fbm
Blue tinted optimist⭐
So, just to clarify, you believe that he was looking for outside investment last year, which was the reason for writing off £6m of debt?
Come on mate, does that even make sense to you?
The reason nobody will “come in” on Ron’s terms, is because Ron isn’t inviting anyone in. The sole reason for writing off that lump of debt, was to sweeten the deal, but the Dutch decided that without the planning permission, it was too much of a gamble.
From what I’ve been told, Frank Van Wezel is still very much interested in taking over the club (or at least he was pre-covid), But for that to happen, certain boxes need to be ticked first... I.e. the planning permission for the stadium being a main one.
No, but as @Neil_F has brilliantly surmised, this isn’t just about paying the taxman on time. We have actually gone backwards since Ron took majority control, and that’s despite exponential growth of the Football Club.
And when we get down to the nuts and bolts of if, it always comes back to Ron’s - expensive - decision making. Some of which, we’ve already experienced 10-years prior! Forget myths and opinions, that’s just stone cold fact.
As I said, I have no idea what went on. None of us have all the information. There are several things that have happened over the years that don't make sense. If we elect a situation or scenario, then we can make the circumstances fit whatever outcome we want. You obviously know far more about the Dutch deal than I do, which is only really what was reported.
Listen, I'm not necessarily disagreeing with what you say about the deal, all I'm saying is that we don't actually know - we can all give our best guess - and personally I don't feel it's a foregone conclusion that Ron will disappear once FF is built.
And as for @Neil_F's points I agree that this isn't just about paying HMRC but we are where we are. No, we aren't better off now than when RM took over (or anyone else come to think of it). But that's now. If Frank Nouble had managed to put the ball in against Charlton when we were on the edge of the L1 play offs then who knows, we may have got in the Championship back then. That wasn't a bad time for the club; we were enjoying watching the team play and for all we know, we may have been under an embargo at that time too, but it wasn't relevant.
I remember after Brown left, Chris Powell turned the team into a terrific outfit for the rest of that season. We won more than we lost and left us all thirsty for the new campaign. We were enjoying our football then as well. So we haven't always gone backwards.
My point is that we can pick any point in time and with hindsight reflect on what may have been if we'd have done this, if that had happened. If, if, if. The most useless word in the English language.
My original post was more to implore that we didn't come down this route again and learned from past actions, and that is specifically aimed at Ron's decision making. We've got away with it - again - and he clearly has access to funds so please can we use them to prevent this sort of situation rather than playing cat and mouse with HMRC. I was reminded today that Ron was once in the GB Bobsleigh team (true). Clearly he gets his thrills now from getting one over on the Revenue.
But my post wasn't one praising him for what he'd done; it was a post praying he didn't do it again!