Robo

Great post.

The only information that can be gleaned from their nationality is that they are unlikely to be St Mirren fans. And that makes me nervous.

Definitely a good time to bump up SMISA membership, because if the new owners want to back out at any time then we could have a fund in place to make a bid.

I also seem to remember that Brearley claimed his business plan was to bring young English players who had been recently released to Scotland to develop their careers before being sold for big money. A business plan that sounds far more feasible than the one being attributed to these Argentinians.
I'd much rather see a business plan that involved hiring a scout or two and finding the best of what is available locally.

If they have bought shares they have not registered them, the only change to shares at Companies house is SMiSA buying shares, I suggest this would be a good time to join SMiSA if you want a voice going forward.

Absolute disaster for our club if this goes through, time to start saving the pennies for the inevitable administration/liquidation event

Yep. Nice we hotel in feegie. Guys
Not got a clue. We'd end up like killie or hearts snowed under with debt and all put
Onto the football club Abd prob kill
Us
Only resolution is again a fans buy out but on a longer time basis. Simply
No right person will
Buy our club. Only con men

I simply want St Mirren fans running St Mirren. It amazes me that some fans don't share this view. If we can't get a fan takeover organised or if a Saints fan doesn't win the lottery or make big money in business, I'd rather we just stayed with SGG and his board.
It doesn't matter if it's a Scottish, Argentinian, English, Swiss, American or Botswanian investors. My question to them would be the same. If you aren't Saints fans, what's in it for you?
Because let's be honest, anyone getting involved with us who isn't a fan with an emotional attachment to our club isn't doing it for the good of St Mirren. They're doing it for the good of themselves. They'll put their own interests before that of the club, and that isn't what I want from the owners of St Mirren.
We've had Saints fans in charge in the boardroom for as long as I can remember. Let's hope it stays that way.

Sounds like new money will have to be invested, and if they're not English St Mirren fans, then you can guarantee they'll be looking for that money back again, and more on top.
Will reserve judgement for now until more details become available...

"...already lined up several players...one-time Barclays Premier League star with Champions League pedigree...director of football with more than 30 years of experience...Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain...proposed assistant manager and backroom members are also said to have worked at some of the biggest clubs in the world...qualifying for European football in the next couple of years."
All sounds fantastic! But the questions remain, how much will all this cost? who is going to pay for it? is it sustainable? and what's in it for them?

Don't know who they are or what their background is. Don't know how they're funding the initial buy-out. Don't know who the 'new SG' is, the main man. Don't know who the rest of the new BoD will be. Don't know who they have in mind for manager. Don't know how a 'director of football' position would be funded, or who would perform it. Don't know if anyone would be in the Paisley area 'on the ground' on a day to day basis. Don't know their reaction to possible relegation. Don't know how they think European football is possible without 'living the Livvy dream'. Don't know their plans for developing the stadium. Don't know.....
Don't know diddly squat. Who? Why? And How? please... Youse urnae' even Smurrrnn fans... Which, in truth, is a fair question really, when placed before the 'Why' question.

"...already lined up several players...one-time Barclays Premier League star with Champions League pedigree...director of football with more than 30 years of experience...Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain...proposed assistant manager and backroom members are also said to have worked at some of the biggest clubs in the world...qualifying for European football in the next couple of years."
All sounds fantastic! But the questions remain, how much will all this cost? who is going to pay for it? is it sustainable? and what's in it for them?

I was going to raise a similar point.
I'm torn on the issue, as I totally understand the desire to raise money and put it into the club, as we all want to see the club being as successful as possible. But also, at this time when the consortium are trying to sell, and they have already rejected a fan takeover, it seems wrong that fans should continue to donate money (and it's not investment unless you get an interest or shareholding back in return) which will serve to increase the value of the shares they are trying to sell.
However, I don't think it'll be a dealbreaker for me, as I think SMISA may be the only group capable or willing to put together any new bid.

I'm ever the optimist and want to agree... in fact technically I can't disagree.
However... the rot and apathy that has seeped into the boardroom and then gone on to permeate every area of our vlub has had me resigned to relegation from just a few "performances" into the season.
So hard to shake that apathy when you can no longer be bothered being annoyed at those who can no longer be bothered.

The Thompson challenge against Motherwell or any possible 'moment of madness' today by McLean (haven't seen it on TV yet) are hardly Gary Teale's fault. Yes, he's been in charge for four games, but here's an alternate take on it...In one game, he had about four days to take the team away to the champions, a club with clearly better players, where most days, avoiding a gubbing is priority No1 for certainly the previous four or five St Mirren mangers never mind a player taking over as manager with about a week to prepare.
In two of Teale's other games, we went down to ten men, and this greatly impacted on our ability to get a result. There were certainly questionable decisions in these two games as well as the sendings off. A Tesselar goal that was clearly onside for one. All the penalty or non-penalty awards are subjective, but what cannot be denied is that we played with a man short in two of Teale's four games.
In the one game that wasn't against a team currently in the latter stages of European competition, away from home too, and where we played 11 v 11 men until a late sending off for the opposition, and there weren't big controversial decisions - Teale's team won it 3-1, only concedeing when already 3-0 up.
Just saying like... I don't blame Teale. I blame the BoD, Tommy Craig, his shite signings, which resulted in the situation Teale found himself taking over in.

