gazmc83

He admits himself in interview on website that he needs a good pre season under his belt and there's a lot more to come from him , if I remember correctly he had a great start to the season with Dundee something like 8 goals in 8 games , so hopefully he can replicate that with us !
I thought his link up play was excellent if he can add goals then great

Nice back page spread in today's PDE

Periscope and Facebook live I believe

Nice back page spread in today's PDE

I've noticed a couple of people say that they aren't backing the bid as they don't want to join SMISA.
If that's the case for anyone on here, can I ask why? I'm not really clear and just trying to understand! For me, I just see Smisa as the vehicle to takeover the club. Once it's fully in control of the fans then Smisa would become irrelevant...

On Wednesday evening the St.Mirren Fans Council hosted a meeting with Gordon Scott and George Adams regarding the Buy the Buds Campaign.
As a result George has been invited to make a presentation at the 1877 Supporters Club before the last game of the season on Sunday. He will also return after the game to answer any questions fans may have regarding the Buy the Buds Campaign.
The Fans Council feel it is important that every supporter gets the chance to hear these proposals and as such will mail shot every 1877 member regarding Sunday's presentation.
In addition the Fans Council have suggested that every season ticket holder be contacted re attending the next public forum for Buy the Buds which is scheduled to be at the Paisley 2021 Stadium on 19th May.
Fans Council Chairman Colin Haggerty also said, "The Fans Council will always be extremely grateful to the current board who have done so much for the club at both St Mirren Parks – saving one and building the other.
“The superb new facilities we now enjoy is down to their sterling service. The Fans Council now feels it is in everyone's interest that a new majority shareholder is secured.
“We are at a critical time of the season and would like to see this happen as soon as is possible.
“We will always fully support a bid which includes Fans Ownership of our great historic Club as we move towards beginning our 139th year in October."

I also wonder if RIchard would be willing to share with SMISA contact details of the 1200 who signed up for 10000 hours ?

I emailed SMISA today to ask about more meetings and was told A large public meeting which will be streamed by video so supporters that can't attend will be able to watch and also have a number of SMISA members taking live applications on laptops is in the process of being set up and they just need to confirm the date , they want to do this around big publicity but I believe this will be very soon and we should hopefully see a big uptake :-)

Great point and that is our situation curently there is no crisis at St. Mirren we are a well run club currently with next to no debt. and I think that's why fans are being a little slow to get behind it , we have a great opportunity here to safeguard our future and get some fresh ideas in the boardroom

If we can urge as my fans as possible seeking more info to visit the SMISA website the guys have done a great job in updating the FAQ section with more answers to questions that have cropped up over last few weeks
http://www.smisa.net/buythebuds/faq

The 68% was in the public domain from the beginning mate ... Although its not in writing myself and others are sure that Gordon stated at the meeting that he would give his 8% when fans are ready to buy him out . Unfortunately this isn't a fact as it isn't it writing but thats what he said at the meeting

yes Gordon indicated he hoped to gain control at end of May , so direct debits in July will only be taken if the deal is actually going ahead

I think he means if it failed say 5 years in would everyone get 5 years money back.? I pretty sure that the answer would be no.
I think I'm now convinced to go for this will probably sign up this week.

As far as I am aware Gordon has said the deadline for the target of 1000 is the end of May if that does not happen then the deal wont be made.Allowing the other interested parties to make there move.

It can't be over emphasised, we need 1000 buds signed up for £12 a month!
That is the deal the sellers gave Smisa after a lot of hard bargaining to be able to buy the club with Gordon at what most see as a realistic price.
A big push needed now pay day is almost here, talk to your mates, your neighbours, your Granny... Get them signed up, go round with your tablet, phone or laptop and help them sign up.
lets get over the line in time!
#BuyTheBuds

Thanks mate ,still trying to push myself over the line with regards to joining and just wee niggles that pop up.

yes Gordon indicated he hoped to gain control at end of May , so direct debits in July will only be taken if the deal is actually going ahead

