I get that Tiger's english may not be the best, and that there may be cultural differences with the way businesses are run, so I can almost forgive the verbal interviews as not always being a true reflection of what is happening.
However, what is unforgivable is the lack of formal answers to the questions raised by OxVox. He could easily get a PR team to run off a decent reply that would reassure the vast majority without going into the sort of detail that would be 'business sensitive".
He could put out a statement that says something like;
"I am sorry that communication hasn't been to the level that you would have expected, and understand why that raises fears and causes concerns. I can't change the past, but will give my assurances to look towards making things better in the future, starting today.
Firstly, I am here because I am a football fan and want to build something special at Oxford United. I am the Chairman and have committed my long term future to the club. I want Oxford United to be the best, and will always look to bring the best people into the club either on the pitch or in the boardroom. Erick and others have given a lot of advice and support behind the scenes and the extent of their roles will become clearer in the next few months, but I can give a guarantee that the investment needed to take us forward is here both now and in the future.
I have made mistakes, and I am sorry for the embarrassment caused by the HMRC petitions. When I arrived at the club there was a detailed expenditure plan in place and I made arrangements for moneys to be transferred into the club each month to cover these costs. In addition I have provided funding to support the squad development and look to build the club from the bottom upwards. To this end I have ensured that our short term focus was on our youth development and training facilities. Although we have seen some of our young players coming through, I truly believe that this is only the start of something really exciting for the club and we can look forward to many of these young men becoming the stars of the future.
I also looked to deal with the immediate issues regarding our stadium. This has included a significant additional cost to Mr Kassam which I hope draws a line under recent disputes. The Kassam Stadium is our home and we have to work with Firoz to ensure that it is the very best in can be. However, as many people who rent their homes dream of owning it one day, we too hope that we will once again be able to have a stadium that is truly ours. I have commissioned a review into a number of sites in and around Oxford and hope that we will be able to share this with you shortly. I am sorry that I can't be more open but I again give my assurances that we are doing everything in our powers to help give you the club that you deserve.
So, whilst we have invested in the youth development and training facilities, as well as ensuring our immediate future at the Kassam Stadium and hopefully beyond, I dropped a ball when it came to the HMRC payment in November. The first missed payment in the spring of 2018 was during the changeover of company accounts and was resolved immediately. Likewise, the very recent payment was a clerical issue that we have now resolved. However there are no excuses for the missed payment in November and I take full responsibility for this. I give a promise that this will not happen again and have set aside funding for the next payments and a contingency fund in case of any unexpected costs. I know that words are cheap, but I hope in time you will see from my actions that I, and Oxford United are better than this.
As to today, I also give my assurances that Karl and his team are doing everything they can to strengthen the side as we go into the last crucial months of a difficult season. It is essential that we stay in league one and funding has been provided to enable Karl to bring in the players that can help us achieve this goal. That will not be easy as January is always a difficult time to recruit but we will leave no stone unturned. We have already brought in Mark, Jordan and Ahmed and hope to add to this shortly. Karl and the team are giving everything, but we know that it is a results game and no one has a free ride at Oxford United. Karl has not had the season he would have liked, and we will look to do a review into team affairs in the summer. But now is the time to pull together and fight for our survival and help build towards next season and beyond."
None of this says anything that we don't already know (or think we know). But it would go a massive way to calming nerves and getting the club focused on the coming weeks and months. If I can knock up this s**t whilst getting the kids dressed and watching Peppa Pig, I'd like to think that Tiger et al could do something similar!
PS - no, I'm not Chris Williams!!!