Paolo still holds out hope of signings before window closes (From Swindon Advertiser)

The Advertiser understands a local consortium is close to agreeing a deal at the County Ground,

Can't see anything else than it being AF & JW involved, whom else that might be is anyone's guess, Paolo hinted at real footballing people, but it could also well be people that are interested in the development side. Guess all will be revealed in the next day or two. Just hope it's in time to get a couple of loan deals agreed to keep Martin and Holland and even possibly an addition like madine or maybe even bring Bostock back, (if they haven't already gone elsewhere).

The Advertiser understands a local consortium is close to agreeing a deal at the County Ground,

Can't see anything else than it being AF & JW involved, whom else that might be is anyone's guess, Paolo hinted at real footballing people, but it could also well be people that are interested in the development side. Guess all will be revealed in the next day or two. Just hope it's in time to get a couple of loan deals agreed to keep Martin and Holland and even possibly an addition like madine or maybe even bring Bostock back, (if they haven't already gone elsewhere).

I am not convinced that Bostock is on Paolo's radar anymore. His prioroty will be to secure Martin and Holland's season-long loan, with a view to permanent moves thereafter (Martin is out of contract anyway I think).

Unless it's a huge profit I can't see him letting Collins go either. The squad is just beginning to gel together and Collins is still a vital part of it. To let him leave would, in my opinion, be a mistake.

This is also very interesting and relevant,


http://www.bbc.co.uk
/sport/0/football/21
238173

PDC made Bostock and offer and apparently didnt hear back from him so unless something changes drastically there and the new owners take over before the window closes i cant see that deal happenning.
Hopefully it will happen tomorrow if they are near agreement so we can all move on.
We have a great opportunity to do something this season and all this going on in the board room needs to be sorted if we want to have a chance of making it to the championship.

I feel we need a keeper and a full back these are the positions we could be weak in. Dread to think what an injury to Fodds would do. I know we have the young keeper Bedwell is it ? but would feel it would be too much for the youngster to step up to a promotion challenge in league one. Fullback we only have Thompson or McCeverly even though Devera and Macca have done very well filling in but do not think Smith the Samsung player is up to it.

the wizard wrote:
This is also very interesting and relevant,


http://www.bbc.co.uk

/sport/0/football/21

238173

Yes, was listening to that on the radio this morning. It can't come soon enough, imho. The greed of the PL, and the incompetence of the FA, has had a major negative impact on English football, both at the national team and smaller club level. Not that I'm holding my breath over any significant legislation because the buffoons at the FA think 'significant headway has already been made...' (continued p94)

"Head of Player recruitment". On the Board next? I am going to have to change my thinking if I can. We need agents, we need agents......not working yet.

Head of Player Recruitment indeed. Some of the other job titles I'ver come across include 'Director of Fun' and 'Master Handshaker'. The Salvation Army has a 'Head of Toys', whereas the lowest grade of job advertised at BP Oil was 'Junior Salad Assistant'.

i wonder if Orient know its raining as they wont want their pitch to get wet for tonight.

Senior Vice El Presidentie surely?

I'll be gobsmacked if consortium agree deal by end of the month. As ever would be delighted to be proven wrong. Another 3 points coming tonight....

I wouldn't let Collins go at this stage, although if we were to be offered £1m it would need serious consideration. To lose Benson, Collins, Bostock and possibly Martin within a month would leave us very short of options up front, even if Madine comes in.

Should have 4 strikers in contention - Williams, Collins, Martin and Madine would do nicely, although Storey and Rooney would do as fourth choice.

The Phil Spencer role is interesting, I see some are scoffing but I'm not, he is doing a good job imo, and although agents don't have a good name he has Paolo's trust and during the last 12 months hasn't brought in a dud. I look at him and Paolo as a team - Paolo says what he wants and Spencer gets the player to fit that role. Seems to work well and I would think it's a challenging job with all the ins and outs.

As for Wes, well an injury to him would be a disaster, obviously, but I'm not sure how favourably we would be looked on if the loan period was shut and we choose to have only one keeper and no recognised back-up, no disrespect to Bedwell. Usually you see special dispensation granted to teams with 2 injured keepers, not 1, so they might take a dim view?

Who knows though, it's always puzzled me how the authorities let Portsmouth exist let alone sign players when in administration so I guess anything goes if it suits the authorities on any given day.

