[Archived] Nickos (newer) Thread

[Majiball]

I think that was a sarcastic reply to the negative response Chowdery got on here... Not that their was a new bidder...

As for Friedel, he has that acadamy in the States, so is surely alright at Coaching, why don't the club offer him the Coaching berth at the club, or at least offer him a part in it...?

Would be tricky for him to coach himself, Mimms is a good shout he's done well at Wolves. I thought Brad said he wanted to go back to the states to build his academies up.

[American]

I'm sure I read that under the age of 14 more kids now play football than any other sport.

From what I've heard, that's been the case for a number of years now.

[hawkiiz]

From what I've heard, that's been the case for a number of years now.

pele have done a tremendous job over there. he was a major part of why they got the world cup in '94, so that has helped a lot, and now the becksmania aint doing any harm to the interrest.

[brfcshabba]

Lennon

If that is true then surely there is no place for Bentley as well

[Tom 1]

Why not? They left Darren Bent and Jermain Defoe on the same bench...that kind of thing clearly doesn't bother them.

[1864roverite]

TND

it sounds like its your time of the month, drink some cranberry juice

[Majiball]

From what I've heard, that's been the case for a number of years now.

Don't take this the wrong way, but I kinda hope it doesn't become your man sport although I do think it will. I've been across to the states and visited Princeton, the sports facilities where impressive better than my local club PAFC, and this was a Uni!!! Sport is so big a part of your community over there its frightening, 1000's turn up to watch uni sports at LJMU we're lucky to 100's, the money involved is also massive full scholar ships with cars etc. We will struggle to compete.

Its a pity we don't do the same down here I played for the school when allowed but there was no league maybe 3 games a year no training, Pathetic really. Sport is second class in our schools.

[rebelmswar]

pele have done a tremendous job over there. he was a major part of why they got the world cup in '94, so that has helped a lot, and now the becksmania aint doing any harm to the interrest.

Blanco has Chicago going football mad too.

[doctorryan]

TND

it sounds like its your time of the month, drink some cranberry juice

[doctorryan]

Don't take this the wrong way, but I kinda hope it doesn't become your man sport although I do think it will. I've been across to the states and visited Princeton, the sports facilities where impressive better than my local club PAFC, and this was a Uni!!! Sport is so big a part of your community over there its frightening, 1000's turn up to watch uni sports at LJMU we're lucky to 100's, the money involved is also massive full scholar ships with cars etc. We will struggle to compete.....

Full scholarships with cars? I think the NCAA would be VERY INTERESTED in where you noticed this.

[Majiball]

Full scholarships with cars? I think the NCAA would be VERY INTERESTED in where you noticed this.

Ok sponsored cars then, not part of the scholarship package itself. However you want to phrase it, nothing like that happens over here, Scholarships are rare as rocking horse @~£% over here.

[doctorryan]

Sponsored or not the cars are a MAJOR violation of NCAA rules. Anyway.....Association Football is still more than a bit down the totem pole here. Most of the trappings and attention you noticed are reserved for and because of the two college sports that attract the interest of television: American football and basketball.

Most of the other sports are piggybacking on those 2. Of course that still leaves great facilities and circumstances for the other sports, which is what you were alluding to.

[nicko]

Nicko you posted this yesterday - who is the new bidder - local - prepared to talk.

Tried to find this news, going through the posts this morning but could not find anything

No, that was me referring to the 'local' Chowdery stroy that was met with such indifference a week before...

[nicko]

I'm surprised you buy these rumours so readily Alan - you must realise that journos are about as reliable source of information as Hilda Ogden's tealeaves.

I haven't bought any other Man City links...but I did think this one was interesting.

I'm not saying it's right, but it interests me because of where it has come from...no smoke without fire etc.

[bats]

Nicko where does it go from here, regarding the takeover:

1. Will the trustees except chowdery's £40 million

or

2. Trustees Reject it and ask for more (most likely)

then will

3. Chowdery up his offer

or

4. Retreat from negotiations as he belives like Ronnie that the club is overpriced

What is the next step?

[Majiball]

Sponsored or not the cars are a MAJOR violation of NCAA rules. Anyway.....Association Football is still more than a bit down the totem pole here. Most of the trappings and attention you noticed are reserved for and because of the two college sports that attract the interest of television: American football and basketball.

