Stuart Dickson

As far as I understand it the JD Sports deal has ended and won't be renewed so it doesn't sound like it's the clubs choice to make. 
 

Just dropped off a few bags of stuff at the west stand. Whichever of you it was that took them said that they'd already filled and emptied a bin of donations, and that was quite early. Hopefully they get everything they need for over the festive period.

Given it was August 12th 2015 the article quoted was from this would be the 23
Ikechi Anya
Phil Bardsley
Charlie Adam
James Morrison
Allan McGregor
Robert Snodgrass
Shaun Maloney
Andrew Robertson
Steven Fletcher
Liam Bridcutt
Stephen Kingsley
Jay Fulton
Botti Biabi
Oliver McBurnie
Matt Ritchie
Darren Fletcher
Stephen Naismith
Graham Dorrans
Stephen Whittiker
Alan Hutton
Barry Bannon – left Crystal Palace Aug 31st
Chris Kettings – loaned out 14th August
James McArthur

Yes but could our chairman with the daft car not just pie them and sell to me if/when my Euromillions come up?  With the money I would offer him he could certianly buy a more sensibly coloured horseless carriage.
 
Money (especially lots of it) is a powerful driver, The question is of course framed in a certian way but someone else may win the Euromillions (I hope the don't though, I really want it to be me).  
 
Incidentally if the day comes where I buy the club my forum name will change to "King of of the Saint Mirren professional football club pte ltd co".  

Negativity alert !!!
Only three games suspended ? That's disappointing, IMO Jack Baird is a liability that has cost us dearly already this season. He is a loose cannon who, in our present predicament, we cannot afford to risk in the first team any more.

Hi Guys I'm trying to read this forum whilst at work and you folks are posting new threads faster than I can read the old ones. (NO wise cracks I keep getting called away from my computer and that's what slows me down, not illiteracy - is that how you spell it? I run the business so I can't get a row for not working) 
Anyway the Jist of the first six pages was Stu Dickson against the rest of the world. That's the case in most threads to be honest. I've been a saints fan since I could go to the football, a SMISA subscriber since its inception and a forum member for about a fortnight.  Stu D's obsession with Rangers and his  ability to wind you guys up appears to be a source of disagreement which brings out the best or the worst in everyone. If you cut through the crap though some of his points are valid. (Non Stu D fans don't switch off just yet)
Even if his approach is controversial. A lot of you agree that SMISA should not be subsidising the playing budget. Reading through the first 6 pages I would say the NO voters are in the majority. I think most of us agree we should be negotiating a better deal for our input. We shouldn't squander our money and Interest free loans cost us money as we lose bank  interest so I think the board are being shrewd businessmen taking advantage of our loan for the USH. Maybe we should be a bit more business like next time a loan is negotiated. We should work with the board but they maybe should be a bit fairer when working with us.
My personal opinion about funding the playing budget is that we should steer well clear of that path. How many times did you guys post about overpaid players not trying. How many moans about Rangers SEVCO and them living outwith their means. My personal opinion is the Board are well out of order even asking for us to pay players wages. That is their responsibility. Personnel additions should not be funded by SMISA. Why not just pass a couple of buckets around the terraces then anyone who wants to pay players wages can donate whether they are a SMISA member or not.
Use the funds to improve the club infrastructure and cement it's relationship with the community. If the players were performing the fans coming through the gate would fund their wages. Don't turn SMISA funds into a security blanket for subsidising Dud players wages. I haven't been on here long enough to grow to Love Stu D as much as you guys but I do agree with him that paying wages is not the way forward.
 

I would have done if the vision that had been promised at the start was being delivered. I said all along the community element was absolutely vital to me remaining a member, and I warned that if the club targeted SMiSA funds for the repair of the under soil heating or for this ridiculous proposal of paying for players I would be out. 
Before the first vote I made a suggestion to SMiSA of one method of how the funds could be spent. The proposal would have seen a small outlay - not anywhere near the full £8k, a large engagement within the local community, and ultimately a return of the initial investment along with some profit that could be distributed to local good causes as SMiSA saw fit. The proposal didn't make it on to the ballot paper - and there was no explanation why not. 
Don't get me wrong I was and am delighted that the wheelchair users got their platform. I personally believe that should have been funded by the football club and not SMiSA members, but at least the money was going to a decent cause. But this months events are the last straw for me. It's a return to the last time I cancelled my SMiSA membership and the ridiculous and farcical wasting of membership money that was the t-shirts and towels saga. 
 
 

And here is the very definition of short term thinking. A behaviour that equates to the guy who passes all his wages away on the 20/1 three legged donkey running in the 3.30 on pay day.

The club currently pays out in excess of £1.2m per annum in wages and associated costs. As a result of their recruitment policy St Mirren have got and are paying the likes of Jamie Langfield and Kyle Hutton not to play. They've got Andy Webster - another of the top earners and with 28 international caps often left out of the squad. Yet you think chucking an extra £2k per month at the team will solve all its problems.

