Sarbjot Johal

[jbc.shrimp]

How long does this kind of thing take to sort (on average). Is he dragging this out as long as he can ?

[black morse]

How long does this kind of thing take to sort (on average). Is he dragging this out as long as he can ?

Or is the long delay down to the EFL being unsure what to do. If they refuse to pass Johal where does that leave the club?

[Keith]

How long does this kind of thing take to sort (on average). Is he dragging this out as long as he can ?

If it was my money, I'd want to know which league we were in before parting with it. So it shouldn't be long, now!

[BerlinWaller]

It haa been with the EFL since mid Feb according to Niyah Smith. That was after tye EFL statement and Smith told me that Sarb had sent everything they needed to off to the EFL.

[Gone_Shrimping]

[quote="BerlinWaller"]It haa been with the EFL since mid Feb according to Niyah Smith. That was after tye EFL statement and Smith told me that Sarb had sent everything they needed to off to the EFL.[/quote

Pardon my ignorance but who is Niyah Smith and where does he fit in to this.

[BerlinWaller]

He is part of the group that you see in the Directors box with Johal. He is a London based rapper and was present when the Trust met with Sarb. I've no idea what his role is or will be IF they complete a takeover.

[redrobo]

He is part of the group that you see in the Directors box with Johal. He is a London based rapper and was present when the Trust met with Sarb. I've no idea what his role is or will be IF they complete a takeover.

Wonder if their 'no show' yesterday at such an important game was an indication that all is not well with this proposed take over.

With regards to paying the wages I understood that we are debt to nobody BUT have the Bond Group been paying wages every month....

Speaking to someone yesterday they posed the same question.

[twosheds]

Looking at Johal's Instagram account he might have been at or dealing with a family bereavement....but I could be way off the mark...

[black morse]

It's pretty clear now that barring a miracle we are relegated. Even if Johal is still interested in buying he will surely not be willing to pay the original sum (whatever that may have been). That means that our present owners either sell at quite a reduced rate or retain ownership of the club themselves but can they afford to do that. It depends on their financial situation.

It might also might bring into play anyone else who is prepared to buy at a reduced rate in order to keep the club from imploding.....if such a person/people exist.

[redrobo]

It's pretty clear now that barring a miracle we are relegated. Even if Johal is still interested in buying he will surely not be willing to pay the original sum (whatever that may have been). That means that our present owners either sell at quite a reduced rate or retain ownership of the club themselves but can they afford to do that. It depends on their financial situation.

It might also might bring into play anyone else who is prepared to buy at a reduced rate in order to keep the club from imploding.....if such a person/people exist.

Local consortium.....

[Angler1]

Local consortium would be good but it isn't just buying a club it's investing in the squad( which will be required big time) and investing in the ground .

[BerlinWaller]

Sarb buy the club and chuck money at the squad, ground and facilities but the money stops after 3 or 4 good seasons and we drop in to Non League and struggle

Or

A local group buy the club, stabalise the club but invest little and we stay in mid/lower league 2 for te next 5 seasons

[black morse]

Local consortium would be good but it isn't just buying a club it's investing in the squad( which will be required big time) and investing in the ground .

Whilst your suggestion is ideal I think our main concern might just be in surviving as a club over the next few months! Expanding crowd capacity will not be a priority in League two.

[KenH]

A local consortium would worry me. As said above, it's not just buying the club from Delboy and Rodney, it's someone having the money to keep investing in the club year on year.

It's OK for the club to be "sustainable", but we're seeing what that looks like! It means not enough money to bring in decent players because the playing wages budget is limited by the income generated!

We need owners who are going to put money in when it's needed, obviously not good for it to be required every year, but investment is needed when the ground needs improvements, or when we're struggling on the pitch and need a couple of decent players brought in during the January window to keep the league position, etc.

We saw with PMG what happens when the club constantly makes losses and we really don't want to go back to those days, but "sustainability" means just "normal" day to day operations. We need owners with deep pockets who can invest in the club when investment is needed.

[redrobo]

Still can't get my head around why someone based in the Midlands would want to invest in our club and continue to fund it regardless on need at any time.

Must come a day when that investor wants some return on his investment.

I'd rather we had a local consortium who would provide enough funds to keep us in business in whatever league rather than someone who would pull the plug when his or her investment got too much.

[BerlinWaller]

So IF we are a League 2 club next season, what is your shopping list for a new owner?

