Terms of Crouch's offer of £2m

[wild-saint]

I heard a rumour flying aound SMS that Leon Crouch had personally donated a large amount of money to SOS that effectively kept the club going until the end of the season. The figure banded around was £500k but he wanted it kept quiet.

 

If this is just bol**X then it seems strange that there was word coming from numerous sources including Fry that we were unlikely to have enough cash to play out the season. Figures of around £500k needed to be raised to keep us going. Now we are well over week after the season has ended and absolutely no talk of running out of money.

 

Maybe LC has personally financed us until the buy out has been finalised? Anyone else heard anything?

[ribbo]

thats the joys of a split boardroom, Wildes offer of money in originally was a intrest free(or there abouts) long term loan that was publicised around AGM time if i remember, just goes to show what happens when you take it at face value.

 

if we would have had 1 of the 3 amigo's in charge and the other two out of the picture we would have survived longer, crouch was easily the best choice for this and i'd welcome him back at the top in an instant, I've got complete faith in him being able to run a company and surround himself by a footballing team who wont syphon too much away but we're going to have to put up with who the administrator gives us to now (if we do get someone!)

[4737_carlin]

Poor old 'NickG' what little you know mush.

 

Another embarrassing agenda ridden post that only backfires and makes a mockery of this forum. Sad old idiots like Nineteen canteen or is that saddo Gordon Ellis brown, get to wazz over again again.

 

Most of you here should be certified insane.

[um pahars]

the offer terms were quite clear as in first post

 

That was indeed the opening gambit, which changed again by the January meeting (as per Crouch's agenda) and changed again as per Crouch's quotes of:

 

 

"I made my approach to Lowe and Wilde because I thought it was up to the three major shareholdersto save the Club.........They refused to put in any money and said they would walk away if I put in £6m.

 

I couldn't do that as I haven't got £6m. They could have walked away and I would still have put in my £2m and I would have taken over. They would not have that........

 

My £2m would have saved us from administration ..... I would also have put some of my own money in....."

 

 

No disrepsect NickG, but I have to say you're paraphrasing here doesn't do the story justice and I can only recommend people either buy the paper or someone types out the whole piece and then people can interpret it for themselves.

Edited 11 May, 2009 by um pahars

[70's Mike]

That was indeed the opening gambit, which changed again by the January meeting (as per Crouch's agenda) and changed again as per Crouch's quotes of:

 

 

"I made my approach to Lowe and Wilde because I thought it was up to the three major shareholdersto save the Club.........They refused to put in any money and said they would walk away if I put in £6m.

 

I couldn't do that as I haven't got £6m. They could have walked away and I would still have put in my £2m and I would have taken over. They would not have that........

 

My £2m would have saved us from administration ..... I would also have put some of my own money in....."

 

may have to get off my backside and buy the Echo because reading the above puts a different slant on the original post

[NickG]

Poor old 'NickG' what little you know mush.

 

Another embarrassing agenda ridden post that only backfires and makes a mockery of this forum. Sad old idiots like Nineteen canteen or is that saddo Gordon Ellis brown, get to wazz over again again.

 

Most of you here should be certified insane.

 

I can read, and then post it - try to keep up!

[NickG]

That was indeed the opening gambit, which changed again by the January meeting (as per Crouch's agenda) and changed again as per Crouch's quotes of:

 

 

"I made my approach to Lowe and Wilde because I thought it was up to the three major shareholdersto save the Club.........They refused to put in any money and said they would walk away if I put in £6m.

 

I couldn't do that as I haven't got £6m. They could have walked away and I would still have put in my £2m and I would have taken over. They would not have that........

 

My £2m would have saved us from administration ..... I would also have put some of my own money in....."

 

 

No disrepsect NickG, but I have to say you're paraphrasing here doesn't do the story justice and I can only recommend people either buy the paper or someone types out the whole piece and then people can interpret it for themselves.

 

not read the separate crouch article yet so fully accept your comments.

 

I was summarising the letters that went back and forwards as felt it was interesting insight but once again (not you) some seem to get excited bashing other posters!

[Nineteen Canteen]

That was indeed the opening gambit, which changed again by the January meeting (as per Crouch's agenda) and changed again as per Crouch's quotes of:

 

 

"I made my approach to Lowe and Wilde because I thought it was up to the three major shareholdersto save the Club.........They refused to put in any money and said they would walk away if I put in £6m.

