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Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2017 21:11:18 GMT
Just a quick couple questions for Oxvox.
1. Has a price been agreed with Fk?
2. Is it reasonable?
Not asking for detail just a little clarification. If a price had not been given then surely there is no way that the group can say that a deal is hopeful by the end of season.
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Post by headingtonutd on Jan 15, 2017 21:32:26 GMT
Wow, I hadn't thought of it that way. Your intelligent and reasoned argument has won me over. Oh no wait.... As you dont get it...the reason I didn't put an argument down is because there is no point. No one on here has enough money to sort out this mess. It's just bulls hit. Again I thank you for correcting me and explaining the situation so eloquently. I'm just a little confused as to how you got to know so much about the situation? We all fumble about with stupid things like debate, reason and the occasional fact and you manage to cut through it all with your in-depth conclusion 'It's all b*llshit!' and as you say, no point explaining your genius argument, that would just be silly. Well played sir.
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Post by finlandia on Jan 16, 2017 6:12:23 GMT
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Post by holdsteady on Jan 16, 2017 6:44:40 GMT
Interesting start to the week. I feel a bit sorry for Oxvox in this, any deal can only move at the speed Kassam lets it.
The budget stuff seems a bit ominous. Playing elsewhere mentioned as well, City? Not certain it would be allowed in the football league.
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Post by yelnah on Jan 16, 2017 6:44:57 GMT
. Well done to the fuckwit who wrote this.oxvox are doing thier best to push along the purchase of the stadium. Now the club are questioning thier efforts. Why say the club agree and support what oxvox are doing then release a statement like this. Just when u think the club are getting somewhere they go f*ck it up again.....
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Post by grenobleroad on Jan 16, 2017 6:47:11 GMT
This is like your parents marriage breaking up. It's like you're forced to pick a side.
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Post by The Fence End on Jan 16, 2017 6:54:31 GMT
It's always going to be difficult for Oxvox to get this over the line, everyone has to remember they are a group of volunteers and I guess everything has to presented to and agreed but the comittee.
I am extremely concerned by the statement, as feared it seems this is may annoy Eales to such an extent that he'll walk away from the club.
Not good.
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Post by fourthstand on Jan 16, 2017 7:04:26 GMT
This is like your parents marriage breaking up. It's like you're forced to pick a side. Beautifully summarised. For me, this is a call to Kassam to speed up his game. In his best interest to draw this out. Oxvox caught in the middle. As professional business people, i understand DE and the boards frustration. Vitriol not required. As a supporter I want what's best for the team and the future of the club. We HAVE to move quickly.
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Post by Eaststandboy on Jan 16, 2017 7:06:27 GMT
When does our tenancy agreement end?
Yours is a worrying statement. And so soon after the previous one!
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Post by londonroader on Jan 16, 2017 7:35:44 GMT
I wonder why the rush all of a sudden?
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Post by lambchop on Jan 16, 2017 7:39:52 GMT
I'm really hoping this is just a tactic to get Ka$$am moving and not the start of a divorce. In my eyes we have one of the greatest chairman we've ever had, we also have a team of loyal supporters that want the best for the club.... being greedy I want both, I don't want to choose. I don't know enough about what's going on and I suppose no one knows if there are hidden agendas from 1 or all 3 sides. To me this is like Brext all over again and if we are not carefully and the ordinary fan is treated with contempt then there many be an outcome that isn't expected. I'm hoping there is a secret allience between DE and OxVox and all the public statements are a smoke screen to make it look like there is a wedge between them. I hope the outcome of this is going to be fantastic for everyone but I've got a bad feeling about it all.
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Post by foley on Jan 16, 2017 7:50:32 GMT
I must admit to have been a little surprised as to Oxvox's suggestion that Heads of Terms should be signed by the end of the season.
This does appear to suggest that there have been issues to deal with that have pushed this back. I guess that dealing with the Council and FK can not be easy ...
Having said that DE has been here a while now and the ground appears to have suddenly become a huge issue.
Whilst appreciating that there are no doubt non disclosure agreements in place, I am a little surprised that the club are as in the dark as they suggest in the statement?
