New Owner

[blakey]

2 minutes ago, Firhillista said:

Is the hostility to fan ownership that's being expressed on here practical or ideological?

Is it that there's a concern that Thistle fans owning the club would mean poor decision making and an inability to maintain and develop income? Both reasonable worries, but surely valid concerns for the fans of Hearts, St. Mirren and Motherwell, all of whom seem to be coping okay.

Or is it that for some people fan ownership seems a bit too socialist and they think that it's better having business people in charge who know about making money? Which in some ways seems the safe option, but requires the acceptance that the main purpose of the club is financial, rather than sporting, success.

Are we concerned about being fooled by snake oil salesmen or do we not trust ourselves? 

It's been said that in the echo chamber of social media the jury has found against the TfE proposal. But this is mainly a small group of people all with similar views talking to themselves. The article in the Herald today by Graeme McGarry provides a more balanced account and expresses surprise at the hostile response from some Thistle fans to the idea of fan ownership. 

Of course any new owners of Thistle will have to answer questions about their plans and intentions. TfE/Colin Weir or whoever. But, as things stand, it seems to me that the fan ownership model is the one most worth pursuing.

I'm more than prepared to change my mind if the international consortium - New City Finance or Pacific whatever - come up with a plan to make us Premiership contenders, winning cups and playing in Europe. I'd sign up for that in a heartbeat. It's just that I've got a funny feeling that's not what's on offer.

Great post. As I mentioned earlier I think some folk also against TFE because of connection to old board (not even sure if that is true).

[ARu-Strathbungo]

10 minutes ago, Firhillista said:

Is the hostility to fan ownership that's being expressed on here practical or ideological?

Is it that there's a concern that Thistle fans owning the club would mean poor decision making and an inability to maintain and develop income? Both reasonable worries, but surely valid concerns for the fans of Hearts, St. Mirren and Motherwell, all of whom seem to be coping okay.

Or is it that for some people fan ownership seems a bit too socialist and they think that it's better having business people in charge who know about making money? Which in some ways seems the safe option, but requires the acceptance that the main purpose of the club is financial, rather than sporting, success.

Are we concerned about being fooled by snake oil salesmen or do we not trust ourselves? 

It's been said that in the echo chamber of social media the jury has found against the TfE proposal. But this is mainly a small group of people all with similar views talking to themselves. The article in the Herald today by Graeme McGarry provides a more balanced account and expresses surprise at the hostile response from some Thistle fans to the idea of fan ownership. 

Of course any new owners of Thistle will have to answer questions about their plans and intentions. TfE/Colin Weir or whoever. But, as things stand, it seems to me that the fan ownership model is the one most worth pursuing.

I'm more than prepared to change my mind if the international consortium - New City Finance or Pacific whatever - come up with a plan to make us Premiership contenders, winning cups and playing in Europe. I'd sign up for that in a heartbeat. It's just that I've got a funny feeling that's not what's on offer.

Ran out of likes

[Firhillista]

So, if David Beattie and the current board are prepared to stay on to run things, then Colin Weir comes back in, buys the shares and the bits of the ground owned by Propco, build us a training ground and funds youth development and then makes all of this available for fan ownership.

Sorted!

So, onto other things... does Mitch Austin actually exist?...

Edited September 27, 2019 by Firhillista

[Trotter]

Do I want fan ownership? Yes

 

Do I want Jackie Low anywhere near my club again? No

 

Do I want a foreign consortium that may (may not be they’ve answered nothing about their plans) flood the club with Barnsley youth players?

 

Bear in mind that OGC Nice fans were calling for a fans boycott due to Lee/Conway running of their club. Doesn’t bode well.

 

I also think it miraculous that as soon as there was another offer on the table the New City bid is now 3/4 weeks away from completion. Been on the go for 3/4 months & not had the decency to speak to any of our fans groups.

 

Guys on here with more ITK at boardroom. Aside from Low, why is Conway/Lee more favourable than fan ownership? They’ve told us nothing either about their plans for running of the club.

 

Truthfully- We’re damned if we do, damned if we don’t.