 

I couldn't do that as I haven't got £6m. They could have walked away and I would still have put in my £2m and I would have taken over. They would not have that........

 

My £2m would have saved us from administration ..... I would also have put some of my own money in....."

 

 

No disrepsect NickG, but I have to say you're paraphrasing here doesn't do the story justice and I can only recommend people either buy the paper or someone types out the whole piece and then people can interpret it for themselves.

 

'My £2m would have saved us from administration'........for about 6 months IMO Mr Crouch. Your fan friendly rhetoric and reliance on out of touch characters like McMenemy would have paved the way for further disaster. In my less than expert opinion you are not strong enough to manage this football club or make the necessary decisions that will require you on occassion to do something less than popular and if you do you will try and kid the fans as well as yourself that it is best for the club and we are heading for the playoffs.

[um pahars]

not read the separate crouch article yet so fully accept your comments.

 

I was summarising the letters that went back and forwards as felt it was interesting insight but once again (not you) some seem to get excited bashing other posters!

 

It's just that I think the whole articles across 4 pages cover much, much more than your original summation.

 

I would say that after reading it all there were a number of alternatives / offers on the table.

 

 

1. Crouch sticks in £2m, Wilde and Lowe Match it. Wilde steps down as SFC Ltd Chairman (but stays on PLC Board) and Crouch replaces him as Chairman. This was the opening gambit.

 

It appears Wilde could participate, but Wilde and Lowe reject this offer.

 

 

 

2. Crouch sticks in £6m and gets full control with Wilde and Lowe disappearing.

 

Never going to come off as Crouch does not have that money.

 

 

 

3. Crouch sticks in £2m and Wilde & Lowe agree to stick in some money (amounts to be decided). Crouch comes on to the Board as Chairman/CEO and Wilde steps down as SFC Ltd Chairman (but stays on PLC Board).

 

It appears Wilde could participate, but Wilde and Lowe reject this offer.

 

 

 

3. Crouch sticks in £2m & Lowe matches it. Wilde rides off and Crouch replaces him.

 

Appears that Lowe wouldn't cough up on this one and Wilde not in agreement.

 

 

 

4. Crouch sticks in £2m and Wilde & Lowe agree to stick in some money (amounts to be decided). Crouch comes on to the Board as Chairman/CEO and Wilde steps down as SFC Ltd Chairman (but stays on PLC Board).

 

It appears Wilde could participate, but Wilde and Lowe reject this offer.

 

 

 

5. Crouch sticks in £2m, with further sums to come. Lowe and Wilde to step aside.

 

Lowe and Wilde reject this as they want an injection of £6m to step aside (see 1. above)

 

 

 

So whilst the opening gambit was always unlikely to be accepted (for a number of reasons), was there any potential on the others succeeding?????

 

I can certainly see 4. or 5. as having potential and not as outlandish as some are suggesting on this thread (particularly when judged against the fact we went into administration just over 2 months later!!!).

 

Reading the whole article I am certainly of the view that the offer of £2m+ from Crouch was not merely a PR stunt.

[Saint Fan CaM]

Most you guys are so gullible it beggars belief. The Echo says this, the Echo says that, the ITK fella says something else. Try to see the BIG picture - the club was about to implode and Crouch knew it...desperate and extreme measures were required to deal with certain activities (like Lowe taking £100k for a p/t job for example). His proposals might seem extreme, but in the context of the depths of cr*p we now know the club was in financially with imminent administration, why not try extreme? What the f*ck did Lowe and Wilde have up their esteemed collective sleeve? ZILCH!!!

[um pahars]

'My £2m would have saved us from administration'........for about 6 months IMO Mr Crouch.

 

Oh for a stay of execution of six months given our current predicament!!!!!

 

It was only recently that NineflashmanteenBearBeast was saying people were wrong to champion administration and now it seems that you'd prefer it to accepting money from Crouch:)

 

 

 

A bit of money to placate the bank, some money on short term loans and a decent manager to save us from relegation.

 

I'd certainly choose that over relegation, administration and a points deduction.

[docker-p]

We are all aware that Crouch has spoken about being willing to put £2m into saints to save it.

 

The echo publishes his offer letter in full, for those out of the area I will summarise;

 

A loan of £2m

 

conditions;

 

lowe matches it

Wilde matches it

Wilde resigns

Crouch becomes chairman

Lowe remains PLC chairman but no involvement with football matters

JP sacked

Wotte sacked

their compensation to be paid personally by Lowe and Wilde

 

 

Can't say I am surprised Wilde was against it! He would have had to pay £2m for the privilege of being sacked and then also personally pay compensation to Wotte and JP!

