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Mr Magoo

Why does Chase get such a bad time?

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Listen, I know that the Chase reign was not peaches and cream, however look at where we are now. I have read many posters who have reminisced about the Chase out campaigns and how badly people wanted him out. I understand why that happened, what I do not get is that he did leave us with some valuable physical assets that have come to the clubs financial rescue whilst under the poor stewardship that we are under now. Delia on the other hand has sold all of the assets, has stripped the playing staff to a point whereby we do not own a playing squad that can produce a starting 11 without help from loan signings. She has now been party to our darkest hours in 50 years, with us on the brink of relegation. Yet still she nor any of the current boad get anywhere near the hostility or impassioned pleas to go away that Chase was in receipt of. I do not know why this is the case. I for one would prefer to see the return of Chase, at least he left us with something. Delia has stripped everything away.

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PR training (Big Bob didn''t have any).Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but when the Chase Out protest happened it seemed that we were hours from actually going bust… and he was a right nasty twunt to boot.My personal grief with him, was how he let slip our greatest ever opportunity to build a team that could have really won something.Oh, I know the reasons behind it, but I shall never forgive him for it.People shouldn''t confuse the events of then with the events of now… they were bad then and they are bloody bad now. But because they are bloody bad now, it doesn''t suddenly make him a hero. He wasn''t and never will be… he was a very naughty boy!

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[quote user="Andy Larkin"]PR training (Big Bob didn''t have any).

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but when the Chase Out protest happened it seemed that we were hours from actually going bust… and he was a right nasty twunt to boot.

My personal grief with him, was how he let slip our greatest ever opportunity to build a team that could have really won something.

Oh, I know the reasons behind it, but I shall never forgive him for it.

People shouldn''t confuse the events of then with the events of now… they were bad then and they are bloody bad now. But because they are bloody bad now, it doesn''t suddenly make him a hero. He wasn''t and never will be… he was a very naughty boy!
[/quote]

Spot on Andy. A little investment at Christmas in the first season of the Premier League and we would have won it. Now imagine that in the history books... the first team to win the first ever Premier League - NCFC! Sadly someone decided it was not to be!

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My late Dad and I boycotted the club because of Chase. He said to me in a letter that I wasn''t a true fan; he used to read the letters page in the pink Un and sent me a clipping from the Torygraph or something say how well run the club was.

And then we went all bankrupt and all that.

Saying that, I was thinking the other day day Delia and Co are not that far from that now, and all has been sold. Where now.

There are no answers, only memories.

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''or something say how well run the club was.''That is probably why a large chunk of fans don''t believe the present board when they say it now. 

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However bad the current board are, they are not even close to how bad Robert Chase was.

 

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Hey, don''t get me started on letters from Mr Chase Jelltex, as his time was pre internet I was writing to him at least once a week stating he should go and pointing out his errors. I well remember that article in the Telegraph or was it the Times? and he quoted it at me too.

In the end he got fed up with me and invited me over for coffee and the legendary biscuit tin. Then over a long chat in his very palatial office, he asked me for the results of the last six matches (the meeting was at Easter, Good Friday); I told him we wouldn''t get enough points and would go down. He laughed and said we would never be relegated under his tenure. Sadly the current board are behaving in the same fashion regarding relegation. Scary stuff.

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If you think this message board gets heated over Delia, Doncaster, Munby, etc, it would have absolutely melted down if it had been around in the days of Chase.

 

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Only if your memory stretches back beyond the Robert Chase years can you properly gauge his tenure. If however you came on board at the tail end of his chairmanship (thus getting sucked in by the "Saviour Smith" nonsense spun by the media) you will have a very distorted view of him.

The Chase years were great years as a supporter. Top quality players led by top quality managers leading the team to success unthinkable only a few years before.

The Chase years gave the supporters massive pleasure and whatever happened later cannot (or should not) be allowed to cloud those memories.