20 new players of a good standard or happy with a sustainable L2 budget?
A new contract for Derek? A new Manager?
Investment in the ground?
Investment in facilities?
A training ground?
A price freeze on Season Tickets or happy to pay more to help fund improvements?

[Old Man Kensey]

So IF we are a League 2 club next season, what is your shopping list for a new owner?

20 new players of a good standard or happy with a sustainable L2 budget?
A new contract for Derek? A new Manager?
Investment in the ground?
Investment in facilities?
A training ground?
A price freeze on Season Tickets or happy to pay more to help fund improvements?

With Del & Rodney unable to sell the club to the young kid (who may or may not have some money) just starting next season would be the first thing on the shopping list.

[Little Shrimp]

I don't think investment in the playing budget would need to be insane. We've seen many times that it's more about spending smart than spending big. There's a middle-ground between crazy investment and putting just enough money in to not go under. If there's a group or person that can offer some sustainable form of investment, even if it's not mega-money, then that'd be great.

If there's one big investment that would be more helpful than the rest, then it's getting a proper training ground sorted. Both Robbo and Derek have mentioned how much it helps having better training facilities to attract players. It's something that could well help swing a few decisions in our favour when persuading players to sign.

No point expanding the ground at this point. 5000+ average attendance for a season or two before it's worth considering that.

[redrobo]

Live on a playing budget in EFL2 that makes us competitive but doesn't lead to problems such as paying wages etc later in a season. A middle ground playing budget would be fine.

IF it's EFL2 then (and I can't believe I'm suggesting this) stick with what we have because as others have argued DA knows the league and what is needed to get a team into a promotion winning team. Obviously a more attacking and attractive playing style would be my choice BUT a season where we are chasing promotion is a must.

Forget investment in the ground.

Invest without question in our own training ground assuming that suitable land can be found that doesn't cost the earth just to install adequate drainage. However it would take a few pennies.....

Keep season ticket deals as that have been this season BUT reduce the cost of C Premier for OAPs like myself.... OR provide a loyalty deal for those who have been season ticket holders since the club was promoted to the EFL.

[BerlinWaller]

Totally agree about a training ground being a must but you will be looking at an investment of eight figures. Rumours that Sarb plan to build a training base in Manchester

[KenH]

I'd agree to leave the stadium alone. It's fine as it is. What I'd like to see is to go back to the old way of pricing the seats, i.e. higher charge for C, mid charge for D and lower charge for E (cheap kids seats only in E). I said at the time it was a poor decision to change when we got promoted. Far too many empty child seats in C and D for which the club has got under £100 when they could have been sold to adults for £25 per game! The change may have made sense when there were lots of unsold seats, but when there's high demand and barely any seats available, it makes no sense to stay with the current pricing scheme. Change it back to how it used to be and the club will generate more money. Block C is premium seating and should be charged as such, not cheap kiddie tickets!

Re players, I don't think the budget is too bad really as it stands. Both Robbo and Derek have struggled with long term injuries, such as Duffus, Obika, Hunter, Taylor, etc., and of course the players Robbo signed on 2 year deals that Derek didn't want, i.e. Ayunga, O'Connor, both McLaughlins,etc. A manager (Derek or someone else) could well put a half decent squad together this Summer without the baggage of long term contracts/long term injuries. What is more important is to establish a longer term squad to give some continuity between seasons, i.e. players who want to stay for several years, like we used to have.

[redrobo]

Well remember DA showing a lot of emotion when discussing budgets....seem to recall him saying 'we are skint....' can't see DA being happy with the current budget next season....

We must give him a sensible budget that he can work with AND reduce agents fees as a priority. Wasn't a figure of £60K mentioned.....

Also read somewhere that a number of players earned £100K..... but that may be the going rate in EFL2...

[BerlinWaller]

EFL have released a couple of statements already today

[redrobo]

EFL have released a couple of statements already today

Sounds as though the EFL are at long last putting their own house in order regarding sanctioning suitable owners and non payment of wages etc.

[Little Shrimp]

Obviously a more attacking and attractive playing style would be my choice BUT a season where we are chasing promotion is a must.

We were top of the league in basically every chance creation metric when we got promoted under Derek. We scored quite a lot of goals, the fourth highest amount in the league. We conceded our fair share too - our games saw the second highest total of goals (for and against), only behind Oldham. Both Plymouth's L2 seasons under Derek they scored more than 70 goals, so kind of what you'd expect for a promotion chasing/winning side.

Get this myth about 'attacking styles' etc out of your head!