Smurthwaite in talks with buyers who want to buy the club while he owns the ground

[The Kalamazoo Kid]

Chaudry didn't get close at all, it was there for the taking when we were in admin, wasn't he about fifth in the bidding, which shows how much he really wanted the club. If he had have really wanted it he could have just outbid Smurf.

 

Can't remember Chaudry being interested when Smurthwaite/Wildes got it but I'm certain his was the lowest bid when Keith Ryder was 'the chosen one'......although his bid did not involve buying the ground, which he wanted to be on a long-term lease from the Council.

[Jacko51]

Pressure is required, as we well know. Synectics haven't said anything since their initial interest, and to the average fan that will be a sign that either they can't afford it or they don't want it.

 

I'm not saying either is true, but without a vocal investor to unite around, Norm is going absolutely nowhere. I would like Synectics to buy the club, but their current manner of staying quiet isn't achieving anything, and never will.

 

Norm levelled accusation after accusation at them at the Meeting about their turnover and lack of funds, which will be swallowed up by the fans unless challenged. They haven't been challenged.

 

I'm not saying I don't want Carol to buy the club, I've just accepted it isn't going to happen.

 

Carol Shanahan is now the Chair of the Port Vale Foundation. She is very active in that role and Norman knows this. Norman has already said Synectics would be the best people to buy the club. He knows they are still around. They have already made two offers for the club. They do not appear to be prepared to pay the stupid money Norman wants so there is little point in them making any further offer. If Norman genuinely wants to sell, he should be looking for a buyer and not ignore what's waiting on his doorstep.

[Jacko51]

I wonder who all these other "Potential Buyers" were!Surely the exclusivity period has passed now and they can be named.

 

The three I am aware of are Synectics, the Norwegian consortium and the Boston Hedgefund who, according to Norman, paid two dollops of exclusivity payment. No idea who the lastest potential buyer is but according to Norman they are short of cash because they can't afford the ground.

[onestepatatime]

This exclusivity clause....... Does it mean Smurthwiate can slag off one of the interested parties(Synetics) and they can't respond? I know that if I was one of the interested parties and Smurthwaite had tried again to belittle my company, as he has done on more than one occasion)then I frankly would come out strongly and counter his allegations, if they are untrue.

[Hagrid]

Chaudry didn't get close at all, it was there for the taking when we were in admin, wasn't he about fifth in the bidding, which shows how much he really wanted the club. If he had have really wanted it he could have just outbid Smurf.

 

Admin only occurred because of Chaudry. Without him galvanising the fans, pressure would never have been exerted and we'd probably still exist with some form of V2001 running us today.

 

Not in any way suggesting he was perfect, and he ballsed up in bidding for us, but Mo did a lot to help rid this club of V2001, taking a lot of flak in the process. I'm thankful for that.

[Hagrid]

Carol Shanahan is now the Chair of the Port Vale Foundation. She is very active in that role and Norman knows this. Norman has already said Synectics would be the best people to buy the club. He knows they are still around. They have already made two offers for the club. They do not appear to be prepared to pay the stupid money Norman wants so there is little point in them making any further offer. If Norman genuinely wants to sell, he should be looking for a buyer and not ignore what's waiting on his doorstep.

 

I would agree, if you weren't putting normal expectations onto Norm.

 

At best he is deranged and at worst he has malicious intent.

 

He isn't going to come to the realisation one day that 'Oh silly me! I'm not the right man, I should sell at a fair price, losing £3m, to Synectics'. It just won't happen.

 

The only way Smurf sells is if a vocal, viable alternative to him is provided, supported by pressure from the fans.

 

Waiting for him to have the epiphany that he should do the right thing and sell to Synectics will get us nowhere. I would appreciate just a short statement.

 

"Synectics are still interested in buying Port Vale, and would welcome the opportunity to re-open negotiations with Mr. Smurthwaite. We would like to counter his claims regarding our funding, with our capital being sufficient to buy and run Port Vale Football Club."

 

Bam. Viable option, still interested, the fans rally. Is there anything really that wrong that statement? Smurf's questioned their companies financial position publicly in the last few weeks, so I doubt there's any NDA in place.

 

I don't know. I like Carol and Synectics, but silence isn't working. The bloke worming his way back into the day to day running of things, siphoning off a profit with a steady income in the future.

 

My main concern is that if the current situation continues (silence from Synectics, exclusivity payments and Hugill money), Norm can comfortably stay put to make his money back.

[SuperValiant1876]

Chaudry didn't get close at all, it was there for the taking when we were in admin, wasn't he about fifth in the bidding, which shows how much he really wanted the club. If he had have really wanted it he could have just outbid Smurf.

 

He could have bought the club if he wanted and if he had kept his word about offering full price for any shares he bought, yet the first time he tried to buy shares he tried to get them at 20% off. I don't think he would have been a good owner of Port Vale from what I have heard from people who have worked for him.

[Hagrid]

Lets not turn the thread into a debate on Mo.

 

We all have our opinions on him but this isn't a thread on hearsay on his business acumen.

[Andyregs]

What kind of companies pay 50K to just look at a potential business purchase books? Especially when it’s not as though there are lots of other bidders? Even more so when they can’t even afford to buy the whole thing. Where does he keep finding these mugs willing to keep giving him money.

[Caroline Oakes]

Pressure is required, as we well know. Synectics haven't said anything since their initial interest, and to the average fan that will be a sign that either they can't afford it or they don't want it.

 

I'm not saying either is true, but without a vocal investor to unite around, Norm is going absolutely nowhere. I would like Synectics to buy the club, but their current manner of staying quiet isn't achieving anything, and never will.

 

Norm levelled accusation after accusation at them at the Meeting about their turnover and lack of funds, which will be swallowed up by the fans unless challenged. They haven't been challenged.

