Do you want James Brent to continue as Chairman/Owner?

[Womble]

Yes, absolutely yes!

He is our owner—the only person to step in and save our club from oblivion.

He has a plan to take this football club forward and he is also a sensible businessman and a safe pair of hands.
That's good enough for me

We really, really seriously need to stop comparing ourselves with Exeter as if that were the only yardstick.

T-green - I have highlighted the bits in bold I have a problem agreeing with. I'm not particularly anti-Brent (he is OK, some good points and some bad ones), but I don't think he has ever demonstrated having any form of achievable plan for the club, and I am not overly convinced that he has a particularly great record as a businessman either - there seem to be quite a few projects associated with Akkeron that are struggling to get off the ground.

 

[t._green]

Yes, absolutely yes!

He is our owner—the only person to step in and save our club from oblivion.

He has a plan to take this football club forward and he is also a sensible businessman and a safe pair of hands.
That's good enough for me

We really, really seriously need to stop comparing ourselves with Exeter as if that were the only yardstick.

T-green - I have highlighted the bits in bold I have a problem agreeing with. I'm not particularly anti-Brent (he is OK, some good points and some bad ones), but I don't think he has ever demonstrated having any form of achievable plan for the club, and I am not overly convinced that he has a particularly great record as a businessman either - there seem to be quite a few projects associated with Akkeron that are struggling to get off the ground.

Hi Womble
in so far as a plan exists, and assuming I understand or remember it correctly, the aim is see Argyle progress incrementally through the lower divisions until we become more attractive to other investors by say maintaining a healthy championship status. Okay, it's not the bid for glory some fans want, but I do think it will bring stability long term. I don't think any of us would want a repeat of the last few years.

This really is just my opinion anyway and not a stab at empirical truth. I'm not aware of the success or lack of it with the Akkeron group, I'm just relieved the football club is thus far, excluding the recent downturn, making a much better fist of things this time around. Get back on track and get back into the playoffs and then these questions will again disappear (at least for a time).

 

[X Isle]

Clearing the debts was surely the first priority of 'the plan'.

It's not 'sexy' enough for most fans but i'll take an owner who prioritises that any day.

If that's all he achieves when his tenure is over then I'll be content.

 

[Paul_Roberts]

Clearing the debts was surely the first priority of 'the plan'.

It's not 'sexy' enough for most fans but i'll take an owner who prioritises that any day.

If that's all he achieves when his tenure is over then I'll be content.

Yes, although I stubbornly reserve the right to be childishly jealous of other clubs who have been in our desperate situation and come out of it a lot better than we have.

Bournemouth, for example, who during their dark days had to pay their players in the cash that had been taken at the gate that day. Just a few short years later they're on the verge of the Premier League and bidding £3m for Birmingham City players. Then there's Hull, Swansea and Brighton, who were all in as bad if not worse a state as we were.

So while I respect James Brent's efforts to stablise the club financially, I will always feel a little resentment towards him for his shallow pockets. It might be unreasonable of me, but jealousy is a powerful thing.

Bournemouth for Christ's sake!

 

[Lundan Cabbie]

Clearing the debts was surely the first priority of 'the plan'.

It's not 'sexy' enough for most fans but i'll take an owner who prioritises that any day.

If that's all he achieves when his tenure is over then I'll be content.

Yes, although I stubbornly reserve the right to be childishly jealous of other clubs who have been in our desperate situation and come out of it a lot better than we have.

Bournemouth, for example, who during their dark days had to pay their players in the cash that had been taken at the gate that day. Just a few short years later they're on the verge of the Premier League and bidding £3m for Birmingham City players. Then there's Hull, Swansea and Brighton, who were all in as bad if not worse a state as we were.

So while I respect James Brent's efforts to stablise the club financially, I will always feel a little resentment towards him for his shallow pockets. It might be unreasonable of me, but jealousy is a powerful thing.

Bournemouth for Christ's sake!

Why for Christ's sake? Is it not wonderful for their supporters to be riding their current wave?

Of course administration was not so long ago a worry for my own lot but it sure did bring everyone together from supporters, officials and players. And we did so as one together. We regrouped and moved forward. I thought the same would happen at Argyle but sadly it didn't.

 

[Abbotts Ann Green]

Bournemouth's owner is minted - unlike Brent.

 

[Paul_Roberts]

Bournemouth's owner is minted - unlike Brent.