Most of the other sports are piggybacking on those 2. Of course that still leaves great facilities and circumstances for the other sports, which is what you were alluding to.

you've obviously been or are involved in sport as am I you know as well as me that what is supposed to happen and what really happens are two different things. I will not mention it again.

But where does all the dollar come from?, do the MLS donate money or is it just from fees, surely sponsors do not give that much money. The Footie pitch I saw was top draw, better than most league clubs over here. It really impressed me, to the point of considering going across once finished at LJMU. Its different world, once the coaching catches up, its not bad at the moment, I can see big strides taking place.

How big is college football in the states at the moment is it a growing sport?

[nicko]

Nicko where does it go from here, regarding the takeover:

1. Will the trustees except chowdery's £40 million

or

2. Trustees Reject it and ask for more (most likely)

then will

3. Chowdery up his offer

or

4. Retreat from negotiations as he belives like Ronnie that the club is overpriced

What is the next step?

I've had a couple of interesting calls on this today but need to tie down the info before I go further on it.

As it stands, nobody is paying the price the Trustees want/picking up the debt/leaving enough cash to buy players.

It would help if the Trustees had a fixed figure in mind, put a 'for sale' notice up and said it was non-negotiable.

It would cut out all of the pain that is currently going on.

I don't think Chris Ronnie will be back in a hurry which is good/bad news depending on your point of view.

The Chowdery fella is still in the frame and I would not count him out. However he is a businessman and won't be throwing millions at something he doesn't value at the higher price.

I have a funny feeling we will still be talking about this in a year's time. I hope that the current price tag does not prove to have been a costly mistake.

If things slide, the club becomes worth less and needs more repair. That can't be good news for the owners as much as the fans.

[gumboots]

I'm going to have to stop reading this thread. It gets more depressing every time i read it. With the rest of the family watching the wimbledon final and me being the only tennis hating member of the household it's no good. I'm going to have to wash up and iron. It cheers me more than reading this. Not blaming you Nicko. You only report what you hear and know but wish we could, just for once, hear something good.

[1864roverite]

If what your saying is right Alan, the Trustees and Board can ill afford any chance of the club slipping down the current rankings and with that view in mind surely Paul Ince is in a win/win situation as are the fans.

The Trustees will have to provide funds IF they are holding out for £40m PLUS.

If they dont and Rovers slip they face the prospect of losing out big time in the cash stakes which IMO would mean that in the interim period they must pay some money into the club funds. I mean the £3m annual funding is nothing if the club get relegated or have a bad season which could cost at the worst some £27m or even worse so it makes sense for them to keep us in the top league and provide the base money for the club to work on.

I think its an interesting time with this sale. I dont think Chris Ronnie is out of the equation nor Mr Chowdrey. I dont even rule out the chap Sheard and his crew who are looking at Sheff Wed.

I dont see the point in getting wound up about it, wait until something happens.

[whatdial]

Not sure why you think Sheard would be looking at Rovers. He has been fishing around Wednesday for about 6 months now and has "reportedly" made bids to the 3 main shareholders and the supporters group - who own 10% of the shares each.

Rovers has to be more straight forward, in terms of shareholding, but the asking price is pretty high, as anyone investing wont be able to cash in on much apart from the tv revenue.

[Exiled_Rover]

What I don't understand, concerning the takeover talk, is why the Trustees are playing such hard ball. Admittedly the valuations by some of these potential buyers appear to be a bit short of the mark, but the Walker Trust clearly want absolutely nothing to do with Blackburn Rovers. They see the club as a liability - you'd think they'd just get what they can out of the deal and wash their hands of the whole affair.

[Parsonblue]

Perhaps the fact that the Trust are holding out for a certain sum may have something to do with the terms of the Trust. Is it possible that certain figures are set in stone before talks are allowed the begin? Without knowing the exact terms of Jack Walker's will and the terms of the Trust it is difficult to speculate why potential investors are unable to reach a point where they can actually sit down with the Trust and start negotiating terms for a buyout.

[Majiball]

I've had a couple of interesting calls on this today but need to tie down the info before I go further on it.

As it stands, nobody is paying the price the Trustees want/picking up the debt/leaving enough cash to buy players.

It would help if the Trustees had a fixed figure in mind, put a 'for sale' notice up and said it was non-negotiable.

