Pre-season starts on Saturday at Park View Road and then it's a mere four weeks of preparation before we run out at Dean Court to begin our challenge for the Premier League or our battle to remain in the top half of the professional league clubs of England and Wales depending on your viewpoint.
So far no new faces to replace those who have moved on, although Mark Gower has signed as a permanent player. I am not really surprised by this - money is very tight and we have been late transfer market starters during the close season in recent years for precisely that reason. I am expecting three or four new players to arrive but won't be surprised if some of these are last minute bargains in August.
It would appear that Tony Jiminez's desire to unload the financial burden of ownership remains strong and he has been in talks and possibly the dreaded due diligence with prospective Russian buyers. Sources once close to the club suggest the deal as been halted, interestingly by us as a result of what's been discovered through the process. That sounds like the prospective buyers weren't credible enough to be trusted to shoulder the ongoing debt or simply didn't have the table stakes. We all want to see the financial future secured but the longer the current owners have to fund the running losses, the closer the threat of Administration and all that it entails.
Meanwhile, a fascinating civil case is unfolding in court between TJ and Little Dennis. Mr Wise is looking for £500,000 back from Spanish Tone that he invested in the development of Les Bordes Golf Club in France. The case is yet to conclude but Dennis appears to have handed the money over without any contractual record to support his contention that he was promised a single figure percentage holding. I'm unsure whether this tells us more about Tony Jiminez's reputation and abilities as a "fixer" or the naievty of professional footballers with considerably more money than sense. What is clear, however, is that the threat of Dennis Wise managing our football club looks to have all but disappeared.
So far no new faces to replace those who have moved on, although Mark Gower has signed as a permanent player. I am not really surprised by this - money is very tight and we have been late transfer market starters during the close season in recent years for precisely that reason. I am expecting three or four new players to arrive but won't be surprised if some of these are last minute bargains in August.
It would appear that Tony Jiminez's desire to unload the financial burden of ownership remains strong and he has been in talks and possibly the dreaded due diligence with prospective Russian buyers. Sources once close to the club suggest the deal as been halted, interestingly by us as a result of what's been discovered through the process. That sounds like the prospective buyers weren't credible enough to be trusted to shoulder the ongoing debt or simply didn't have the table stakes. We all want to see the financial future secured but the longer the current owners have to fund the running losses, the closer the threat of Administration and all that it entails.
Meanwhile, a fascinating civil case is unfolding in court between TJ and Little Dennis. Mr Wise is looking for £500,000 back from Spanish Tone that he invested in the development of Les Bordes Golf Club in France. The case is yet to conclude but Dennis appears to have handed the money over without any contractual record to support his contention that he was promised a single figure percentage holding. I'm unsure whether this tells us more about Tony Jiminez's reputation and abilities as a "fixer" or the naievty of professional footballers with considerably more money than sense. What is clear, however, is that the threat of Dennis Wise managing our football club looks to have all but disappeared.
Phew!
ReplyDeleteAt least from yesterday's game, Joe Piggott looks a really good prospect, even if Welling as a form of opposition weren't up to much. YK also looks a lot sharper than he did this time last year, which is good news if he makes an even better start than the one he made against Leicester last August.
ReplyDeleteI think our central midfield options seem a bit cluttered compared to other parts of the pitch though with both Hollands and Gower there, for example.
But on yesterday's evidence we should be okay for now. Will be interesting to see how Millwall fare on Tuesday night.