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[quote user="Neil Cluckcaster"]

Only if your memory stretches back beyond the Robert Chase years can you properly gauge his tenure. If however you came on board at the tail end of his chairmanship (thus getting sucked in by the "Saviour Smith" nonsense spun by the media) you will have a very distorted view of him.

The Chase years were great years as a supporter. Top quality players led by top quality managers leading the team to success unthinkable only a few years before.

The Chase years gave the supporters massive pleasure and whatever happened later cannot (or should not) be allowed to cloud those memories.

[/quote]Thats absolutely correct NC, but nor should those great days lionise his status either!

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Bugger this lack of edit button.In the interest of fairness, there would be those that said the days under Chase were great but didn''t match the days of the ''59ers… I don''t know, I wasn''t there, in the same way that people will rightly look back fondly on the Play Off final and winning the Championship under the stewardship of the incumbents… … but the facts are he took the club to the brink and decided to fight fire with fire (the Met were invited remember) and oversaw some of the darkest days at this club.

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[quote user="Neil Cluckcaster"]

Only if your memory stretches back beyond the Robert Chase years can you properly gauge his tenure. If however you came on board at the tail end of his chairmanship (thus getting sucked in by the "Saviour Smith" nonsense spun by the media) you will have a very distorted view of him.

The Chase years were great years as a supporter. Top quality players led by top quality managers leading the team to success unthinkable only a few years before.

The Chase years gave the supporters massive pleasure and whatever happened later cannot (or should not) be allowed to cloud those memories.

[/quote]

It only gave me pleasure on the pitch.  He was always a dark presence in the background and was widely disliked by a number of fans even during the glory days.  I remember going to supporters meetings and hearing him making promises that he always turned back on (like keeping the River End as a terrace for one more season - which he quickly reneged on in the summer).  There was the mistake of housing away fans in the Barclay Upper, which he had been warned about but didn''t listen.  The Inter Milan ticket fiasco, the thuggish behaviour of the stewards when the Barclay became all-seater, the "if Chris Sutton is not here" statement, losing Mike Walker and Martin O''Neill, and so on and so on...

I don''t like the current board but I will never forgive Robert Chase for the way he brought the club to its knees.

 

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Lets not forget that Martin O''Neil would have not walked out if it were not for Chase; and then would we be now.

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[quote user="jelltex"]

My late Dad and I boycotted the club because of Chase. He said to me in a letter that I wasn''t a true fan; he used to read the letters page in the pink Un and sent me a clipping from the Torygraph or something say how well run the club was.

And then we went all bankrupt and all that.

Saying that, I was thinking the other day day Delia and Co are not that far from that now, and all has been sold. Where now.

There are no answers, only memories.

[/quote]Just a small point:We did not go bankrupt nor were we ever close. Assets far outweighed liabilities back then, Chase was put under tremendous cashflow pressure by the bank who wanted Delia in charge.The original amount owed under Chase has NEVER been repaid and pretty well accounted for the first tranche of the securitisation deal.When Delia leaves she will hand over the debt from the Chase years to the new owner on top of substantial debts incurred by her own board.Delia has taken a £6m debt and tripled it. There never was a deal whereby Delia and co repaid the bank it was simply re-arranged as a loan not an overdraft and we''ve been paying interest on it ever since.I struggle to think of any finance agreement we''ve repaid in full under Delia, she''s obviously a minimum monthly payment sort of girl.

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[quote user="Buckethead"][quote user="jelltex"]

My late Dad and I boycotted the club because of Chase. He said to me in a letter that I wasn''t a true fan; he used to read the letters page in the pink Un and sent me a clipping from the Torygraph or something say how well run the club was.

And then we went all bankrupt and all that.

Saying that, I was thinking the other day day Delia and Co are not that far from that now, and all has been sold. Where now.

There are no answers, only memories.

