What will this week bring

[Lundinsponytail]

Only if u have an issue with Oxvox. Seeing the majority of members seem happy with jems leadership, and it’s been said that even with heavy questioning it probably wouldn’t have changed the outcome then it’s only a debate for the people who have an issue with Oxvox.

Who is it that has said that nothing would have been any different with sincere public questioning? It certainly wasn't me who said that. Was it you? Or a member of the OxVox committee? And how can anyone know? If one guesses at that then, effectively, there is never any point in questioning anything. And therefore, by connection, no point in the Supporters Trust movement at all. "Those scary big, rich men should just do whatever they want while us poor folk chant about how great they are!!" What a rallying cry.

A significant number of posters on here have questioned the strategy and tactics employed by the OxVox leadership in their dealings with the club. These are valid concerns, haven't been personalised, and deserve a response from an organisation that pertains to be democratic.

Instead of which, any criticism has been met with personal slurs aimed directly at members, arrogant disdain or - at best, and, to be fair, your approach - a sort of "yeah, but what good would it do to have done anything different?" An organisation that no longer believes itself to be accountable to answering its own members criticism is in danger of becoming a sect.

There are innumerable examples in history of powerful people and organisations being pushed away from a bad scheme by public pressure. To pretend otherwise is cant. The truth is that OxVox helped make this takeover happen, and were thanked publicly for that support. It is time to stand behind that decision (to support the takeover) and explain why it was such a good idea, rather than come out with evasive phrases such as "We look forward to hearing Tiger's plans."

By the by, I am not saying that my view of what a Supporters Trust is meant to do is the only view. If the members vote for it to become a lobbying group for cleaner loos or whatever, then fine. But it's not what it currently says on the tin. So if we are going to abdicate taking an interest in the future sustainability of the club then there needs to be a debate about changing the writing on the tin.

 

[Oldman159]

Does that start in 48hrs time or 48 hrs after the 48 hror 48 hrs after the 48hrs after the 48hrs

เร็ว ๆ นี้! Old chap เร็ว ๆ นี้! ?

 

[Millman]

For me I am not really bothered what OxVox decides it should be.

Many of the better informed posters on here are extremely worried about just what Eales has done to the club (Asset strip may not be such a harsh term to be used), and just what Tiger can do for the club (Is he an utter fantasist with little or no resources?). What is very worrying now is that we are hurtling into the void and that not enough people are making a fuss.

Yes we could see a decent manager appointed early this week and then maybe we can calm down a little (however those big questions for Eales and Tiger remain to be asked and answered). However if we reach Saturday with still no manager in place I think every fan should be very worried and we should all start to make a fuss.

I know its early days for Tiger but so far he has presided over an utter shambles. I don't remember many take overs that started like this and ended well.

I am extremely unhappy with this whole mess. Eales is beginnning to look like an utter liar (waiting for a deal that was best fro the club, BS, waiting for a deal that allowed him tons of money from the club maybe closer to the truth). As for Tiger I want to give this guy a fair go but so far he looks far from good for the club (I hope I'm wrong).

Heck, I hope I can come back to this post in the future and think well I got that wrong.

 

[yellowbow]

For me I am not really bothered what OxVox decides it should be.

Many of the better informed posters on here are extremely worried about just what Eales has done to the club (Asset strip may not be such a harsh term to be used), and just what Tiger can do for the club (Is he an utter fantasist with little or no resources?). What is very worrying now is that we are hurtling into the void and that not enough people are making a fuss.

Yes we could see a decent manager appointed early this week and then maybe we can calm down a little (however those big questions for Eales and Tiger remain to be asked and answered). However if we reach Saturday with still no manager in place I think every fan should be very worried and we should all start to make a fuss.

I know its early days for Tiger but so far he has presided over an utter shambles. I don't remember many take overs that started like this and ended well.

I am extremely unhappy with this whole mess. Eales is beginnning to look like an utter liar (waiting for a deal that was best fro the club, BS, waiting for a deal that allowed him tons of money from the club maybe closer to the truth). As for Tiger I want to give this guy a fair go but so far he looks far from good for the club (I hope I'm wrong).

Heck, I hope I can come back to this post in the future and think well I got that wrong.