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Post by essexyellows on Jan 16, 2017 7:53:16 GMT
Its not OxVox. Its not DE. Its not FK. Its not the Council(s). Its not the Community Ownership issue.
The purchase/ownership is an agreement between all parties and is complex, leave them too it.
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Post by 54-46 on Jan 16, 2017 7:53:17 GMT
It is obviously a tactic to put pressure on firoka. I doubt very much that the club want to go to war with oxvox. The moving grounds bit is supposed to put pressure on the council, they don't want an empty ground or a homeless footbsll club on their hands either. I suspect sfter Daryl visited Rotherham it might've cemented the feeling of what could be with a small stadium.
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Post by oxfordmitch on Jan 16, 2017 7:54:45 GMT
Okay, so been following the stadium situation for a while but just simply not getting it. I appreciate it is probably me being very simple but can someone just clear up the following for me:
1) Do we know a rough valuation for the stadium 2) Has that price been agreed? 3) Is this for sole purchase of the stadium or are there any other bits and pieces that come with it? 4) Where are OxVox getting the money from to buy the stadium? 5) Why is the statement issued this morning such a concern. Is it not as simple as they are planning ahead for next season and can't do as such? Let's be honest, the football club are the tenants. 6) Why do people consistently talk about DE commitment to the club? Why is it always about 'losing interest' and 'walking away'?
I appreciate this is probably quite basic, but I just don't get it. Someone kindly clear up for me, many thanks!
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Post by Long John Silver on Jan 16, 2017 7:57:01 GMT
I wonder why the rush all of a sudden? Yes. They didn't seem in that much of a rush when Mark Sennett came on the radio a year or more ago urging them to do something regarding Water Eaton. Also, if it's that easy, then why haven't they come to a similar agreement themselves in the time they have been here.
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Post by Gary Baldi on Jan 16, 2017 8:18:43 GMT
The Board clearly feels that talks have taken far too long and not made much progress. I can't comment on that or set out as looking to criticise the progress that has been made, but I can see both sides. The issue we, as fans, have had since DE arrived is how long will the financing last with the current situation? Relying on a sugar daddy is always concerning and with a frosty relationship with FK, it's understandable the board want to get on with it. I also am very confident OxVox are working both diligently and as quick as they can.
Let's see what occurs.
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Post by mickyd on Jan 16, 2017 8:24:47 GMT
I'd imagine that the sudden rush for a commitment is linked to the recent statement from council regarding housing at Water Eaton-either submit an expression of interest or walk away for good. I wonder would a public message of support from Oxvox for the board and their veiled threat to play elsewhere then put the ball firmly in Fiz's court? Can fully appreciate the desire for a community owned stadium and applaud the efforts of Oxvox however I believe we have one of the most driven and commercially savy boards and chairman that we've had in many a year and would support them to do the right thing commercially for OUFC.
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Post by ox1yellow on Jan 16, 2017 8:25:58 GMT
As I posted on the DE thread: You could read that statement in a number of ways (depending on your agenda I guess), however taking it at face value, I can't disagree with the point that it is taking too long. If there is a genuine will on both sides to do a deal, then it should be straight forward enough to engage the professional advisors required and get it sorted. I've just bought a business, and I'm also in the process of trying to buy a new house so I while I completely understand how challenging any process that requires legal advice can be, I also know that it is straight forward enough to get things through if the will is there.
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Post by oufcyellows on Jan 16, 2017 8:28:25 GMT
What do u think that statement will achieve though. All of that could have been asked in private.
De keeps saying he wants a good relationship with fk, and the supporters trust, as well as a community feel with all fans united. This statement does the exact opposite.
They call for the plan to be announce, then threaten playing budgets cuts, or having to play elsewhere. Well was the boards plan then ? Say Oxvox had never started on this, and de eales knew his bids had been rejected. What was the boards plan for next season? Same as il's sit tight and wait for a miracle, keep talking about it without actually doing anything? Oxvox are the only ones who have got off their arse and actually done something about it. And seeing that it will sole all his problems, and save him a lot of money de and the board could be a little more grateful and stop taking digs at every given opportunity . How can u support it and release that statement in the same breath ?
