Well I've only read the official site AGM report, and not had feedback from anyone who was there. However, the commitment made by Nick Merry, that WPL will continue to underwrite the club finances until the club has control of the stadium is the strongest commitment we have seen yet for the future stability of the club. So that's very good news.
Slightly less good news is that he used the phrase "continue to fund the losses" which indicates that he intends to continue to run the club on a loss making scenario. I hope he was simply using the wrong terminology and intended to say continue to underwrite the debts. We don't want the club getting further into debt.
At last Nick Merry has publicly recognised that the stadium is not worth the asking price of £13m. Very good news.
Very bad news is that WPL have confirmed that they have agreed to buy the stadium at it's over-inflated price anyway and cannot negotiate a reduced price. Presumably this is linked to the first option originally negotiated. Not very clever although obviously if the price is fixed on both parties, if the stadium company makes more money, or the club gets promoted, that won't result in an increased price for the stadium.
I think the obvious comparison now comes to the Orient situation and finding a way of developing the stadium perhaps by building flats in the four corners, building a fourth side, getting stadium sponsorship, and either a shared occupation or sale and leaseback to fund the balance without increasing losses and debts, and it is also pleasing to read that they will only undertake this if the deal is suitable for short and long term.
The major issues outstanding are projected losses and debt management, but it's good to read that WPL have come out of their shell and are prepared to be open about these issues again, after a long period in the dark.
AGM
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But none of this is news. It has all been said before. Saying you will fund the debts (or future losses) is easy. Actually doing it is where the problem is likely to occur. Same goes for stadium purchase and finding funding schemes/partners. Nothing that has been reported gives any reassurance that the debt will be reduced or the stadium will eventually be purchased."SmileyMan" wrote:All much better than expected, TBH.
Feeling more positive about hte management now. Sounds like they are committed to the club, and have a vision of where they want it to go.
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GodalmingYellow
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I think you are wrong Mally."Mally" wrote:But none of this is news. It has all been said before. Saying you will fund the debts (or future losses) is easy. Actually doing it is where the problem is likely to occur. Same goes for stadium purchase and finding funding schemes/partners. Nothing that has been reported gives any reassurance that the debt will be reduced or the stadium will eventually be purchased."SmileyMan" wrote:All much better than expected, TBH.
Feeling more positive about hte management now. Sounds like they are committed to the club, and have a vision of where they want it to go.
None of this has been said before.
WPL have never previously publicly committed themselves to funding the club until the stadium is under the control of the club.
WPL have never previously admitted that they agreed a price that the stadium wasn't worth, or even publicly stated that the stadium valuation is lower than the agreed price.
WPL have never previously stated that they will only buy the stadium when it is right for both the short term and long term finances of the club.
This means that the club should be safe from insolvency at least until it owns a major asset to underwrite that insolvency, a security that the club have not had for a long time.
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GodalmingYellow
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You'll be wanting a written contract next."DLT" wrote:WPL (or Merry) can say what he likes.I want to hear IL make those committments publicly.
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GodalmingYellow
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He's Chairman. I think this means he moves the chairs around for events like the AGM."Mally" wrote:So Lenagan is the money behind Merry and Thomas appears to be the intelligence and the spokesperson. Just what does Nick Merry do?