The year of the Tiger

[unification]

The number of Jack Walker benevolent types who invest in football nowadays is pretty low. It's Football PLC and Oxford United are no different. The wealthy see football clubs as a means of making money from a leisure pursuit.

I'm cool with that mostly as I'd go insane if it wasn't the case. It's inevitable that you're going to have an owner whose only real interest is in extracting money in some way or another from the club. Be that in investing to take the club up the divisions to sell on, skimming the cream off player transfers, utilising a stadium as a revenue stream and so on. They have far more money that I'll ever have to invest in such ventures. We as fans are in it for the community, the camaraderie and the football. We have to understand that owner almost never see it that way. If you can't, then this game is not for you.

Our current lot are no different. What their plans are is anyone's guess but I think the consensus that they want a new stadium where they can skim off the profits and hopefully fire a team into the Championship on a budget is what they're aiming for. How they plan to do it when it took Oxford decades to move from The Manor, reducing the budget and sending their aid parcels over from Bangkok late every month or so beats me. Having a leech in the form of FK, who is fully entitled to his pound of flesh from Oxford because of Nick Merry signing that deal, makes it even harder. It's hard to justify investing in something that bleeds money and has no assets other than players to invest in.

I've constantly said that DE sold to a man no wealthier than himself whereas SD, JS and CM all had the requisite wealth to take on Oxford United, but even then would probably fall short of properly taking on FK. Oxford United need not just a wealthy owner, but a Times Richlist sugar daddy right now. Heaven knows where they'll find one.

 

[Yellows1]

Agreed, but what happens if in 6 months time they realise that they can’t get their shiny new complex and walk away leaving everything they spent as more debt on the club? These are worrying times and everyone who loves the club should be very vigilant

If that’s a possibility then maybe we are better off starting again from the very bottom, clear the debt, walk away from the stadium mess and go again as a previous manager use to say.

Having said all of that, the good news is the clock is starting to tick in this crap lease that we’re tied into, let’s hope there’s enough time to sort things

 

[yellowbow]

I suppose we’re getting to a point where we look at OCC and find out how much they want to keep professional football in the county? At the end of the day our survival probably rests with how cooperative they’re going to be.

 

[outsidethebox]

I suppose we’re getting to a point where we look at OCC and find out how much they want to keep professional football in the county? At the end of the day our survival probably rests with how cooperative they’re going to be.

And we can be sure that OCC will attach robust planning conditions that help support the club .... it's what they're really good at ?

 

[Gary Baldi]

Worth noting the current training ground was a necessity due to the BMW site changing around the time the club was being sold to Tiger. Also, the site was first mooted under DEs time as Chairman where the talks took place with Fusion and OCC - if I recall, DE thought it to be expensive. From my perspective, the club had little short term choice to go the current training ground, but as has been said, they are looking elsewhere for a permanent base in the medium to long term.

That though, requires capital.

 

[Victor1986]

Yes, you last few posters are right (Yellows 1 etc..). Going into Administration, 12 points (minimum) penalty but at least ridding ourselves of the millstone. It would certainly concentrate FK's mind with no more rent coming in? Relegation would not be a certainty as two clubs are down there already.

 

[ZeroTheHero]

SD, JS and CM all had the requisite wealth to take on Oxford United, but even then would probably fall short of properly taking on FK.

SD explained (on here I think) how he simply couldn't really make the maths work with the club's current stadium situation and therefore lack of other income. And then was when Charlie's Water Eaton 'plan' still had some brief credibility as an eventual get-out.

 

[RyanioBirdio]

