An excellent Q&A with very believable answers.

Kagami was always set up as a scapegoat but I believe for one that he shouldnt have been, partly because of his location and the inability to defend himself, and also feel that Synan has been very magnanimous in accepting that all parties knew what they knew and should shoulder the blame.

Damning on Ridsdale also.

Well done for a transparent and unbiased read!

Agreed.

I think Synan comes out of that looking, if not good, less demonised than he was beforehand. I think he was coming into a very precarious situation with a very precarious set of finances. We were already losing money by the bucketload before he came in.

Partly agree. It's definitely not an unbiased read, whether it's wholly true or not is debatable I'm sure. I struggle to trust any one of those former directors, and I'll take what is said as part truths.

The allegations towards Risdale are particularly damning. From how I read it, it seems he lied and manipulated the situation to have us enter admistration as it benefit himself? Surely to lie and be so manipulative in that way, risking the club and in turn people's jobs, he must be held accountable for some form of deceit and corruption?

The others, if this is only an agenda driven half account of the situation, really need to give themselves a voice to counter or even agree with some of this.

Well done for getting this Q&A done, it is very interesting and insightful

Am I reading it correctly and he is saying the local directors received £2m AFTER the club went into administration?

Ian has asked Paul Stapleton to do a Q & A, as have I through Kim Stapleton, but as yet, there has been no response.

Knowing Ian as I do, I'm sure he won't give up until he has an answer.

FWIW, I don't believe Stapleton didn't know, but I know he has claimed that on several occasions.

I have always thought Stapleton and Wrathall are OK, so it will be interesting to see if you get an answer on that front.

What about Gardner and Todd ? Has anyone approached them ? Mind you, Todd is such a bullshitter its hard to get a straight answer. It would still be interesting to know what that pair have to say though.

Do we believe Synan ?

Ian has asked Paul Stapleton to do a Q & A, as have I through Kim Stapleton, but as yet, there has been no response.

Knowing Ian as I do, I'm sure he won't give up until he has an answer.

FWIW, I don't believe Stapleton didn't know, but I know he has claimed that on several occasions.

I have always thought Stapleton and Wrathall are OK, so it will be interesting to see if you get an answer on that front.

What about Gardner and Todd ? Has anyone approached them ? Mind you, Todd is such a bullshitter its hard to get a straight answer. It would still be interesting to know what that pair have to say though.

Do we believe Synan ?

I'm not sure i fully believe it all, but it seems the most realistic version of what happened that i've seen so far

I have always thought Stapleton and Wrathall are OK, so it will be interesting to see if you get an answer on that front.

What about Gardner and Todd ? Has anyone approached them ? Mind you, Todd is such a bullshitter its hard to get a straight answer. It would still be interesting to know what that pair have to say though.

Do we believe Synan ?

I agree with you, both are avid Argyle fans, and that in my book puts them way about everyone else involved.

Todd {spit} and Gardenr {spit again}, I'm not sure I'd believe them if they said it was December.

I don't think any of them are evil, they simply cocked up but the local directors (apparantly apart from Wrathall) were the only ones responsible who profited from it all. Kagami, Synan, Todd and Gardener all lost substantial sums of money.

So it was acceptable for Stapleton(or his company) to be paid £60,000 per year by Argyle to do what exactly? It sure as hell wasn't to keep the finances in check. The football club already had another accountants firm to audit the books. So why were two companies involved?
Being an avid Argyle fan absolves him does it.

Well done Pasoti for arranging this Q & A, it will be interesting to hear what the local directors have to say, i cant get my head around Wrathall being some sort of saint he knew what was going on the same as all the 7 directors, he was just as responsible for the demise of our club.

Q: In February 2011 you stated that funds (rumoured to be £2 million) would be sent to PAFC and Peter Ridsdale, the money didn’t arrive and the club entered into administration soon after, can you please reveal the truth behind that story?

GS: We arranged £2m and it was in an account ready to be invested. At that time Peter Ridsdale had already had his tentacles too far in the club and was able to convince enough of the directors that the club needed £7m or more and the £2m would be wasted with the best chance of survival being administration and that he had investors waiting. We believe this was a complete set up now and just a way to take control and make more fees.

It also needs to be understood that the local directors had put options against Kagami for the remainder of their shares at the original price Kagami paid to them (in effect another £2m) regardless if the club went bankrupt. Kagami would have much rather put the money in the Club then have to buy worthless shares.

Peter knew this and used it to his advantage in how he manipulated the situation successfully convincing them £2m was futile, take Kagami’s money, eliminate risk by going into administration and the club would be in better hands with his investors.

We fought until the end to delay the bankruptcy and find solutions but were basically steamrolled by Peter and the other directors that supported his plan.

