Monday Nights Meeting with Paul Casson

[urswick blue]

From what I have read Mr Casson seems the sensible choice to run our club.

[Steeley]

People do have a right to vote no, just remember that.
Getting the feeling that anyone who does is going to get hauled over the coals.

[barrowfan]

Good idea.

Straw Poll - http://bit.ly/1fsRAWf

I'll submit as a new topic too. [MODS NOTE - No need for that just keep it in one topic][MIKEYB NOTE - OK]

Seems to allow same person to keep voting.

No fix there then

[Hadrian]

I haven't Shaun but I know of a number who will await the formal proposal and the board's recommendation (and perhaps take note of who the proposed directors are to be) before making their mind up.

I really hope you are joking!

It 'beggers belief' that such Negativity actually exists within our own fan base!
..."Who the proposed directors are to be"...
Well; it can be safely assumed that it' ll be none of the present bunch! :flag:

Joking? No.

Negativity? Not at all! All I have read looks hopeful but what is negative about waiting to read a finalised proposal before deciding about it? Common sense, no?

Proposed directors? We will have no say whatsoever over those once control passes outside the members' club and it returns to a privately-owned company. Identification of the composition of a shadow board prior to the offer being put could be a strong statement of reassurance to members who may be anxious about the need to have someone on board with English football experience. (Remember the way our newly-formed club was treated at the conference agm 1999 when directors were told - and I paraphrase - 'Yes, but this isn't business - it's football and football is different'?)

[Dalton Bluebird]

I really hope you are joking!

It 'beggers belief' that such Negativity actually exists within our own fan base!
..."Who the proposed directors are to be"...
Well; it can be safely assumed that it' ll be none of the present bunch! :flag:

Joking? No.

Negativity? Not at all! All I have read looks hopeful but what is negative about waiting to read a finalised proposal before deciding about it? Common sense, no?

Proposed directors? We will have no say whatsoever over those once control passes outside the members' club and it returns to a privately-owned company. Identification of the composition of a shadow board prior to the offer being put could be a strong statement of reassurance to members who may be anxious about the need to have someone on board with English football experience. (Remember the way our newly-formed club was treated at the conference agm 1999 when directors were told - and I paraphrase - 'Yes, but this isn't business - it's football and football is different'?)

Fair comment, I suppose there needs to be a 'voice of reason' in there, it's far too easy to get carried away over the prospect of a pot of gold without knowing the full facts. I'm a yes at the moment but I agree that members need to know far more before committing their vote.

[Spanner]

*Pass a Special Resolution-

A Special Resolution is a resolution passed by 75% of the members present in person or by proxy and entitled to vote at a general meeting. (Can be as simple as a show of hands by 75%+)

Not less than 21 days notice specifying the intention to propose the special resolution must be given to the members.

then result is to be filed with a competent authority (such as the registrar of companies in the UK), within 15 days of being approved.

That's the key point "present in person or by proxy" - so not 75% of total of all members required.


*Jonty disclaimer- don't take my word for it- check it yourselves- there's plenty on it out there.

That only applies to resolutions voted for at a General Meeting. "Written resolutions" (which it looks like this will be) are different and need 75% (for a special resolution, >50% otherwise) of all members to confirm agreement - see my earlier post in this thread.

I still haven't seen an explanation of why this needs to be a written resolution though.

[spongebobsquarepants]

A question needs to be asked of the board as to whether they definitely know the actual number of members and who they are.

I know that in the past there has been more than one list which has led to some not receiving renewals/membership cards etc.

[John Very Little]

I think this is being done in a better manner than previous bog-standard AGM's as Winder's are involved and checking through everything. I had a message from Steve Leonard asking for the address of a member I knew who the club didn't have an address for which I was able to provide.

It was also of interest that the Notice for the forthcoming AGM was from Winder's and not an envelope from the club that we normally get. The clubs admin hasn't been good over the years but it seems like things are being done a lot better for this thankfully.

Again any member who's moved needs to let the club know their new address and the relatives of any members who've passed away also need to let the club know. I guess any member who doesn't get an AGM Notice should get in touch with the club to find out why so that it can be sorted so that they will get a notice for the EGM concerning the vote on the takeover that will also include details of what Paul Casson is proposing.

[Shaun]

To John Little: Are you attending the fans/board meeting mate? If so, would you post the salient details afterwards please.

[Jo am back]

This may not interest /bother many people but I felt I had to share it with other Barrow AFC supporters.I have supported my home town club since the age of 8 (strangely the same as Mr Casson) some 42 years.Over this time there have been many good times,many great trips away which I have shared with many great fellow minded Barrovians.The dark days of the seventies are still clear in my mind along with the few successes through the following decades.
Since I was able to understand the financial side of running a club I allways dreamed of a wealthy person taking over and taking MY club to the next level,something which has happened to both Morecambe and Fleetwood in recent times.SV took over and gave us that for a time allthough in the back of your mind you knew it wouldnt last,and it didnt.Since that time and the era of the Keens (who I will Allways be gratefull for what they did and the success and stability on the outside) that they gave us.
In recent years its been a battle to keep the club afloat,with legal penaltys ,monies owed allegedly to various people and supporters divided on the leadership the keens have given us.
All points considered I have made a decision that many will find ridiculous Im sure,having listned and digested everything Mr Casson has stated/promised,the exact things Ive allways wanted for MY club,That if we the members dont accept his proposed takeover I will never go to Holker street (a ground i love) again.A decision I havnt taken lightly but think if other people who pay there money turn up on a saturday would not embrace this mans proposals then I couldnt stand shoulder to shoulder with them anymore.This is a once in a lifetime oppurtunity we must take,to inject our club and take us back to the levels of morecambe and fleetwood ,clubs that were once in our shadow.