 

Sounds a perfectly reasonable offer. Well done Leon.

[lordswoodsaints]

We are all aware that Crouch has spoken about being willing to put £2m into saints to save it.

 

The echo publishes his offer letter in full, for those out of the area I will summarise;

 

A loan of £2m

 

conditions;

 

lowe matches it

Wilde matches it

Wilde resigns

Crouch becomes chairman

Lowe remains PLC chairman but no involvement with football matters

JP sacked

Wotte sacked

their compensation to be paid personally by Lowe and Wilde

 

 

Can't say I am surprised Wilde was against it! He would have had to pay £2m for the privilege of being sacked and then also personally pay compensation to Wotte and JP!

 

tbh it is no offer at all as nobody in their right mind would agree to that.

 

any one of us could say....'i will put £2mil into the club if lowe and wilde have gay sexual relations in the centre circle at half time and then cut each others throats' it was never going to happen so its a bit of an empty promise.

it made crouch look a bit of a knob if im honest.

[hypochondriac]

tbh it is no offer at all as nobody in their right mind would agree to that.

 

any one of us could say....'i will put £2mil into the club if lowe and wilde have gay sexual relations in the centre circle at half time and then cut each others throats' it was never going to happen so its a bit of an empty promise.

it made crouch look a bit of a knob if im honest.

 

But if you read the rest of the article it also said that he was prepared to put in his 2 million if Wilde and Lowe stepped down.

[Weston Super Saint]

It might seem like a meaningless offer, but credit where it's due, he was right about JP, Wotte and Wilde

[Red and White Army]

See my post above as the story NickG has interpreted is not how I would have interpreted it

 

Honestly steve, you have been Crouch's best bum-chum for the past two years, none of us are surprised you would interpret this in a different way to any sane human being. :smt060

 

How anyone can continue to defend this kind of pointless political posturing is beyond me.

[SaintBobby]

Surely, please to God, time to move on.

 

Crouch comes out of this whole thing with a bit more credit than either Lowe or Wilde.

 

But FFS, no German in 1946 spent too much time arguing that Albert Spier was better than Hitler or Goebels.

 

Ok, none of Crouch, Lowe and Wilde are murderous Nazis.

 

But all of them are culpable - through malice, arroagance or incompetence - of overseeing the downfall of Saints.

 

Clear the f*cking decks.

[um pahars]

tbh it is no offer at all as nobody in their right mind would agree to that.

 

any one of us could say....'i will put £2mil into the club if lowe and wilde have gay sexual relations in the centre circle at half time and then cut each others throats' it was never going to happen so its a bit of an empty promise.

it made crouch look a bit of a knob if im honest.

 

As that offer put up by NickG stands, I think you're quite right and I said as much in my initial reply on this thread as there was no way Lowe and Wilde would agree to that.

 

But elsewhere in the various articles it became clear that there was movement from this initial offer (if you could call the initial gambit an offer that as I liken it to a fck off request LOL) with a final position of Croch offering £2m+ for them to step down.

 

Maybe that £2m would have kept us clear of relegation and administration?????

Edited 12 May, 2009 by um pahars

[um pahars]

How anyone can continue to defend this kind of pointless political posturing is beyond me.

 

I presume you read the article then:rolleyes:

 

I bet you didn't like the bit when he was calling for Poortvliet to be sacked;)

The football we are playing now really shows up how limited we were under Pearson. .

Edited 12 May, 2009 by um pahars

[lordswoodsaints]

As that offer put up by NickG stands, I think you're quite right and I said as much in my initial reply on this thread as there was no way Lowe and Wilde would agree to that.

 

But elsewhere in the various articles it became clear that there was movement from this initial offer (if you could call the initial gambit an offer that as I liken it to a fck off request LOL) with a final position of Croch offering £2m+ for them to step down.

 

Maybe that £2m would have kept us clear of relegation and administration?????

 

Exactly,it was basically a duck off request but I don't think that lowe or Wilde would have been interested in anything that crouch had to offer.

If I was in crouch's shoes I probably would have done exactly the same,after all we were all calling for change and crouch was in a better position than any of us to do that,but I don't know wether or not I would have advertised what I was upto, just in case it went tits up.

