gazmc83

Perhaps instead of "believe" I should have said this is what was communicated at the last public meeting so hopefully pretty accurate.Once the loan is in place ( hopefully very soon ) the exact figures will be communicated

I believe the 1k figure is around double that we actually need to service the loan so that gives us a big comfort blanket as Div correctly points out it also means the loan gets paid a lot quicker....

I agree, the only real risk would be to not take this golden opportunity to get the club driving forward, and see A. N. Other take over and run the club with no opportunity for fans to influence exactly how it is run.
The club will be sold, two other bidders are apparently waiting in the wings to buy at a much reduced fee to that originally asked. We've got first dibs to take responsibilty to shape our club forbthe support and the community.

I think that's a shame. It's good to to have alternative view points.
For me the "fan ownership" title can be a bit misleading.
If you think about it the club is actually fan owned right now. The guys in the boardroom are all St.Mirren fans.
Here we will have pretty much more of the same. Instead of Stewart Gilmour you'll have Gordon Scott. Insread of George Campbell, Bryan McAusland and co you'll have some other St.Mirren minded business people. And you'll have the SMiSA fans rep.
So from day one it isn't going to be massively different than it is right now, but crucially we'll have new people with new drive and energy and ideas and we will have at least a voice on the board representing the supporters.
Moving forward over 10 years, which is a long time in football, the fans will raise enough money to buy all the majority shareholding and will then take control and elect their own board. I'd be surprised if that board wasn't made up of more of the same eg; St.Mirren minded business men and women who have the time and expertise to run a business. At the end of the day although it's a slightly wacky one, it is a business after all.
The fans don't get to vote to pick the team, the fans don't vote to sack the manager, the fans don't really get to do much to be honest but the one thing they DO get to do is to elect/re-elect the board. If they don't like what the board are doing, they can get them replaced. Much in the same way we elect our local councillors I guess.
As for what happens if people get dis-interested and cancel the direct debits en masse?
The loan SMiSA are taking out is around £360K. With 1000 members paying £12 a month it would be repaid in just over 3 years. If people come and go and that takes a wee bit longer I can't see it being a problem. I can't imagine a scenario where hundreds of fans all get pissed off and decide to put the club at risk by withdrawing all at one time.
And longer term, once the loan is paid off, if the membership really drops off and they don't have the money to buy Gordon's shares then we just end up exactly where we are now, with Gordon putting his 50.1% on the open market and SMiSA owning 28% or whatever it is.
I really don't see much risk in this model.

In fairness if he's putting up his own cash why wouldn't he select his own board ? I don't see anybody else rushing to put up 680k of their own cash ? He will also be donating his 8% back to SMISA ...Anne budge will get her money back at hearts and has selected her own board and the hearts fans seem happy enough ....

Given that Smisa havent even held the main public meeting yet getting over 400 sign ups in a week is great going. Perhaps the meeting will give those not normally online, and uncertain/swithering the opportunity to have their say, and air any concerns.

I'm just waiting on the Paypal subscription being organised, and with a bit of luck a few other expats are in the same boat ( or kayak )

404 signed up.now not lomg been updated hopefully can get up.to.500 soon

Now there is no need to get personal sorry you find me irritating , not my attention to irritate my only intention is to promote the bid which I have been doing through every way I can

I think so far it's just been pretty healthy discussion... I only became a member of SMISA last week as I was impressed with the bid presentation and therefore just trying to spread the word . I apologise if I at any point sound like I'm preaching that is not my intention whatsoever.I was referring to your #gettingmessy comment that you've mentioned a few times now which isn't really helping anyone

I don't think anybody is question a man who supports the team home and aways loyalty..: purely just having a discussion on his reasons for not joining the bid ... Which of course he is perfectly entitled to do

Good idea ! maybe change to an "open group" ? ( just so you don't have to ask permission to join )

Now there is no need to get personal sorry you find me irritating , not my attention to irritate my only intention is to promote the bid which I have been doing through every way I can

Now there is no need to get personal sorry you find me irritating , not my attention to irritate my only intention is to promote the bid which I have been doing through every way I can

That's where the fans involvement would help... the current BOD probably don't see that as an issue where as the fans probably do ..

Now there is no need to get personal sorry you find me irritating , not my attention to irritate my only intention is to promote the bid which I have been doing through every way I can

The intention of this bid is to bring the fans together not to create division .
My only intention here is to raise awareness of the bid and get fans to read what it's all about...
If after reading the info and going along to a meeting you are still not behind it then that's absolutely fine that's totally your prerogative.
No scaremongering for me but the club is currently at a cross roads current owners want out and will sell , I would just prefer if they sell to St Mirren minded people

And respect to you for being so honest

The intention of this bid is to bring the fans together not to create division .
My only intention here is to raise awareness of the bid and get fans to read what it's all about...
If after reading the info and going along to a meeting you are still not behind it then that's absolutely fine that's totally your prerogative.
No scaremongering for me but the club is currently at a cross roads current owners want out and will sell , I would just prefer if they sell to St Mirren minded people

I signed up this morning

interesting , I think many are sceptical because we are not in the " desperate " camp currently as we are relatively well run and debt free, where as the clubs you mentioned above were nearly at deaths door.
but we have to look at the big picture our club is well run, but it desperately needs new ideas and a real kick up the backside to get us moving and after listening to Gordon last week I firmly believe he is the man that can lead this along with fan involvement eventually resulting in fan control.

It just seems strange to me that he wouldn't take up an offer to publicise the bid to a large audience live on radio , perhaps he'll get round to it at some point ...

I can't say I've had many dealings with GLS but I've met him a few times and after meeting him again and listening to him last week he absolutely came across as very personable and extremely passionate about the club and bid , he also seems on the same wave length as the fans , "arrogant" most definitely not how I would describe him .
SG on the other hand has always been very defensive and came across extremely arrogant at every AGM I've attended creating a "them and us" scenario, I believe GLS and a new board would be a breath of fresh air to the club ( ps I'm not saying for a minute that SG & co haven't done a good job I just believe now is the right time to go )

interesting , I think many are sceptical because we are not in the " desperate " camp currently as we are relatively well run and debt free, where as the clubs you mentioned above were nearly at deaths door.
but we have to look at the big picture our club is well run, but it desperately needs new ideas and a real kick up the backside to get us moving and after listening to Gordon last week I firmly believe he is the man that can lead this along with fan involvement eventually resulting in fan control.

I appreciate that and of course everybody entitled to their own personal opinions but hopefully some of us who have been to the first meeting can address some peoples concerns if they decide to post them , not looking to dismantle anybodies choice