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Trying To Tread Water Until A Takeover


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Am hoping that we find a buyer soon but this is a massive gamble for us as a club because if we sell to fly by night businessmen. Well we have seen what has happened countless times with other clubs and I would hate for us to go through that.

I am all for the policy "earn a pound spend a pound" as it safeguards our clubs future.

The only frustrating decisions have been manager appointments under this board with Coughlin & Craig and strangely have one thing in common they were both number two's. Tell a lie they can't cut it either as a manager.

We have to face reality we are a small club who are treading water in the top division but clubs similar to our size such as Inverness have had good runs in the league but they have also suffered relegation in the time we have been in the top division.

Us fans have to be realistic the best ever we could hope for is a top 6 finish one season and a trophy every 25 years and the only way we would become anything greater would be if we were bought by a billionaire who is willing to throw away millions on us or at least double our average home attendance with both chances being slim to none.

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And being realistic, we ought to include hearts, Hibs and Sevco in your round-up.

It looks like "treading water", which could as accurately be described as running to a practical financial model, is doing fine for St Mirren.

Also... Coughing and Craig both begin with a 'C'....

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Sums the club up don't you think?

So I take it you are of the opinion new owners coming in will splash the cash.

My opinion is they will want back their £2 million they paid for the club , payment back over a period of time.

That means we have to cut costs somewhere to find the money to pay back the £2 million.

So just wondering where the extra cash is going to come from ? player budget maybe ?

Banks no longer throw money at football clubs.

Be careful what you wish for our club is in the safest hands it possibly could be.

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So I take it you are of the opinion new owners coming in will splash the cash.

My opinion is they will want back their £2 million they paid for the club , payment back over a period of time.

That means we have to cut costs somewhere to find the money to pay back the £2 million.

So just wondering where the extra cash is going to come from ? player budget maybe ?

Banks no longer throw money at football clubs.

Be careful what you wish for our club is in the safest hands it possibly could be.

on another thread you are saying that there aren't any new buyers and you are on this thread talking about how you know the business plan of the new owners! :lol:

fool

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So I take it you are of the opinion new owners coming in will splash the cash.

My opinion is they will want back their £2 million they paid for the club , payment back over a period of time.

That means we have to cut costs somewhere to find the money to pay back the £2 million.

So just wondering where the extra cash is going to come from ? player budget maybe ?

Banks no longer throw money at football clubs.

Be careful what you wish for our club is in the safest hands it possibly could be.

No, I don't think new owners will splash the cash. However, I beleive new owners will bring a fresh impetus and fresh ideas, unfortunately the current board are tired and commercially we are poor.

You talk about the new owners making their money back, I guess it depends on what their overall goals are. You are making the assumption that they'll make their money back by taking money out the club. But what if they take the 'Fergus McCann' approach? They buy the club for £2m, transform the product on and off the park and selling for £4m in 10 years...is that bad for the club?

We can't just keep saying that the current board have done no wrong and to keep them going. If they don't want to be there then how can that be beneficial?

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on another thread you are saying that there aren't any new buyers and you are on this thread talking about how you know the business plan of the new owners! lol.gif:

fool

Your the fool I'm afraid

Here is what I wrote.

Yes there are interested parties talking to the club but that's all. The club is nowhere near being sold. That's from the horses mouth Stuart Gilmour.

So where did I say there were no buyers ?

Have no idea of a takeover business plan. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to work out the club makes no money working on an even basis £1 In £1 out.

So new buyers come long and pay £2 million with no return , sorry you are not a fool YOUR NUTSlol.gif

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No, I don't think new owners will splash the cash. However, I beleive new owners will bring a fresh impetus and fresh ideas, unfortunately the current board are tired and commercially we are poor.

You talk about the new owners making their money back, I guess it depends on what their overall goals are. You are making the assumption that they'll make their money back by taking money out the club. But what if they take the 'Fergus McCann' approach? They buy the club for £2m, transform the product on and off the park and selling for £4m in 10 years...is that bad for the club?

We can't just keep saying that the current board have done no wrong and to keep them going. If they don't want to be there then how can that be beneficial?

Like you would love to see something like that work. I just can't see the crowds swelling at home games. Even when we tried to bring in better ( so called quality players ) in the past the gates did not swell. However we live and hope. I'm sure renewed enthusiasm would come in with new owners though and that is no bad thing.

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And being realistic, we ought to include hearts, Hibs and Sevco in your round-up.

It looks like "treading water", which could as accurately be described as running to a practical financial model, is doing fine for St Mirren.

Also... Coughing and Craig both begin with a 'C'....

Treading water by setting and then matching a 25 year record high league position and winning a major title in the last 2 years?

That's my kind of treading water!

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Despite all that success the club is losing money........in my opinion we need to sell some young players to make up the deficit as gates are falling and so are commercial revenues.

I know it does not help but the whole league is in a mess with everyone feeling the pinch. Have you seen the spaces at Parkhead on the TV.