 

I'm not saying I don't want Carol to buy the club, I've just accepted it isn't going to happen.

 

NS won’t sell PVFC until it suits NS regardless of who is looking to buy. In my opinion when he is ready to sensibly negotiate ( NS and sensible... I am joking!) the sale of the Club Synectics will be ready. Until such a time I think Carol is doing everything she can to positively promote PVFC, which is a nightmare job when we have likes of NS and TF at the helm. However, I did hope that CS/Synectics would have publicly wiped the floor with NS following the derogatory comments he made at the Supporters Club Meeting regarding their personal finances.

[Hagrid]

NS won’t sell PVFC until it suits NS regardless of who is looking to buy. In my opinion when he is ready to sensibly negotiate ( NS and sensible... I am joking!) the sale of the Club Synectics will be ready. Until such a time I think Carol is doing everything she can to positively promote PVFC, which is a nightmare job when we have likes of NS and TF at the helm. However, I did hope that CS/Synectics would have publicly wiped the floor with NS following the derogatory comments he made at the Supporters Club Meeting regarding their personal finances.

 

1. There's still ambiguity as to whether they are still interested. I know you and others have private correspondence with Ms Shanahan about this, but to the 3000 other Vale fans we literally have no idea.

2. They haven't challenged the 'lack of funds' tag. If and when Norm does come to sell, fans are still going to view them with suspicion due to these claims, which they've shown no inclination in denying.

3. Fans still cling to Synectics as a potential saviour. Literally zero communication for nearly 12 months is a bit unfair. A short statement to refute his claims and say they are still open to bid as and when Norm is ready is all I ask.

 

Its all getting a bit pedantic and nitpicky. In my view, Synectics' communication with the fans (who they will need onside to obtain and run the club) hasn't been good enough over the past 12 months. I'm not asking for a Chaudry-esque media campaign, just basic levels of communication so we have a clearer idea of the situation. At the minute it feels like we're in limbo and although they don't owe me or the Vale fans anything, I'd hope for at least a general update as to whether I should bother having any hope or not.

 

I don't think I'm asking too much there. I feel more updated about this mess from Norm and his contradictory lies than I do from Synectics' absolute silence. Hows that happened?

[SuperValiant1876]

1. There's still ambiguity as to whether they are still interested. I know you and others have private correspondence with Ms Shanahan about this, but to the 3000 other Vale fans we literally have no idea.

2. They haven't challenged the 'lack of funds' tag. If and when Norm does come to sell, fans are still going to view them with suspicion due to these claims, which they've shown no inclination in denying.

3. Fans still cling to Synectics as a potential saviour. Literally zero communication for nearly 12 months is a bit unfair. A short statement to refute his claims and say they are still open to bid as and when Norm is ready is all I ask.

 

Its all getting a bit pedantic and nitpicky. In my view, Synectics' communication with the fans (who they will need onside to obtain and run the club) hasn't been good enough over the past 12 months. I'm not asking for a Chaudry-esque media campaign, just basic levels of communication so we have a clearer idea of the situation. At the minute it feels like we're in limbo and although they don't owe me or the Vale fans anything, I'd hope for at least a general update as to whether I should bother having any hope or not.

 

I don't think I'm asking too much there. I feel more updated about this mess from Norm and his contradictory lies than I do from Synectics' absolute silence. Hows that happened?

 

What if they haven't got the funds? What if Norm sells to them and they can't take us forward? What then? Shanahans out? Its a never ending circle of dissatisfaction at Vale.

[Hagrid]

What if they haven't got the funds? What if Norm sells to them and they can't take us forward? What then? Shanahans out? Its a never ending circle of dissatisfaction at Vale.

 

Its a never ending circle as we've been thoroughly shafted for 15 years mate.

 

I wish I could be more positive about the Vale, and I am about on the field. I have faith in Aspo. Just getting weary of us getting mugged off of the field.

 

With regards to your question, I don't know. Synectics are the only investors who have purposefully thrown their hat into the ring, and appear to be better than Norm, so for that I'll back them. In terms of their funds, I have no idea.

[Rampant Zebra]

Admin only occurred because of Chaudry. Without him galvanising the fans, pressure would never have been exerted and we'd probably still exist with some form of V2001 running us today.

 

Not in any way suggesting he was perfect, and he ballsed up in bidding for us, but Mo did a lot to help rid this club of V2001, taking a lot of flak in the process. I'm thankful for that.

 

Even now with our current situation do you still think getting rid of V2001 was the right thing to do?

[Rampant Zebra]

1. There's still ambiguity as to whether they are still interested. I know you and others have private correspondence with Ms Shanahan about this, but to the 3000 other Vale fans we literally have no idea.

2. They haven't challenged the 'lack of funds' tag. If and when Norm does come to sell, fans are still going to view them with suspicion due to these claims, which they've shown no inclination in denying.

3. Fans still cling to Synectics as a potential saviour. Literally zero communication for nearly 12 months is a bit unfair. A short statement to refute his claims and say they are still open to bid as and when Norm is ready is all I ask.

 

Its all getting a bit pedantic and nitpicky. In my view, Synectics' communication with the fans (who they will need onside to obtain and run the club) hasn't been good enough over the past 12 months. I'm not asking for a Chaudry-esque media campaign, just basic levels of communication so we have a clearer idea of the situation. At the minute it feels like we're in limbo and although they don't owe me or the Vale fans anything, I'd hope for at least a general update as to whether I should bother having any hope or not.

 

I don't think I'm asking too much there. I feel more updated about this mess from Norm and his contradictory lies than I do from Synectics' absolute silence. Hows that happened?

 

I think they have realised that Norman is messing them around and has no intention of selling the club to them for a sensible price.