When will the takeover go through? The Waiting Game...

[fbm]

Them and one other. And that’s your three.

George Taylor?

 

[Shrimpergonzo]

Doesn't work like that. If there is no SUFC then RH becomes a valuable piece of real estate. At the moment RH is worth a lot more than FF because FF has no PP granted but RH has 500 houses.

It would be RH that would be sold to pay Rons debts. If that happened then COSU wouldn't be offered it cheap and they wont be paying £25m+ for it either.

Not sure why people still think the answer is a phoenix club. Clearly the best and now the only option is for the deal to progress asap.

Although I agree that is true let’s play this out in the worst case scenario.

DD is completed in the next couple of weeks, the sticking point is the mix of houses/ amount of social housing, or something similar. Rat family refuse to budge, as do the council and we go to court with the deal not done and the WUP not paid. We finally meet our match in court and SUFC is wound up.

At this point the consortium add to the list of people chasing the rat family for payment of debts.

The rat family have a planning permission, but the S106 and conditions state that they can’t build on Roots Hall until there’s a 10,000 seater stadium at Fossetts Farm.

Ron can apply to vary this but that will take time and suddenly he’s playing with a Council who are not going to be favourable towards him for letting a community asset go bust. A Phoenix club will form and they’re going to need somewhere to play long term, a city the size of Southend needs a football team, so the Council could argue that the Fossetts farm stadium is still needed, they could even try to compulsory purchase the site for a community asset.

Yes, this all takes time - a lot of time - but Rat Family don’t have time, they have debts - lots of debts, and people chasing them for payment.

If this deal doesn’t go through I think Ron will be bankrupt. I think he knows this too.

And that’s why I still have hope that this will go through…. he needs it to.

 

[Flinty]

Although I agree that is true let’s play this out in the worst case scenario.

DD is completed in the next couple of weeks, the sticking point is the mix of houses/ amount of social housing, or something similar. Rat family refuse to budge, as do the council and we go to court with the deal not done and the WUP not paid. We finally meet our match in court and SUFC is wound up.

At this point the consortium add to the list of people chasing the rat family for payment of debts.

The rat family have a planning permission, but the S106 and conditions state that they can’t build on Roots Hall until there’s a 10,000 seater stadium at Fossetts Farm.

Ron can apply to vary this but that will take time and suddenly he’s playing with a Council who are not going to be favourable towards him for letting a community asset go bust. A Phoenix club will form and they’re going to need somewhere to play long term, a city the size of Southend needs a football team, so the Council could argue that the Fossetts farm stadium is still needed, they could even try to compulsory purchase the site for a community asset.

Yes, this all takes time - a lot of time - but Rat Family don’t have time, they have debts - lots of debts, and people chasing them for payment.

If this deal doesn’t go through I think Ron will be bankrupt. I think he knows this too.

And that’s why I still have hope that this will go through…. he needs it to.

The council may not be happy with him, but if / when he has gained approval on FF with no stadium, then would surely win any appeal stopping development at RH based on a condition that can no longer be met. (This is why I think we are at risk the minute he achieves approval at FF)

He declares himself personally bankrupt (poor me I’ve gone down with the club!) whilst reality is everything is in family members names and has no real effect on him

 

[Shrimpergonzo]

The council may not be happy with him, but if / when he has gained approval on FF with no stadium, then would surely win any appeal stopping development at RH based on a condition that can no longer be met. (This is why I think we are at risk the minute he achieves approval at FF)

He declares himself personally bankrupt (poor me I’ve gone down with the club!) whilst reality is everything is in family members names and has no real effect on him

I think the issue is time - getting planning permission on FF (he hasn’t even submitted an application yet!) and planning appeals take ages to be resolved, and as I set out the issues for the appeal are far from clear cut.

I don’t think he, or the family, have time to let that all play out. After gaining a revised approval for FF (6 months minimum), the first step would be to submit either a revised planning application or an application to remove the condition. With public consultation (can’t see that going well!) even that will take time. If (when) it is refused he can appeal the decision but if, as I suspect, it would go to a hearing, rather than just a submission of statements, they take a long time to organise and then you have to wait for a decision.

Time is not on his side and he will know it.

 

[Flinty]

I think the issue is time - getting planning permission on FF (he hasn’t even submitted an application yet!) and planning appeals take ages to be resolved, and as I set out the issues for the appeal are far from clear cut.

I don’t think he, or the family, have time to let that all play out. After gaining a revised approval for FF (6 months minimum), the first step would be to submit either a revised planning application or an application to remove the condition. With public consultation (can’t see that going well!) even that will take time. If (when) it is refused he can appeal the decision but if, as I suspect, it would go to a hearing, rather than just a submission of statements, they take a long time to organise and then you have to wait for a decision.

Time is not on his side and he will know it.

With the club gone and if he goes down the personal bankruptcy route, he has no debts. The family will have income from FF, most likely packaged up and sold off fairly quickly. RH can wait while it falls even further into decay, becomes an area of nuisance and the council only too happy to have it developed.

I just don’t see someone who is particularly being proactive in matters to allow the club to be sold. I appreciate he is using it as a bargaining chip with the council, but he isn’t exactly rushing to provide information and push things along.

Let’s not forget he could hand the club over today if he so wished and considering it’s costing him money each month.

 

[dusterman]

Think I’d like to hear from @MedwayBlue before I hang meself.

 

[Supershrimper]

Think I’d like to hear from @MedwayBlue before I hang meself.

Believe he is stateside on holiday for another 2 weeks

 

[dusterman]

Believe he is stateside on holiday for another 2 weeks

Might be a little less busy on his return then.

