Sh1t or get off the pot

[Yellow River]

Sh1t or get off the pot.

Not the exact wording used by Jerome on RadOx when referring to ‘Tiger’s takeover’ bid of OUFC, but you get the meaning.

This has been going on for months now, indecision is damaging the club on & off the field.

 

[HeyMcAleny]

He's just pretending to be interested in the club to get free seats in the Directors box.

 

[yellowbow]

He's just pretending to be interested in the club to get free seats in the Directors box.

On that note, has there ever been any actual concrete evidence that he’s interested in investing or taking over? Maybe he is someone who just wants to take in a game or two occasionally leading to people putting two and two together etc..

 

[Yellow River]

As I said on another thread I appreciate deals and takeovers take time, but this Tiger fellow has been lurking around in the background for months. I’m fairly sure he was at the Peterborough game (September!) grinning like a Cheshire Cat and having selfies taken at every opportunity with fans. Now we hear he’s hanging around in the background on home matchday. Great for his ego no doubt but all this uncertainty is starting affect the players.

I believe this ongoing takeover saga is delaying the appointment of a new manager. Many fans preference is an experienced manager, but surely it’s highly unlikely we’re going to attract such a person while this takeover hangs over us. A youth team coach (who’s willing to take a gamble) from a premier league is probably the best we can expect or Faz.

That’s why I say to Tiger ‘get off the pot’ not because he’s getting ‘free tickets’ but because this has been dragging on for months and months now and all the uncertainty is now affecting the players.

 

[SSU1965]

This Tiger guy wont make us play in red will he?

 

[Belgium Yellow]

How do we know it is him and not Eales who is to blame? This isn't the only issue where there is chronic indecision...

 

[FantasticMrOx]

On that note, has there ever been any actual concrete evidence that he’s interested in investing or taking over? Maybe he is someone who just wants to take in a game or two occasionally leading to people putting two and two together etc..

I won't say concrete evidence but "pretty reasonable to assume" evidence and rumours from a number of people who I believe.
Plus - Radio Oxford have alluded to it frequently. They wouldn't do so if he was just someone coming to a game.

I can't corroborate any of this below but these are some of the things I've heard. Some of it might not be true, but I've taken the no smoke without fire approach, as well as the obligatory pinch of salt, to all of this:
1) Players were introduced to Tiger some weeks ago and told he was the new owner. Backroom staff have been told nothing and feel totally in the dark.
2) DE is not directly (i.e. not physically there) involved in the interviews for new manager. Interviews have taken place with new MD Niall McWilliams, Dave Jones, and two Thais present.
3) The appointment of the new Academy Manager Dan Harris had to be approved/rubber-stamped by the Thais.
4) Many recent home games DE has not been present. Tiger has been. I saw him in the boardroom myself a month ago in a very smart dickie-bow.
5) DE has himself said he cannot fund OUFC to take next step to Championship, and is always open to investment. He's also not denied something is going on with the Thais re investment/takeover - something I think it's safe to assume (given his relative openness to making statements about his intents in the past) he absolutely would have done if it was all B*****s.

 

[yellowbow]

I won't say concrete evidence but "pretty reasonable to assume" evidence and rumours from a number of people who I believe.
Plus - Radio Oxford have alluded to it frequently. They wouldn't do so if he was just someone coming to a game.

I can't corroborate any of this below but these are some of the things I've heard. Some of it might not be true, but I've taken the no smoke without fire approach, as well as the obligatory pinch of salt, to all of this:
1) Players were introduced to Tiger some weeks ago and told he was the new owner. Backroom staff have been told nothing and feel totally in the dark.
2) DE is not directly (i.e. not physically there) involved in the interviews for new manager. Interviews have taken place with new MD Niall McWilliams, Dave Jones, and two Thais present.
3) The appointment of the new Academy Manager Dan Harris had to be approved/rubber-stamped by the Thais.
4) Many recent home games DE has not been present. Tiger has been. I saw him in the boardroom myself a month ago in a very smart dickie-bow.
5) DE has himself said he cannot fund OUFC to take next step to Championship, and is always open to investment. He's also not denied something is going on with the Thais re investment/takeover - something I think it's safe to assume (given his relative openness to making statements about his intents in the past) he absolutely would have done if it was all B*****s.