Crouch tried to do the right thing and if the £2mil is still spare then there is nothing preventing him from helping out know.

[saintstr1]

Crouch tried to do the right thing and if the £2mil is still spare then there is nothing preventing him from helping out know.

 

Who is to say he is not............. He already put money in to help us to the end of last season

[NickG]

As that offer put up by NickG stands, I think you're quite right and I said as much in my initial reply on this thread as there was no way Lowe and Wilde would agree to that.

 

But elsewhere in the various articles it became clear that there was movement from this initial offer (if you could call the initial gambit an offer that as I liken it to a fck off request LOL) with a final position of Croch offering £2m+ for them to step down.

 

Maybe that £2m would have kept us clear of relegation and administration?????

 

whatever the interpretation of later posturings you cannot get away from the fact that he put what was in the first post in a letter to the club as his solution - and that is not me being selective.

[CHAPEL END CHARLIE]

It seems quite clear that some kind of arrangement could have been reached between the 3 major players had Wilde & Lowe been prepared to cede power to LC - the fact they were prepared to put the company into Administration rather than admit defeat must go down as a 'toys out of the pram' moment of enormous immaturity . Pitiful .

[um pahars]

whatever the interpretation of later posturings you cannot get away from the fact that he put what was in the first post in a letter to the club as his solution - and that is not me being selective.

 

It was his opening gambit.

 

And if you read further into the articles it becomes very clear that there are negotiations, movement and alternatives which then move away from that opening gambit.

 

It was not as set in stone as your summation tried to suggest and you would have done better to included all the various permutations as opposed to just putting the first one up and saying "that's what Crouch was offering, no wonder it was turned down".

[Dicko]

Crouch is an idiot

[NickG]

It was his opening gambit.

 

And if you read further into the articles it becomes very clear that there are negotiations, movement and alternatives which then move away from that opening gambit.

 

It was not as set in stone as your summation tried to suggest and you would have done better to included all the various permutations as opposed to just putting the first one up and saying "that's what Crouch was offering, no wonder it was turned down".

 

don't really get your point, the letters tell the story from that time -his offer, its refusal, clubs request to discuss, meeting held, his refusal to change requirements.

 

Its not an opening gambit -it was a publicity stunt, with no realistic room for negotiate.

[Frank's cousin]

This has kind of been covered before, but given the stories of the financial wealth of the others in this eg, I doubt Lowe had anywhere near this kind of cash sitting around - most of his wealth will be tied up in shares and trusts and property, as for Wilde did he not try and raise 2 mil 18 months ago and could not get it?

 

A more reason able offer would have been for crouch to inject the 2 mil o the back of a rights issue subject to all shareholders agreeing thus providing Rouch with greater equity and also proping up the share price and the club - making demands on board changes is always going to get backs up and heels to dig in. This is what has been the source of constant frustration with all three of them - they act like school kids arguing over whose game it is - rather than recognising that they either ALL fall with the club and ALL lose, or all win - whiolst they were prepared to fight against each other it was always doomed as no one had enough equity to have sole control.

 

When it comes to the politics all 3 were just plain daft and stubborn

[sidthesquid]

Well if he did force JP to resign then it was about the only positive thing to come out of this offer!!!!! But sadly, that's not the case as Lowe & co. had already decided to give Poortvliet the push before Crouch strolled in that Friday.

 

With regards the offer, with conditions like that it was never going to be be accepted and surely Crouch knew that, so would like to know why he felt it was reasonable to put it forward (does the Echo shed any light on his motivation for doing so???).

 

It was only ever a snipe at Lowe & Wilde. He knew it would never get accepted, but he knew most people wouldn't read the small print, continue thinking of him as Leon the hero & blaming Lowe for refusing it. He always was a populist & a bit of a fantasist imo. Let's just hope we've seen the last of him

[sidthesquid]

don't really get your point, the letters tell the story from that time -his offer, its refusal, clubs request to discuss, meeting held, his refusal to change requirements.

 

Its not an opening gambit -it was a publicity stunt, with no realistic room for negotiate.

 

Totally agree with you. I'm afraid old Um is struggling to accept that his idol had feet of clay

[jonah]

Not to mention the fact that if Wilde and Lowe were prepared to put in £2m each they would have had the £4m to clear Barclays and keep Crouch out for good (a nice dilutive placing would have done the trick there). As for undermining the management of the team by attaching conditions over their sacking for providing funding, well the man's obviously a motivational genius.

