Chairman New Ownership. Thoughts and Musings

The Secret Poster

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So we’ve had a little while to reflect on the fact we have a new owner/main shareholder in our club. I thought I would put this here to allow people to share their thoughts on what they expect, thoughts on Tiger initially and general new ownership complaints (or complements).

It’s clear from the get go that Tiger will be a very different owner to Darryl Eales. I got the impression of DE that he was a very hands on chairman having a lot of input on day to day dealings. Tiger I feel is more of a money man. Has a vested interest in what’s going on, but will appoint an MD/COO to carry out Day to Day dealings. It would be great if that someone was similar in vision to Mark Ashton. He will provide the funds NEEDED to take the club forward and will show his face. How often that will be I don’t know. The yet to appoint manager will be a fairly high profile one in terms of Oxford United and the squad will be significantly boosted in the Summer. That obviously means players leaving. Although not having an open door policy as DE will he will still engage with fans albeit in more formal settings (fans forums etc). There will be other investors coming into the board as well as Eales and our kit/club merchandise will be improved no end due to his contacts/businesses. He will agree a more favourable long term deal with Firoz Kassam allowing us to build a fourth stand, gain a fair percentage of anything we currently don’t, and be in control of maintence and upkeep of the stadium. None of this will happen overnight though.

To summarise. I think we will do well under the tenure of Tiger, we may not get the feel good factor of the last 3 years back, but we will have success on the pitch which naturally makes fans happy and brings estranged fans back. We will end up negotiating a better lease which is more input favour for the Kassam and will get a fourth stand. What’s happened in the past at Reading has happened and none of us truly know the ins and outs of it, so it’s null and void in my eyes. I’m largely optimistic, but obviously cautious. I’m willing to support and back the man and his board and believe we should all adopt a similar mentality until given a reason not to. COME ON YOU YELLOWS!! [emoji243][emoji243][emoji243][emoji234][emoji234][emoji234]
 
We know very little about him or his intentions. His poor PR skills have spread widespead pessimism which may prove unjustified. The acid test will be the appointment of the new manager. If he gets it right and shows real ambition by providing sufficient funding to support a promotion push next season then he will succeed. That's a big 'if' though.
 
We know very little about him or his intentions. His poor PR skills have spread widespead pessimism which may prove unjustified. The acid test will be the appointment of the new manager. If he gets it right and shows real ambition by providing sufficient funding to support a promotion push next season then he will succeed. That's a big 'if' though.

I don’t want to get into a standard YF bitch fight on this, but it’s a bit unfair to say he has poor PR skills. Do you think DE sat there posting info on twitter or publishing the weekly email letter? At the height of our good comms and PR we had Sarah Gooding and Chris Williams doing it full time supported full time by Kev Smith. Now we have someone (I won’t name names) doing a lot of the important things part time. Granted CW is still there full time but he concentrates more on video and match reports etc. The poor fan engagement can easily be solved.
 
I don’t want to get into a standard YF bitch fight on this, but it’s a bit unfair to say he has poor PR skills. Do you think DE sat there posting info on twitter or publishing the weekly email letter? At the height of our good comms and PR we had Sarah Gooding and Chris Williams doing it full time supported full time by Kev Smith. Now we have someone (I won’t name names) doing a lot of the important things part time. Granted CW is still there full time but he concentrates more on video and match reports etc. The poor fan engagement can easily be solved.
His poor PR skills were there for everyone to see at his first press conference. No prepared statement, no plans to unveil, no manager waiting, no thought at all for what supporters wanted to hear.

And, do we really need another thread?
 
I don’t want to get into a standard YF bitch fight on this, but it’s a bit unfair to say he has poor PR skills. Do you think DE sat there posting info on twitter or publishing the weekly email letter? At the height of our good comms and PR we had Sarah Gooding and Chris Williams doing it full time supported full time by Kev Smith. Now we have someone (I won’t name names) doing a lot of the important things part time. Granted CW is still there full time but he concentrates more on video and match reports etc. The poor fan engagement can easily be solved.
His poor PR skills were there for everyone to see at his first press conference. No prepared statement, no plans to unveil, no manager waiting, no thought at all for what supporters wanted to hear.

