Plea to Mr Cala

[shrimper]

If anyone who is an associate of his – or Mr Cala himself – looks at this message board, here’s a genuine plea.
We’ve heard and read interviews since Mr Cala went public about his interest in Morecambe Football Club. There have been statements made by him about investment, immediately and in the future.
As is only natural, fans have searched online and enquired through other contacts and sources about Mr Cala’s background. We can find nothing positive – no evidence of previous successful business transactions, no evidence of significant assets owned by Mr Cala, no evidence of the acumen or resources that would be required to fulfil the assertions given by Mr Cala about his plans for our club.
It may exist – but we can’t find it.
We have, though, found publicly available reports online that paint what appears to be a negative image of Mr Cala.
It would have been useful – and expected – for Mr Cala to have made all of that positive evidence, if it exists, known to the fans of the club whose future may now be in his hands.
Could you please ease our worries by pointing us to examples of previous business successes, of assets owned by Mr Cala, or give us substantial assurances of commitments made by associates to provide immediate and long-term investment for our club’s future.
We are very worried about our club’s future and seek solid information and evidence that may allay our fears as fans, and those of people employed by Morecambe FC.

Thanks.

[P/T Indie]

You might be better looking up Michael Williams & Michael Di Stefano both seems to mention been football agents.

Williams seems to be tweeting update of going's on today saying clearance will come, they are just waiting confirmation from the league as it's a complicated process due to past problems and there is a meeting at the moment.

[shrimper]

...and something positive from that would be great. But it'd also be good to know of anything that currently exists, or has been done in the past, that we can take some heart from.

[Scotty]

Michael Williams Twitter feed can be found here:

https://twitter.com/mdwilliams1971

[New_Ground_Watcher]

Michael di Stefano twitter here :- https://twitter.com/DiStefano1410

No clues from him though.

[cragbankshrimp]

i'm usually a "glass is half full" person but the way I feel at the moment, if you look in the obituaries your more likely to find Morecambe FC.

[oracle]

I have just been talking to Chesh and he said he and other staff are sat around drinking tea as they can't be bothered to work due to not being paid.
Our new owner should be good for the club as he obviously believes in counting the pennies and has already put some on a months notice. This morning someone in the coffee shop had to pay for his cuppa as he had no cash with him.
Chesh is hoping to borrow a sheep-dog so he can get a realistic picture on the pitch.
We have signed a loan player from Fleetwood.

[P/T Indie]

I have just been talking to Chesh and he said he and other staff are sat around drinking tea as they can't be bothered to work due to not being paid.
Our new owner should be good for the club as he obviously believes in counting the pennies and has already put some on a months notice. This morning someone in the coffee shop had to pay for his cuppa as he had no cash with him.
Chesh is hoping to borrow a sheep-dog so he can get a realistic picture on the pitch.
We have signed a loan player from Fleetwood.

He's put people on a months notice, how he's not the owner yet he should wait until the EFL sign the paperwork or should that say IF they sign it.

By the way it's dragging out today I would guess that they are not happy with everything yet.

[jon MFC fan]

Well I can confirm that my sister who works as a steward has been paid

[oracle]

There is a further report on The Bay Radio.

[P/T Indie]

http://www.thebay.co.uk/news/local-news ... -holdings/

Injuction against G50 so not sure how the ownership issue can be resolved.

Very surprised if everyone gets paid then.

[Gnasher]

Injunction threat, no injunction.

[frytuck14]

Michael di Stefano twitter here :- https://twitter.com/DiStefano1410

No clues from him though.

Take it SV know his pop is one Giovanni De Stefano?? Former
Dundee owner - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_ ... (fraudster)

[Zippy]

Michael di Stefano twitter here :- https://twitter.com/DiStefano1410

No clues from him though.

Take it SV know his pop is one Giovanni De Stefano?? Former
Dundee owner - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_ ... (fraudster)

Hi Fry, thanks for posting this , I enjoyed watching notorious on you tube this morning , it was entertaining in its own right, and Mr Giovanni makes JC prior exploits look positively mundane, his Wikipedia reference list is quite astonishing.

