SaintBobby

Is there a rule somewhere that virtually every new GM thought/rant has to start a new thread?

Yeah, but as others have said, Coventry were bailed out one minute before going into administration, not one minute before liquidating. Big, big difference.

Fair point. I only considered the prima facie information, not the (in)credibility of the "expert" witness. His first reply to me was that we didn't see eye-to-eye on Jackson. Given, I would rather have Ian Huntley mounting a bid for Saints, I believe this indicates he continues to be an MJ supporter....

On the whole, how much are our assets worth and what will creditors accept thing... Genuine question... Could the offer be structured to the creditors in such a way that payments are deferred and possibly even absed on performance? Let's say, for sake of argument, that a firesale would net Aviva £2m. Then that's it, they close the file and write off the rest of the £24m debt. But supposing a deal could be structured with Aviva over a 25-year period. They get £1million now and then, say, £100,000 per annum for every year we spend in League One, £250,000 for every season we spend in CCC and £1m for every season we spend in the Premiership. Maybe I haven't got these figures right, maybe the creditors would never entertain such a deal, but it seems to me that a structured deal might offer LESS money than a fire sale, but still be MORE attractive to the creditors. QED. If a fire sale would produce £x for the creditors, a new bidder could offer less than this and still have their deal accepted.

TL's updates were initially showered with near universal praise on here. But openness is not enough. If you're openly posting increasingly inconsistent sh*te, then you get flamed.

Have no idea if any of this is true, but sounds very plausible.

Straight to liquidation on Friday. There wouldn't be anything to administrate, I wouldn't think.

I doubt it's been a hoax, but I think the wheels have seriously come off and they are now in "last throw of the dice" territory. The big backer may have pulled out. Perhaps Leon stumped up the £500K in return for a remunerated place on the board if the deal went through etc etc. I'd agree that it would be a huge surprise if the whole thing was an elaborate and expensive prank.

I do agree with the OP that the Pinnacle bid has (or had) to be granted some sort of level of credibility simply because of (a) the payment for the rights to exclusivity and (b) the need to prove adequate funds are available to Mark Fry. However, a possible explanation for the collapse of their bid would be: a). The payment for exclusive rights was stumped up largely or entirely by Crouch or Le Tissier or both - in return for guarantees on future involvement/position/status. b). The serious money men behind the bid withdrew at some point between the start of the exclusivity deal and now. I'm not massively keen on these explanations, but they do - sadly - strike me as more plausible than a continuing technical hold-up over the club's points penalty or football licence. On balance, I think Pinnacle can't complete for want of funds. But I don't say this with any great certainty and hope I'm wrong.

Fair point. Just don't know if there are any rules on this - e.g. why couldn't AFC Wimbledon just be Wimbledon? Why did Fiorentina re-form as Fiorenta Viola?

I think I'd rather we went under than had Jackson buy us. I am so certain he couldn't organise a p*ss up in a brewery that it would swiftly be an even more undignified death than we are presently heading for.

I think my own pessimism and grumpiness are essentially due to Fialka being - on the face of it - such an utterly implausible owner of the club. I suppose it's possible that he can acess the several hundred million that Pinnacle have promsied, but it just doesn't seem very likely. My scepticism was enhanced enormously by Lynam apparently believing that by unveiling Fialka on national television, Pinnacle was somehow playing a trump card. If it had been Richard Branson, Gavin Davies, David Frost, then - okay - I can see how this might seize the initiative. But Fialka? For the love of God.... With all due respect to the bloke, if he's the ace up your sleeve, you do wonder what sort of deck Pinnacle are playing with. The various legal issues are increasingly beyond me. But, in the seven days since the exclusivity period ended, it's not at all clear that any progress AT ALL has been made by Pinnacle to conclude the deal - or that any legal action against the League has been taken. Now, perhaps there has been sensational progress behind closed doors - but if so, this isn't been communicated in any fashion at all. (e.g. "we have now resolved two of the issues, and are close to agreement on the third"). Finally, a series of crucial deadlines are now passing and approaching, which greatly damage the club's prospects - even if it is not liquidated in seven days' time. A responsile and serious buyer would be offsetting this damage against any apparent obstacles to the deal. But, payroll wasn't met today and several player contracts lapse on Tuesday. I think the anger of a lot of people on here is not so much that the Pinnacle bid looks like it will now fail, but that it looks like the muppet show (even if it succeeds).

I'd be a bit surprised if we hear from him again. It does seem as if he has made a complete t*t of himself in ratehr spectacular fashion.

That's not the wording on the Wessex League site - see rule 2.1 http://www.wessexleague.co.uk/rules2.htm

I'd say there's quite a lot of evidence that the Pinnacle bid will fail. It's not totally conclusive, but it is there...

If you want 100% confirmed facts, wait for announcments on the OS>

PML....if the other parties are less serious than Pinnacle, I'd say we're f***ed. They've become a total joke in the last 24 hours.

We're sorted then.

really? with an attendance of say 6,000 ? For 23 football matches per annum?

Count me in. I know a lot will say "it's not the same" and that's fair enough, but if only a small % of the fanbase wanted to re-form, it's viable.

Best to check your facts before accusing others of having "no grasp of what's going on". You clearly haven't bothered to read Mark Fry's statement.

I thought Pinnacle would complete the deal. Now I think it's down to the Swiss, and a mesuarble chance (25%?) that the club folds next week.

My fear is that we are very, very close to the season starting. But with a fan base that would dwarf any in the rest of non-league football, perhaps an exception would be made. Not sure of viability of retaining St.Marys in such circumstances though.

Assuming the worst happens, what options are there for reforming in the lower leagues?

He's probably just putting the final touches to the contract taking over the club :-)