Kacper Lopata

[thenobster]

If, he were to change his mind, or Kev persuaded him to stay (let's assume he wants him to stay), would you welcome him back with open arms?

 

[Blue Yonder]

I still think totally unacceptable from a football club chairman I have spoken to a staff member today and is still waiting for full payment of their wages they have only been part paid

That’s worrying. Suggests the bridging finance is nowhere near sufficient.

 

[Lincoln Shrimp]

Don't know for sure but I do know toms been trying to get things sorted ever since funds cleared but then the lopata thing kicked off which needed attention.
at first I heard it was 5m but now heard it's 2.6m received so I'm assuming it's a case of what gets paid and what order I guess.
Whole thing is messy.

It's almost like he's hedging his bets in the hope that he can sell the club so that the remaining debts are someone else's problem

 

[bazzashrimper]

Don't know for sure but I do know toms been trying to get things sorted ever since funds cleared but then the lopata thing kicked off which needed attention.
at first I heard it was 5m but now heard it's 2.6m received so I'm assuming it's a case of what gets paid and what order I guess.
Whole thing is messy.

Thank you. £ 2.6m you would hope sorts the here and now, but I can’t imagine there is much spare

 

[LeedsSUFC]

If, he were to change his mind, or Kev persuaded him to stay (let's assume he wants him to stay), would you welcome him back with open arms?

No, I don't think I would. Damage is done here. Putting him back in the team would be like Brown/Mohsni... Awkward and it won't work.

We have better players in CB positions, who don't berate the goalie... We have better leaders on the pitch...

If Ron wants to pay him to sell in the summer, send him to the youth team.

 

[Smiffy]

I still think totally unacceptable from a football club chairman I have spoken to a staff member today and is still waiting for full payment of their wages they have only been part paid

Yep. Forget the Lopata story.

The bigger worry is the fact there’s still staff members not up to date with their wages.

Why is this still a problem when we were told on 28th Feb: “Funds as working capital have also been injected to help Southend United over the coming months.”

 

[rootshall rambler]

Firstly ... This ****ing hurts and to me, this feels like the turning point in our season. Something huge has just come loose and I don't believe we will have the resources to fix this and make the playoffs.

Secondly... This is no reason to turn against Kacper. We've signed a young player and frankly lied to him and not paid him. What you have done? The vast majority of fans have been very understanding, the one ones of you who are sending sarcastic or outright rude comments to Kacper really need to adjust your sights on the person that is really to blame.

Martin needs to **** off! I knew that the HMRC wouldn't be the end of it! I knew something of this magnitude would happen and the wheels would come off this season.

I feel sorry for the coaches and remaining players who have stuck together and fought to try and push the club as far up the table as they could and I'm worried that Kacper may have opened the door for others to either leave or even take their focus off the games.

All the best to Kacper, hopefully we kick on and his spell here will be forgotten but sadly, I feel like we are going to be talking about him for a long long time


Martin Out!

Excellent post. Well summed up. It’s delusional to imagine that anyone apart from “The Toxic Grifter“ is to blame for this mess.

 

[rootshall rambler]

Anyone having a pop at Kasper here needs to give their head a wobble.

If my employer treated me like Ron treats his employees, I’d be off too if I had other potentially even more lucrative offers elsewhere.

Kasper handled it poorly, yes. But don’t let that distract you from the common denominator in all this sorry state of affairs.

Your last sentence is the most important one. !

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Yep. Forget the Lopata story.

The bigger worry is the fact there’s still staff members not up to date with their wages.

Why is this still a problem when we were told on 28th Feb: “Funds as working capital have also been injected to help Southend United over the coming months.”

God knows. It can’t be a huge amount of money but it needs sorting right away.

 

[MountainDrew]

No-one is disputing that, but no player is bigger than the Club, and as many have said, he's not been as good as he was when on loan.

Been equally as good as he was on loan, utter tosh, he was the reason we are (was) a playoff team, ohhh and by the way, this team is on the edge of distinction, I’m calling it now if we finish higher then 14th right now then that would be a miracle.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Wiser folks can inform, but...'seek to recover substantial training compensation from his next club"?
Am assuming it means if he signs for a new club now, we want some cash.
After all, he can't play no matter who he signs for. Right?
Yeah: let him sign and we can push for the dough.

Sounds to me like an Elvis situation where we’d still hold his registration as he’s under 24 and be entitled to compensation if he moves to an English club.

That backfired on Ron so will be interesting to see if he blinks here.

Of course it could all be a PR exercise to reduce the fallout from Ron’s failure to pay in a timely manner costing us a valuable asset. It’ll be incredibly difficult to trace the outcome of this and therefore hold Ron to account on this statement. That may be the whole point of it.