It would cut out all of the pain that is currently going on.

I don't think Chris Ronnie will be back in a hurry which is good/bad news depending on your point of view.

The Chowdery fella is still in the frame and I would not count him out. However he is a businessman and won't be throwing millions at something he doesn't value at the higher price.

I have a funny feeling we will still be talking about this in a year's time. I hope that the current price tag does not prove to have been a costly mistake.

If things slide, the club becomes worth less and needs more repair. That can't be good news for the owners as much as the fans.

Your right in what you say, lets say we finish bottom half, then how much does that knock off 10M or so, last year the figure was around 67M, pretty much the same as now. Its been dragging on for too long now and its cost us already in Hughes, we are about to enter a new period, one in which we cannot predict what will happen. This period would be made so much easier if we had new backers.

Walker was worth 330M at his time of passing I now believe the trust is worth some 200M more, they have done well, and to be honest if its a 10M difference thats 2% of the total value of the trust. Money they cannot desperately need. I always thought that the idea of a trust was safeguard the club along with the wishes that Jack had. Jack was one of us, a fan first and foremost, he would have done anything for the club, anything. If Chowderys vision is a good solid one then they should let it go before they ruin all that Jack did.

10M is nothing to them, surely being business men they must see that ability to compete while others around us are bringing in top drawer players for stupid money. Its far cry from what they said at the time of Jacks death:

http://archive.prestoncitizen.co.uk/2000/8/19/717845.html

Yes the future is still secure the club will not go under, but can it maintain it current position? they said profits from the trust would be used for the club, in the long term this is no longer happening. To quote Mr Egerton-Vernon, Jack had a never say die attitude, the trust do not they have given up on the club, on Jacks dream. It was never about money with Jack, he loved the club, it was passion, I hate to think what he would think about the current situation. They should do whats best for the club as they always said they would, give it to a man who can take us forward, and keep the club where uncle Jack felt it belonged before its too late.

[John]

They should do whats best for the club as they always said they would, give it to a man who can take us forward, and keep the club where uncle Jack felt it belonged before its too late.

Quite difficult if there is no one suitable out there......

[PAFELL]

Your right in what you say, lets say we finish bottom half, then how much does that knock off 10M or so, last year the figure was around 67M, pretty much the same as now. Its been dragging on for too long now and its cost us already in Hughes, we are about to enter a new period, one in which we cannot predict what will happen. This period would be made so much easier if we had new backers.

Walker was worth 330M at his time of passing I now believe the trust is worth some 200M more, they have done well, and to be honest if its a 10M difference thats 2% of the total value of the trust. Money they cannot desperately need. I always thought that the idea of a trust was safeguard the club along with the wishes that Jack had. Jack was one of us, a fan first and foremost, he would have done anything for the club, anything. If Chowderys vision is a good solid one then they should let it go before they ruin all that Jack did.

10M is nothing to them, surely being business men they must see that ability to compete while others around us are bringing in top drawer players for stupid money. Its far cry from what they said at the time of Jacks death:

http://archive.prestoncitizen.co.uk/2000/8/19/717845.html

Yes the future is still secure the club will not go under, but can it maintain it current position? they said profits from the trust would be used for the club, in the long term this is no longer happening. To quote Mr Egerton-Vernon, Jack had a never say die attitude, the trust do not they have given up on the club, on Jacks dream. It was never about money with Jack, he loved the club, it was passion, I hate to think what he would think about the current situation. They should do whats best for the club as they always said they would, give it to a man who can take us forward, and keep the club where uncle Jack felt it belonged before its too late.

When was the last time the LET or any paper that was likely to be read by people connected with the trusties and Rovers came out with an article saying the supporters of Rovers want to know what is going on. Maybe a bit of bad publicity with regards to the trusties / walker family may make them come out and speak.

At the end of the day fans could vote with their feet by not going to ewood (threaten it at least) this would bring the value of the club down which would make the trusties act. But that is not a road supporters should go down in my view. Or various (banner) protests inside Ewood during games - especially games on TV may make the trusties feel embarrassed and prompt them to act.

Nicko doing a large article about the fans concerns with the way the trusties are dealing with the club and Jack Walkers 'dreams'. After all the concerns have all been written from various posters on here for ages. Maybe it is time for supporters to try and do something.