You really begin to wonder if these new investors will happen???
Do fear Collins will go,along with benson,Rooney and Cox.
Will leave us short on the ground but will also reduce the wage bill.
As for Charlie Austin again rumours are rife and the way I see it is he has been injured for several weeks so doubt if he will go this week,although he will in the summer.
As for Pdc bringing in new faces again will be tight but with Pdc who know's anything is possible.
As for tonights match I still feel we will get a result

the wizard wrote:
This is also very interesting and relevant,


http://www.bbc.co.uk

/sport/0/football/21

238173

Needs to happen and a good job we are seemingly in a good position!

the wizard wrote:
This is also very interesting and relevant,


http://www.bbc.co.uk

/sport/0/football/21

238173

Needs to happen and a good job we are seemingly in a good position!

Di kanny oh wrote:
I feel we need a keeper and a full back these are the positions we could be weak in. Dread to think what an injury to Fodds would do. I know we have the young keeper Bedwell is it ? but would feel it would be too much for the youngster to step up to a promotion challenge in league one. Fullback we only have Thompson or McCeverly even though Devera and Macca have done very well filling in but do not think Smith the Samsung player is up to it.

Even better someone to challenge Wes and make him a better goalkeeper.

Wilesy, if clubs weren't allowed to exist while in administration, we wouldn't still exist now; we would have had to "do an Aldershot" and start all over again.

Wilesy wrote:
I wouldn't let Collins go at this stage, although if we were to be offered £1m it would need serious consideration. To lose Benson, Collins, Bostock and possibly Martin within a month would leave us very short of options up front, even if Madine comes in. Should have 4 strikers in contention - Williams, Collins, Martin and Madine would do nicely, although Storey and Rooney would do as fourth choice. The Phil Spencer role is interesting, I see some are scoffing but I'm not, he is doing a good job imo, and although agents don't have a good name he has Paolo's trust and during the last 12 months hasn't brought in a dud. I look at him and Paolo as a team - Paolo says what he wants and Spencer gets the player to fit that role. Seems to work well and I would think it's a challenging job with all the ins and outs. As for Wes, well an injury to him would be a disaster, obviously, but I'm not sure how favourably we would be looked on if the loan period was shut and we choose to have only one keeper and no recognised back-up, no disrespect to Bedwell. Usually you see special dispensation granted to teams with 2 injured keepers, not 1, so they might take a dim view? Who knows though, it's always puzzled me how the authorities let Portsmouth exist let alone sign players when in administration so I guess anything goes if it suits the authorities on any given day.

Serious consideration is an understatement - I reckon we'd bite the hand off any club offering a million for Collins, although he's definitely one of our better all round forwards and would be a loss.

With you on the Phil Spencer thing, seems a lot of abuse has been flung his way and implications that he's taking money out of the club, but no-one really knows what goes on behind the scenes - if PS is doing the leg work in signing players so that PDC can get on with the real business of making them play then it's probably money well spent. Equally if Patey is paid a fair whack to get us the best possible buyer for the club he's been worth his fee - if not? Well, draw your own conclusions there.

I suspect that a few eyebrows might have been raised over PS's role(s) and the amount of money that has been taken out of the club.

Was it £444,000 we spent on agents' fees last season in L2? Gasp. All that would not have gone to PS necessarily, but that total is nearly three times what the Prime Minister of the country gets paid.

Is he earning fees as Paolo's agent? From the club as fees paid to an agent when players are signed? And also now with some sort of salary as 'Head of Player Recruitment'? In the old days we used to have a Chief Scout, but I bet he never earned anything like that. I'm certainly not suggesting we should go back to a chief scout, as the whole structure of scouting networks, agents and player databases has changed beyond recognition in recent years.

A lot of football supporters see no reason why a football club should pay agents' fees. Fitton being one of them. Not paying them mean you miss out on certain players though, although morally there isn't much justification for them - the player should pay his agent a cut to secure him the best deal, just as happens in the arts and entertainment world.

As to Patey, well effectively he is being paid by Andrew Black to minimise his losses. People at the time did raise the point that why didn't he just pay an investment consultant/adviser to find new owners? Because in his footballing, leadership or PR role as Chairman he's done precious little.