[The9]

Congratulations to all the people on this thread suggestion Crouch's offer was "reasonable" for making yourselves look like utter idiots.

 

Who in their right mind would pay £2m to effectively sack themselves and put an opponent they clearly have no faith in in charge ?

 

It might have achieved the goal which YOU valued over everything else (i.e. the removal of Lowe and Wilde) but it was hardly likely to appeal to the people actually holding the power, was it ?

[saintjay77]

LOL it seems to me that Wilde and Crouch oversaw the Overdraft get to the point it is and Crouch wants everyone else to bail him out and then let him back in the door to do it again. If he went to the bank with a letter anything like his opening letter to Lowe and Wilde I am absolutly amazed if they really did say they would give him there support should he get back in. I can imagin them holding back s******s (sni ggers) as they pat him on the back telling him they are on his side and he should go ahead and tell lowe and Wilde they should walk away.

 

Seriously, he is as bad as the others and its letters like this and Lowes letter to the echo that show them all up to be complete tossers that should never have been alloud to have anything to do with our club.

Edited 12 May, 2009 by saintjay77

[up and away]

We are all aware that Crouch has spoken about being willing to put £2m into saints to save it.

 

The echo publishes his offer letter in full, for those out of the area I will summarise;

 

A loan of £2m

 

conditions;

 

lowe matches it

Wilde matches it

Wilde resigns

Crouch becomes chairman

Lowe remains PLC chairman but no involvement with football matters

JP sacked

Wotte sacked

their compensation to be paid personally by Lowe and Wilde

 

 

Can't say I am surprised Wilde was against it! He would have had to pay £2m for the privilege of being sacked and then also personally pay compensation to Wotte and JP!

 

It's good to see the art of negotiation is alive and well. That intelligence and common sense can be used to address even the most complex issues of our time. Well done Leon.

[70's Mike]

Crouch is an idiot

 

 

But richer than the other two idiots

[Window Cleaner]

I haven't read Crouch's letters. What do they actually say about Poortvliet and Wotte?

[Foxstone]

don't really get your point, the letters tell the story from that time -his offer, its refusal, clubs request to discuss, meeting held, his refusal to change requirements.

 

Its not an opening gambit -it was a publicity stunt, with no realistic room for negotiate.

 

 

Agree:

 

If somebody came to me with such an opening gambit, I would tell them to immediately "P1ss off" and would feel unable to take them seriously again !

 

It was wind of Kinnock proportions I'm afraid...

[OldNick]

It was his opening gambit.

 

And if you read further into the articles it becomes very clear that there are negotiations, movement and alternatives which then move away from that opening gambit.

 

It was not as set in stone as your summation tried to suggest and you would have done better to included all the various permutations as opposed to just putting the first one up and saying "that's what Crouch was offering, no wonder it was turned down".

Do you agree that it was basically to put RL etc in a very difficult position and timed (Ithink Im right)in the week of the demonstrations march and so a good headliner ?

[saintjay77]

I think all we knew at the time was he made this 2mil offer and it was seen as a good thing from the fans and it made the others look bad for not dipping into their own pockets. I think if we saw what was actually being offered not as many would have seen it in the same light so for that reason I think it was more of a PR stunt than anything to be taken seriously. still think they are all idiots that have had there part in screwing the club over. some more than others but none can be excused IMO

[hypochondriac]

I heard a rumour flying aound SMS that Leon Crouch had personally donated a large amount of money to SOS that effectively kept the club going until the end of the season. The figure banded around was £500k but he wanted it kept quiet.

 

If this is just bol**X then it seems strange that there was word coming from numerous sources including Fry that we were unlikely to have enough cash to play out the season. Figures of around £500k needed to be raised to keep us going. Now we are well over week after the season has ended and absolutely no talk of running out of money.

 

Maybe LC has personally financed us until the buy out has been finalised? Anyone else heard anything?

 

It's a loan and Fry is trying to get any bidders to pay it back.

[ghq]

Has the question of why Wilde did the about face and joined forces with Lowe ever satisfactorily been answered? In my opinion he either had a blind hatred of Crouch for his part in his (Wilde's) ousting. Or the Lowe one convinced him that Crouch was on a ruinous path and had to be stopped. Whatever the reason, in the light of subsequent events,it will go down as yet another stuff up in the recent Saints saga. I would however, like to think it will all come out into the public domain one day.