I think the plan is to run it at a minimum this season, do enough to stay up (Bolton and Bury have made that easier this time), and if there’s no progress on the property deal by next summer then we’ll see the board start to leave town. It’ll be 2.5 years next summer since the purchase, and if there’s no progress after that amount of time I don’t see why people would hang around. We have barely any contracted players beyond next summer, not even a starting eleven’s worth currently, and a certain manager doesn’t have a deal beyond this season. No one seems to be remembering or mentioning that - the manager has 12 months left himself. Most of the U23 players only get one year contracts to boot, unless they flirt with the first team and we think they might be sellable. There is an increasing number of things that point towards summer 2020 being very pivotal. It’s all lined up to be a time of doubling down or cutting and running - look at what’s in front of you. We’ve been really awful at doing that as supporters over the years, and there’s been far too much complacency and people listening to ‘sources’ instead of studying hard evidence. Kassam was a top man, Merry was the local boy saviour, Kelvin Thomas wasn’t secretly spending us into a black hole, Darryl Eales wasn’t winding us down as he edged towards the exit for the last year... positivity is great but realism is vital. Base your opinions on what you can actually see, not on what you want to hear and what you want to be true. And that really does and must include ‘sources’. Most of them are being fed and strung along as much as the fans are, and this notion of “If you’re ‘negative’ the you want to see the club fail and you aren’t a real fan” is both pathetic and incorrect. I’ve never met a single fan of this club who spends time and money on season tickets, away games and everything in between, who does so WANTING to see failure and destruction. It’s an absurd suggestion, and that needs to stop.

We’ll find out in the next 12 months what Tiger and chums were or weren’t here for. But if they do leave us, and do so with more debt than ever, hardly any players on contracts, no contracted manager and with our landlord the most hostile he’s been in many years as a direct result of their behaviour, it won’t be pretty. The more owners we have who stitch us up and do us over, the harder it gets to find anybody to take it on next time. Eventually the debt will just be too much and nobody will bother, and people can’t assume SD will come riding in on his horse to fix it if it ever gets too close to the edge. The level of the debt will eventually put it out of his reach, and from what people can see with their own eyes, our latest owner is absolutely LOADING it on. The expenditure will be revealed to be positively eye watering in the months to come, and it’ll go on the club’s own tab. The club ALWAYS pays in the end.

 

[holdsteady]

I think the plan is to run it at a minimum this season, do enough to stay up (Bolton and Bury have made that easier this time), and if there’s no progress on the property deal by next summer then we’ll see the board start to leave town. It’ll be 2.5 years next summer since the purchase, and if there’s no progress after that amount of time I don’t see why people would hang around. We have barely any contracted players beyond next summer, not even a starting eleven’s worth currently, and a certain manager doesn’t have a deal beyond this season. No one seems to be remembering or mentioning that - the manager has 12 months left himself. Most of the U23 players only get one year contracts to boot, unless they flirt with the first team and we think they might be sellable. There is an increasing number of things that point towards summer 2020 being very pivotal. It’s all lined up to be a time of doubling down or cutting and running - look at what’s in front of you. We’ve been really awful at doing that as supporters over the years, and there’s been far too much complacency and people listening to ‘sources’ instead of studying hard evidence. Kassam was a top man, Merry was the local boy saviour, Kelvin Thomas wasn’t secretly spending us into a black hole, Darryl Eales wasn’t winding us down as he edged towards the exit for the last year... positivity is great but realism is vital. Base your opinions on what you can actually see, not on what you want to hear and what you want to be true. And that really does and must include ‘sources’. Most of them are being fed and strung along as much as the fans are, and this notion of “If you’re ‘negative’ the you want to see the club fail and you aren’t a real fan” is both pathetic and incorrect. I’ve never met a single fan of this club who spends time and money on season tickets, away games and everything in between, who does so WANTING to see failure and destruction. It’s an absurd suggestion, and that needs to stop.

We’ll find out in the next 12 months what Tiger and chums were or weren’t here for. But if they do leave us, and do so with more debt than ever, hardly any players on contracts, no contracted manager and with our landlord the most hostile he’s been in many years as a direct result of their behaviour, it won’t be pretty. The more owners we have who stitch us up and do us over, the harder it gets to find anybody to take it on next time. Eventually the debt will just be too much and nobody will bother, and people can’t assume SD will come riding in on his horse to fix it if it ever gets too close to the edge. The level of the debt will eventually put it out of his reach, and from what people can see with their own eyes, our latest owner is absolutely LOADING it on. The expenditure will be revealed to be positively eye watering in the months to come, and it’ll go on the club’s own tab. The club ALWAYS pays in the end.

I reckon you have it pretty much spot on, this time next year could be very interesting.