[/quote]Just a small point:We did not go bankrupt nor were we ever close. Assets far outweighed liabilities back then, Chase was put under tremendous cashflow pressure by the bank who wanted Delia in charge.The original amount owed under Chase has NEVER been repaid and pretty well accounted for the first tranche of the securitisation deal.When Delia leaves she will hand over the debt from the Chase years to the new owner on top of substantial debts incurred by her own board.Delia has taken a £6m debt and tripled it. There never was a deal whereby Delia and co repaid the bank it was simply re-arranged as a loan not an overdraft and we''ve been paying interest on it ever since.I struggle to think of any finance agreement we''ve repaid in full under Delia, she''s obviously a minimum monthly payment sort of girl.

[/quote]Can I ask where you get your information from BH? That isn''t in a "I don''t believe you?" that''s in a "I would like to know more of that which you speak?

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[quote user="Andy Larkin"][quote user="Buckethead"][quote user="jelltex"]

My late Dad and I boycotted the club because of Chase. He said to me in a letter that I wasn''t a true fan; he used to read the letters page in the pink Un and sent me a clipping from the Torygraph or something say how well run the club was.

And then we went all bankrupt and all that.

Saying that, I was thinking the other day day Delia and Co are not that far from that now, and all has been sold. Where now.

There are no answers, only memories.

[/quote]

Just a small point:

We did not go bankrupt nor were we ever close. Assets far outweighed liabilities back then, Chase was put under tremendous cashflow pressure by the bank who wanted Delia in charge.

The original amount owed under Chase has NEVER been repaid and pretty well accounted for the first tranche of the securitisation deal.

When Delia leaves she will hand over the debt from the Chase years to the new owner on top of substantial debts incurred by her own board.

Delia has taken a £6m debt and tripled it. There never was a deal whereby Delia and co repaid the bank it was simply re-arranged as a loan not an overdraft and we''ve been paying interest on it ever since.

I struggle to think of any finance agreement we''ve repaid in full under Delia, she''s obviously a minimum monthly payment sort of girl.


[/quote]

Can I ask where you get your information from BH? That isn''t in a "I don''t believe you?" that''s in a "I would like to know more of that which you speak?
[/quote]

We should have a chat sometime Andy

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[quote user="jelltex"]Lets not forget that Martin O''Neil would have not walked out if it were not for Chase; and then would we be now.[/quote]

 

Would we be where Leicester are? As that is the club he left us for.....

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Would that chat include some hard facts… I can''t be doing with any more speculation, my head is spinning with all the plot, counter plot and intrigue?

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[quote user="Blainsey"]

[quote user="jelltex"]Lets not forget that Martin O''Neil would have not walked out if it were not for Chase; and then would we be now.[/quote]

 

Would we be where Leicester are? As that is the club he left us for.....

[/quote]But that isn''t where Martin O''Neill left them was it? Somebody must have picked them up and moved them when they were dusting the silverware he won!

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In an age where there is more money than at any other time in the game due to Sky we have never been so poor and asset stripped. At least under Chase we had a good playing squad and they were our own players even if we sold some of them very quickly, the £20 million debt under Delia''s regime never seems to reduce even after taking on board the assets obtained under the Chase regime and the money from the Premiership year and the additional payments.

I must say for the record that I''m not pro-Chase or anti-Delia but at least under Chase we spent most of that time in the top league in English football whereas with Delia most has been spent in the 2nd tier and it looks like the next season and maybe a few more maybe spent in the 3rd league.

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[quote user="Mr Magoo"]Listen, I know that the Chase reign was not peaches and cream, however look at where we are now. I have read many posters who have reminisced about the Chase out campaigns and how badly people wanted him out. I understand why that happened, what I do not get is that he did leave us with some valuable physical assets that have come to the clubs financial rescue whilst under the poor stewardship that we are under now. Delia on the other hand has sold all of the assets, has stripped the playing staff to a point whereby we do not own a playing squad that can produce a starting 11 without help from loan signings. She has now been party to our darkest hours in 50 years, with us on the brink of relegation. Yet still she nor any of the current boad get anywhere near the hostility or impassioned pleas to go away that Chase was in receipt of.