No sponsors , left over crumbs from tv money the whole system is in need of radical change unfortunately the guy at the top of Scottish football is not doing a proper fit job and should be kicked out. I would appoint that wee lassie that left Motherwell for Hibs she talks common sense. but hey ho ! She is a woman so no way Scottish football will have a woman at the top job

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For the life of me I don't see the business logic in buying into a Scottish football club other than maybe Celtic, or if ever such a thing existed, a well run Rangers.

There just isn't a logical business or financial argument other than massaging an ego. The ground isn't an asset to strip, and whilst the fan base is low and has the possibility to grow, it is fickle and prone to major fluctuations, as is the team!

So it is perfectly understandable that the present owners can't find someone - there is really a very limited market out there and if anyone is tempted to buy into the likes of St Mirren they are doing it for egotistical reasons OR they are truly fans such as SG - whoever they are (including a community owned club) they are not going to throw money at the team, and neither are they going to make much money out of the club once they have 'invested'.

Having said all that, I admire SG and his determination and luck in getting Saints to where they are today - if you just take a second to realise that the mess that Tesco are in today, where they are shedding sites they have bought or committed to, left, right and centre, it make you realise just how lucky we were in getting their money and commitment at the time. Believe me, there is no other retailer who would have paid that money or taken that chance on getting a planning consent on Love St. So hats off to SG for pulling that one off. thumbup2.gif

I would hope SG can achieve a dignified and justifiable exit, he deserves it, but I'm sure it will continue to be a struggle.

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By treading water I meant going nowhere, a board that have lost interest in trying to take the club forward and a general unhealthy attitude around the place that I'm scared is going to see us sink never mind stay in the same position!

When was the last season we didn't hear you throwing a tantrum over the team at some point?

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Not sure what the big deal is, the information will be available to everyone who really wants it.

You don't need to be a shareholder or join smisa, once the accounts are lodged at company's house anyone can request them.

Edited by davidg
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Too much.

Become a shareholder and you can be provided with that information. I'm sure it will be published via some source, but I'm not going to divulge that on this forum.

Joining SMISA will be your best route unless you have a spare £2M......

£2 per month is probably a more realistic option.

Did we have money to start with?

I always thought we operated on a what comes out goes in basis. Do we have cash reserves that are now dwindling?

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We have declining ST sales, declining pay at gate revenue, and declining commercial revenues from previous seasons.

A budget is forecast based on previous years experience and predicted changes. Money from league and cups is not awarded in advance.

The BoD do attempt to break even every year, but those three areas combined with poor returns from cup runs resulted in losses.

Scottish football is fecked financially. TV deals down. Sponsorship down. Gates down.

Our club needs to have some success with selling players on like Hamilton, United, Falkirk and even Celtic are a selling club with Wanyama, McGeady, Forster.

The club are now planning on putting in some offices in the void to generate more off field income. More details at agm.

No cash reserves aside from at certain times BoD have had to loan the club 6 figure sums to ensure smooth running of club until league and cup prize money is dished out later in season.

Well SGG said at the start of the season the playing budget is down on last year.

It's hard to sell players if no one wants to buy. McLean was available in the summer for compensation and no one wanted him.

Short term directors loans are pretty common in any business where income is so seasonal. I don't believe - maybe you will correct me - but I don't believe we have any outstanding.

Offices sound a great idea, good to see the board being proactive in trying to maximise income for the club.

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We have declining ST sales, declining pay at gate revenue, and declining commercial revenues from previous seasons.

A budget is forecast based on previous years experience and predicted changes. Money from league and cups is not awarded in advance.

The BoD do attempt to break even every year, but those three areas combined with poor returns from cup runs resulted in losses.

Scottish football is fecked financially. TV deals down. Sponsorship down. Gates down.

Our club needs to have some success with selling players on like Hamilton, United, Falkirk and even Celtic are a selling club with Wanyama, McGeady, Forster.

The club are now planning on putting in some offices in the void to generate more off field income. More details at agm.

No cash reserves aside from at certain times BoD have had to loan the club 6 figure sums to ensure smooth running of club until league and cup prize money is dished outlater in season.

I thought our season ticket sales are roughly the same as last couple of year if not that and dwindling pay at the gate attendances are surely caused by fans not feeling they are getting value for money on the pitch. If we had appointed a manager at the start of the season and not promoted within am sure season tickets sales would have been better and if we were performing better the pay at the gate prices would be better.

For all the great things our board have done for our club I believe they have not along with the hierarchy of Scottish Football not sold our club commercially as much as they could have. Things such get a sponsor for the stadium etc.

We and Scottish Football need to sell and market our product better but that needs to start for on the pitch performances because the dross we are watching at SMP is not good enough

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  • 4 weeks later...

He option to sell to the fans was the best option. Pity Gilmour and co had no faith in us.

He / they could have sold to Gordon Scott well before that and would have been well out of the firing line by now. With 1998 'saved the club' reputation intact for all time.

Edited by pozbaird
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