Sisu

[Verbal]

Shut it benj. You'll wake up SOG.

[benjii]

Shut it benj. You'll wake up SOG.

 

Crikey, good point.

 

Also, I can faintly hear some sort of syncopated, electronic warbling...... sounds a bit like

 

"hoooddleee, hooooddllee, exsperminate...."

[saintmatt]

Having seen what has happened to Cov over the last few years I personally think that we did better sticking with Rupes and Co. Yes, administration came quicker but so did our rebirth.

 

I would in no way want to have had the ongoing drain that is happening at the Ricoh happening to us. Yes, Cov have stayed in the Championship and up until now avoided oblivion, but the club has become a souless shell with dwindling fanbase. Nothing to give them hope, nothing to rally their supporters, just a zombie stuttering towards the inevitable.

 

This. I've often thought about which club has provided its fans with the most rollercoaster of times over the past 10-15 years, afterall I suppose the rollercoaster element is what football is all about - you can't truly enjoy the highs if you haven't suffered the lows and all that.. Man City probably top the list - relegation from the Prem, relegation from Division 1, back-to-back promotions back to the Prem, billionaire buy-out etc; Coventry probably sit (near the) bottom of the list - relegation from the Prem and nothingness (bar a close shave with relegation) and no hope since (are they the longest serving Championship side now PNE have been relegated??). I put Saints near the top - FA Cup Final, relegations, promotion, billionaire buy-out; we all know the story

[benjii]

Yep, supporting Saints certainly isn't boring!

[trousers]

Yep, supporting Saints certainly isn't boring!

 

Apart from when we nearly bought an oil rig.....now that was boring....

 

Coat. Fetch.

[benjii]

Apart from when we nearly bought an oil rig.....now that was boring....

 

Coat. Fetch.

 

Oh yeah, NAMBLA, or whatever.

[PhilippineSaint]

Apart from when we nearly bought an oil rig.....now that was boring....

 

Coat. Fetch.

 

I could have had a job on that rig and been closer to seeing a game thank you.

[aintforever]

I put Saints near the top - FA Cup Final, relegations, promotion, billionaire buy-out; we all know the story

 

Only recently though, in the 90's all we ever did was stay up, don't even think we reached a semi.

 

Since then its been new stadium, FA Cup Final, UEFA Cup, relegation, play-off semi, administration, relegation, billionaire takeover, Cup win, promotion.

[The Kraken]

This. I've often thought about which club has provided its fans with the most rollercoaster of times over the past 10-15 years, afterall I suppose the rollercoaster element is what football is all about - you can't truly enjoy the highs if you haven't suffered the lows and all that.. Man City probably top the list - relegation from the Prem, relegation from Division 1, back-to-back promotions back to the Prem, billionaire buy-out etc; Coventry probably sit (near the) bottom of the list - relegation from the Prem and nothingness (bar a close shave with relegation) and no hope since (are they the longest serving Championship side now PNE have been relegated??). I put Saints near the top - FA Cup Final, relegations, promotion, billionaire buy-out; we all know the story

 

Yep, Coventry really aren't a roller-coaster club; you need to have ups as well as downs for that. Here's a bit of trivia for you; Coventry have gone 40 years without finishing in the top 6 of their division.

[Gemmel]

The SISU bid, Paul allen (Or not) Wilde, Crouch, lowe again, were all simply paving slabs to the where we ended up and for that.... they all have my thanks.

 

I don't recall the SISU bid having much support on here as verbal suggested (But I could be wrong) and the mail article is definately wrong, lowe told them to do one.

 

The irony of course, is that if wilde, Crouch & lowe had their time again, they would snap their hands off for 40p a share.

[saintmatt]

Only recently though, in the 90's all we ever did was stay up, don't even think we reached a semi.

 

Since then its been new stadium, FA Cup Final, UEFA Cup, relegation, play-off semi, administration, relegation, billionaire takeover, Cup win, promotion.

 

Agreed. But I like to think our rollercoaster was more on the pitch/within each match then (rather than in the bigger picture) - the ups most certainly being when MLT had the ball at his feet!

[Jimmy Gabriel's Halo]

Always a bad sign when your chairman starts turning up to training camps in Portugal wearing initialed training gear...

 

Ken Dulieu, remember him? Far left of the picture.

 

You're dead right MLG. When I saw that picture of Lowe with RL on his shorts my first thoughts were "This is not a good thing". And was I right.

[Channon's Sideburns]

Oh come on...you know Ken D's only there to top up that tan...haha

[up and away]

I always thought Tommac was a Derby fan on a very lengthy and clever windup who took a lot of people in, including bods from the Echo.

 

Henrik Larsson never did sign did he

 

Anyone remember sequoia? He was the real deal. .

 

The club he supported wasn't relevant, and it wasn't, in the sense you mean it, a wind up. I've gone over this before in the dim distant past (and under another user-name), so here's a potted summary.

