Q&A with Norman Smurthwaite - Supporters Club Mtg

[Howjy04]

The time has come for fans to unite against NS. We have to force his hand by starving him out. If we don't renew season tickets he will put the club into admin. The administrators will sort out the mess and get the club evenly balanced. We'll be there to help the new owner pick up the pieces.

Enough is enough. Get out of our club!

 

No,points deduction.

[Rampant Zebra]

Be best to do it now since we are probably down anyway.

[elav trop 1876]

No,points deduction.

would take points deduction and a chance for the club to remain and progress from whatever level than no club at all or perennial lining the Coventry fuhrers pocket at the expense of the club he cares little about and keeps permanently on the breadline whilst doing just fine himself which will lead to same anyway as fans disappear..there literally is no hope with him in charge

[SFBT]

He is treating Vale as a property.

The slum landlord, ignoring our pleas to mend the roof, fix the boiler , get rid of the damp.

He doesn't care about his tenants.

If we complain, he threatens us with eviction.

He loves the club for what it promises to give him and he loves himself, but he doesn't give a **** about the tenant fans.

They're just a nuisance.

[Rampant Zebra]

I think he only loves the club because of the status it gives him as a football club owner, plus the free hospitality of course.

[valiant steve]

If we're doing analogies:

Our club is seriously ill (NS). The treatment (admin) is going to be painful. (Points deduction and relegation) If the club has treatment it has a chance to be cured of the illness (owner gone, new owner in place). The treatment is risky, the club may die. If the club does not get the treatment it needs it will definitely die.

This season ends at the start of May. We will either be relegated or will have survived. May and June arrive. The season ticket holders start the treatment (keep our season ticket money in our bank accounts) August arrives. Treatment continues.

I would be happy to pledge my season ticket money to a potential new owner who was capable of inspiring hope for the future of our great club.

The only way of getting rid of NS is to starve him out. The club will come back stronger with a new owner who has integrity and decency.

Enough is enough. Get out of our club.

[SourceOfTheTrent]

I'm not sure he could be starved out. Whilst I'm not advocating carrying on giving him money my worry is it could be convenient for him for the football club to go bust as he has separated it from its only real asset, the ground, thus if the club goes under creditors can't make claims against its value. No club means fat boy is free to do as he wishes with Vale Park.

[Howjy04]

Be best to do it now since we are probably down anyway.

 

Garbage.

[Jacko51]

I think the problem is partly Norman’s continued claims that he has never lost on a business deal. In the case of Vale he is currently clearly losing and doesn’t know how to respond to the situation. He took a gamble investing in Vale via Paul Wilde’s and he is now like the gambler who keeps chucking more money at it with the hope he’ll hit the jackpot. I may be totally wrong but that’s how it seems from the outside.

[smithie]

Garbage.

 

I know. Thank God we're not all so pessimistic but that attitude seems to envelop the club. I despair sometimes.

[Rampant Zebra]

Garbage.

 

I really hope you are right but recent performances suggest otherwise.

[smithie]

I think the problem is partly Norman’s continued claims that he has never lost on a business deal. In the case of Vale he is currently clearly losing and doesn’t know how to respond to the situation. He took a gamble investing in Vale via Paul Wilde’s and he is now like the gambler who keeps chucking more money at it with the hope he’ll hit the jackpot. I may be totally wrong but that’s how it seems from the outside.

 

Exactly. Staying makes no sense unless he has a properly thought-through plan on how return us to League 1 or higher.

 

I don't believe he even has a plan for tomorrow. He's floundering but is too pig-ignorant to admit defeat.

 

The biggest problem for us is that he has us over a barrel and he knows it.

[Howjy04]

I'm not sure he could be starved out. Whilst I'm not advocating carrying on giving him money my worry is it could be convenient for him for the football club to go bust as he has separated it from its only real asset, the ground, thus if the club goes under creditors can't make claims against its value. No club means fat boy is free to do as he wishes with Vale Park.

How many do you think would SHO,Source?1000 STs = 300k,2000Sts = 600k etc.If he’s finding what he says every month,do you think he couldn’t find the extra shortfall?

[Howjy04]

I really hope you are right but recent performances suggest otherwise.

Recent performances suggest we’ll stay up in a canter.

[SFBT]

I'm not sure he could be starved out. Whilst I'm not advocating carrying on giving him money my worry is it could be convenient for him for the football club to go bust as he has separated it from its only real asset, the ground, thus if the club goes under creditors can't make claims against its value. No club means fat boy is free to do as he wishes with Vale Park.

 

And that's why he loves the club.

He can let it run down, the tenants will either leave or be evicted and then he can fill his boots.