This is a huge week. As you say, appoint a good manager and we can all relax a tiny bit about whether Tiger lives in the real world but there’s little evidence of that with no whispers or evidence that managers have actually even been interviewed and now Tiger has flown out of the country again. Hopefully he’s just really good at keeping his cards close to his chest but very worrying and frustrating times.

 

[T’ai Chi]

Tiger took control of our club 18 days ago and had one urgent outstanding issue to resolve, appointing a new manager. We then find out that CB had been offered the role and had agreed terms with the previous owner. Within days we are told that CB had met the new owner and after the meeting walked away turning his back on the role. Since then we have been fed scraps of information and seen our club pick up 1 point from a possible 6 against two sides below us in the table. We have some very difficult games in the next few weeks against sides that are in the top half of the table and it would appear that we are no closer to naming a manger.

Just one urgent issue to deal with (which now has moved from urgent to critical) and 18 days on still no real indication as to when this issue is to be finalised. Now Dave even you must be very very concerned that the future of our club is indeed looking bleak. I don’t know if Tiger is still in Oxford or even in the UK, but his first 18 days does not paint a rosy future for our club.

Charlie referred to the role of a supporters trust and my understanding was that the trust was set up with the sole aim to ensure OUFC did not find itself in the same situation as it did when FOUL was formed and needed supporters to rally round to save the club. No doubt there have been many things that have been very positive re Oxvox, but questions have and need to be asked about the takeover and the role if any played by the trust.

 

[Millman]

It was be easier to judge Tiger if we know anything about him or his plans. But so far no one has been able or willing to ask him. However lack of action and its results can also be used to judge Tiger. Time is a luxury that if you want Oxford to be a league 1 club next year is running out.

Should we be relegated it will probably be a lot easier to judge Tiger, but by then the club might be is serious trouble. We were complacent about an owner before and look what that did for us (Kassam).

 

[malcolmsmoustache]

Tiger's suitability (or not) has been covered extensively elsewhere and I don't propose to re-hash all the arguments here. But...the appointment of a new manager is a pretty basic requirement. Unless Tiger woke up one morning and decided to buy OUFC, he knew about CB and/or other candidates weeks and weeks ago. Based on observation, I (along with many others) have serious concerns about Tiger's competence. This non-appointment is shambolic and it really concerns me that this is indicative of Tiger's approach. I was at Wimbledon on Saturday, and was very unimpressed at what I saw. I don't blame Fazakerley- the bloke is nearly 70, and appears never to have wanted to be a manager. If Tiger doesn't know who the right person is, he could- and should- have appointed an experienced interim until the end of the season.......

 

[Lundinsponytail]

This is a huge week. As you say, appoint a good manager and we can all relax a tiny bit about whether Tiger lives in the real world but there’s little evidence of that with no whispers or evidence that managers have actually even been interviewed and now Tiger has flown out of the country again. Hopefully he’s just really good at keeping his cards close to his chest but very worrying and frustrating times.

He will appoint a manager. Anyone can appoint a manager. The Oystons appointed Gary Bowyer, who is not a bad manager at all. Football club management is a trade, and if one is out of work for a while then they need a job. If Tiger advertised the job, he would get 70 or 80 applicants willing to start straightaway.

The questions are much more existential than 'who is our next manager going to be?': In my view they are:
1. What is your plan?
2. What is the financing for that plan, and how does it fit with the hard debt re-payments to DE?
3. What sort of timescale are you working towards?
4. Who, if anyone, are your business partners? What is your Board going to look like?
5. What is your strategy ref the Kassam Stadium, because every owner starts off thinking 'non issue' only to find that it is a big issue.
6. How are you going to re-build the decimated infrastructure of the club to enable proper commercial and marketing activity. Without that, we are (as under Kassam) a slow burn disaster waiting to happen.
7. What are your plans for the Academy and WSL teams?
8. What exactly is this great investment into a training ground that we do not own?
9. What is the current debt of the club, and how do you see that going forward?
10. At Reading, you were paying very large consultancy fees to 'Jack' and Pairoj's company. Is that the plan here as well? If so, what role are they going to perform?