As I remember, we were repeatedly told that the funds necessary to stave off administration would be transferred from Japan within days. That this money never arrived was generally attributed to the fact that it didn't exist, and that Synan was a total charlatan.

He appears to be claiming here that the money was ready to go, but Ridsdale persuaded the other Directors not to take it. Argyle went into administration when they did, not because there was no money from Japan but because the Directors refused to accept it.

He then seems to say that the £2 million intended to keep the club going effectively ended up in the pockets of the Directors - 'the local directors had put options against Kagami for the remainder of their shares at the original price Kagami paid to them (in effect another £2m).'

Does this mean that when the shares were initially sold to Kagami, the board included a clause requiring him to buy out some/all of their remaining shares if/when they wanted out, or after a certain period of time or whatever? And that they exercised this clause (or 'options') as it became clear that the club was going under...

I don't have a background in finance so would be grateful if someone could clarify if/how I have mis-understood Synan's comments...

Q: In February 2011 you stated that funds (rumoured to be £2 million) would be sent to PAFC and Peter Ridsdale, the money didn’t arrive and the club entered into administration soon after, can you please reveal the truth behind that story?

GS: We arranged £2m and it was in an account ready to be invested. At that time Peter Ridsdale had already had his tentacles too far in the club and was able to convince enough of the directors that the club needed £7m or more and the £2m would be wasted with the best chance of survival being administration and that he had investors waiting. We believe this was a complete set up now and just a way to take control and make more fees.

It also needs to be understood that the local directors had put options against Kagami for the remainder of their shares at the original price Kagami paid to them (in effect another £2m) regardless if the club went bankrupt. Kagami would have much rather put the money in the Club then have to buy worthless shares.

Peter knew this and used it to his advantage in how he manipulated the situation successfully convincing them £2m was futile, take Kagami’s money, eliminate risk by going into administration and the club would be in better hands with his investors.

We fought until the end to delay the bankruptcy and find solutions but were basically steamrolled by Peter and the other directors that supported his plan.

As I remember, we were repeatedly told that the funds necessary to stave off administration would be transferred from Japan within days. That this money never arrived was generally attributed to the fact that it didn't exist, and that Synan was a total charlatan.

He appears to be claiming here that the money was ready to go, but Ridsdale persuaded the other Directors not to take it. Argyle went into administration when they did, not because there was no money from Japan but because the Directors refused to accept it.

He then seems to say that the £2 million intended to keep the club going effectively ended up in the pockets of the Directors - 'the local directors had put options against Kagami for the remainder of their shares at the original price Kagami paid to them (in effect another £2m).'

Does this mean that when the shares were initially sold to Kagami, the board included a clause requiring him to buy out some/all of their remaining shares if/when they wanted out, or after a certain period of time or whatever? And that they exercised this clause (or 'options') as it became clear that the club was going under...

I don't have a background in finance so would be grateful if someone could clarify if/how I have mis-understood Synan's comments...

That's how I read it as well. Instead of the £2m going to the club it went to Stapleton and the local directors. In fairness given the fact that we were already £17m in debt and losing money weekly the £2m would not have staved of administration for long but if it is true and the local directors did get the money them there was no reason why they couldn't have donated to the staff fund and paid the PAST&D Trust debt.

[PL2 3DQ]

It does look that way although confusing that both sets of money was £2m.

The key words are "Kagami would have much rather put the money in the Club then have to buy worthless shares."

So £2m of Kagami money was in an account ready to be transferred except it wasn't enough as decided by Ridsdale because £7m was needed.
The option that Kagami had to purchase the shares from the other directors at £2m was then taken up, the club went into administration but no problem because Ridsdale had investors lined up, meanwhile Kagami was left with £2m worth of useless shares.

If I'm reading it right.

So Ridsdale decided our fate ?

Not really, in the big picture the £2m would not have made any difference but it reads that Synan is saying the local directors then took up an option for Kagami to buy their shares and to pocket the £2m themselves after putting the club into administration. Synan says they were advised to do this by Ridsdale, I doubt they took much persuading (if true of course).

It does look that way although confusing that both sets of money was £2m.

The key words are "Kagami would have much rather put the money in the Club then have to buy worthless shares."

So £2m of Kagami money was in an account ready to be transferred except it wasn't enough as decided by Ridsdale because £7m was needed.
The option that Kagami had to purchase the shares from the other directors at £2m was then taken up, the club went into administration but no problem because Ridsdale had investors lined up, meanwhile Kagami was left with £2m worth of useless shares.

If I'm reading it right.

I think the Risdale part is a red herring. Synan came down the Brit (as a guest of a poster on here) long before Risdale appeared telling us that investment was days away. It never appeared.