Baz Bee
INVALID EMAIL
- Joined
- 9 May 2000
- Messages
- 2,050
- Reaction score
- 1
Ron in the Chron
I am surprised that nobody has posted anything regarding the article in Thursday's Chronicle (27 December 2001) where Ron made some rather interesting and startling revelations about the future.
He says he will not “fund” the club after this season. What does this mean? At the moment he is guaranteeing/underwriting the overdraft at the bank, hardly funding. However, without these deposits the bank may not release further credit against GP. But, what must be remembered is that at the end of the day the overdraft is secured against GP and, unless you let us know differently Ron, the bank could foreclose on the ground and Ron could (?) reclaim his deposits from the bank. Does anyone know whether Ron gets any interest accruing on these deposits and what terms the bank and Ron trade under in this particular respect?
What of course matters is what happens when this “funding” ceases. If Ron is serious about what he says then perhaps he should also have the courtesy and decency to tell the supporters how he anticipates the club will trade when he pulls his plug. Is it his intention to remain and run the club on the revenue income, or has he a cunning plan? Remember, it is Ron who has taken us in to this situation. Did he not say when he bought W£bb's shares’ that it was because the club was debt free? So why are we now £3.5m+(?) in debt to Barclays PLC and others and sinking deeper in the mire on a weekly basis? Who took us in to this situation? Who should shoulder the responsibility for pushing the club in to such a financially precarious situation? Do we need to look any further than the Board of Directors and in particular their Chairman? If we do then I would be pleased to be told that information.
If Ron does pull his plug what happens about GP? Is this a shrewd move by Ron to force us in to a ground share? The club need to trade viably. Barclay’s want their money. GP is “reluctantly sold”. Ron gets his cash released by the bank. The bank take their first call on the sale proceeds from GP and the remainder is supposedly ring fenced for a new ground. In the mean time BFC are playing at a venue that results in a fall in the crowds. A new ground is many years away from being progressed, if at all. Ron says all of this is not sustainable and looks at the alternatives. I have some ideas what they may be, but I’ll give some others the opportunity to speculate first!
In the article he additionally talks about the players’ out of contract at the end of the season. He seems to strongly suggest that nothing will be done regarding retaining any player until the season is over. Bearing in mind that Evans, Mahon, Owusu and Ingimarsson are all free agents after 30 June 2002, and from the 1 January 2002 can start to talk to other clubs then the future is not too bright, is it? Anyone with commitments to meet will not want to wait until their contract expires before ensuring their future employment. Ron is it possible that the supporters can be told when all players’ contracts expire please?
All in all I found the article depressing and frightening. We have a Chairman who it appears is now clearly intent on getting his cash released from the bank and does not have any long term interest in the club, and in particular the retention of its key playing staff for next season. Whilst I appreciate that in financial terms the club cannot continue to trade in its current state I cannot help but ask “who has got us in this mess”? If that person, who wanted to use BFC as his personal toy, wants to now walk away all well and good. But any decent person would say OK, I created the financial mess and instability as part of my personal entertainment and of course I’ll pick up the tab so that everything is left as I found it (I think “debt free” were the words used, were they not?) That may be simplistic, but the bottom line is that only one person has got us to the situation we are in now and that person has never had the guts or courage to take the responsibility for it. It is always someone else’s fault. Well I’m sorry, but it is nobody’s fault except the person who made the decisions that have created the present situation. To insinuate otherwise is to suggest that we are all fools and that we should believe that he is a victim of his own naivety. Well, for someone who has been involved in professional football for so long to expect me to accept that he could not reasonably have anticipated what the likely prospects for a third division team in west London were, is so ridiculous that if it were not so serious it would be hilarious.
Ron, you owe it to a lot of people to provide some answers and explanations to a lot of longstanding questions. When can we have them? Stop treating us with disdain and vitriol every time someone ask you a reasonable question. You are not too old to show the same courtesy and respect that you always seem to think that everyone owes you!!!
He says he will not “fund” the club after this season. What does this mean? At the moment he is guaranteeing/underwriting the overdraft at the bank, hardly funding. However, without these deposits the bank may not release further credit against GP. But, what must be remembered is that at the end of the day the overdraft is secured against GP and, unless you let us know differently Ron, the bank could foreclose on the ground and Ron could (?) reclaim his deposits from the bank. Does anyone know whether Ron gets any interest accruing on these deposits and what terms the bank and Ron trade under in this particular respect?
What of course matters is what happens when this “funding” ceases. If Ron is serious about what he says then perhaps he should also have the courtesy and decency to tell the supporters how he anticipates the club will trade when he pulls his plug. Is it his intention to remain and run the club on the revenue income, or has he a cunning plan? Remember, it is Ron who has taken us in to this situation. Did he not say when he bought W£bb's shares’ that it was because the club was debt free? So why are we now £3.5m+(?) in debt to Barclays PLC and others and sinking deeper in the mire on a weekly basis? Who took us in to this situation? Who should shoulder the responsibility for pushing the club in to such a financially precarious situation? Do we need to look any further than the Board of Directors and in particular their Chairman? If we do then I would be pleased to be told that information.
If Ron does pull his plug what happens about GP? Is this a shrewd move by Ron to force us in to a ground share? The club need to trade viably. Barclay’s want their money. GP is “reluctantly sold”. Ron gets his cash released by the bank. The bank take their first call on the sale proceeds from GP and the remainder is supposedly ring fenced for a new ground. In the mean time BFC are playing at a venue that results in a fall in the crowds. A new ground is many years away from being progressed, if at all. Ron says all of this is not sustainable and looks at the alternatives. I have some ideas what they may be, but I’ll give some others the opportunity to speculate first!
In the article he additionally talks about the players’ out of contract at the end of the season. He seems to strongly suggest that nothing will be done regarding retaining any player until the season is over. Bearing in mind that Evans, Mahon, Owusu and Ingimarsson are all free agents after 30 June 2002, and from the 1 January 2002 can start to talk to other clubs then the future is not too bright, is it? Anyone with commitments to meet will not want to wait until their contract expires before ensuring their future employment. Ron is it possible that the supporters can be told when all players’ contracts expire please?
All in all I found the article depressing and frightening. We have a Chairman who it appears is now clearly intent on getting his cash released from the bank and does not have any long term interest in the club, and in particular the retention of its key playing staff for next season. Whilst I appreciate that in financial terms the club cannot continue to trade in its current state I cannot help but ask “who has got us in this mess”? If that person, who wanted to use BFC as his personal toy, wants to now walk away all well and good. But any decent person would say OK, I created the financial mess and instability as part of my personal entertainment and of course I’ll pick up the tab so that everything is left as I found it (I think “debt free” were the words used, were they not?) That may be simplistic, but the bottom line is that only one person has got us to the situation we are in now and that person has never had the guts or courage to take the responsibility for it. It is always someone else’s fault. Well I’m sorry, but it is nobody’s fault except the person who made the decisions that have created the present situation. To insinuate otherwise is to suggest that we are all fools and that we should believe that he is a victim of his own naivety. Well, for someone who has been involved in professional football for so long to expect me to accept that he could not reasonably have anticipated what the likely prospects for a third division team in west London were, is so ridiculous that if it were not so serious it would be hilarious.
Ron, you owe it to a lot of people to provide some answers and explanations to a lot of longstanding questions. When can we have them? Stop treating us with disdain and vitriol every time someone ask you a reasonable question. You are not too old to show the same courtesy and respect that you always seem to think that everyone owes you!!!
