steakbearnaise

Fat Prophet - (my ability to quote your post has failed me, but you say: PC''s comments when rumours first circulated back in the autumn throw some light on this I think.  He indicated that he''d like to take over the club in a few years time when he has retired, but not now.  He has come in sooner than planned because the club are in a mess and need money for players NOW.  Naturally he wants control over how the money is spent - especially given the current board''s recent track record.  You could argue that improving the club''s fortunes now is is not in his best interests financially, if it makes the club more expensive when he eventually does want to buy it out. No one knows exactly how he planned to get control without a total buyout.  But some of the financial bods suggested he could buy into a new share issue.  A new share issue would presumably be at the current price of £30.  So (if true) it suggests he''s prepared to pay full price for new shares not get them on the cheap.  But at the end of the day we don''t really know do we? However, the problem is that Cullum himself made clear in public statements that he had made an offer of 20m, but that 1) ALL of that cash was to go to players, 2) he wouldn''t invest any more, and 3) he wanted control of the club in exchange for this investment. In other words, no new share issue, no full payment for shares - the shareholders were simply expected to hand over at least 51% of the shares to him for nothing. That''s what we know - becuase he said it himself. Everything else is speculation, but presumably his argument was that if every current shareholder gave up just over half of their shares, his investment would improve the value of the club and that in the long term they might be able to get some or most of their money back. Quite reasonably, the current shareholders didn''t see that as a fair deal, and pointed out that a financial offer could not be structured like that under the rules governing the loans owed by the club, as well as those on assuming control of a company such as NCFC. If Cullum has made a better/differently structured offer, nobody knows - but the one he made seems to be clearly heavily weighted in his own favour and I don''t see why the current shareholders should hesitate in rejecting it. Of course they should negotiate with him, but that has to come from both sides. One or both were too rooted to their position to negotiate, and there''s no evidence that Cullum was being flexible at all, so I don''t see why 80% of the posters here are idolising him like some sort of second coming of Christ. (But, as I''ve said before, I don''t think Delia and co look good either - it''s a mess all round).  

I don''t know whether Marshmallowman is right or not in saying that the board gave Cullum a number of options, but the fact is this: We are not bankrupt as a club and the board do not have to sell their shares because of their own financial situation(s). There is therefore no need for an emergency sale or offloading of the shares. Accepting that, there are then two issues that are being bundled as one, deliberately by some: more investment into the club for players and change of control of the club. Everyone wants to see the first happen and many want the second as well. But change of control can only happen if an offer is made for the club that values it at something near what it''s worth. Cullum is combining the two issues to appeal to fans - but there''s no suggestion from anyone, least of all Cullum himself, that he''s made a fair offer for majority control of the club. Therefore there is no (moral or otherwise) obligation on the current shareholder (and remember it isn''t just Delia and hubby) to sell, and they would be fools to give up something that is worth something for nothing. The original post on this thread suggests they should give it away because they''ve taken a punt and failed. Well they haven''t - the truth is the club is still in the Championship, it''s financially ok but certainly not flush with cash - so why should they give it up for nothing? The question of investment for players is separate - it may be that we can only get more cash in by control changing, but in that case a fair offer has to be made first. I just don''t think anybody involved (Cullum, Delia and the board, most of the posters on here) look good in the current situation, but I do wonder why all those bashing Delia and co don''t ask the other obvious question, which is: Peter Cullum - why don''t you offer fair money for the club and then invest in players when you easily have the cash to do so? You say you love the club so much, so why not put the money in? Or are you just looking to make a quick buck by investing a bit, getting NCFC into the prem and selling on quickly for a massive profit (after all, you have said you would only be prepared to make an initial, not ongoing, investment)...  

"Here''s hoping (desperately) for a hostile takeover... " There''s not much chance of that - if the majority shareholders don''t want to sell, then there''s no takeover. A hostile takeover can only happen if the board doesn''t want to sell, but don''t own most of the shares (almost certainly because they are publicly traded) - the potential purchaser then makes an offer to the public shareholders who choose to accept the cash on offer or the board''s advice not to sell. But I''m not convinced by Cullum. Whilst we certainly haven''t got the full story, it''s clear from what he has himself said that he wasn''t prepared to offer any money for the actual shares, yet he wanted to get a majority shareholding in the club. Even when we were at the bottom of the table last season, the club was obviously worth something, so this seems a little naive, to say the least. And he also suggested that he was prepared to make a one-off (or worse that that - two installments and the second only if the club stayed up), with no more investment after that. Where would that leave us after a season or two in the prem? Not competing with the big boys, I wouldn''t say. Whatever the discussions on the table this time round, it seems to me that Cullum wanted something for nothing - or at least a bargain of some sort. If he was really committed to NCFC, why not make a proper offer for a decent shareholding in the club and put in the investment for players? It''s not as if he''s short of the cash. The sad truth is that nobody has come out of this whole thing very well at all. Delia et al look mighty stupid after the hints about new investment at the Norfolk show and that statement about what the club was worth was a PR disaster. Cullum played the press and supporters much more cleverly, but in the end doesn''t appear to have made a reasonable proposal - the one last year would not have been acceptable to any business, in trouble or not. And by making even just a couple of statements to the press, he has upped the pressure without being able to close the deal. The thing that really irritates me is that the priority had to be rebuilding and I don''t think we were actually that far off that. We''ve got a few good midfielders in, Bertrand back and close to getting Gow. One or two centrebacks (Tiny? Gorkss?), Rigters and AN Other striker (Ched back, or even Ameobi), plus a couple of loans just before the season starts and the team doesn''t look in too bad shape for, frankly, not much money in comparison to what other clubs would spend - and particularly given the situation we were in after releasing so many players.  That vision isn''t exactly in tatters yet, and here''s hoping GR pulls things back to where he wants it pretty quick, but the whole takeover saga hasn''t helped anyone and has made the atmosphere around the club seem somewhat bitter from a supporter''s point of view. Delia needs to learn when to keep quiet and not be so defensive, Cullum needs to shut up about Norwich City unless he''s prepared to make a proper offer, or invest with no strings attached, and everyone needs to get back to work and put this sorry story behind them.  

May have been posted before/been on TV, but amusing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fY8BiJMNJyU    

to anyone able to listen to the commentary, how does it sound like we''re doing? Coming up to half time (43 mins gone as I type), it''s interesting to look at the table if things stay as they are (of course they won''t, but nevertheless). Would leave us still in 13th, level on points and GD with Wolves, but with only a two point gap to 6th. That''s very tight, with any of those 13 teams possibly being promoted or missing out. And Stoke would go top.

http://myp2p.eu/ will sometimes work if we''re on telly, but i presume you can just get to the pub then. I live in Belgium so it''s all a little more complicated (and I don''t have a tv either...) If anyone does know how to get the audio commentary - specifically from abroad - would be most grateful.

you''re right, it wasn''t. But it was against Newcastle in 96, not Liverpool. And he almost scored a 4th, but was ruled offside having put it in the back of the net...

the answer is that he scored a hattrick on the first day of the season and still finished on the loosing side, I believe.

Jermaine Pennant also played for Liverpool last time round...

one of the positive things is it seems he scores at the end of games a fair bit, if these videos are anything to go by. so am hoping that this will be the end of me watching the football results come in each saturday with  us 1-0 up at half time and then the slow inevitability of us being brought level and then loosing in the last ten minutes...