I was going to raise a similar point.
I'm torn on the issue, as I totally understand the desire to raise money and put it into the club, as we all want to see the club being as successful as possible. But also, at this time when the consortium are trying to sell, and they have already rejected a fan takeover, it seems wrong that fans should continue to donate money (and it's not investment unless you get an interest or shareholding back in return) which will serve to increase the value of the shares they are trying to sell.
However, I don't think it'll be a dealbreaker for me, as I think SMISA may be the only group capable or willing to put together any new bid.

It's definitely not just a bounce / reaction due to TC being sacked. That might be a reasonable perception if the team was being set up the same way with the same personnel / positions. But it's not. In the past couple of games there have been changes to the starting lineup, changes of positions for key players, and different tactics employed.
From my perspective, I don't see who could come in and do anything drastically different at this late stage for THIS season. To me I think the sensible thing to do would be to wait and see what happens in the Killie game, if we play well and win then we keep Teale / Longwell for the rest of the season. We don't give them a 2 year deal, or even a 1 year deal - we give them the remainder of the current campaign. If they do well, then longer contracts can be discussed toward the end of the season, if not then we thank them for their efforts and use the longer time between May and July to make the RIGHT appointment.
To me, none of this is then a 'snap' decision, it's just being sensible.

although it's never been stated as something SMiSA want to do, that's really because it has never had enough members to make it a practical proposition.
If, in the region of 2000 saints fans were prepared to become members it would be an option

sorry, meant to add, on a positive side SMiSA do already have a legal and binding constitution which has been in place since the start of the trust, is a registered I.P.S., has people already paying monthly subscriptions and a voting structure that has proved to work. To have these kind of things in place is a reasonably solid base to start with
we need to go on the principle it is not a sprint but a marathon

The main upside in appointing Tommy Craig was the fact that a new incomer would need to start by simply learning everyone's names, whereas Craig had a three year head start on any new face. An incredible position of relative strength in which to be handed the No1 position. He made a rip-roaring cnut of it though, and proved that his shite record as Hibs caretaker and Charelroi No1 was no unfortunate blip, but a true reflection on his managerial ability.
Teale and Longwell have a similar position of strength as Craig had. They know the place pretty much inside out. In fact, they are probably even more in the know than Craig was. Teale would be party to what the dressing room really felt about TC, and he would know from player-on-player conversations not involving TC what the players felt was wrong with TCs methods. Longwell would know the up and coming kids inside out - the swift promotion of two kids to the first team is clearly Longwell's doing. He believed in these boys and they were handed a chance. Teale and Longwell also have no previous record of abject failure as No1s at previous clubs.
I was all for an outsider coming in. I thought another 'internal bump up' was too incestuous, too much of a jobs for the boys act - the easy option for the BoD..... I was too quick to think that. Clearly, Teale and Longwell are not another Tommy Craig. They seem already to have some balls about them, and an abilty to shake the dressing room up from its slumber.
The last three games do not prove that Teale and Longwell are the new Brian Clough and Peter Taylor - but in thinking we must bring in an outsider, maybe, just maybe, we have a young ambitious pairing already in place who are up to the task. I have changed my mind about bringing in a new face quickly. These guys deserve a chance here. Act quickly and we might just have binned a right good new management team.

I still clearly remember Craig Whyte walking into Ibrox for the first time. Press and cameramen falling over each other, a horde of fans cheering and punching the air. One fan in particular, with his kid in tow, shoving a piece of paper under Whyte's nose begging for an autograph.
They thought they were getting a Scots mega-successful businessmen with Rangers leanings and 'off the radar wealth'. They thought they were on for shafting ra' Sellik up the arse, Laudrup and Gascoigne standard signings, and deep forays into the Champions League.
They trusted Sir David Murray's decision. They trusted him unquestioningly.
How did that one go?

http://www.hibernianfc.co.uk/news/5060
Real shame that the selling consortium couldn't have structured a similar deal for St.Mirren fans when they put the club on the market 5 years ago.
We would have had no bank debt to repay or convert. Perhaps easy to say in hindight but with monthly payments I dare say the fans would have stepped up to the mark and raised the £1.5m in that period if it meant fan ownership and security over the stadium and Ralston.
£300k a year for 5 years, 2000 members, achievable at £12.50 per month.
Too late now I guess, and SG and Co couldn't have imagined the club still being in situ after 5 years but it shows that it COULD have been done IMO.
And please, for the love of god, don't let this become ANOTHER 10000Hours bitchfest.

Rather frustrating to see Hibs join Aberdeen and Killie in being debt free while we had to leave Love Street in order to do so.
I hope SG calls the allegedly imminent sale of the club correctly or the board really will not be remembered well. A fan ownership model like this could still work, it requires the board to be happy with a more realistic price for the club & accepting payments in instalments over 5 or 6 years.

OK, I'll put you down as a 'maybe' then.

OK, I'll put you down as a 'maybe' then.