 

[annie1954]

That’s worrying. Suggests the bridging finance is nowhere near sufficient.

The member of staff I spoke to said the think they are ok this season but don’t know what’s happening beyond that they just laughed at the amounts of money ron is supposed to have received and said don’t listen to all the silly rumours going around about large amounts of money

 

[in the know]

Funny how nobody seems to rate Kacper now he’s left. If he stayed and we got play offs everyone would be saying he’s one of the best in the league (he definitely is). Our best centre back and he’s only gone because one rat at the tops incompetence

I do think he's a huge reason we're in and around the play offs unfortunately! Yes, kensdale has come on a lot but lopata was superior to the majority in this league. Sturdier, stronger, better at reading the game, and expected those around him to do their jobs. At time his inner diva was evident in training but that's what you get with some players. I
I wish him well. His agent caused problems at Sheffield but then he was well and truly hung out to dry by them. Was always too good for the NL.. I'm happy he helped us get where we are and it's now up to us to take advantage of it if we can

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

I do think he's a huge reason we're in and around the play offs unfortunately! Yes, kensdale has come on a lot but lopata was superior to the majority in this league. Sturdier, stronger, better at reading the game, and expected those around him to do their jobs. At time his inner diva was evident in training but that's what you get with some players. I
I wish him well. His agent caused problems at Sheffield but then he was well and truly hung out to dry by them. Was always too good for the NL.. I'm happy he helped us get where we are and it's now up to us to take advantage of it if we can

Must be a decent wage saving too - probably one of our highest earners?

 

[Sherif H]

Am I the only one who is absolutely stunned with this?

The same player who worked so hard to force a move to his ‘beloved’ Southend United in September, now doing his best to force a move away some 6 months later.
Before anyone comes at me though, I’m not naive to the severity of the situation - don’t get me wrong - Ron’s management of our financial position is a complete disgrace and has left us open to being pillaged by other clubs. It is not right to not pay people, and Ron has put us at risk of losing a carefully assembled squad that KM and his team have worked with meticulously to make the club competitive, It just appears Lopata is the first, and hopefully the only one, to take the bait.

However, at least from what we’ve been told, the players have now received wages for January and February have they not?

This to me smacks at an agent and a misled young player taking advantage of a situation here. It’s the timing that doesn’t add up.

If you were unhappy/couldn’t live without your wages, why not leave a month ago if you were genuinely leaving over the pay issue? At that point he would have gone 28 days unpaid and could have triggered his notice. He could have left 15 days later, in Mid-Feb, so why not then? All that leads me to believe he has had his head turned in the last few days, as he certainly didn’t look like a man who wasn’t invested in the celebrations at Torquay a week ago.

I sense one of the top NL clubs (probably Wrexham or Notts County if I had to guess) have tapped him up and he has used the financial situation as the reason, when in reality he fancies the move and wants to get out of his contract easily without the move being scuppered by the buying club having to pay a fee. Obviously if the buying club don’t have to pay a fee, it of course gives the agent more wiggle room to negotiate a better fee for himself and Kasper will no doubt get a package too.

The sad thing about this is that if Kasper really loved the club, he could have continued playing well for us, earned himself a well deserved move to a bigger club in the summer, whilst simultaneously netting the club a much needed transfer fee that could have boosted our short to medium term financial picture.

In doing so, Kaspar could have left a legacy by helping ensure his team mates/colleagues are less likely to face the same pay issues as previously experienced, left with dignity, retained his hero status with the fans, not called his attitude/reputation into question from those within the game by forcing a second move in 6 months.

Don’t for a second get to thinking I’m pro-Ron here though - that donkey has a lot to answer for as well. Because of his financial mismanagement of his businesses/inability to take the correct decision for the well-being of the club by accepting outside investment, he has left us susceptible to this situation, and moreover cost the club and potentially himself a substantial transfer fee from the buying club.

As @davewebbsbrain has said, it speaks volumes that the rest of the squad have chosen to stay loyal to each other and the fans who have supported them unwaveringly up and down the country, whereas Kasper has chosen the first decent opportunity to get out to do just that.

And to add insult to injury, he thinks it’s appropriate to grab his boots and offer a few goodbyes on the eve of a match? At least if you want to go have the courtesy to let the remaining players and staff focus on the job at hand without the unwelcome distraction of negative news. If he really wanted what was best for the club and group, he wouldn’t have done that.

To be honest, I’ve lost a lot of respect for Lopata. He’s handled the whole situation with a lack of dignity, character and left us in the lurch as we go into a critical stage of the season.

Good luck to him, I’m sure he will have an excellent career as he is a talented lad, but but he certainly won’t be getting a pat on the back from me when he inevitably returns to the Hall in the future.