Interesting, thanks for the info. I can only assume the announcement is being delayed until the football league has carried out its checks..?

 

[FantasticMrOx]

Interesting, thanks for the info. I can only assume the announcement is being delayed until the football league has carried out its checks..?

Again, that was something someone said on Saturday - current delay may be down to FA's fit and proper person checks.
All just conjecture, of course.

 

[Shosho]

This has been going on since the summer.

There were worrying signs coming from MApp and players....many jumping ship. We then bring in Clotet, a *potentially* good appointment...however no board members or chairman to unveil him (immediate red flag).

We then recruit a bunch of players that one can look on two ways:
- Clotet convinced the board he knew what he was at and what was needed to get out of the division (which he clearly hugely mis-judged)
- DE thought he was selling the club so took the cheap option as he didn't see it as his problem

For whatever reason Sartori fell through, Tiger comes on the scene, DE etc go off on a scouting mission instead of facing the fans. All of this to the back drop of silence from DE and the board. January sees what looks like a recruitment panic, an apparently sudden sacking of Clotet with no explanation and Tiger circling around the changing rooms/manager office (I was bollocked once for standing on the same touchline during an Oxford reserve match!!) whilst DE is away.

We are none the wiser as to where the club stands. From the fans view we are drifting. We lack any leadership throughout the entire club, from top to bottom. We now find ourselves melting away like an icecream in the sun with players (Ledson) actively citing the uncertainty as being unhelpful to performance.

If nothing happens this week we have problems. We have the fans meeting (odds on DE showing up?). Can we really expect our assets (Ledson, Nelson, Eastwood) to hang around through the summer when the direction of the club is so unclear?

 

[Deleted member 462]

Just seen this on a lamppost in cowley

 

[yellowbow]

Hope I’m wrong but I’ve got a gut feeling that in a fortnight’s time the position off the field is going to be exactly the same as it is now. Hopefully there’ll be an upturn in fortune for Faz and the on-field matters.

Northampton should be treated like a cup final by staff, players and supporters alike

 

[Jackinthebox]

Just seen this on a lamppost in cowley

He's in San Francisco.

 

[Sarge]

More elusive than the Scarlet Pimpernel and Lord Lucan our chairman is!

 

[Gary Baldi]

He's in San Francisco.

Did he miss the last boat back from Alcatraz and tried to swim back?

 

[Yellow River]

As has been indicated earlier the possible reason for a delay in appointing a new manager is that we’re waiting for the FA’s suitability checks to be completed on our prospective new owner. Nothing else makes much sense for the delay and vacuum of information.

If this is the case will Tiger and his friends pass the fit and proper test? How rigorous are these tests and how long do they normally take?

 

[Gary Baldi]

Would the alluded to fit and proper person delay not be a concern for the clubs future?

 

[mcf86]

Hope I’m wrong but I’ve got a gut feeling that in a fortnight’s time the position off the field is going to be exactly the same as it is now. Hopefully there’ll be an upturn in fortune for Faz and the on-field matters.

Northampton should be treated like a cup final by staff, players and supporters alike

Better still, cobblers get 'scum' status for this match?!

 

[Victor1986]

Just unbelievably bad PR. We the fans keep OUFC afloat & we are being kept too much in the dark.

 

[Sarge]

Just unbelievably bad PR. We the fans keep OUFC afloat & we are being kept too much in the dark.

No matter who is on the board the fans and supporters inevitably end up getting the proverbial mushroom treatment-kept in the dark & fed s**t- by the powers that be at OUFC

We the fans & supporters seem to be perceived as a cash cow to be milked mercilessly and treated with more or less contempt the rest of the time by whoever is holding the reigns at OUFC