To be or not to be? (Club owners)

[Biggs]

This is certainly relevant to Argyle. After all, Portsmouth are one of our main rivals at the moment.
Also, if he is unsuccessful in his pursuit of Portsmouth I wonder if he will turn elsewhere for a club to buy...
Plymouth and Plymouth Argyle have both been making quite a lot of North American connections/possibilities recently.

I noticed some of the reasons he gave for his interest in Pompey, would apply to us. He mentioned naval city, building up a club and a city and supporters with great spirit. And clearly Plymouth would have even more of a connection to America than Portsmouth does.

 

[Ade the green]

Bringing this into a more Argyle discussion, I'd imagine as has been said that there has been previous offers for Argyle since JB took the helm. Under JB's self imposed due diligence many were found to not have the funds to be the new/next owner and some were deemed to be frivolous in their intentions for the club.

With every day Argyle becomes a stronger proposition both on and off the pitch and I am sure if a suitable worthwhile candidate presents itself that JB would not stand in the way of the club to progress. As we have seen when Simon Hallett and John Morgan became board members last year, it is not JBs train set to pack away if someone else wants to play with it but it has to be the right thing for Argyle. All which makes for James Brent not only being the best option since administration but possibly the best option ever in the chair at Home Park. He has brought about a professionalism that has been wanting since I've been going to Argyle (30 years) and whilst we've had autocrats or governance by proxy we've not had someone who first and foremost put the business before the love of the club, that came later.

We won't see his like at HP again, as being someone that was necessary and should have been more widely acknowledged for what he achieved. We will not see his like come and rescue us a second time so when/if a billionaire comes knocking I'd hope he and his board would make the right choices when/if it should ever come to pass. I'd also trust JB to ensure after he goes he will leave us in a better position than now.

 

[Lundan Cabbie]

Bringing this into a more Argyle discussion, I'd imagine as has been said that there has been previous offers for Argyle since JB took the helm. Under JB's self imposed due diligence many were found to not have the funds to be the new/next owner and some were deemed to be frivolous in their intentions for the club.

With every day Argyle becomes a stronger proposition both on and off the pitch and I am sure if a suitable worthwhile candidate presents itself that JB would not stand in the way of the club to progress. As we have seen when Simon Hallett and John Morgan became board members last year, it is not JBs train set to pack away if someone else wants to play with it but it has to be the right thing for Argyle. All which makes for James Brent not only being the best option since administration but possibly the best option ever in the chair at Home Park. He has brought about a professionalism that has been wanting since I've been going to Argyle (30 years) and whilst we've had autocrats or governance by proxy we've not had someone who first and foremost put the business before the love of the club, that came later.

We won't see his like at HP again, as being someone that was necessary and should have been more widely acknowledged for what he achieved. We will not see his like come and rescue us a second time so when/if a billionaire comes knocking I'd hope he and his board would make the right choices when/if it should ever come to pass. I'd also trust JB to ensure after he goes he will leave us in a better position than now.

It's not as simple as that though. Barry Hearn was convinced he was passing Leyton Orient over to the right type of owner and look what happened there. There will always be an element of risk no matter how comprehensively any new owner is checked for worthiness.

 

[memory man]

Bringing this into a more Argyle discussion, I'd imagine as has been said that there has been previous offers for Argyle since JB took the helm. Under JB's self imposed due diligence many were found to not have the funds to be the new/next owner and some were deemed to be frivolous in their intentions for the club.

With every day Argyle becomes a stronger proposition both on and off the pitch and I am sure if a suitable worthwhile candidate presents itself that JB would not stand in the way of the club to progress. As we have seen when Simon Hallett and John Morgan became board members last year, it is not JBs train set to pack away if someone else wants to play with it but it has to be the right thing for Argyle. All which makes for James Brent not only being the best option since administration but possibly the best option ever in the chair at Home Park. He has brought about a professionalism that has been wanting since I've been going to Argyle (30 years) and whilst we've had autocrats or governance by proxy we've not had someone who first and foremost put the business before the love of the club, that came later.

We won't see his like at HP again, as being someone that was necessary and should have been more widely acknowledged for what he achieved. We will not see his like come and rescue us a second time so when/if a billionaire comes knocking I'd hope he and his board would make the right choices when/if it should ever come to pass. I'd also trust JB to ensure after he goes he will leave us in a better position than now.

It's not as simple as that though. Barry Hearn was convinced he was passing Leyton Orient over to the right type of owner and look what happened there. There will always be an element of risk no matter how comprehensively any new owner is checked for worthiness.

If I were a Pompey supporter I would be reluctant to see this man in charge of the club. I have been a fairly regular visitor to Florida, mostly staying with an American friend. I read the papers every day and I was quite shocked at how unpopular Eisner was in Disney. He was deemed controlling and interfering. The most frequent accusation was that he micro-managed, singularly failing to understand the concept of delegation. Analysis of his time at Disney shows several catastrophic financial and policy decisions. Fortunately sufficient people turn up 365 days of every year to enable poor decisions not to matter. Did I imagine it or have I read that he is adamant that there will be no input from supporters at Board level? And I just don't imagine Eisner to be the type to understand life in the third tier of anything!

 

[Andy S]

Did I imagine it or have I read that he is adamant that there will be no input from supporters at Board level?

No, you didn't imagine it MM.

His quote was that he was buying the club 100% and that included the 3 Trust positions in a 9 man board.

What's he offering? GBP5.9million plus 10 million investment?

For a Septic equivalent of an Oligarch, that ain't much investment.

 

[Pop1eye]

As was said at the meeting.
His reply. That's this year!

 

[Guiri Green]

As was said at the meeting.
His reply. That's this year!

And after that ?

 

[Pop1eye]

That he was here for the long run. That it was z daunting task but the project was one that he wanted.
One that he could build from the ground up!
He said what was the point in putting in the £5m ground improvement s and £10m into the team if all he was going to do was walk away. He reiterated that he was in for the long run and sat with him were his sons who equally shared his vision.
He couldn't have been clearer and is why I'm in the yes camp.
Once it's done, he could in theory do anything and there is nothing we can do about. We just have to of got this right. There are good men out there and we are due some luck after having as he described it, 4 dogs!

 

[Guiri Green]

Being in for the long rung doesn't necessarily equate to long run financial input. He may well put 10 Million into the team but that could be his only planned team investment for some time.

I'd be wary of his sustainability plans. Gambling on reaching the PL to recoup his outlay is ........well we all know what could happen.

I actually thought Peter Risdale spoke some sense at one meeting I went to. Luckily I wasnt making any official decisions on his suitability. Don't forget Disney are good at giving people the impression of having a good time. Then your credit card bill arrives.......