I think this is a very balanced and highly plausible explanation for Lopata's behaviour.
Yes we all agree we wouldn't be in this position were it not for Ron, but I suspect Lopata and his poisonous agent have absolutely exploited the situation for what they possibly perceive to be long term financial gain and a quicker pathway to the EFL.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Am I the only one who is absolutely stunned with this?

The same player who worked so hard to force a move to his ‘beloved’ Southend United in September, now doing his best to force a move away some 6 months later.
Before anyone comes at me though, I’m not naive to the severity of the situation - don’t get me wrong - Ron’s management of our financial position is a complete disgrace and has left us open to being pillaged by other clubs. It is not right to not pay people, and Ron has put us at risk of losing a carefully assembled squad that KM and his team have worked with meticulously to make the club competitive, It just appears Lopata is the first, and hopefully the only one, to take the bait.

However, at least from what we’ve been told, the players have now received wages for January and February have they not?

This to me smacks at an agent and a misled young player taking advantage of a situation here. It’s the timing that doesn’t add up.

If you were unhappy/couldn’t live without your wages, why not leave a month ago if you were genuinely leaving over the pay issue? At that point he would have gone 28 days unpaid and could have triggered his notice. He could have left 15 days later, in Mid-Feb, so why not then? All that leads me to believe he has had his head turned in the last few days, as he certainly didn’t look like a man who wasn’t invested in the celebrations at Torquay a week ago.

I sense one of the top NL clubs (probably Wrexham or Notts County if I had to guess) have tapped him up and he has used the financial situation as the reason, when in reality he fancies the move and wants to get out of his contract easily without the move being scuppered by the buying club having to pay a fee. Obviously if the buying club don’t have to pay a fee, it of course gives the agent more wiggle room to negotiate a better fee for himself and Kasper will no doubt get a package too.

The sad thing about this is that if Kasper really loved the club, he could have continued playing well for us, earned himself a well deserved move to a bigger club in the summer, whilst simultaneously netting the club a much needed transfer fee that could have boosted our short to medium term financial picture.

In doing so, Kaspar could have left a legacy by helping ensure his team mates/colleagues are less likely to face the same pay issues as previously experienced, left with dignity, retained his hero status with the fans, not called his attitude/reputation into question from those within the game by forcing a second move in 6 months.

Don’t for a second get to thinking I’m pro-Ron here though - that donkey has a lot to answer for as well. Because of his financial mismanagement of his businesses/inability to take the correct decision for the well-being of the club by accepting outside investment, he has left us susceptible to this situation, and moreover cost the club and potentially himself a substantial transfer fee from the buying club.

As @davewebbsbrain has said, it speaks volumes that the rest of the squad have chosen to stay loyal to each other and the fans who have supported them unwaveringly up and down the country, whereas Kasper has chosen the first decent opportunity to get out to do just that.

And to add insult to injury, he thinks it’s appropriate to grab his boots and offer a few goodbyes on the eve of a match? At least if you want to go have the courtesy to let the remaining players and staff focus on the job at hand without the unwelcome distraction of negative news. If he really wanted what was best for the club and group, he wouldn’t have done that.

To be honest, I’ve lost a lot of respect for Lopata. He’s handled the whole situation with a lack of dignity, character and left us in the lurch as we go into a critical stage of the season.

Good luck to him, I’m sure he will have an excellent career as he is a talented lad, but but he certainly won’t be getting a pat on the back from me when he inevitably returns to the Hall in the future.

Well said sir

 

[Maidstone Shrimper]

I don't get all this stuff about Lopata not being as good this season. Maybe the reason his performances have not stood out so much is because Hobson, Kensdale and Lomas have all upped their game. But one thing Lopata has that they don't is that he's a natural leader. We're going to miss him organising the defence. Let's hope someone can take his place that way.

 

[londonblue]

If, he were to change his mind, or Kev persuaded him to stay (let's assume he wants him to stay), would you welcome him back with open arms?

Hypothetically, if KM was happy I'd go along with that. That would be based the fact that KM would have spoken to him and cleared the air, and would have far more Information than me to make that decision.

 

[Maidstone Shrimper]

Don't know for sure but I do know toms been trying to get things sorted ever since funds cleared but then the lopata thing kicked off which needed attention.
at first I heard it was 5m but now heard it's 2.6m received so I'm assuming it's a case of what gets paid and what order I guess.
Whole thing is messy.

Maybe the total loan was £5m and £2.6m came to SUFC with Ron needing the rest to bale out his other beleaguered companies.

 

[rlb999]

If, he were to change his mind, or Kev persuaded him to stay (let's assume he wants him to stay), would you welcome him back with open arms?

I’ve moved on already. Pleased Lomas will get more game time. He’s a good player.