 

So much for the positivity of Ian McCall’s return at beginning of the week.

[1876]

Why dont Thistle For Ever organise a meeting with the fans and put their proposals to the supporters .

[madcapmilkdrinker]

1 hour ago, 1876 said:

Why dont Thistle For Ever organise a meeting with the fans and put their proposals to the supporters .

Guess you could say the same about the other lot too. But haven’t.

Once again, actual, live Thistle supporters being held to far higher standards than venture capitalists from another country. 

[Dick Dastardly]

10 minutes ago, madcapmilkdrinker said:

Guess you could say the same about the other lot too. But haven’t.

Once again, actual, live Thistle supporters being held to far higher standards than venture capitalists from another country. 

I'm not sure they are being held to different standards. A TfE meeting is something that can be done, while the consortium would be a pointless excercise to even contemplate. Besides, TfE need to get the supporters on board. The consortium don't give a sfuff about the supporters, just the shareholders.

[lady-isobel-barnett]

24 minutes ago, Dick Dastardly said:

I'm not sure they are being held to different standards. A TfE meeting is something that can be done, while the consortium would be a pointless excercise to even contemplate. Besides, TfE need to get the supporters on board. The consortium don't give a sfuff about the supporters, just the shareholders.

100% agree. 

Btw in the McGarry article he says

"There are many among their number who are sceptical about the fan-owned model, despite its success at other clubs of relatively comparative size in Scotland such as Motherwell, St Mirren and Falkirk, preferring to take a leap in the dark for the greater rewards it may bring."

The last 15 words is I accept a generalisation but I suspect there's more than an element of truth in its assertion. To some fans I guess it's simply a case of "a billionaire taking over the Club. What's not to like".

[javeajag]

20 minutes ago, lady-isobel-barnett said:

100% agree. 

Btw in the McGarry article he says

"There are many among their number who are sceptical about the fan-owned model, despite its success at other clubs of relatively comparative size in Scotland such as Motherwell, St Mirren and Falkirk, preferring to take a leap in the dark for the greater rewards it may bring."

The last 15 words is I accept a generalisation but I suspect there's more than an element of truth in its assertion. To some fans I guess it's simply a case of "a billionaire taking over the Club. What's not to like".

Well my other team is Valencia .... funnily enough owned by a Singaporean billionaire called Peter Lim.... last weekend there were demonstrations by fans outside the stadium demanding he sell the club

so yes there is often lots not to like 

[Trotter]

How are Barnsley getting on this season? Sold, arguably, their best player & are either in or just outside relegation places. Doesn’t look like they invested much in the Summer either.

 

Same as OGC Nice fans complaining about- lack of investment. 

 

Why does anyone think we’ll be different?!

[javeajag]

2 minutes ago, Trotter said:

How are Barnsley getting on this season? Sold, arguably, their best player & are either in or just outside relegation places. Doesn’t look like they invested much in the Summer either.

 

Same as OGC Nice fans complaining about- lack of investment. 

 

Why does anyone think we’ll be different?!

I don’t for one and the fact they are telling us nothing speaks volumes 

[allyo]

4 hours ago, lady-isobel-barnett said:

100% agree. 

Btw in the McGarry article he says

"There are many among their number who are sceptical about the fan-owned model, despite its success at other clubs of relatively comparative size in Scotland such as Motherwell, St Mirren and Falkirk, preferring to take a leap in the dark for the greater rewards it may bring."

The last 15 words is I accept a generalisation but I suspect there's more than an element of truth in its assertion. To some fans I guess it's simply a case of "a billionaire taking over the Club. What's not to like".

If anyone really does think "a billionaire taking over the Club. What's not to like".... then I'd have a serious disagreement with them. Surely there is no one out there who seriously thinks that there is a billionaire who just wants to pump money into a Scottish football club so they can win things, and has randomly selected Partick Thistle.

I've been surprised at the number of people who seem relaxed about the New City proposal. I've been confused at some people's lack of concern.

Is it really that simple? Is that really what people think?

 

[West of Scotland]

Perhaps people think that neither of these two options sound particularly good.