And, do we really need another thread?

It seems not as you’ve spoken. I’m wanting to get fans views after the dust has settled slightly and longer term. Clearly Tiger wasn’t fully prepared, but to excuse him slightly there is a language barrier. As I’ve said I’d expect him to appoint a MD/COO to do that sort of thing (probably) English. He’s a different chairman to DE and I think we need to stop comparing him. DE set a great benchmark at his height, but he wasn’t perfect. Very few are. Accept maybe you I’d imagine [emoji476]
 
It seems not as you’ve spoken. I’m wanting to get fans views after the dust has settled slightly and longer term. Clearly Tiger wasn’t fully prepared, but to excuse him slightly there is a language barrier. As I’ve said I’d expect him to appoint a MD/COO to do that sort of thing (probably) English. He’s a different chairman to DE and I think we need to stop comparing him. DE set a great benchmark at his height, but he wasn’t perfect. Very few are. Accept maybe you I’d imagine [emoji476]

Oh dear.
 
So we’ve had a little while to reflect on the fact we have a new owner/main shareholder in our club. I thought I would put this here to allow people to share their thoughts on what they expect, thoughts on Tiger initially and general new ownership complaints (or complements).

It’s clear from the get go that Tiger will be a very different owner to Darryl Eales. I got the impression of DE that he was a very hands on chairman having a lot of input on day to day dealings. Tiger I feel is more of a money man. Has a vested interest in what’s going on, but will appoint an MD/COO to carry out Day to Day dealings. It would be great if that someone was similar in vision to Mark Ashton. He will provide the funds NEEDED to take the club forward and will show his face. How often that will be I don’t know. The yet to appoint manager will be a fairly high profile one in terms of Oxford United and the squad will be significantly boosted in the Summer. That obviously means players leaving. Although not having an open door policy as DE will he will still engage with fans albeit in more formal settings (fans forums etc). There will be other investors coming into the board as well as Eales and our kit/club merchandise will be improved no end due to his contacts/businesses. He will agree a more favourable long term deal with Firoz Kassam allowing us to build a fourth stand, gain a fair percentage of anything we currently don’t, and be in control of maintence and upkeep of the stadium. None of this will happen overnight though.

To summarise. I think we will do well under the tenure of Tiger, we may not get the feel good factor of the last 3 years back, but we will have success on the pitch which naturally makes fans happy and brings estranged fans back. We will end up negotiating a better lease which is more input favour for the Kassam and will get a fourth stand. What’s happened in the past at Reading has happened and none of us truly know the ins and outs of it, so it’s null and void in my eyes. I’m largely optimistic, but obviously cautious. I’m willing to support and back the man and his board and believe we should all adopt a similar mentality until given a reason not to. COME ON YOU YELLOWS!! [emoji243][emoji243][emoji243][emoji234][emoji234][emoji234]
And you know all this how?
 
So we’ve had a little while to reflect on the fact we have a new owner/main shareholder in our club. I thought I would put this here to allow people to share their thoughts on what they expect, thoughts on Tiger initially and general new ownership complaints (or complements).

It’s clear from the get go that Tiger will be a very different owner to Darryl Eales. I got the impression of DE that he was a very hands on chairman having a lot of input on day to day dealings. Tiger I feel is more of a money man. Has a vested interest in what’s going on, but will appoint an MD/COO to carry out Day to Day dealings. It would be great if that someone was similar in vision to Mark Ashton. He will provide the funds NEEDED to take the club forward and will show his face. How often that will be I don’t know. The yet to appoint manager will be a fairly high profile one in terms of Oxford United and the squad will be significantly boosted in the Summer. That obviously means players leaving. Although not having an open door policy as DE will he will still engage with fans albeit in more formal settings (fans forums etc). There will be other investors coming into the board as well as Eales and our kit/club merchandise will be improved no end due to his contacts/businesses. He will agree a more favourable long term deal with Firoz Kassam allowing us to build a fourth stand, gain a fair percentage of anything we currently don’t, and be in control of maintence and upkeep of the stadium. None of this will happen overnight though.