 

tommac (real name Tom McLoughlin) claimed that he was the managing director of an airline leasing company and he worked out of a luxury office in Mayfair. Actually, he was a local manager of an American leasing company, and he worked in an industrial estate in Fulham. In the course of his job, booking executive jets for the hobnobs, he met two lawyers from Paul Allen's umbrella company in Seattle. They have (or had) a number of American sports interests, including a basketball franchise I think. Now, tommac being tommac thought he could make a killing out of this opportunity, and knew that Saints were up for sale. He pitched the idea of Allen taking over Saints to the lawyers, who by all ccounts gave a non-committal 'yeah, yeah, that's interesting' response. tommac then reported this 'interest from Allen' to the Southampton board, and presented himself as a go-between. The news was gushingly leaked (by Leon, I think?), and the share price went into orbit. When Mary Corbett, among others, tried to follow up this supposed 'interest', there was absolutely nothing there. Allen had, it seems, never been told of the lawyers' conversation with tommac. Indeed, I imagine the lawyers completely forgot about it.

 

I can fill in a bit more, tommac saw an opportunity and was trying to make a buck, simple as that. No contacts, just a blagger who saw a lot of American money going into English football and tried to get a wedge. When the news first appeared in the Evening Standard I managed to get some info from the source report from a friend who did bits in the supplements at the time. One of the links he came up with was for an American sports agents, over here looking into the market after the American interest in Aston Villa and Liverpool. Tommac had some tenuous link here, either through conversation on a plane or hotel or some secondary business. The link to meeting a couple of Paul Allens lawyers would make a lot of sense, especially when you looked at Allens philosophy and spinning Saints as a nice, friendly family club. Then as luck would have it he bumped into the reporter in a London hotel lobby, gave him chapter and verse and the rest is history. I emailed Michael Nank who dealt with all Allens ventures and he kindly sent me all the communications regarding the matter he had just forwarded to the Daily Echo. It was very obvious from those communications that there was nothing in it. I remember Chorley commented as such when seeing the information at the Echo, but surprisingly went silent thereafter. What I can never understand is that this information was so easy to get hold of or just pop along to the Echo, but no one bothered. I thought Hone and Dileau were aware of what Tommac was (maybe not), but went along the any news is good news route in trying to find a buyer for Saints. Mcmenemy, Corbett and Crouch were taken in hook line and sinker for many months, even to the extent of bragging on introducing him to the club.

 

As for sequoia, he put a slant on matters that came from within the club at the time, being pretty obvious from the gentle spin where that source originated.

[Thedelldays]

sequoia was rupert lowe wasnt it...?

 

saint marc (or a version of) was Michael wilde

[Weston Saint]

Sequoia was on the inside at SFC at the time. I knew his identity. He is still high in football elsewhere so I will not divulge his name.

[JackFrost]

Sequoia was on the inside at SFC at the time. I knew his identity. He is still high in football elsewhere so I will not divulge his name.

 

Wasn't Ken Dulieu was it?

 

[wightman35]

Oh come on...you know Ken D's only there to top up that tan...haha

 

Does n't Ken D. live in Portugal for some sort of Tax Relief?

[dubai_phil]

I can fill in a bit more, tommac saw an opportunity and was trying to make a buck, simple as that. No contacts, just a blagger who saw a lot of American money going into English football and tried to get a wedge. When the news first appeared in the Evening Standard I managed to get some info from the source report from a friend who did bits in the supplements at the time. One of the links he came up with was for an American sports agents, over here looking into the market after the American interest in Aston Villa and Liverpool. Tommac had some tenuous link here, either through conversation on a plane or hotel or some secondary business. The link to meeting a couple of Paul Allens lawyers would make a lot of sense, especially when you looked at Allens philosophy and spinning Saints as a nice, friendly family club. Then as luck would have it he bumped into the reporter in a London hotel lobby, gave him chapter and verse and the rest is history. I emailed Michael Nank who dealt with all Allens ventures and he kindly sent me all the communications regarding the matter he had just forwarded to the Daily Echo. It was very obvious from those communications that there was nothing in it. I remember Chorley commented as such when seeing the information at the Echo, but surprisingly went silent thereafter. What I can never understand is that this information was so easy to get hold of or just pop along to the Echo, but no one bothered. I thought Hone and Dileau were aware of what Tommac was (maybe not), but went along the any news is good news route in trying to find a buyer for Saints. Mcmenemy, Corbett and Crouch were taken in hook line and sinker for many months, even to the extent of bragging on introducing him to the club.

 

As for sequoia, he put a slant on matters that came from within the club at the time, being pretty obvious from the gentle spin where that source originated.

 

I seem to recall at the time that MW went and had dinner with tommac in London.

 

One of the trivial takeover things that popped up after a few beers & reading this

[rooney]

Always a bad sign when your chairman starts turning up to training camps in Portugal wearing initialed training gear...

 

 

Ken Dulieu, remember him? Far left of the picture.