 

[Holy Joe]

Doesn't work like that. If there is no SUFC then RH becomes a valuable piece of real estate. At the moment RH is worth a lot more than FF because FF has no PP granted but RH has 500 houses.

It would be RH that would be sold to pay Rons debts. If that happened then COSU wouldn't be offered it cheap and they wont be paying £25m+ for it either.

Not sure why people still think the answer is a phoenix club. Clearly the best and now the only option is for the deal to progress asap.

Ron doesnt own RH - so it wouldn't be sold to settle Ron's debts

 

[Grayson]

With the club gone and if he goes down the personal bankruptcy route, he has no debts. The family will have income from FF, most likely packaged up and sold off fairly quickly. RH can wait while it falls even further into decay, becomes an area of nuisance and the council only too happy to have it developed.

I just don’t see someone who is particularly being proactive in matters to allow the club to be sold. I appreciate he is using it as a bargaining chip with the council, but he isn’t exactly rushing to provide information and push things along.

Let’s not forget he could hand the club over today if he so wished and considering it’s costing him money each month.

This is my concern too. On the surface it seems like RM needs it as much as anyone, but his behaviour throughout the past 14 months has not been of someone desperate to conclude a deal. In fact, quite the opposite.

 

[Bromley Blue]

Believe he is stateside on holiday for another 2 weeks

Poor timing with the court case looming.

What’s he playing at?

 

[Smiffy]

This is my concern too. On the surface it seems like RM needs it as much as anyone, but his behaviour throughout the past 14 months has not been of someone desperate to conclude a deal. In fact, quite the opposite.

Yep. Makes you wonder how much is sitting in that BVI Mezcal nest egg doesnt it?...

 

[C'mon you Shrimpers]

I think we're all underestimating Justin and the consortium a little. When Justin came on board he would have been told in no uncertain terms what Ron was like. Untrustworthy, won't pay bills, does not play by the usual rules etc etc.
All the consortium members will know this. They are all fans. They know. They will all have an amount of money they are willing to put in and no more. Unfortunately Ron knows this as well. How far can he push them. I don't know what the right analogy is, poker, Russian roulette???. But there is a price for everything.
Whilst I do think sadly Tribal Chief may be right I think we should not underestimate the consortium. They would have talked about this scenario before committing. They are not naive.
The DD completion might be a red herring in the short term. We simply cannot go to the League AGM with the embargo and WUP as we are likely to get a points deduction or at worst not be allowed to compete I think this is unlikely as we are a bit of a cash cow.

 

[sufc4life21]

This is my concern too. On the surface it seems like RM needs it as much as anyone, but his behaviour throughout the past 14 months has not been of someone desperate to conclude a deal. In fact, quite the opposite.

It benefits the rats in the medium to long term for the club to be no longer. Why sell the club and roots hall for £1 when you can have 2 pieces of land into the millions also there would be no obligation to pay 20 million back into roots hall if there isn't a club. I agree he doesn't appear that desperate to conclude the deal which unfortunately for us and the consortium we are. He definitely playing the game that's for sure, with the council antics over last few months has helped take heat off the rats which plays into there hands further. He maybe skint interms of the traditional wealthy rich man out there but not that skint to be in hurry to sell the club. If the club goes bust its more money in his pocket.

 

[Liam AAS]

Might be a little less busy on his return then.

He's still keeping tabs on the situation.

 

[dusterman]

He's still keeping tabs on the situation.

Yeah definitely. The Whatsapp groups will still be pinging in the ol’ US.

 

[Shrimper]

Is there a real risk of us being kicked out of the league at the AGM because of this?

 

[dusterman]

Is there a real risk of us being kicked out of the league at the AGM because of this?

I’d have thought so yeah.

 

[Chrisb]

In the Echo today it says that Daniel Cowan was locked in a meeting with Council officers last night to attempt to answer the questions posed by the Fan Protest Group so let's hope there is a statement from him sometime today.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

I don’t think they’re really backing out of anything. No sale has taken place - they’ve pumped money in on the understanding that a deal will take place. They are free to walk away and then to try and go after Ron for whatever they can get. Which probably will be **** all.

They’re contracted though if the conditions are met? The point is that handcuffs Ron and the club even if we know the conditions won’t be met unless there is some formal termination.

Did I not read that the new council leader is keen to have a meeting with Justin ASAP

****, ****, ****. This is not a good sign. This is buck-passing territory. The Council don’t need to meet with Justin to pass it. They need to meet with Justin if it’s not going to pass.

Doesn't work like that. If there is no SUFC then RH becomes a valuable piece of real estate. At the moment RH is worth a lot more than FF because FF has no PP granted but RH has 500 houses.

It would be RH that would be sold to pay Rons debts. If that happened then COSU wouldn't be offered it cheap and they wont be paying £25m+ for it either.

Not sure why people still think the answer is a phoenix club. Clearly the best and now the only option is for the deal to progress asap.

Unless it is first repossessed by the lender, the value of the land is much reduced due to the stonking great mortgage on it. It’s probably in negative equity. Moreover the existing planning permission is dependent on building a new stadium at Fossetts.

With the club gone and if he goes down the personal bankruptcy route, he has no debts. The family will have income from FF, most likely packaged up and sold off fairly quickly. RH can wait while it falls even further into decay, becomes an area of nuisance and the council only too happy to have it developed.

I just don’t see someone who is particularly being proactive in matters to allow the club to be sold. I appreciate he is using it as a bargaining chip with the council, but he isn’t exactly rushing to provide information and push things along.

Let’s not forget he could hand the club over today if he so wished and considering it’s costing him money each month.

I don’t know if that’s Ron or the Consortium who are insisting on the ground being part of the deal. Considering it’s costing Ron money and he’d be better off shot of it, might it actually be the Consortium who say no deal unless the stadium is included?