As you know a son Michael is interviewed at some points in the film, and is described at one point as his dads "protege", but no way for me knowing if this is the same person as the one mentioned on the periphery of our MFC troubles at the moment

We should also be wary of course about carrying over the misdeeds of the father to the Son if it is the same person, and there must be an assumption on my part that he's an honorable gentleman with honorable intentions, unless further facts emerge to point to the contrary I suppose.

[Lloydie]

Michael di Stefano twitter here :- https://twitter.com/DiStefano1410

No clues from him though.

Take it SV know his pop is one Giovanni De Stefano?? Former
Dundee owner - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_ ... (fraudster)

This all just gets weirder...

[Lloydie]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44954340

I see that Michael Williams fella has finally got his hands on a club

[BerlinWaller]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44954340

I see that Michael Williams fella has finally got his hands on a club

He talked a good game when spouting off about our club all over Twitter along with his agent mate. I hope for Gateshead's sake that it works out but I fear for them.

[NPL Daze]

My friend is a home and away Gateshead fan.

I'll ask her to keep me informed with the "goings on" up there and get her opinion on the take over....!!

[Gatesheadfan]

Good morning all,

During the summer our club was put up for sale and we where approached by a hongkong business man, during the process the FA and National league rejected him business plan, this meant our football club then reduced the budget the the lowest in league and we prepared for a difficult season. then out of the blue the takeover was then complete by we are guessing the same gentlemen from hongkong, Dr Ranjan Varghese.

When this was announced it was also announced that Michael Williams, an associate of Varghese, will join the Heed's board as operations director..

yesterday on our forum a belper town fan messaged us with the below

"Hi there. I am Paul Bennett. From Belper town fc. I hope I am not going to alarm you all.
A guy called Joeseph cala. Was to introduce rajan to our club.
After nearly two years of talks a contract was signed.mr j cala visited our club to say the money was on it's way. Then they left us high and dry. We nearly went under do not trust this man.
I am not muck raking just to give you a heads up.look up morcambe and joseph cala. We learned th hard way."

Now after hearing stories about your experiences i'm now very worried.

what actually happened with him with you guys? should we be concerned?

questions have been asked by many, why would someone from hongkong be interested in gateshead who have struggled for crowds since we didnt gain promotion a few years back.

Thanks

[Posh]

Read and then pray he never ever gets near your club.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=22261&hilit=Bologna

This isn’t even the half of it. The stories of when he visited Morecambe are the stuff of legend.

[marky No.1]

Good luck Gatesheadfan, we have been through misery but have somehow come out of the other end - well for 2 years anyway.

Fasten your seat belts!

[BerlinWaller]

Cala slept in our boardroom and threatened all staff with redundancy. He was kicked out of a local hotel for trying to sleep in a conference room. He rocked up in a taxi wearing a fila tracksuit.

Williams is part of trio of Cala, himself and an agent called Di Stefano.

[NPL Daze]

Read this as well GatesheadFan .......

This dates back SIX years to when he wanted to "save" Portsmouth FC. But the warning signs were there....

https://www.fansonline.net/pompey-fans/ ... php?id=395

[Duffman]

Prior to the attempted take over, people associated with Cala, possibly Williams, to their credit did their research on the club but rather maliciously looked at what fans were unhappy about and used it to sway public opinion in their favour by getting fans to turn on the current board.

It's been a long-term criticism of the club that since we moved to our new ground there's been a strong focus on hospitality, events and everything else but the average fan. Cala's crew picked up on that and used the media to try and turn the fans against the board. One of Cala's objectives was to get every current board member out of the club, a takeover (and our future) wouldn't happen otherwise.

Mr Cala has been outspoken, saying he feels there is too much focus at the Globe on “catering and weddings”. So he is unhappy that the boardroom table is covered in dirty dishes and a jug of congealed milk. “Look at this,” he says to me. “You call this hospitality?” [Source]

Williams comes across well on Twitter. During our saga he would often engage with fans and answer questions however not much of what he said was new. He knew what the fans were unhappy about and knew the recent history of the club. Our new owner disappeared without investing into the club and we sold our best player as a result. Williams knew this and would use it to help get fans to believe in their vision. He'd also echo what Cala had been saying but in a far more professional manner such as getting rid of the board, hospitality.

I'd be very cautious about it all. Good luck to you all at Gateshead!

[BerlinWaller]

Williams and Di Stefano have lots of shares in CalaCorp