To summarise. I think we will do well under the tenure of Tiger, we may not get the feel good factor of the last 3 years back, but we will have success on the pitch which naturally makes fans happy and brings estranged fans back. We will end up negotiating a better lease which is more input favour for the Kassam and will get a fourth stand. What’s happened in the past at Reading has happened and none of us truly know the ins and outs of it, so it’s null and void in my eyes. I’m largely optimistic, but obviously cautious. I’m willing to support and back the man and his board and believe we should all adopt a similar mentality until given a reason not to. COME ON YOU YELLOWS!! [emoji243][emoji243][emoji243][emoji234][emoji234][emoji234]
And you know all this how?

I don’t “know” any of it. I can’t see into the future I’m just making an assumption based on the bits of info I do have.
 
Perhaps this is where Niall McWilliams coming in as MD will start that process of change.
 
Perhaps this is where Niall McWilliams coming in as MD will start that process of change.

NM seems a very DE type appointment. I’m guessing Faz and CA might stay on, but there could be a shake up in other areas. I personally think the whole media/iFollow content needs updating and making more professional. It’s quite conference in my opinion.
 
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So we’ve had a little while to reflect on the fact we have a new owner/main shareholder in our club. I thought I would put this here to allow people to share their thoughts on what they expect, thoughts on Tiger initially and general new ownership complaints (or complements).

It’s clear from the get go that Tiger will be a very different owner to Darryl Eales. I got the impression of DE that he was a very hands on chairman having a lot of input on day to day dealings. Tiger I feel is more of a money man. Has a vested interest in what’s going on, but will appoint an MD/COO to carry out Day to Day dealings. It would be great if that someone was similar in vision to Mark Ashton. He will provide the funds NEEDED to take the club forward and will show his face. How often that will be I don’t know. The yet to appoint manager will be a fairly high profile one in terms of Oxford United and the squad will be significantly boosted in the Summer. That obviously means players leaving. Although not having an open door policy as DE will he will still engage with fans albeit in more formal settings (fans forums etc). There will be other investors coming into the board as well as Eales and our kit/club merchandise will be improved no end due to his contacts/businesses. He will agree a more favourable long term deal with Firoz Kassam allowing us to build a fourth stand, gain a fair percentage of anything we currently don’t, and be in control of maintence and upkeep of the stadium. None of this will happen overnight though.

To summarise. I think we will do well under the tenure of Tiger, we may not get the feel good factor of the last 3 years back, but we will have success on the pitch which naturally makes fans happy and brings estranged fans back. We will end up negotiating a better lease which is more input favour for the Kassam and will get a fourth stand. What’s happened in the past at Reading has happened and none of us truly know the ins and outs of it, so it’s null and void in my eyes. I’m largely optimistic, but obviously cautious. I’m willing to support and back the man and his board and believe we should all adopt a similar mentality until given a reason not to. COME ON YOU YELLOWS!! [emoji243][emoji243][emoji243][emoji234][emoji234][emoji234]

Thanks Tiger. Hope the manager search is going good!
 
So we’ve had a little while to reflect on the fact we have a new owner/main shareholder in our club. I thought I would put this here to allow people to share their thoughts on what they expect, thoughts on Tiger initially and general new ownership complaints (or complements).

It’s clear from the get go that Tiger will be a very different owner to Darryl Eales. I got the impression of DE that he was a very hands on chairman having a lot of input on day to day dealings. Tiger I feel is more of a money man. Has a vested interest in what’s going on, but will appoint an MD/COO to carry out Day to Day dealings. It would be great if that someone was similar in vision to Mark Ashton. He will provide the funds NEEDED to take the club forward and will show his face. How often that will be I don’t know. The yet to appoint manager will be a fairly high profile one in terms of Oxford United and the squad will be significantly boosted in the Summer. That obviously means players leaving. Although not having an open door policy as DE will he will still engage with fans albeit in more formal settings (fans forums etc). There will be other investors coming into the board as well as Eales and our kit/club merchandise will be improved no end due to his contacts/businesses. He will agree a more favourable long term deal with Firoz Kassam allowing us to build a fourth stand, gain a fair percentage of anything we currently don’t, and be in control of maintence and upkeep of the stadium. None of this will happen overnight though.