[Gordon Mockles]

We are all aware that Crouch has spoken about being willing to put £2m into saints to save it.

 

The echo publishes his offer letter in full, for those out of the area I will summarise;

 

A loan of £2m

 

conditions;

 

lowe matches it

Wilde matches it

Wilde resigns

Crouch becomes chairman

Lowe remains PLC chairman but no involvement with football matters

JP sacked

Wotte sacked

their compensation to be paid personally by Lowe and Wilde

 

 

Can't say I am surprised Wilde was against it! He would have had to pay £2m for the privilege of being sacked and then also personally pay compensation to Wotte and JP!

 

Are you on a back hander from Lowe?!

 

If this is true, it's pretty poor and lame & shows no PR skills from Leon but you're as bad as the directors/chairmen. Let it go. They've collectively trashed our club. Let's give up the "it's his fault more than mine!" school of thought! Pathetic!

[NickG]

Are you on a back hander from Lowe?!

 

If this is true, it's pretty poor and lame & shows no PR skills from Leon but you're as bad as the directors/chairmen. Let it go. They've collectively trashed our club. Let's give up the "it's his fault more than mine!" school of thought! Pathetic!

 

don't get your comment about Lowe.

 

It is true, the echo last night printed his offer letter in full, the rejection letter and offer to meet to discuss, the agenda for the meeting and then the concluding letter stating Crouch wasn't willing to negitiate.

 

Not really anything to do with Lowe.

[Capel Saint]

Has the question of why Wilde did the about face and joined forces with Lowe ever satisfactorily been answered? In my opinion he either had a blind hatred of Crouch for his part in his (Wilde's) ousting. Or the Lowe one convinced him that Crouch was on a ruinous path and had to be stopped. Whatever the reason, in the light of subsequent events,it will go down as yet another stuff up in the recent Saints saga. I would however, like to think it will all come out into the public domain one day.

 

I don't think us porr fans will ever know the real truth that went on but a mental picture of three kids arguing over playing with the trainset comes to mind. They have all collectively sniped at each other in public and behind closed doors and it is the club and fans that have suffered because they became entrenched in their own views rather than look at things for the good of the club!

 

I reckon all the past Directors realised a few years ago when we finally were relegated from the Prem that forming a plc to run a football club is, in general, a huge mistake as it has now proved.

 

I just hope that these prospective groups that have made/or are making an actual bid for the club have nothing to do with any of the ex-directors. As people have said before, a clean sweep at Board level is required and it is such a shame it has taken the club to be relegated to League 1 and administration for this to be achieved.

 

I'm also keeping my fingers crossed that they have enough money to turn the club around and invest in a good manager (Curbishley) and quality players to get the club moving forwards, rather than backwards.

[Sheff Saint]

I just don't get people on here of late.

 

Just what has Crouch done wrong?

 

Everyone on here blames Wilde in one way or another but then, when someone comes along to try and remove him AND inject funds to the club, he is the one said to be an idiot.

 

What?

 

Crouch has more loyalty and business sense in his little finger than Lowe or Wilde. We probably are better off with none of them around but Crouch is a good man, businessman and fan that still hasn't done much wrong execpt maybe be a bit giddy with his utternances to the press.

[NickG]

The problem is that all the directors have appeared to let egos and personalities get in the way of running SFC.

 

I don't think anyone has ever doubted Crouch is the biggest fan out of all of them.

 

I don't know enough about them, nor do I want to, to say who has the most business sense.

 

The letters don't appear to show Crouch attempting to remove Wilde in rational way (such as buying him out or rights issue) but making offer that was never going to be accepted.

 

I doubt if many on he have ill feelings towards him, I certainly don't, whereas most of us do have ill-feelings about the other two.

 

You say all he has done wrong are his giddy utterances? - this is what we get to see of him and they haven't been good. He has lowered himself to Lowe's level of point scoring, made this offer and several other ill-advised comments.

 

This is why I hope we can start again and start to forget that any of the previous board memebers were ever anything to do with the club I support.

 

I am looking forward to a time when owners are rarely mentioned.

[jonah]

Just what has Crouch done wrong?

 

Everyone on here blames Wilde in one way or another but then, when someone comes along to try and remove him AND inject funds to the club, he is the one said to be an idiot.