 

[BS32]

I think the plan is to run it at a minimum this season, do enough to stay up (Bolton and Bury have made that easier this time), and if there’s no progress on the property deal by next summer then we’ll see the board start to leave town. It’ll be 2.5 years next summer since the purchase, and if there’s no progress after that amount of time I don’t see why people would hang around. We have barely any contracted players beyond next summer, not even a starting eleven’s worth currently, and a certain manager doesn’t have a deal beyond this season. No one seems to be remembering or mentioning that - the manager has 12 months left himself. Most of the U23 players only get one year contracts to boot, unless they flirt with the first team and we think they might be sellable. There is an increasing number of things that point towards summer 2020 being very pivotal. It’s all lined up to be a time of doubling down or cutting and running - look at what’s in front of you. We’ve been really awful at doing that as supporters over the years, and there’s been far too much complacency and people listening to ‘sources’ instead of studying hard evidence. Kassam was a top man, Merry was the local boy saviour, Kelvin Thomas wasn’t secretly spending us into a black hole, Darryl Eales wasn’t winding us down as he edged towards the exit for the last year... positivity is great but realism is vital. Base your opinions on what you can actually see, not on what you want to hear and what you want to be true. And that really does and must include ‘sources’. Most of them are being fed and strung along as much as the fans are, and this notion of “If you’re ‘negative’ the you want to see the club fail and you aren’t a real fan” is both pathetic and incorrect. I’ve never met a single fan of this club who spends time and money on season tickets, away games and everything in between, who does so WANTING to see failure and destruction. It’s an absurd suggestion, and that needs to stop.

We’ll find out in the next 12 months what Tiger and chums were or weren’t here for. But if they do leave us, and do so with more debt than ever, hardly any players on contracts, no contracted manager and with our landlord the most hostile he’s been in many years as a direct result of their behaviour, it won’t be pretty. The more owners we have who stitch us up and do us over, the harder it gets to find anybody to take it on next time. Eventually the debt will just be too much and nobody will bother, and people can’t assume SD will come riding in on his horse to fix it if it ever gets too close to the edge. The level of the debt will eventually put it out of his reach, and from what people can see with their own eyes, our latest owner is absolutely LOADING it on. The expenditure will be revealed to be positively eye watering in the months to come, and it’ll go on the club’s own tab. The club ALWAYS pays in the end.

Great post, sums it all up as it is, scary stuff.

 

[holdsteady]

Their must be meetings going on with councils, land owners, businesses etc, strange nothing ever slips out as it’s unlikely they are just sitting back waiting for the opportunity to fall into their lap. You get the feeling that no one involved in the club is ever privy to any information on this though as their are no ITK posters, the club leaks like a sieve about everything else.

So we will just have to sit in the dark and wait until they are either successful or have had enough and pull the plug.

 

[Steve McAvoy]

I think the plan is to run it at a minimum this season, do enough to stay up (Bolton and Bury have made that easier this time), and if there’s no progress on the property deal by next summer then we’ll see the board start to leave town. It’ll be 2.5 years next summer since the purchase, and if there’s no progress after that amount of time I don’t see why people would hang around. We have barely any contracted players beyond next summer, not even a starting eleven’s worth currently, and a certain manager doesn’t have a deal beyond this season. No one seems to be remembering or mentioning that - the manager has 12 months left himself. Most of the U23 players only get one year contracts to boot, unless they flirt with the first team and we think they might be sellable. There is an increasing number of things that point towards summer 2020 being very pivotal. It’s all lined up to be a time of doubling down or cutting and running - look at what’s in front of you. We’ve been really awful at doing that as supporters over the years, and there’s been far too much complacency and people listening to ‘sources’ instead of studying hard evidence. Kassam was a top man, Merry was the local boy saviour, Kelvin Thomas wasn’t secretly spending us into a black hole, Darryl Eales wasn’t winding us down as he edged towards the exit for the last year... positivity is great but realism is vital. Base your opinions on what you can actually see, not on what you want to hear and what you want to be true. And that really does and must include ‘sources’. Most of them are being fed and strung along as much as the fans are, and this notion of “If you’re ‘negative’ the you want to see the club fail and you aren’t a real fan” is both pathetic and incorrect. I’ve never met a single fan of this club who spends time and money on season tickets, away games and everything in between, who does so WANTING to see failure and destruction. It’s an absurd suggestion, and that needs to stop.

