Publicity Pete or the Station Controller?
- A man of the people! -
I was unable to attend due to work and I’ve been to enough of these events to realise the chairman is polished, an accomplished performer and would be an outstanding politician as he says plenty but you learn little or nothing new. For someone who promises transparency, he falls well short of full disclosure but deserves credit for holding these sessions. I’m unaware of any other Championship chairman who does.
However these seem to be the key points:
On DAVE JONES (who is coming under pressure again recently)
Ridsdale offered a vote of confidence and intends to back him with money to buy players in January (wonder who is going then!)
On SAM HAMMAM (or LANGSTON)
Peter is confident a deal will be finalised by the end of the week. He said exactly the same thing a fortnight ago however so we’ll see.
A deal, rumoured to agree to pay Langston £10M, at £1M per year in monthly payments (that’s more than £83,000 per month!) is rumoured to be on the table although City are hoping to pay it in full by the end of next year. It is believed Hammam would also get £5M if City are successful in selling stadium naming rights and a similar amount if Premiership football is achieved in a certain time.
Hammam also enquired about rejoining the board as a director which was instantly refused as it should be.
OTHER DEBTORS
Ridders also outlined PMG (Paul Guy and this team) are owed £9M, more than £2M in extra costs for the new stadium and £1MN each to directors Steve Borley and Michael Isaacs. Ridsdale refused to reveal the debts to HMRC tax office which ended in court last week but remours have it at around £1.25N.
Put it all together and that means debts of at least £24M.
THAT TAX MATTER
He was unhappy with The Echo for revealing it and their sensationalised reporting of it but it is in the public domain. It does appear the club are resolving it but other than cause embarrassment and, I’d imagine, other debtors knocking hard on the door for their money back, it’s s situation the club created.
THE MALYSIANS
Ridders is genuinely excited about this development revealing that Dato Chan Tien Ghee has already invested an amount. He refused to reveal how much but hinted it is millions with more to follow this week. T.G. has been rumoured for some time to be a ‘front man’ for his boss, Vincent Tan, listed as one of the Top 10 richest Malasyians and worth a cool US $9 billion. Peter has confirmed meeting the main man, this does open the door to exciting times ahead but we’ll see.
Due diligence is currently underway with the Malaysians prepared to buy a chunk of the club or launch a full blown takeover but clearly providing the monies to deal with the debts.
RIDSDALE HIMSELF
Well he does like to do that and congratulate himself, doesn’t he?
He told the crowd he earned £350,000 a year, had a £500,000 bonus when the stadium was completed and, like L’Oreal, he’s worth it.
SEASON TICKETS
Ridders is disappointed by the take up of frozen prices for 5 years for supporters who renew before the end of this year for next season. It is believed just over 3,000 fans have done that – I’ve bought my 3, what a hero I am! :>)
LASTLY THE TEAM
The club were unable to bring in the quality they needed before the closing of the loan window last week and were better off waiting to make permanent signings in January for the quality of players we need. I just hope we’re still in contention by then as we’re currently slipping away fast.
However, a caveat, he is hopeful this will happen and is not guaranteeing it. “It will be tight but I’m very hopeful” he told them.
He said the side had lost all creation without Steven McPhail (although we did start the season on fire without him) , how last weekend’s performance against Ipswuich was completely unacceptable and in a barb aimed at one player, he declared that, “Joe Ledley is playing like he is somewhere else already.” Maybe he is … or soon will be anyway!
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