much bothered (IMNSHO) what our investors (includes the board, for the avoidance etc) get up to as long as it doesn't look like it will affect the club so the wider business of the investors is of little interest. I'd go so far as to say they're not much interested if the investors are up to fraud, dodgy dealings (hello Motherwell?) or whatever so long as the club is successful on the field and there's no imminent threat off it.​

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Somehow there's a lot of noise about a stadium and somehow the expectation has been set that the club will come out of whatever developments are pursued very well. Who knows, it may; miracles happen.​

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On the field, the team is performing rather well, this occupies minds; after all we're football fans, in the main.​

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Communication from the club has stabilised and there are signs that the club (driven by the investors, principally Zaki apparently) is getting behind the fans, which if true is a significant improvement.​

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There have been no obvious f**k-ups within most supporters' memory (the last month when we're winning) and some very good progress: the training set-up.​

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An reasonably competent if over-enthusiastic advocate has been discovered on this board and is currently beavering away with some success - warning: it seldom lasts,​

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So dear @Scotchegg (O! I nearly passed over; are we "turning a blind eye to off-field issues"? You ask. Well, only if there are issues. Come on man, what do you know that we don't? ) we (collectively) seem not to be scrutinising off-field financial and structural development and reporting them to this uncaring hoi polloi, to answer affirmatively the first part of your question. For the second: probably or maybe we're just tired of following this billionaires quadrille - even Dallas lost it's audience in the end. As will you, dear lad; in the end.

 

[Gary Baldi]

It might surprise a few to know that there doesn't have to be a conspiracy behind everything I post. It was simply after yet another posts separating the "investors" from the "board" I noticed that this thread was in the "Similar threads" section below.

The have been some things that have changed considerably in the last 12 months, and others that have has less obvious changes. Zaki has been much more hands on, and without doubt, our communication structure and day to day operations are better for this. As a consequence, Tiger has also come across as more focused and his fan engagement is generally more honest and insightful than we saw before.

Behind the scenes, there is no doubt that Anindya Bakrie, Horst Geicke and Erick Thohir (silent partner?) are involved more in the future development of the club. Geicke is involved in billion dollar developments and will be the "builder" of any stadium build. His connections are huge and will ensure that if and when we do look at a new build, that this will hopefully be as seamless a process as we could wish for. He is also independently wealthy. Bakrie is also worth a few quid, and I'd imagine that his remit would be to promote the Oxford brand throughout the far east and to bring in further investment through sponsorship or tv/media sales. Again, only guesswork, but I would think that this would be far more likely if we were a Championship side. Erick, whilst not currently on the board, has been involved with a number of football clubs and I'd guess that he is more about the "train set" than the day to day events, but is, again, a very wealthy man.

Now, I'm sure others will have different opinions, but unlike the posts of Myles and The Hawk, I've yet to see any real concerns being raised about the business dealing of this group. Is it simply due to the fact that we are performing better on the pitch so turning a blind eye to off field issues, or are we more accepting of the board as a whole?

It's worth pointing out that Bakrie posted the Baptiste goal on his personal twitter account the other day - a number of times the club has randomly popped up on it.

 

[Scotchegg]

So dear @Scotchegg (O! I nearly passed over; are we "turning a blind eye to off-field issues"? You ask. Well, only if there are issues. Come on man, what do you know that we don't? )

For the second: probably or maybe we're just tired of following this billionaires quadrille - even Dallas lost it's audience in the end. As will you, dear lad; in the end.

I guess the question is, are there issues that are being ignored, or do the issues not exist? I was always surprised that posters like Myles and The Hawk eluded to issues (Russian loan sharks?) but could never provide any evidence of such. Does anyone actually know of issues that we should be concerned about?

And maybe, like Dallas, this is just all a bizarre dream!!!

 

[Paul Cannell]

I will ask the questions.

Myles' information was pertinent and valuable - the concerns that some investors and associates had asset-stripped Reading should never be forgotten. In a way the club having no visible assets is moot in as much as if the club gets assets (or more realistically, becomes a means for them to get assets) they have previous in expropriating those assets to their own accounts. I am not saying they will not benefit the club, I'm saying there is less reason to trust their goodwill than a clean sheet of paper.

I can't recall what the Hawk bloke said.

In a materialistic view (philosphically speaking) there is no consciousness, so it is a bizarre dream; nor am I saying I concur with this silly notion.

 

[Gary Baldi]

Rather than create a new thread, Anindya Bakire has posted an interesting thread on Twitter today:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1273581577797201920

Roughly translated as:

I in the world of football might be a new thing, but for the Bakrie Family, this is nothing new. Bakrie has long been invested in soccer both domestically and abroad. Even Bakrie has invested in @LCFC 2010-2012 (unfortunately not until 2016 and the champion #Bakrie #OUFC #SepakBola Anindya N. Bakrie @anindyabakrie ·

So it would not hurt if I then also tried investing and studying in English football which is the number one soccer tournament in the world. #Bakrie #OUFC #EnglishFootBall #SepakBola #FootBall Anindya N. Bakrie @anindyabakrie ·

As for why the choice is @OUFCOfficial who is not a Premier League club? Because we want to learn step by step, proceed from the bottom and thank God our club has the opportunity to promote to the second caste competition, the Championship Division (please pray??) #Bakrie #OUFC Anindya N. Bakrie @anindyabakrie ·

Plus the Oxford Brand is already very well known with a student / teacher community of around 50,000, the location is close to London, the club's history has been more than 130 years. #Bakrie #OUFC #EnglishFootBall #SepakBola #FootBall Anindya N. Bakrie @anindyabakrie ·

There was also a question why choosing an outside club instead of investing in a local club? The Bakrie family has also been investing and contributing to the local Indonesian League club, besides that in other sports such as basketball, etc. #Bakrie #OUFC #EnglishFootBall #SepakBola #FootBall Anindya N. Bakrie @anindyabakrie ·

Even hope with my friend @erickthohir who are both investing in @OUFCOfficial , we can make the experience from the UK to advance the ball industry in Indonesia. Moreover, Erick is also experienced at Inter Milan and @dcunited #Bakrie #OUFC #EnglishFootBall Anindya N. Bakrie @anindyabakrie ·

Moreover, Britain is the origin of industrialization and the Bakrie Business Group has more than 78 years in the industrial world. Of course there will be many things I can learn, and indeed many opportunities can be drawn from the good relations between Indonesia and the UK. Anindya N. Bakrie @anindyabakrie ·

That's a little point that I equate on the program earlier. May be useful. Thank you to BritCham Indonesia for your time. Always success for everything.