We’ll find out in the next 12 months what Tiger and chums were or weren’t here for. But if they do leave us, and do so with more debt than ever, hardly any players on contracts, no contracted manager and with our landlord the most hostile he’s been in many years as a direct result of their behaviour, it won’t be pretty. The more owners we have who stitch us up and do us over, the harder it gets to find anybody to take it on next time. Eventually the debt will just be too much and nobody will bother, and people can’t assume SD will come riding in on his horse to fix it if it ever gets too close to the edge. The level of the debt will eventually put it out of his reach, and from what people can see with their own eyes, our latest owner is absolutely LOADING it on. The expenditure will be revealed to be positively eye watering in the months to come, and it’ll go on the club’s own tab. The club ALWAYS pays in the end.

A very thoughtful assessment.

 

[yellowbow]

Their must be meetings going on with councils, land owners, businesses etc, strange nothing ever slips out as it’s unlikely they are just sitting back waiting for the opportunity to fall into their lap. You get the feeling that no one involved in the club is ever privy to any information on this though as their are no ITK posters, the club leaks like a sieve about everything else.

So we will just have to sit in the dark and wait until they are either successful or have had enough and pull the plug.

This is what concerns me the most. If there is so much going on behind the scenes to find us this new ground how come absolutely NOTHING is coming out into the public domain. There must be all sorts of office staff at all levels involved, surely somebody somewhere would let something slip while down the pub with their mates. It’s not exactly on NATO levels of national security..

 

[Manorlounger]

This is what concerns me the most. If there is so much going on behind the scenes to find us this new ground how come absolutely NOTHING is coming out into the public domain. There must be all sorts of office staff at all levels involved, surely somebody somewhere would let something slip while down the pub with their mates. It’s not exactly on NATO levels of national security..

Simple answer. Nobody at the club has anything to do with the search/research. Zip. Why would they? The work to find this land is being undertaken by an appointed company with experience of this sort of thing, they will have their leaks, everyone does but, I don't think anyone on here will have that information.
Oxvox may know more than they are letting on but, they too will seek to preserve confidentiality in order to maintain their position of trust.

 

[Irish terrier]

Tiger walks. Kassam steps in. Have always thought this is on the cards.

 

[yellowbow]

Simple answer. Nobody at the club has anything to do with the search/research. Zip. Why would they? The work to find this land is being undertaken by an appointed company with experience of this sort of thing, they will have their leaks, everyone does but, I don't think anyone on here will have that information.
Oxvox may know more than they are letting on but, they too will seek to preserve confidentiality in order to maintain their position of trust.

I get that but I didn’t mean just people working at the club, I meant office staff for the council, consultancy companies, planners etc. There must be hundreds of people in the know but absolutely zilch is leaking out. Quite impressive to be fair. Heck there must be a junior office worker who’s done some photocopying that knows something ?

 

[QR]

I doubt they have any privileged information. They're hoping they can secure some kind of relocation deal and fill their boots. If they can't, they'll be prepared to sell the club to someone for £1.00, walk away and cut their losses. Spending relative peanuts on a training facility and some low level player deals is a smokescreen to feign that they care for the club. Meanwhile they're cashing in on our only real asset (Whyte).

Interested in OUFC or the 'Oxford brand'? I don't believe it. Having hope dangled before us is not a new experience for OUFC fans, and I can't see it ending well for the club.

 

[QR]

Don't disagree with much of what's being said however they didn't sell Nelson for cash in January when they could have done.

 

[ZeroTheHero]

Nelson wouldn't have been very valuable as a sale in January since everyone and his dog knew that he'd be on a free at the end of the season. Of course Nelson also knew that and staying (he had a contract, remember) meant that his wages and signing on fee would be larger when he moved because there was no fee payable.

 

[holdsteady]

Don't disagree with much of what's being said however they didn't sell Nelson for cash in January when they could have done.

He wouldn’t go, unless they forced him at gunpoint he was happy to wait and get the extra money a free transfer entails for a player moving upwards.