O'Kelly Isley III Posted March 31, 2022 Share Posted March 31, 2022 27 minutes ago, Robertsons said: Honest question. Does a board not have responsibility for protecting a clubs assets and to ensure these are not put at risk? I genuinely accept our local board are fans, work hard for the club and may be in a thankless position. Their remit may not directly cover ownership issues. I would though have thought there would be an acknowledgment of the perilous position the club has been placed in as a result of the leveraged buy out and a willingness to work with the trust to at least ensure there is some form of protection over club assets. Otherwise it’s fiddling while Rome burns. Honest answer. Your question is not only honest it is in my opinion rhetorical, and your comments chime exactly with those of the invited three Trust Board members who attended the meeting, noting that the position of the Trust Community Director who was also in attendance has by necessity to be much more nuanced due to the fact that she sits on the club Board. As I mentioned above and as David B stated last night, on the issue of the land securities for example, we were told that these were effectively presented as a 'fait accompli' to the DFC Board with the suggestion that there would be no responsive action taken on this and other general matters of ownership by the club Board. Should we have interpreted correctly, that may be a legitimate position to adopt, whether it is ultimately a wise one time will tell. And of course there is the fiduciary aspect of protecting the interests of the shareholders. The Trust's position is that based on developments from the takeover of Dumbarton FC in May 2021, holding the club ownership much more fully to account has become a pressing requirement. Ideally, a combined front of the DFC Board, the Sonstrust and other interested parties could initiate this but at this stage that looks unlikely to happen. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BallochSonsFan Posted March 31, 2022 Share Posted March 31, 2022 There is an awful lot to be vigilant about regarding the club. On the issue of the new ownership, it would seem that Henning is an honest fantasist. He probably believes everything he says even if it seems to involve massive flights of fancy. Is that better than having an outright liar as owner? In our case it may not be an either/or option. The involvement of Andy Hosie in any capacity is of significant concern. The only 2 reasons why somebody buys a lower league football club is because they're a local guy done good who feels philanthropic, or because they think there's money to be made from wheeling and dealing. Kristofferson and Hosie fall into the latter category. Their big hope was Youngs Farm - if that is still a distant prospect and very long shot then focus has to be on what they'd consider doing next? What is plan B? Do they have an exit strategy and how does that affect the club? For all Brabco's faults, and there were many, the one thing I can probably say in their defence was that they were honest. They were b*****ds, but they were honest b*****ds. You knew where you stood with them and they didn't indulge in fantasy stories about cypriot money men and community legacies. I'd ask how it affects us because of the way in which they seem to have financed their takeover. Securities have been granted over parts of the current ground land profile. The first question I'd ask is whether or not it's even legal for them to have done that? People will point to the way that the Glazers bought Man United. Leveraged takeovers can happen, but its not quite as simple as a prospective owner borrowing against business assets that they don't yet control. UK companies law prohibits the use of business assets as a means of funding a takeover by an external party. It's section 678 of The Companies Act 2006 and it gets very complicated. There could well be a significant doubt as to whether or not those transactions are entirely legitimate. There's also the massive worry that the club is now burdened with financial obligations that are reliant on another party being able to pay it's debt. What happens if Cognitive Capital simply can't pay Pendragon the money borrowed and default on the finance? If Pendragon decide to enforce their security, what position does that leave the club in? It could be anything from having to sell portions of the land and receiving only the small residual revenue after Pendragon had been repaid to losing control of the ground itself. Then there's the day to day running of the club. Our local club board are doing the best they can in difficult circumstances, but it seems unlikely that we'll ever see a penny of the £35,000 sponsorship money owed to us. There are definitely lessons to be learned in how we deal with sponsorship in the future. The £35k might not be enough to trigger serious consequences, but it undoubtedly puts a degree of financial pressure on us and affects our budget. Clubs like ours simply cannot do without an agreed £35,000 sponsorship income when we've budgeted for having the money. The shortfall has to be made up somewhere and that means £35k we can't spend on other areas. I've spoken before on here about the gap that exists at all levels of the club. The owners don't appear to be engaged with the local club board and given our exposure to their actions, that has to be seen as a significant danger. The local club board are fighting a good fight, but it's arguable that we're long overdue more communication with the chairman. The loss of 3 directors and the company secretary was significant and it took skills and experience away from the board. The kind of skills and experience that part time football clubs simply can't go out and pay for or recruit on either a consultancy or permanent basis. The fans will have a huge part to play in how the club goes forward and we're long overdue a proper renewal of the relationship between club and supporter. This is going to be a very challenging time for the club. There are a number of areas of concern and some of them are of a very significant threat. We need to make sure that, for our part, the Sons Trust and the support at large are focused and have a very clear shared purpose. We cannot limp meekly from disaster to disaster. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bring Back Paddy Flannery Posted March 31, 2022 Share Posted March 31, 2022 I find the Hosie thing bizzare. Do his family not have a history of being involved with the club and often considered “good Sons men”? Why does he seem intent on using us to line his own pockets? Is he really that much of a horrible c**t that he’d happily sink the club his family support for his own personal gain? Even if you are crook or con man you surely have some sort of loyalty to your family or your football club, this guy is like a fucking genital wart, we just cannot seem to get rid of him. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FifeSons Posted March 31, 2022 Share Posted March 31, 2022 (edited) Didn’t HK also release a statement/give comments on record defending Andrew Hosie? Basically saying how great he is? ETA: taken from the Daily Record. Kristoffersen also expressed his confidence in Hosie as an advisor, despite his role in the failed betting syndicate. He continued: “Andrew has a degree from Cambridge University, 10 years experience at Procter and Gamble, the world’s biggest marketing company, five years experience as a commercial director of Everton Football Club and 15 years sports marketing with other clubs - plus he has never taken 1p from Dumbarton and will work for nothing. “Yes he has a high profile business failure but in my experience he is 100 percent honourable.” Edited March 31, 2022 by FifeSons 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BallochSonsFan Posted March 31, 2022 Share Posted March 31, 2022 5 minutes ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said: I find the Hosie thing bizzare. Do his family not have a history of being involved with the club and often considered “good Sons men”? Why does he seem intent on using us to line his own pockets? Is he really that much of a horrible c**t that he’d happily sink the club his family support for his own personal gain? Even if you are crook or con man you surely have some sort of loyalty to your family or your football club, this guy is like a fucking genital wart, we just cannot seem to get rid of him. Arrogance will play a part. You tend to find that these con men never consider the prospect of failure. They don't consider the consequences of failing because they don't believe that they'll fail. Hosie will think that his plan is going to work, he'll make his money and whatever positive consequences he has in mind for the club will happen. The idea that it'll all go pear shaped and that he'll cause us significant harm has probably never occurred to him. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Parr Posted March 31, 2022 Share Posted March 31, 2022 "Aye, but he hus a degree" Sterling character reference there from Henning. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nowhereman Posted March 31, 2022 Share Posted March 31, 2022 2 hours ago, BallochSonsFan said: Arrogance will play a part. You tend to find that these con men never consider the prospect of failure. They don't consider the consequences of failing because they don't believe that they'll fail. Hosie will think that his plan is going to work, he'll make his money and whatever positive consequences he has in mind for the club will happen. The idea that it'll all go pear shaped and that he'll cause us significant harm has probably never occurred to him. You mean like his gambling company? He lost investors over £7,000,000. This was from the report in to it and why he was banned. It''s just dishonesty. Wonder where the £7m went However, after the company went into administration, practically none of the £7,161,221 has been traced, due to the inadequacies in the company accounting records. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nowhereman Posted March 31, 2022 Share Posted March 31, 2022 I also wonder if the relationship between Andrew Hosie and Colin Hosie is of detriment to the club. Colin's a nice guy but i wonder if his relationship with Andrew blinds him to the fact that Andrew does not have the club's best interest at heart. We must be unique in Scottish football having owners who take absolutely nothing to do with the running of the club 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FifeSons Posted March 31, 2022 Share Posted March 31, 2022 6 minutes ago, Nowhereman said: You mean like his gambling company? He lost investors over £7,000,000. This was from the report in to it and why he was banned. It''s just dishonesty. Wonder where the £7m went However, after the company went into administration, practically none of the £7,161,221 has been traced, due to the inadequacies in the company accounting records. The money was just resting in his account. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FifeSons Posted March 31, 2022 Share Posted March 31, 2022 49 minutes ago, George Parr said: "Aye, but he hus a degree" Sterling character reference there from Henning. No one who went to Cambridge could possibly be evil! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lionel wickson Posted March 31, 2022 Share Posted March 31, 2022 (edited) 2 hours ago, FifeSons said: No one who went to Cambridge could possibly be evil! . Edited March 31, 2022 by lionel wickson . 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turnberry Fields Forever Posted March 31, 2022 Share Posted March 31, 2022 Alan Turing was a graduate of Cambridge, but I doubt even his brilliant mind could unravel the enigma of Dumbarton FC's ownership. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fifer67 Posted March 31, 2022 Share Posted March 31, 2022 6 hours ago, Nowhereman said: I also wonder if the relationship between Andrew Hosie and Colin Hosie is of detriment to the club. Colin's a nice guy but i wonder if his relationship with Andrew blinds him to the fact that Andrew does not have the club's best interest at heart. We must be unique in Scottish football having owners who take absolutely nothing to do with the running of the club You’ll find the exact same set up at East Fife owners who take nothing to do with running the club or putting in a penny. Both clubs relying on a board that are basically fans running the clubs. Only interest is the profit that can be made from around the stadium. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robertsons Posted March 31, 2022 Share Posted March 31, 2022 2 hours ago, fifer67 said: You’ll find the exact same set up at East Fife owners who take nothing to do with running the club or putting in a penny. Both clubs relying on a board that are basically fans running the clubs. Only interest is the profit that can be made from around the stadium. And unsurprisingly both struggling to stay in League 1. At a q&a last night our manager talked about the importance of a good structure off the park. Again unsurprisingly the teams faring well in the league have this……allows continuity on the park with player retention via 2 year contracts. Im sure other things contribute to success and failure but I get his point. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
O'Kelly Isley III Posted April 1, 2022 Share Posted April 1, 2022 Fair play to the the club today, that piece about the two Sams really made me smile. Well done ! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonsanorak Posted April 2, 2022 Share Posted April 2, 2022 Faz said on Tuesday that our good performance on Saturday was tied to having our best players back and that he'd like to have a settled team. In which case expect the same as last week. Only one of that lot I might change would be Duthie, perhaps for Wilson or Wylde. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bring Back Paddy Flannery Posted April 2, 2022 Share Posted April 2, 2022 50 minutes ago, sonsanorak said: Faz said on Tuesday that our good performance on Saturday was tied to having our best players back and that he'd like to have a settled team. In which case expect the same as last week. Only one of that lot I might change would be Duthie, perhaps for Wilson or Wylde. I think to suggest that we were good is pushing it a bit but there is no doubt having the likes of big Josh back had us looking like a semi competent football team again. I’d tend to agree regarding Duthie. I actually like him as player but his crossing, passing and shooting is getting worse with each passing week. I’d like to see young Wilson given a chance, I think we tend to forget this young man won the division’s player of the month award and he has barely kicked a ball since. A few bad performances (to be expected from a youngster in his first season of first team football) and he’s just been completely frozen out. I heard what Farrell said about him the other night and I think he was waffling a bit of shite, if you add up the boys minutes over the last 6 months it can’t be hellish much. It’s good to know Wilson has been chapping on his door asking to play, I think he has every right to. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FifeSons Posted April 2, 2022 Share Posted April 2, 2022 (edited) What’s needed to avoid the playoff after today’s late drama? Six points almost definitely won’t cut it, IMO. Having said that, I thought we were finished under Farrell, so I clearly know nothing. Edited April 2, 2022 by FifeSons 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bring Back Paddy Flannery Posted April 2, 2022 Share Posted April 2, 2022 49 minutes ago, FifeSons said: What’s needed to avoid the playoff after today’s late drama? Six points almost definitely won’t cut it, IMO. Having said that, I thought we were finished under Farrell, so I clearly know nothing. God knows, but one thing I do know is that Syvertsen should be the first name on the teamsheet next week. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BallochSonsFan Posted April 2, 2022 Share Posted April 2, 2022 50 minutes ago, FifeSons said: What’s needed to avoid the playoff after today’s late drama? Six points almost definitely won’t cut it, IMO. Having said that, I thought we were finished under Farrell, so I clearly know nothing. Peterhead's run is: Us (a) Queens Park (h) East Fife (h) Airdrie (a) We win next week and it's a 1 point gap. You'd expect them to beat East Fife at home. Leaves us with: Airdrie (a) Cove (a) Clyde (h) We'll hopefully beat Clyde at home. It'll come down to who does best between the 2 teams v Airdrie and whether they do better against Queens Park than we do against Cove. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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