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Post by ZeroTheHero on Jan 16, 2017 9:01:00 GMT
I really don't understand what is going on. Ever since IL took the club over the club has been trying to buy the stadium off Kassam - who quite obviously isn't that bothered about selling. It didn't work for IL and DE must have known that when he bought the club. In fact he dismissed the whole stadium ownership as not being important. Why does he think that a deal involving OxVox, Kassam and god alone knows who else is going to be any easier to get over the line? The community ownership idea is one that he paid approving lip-service to (I don't think he likes it really, judging by this statement and other recent outbursts) - now that doesn't seem to be good enough, certain enough or quick enough.
OXVox et al might not be making progress as quickly as the board wants them to - but they seem to have got further than the current or previous owners managed.
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Post by mcf86 on Jan 16, 2017 9:03:32 GMT
The farcical and ultimate failure to get firoka to 'rubber stamp' permission for a temporary 4th stand shows what the club are up against, and the latest statement from the board of oufc over stadium ownership shows their frustration and dismay. OxVox are in a very difficult position, do they play a waiting game -and hope that firoka sign the H of T agreement, eventually, or side with the board of oufc by publicly urging a swift conclusion?
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Post by Mark on Jan 16, 2017 9:28:48 GMT
Are these flurry of press releases every other week in preparation for Eales to say enough is enough?
It could be that he has now calculated that without the club owning a ground and all of its revenues, that it will never be sustainable at any level of football, and the push to get anywhere even close to sniffing at Premier League money is way out of our current level of finance. We are now reliant on a combination of player sales / cup runs / Eales' money to keep us afloat, and we don't yet have a stream of players that we can sell on, also affected by the Premier League's ability to pick off young players on the cheap.
So we seem to have obstacles at every level. The council decided not to involve the club in the new Roman Way sports facilities. Kassam seems to want to screw every pennny out of matchdays leaving us with very little incentive to encourage people to eat or drink at the ground. Maintenance at the ground seems to be on a shoestring, perhaps Kassam is thinking that he'll just leave it for the next owner to sort out.
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Post by Pete Burrett on Jan 16, 2017 9:46:21 GMT
Are these flurry of press releases every other week in preparation for Eales to say enough is enough? Looking more like it, isn't it?
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Post by essexyellows on Jan 16, 2017 9:48:24 GMT
Speak to the man, he`ll tell you as much as he can or feels you need to know. Worth considering is: 1.As the landlord lets the property decay then the value diminishes..................... unless you have a sitting tenant paying rent. 2.That tenant has little/no current leverage eg: another "house" to move to. 3.Player sales & cup runs are effectively "bonuses" to the revenue.
If (and its a big if!) DE "walked" what return would he get on his already substantial investment?
Nothing is unsolvable if enough people push in the same direction without over analysing what "somebody else" might gain or lose.
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Post by Mark on Jan 16, 2017 10:03:14 GMT
Also there is very little colour as to how a community owned stadium would actually benefit the football club. The club are tenants who lose £1million per year, and a change in ownership isn't going to substantially change that. Perhaps a small saving in rent, an opportunity to get more from match day revenue? What about the rest of the week? Who would run the conference facilities? Who gets the profits?
If OUFC as main tenants aren't involved in the basics of these discussions they can't know if this will actually solve long term profitability.
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Post by botox on Jan 16, 2017 10:06:56 GMT
If Kassam is letting the stadium fall into disrepair, is he then in breach of contract and could we not break it?
Then say ground share somewhere i.e Ox city with temp stands and build our own stadium more suited to our needs?
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Post by oufcyellows on Jan 16, 2017 10:18:06 GMT
Also there is very little colour as to how a community owned stadium would actually benefit the football club. The club are tenants who lose £1million per year, and a change in ownership isn't going to substantially change that. Perhaps a small saving in rent, an opportunity to get more from match day revenue? What about the rest of the week? Who would run the conference facilities? Who gets the profits? If OUFC as main tenants aren't involved in the basics of these discussions they can't know if this will actually solve long term profitability. You say that but , we don't know that the rent and service charge will be minimal, if so that's a saving of near £700k a year. Then the income of all the other matchday steams. You could be looking at a plus £1m swing in our favour wishing puts us back to a break even business.