 

This picture looks as though it was taken at Vale do Lobo on the Algarve. Ken Dulieu lives there.

[The9]

It is nevertheless completely bizarre that despite definitely not being in any way interested in buying a football club and some fairly convincing evidence on here, that Paul Allen is now the owner of Seattle Sounders in MLS.

 

Pleased to see that the hedge fund paranoia wasn't entirely unfounded, though I might have felt differently about it had we actually ceased to exist.

[John Smith]

I seem to remember there being a bit of a debate on here about Jacksons Farm when valuations were being banded about and all sorts of comments referencing it being downgraded for building on. I'm guessing that never materialised.

 

Or did it?????

[trousers]

Morph knows.

 

IMHO of course

[Window Cleaner]

It is nevertheless completely bizarre that despite definitely not being in any way interested in buying a football club and some fairly convincing evidence on here, that Paul Allen is now the owner of Seattle Sounders in MLS.

 

Pleased to see that the hedge fund paranoia wasn't entirely unfounded, though I might have felt differently about it had we actually ceased to exist.

 

 

Paul Allen has been a minority shareholder in the Sounders for quite a while, since about 2007/8 I think. Don't know his exact stake but there is 1 majority owner,some film producer I think and 3 other "minority owners" of which Allen is one. He's never "bought" a football team as far as I know,just chipped in a bit.

[Morph]

Morph knows.

 

IMHO of course

 

No I don't

[benjii]

no i don't

 

iyho?

[up and away]

It is nevertheless completely bizarre that despite definitely not being in any way interested in buying a football club and some fairly convincing evidence on here, that Paul Allen is now the owner of Seattle Sounders in MLS.

 

Pleased to see that the hedge fund paranoia wasn't entirely unfounded, though I might have felt differently about it had we actually ceased to exist.

 

It is well documented that Paul Allen was not involved with the decision to gain a MLS franchise. Those that did gain the franchise had no venue to play their home games and that is where Allen came into play. Allen gave them rent free access to the old Seahawks stadium, then the new Seahawks NFL stadium where crowds hit the ceiling. In return was given a small holding in the franchise. This is just an extension of his vast social projects that he has done for Seattle, but absolutely no drive to own a football club.

 

What is totally bizarre that one, if not the worlds biggest philanthropists can be seen as devious when giving a radio interview for having no intentions of owning a football club. If he wanted to he could get a lot of revenue from one of the best attended MLS franchises, but happy enough with a low value minority franchise holding, not even the owner.

[Foxstone]

sequoia was rupert lowe wasnt it...?

 

saint marc (or a version of) was Michael wilde

 

Think Sequoia was Hoos

 

SaintMarc was certainly Mikey "COYR" !

[The9]

It is well documented that Paul Allen was not involved with the decision to gain a MLS franchise. Those that did gain the franchise had no venue to play their home games and that is where Allen came into play. Allen gave them rent free access to the old Seahawks stadium, then the new Seahawks NFL stadium where crowds hit the ceiling. In return was given a small holding in the franchise. This is just an extension of his vast social projects that he has done for Seattle, but absolutely no drive to own a football club.

 

What is totally bizarre that one, if not the worlds biggest philanthropists can be seen as devious when giving a radio interview for having no intentions of owning a football club. If he wanted to he could get a lot of revenue from one of the best attended MLS franchises, but happy enough with a low value minority franchise holding, not even the owner.

 

It says on the Sounders website that he "had visions of world-class soccer in his hometown soon after purchasing the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League", which was in 2002. Though I can accept that may be spun somewhat for the soccer audience.

 

Also just noted that as you said he's not the "owner" of the Sounders, his bio on the Sounders page lists him somewhat ambiguously as "Owner and Founder and Chairman... Vulcan Inc".

 

http://www.soundersfc.com/Team/Staff-Members/Paul-Allen.aspx

[Verbal]

Think Sequoia was Hoos

 

SaintMarc was certainly Mikey "COYR" !

 

Correct.

[up and away]

It says on the Sounders website that he "had visions of world-class soccer in his hometown soon after purchasing the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League", which was in 2002. Though I can accept that may be spun somewhat for the soccer audience.

 

Also just noted that as you said he's not the "owner" of the Sounders, his bio on the Sounders page lists him somewhat ambiguously as "Owner and Founder and Chairman... Vulcan Inc".

 

http://www.soundersfc.com/Team/Staff-Members/Paul-Allen.aspx

 

If Paul Allen had wanted the MLS franchise for Seattle, he would have no need for any others and of been the standout. The simple fact is that those that did want the franchise in Seattle had no stadium. Allen gave them rent free access for a minority holding in the franchise. He does not have or imparts any influence over the running of the team as he does with his other sports. He gives his priority to his other teams though I would expect he does attend. There is no way you can consider his involvement as being driven for the ownership or rewards of being involved with a soccer club, just something that happened in supporting his beloved Seattle.