To summarise. I think we will do well under the tenure of Tiger, we may not get the feel good factor of the last 3 years back, but we will have success on the pitch which naturally makes fans happy and brings estranged fans back. We will end up negotiating a better lease which is more input favour for the Kassam and will get a fourth stand. What’s happened in the past at Reading has happened and none of us truly know the ins and outs of it, so it’s null and void in my eyes. I’m largely optimistic, but obviously cautious. I’m willing to support and back the man and his board and believe we should all adopt a similar mentality until given a reason not to. COME ON YOU YELLOWS!! [emoji243][emoji243][emoji243][emoji234][emoji234][emoji234]

It does come across more as a wish list rather than a set of assumptions based on anything tangible.

Not sure why having a new owner will see Kassam suddenly turn into a pussy cat and roll over for a tummy rub.

Kassam will always remain a stubborn old bark and I don’t foresee any major steps forward or improvements here for a significant period of time unfortunately.

I know very little about this chap and so I have no reason at this stage to have major doubts or indeed any significant waves of optimism.

After the initial press conference my (admittedly) knee jerk reaction was wtf!, were doomed. I’ve now had time to take a more reasoned view and I’m just feeling a bit indifferent at the moment, maybe even a bit meh, if you will.

It’s been a disappointing season following all the expectation after last season and maybe I’m just feeling a wee bit tired of it all and tedium has set in.

But I am still sat on the bus with the new driver. I have no idea about destination but I just hope and pray it is to sunnier climes.

COYY’s
 
We can only base our opinions on what we have encountered so far, which for many is cause for concern. We have a new owner and only time will tell if we are going on a good journey, an exciting journey or a trip to hell. Second guessing is not helpful, we have to stay on the bus and see where we end up. Fingers crossed.
 
Despite the fixture being called off Radio Oxford are going ahead with their normal 2.00pm sports programme today. I wonder if they might be able to shed a little more light on the takeover and search for a new manager? I doubt it but I will be tuning in anyway, if only to hear Jerome's Tiger interview again.
 
I’ve got nothing but gut feeling to base this on but I think there will be dramatic changes to the whole set-up once Tiger has his feet under the table, on and off the pitch. I think DE will quietly and discreetly fade away when the time is decent. New board members will arrive, as will a new MD, who I hope will be experienced.

I also think Faz and CA will be marginalized/sidelined by a new coaching set-up and will be gone in the summer.

As I say, just a hunch..
 
We can only base our opinions on what we have encountered so far, which for many is cause for concern. We have a new owner and only time will tell if we are going on a good journey, an exciting journey or a trip to hell. Second guessing is not helpful, we have to stay on the bus and see where we end up. Fingers crossed.
Second guessing isn't helpful, but some, including yourself, have been speculating all kinds of doom!
 
We know very little about him or his intentions. His poor PR skills have spread widespead pessimism which may prove unjustified. The acid test will be the appointment of the new manager. If he gets it right and shows real ambition by providing sufficient funding to support a promotion push next season then he will succeed. That's a big 'if' though.
Got it right with Stam @ Reading.
 
A very bad start with a rushed and ill prepared initial press conference. I have to say the statement today is more like it.
Clear statement regarding the manager and timing. Including a hint to the quality he’s aiming at.
I like the statement about making the playoffs. Even if it is mission impossible. But actually it is possible just not feasible.
Finally re the manager it sounds like he will be supported in the summer. Can’t be any worse than the last !
Also a bit of information regarding plans for the Oxford brand which I do believe we’ve missed a trick on in the past.
 
I have checked the horoscopes for the current year and it seems that the sun, venus and pluto are clustered in Capricorn, and mars and Jupiter are in conjunction with scorpio.
This is the Chinese year of the dog; the ox does not come for another 3 years yet.
I have checked the runes, tarot cards and tea leaves but cannot find much comfort there.
The 3 norns that dwell in the well of urd beneath the great tree Yggdrasil will continue to weave their spells and play with our fate for their own enjoyment until they grow bored with their game.
So really we are powerless to influence our future and continue to be tossed around on a sea of fate.
 
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