 

[myles]

Charlie referred to the role of a supporters trust and my understanding was that the trust was set up with the sole aim to ensure OUFC did not find itself in the same situation as it did when FOUL was formed and needed supporters to rally round to save the club. No doubt there have been many things that have been very positive re Oxvox, but questions have and need to be asked about the takeover and the role if any played by the trust.

Quite. One thing which concerns me is that in raising the concerns I have over the past few months, I don't think I have once made a personal attack on any committee member of OxVox. I have expressed my concerns about what OxVox as an organisation may or may not have done during the process, which has to be the right of any member of a democratic organisation. In response, I have had at least one committee member posting personal allegations on this forum. Seriously, is this what OxVox have sunk to? Trying to intimidate individual members who express discontent?

Even the most cursory reading of this forum over the past week or so shows significant numbers of fans expressing huge concerns over this takeover, the nature of the deal with Eales, the long-term situation with the stadium and other deals (such as the Oxford City-Ensco tie up). So, I'm sorry to be banging the same drum, but come on OxVox - this is exactly the stuff a Supporters' Trust should exist for, and we haven't heard a peep. Let's put aside all the bitching and bullying, and start finding out what the hell is actually going on at OUR club.

 

[Marked Ox]

Can we please try to keep the OxVox/Charlie discussion to one thread, or at least not pollute every thread in this sub-forum as seems to be the case?!

It has been debated over and over on other threads over the last no. of weeks so please let it go in this one. It is making this forum unreadable when every thread seems to end up in the same discussion.

 

[Concretebob]

Can we please try to keep the OxVox/Charlie discussion to one thread, or at least not pollute every thread in this sub-forum as seems to be case?!

It has been debated over and over on other threads over the last no. of weeks so please let it go in this one. It is making this forum unreadable when every thread seems to end up in the same discussion.

This. He's turning into a deluded old idiot more and more by the day. It's so boring.

Plus he wants us to be relegated so really his posts have an ulterior motive.

 

[T’ai Chi]

For me I am not really bothered what OxVox decides it should be.

Many of the better informed posters on here are extremely worried about just what Eales has done to the club (Asset strip may not be such a harsh term to be used), and just what Tiger can do for the club (Is he an utter fantasist with little or no resources?). What is very worrying now is that we are hurtling into the void and that not enough people are making a fuss.

Yes we could see a decent manager appointed early this week and then maybe we can calm down a little (however those big questions for Eales and Tiger remain to be asked and answered). However if we reach Saturday with still no manager in place I think every fan should be very worried and we should all start to make a fuss.

I know its early days for Tiger but so far he has presided over an utter shambles. I don't remember many take overs that started like this and ended well.

I am extremely unhappy with this whole mess. Eales is beginnning

Can we please try to keep the OxVox/Charlie discussion to one thread, or at least not pollute every thread in this sub-forum as seems to be the case?!

It has been debated over and over on other threads over the last no. of weeks so please let it go in this one. It is making this forum unreadable when every thread seems to end up in the same discussion.

This is not about personalities, it’s about the future of our club. As a member of Oxvox I like many others want to know what the future of our club holds. Charlie made a list of questions and they would seem to be all relevant and need to be asked of the new owner. I cannot see how asking these questions would be deemed unreasonable do you? We are all hopeful that we gain the required number of points to keep us in this division, but looking back at the last 11 games it’s not looking good.

The vast majority of supporters will never have a face to face meeting with Tiger so will depend on those who have access to him to ask these questions and report back to everyone the answers and not be bound by confidentiality promises or loyalty to the club. Loyalty should be with the supporters and members at all times.

 

[Marked Ox]

This is not about personalities, it’s about the future of our club. As a member of Oxvox I like many others want to know what the future of our club holds. Charlie made a list of questions and they would seem to be all relevant and need to be asked of the new owner. I cannot see how asking these questions would be deemed unreasonable do you? We are all hopeful that we gain the required number of points to keep us in this division, but looking back at the last 11 games it’s not looking good.

The vast majority of supporters will never have a face to face meeting with Tiger so will depend on those who have access to him to ask these questions and report back to everyone the answers and not be bound by confidentiality promises or loyalty to the club. Loyalty should be with the supporters and members at all times.