[allyo]

1 minute ago, West of Scotland said:

Perhaps people think that neither of these two options sound particularly good.

Personally I have many questions about one option, but in principle and without knowing anything about the individuals involved I like the idea.

And I have a fundamental distrust of the other one, which just sounds like faceless big money swallowing up my football club with absolutely no regard for anything that it stands for. But maybe that's just my own biases.

[javeajag]

11 minutes ago, West of Scotland said:

Perhaps people think that neither of these two options sound particularly good.

I’d quite like the money men to go away so we can consider fan/community ownership calmly taking our time 

[Lenziejag]

9 hours ago, javeajag said:

Colin weir is underwriting buying a majority of the shares and propco

I thought he was funding buying all the shares and propco ?

[javeajag]

14 minutes ago, Lenziejag said:

I thought he was funding buying all the shares and propco ?

That’s my understsnfing 

[Lenziejag]

9 hours ago, javeajag said:

Why is Colin weirs  money worse than some guy we’ve never heard of ?

His funding is great, but who is he giving this money to control ? We have no idea how the ownership will work as that has not been decided yet. Paul Goodwin has all the control of tfe and there is no need for fans to make a pledge.

[javeajag]

3 minutes ago, Lenziejag said:

His funding is great, but who is he giving this money to control ? We have no idea how the ownership will work as that has not been decided yet. Paul Goodwin has all the control of tfe and there is no need for fans to make a pledge.

Agreed.... details to be worked out 

[Big Col]

No need to worry, my friends. Once I win the Euromillions tonight, I shall be making an offer (not a proposal) to buy the club. And the squabbling over takeovers can cease and we can get back to squabbling over footballing matters.

[Fawlty Towers]

3 minutes ago, Big Col said:

No need to worry, my friends. Once I win the Euromillions tonight, I shall be making an offer (not a proposal) to buy the club. And the squabbling over takeovers can cease and we can get back to squabbling over footballing matters.

If you are looking for a scout to travel the world and identify talent PM me. I might even watch some games of football 

[Norgethistle]

1 hour ago, javeajag said:

I’d quite like the money men to go away so we can consider fan/community ownership calmly taking our time 

Does the money men include Weir?

 

[Norgethistle]

19 minutes ago, javeajag said:

Agreed.... details to be worked out 

Details need to be worked out?

 

5 weeks after launching this, the details haven’t been worked out, they should have been completed prior to going public and (illegally) having people pledge on their website with their personal details, the amateurish nature of this (from a guy who states “ specializes in fan ownership”) is astounding.

Give us your money, we don’t know how much we need, we’ve put an offer in or is it a proposal, we’ll work out how boards are voted and selected after we have it, we can’t tell you how many have pledged, Weirs not involved, Weir is involved by the way it’s all registered in my name!! 

Total tinpot set up

[allyo]

25 minutes ago, Big Col said:

No need to worry, my friends. Once I win the Euromillions tonight, I shall be making an offer (not a proposal) to buy the club. And the squabbling over takeovers can cease and we can get back to squabbling over footballing matters.

That would make you my third choice. 

[allyo]

9 minutes ago, Norgethistle said:

Details need to be worked out?

 

5 weeks after launching this, the details haven’t been worked out, they should have been completed prior to going public and (illegally) having people pledge on their website with their personal details, the amateurish nature of this (from a guy who states “ specializes in fan ownership”) is astounding.

Give us your money, we don’t know how much we need, we’ve put an offer in or is it a proposal, we’ll work out how boards are voted and selected after we have it, we can’t tell you how many have pledged, Weirs not involved, Weir is involved by the way it’s all registered in my name!! 

Total tinpot set up

Okay genuine question, and I don't mean this in a confrontational way at all.

As I've said, I'm cautiously in favour of this type of model but I'm very glad that people like yourself are able to challenge it. I'm not a business person by any means.

If someone did want to start a fan ownership system, obviously they'd have to assess the level of interest and seek support. An Internet appeal seems to me like the most obvious and far reaching way of doing this.

If you were organising this properly, how would you go about it and what would be the initial steps to take?