Community initiatives will raise money, will bring positive PR and will deliver more interest in the club from local people. That's a long term vision, not short term. It's not even a gamble. Yet sadly those chumps on the SMISA committee won't even put the easiest and most secure of options that I put forward on the ballot paper.

Democracy my arse. There's more democracy in a Tibetan election.

I signed up for putting the club at the heart of the community, not ripping off some hard pressed fans to put even more money into the hands of people who are managing to fritter their way through £2.1m per annum. This is utter madness.

What? I can't change my mind? 

SMISA seem to have upset you which would appear to give a lot of the local community great pleasure, on top of two wins the local community seem a lot happier and the benefits that bring are immeasurable [emoji4]

I have my bag of goodies ready!
Really good initiative.
Well done guys.

Yes, plenty, both in Paisley and Glasgow

I signed up for putting the club at the heart of the community, not ripping off some hard pressed fans to put even more money into the hands of people who are managing to fritter their way through £2.1m per annum. This is utter madness.

SMiSA have covered the cost of the repair to the Undersoil Heating without referring to the membership. The agreement with the board of directors is that it is in the form of an interest free loan. The committee it appears thought that "it was better to put this money to use for the benefit of the club when it would be sitting in the bank otherwise." Nice, huh. 
Then the vote this month for the £2 per month spend of cash is just spend it on the playing squad, with a subsequent question of whether the membership want to top up the £2 per month pot with money left over from last month. This is not taking the form of a loan. Nope. The members of SMiSA are expected to take a gamble with the accumulated cash pot, and presumably the next three monthly cash pot, on the judgement of Jack Ross, that the one single player that this might help purchase will save the club from relegation. Sadly there were no alternative options put forward by the committee - no mention yet again of investment in community projects to put the club at the heart of the community. 
I'm going to have to seriously consider whether SMiSA have misappropriated their intentions, and whether I am willing to continue to give over £25.00 per month to a group who clearly do not intend to fulfill their pledges in their pre buyout propaganda. 

Really? You think he's smart? 
I don't know him at all. I've never met him. But the last thing I would call a man who failed to notice that the boiler wasn't working when he bought the club doesn't look that clever to me. A man who expects the members of SMiSA to buy his shares off him who takes the first opportunity to put the begging bowl out to the members of SMiSA when the signings he sanctioned haven't worked out doesn't look that clever to me. A man who thinks you can grow the clubs turnover from £2.1m to over £5m in a handful of years without working with the local community doesn't look clever to me. A man who six months in still hasn't grasped that running a football club without a scout is bonkers doesn't look that clever to me. A man who has taken what is supposed to be a full time club with one of the highest wage bills in this division to the bottom of the league behind part time clubs and clubs who work more efficiently doesn't look that clever to me. A man who can't sort out the behind the scenes issues that are dragging the club down, basic issues like appalling customer service, doesn't look that clever to me. And a man who makes promises of free tickets to fans who can beat him in the local 10k race, and then fails to deliver doesn't look that clever to me. 
I've shared a video on the other thread about a club that struggles in the division it is in. A club with debts and bigger, more expensive problems than an under soil heating system. Yet a club that takes it time out to be a proper community club. A club that with the support and commitment of the local population continues to have the 7th largest average home attendances in its country. And a club which still charges one of the lowest gate admission prices in its league by some distance. Have a watch, and compare it to the shite SMiSA members were subjected to last night by people "doing their best". And the biggest joke of them all - SMiSA is the one claiming to be the Community Benefit Society. 

So putting £12 per month into an organisation  and abdicating all responsibility to monitor or question the way in which it operates is you doing your best for the club? Letting the committee gamble your funds instead of fulfilling their pledge to put the club at the heart of the community, is you doing your best? I'd hate to see you when you aren't trying  

SMiSA deserve slaughtering. It's supposed to be a Community Benefit Society, enjoying the tax breaks that brings. Yet there's not one community initiative on the table, not one! Instead the committee has decided that the only proposal worth putting on the table this month is whether or not members funds should be gambled by a millionaire business owner, on a new player for his latest toy, a football club with a £2.1m turnover. 
I was the person who stated that any money given to the club for USH repairs should be in the form of a loan.....unfortunately whatever Muppet took that on board, missed the important two words before it - "interest bearing". Providing members funds to a business with a £multi million turnover for a basic element of plant maintenance is absolutely ridiculous and the only way this should have been remotely palatable is if the club were willing to pay interest on the funds borrowed, or issue equity in the club in return for the funds. 

SMiSA deserve slaughtering. It's supposed to be a Community Benefit Society, enjoying the tax breaks that brings. Yet there's not one community initiative on the table, not one! Instead the committee has decided that the only proposal worth putting on the table this month is whether or not members funds should be gambled by a millionaire business owner, on a new player for his latest toy, a football club with a £2.1m turnover. 
I was the person who stated that any money given to the club for USH repairs should be in the form of a loan.....unfortunately whatever Muppet took that on board, missed the important two words before it - "interest bearing". Providing members funds to a business with a £multi million turnover for a basic element of plant maintenance is absolutely ridiculous and the only way this should have been remotely palatable is if the club were willing to pay interest on the funds borrowed, or issue equity in the club in return for the funds. 