I do not know why this is the case. I for one would prefer to see the return of Chase, at least he left us with something. Delia has stripped everything away.
[/quote]

Ugh. Chase was responsible for our most badly timed relegation from the prem. Just before all that tv money came in. Just where could we have been today? The guy bottled it, was out of his depth (as Delia and Co are not) and decided to cash in his chips. Problem was we were at the peak of our powers, We had a great European run and almost won the premier league. It was painful at the time. Just think where we could have been if he''d had a bit of foresight and got some finance, hung on to Chris Sutton, Ruel Fox, Mike Walker etc. You can''t blame people for realising they''ve taken the club as far as they can but to then not hand over the reins to someone who can or bring in finance and relinquish control is selfish and negligent to say the least. It applied to Chase and it applies to Delia et al. The little guy hanging on to his toy too long.  Grrrrrrrrrrrrr. Chase Out!

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[quote user="whoareyou"]

[quote user="Andy Larkin"]PR training (Big Bob didn''t have any).Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but when the Chase Out protest happened it seemed that we were hours from actually going bust… and he was a right nasty twunt to boot.My personal grief with him, was how he let slip our greatest ever opportunity to build a team that could have really won something.Oh, I know the reasons behind it, but I shall never forgive him for it.People shouldn''t confuse the events of then with the events of now… they were bad then and they are bloody bad now. But because they are bloody bad now, it doesn''t suddenly make him a hero. He wasn''t and never will be… he was a very naughty boy![/quote]

Spot on Andy. A little investment at Christmas in the first season of the Premier League and we would have won it. Now imagine that in the history books... the first team to win the first ever Premier League - NCFC! Sadly someone decided it was not to be!

[/quote]yeah - 9 points clear at that stage in december - imagine gary lineker coming in on loan then!!!what a waste...

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[quote user="Colchester Canary"]

Chase also helped/influence the ground we have now, that everyone is very proud of!

[/quote]And of course provided this little windfall for Delia and co to waste in the promotion season and the first season back in the champs.LINK

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His record speaks for itself. FA Cup Semi-Finals, Europe etc. He did a lot of dealing in the transfer market and yes he did sell players who still had a lot to offer the Club. This had to be done to keep the finances straight. Mr Chase was a local man and tried to keep the Club that way on limited resources. Perhaps he could have brought someone else in but we have seen numerous cases where this has not worked. At the end of the day he invariably improved the team plus we saw entertaining attacking football.The reason he was forced out was that we did have a poor spell of results - nothing by the way like we have seen over the past 3 years !! He had fallen out with some members of the supporters club and they grasped the opportunity to make life difficult for him. As regards the bank overdraft of around £5 million, I suspect there was a change in local management somewhere along the line and in those days it did not take much for Banks to get jumpy over football clubs and they did not throw money away as they have done over the past 6 years or so. Unlike now the overdraft was actually covered by the value of players "owned" by the Club.As per the last set of accounts 2008 the Club owed £8 million to trade creditors, £6 million other loans and bank overdraft and £12 million on the long term loan. The borrowing requirements would actually be around another £9 million to keep the finances straight, but to their credit the Club cover this by advanced season ticket sales income. Just to add to the bad financial news it is noted in the last accounts that the Club incurred an interest charge of £231000 in respect of their share in the joint hotel venture. This suggests there is a very large loan outstanding on this venture. The share of profit from the hotel was £208000 - possibly this is net of interest but I might work it out one day.Whilst I accept the football world has changed since the arrival of Sky neverthless so far as I can see Robert Chase is a clear winner by miles !!!!

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[quote user="Andy Larkin"]Would that chat include some hard facts… I can''t be doing with any more speculation, my head is spinning with all the plot, counter plot and intrigue?
[/quote]

Yes I have only ever said what I know as true having been very involved with the club at the time.

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Because instead of building on our success in 1992/93 and 1993/94 he ripped it apart. While I''m sure it would of been impossible to keep Sutton, Walker should of been backed much more and other players kept!

 

That said our progress in building the new Jarold stand, hotel and infill and all the land deals of recent years are thanks to Chase buying all the land in the early 90s!

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