[The Tomahawk Kid]

I really hope you are joking!
It 'beggers belief' that such Negativity actually exists within our own fan base!
..."Who the proposed directors are to be"...
Well; it can be safely assumed that it' ll be none of the present bunch! :flag:

What's up with Peter Garbacz who regularly posts on here?
One thing you need to bear in mind is that there a fair number of members who live away that weren't in attendance at Paul Casson's meeting on Monday night and won't be aware of the details of the presentation and associated Q&A's. Therefore I assume many of these will presumably decide how to vote when they see the proposal that they get sent through the post?
Do you expect people to vote for the proposals when they don't know what they are? I think you're wrong to have a go at anyone before they know what the proposal they're voting on actually consists of?

Please get real, John! Have you ever heard of newspapers/telephones?
The majority of people will now have knowledge of Paul Casson's proposals, regardless of whether they attended the meeting or not.

I didn't say there was anything 'up with' peter garbacz.
Paul Casson indicated he will interview prospective directorship. Therefore, all prospective candidates should put their names forward if his take-over bid succeeds. Why not put yours forward, John?
However, I personally believe after listening to the details of Paul Casson's 'Vision' that the Axe will be brought down on each member of the present BOD.

Your post (and previous others) have a whiff of Negativity about them...
Thank God there's a new regime wishing to bring some hope and sunshine into our lives!

[Wintergreen]

As an aside to the main theme here, the ghost of owners past is haunting the thread – well one in paticular. As has been intimated previously, it was obvious SV was dodgy and anyone who didn’t think it would end badly must have been extremely naive or a youngster at the time.

Most of us just enjoyed the ride and we got a few good days and a new Main Stand out of it – Allah knows what would be there now had SV not built it. When we went bang it was traumatic for a while and then what a feeling to rise from the ashes once more under Brian Keen. Again it’s obvious that we have a totally different animal here with PC but in a worst case scenario we could come back again to keep the blue flag flying high. Dull it never is.

[Shaun]

...When we went bang it was traumatic for a while....

Is there an award for understatement of the [SwearFilter] century??

[Steelworks End]

Most of us just enjoyed the ride and we got a few good days and a new Main Stand out of it

The only problem was, we thought SV had paid for this out of the goodness of his heart; only too late did we find out that he'd spent the club's money (which we didn't have) on building it. Allegedly.

Oh, and he'd sold the ground, another nasty surprise. Allegedly.

As you say, certainly wasn't dull!

[John Very Little]

Your post (and previous others) have a whiff of Negativity about them...
Thank God there's a new regime wishing to bring some hope and sunshine into our lives!

You mean anyone who has any doubts and doesn't agree with your view that we should just accept everything we are told is negative you mean.

The main thing that is worrying me is the lack of detail and not only that moreso the lack of figures? I also have issues with some of the details he did mention and think he just told people what they wanted to hear without providing any proper details/costings?

PC said he'd have all the players and manager living here if we get promoted. Last time in Conf Prem it was a struggle to get players to come here to play and it was only because of training in Manchester that some joined. I believe the only way players would come here and stay here is if you pay them huge salaries to get them here if living here is part of the deal, last time our wage bill was 10K a week for a mediocre team, how much extra would we have to pay to get them to live here permanently plus the cost of renting about 6 houses. This is a decision PC seems to have made and he hasn't even bothered consulting Darren Edmondson about it, never mind what the total extra cost of this would be? I think Edmo knows more about non-league football than PC, so why didn't PC speak with DE about this first? The season after Wembley we lost 171K and now we are gonna spend lots more money than we did back then.

PC also mentions about making it a good experience and people will come. If he puts a roof on the Holker end and does up the toilets but we are playing badly, its cold, there's a Champions League game on etc will people still come and watch, I think not.

The way I understand it he thinks that by paying for the stadium to be upgraded then he will make more money in other ways and as he puts it he'll grow the assets to make it sustainable. How the hell is this gonna happen when you look at the figures? In addition to this there will be no membership money or donations or presumably FBS Affinity money which total an additional 50K we won't be getting. In the earlier proposal there were some figures but this time there weren't any - why? Alfreton increased their admission prices to £18, will the same be done here to help pay for Conf Prem football and everything else associated with it? I fail to see how we'll make it sustainable when there's probably an extra half a million we'd need to find in addition to the ground improvements that PC seems to be paying for?

There are other issues like no safeguards on the ground when it may come up for sale again. I fully appreciate that PC may have the best interests of the club at heart but how many other people will? The person that buys the ground from PC may not and something needs to be set up so some sort of local Supporters/Community Group or Trust can buy the club from PC but who will set this up and how will it happen? The same goes for buying shares off PC after 2 years when he mentions he'll sell some shares to a Supporters Trust - well where is this Supporters Trust?

Whilst PC seems to have good intentions but I'm concerned by a lot of what he says and the lack of details/figures. I also know there are no other options other than what we currently have which isn't really an option. If we are to accept PC's bid then we shouldn't just accept it no questions asked (again what's in his proposal will be of interest). IMO we need to do other things for the long term future of the club - ACV, set up a Supporters Trust or similar but again who's actually gonna be bothered to do this?