 

Only an idiot would expect someone to pay £2m for the privilege of having themselves removed.

 

What?

 

I said, only an idiot would expect someone to pay £2m for the privilege of having themselves removed. Especially when Wilde could pay £2m and remove Crouch from the equation for good instead.

 

We probably are better off with none of them around but Crouch is...

 

I think you need to stop there. There's no point trying to justify who is the better, let's just get shot of all of them and start again.

[Sheff Saint]

Only an idiot would expect someone to pay £2m for the privilege of having themselves removed.

 

 

But that wasn't Crouch is suggesting is it? He could stay on the PLC board but not the football board. Given the success or otherwise of this season that is probably not a bad offer.

 

Anyway, we're into the detail. Crouch, at the very worst, is someone you whince at from time to time cos they're associated with the club. A bit like a part-time Simon Jordan.

 

In the absence of anyone better i'd take Simon Jordan over Lowe and Wilde every single day of the week.

[fos1]

I said, only an idiot would expect someone to pay £2m for the privilege of having themselves removed. Especially when Wilde could pay £2m and remove Crouch from the equation for good instead.

 

 

That is the point Wilde promised to invest £2m at a good many board meetings, each time he promised it was coming next week !!! he could not raise the money, I believe he was rejected each time, even trying to raise the money against his company, in the end the board did not believe a word he said and got rid of him !! so to say he could pay £2m and remove Crouch is wrong he does not have the money.

[um pahars]

don't really get your point, the letters tell the story from that time -his offer, its refusal, clubs request to discuss, meeting held, his refusal to change requirements.

 

In which case I can only presume that you have problems reading or maybe taking things in, because things moved on from the openiong gambit.

 

In the Agenda that Crouch drafted up it is clear that the conditions have changed (from £2m to an amount to be agreed) along with other changes from the first letter.

 

Indeed by the end of it there was no requirement for Wilde or Lowe to take part.

 

I have some issues with how the offer was communicated, how it was a part of a dck waving contest (and I'll reply to nickh on that one in a minute), but to suggest there was a refusal to change requirements or negotiate is quite simply at odds with what was in the Echo's various bits last night.

 

How did it move from them all having to put £6m in, to only Crouch having to put it in if he refused to change his requirements?

 

don't get your comment about Lowe.

 

It is true, the echo last night printed his offer letter in full, the rejection letter and offer to meet to discuss, the agenda for the meeting and then the concluding letter stating Crouch wasn't willing to negitiate.

 

Not really anything to do with Lowe.

 

As above it did nothing of the sort and your summation / paraphrasing is wide of the mark on this one.

 

You need to go away and read what was in The Echo as what you're putting up here is not what was in there. You are aware that the Agenda that contained movements from the original offer was drafted by Crouch.

 

The letters don't appear to show Crouch attempting to remove Wilde in rational way (such as buying him out or rights issue) but making offer that was never going to be accepted.

 

In which case go and read the Agenda drafted by Crouch where one of the Agenda items for discussion was the purchase of Wilde's shares, which I would suggest is a way of removing Wilde in a rational way.

[um pahars]

Do you agree that it was basically to put RL etc in a very difficult position and timed (Ithink Im right)in the week of the demonstrations march and so a good headliner ?

 

Of course I think there was an element of that in there, but I also think there was a genuine offer by Crouch to put some money into the Club pre and post Xmas. For all his faults (and I do think he has some BTW) I do think it was an honest attempt to keep the Club afloat and although he may be chastised for the way he went about it, I don't think you can argue against the sentiment, particularly when you put it in context of where we were, and where we are now!!!!

 

Given our precarious financial position I would have thought that all three would have somehow managed to bury any past differences to make it work, but ultimately all three failed to manage that and for that they must all take their share of repsonsibility.

 

Given that we sacked the manager and two months later went into administration, I would have thought they all should have been able to find a way to accept any money in to the business to (a) keep the bank happy and (b) to help in the fight against relegation.

 

I have no doubt that Crouch probably went about this like a bull in a china shop, but I also think there was potential to get a deal done. If they could all have put the Club in front of their egos then maybe something could have been achieved.

 

And quite honestly if I was going to unilaterally put £2m in I would have wanted a pretty big say of what happened afterwards, particularly when viewed from the position that the current incumbents were making a complete pigs ear of it and continued to make such a pigs ear of it that we went into administration, were relegated and start next season on -10 (that's if we've still got a club left!!!!).