Yeah I probably was Oaksoft. After all I'd seen close up how other ISA's had handled their buyouts. I'd seen great practice at Swansea where a superb leader was made Chairman, who published his business plan, and who appointed an excellent rookie football manager to devise a long term footballing blueprint to get them from the fourth tier of the English game to the Premiership. I'd watched on as Ann Budge took over at Hears, created a business plan, published it, and appointed a director of football who created a blueprint to get Hearts back to the top end of the top flight in Scottish Football from having just been relegated to a strong second tier that included Hibs and Rangers as well as many of the teams still sitting ahead of St Mirren. I'd even watched on as Clyde resolved their long term debts, published their business plan, and..... well nah they f**ked up with the manager and the blueprint, but I'm sure they'll get that sorted one day. 
I expected much of the same at St Mirren. Working with the community for mutual benefit. Putting in place a sensible long term business plan. Openness and honesty from those leading the fan buyout, and a great deal of excitement as those members not only saw progress on a footballing front, but also off the park where customers and the local community finally became more important than how good the spread is at half time in the football boardroom. I'd forgotten that this is St Mirren, where fans and employees fight against each other just so they can claim their own wee fiefdom. I was always going to be left disappointed and frustrated wasn't I Oaksoft?

I would have done if the vision that had been promised at the start was being delivered. I said all along the community element was absolutely vital to me remaining a member, and I warned that if the club targeted SMiSA funds for the repair of the under soil heating or for this ridiculous proposal of paying for players I would be out. 
Before the first vote I made a suggestion to SMiSA of one method of how the funds could be spent. The proposal would have seen a small outlay - not anywhere near the full £8k, a large engagement within the local community, and ultimately a return of the initial investment along with some profit that could be distributed to local good causes as SMiSA saw fit. The proposal didn't make it on to the ballot paper - and there was no explanation why not. 
Don't get me wrong I was and am delighted that the wheelchair users got their platform. I personally believe that should have been funded by the football club and not SMiSA members, but at least the money was going to a decent cause. But this months events are the last straw for me. It's a return to the last time I cancelled my SMiSA membership and the ridiculous and farcical wasting of membership money that was the t-shirts and towels saga. 
 
 

Long term benefit? Really? 
Fixing the undersoil heating appears to only be a priority because the board want to ensure a match against Morton goes ahead on Hogmany. Two weeks time is hardly long term. And any player signed by St Mirren in January is unlikely to get a contract that will last beyond the end of the season - quite simply because there is no guarantee that St Mirren will still be a First Division club next season. Five months is not long term. 
In comparison setting up community links with other sports clubs has a range of benefits from short term financial ones, to much longer term practical benefits too. But that kind of stuff isn't even being considered. SMiSA is not the organisation it promised to be. It's not open, it's not honest, it's not democratic, it's not committed to putting the club at the heart of the community and it's not focused on purchasing shares and getting fans a bigger voice on the football club board. Instead it's a con trick designed to extract more money in return for f**k all exploiting the naivety, stupidity and loyalty of some really gullible people. 
 

No it wouldn't. 
Why would it? 
The Club belongs to Gordon. 
He and his Board will set the agenda to keep St Mirren Football Club in business. 
SMISA are totally irrelevant presently as are all their members and super dooper uber fans who seem to think they are superior supporters than anybody else. 
Understand Dafty? 

You have misused the term "invest".
 
If you wish to invest your £2500 then may I suggest sticking it in an invesment fund, preferably in an isa.  You can reasonably expect a return on your invesment between 5% and 11% each year leaving you with a tidy sum in 15 years.  I like the CF Woodford accumulation trust.  The reason for the isa is of course to ensure that your invesment is not subject to capital gains tax.   Remember and leave details of your invesment with your next of kin in case you depart this earth as 15 years is a long time.
 
What you should have said is "let me spend £2500 on a 15 year season ticket thingmie bob that is designed especially for me".  As you will not see any form of return on your (presumably) hard earned cash then this is not an invesment but a purchase.  
 
You are of course very welcome and I wish you luck with your investing.  That spare £2500 will grow nicely over the 15 years.  If you were to add another £500 to your invesment then you would meet the minimum criteria for many a VCT (venture capital trust).  This is a higher risk typre of investment but one that could prove very lucrative, very lucrative indeed.  Read up on them they are interesting, interesting indeed.

Management hurt Clubs. 
Not fans. 
Dinnae need violins. 
Absolutely delighted not to be throwing any more money away. 
Fans buy Season Tickets. 
Managers spend the cash on the likes of Gow and other shit players. 
Stop pulling rank as a super dooper fan. 
We are all just fans. 
Albeit, you're a Dafty.