Chairman tiger on HMRC -OM report

[MarkG]

We could at least see that Eales was aiming to get us promoted and then sell the club on for a profit. Up front he said it wasn’t a property play. I think he reckoned that he could get us to the championship , but top 2 budget in league one then became unaffordable.

 

[Scotchegg]

We could at least see that Eales was aiming to get us promoted and then sell the club on for a profit. Up front he said it wasn’t a property play. I think he reckoned that he could get us to the championship , but top 2 budget in league one then became unaffordable.

The gap between the teams coming down from the Championship and the rest is now so great that it is getting harder and harder to get promotion. Sheffield United and Bolton, Wigan and Blackburn, and potentially Sunderland and Barnsley can top our budget 2 or 3 times over. Despite yesterday's performance, Portsmouth and Luton are doing incredibly well to be right up there and it would be good to see one of them break the cycle of teams going straight back up.

But without the promotion bounce after coming up, and with the gap only getting bigger between the top and the rest, property seems to be the only way we could feasibly make the club sustainable. I don't think anyone would disagree, so I'm not sure why there is such silence on the matter? I appreciate that any specific details should remain confidential, but the basis of a plan wouldn't go amiss!

 

[ZeroTheHero]

If you think that any property deal will benefit the club rather than the investors who will pay for it to occur, then I wish I had your faith in human nature and your belief that the people who make up 'Oxford United Ownership' and our mysterious directors are all dyed in the wool Oxford fans and in it for the long term good of the club!

 

[headingtonoldboy]

Any idea on how the arbitration ended?

 

[MJB]

Any idea on how the arbitration ended?

Not well, according to Jerome. Thus why we chose to end arbitration before it started to cost us yet more money.

 

[Fred]

I think Jerome said they gave up, sometimes you don't want to risk spending more money if your not certain you are going to win.

 

[uptheus]

I think Jerome said they gave up, sometimes you don't want to risk spending more money if your not certain you are going to win.

Or have enough money to keep fighting.

 

[Berliner]

Or have enough money to keep fighting.

Or if you volutarily stop it in order to get the opposing party onside for future business...

 

[battman]

Well it it depends on who has enough money after the Sunderland project. And what their vision is for that club.

The way I see it, Donald and co bought the club because it's probably been the best chance to make a big profit on a football club in a while.

An owner in Ellis Short desperately wanting to sell, leaving the club debt-free, a big massive stadium, a huge fanbase, a handful of players going for a few quid (they sold Khazri for £9m) and still a couple of years of Premier League parachute payments.

Get into the Premier League again and the club will be worth so much more than the £40m the consortium bought the club for.

 

[OX18]

The way I see it, Donald and co bought the club because it's probably been the best chance to make a big profit on a football club in a while.

An owner in Ellis Short desperately wanting to sell, leaving the club debt-free, a big massive stadium, a huge fanbase, a handful of players going for a few quid (they sold Khazri for £9m) and still a couple of years of Premier League parachute payments.

Get into the Premier League again and the club will be worth so much more than the £40m the consortium bought the club for.

Not exactly debt free. Ellis left behind hidden obligations, plus SAFC having to pay off the tosser foreign players who weren’t prepared to play in league one. SD said very early on that obligations coming to light meant an extra ten million loan would need to be taken out.

 

[Manorlounger]

The gap between the teams coming down from the Championship and the rest is now so great that it is getting harder and harder to get promotion. Sheffield United and Bolton, Wigan and Blackburn, and potentially Sunderland and Barnsley can top our budget 2 or 3 times over. Despite yesterday's performance, Portsmouth and Luton are doing incredibly well to be right up there and it would be good to see one of them break the cycle of teams going straight back up.

But without the promotion bounce after coming up, and with the gap only getting bigger between the top and the rest, property seems to be the only way we could feasibly make the club sustainable. I don't think anyone would disagree, so I'm not sure why there is such silence on the matter? I appreciate that any specific details should remain confidential, but the basis of a plan wouldn't go amiss!