SMISA website just been updated with more FAQ's and getting updated all the time...
http://smisa.net/buythebuds/faq

I am on the board of SMiSA so know a fair bit, there is a dedicated group of SMiSA board members who are negotiating the deal and they are the one's who can answer any questions in full detail. There is a confidentiality clause in the negotiations agreement with the consortium, that meant that only a certain number of people will know the finer details, these details are protected by that agreement for the good of all parties involved.
It was stated at our last meeting with fans that if any proposal is made that affects the assets of our club in a bad way, then we have a legal agreement in place whereby SMiSA can veto any such decision. Gordon and all the other members of the board will (quite rightly) be in charge of commercial decisions, initiatives etc., but for example the decision to sell the south stand seats to other teams fans would affect the most important asset - the fans, therefore we would have the chance to vote on rejecting it or amending it.
The guys who answer emails, phone calls and letters to SMiSA are the one's to give you the full correct details that are available.

No I never they discussed it at the meeting :-) but I am happy you've got it in writing now

Personally I'm not expecting the SMiSA members to be consulted and asked to vote on day to day decisions affecting the club. That would be completely impratical and unworkable and would very quickly lead to anarchy, splits and divisions.
What I am expecting is that the fans get a proper voice in the boardroom and that we get heard.
An example;
In 2012 the fans were told at a well attended public meeting that voting against allowing Rangers back into the top flight was madness and that the club could easily go into administration as a result and jobs would be lost. The fans were asked for their thoughts via an online survey conducted by 10000Hours at the time.
10000Hours polled 1038 members of which 867 responded.
97% said they wanted the club to vote against Rangers being re-admitted if it did not affect our revenues in the then SPL.
95% said that even if the loss of "Newco" cost the club £200K in revenue that the club should vote against Rangers being re-admitted.
80% said that even if the loss of "Newco" placed Saints in danger of administration, that the club should still vote No.
The board eventually did vote "No". I'd like to think that was at least in part because the fans voice was heard.

I supported the previous Fan Ownership attempt, but this time I've been thinking more carefully about it, and I've changed my mind quite a few times.
First of all, as supporters, how much money are we expected to spend a month following our team, before you even buy a pint? It just seems that the fans are having to foot the bill for everything these days whilst the match day experience and quality of football seems to get worse every season.
I have concerns about if we have a big enough fan base to pull it off and sustain the memberships of 1000+. Whilst I have no doubts we'll be able to pay off the loan, I have concerns about being able to sustain the memberships in order to buy the shares from Gordon Scott later on. If we don't achieve that, then all we have done is assist Gordon Scott in buying the club for 600k, and paid a hefty price to have one seat on the board.
However, I actually really like Gordon Scott and I think he could do a lot for the club. So whilst there is a risk in that we might not achieve the overall goal of fan ownership, if we can help get the current BoD out and Gordon in with the potential of fan ownership in the future then I'm comfortable having one pint less a week. So I'm going to sign up just now!
The only thing is I'm dissapointed there's not any packages for businesses, which the previous ownership bid had. I own a Salon not far from the stadium, colour scheme is black white and red, we do Gents Cuts for £5, and would have loved to have involved the business with my football club in some way.

I share some of your concerns, but when all is said and done, I keep coming back to some undeniable truths. One, the current incumbents WILL sell the club. Two, if not to SMiSA/GLS then to goodness knows who. Three, if fan ownership isn't the way to go, then it sure as hell isn't the Whyte, Romanov, or Mileson way. Four, I simply do not see a perfect solution that will please everyone, so for the price of a 'Tottenham Hotspur Premier League Champions 2015/16' T-Shirt per' week.... I'm in.

Actually that is very interesting.
We might start with 1000 and some will drop away BUT surely if it is pushed enough over the years we steadily build up new fans prepared to add to that number. Perhaps we could add 200 per year and only lose 100 for example. I need to think this over but over 20 or 30 years we could have thousands of people paying into this making us very well off in Scottish terms.