Yeah, that's kind of the point I was making.

 

[IJN]

Totally agree with Paul.

Bournemouth, Brentford, Hull, Swansea and Brighton.

Very, very jealous.

 

[Steve Evans]

james brent can't spend money he hasn't got.all of his money is tied up in his many business interests.i certainly wouldn't throw money i haven't got at argyle and,as far as i have read, he has never not sanctioned an incoming transfer.i am emerald green with envy of bournemouth and just maybe one day a multi billionaire will take a shine to us.

 

[Ceebs]

Clearing the debts was surely the first priority of 'the plan'.

It's not 'sexy' enough for most fans but i'll take an owner who prioritises that any day.

If that's all he achieves when his tenure is over then I'll be content.

Clearing the debts, at least the historical debts, was a mandatory part of the plan. Our exit from administration was conditional upon it. We have a repayment plan which if we don’t stick to will once again threaten our future, but with a far greater chance of stricter sanctions from the Football League.

The rest of the plan seems to have reached an impasse. Making ourselves a sustainable Championship side was dependent upon the HHP development. Whatever happens on that front I sincerely hope we don’t end up sacrificing parts of the ground (the corners, part of the area behind the grandstand) to Akkeron, even more so if PCC end up funding part/all of it. So I think it’s perfectly valid to question what the plan currently is because I’m not sure we have one.

 

[esmer]

Clearing the debts was surely the first priority of 'the plan'.

It's not 'sexy' enough for most fans but i'll take an owner who prioritises that any day.

If that's all he achieves when his tenure is over then I'll be content.

Yes, although I stubbornly reserve the right to be childishly jealous of other clubs who have been in our desperate situation and come out of it a lot better than we have.

Bournemouth, for example, who during their dark days had to pay their players in the cash that had been taken at the gate that day. Just a few short years later they're on the verge of the Premier League and bidding £3m for Birmingham City players. Then there's Hull, Swansea and Brighton, who were all in as bad if not worse a state as we were.

So while I respect James Brent's efforts to stablise the club financially, I will always feel a little resentment towards him for his shallow pockets. It might be unreasonable of me, but jealousy is a powerful thing.

Bournemouth for Christ's sake!

Why for Christ's sake? Is it not wonderful for their supporters to be riding their current wave?

Of course administration was not so long ago a worry for my own lot but it sure did bring everyone together from supporters, officials and players. And we did so as one together. We regrouped and moved forward. I thought the same would happen at Argyle but sadly it didn't.

I agree with these sentiments. We are a couple of years on from a 17m debt, administration and nearly going out of business. The debt is now manageable and we are challenging at the right end of the league. We're not setting the world on fire and progress is slow but James Brent came to the club with a business plan not a shed load of money, he never was a charity for ailing lower league football clubs. The business plan is floundering for a variety of reasons but he is supporting the club financially and we should be appreciative of that. That doesn't mean to say we cannot be critical and I think he is very much mistaken over the capacity of the proposed stand but the out and out hostility displayed by some is incomprehensible.

 

[Andy Holland]

Mediocre owner for a mediocre fan base supporting mediocre football in a mediocre league. Lets us live a long life yo-yoing between 7th and 12th in the basement division :scarf:

The acceptance of this crap is very depressing. Brent and Sheridan should be fearing fan revolt if they fail to achieve what we expect of them, however the expectations of Brent seem to be no more than keep the club on life-support - therefore there's no real strive and purpose to make anything of this football club.

It's all good though, he attends games and loves it. Ugh.

Doesn't look like the "fan revolt" is going to consist of much going by the poll so far!

Plymouthians in acceptance of mediocrity shock.

 

[IJN]

Whilst the 'bright people' who leave Plymouth know better eh??

 

[Biggs]

What IS IT about Argyle that doesn't attract investment? Surely Plymouth is a better place for a club than Bournemouth?

It's been said before but you have the whole of Devon and Cornwall to yourself, and not only does that mean a potentially large fanbase but also the pick of the region's youngsters. I'm convinced if we had an academy and youth scouts like Southampton's that we'd have sold over 10 or 20 million pounds worth worth of young players in the last 10 years. You have a relatively large stadium in a wonderful location in a big city that is (relatively!) easy to complete with any kind of money.

Just too far from London?

 

[IJN]

Perhaps it's a case of the others are close to London.