madterrier wrote:
I suspect that a few eyebrows might have been raised over PS's role(s) and the amount of money that has been taken out of the club. Was it £444,000 we spent on agents' fees last season in L2? Gasp. All that would not have gone to PS necessarily, but that total is nearly three times what the Prime Minister of the country gets paid. Is he earning fees as Paolo's agent? From the club as fees paid to an agent when players are signed? And also now with some sort of salary as 'Head of Player Recruitment'? In the old days we used to have a Chief Scout, but I bet he never earned anything like that. I'm certainly not suggesting we should go back to a chief scout, as the whole structure of scouting networks, agents and player databases has changed beyond recognition in recent years. A lot of football supporters see no reason why a football club should pay agents' fees. Fitton being one of them. Not paying them mean you miss out on certain players though, although morally there isn't much justification for them - the player should pay his agent a cut to secure him the best deal, just as happens in the arts and entertainment world. As to Patey, well effectively he is being paid by Andrew Black to minimise his losses. People at the time did raise the point that why didn't he just pay an investment consultant/adviser to find new owners? Because in his footballing, leadership or PR role as Chairman he's done precious little.

and is the prime minister worth 140000 a year

oz ashes wrote:

madterrier wrote:
I suspect that a few eyebrows might have been raised over PS's role(s) and the amount of money that has been taken out of the club. Was it £444,000 we spent on agents' fees last season in L2? Gasp. All that would not have gone to PS necessarily, but that total is nearly three times what the Prime Minister of the country gets paid. Is he earning fees as Paolo's agent? From the club as fees paid to an agent when players are signed? And also now with some sort of salary as 'Head of Player Recruitment'? In the old days we used to have a Chief Scout, but I bet he never earned anything like that. I'm certainly not suggesting we should go back to a chief scout, as the whole structure of scouting networks, agents and player databases has changed beyond recognition in recent years. A lot of football supporters see no reason why a football club should pay agents' fees. Fitton being one of them. Not paying them mean you miss out on certain players though, although morally there isn't much justification for them - the player should pay his agent a cut to secure him the best deal, just as happens in the arts and entertainment world. As to Patey, well effectively he is being paid by Andrew Black to minimise his losses. People at the time did raise the point that why didn't he just pay an investment consultant/adviser to find new owners? Because in his footballing, leadership or PR role as Chairman he's done precious little.

and is the prime minister worth 140000 a year

Maybe maybe not but he sure pays his advisors a lot of money!!

Very little in this life can be guaranteed, but I do feel that one thing for sure will happen. Given that the club now passes into what most of us would refer to as decent ownership, whether its this week or next, or when ever come to that, does it matter that we get these extra players.The point is, whether we do or not, with our team of management and our team of players, we will certainly give it one dickens of a go to get promoted one way or the other. You can rest assured that blood,sweat and tears, commitment, passion, desire and the shear will to win, will all come into play irrelevant of the financial mix that is going on right now.
Of course the old boy himself could always register as a player before the window closes, wonder if he would "give us a wave" if playing.

oz ashes wrote:

madterrier wrote:
I suspect that a few eyebrows might have been raised over PS's role(s) and the amount of money that has been taken out of the club. Was it £444,000 we spent on agents' fees last season in L2? Gasp. All that would not have gone to PS necessarily, but that total is nearly three times what the Prime Minister of the country gets paid. Is he earning fees as Paolo's agent? From the club as fees paid to an agent when players are signed? And also now with some sort of salary as 'Head of Player Recruitment'? In the old days we used to have a Chief Scout, but I bet he never earned anything like that. I'm certainly not suggesting we should go back to a chief scout, as the whole structure of scouting networks, agents and player databases has changed beyond recognition in recent years. A lot of football supporters see no reason why a football club should pay agents' fees. Fitton being one of them. Not paying them mean you miss out on certain players though, although morally there isn't much justification for them - the player should pay his agent a cut to secure him the best deal, just as happens in the arts and entertainment world. As to Patey, well effectively he is being paid by Andrew Black to minimise his losses. People at the time did raise the point that why didn't he just pay an investment consultant/adviser to find new owners? Because in his footballing, leadership or PR role as Chairman he's done precious little.

and is the prime minister worth 140000 a year

When some footballers are being paid that in a week, any Prime Minister has got to be worth a lot more than £140k a year, whether he's left, right, centre or looney.

Oi Den! wrote:
Wilesy, if clubs weren't allowed to exist while in administration, we wouldn't still exist now; we would have had to "do an Aldershot" and start all over again.

I heard on Sky that administration debt would apply to 50% of football league clubs.

Shame on the PL greed, that has not shared TV income with the lower league Clubs

Wiz said...

"Of course the old boy himself could always register as a player before the window closes, wonder if he would "give us a wave" if playing.”

- Yes he did when scoring a hat-trick in the charity game for the Air Ambulance at the end of last season. Most of the old pros that night were on and off the pitch for a breather, except one - the hat-trick man.

I reckon he could be a good impact sub. He's still got better control than anyone at our level, just a question of how he would stand up to the brick sh!t houses who would target him!