If you think that any property deal will benefit the club rather than the investors who will pay for it to occur, then I wish I had your faith in human nature and your belief that the people who make up 'Oxford United Ownership' and our mysterious directors are all dyed in the wool Oxford fans and in it for the long term good of the club!

I have an idea that maybe, just maybe, the owning of OUFC is no more than a vehicle to enhance any development possibilities that would be funded by Tiger's very wealthy (allegedly) directors.
Approaching the local authorities with plans for a stadium to house the local football team as part of a larger development might just be acceptable to those authorities. (now, who had that idea first?)
This, in turn, would allow FK to realise his potential plans for housing etc on the Grenoble road site.
We know that several green belt sites are under review, there is a demand for more housing, it is possible that Grenoble road would see more housing being built opposite the current site and the Science park is expanding. Not having a football stadium in the middle of this would/could raise the image of the area and attract more home ownership.
At least two of the green belt sites could have potential issues with flood plain locations etc which would not be such an issue for a stadium and related parking but would be less attractive for housing without major investment.

 

[Oxymoron]

....

Not exactly debt free. Ellis left behind hidden obligations, plus SAFC having to pay off the tosser foreign players who weren’t prepared to play in league one. SD said very early on that obligations coming to light meant an extra ten million loan would need to be taken out.

So it seems that more than one new club owner can get caught out by "unpredictable expenses" .....

 

[Sarge]

....

So it seems that more than one new club owner can get caught out by "unpredictable expenses" .....

it appears to be becoming almost fashionable in League 1 this season

 

[Navegante]

....

So it seems that more than one new club owner can get caught out by "unpredictable expenses" .....

In SAFC's case, their former owner continues to help out financially to cover the costs of the surprises. LINK

Wonder if ol' Daryll will contribute to the costs payable to K*$$*m which were partially built up on his watch? Not holding out too much hope...

 

[Followtheox1]

In SAFC's case, their former owner continues to help out financially to cover the costs of the surprises. LINK

Wonder if ol' Daryll will contribute to the costs payable to K*$$*m which were partially built up on his watch? Not holding out too much hope...

You would think that the potential costs of this should have been taken into account when the sale of the club was going through but who knows!

 

[uptheus]

Or if you volutarily stop it in order to get the opposing party onside for future business...

Or to get the original person who initiated the case to pay it!

 

[LondonRoader]

Or to get the original person who initiated the case to pay it!

No matter how many times you suggest this it’s never going to happen, what by some strange occurrence we actually won arbitration, would you expect the club to give DE a share?
Your logic is right as it was all about DE ego.

 

[yellowbow]

Another little snippet from Tigers interview with Jerome Sale:

Tiger: I still believe we’ll stay in league 1
Jerome: But if the club does go down, do you stay?
Tiger: Of course. I still believe we can bring success
Jerome: And what about the other directors? ( He then asks about Eriks role going forward)
Tiger: I still sometimes speak with Erik. He offers good advice but I’m very much the main guy.
Jerome. (On being the main man) But could that change in the future? ( I think, fishing to see if there was a potential takeover by Erik after his political obligations are completed)
Tiger: Yes that could change in the future of course..

Again, it all just feels that Tiger just answers the questions with the first thing that comes into his head.. nothing feels any different than that infamous first press conference. I hope I’m wrong..

 

[unification]

The one thing I would take from it is that it may get that small band of moaners to stop criticising OxVox at every opportunity. I think the supporters trust have done their best but if the owner isn’t willing to volunteer proper answers (like he did in the interview with RadOx) what else can you do?

Jerome and co were face-to-face with Tiger and he failed to answer any of the questions meaningfully or to a satisfying degree even when pressed.

It’s not good enough from our owner. Either he comes up with answers soon or volunteers someone who can give us a full picture.

 

[Manorlounger]

You would think that the potential costs of this should have been taken into account when the sale of the club was going through but who knows!

Ol' Slippery certainly took into account future earnings/income in the shape of transfer fees. Shame that no one thought to offset those against the costs to FK that Eales had withheld under the guise of arbitration. Leaving OUFC debt free? My a**e!