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Post by ZeroTheHero on Jan 16, 2017 10:19:03 GMT
If OUFC as main tenants aren't involved in the basics of these discussions they can't know if this will actually solve long term profitability. But isn't that jumping the gun? THESE discussions are about the acquisition of the stadium - absolutely nothing to do with what the relationship will be between the 'community owners' and the club once it has been acquired. I'm sure the club will (have to) be involved when and if that situation arises. How can OxVox etc let the club know what the terms of them playing at the stadium will be when they haven't bought it, presumably haven't finalised the terms of purchase and cannot even be certain that it will happen at all. Let's not forget - OxVox are supporters! They will be pushing for the club to get the most advantageous terms when/if the stadium changes hands.
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Post by Mark Sennett on Jan 16, 2017 10:27:29 GMT
I'm very disappointed to read the statement from the club today especially in the wake of a very friendly and professional statement from OxVox last week. Some things in today's statement don't seem to make sense to me. Firstly I've been around various owners of this club and others to know that it's impossible to budget for next season in January 2017. There's far too many unknowns, for example: 1) we could be playing in championship, league one or league 2 2) we have no idea what cup revenue we could still make 3) potential player sales 4) heck even the economy needs to be taken into account ref new ST prices etc. So the football club simply wouldn't be able to put budgets for 2017/18 season into place now. The clear underlying tone is that without a heads of terms agreement then the current level of investment can't be continued. Well, a couple of points on this. Heads of Terms agreement doesn't guarantee anything. It's a non-legal statement of intent and does not guarantee a sale as Jem so rightly said. And it certainly will not say what the financial implications of the deal are for the club. So why is the club pressing for heads of terms, rather than asking what the terms of a completed deal would be? The Heads of Terms have (quite literally) nothing to do with the club. Ever since DE came to OUFC – when I was still chairman of OxVox - the club has been very outspoken about a stadium deal not being a necessity, despite OxVox and others arguing the contrary. Even at the start of this season, when embarking on this budget, the club made no murmurs about the vital nature of a stadium deal. If it was (that crucial) then they should have set a lower playing budget. So why is it suddenly so urgent now? Cup runs and attendances are great and the budget has been set for this season, which with player sales too (we were told that COD was only sold because he wanted to go, not because we needed to sell him) should mean we will perform better than budgeted at this rate. Furthermore if this deal is so easy to conclude then why hasn't Eales himself done it already? It's become apparent that Kassam doesn't want to deal with Eales (something that darryls quotes at Xmas confirmed). I can tell you for a fact that Firoz Kassam's always stayed the same in his view his preference is to sell to the fans/community but any individual that offers a certain asking price would have an offer accepted. Kassam had no problem selling to IL if the numbers worked but he won't sell to Eales as it's clearly personal and that's due to the fact the two parties are in arbitration!!! How can eales expect to be directly involved in negotiations when he's involved in a hefty legal fight with Kassam? How can OxVox bring him in to negotiations in this scenario? OxVox are trying to broker a deal for the benefit of the club. The club has been kept completely informed so what more can they do? They either try and do a community bid that will help the club but at this stage not directly involve the club...or they do nothing and the chance to do a stadium deal evaporates as the club can't get it done! OxVox will be here long after any club owner and they will always have the interests of the club at heart whereas understandably an owner will often have to put his own immediate business interests first. For me timing is the key thing: Any heads of terms now would not or directly affect things right now as it's not a guaranteed sale. But it would be a great element of a sales story for an owner who is openly questioning his own continued involvement. It's not a surprise really that this is happening in January, which is a period where we could sell players to raise cash if he is unable to sell the club for the right price. It seems to me that – unlike what he has suggested in numerous fans fora to date - this all suggests Eales can't continue to fund the club in its current situation much longer (as the statement hints) and there may well now be player sales to help him fund things. But if that is the case, none of this is OxVox's fault! They are doing a great job in being the only party capable of pushing this forwards at this point. The criticism they've received is grossly unfair and unhelpful by the club and in truth I have no idea how that statement could possible be considered helpful to things moving forwards. Sadly in my opinion this all feels like part of an exit strategy, which could have really damaging effects on the long term future of the club we all love.
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