SkyBlueUntrust

The Yid wrote:Moving to Northampton is a fucking stupid plan, but still not nearly as stupid as letting the council rape us for every penny. They have called the councils bluff (albeit at the expense of alienating their fanbase). IMO they won't be a new stadium, and the club will be back at Ricoh as owners within 2 seasons. ACL have done a sterling job distressing themselves, and in the process devaluing their own property.

They have called the councils bluff, and not got what they want.

You can tell they didn't have a plan when last season they had to set up a short term deal to use the Ricoh to finish the fixtures 24 hours before a game was due to be played. The fact that most of our home fixtures clash with Northampton's because it was done pretty much on the hoof and they had to have somewhere/anywhere to play. Why they brought a farcical judicial review against the council.

Now, you can get away with that, just, in those situations. Planning and building somewhere new you can't. There's far too many rules and regulations to just do things on the fly.

The way forward was not to just act like a spoilt brat. Short term the problem was the cash needed to pay the rent, with the longer term problem to get hold of the extra revenues to increase competitiveness. So you deal with them in order, firstly by stating the need for a lower rent (which they did), then by paying a reduced rent in order to enable negotiating a contractually binding cheaper rent (as it's unlikely anyone, including ACL, would move on that issue first without being given a push as it reduces their own income) to be less onerous on cash reserves but with a clear desire for this eventually to lead to ownership. Relationships remain amicable, making a deal more likely, while the problems are dealt with incrementally.

Had that happened I reckon we'd be a lot closer to a resolution and achieving that ultimate goal. It was achievable. Lower rent was offered. Take that short term and then start on negotiating to buy outright. Costs lowered short term, revenues largely unaffected, fanbase still by and large with you, better chance of a quick purchase.

Instead they just stopped paying completely, rejected lower rent and took steps clearly designed to attempt to financially distress ACL, blatantly trying to bully people. And you don't expect the people you do that to to be distrusting and unwilling to do business with you? All it's done is lead to a massively entrenched, pretty much irreconcilable, argument costing both sides huge amounts of money both in lost revenue and legal fees, and essentially leading to a race to the bottom to see who dies first. No-one wins. It is and was a ridiculous strategy, and bound to be a financial and PR disaster.

Now the Ricoh, as real estate, will retain its value as an asset long term much better that the football club. Many developers have stockpiled lands that are currently economically inactive because long term it's more worthwhile keeping the land and doing nothing with it than to sell.

The football club is continually going to hemorrhage money and reduce in value. While I've been pleasantly surprised with the way we've played and got ourselves back in contention quickly, we do still have quite a small, young squad, especially defensively, and we are still more involved in ensuring safety at this stage. A few injuries. especially to key players, could cause problems on the field and fatigue later on could see us fall away. There is still a very real chance we could be in L2 next year. If that happened would Sixfields still be affordable? Would they have to renege on that agreement as well and look for somewhere else again?

There does appear to have been a softening on the stance with SISU amongst fans somewhat, but that is largely down to the performances on the pitch IMO. They fall away and the animosity towards the owners returns. It is a highly risky, highly expensive strategy that even long term leaves you at a disadvantage as you've massively reduced your customer base.

Burf wrote:ACL & CCC are now the major obstacles to this club moving forward. Fact. Our only hope is that Joy decides to stay the course, build the new ground & move the club forward. We're fucked otherwise. No one else is coming to the rescue. Deal with it.

That is one of the biggest bits of shite I've read for quite a while.

Since SISU took over the club has steadily gone backwards in every way possible. They didn't need any help from ACL to keep fucking up the accounts, sell any decent players or appoint some of the shittest managers in the clubs history. And only a few months ago there were plenty of people who wanted to come to the rescue. They are still there from what I hear.

Seppela has decided to poke her head out of the hole she has been hiding in for years because no fucker is going to watch the club in Northampton. They have made a massive mistake thinking City fans would cave in and that ACL/the council would deal with them. As I have said many times, the council will never deal with SISU. I knew from about as good a source as you could get that the council wanted SISU out of the way years ago. As far as I know nothing has changed on that point.

Every day that SISU continue to hold the club hostage in Northampton just brings the end of the club nearer. I give the club two years at the most with SISU in charge. And it is my opinion that SISU really couldn't give a fuck if the club goes pop or not, all that matters to them is there hard-man image.

king chillout wrote:

Burf wrote:ACL & CCC are now the major obstacles to this club moving forward. Fact. Our only hope is that Joy decides to stay the course, build the new ground & move the club forward. We're fucked otherwise. No one else is coming to the rescue. Deal with it.

That is one of the biggest bits of shite I've read for quite a while.

Do you not proof read before you hit submit?

I have a couple of questions about the Ricoh if anyone can help. Just interested like.

1. Havent seen anything regarding any concerts or events happening there this year. Is it being used for anything else. It seemed to have several high profile events (concerts, rugby etc) a year but just havent noticed anyone using it (or due to use it soon).

2. What state of repair is it in?

3. What has happened to the Casino there is it still open?

4. Anyone heard a rumuor that ACL wanted Northampton Saints Rugby to use the place for European Cup games but that it fell through as they couldnt agree terms.