And those issues have and are being debated on other threads. It would be nice to have at least one thread that isn't about that discussion.

 

[Lundinsponytail]

Don’t disagree at all, but I will wait and hear that from the people I elected to act on my behalf, not just take the word of people who have been desperate to get back involved ever since they were voted out, who have done nothing but criticise since.

Charlie has a habit of starting a post off with, jems a very intelligent capable person or we should give tiger time before judging him, then half way down the post throws in a massive BUT and finishes it with exactly the opposite. Myself and others are more than capable of making up our own minds.

I have not judged Tiger at any point. Indeed, I have just produced a long list of questions that I would ask of any owner (excepting the specific question about 'Jack''s role and consultancy business model). Like you, I have been a voice of moderation, urging people NOT to judge him.

And as for Jeremy, yes I do think that he is a very capable and intelligent fellow who cares about OUFC deeply. It is important, I think, not to conflate disagreement with personal contempt (they can stand together, but not necessarily). I am also a fan of Colin Barson's, who I think has fire in his belly and a good business brain too. I have always very much liked Simon Bradbury, who is often a savvy judge of what is really going on. I admire the tireless work that Michael North does to raise money for the club. I revere what Trevor did as a fans leader back in the day when things were (last) tough. Need I go on? This is not personal, on my account anyway.

But just as I can respect m'Lord Heseltine's life, career and native intelligence, I disagree deeply with him on the EU and will say so to my former MP whenever I see him. If he responded by telling (or defaming) me that I was a heap of s**t who worked for crooks, tried to encourage repression, had no moral compass and is trying to destroy the UK then I would, I think, be slightly taken aback.

It would be a bit more seemly if any member of the OxVox committee who chooses to disagree with former committee members did so by first acknowledging the long service and good intentions of those they disagree with. And then, calmly, explain why they believe their course of action to be the correct one. Because, when you think about it, if they ARE wrong then that is not mitigated by Myles, me and co being former war criminals. And if they are right then the force of that argument will win the day far better than individual character assassinations.

 

[T’ai Chi]

And the last Oxvox release said send us in any questions, we will put them to the owner, so instead of asking them everyday on here, send that list into Oxvox. No one has said they are not important questions, the need to keep asking them on here, unless tiger is now registered is unlikely to get and answer

Dave, they now have a comprehensive list of questions that they can ask, do you not agree. Now here’s the real BUT, when will they meet with the new owner to ask them? Let’s hope it is within two weeks from today. I would suggest 48hrs, but we know that means at least 18 days

 

[Lundinsponytail]

And those issues have and are being debated on other threads. It would be nice to have at least one thread that isn't about that discussion.

A thread specifically titled to encourage discussion on what can/ should happen next is probably not the best place to make your plea! Nor on the Boardroom section.

A tip: if you go onto the 'Matches' and 'Players' sections, you will find plenty of threads that are not 'infected' by political discussions about the future of our club.

 

[Marked Ox]

A thread specifically titled to encourage discussion on what can/ should happen next is probably not the best place to make your plea! Nor on the Boardroom section.

A tip: if you go onto the 'Matches' and 'Players' sections, you will find plenty of threads that are not 'infected' by political discussions about the future of our club.

Actually it asked what is, if anything, going to happen this week. Not what your opinions about OxVox or Tiger's long term ownership which you've repeated on many threads in this section.

 

[uptheus]

Charlie: I blame Eales, I blame OxVox [stretched out over 1000 words in every thread]

And some more shite responses like this from fans who’ve had their heads deeply buried in the sand or worse for 12-18months.

 

[uptheus]

Does that start in 48hrs time or 48 hrs after the 48 hror 48 hrs after the 48hrs after the 48hrs

48hrs of course!

 

[SwissYellow]

Is Tiger definatley out of the country again?

Who at the club is running the show while he's away?

The fan base is feeling alienated and even worst apathetic, we've got fans who are usually positive, calm and supporting of the club in absolute bits and there's not a single indication from the club that they give a s**t or know how to deal with the siutation.

The manager, the take-over, the press conference, the poor staff at the club - poor buggers I'm sure want to do something, the players, Faz - its all a bloody mess and can't wait any longer.