Bainsfordbairn

For about five months, aye. Alan Maybury was the U20 coach until Houston got sacked until the end of September. Then Lee Miller took over until Hartley papped him out in December. Gordon Wylde came in to take the U20s from the end of January until the season ended. All in season 17/18. He was replaced at the start of the following season by Graeme McArthur, although by then the U20s had become a reserve team thanks to Project Brave.

I'm sure they'd love to, but the owners have decided to sell their shares to someone else and there's nothing BTB can do about it. A better question would be why did the owners select Mark Campbell out of the three bidders? Was it because MC pledged to invest more cash after the purchase than BTB did? Was it because of a personal dislike from the owners to some of the people involved with BTB? Was it because the owners may have had links to people associated with the MC bid? Was it because MC offered more cash to the owners for their shares than anyone else was willing to? Including Scott Davison? I have no idea. But if someone can find out the answer to the first question it would clear a lot of things up.

Any businessman who walks away from a deal because somebody doesn't like him wasn't very committed in the first place. I don't have a strong opinion of BTB's actions atm. Credit to them for sticking their heads above the parapet as it's what many, including myself, wanted from them. Whether their actions were correct or not can only be judged properly after we know what information they passed on to the BOD. I've no doubt it will come out eventually. I wouldn't worry about the Fifers getting into Europe. They would only get papped out by a bunch of part time Icelandic fishermen.

I've no idea. Someone asked if BTB had given the story to the press and I supplied recent quotes from one of their leaders which suggested they hadn't. I have no idea what the information is. I'm not part of BTB.

They've never leaked anything before have they? Well, apart from every signing McKinnon made over the summer before it could be announced.

Not that I can see. This is a copy and paste from a post made earlier today by KJ on the COYB FB page: Kenny Jamieson The Sun has reported on it this morning. Only fair that we tell fans that it's true and that it was us. The MSG/Board are in possession of the content and it's now up to them to investigate it. Hope that clarifies. Kenny Jamieson I didn’t say we told the Sun. We told the club but as the Sun are now reporting it, we’re confirming it to fans, which is the right thing to do. That seems fairly clear. They gave the club information, the info ended up with the Sun who ran what seems to be a non-story, and as a result they're now confirming publicly that info was passed to the club - but not the paper.

I don't think the posts attributed to him were from Edi. He spent a lot of time on different subjects - love for Sheps, hate for O Hara, ITK stuff, slagging off fan ownership - but his central theme that he always came back to was defending the BOD / MSG. All of the recent new posters have slaughtered the BOD / MSG decision to award Mark Campbell preferential bidder status. If those were from Edi then his opinions have turned 180 degrees in the opposite direction. Unless of course he's a genuine troll / WUM, in which case he's just a sad loser.

I would think 99% of ordinary shareholders are in it the for love and not the money. Unless someone was unlucky enough to be going through a hard time atm and so was looking for a quick buck, I doubt many would sell.

I doubt it. KK is the only board member to work fulltime at the club. Someone would have to babysit MC just to answer any queries from the club's perspective and KK is the most senior employee.

Nothing I've heard or ITK stuff. It's a combination of things. For one, I'm naturally suspicious of anyone willing to throw money at our football club who doesn't have an affinity towards it. That probably stems from being old enough to remember the Deans and Fulston years. We've had a number of boards over the years who the fans didn't like or didn't think were competent, but the only ones who were dodgy were the two outsiders. All our local boards have been well-meaning, but not always up to the job. Then there's the "if it seems too good to be true" factor. And finally there's some of the things posted online. Most of the new posters who've put stuff up haven't had a warm reception on here, but it could paint a picture. I think I saw a post which showed evidence that our potential new owner was a director of five dissolved companies. Add a couple of new ones being created just before he was awarded preferred bidder status and it sets alarm bells ringing. As does the fact that he appears to be claiming his money was made in America - so it presumably can't be verified via Companies House. Then there's the allegations about his character when he was in charge of previous ventures. I would have hoped that any potential new owner could show a stable business background with lots of proven success and testimonials from happy customers. That doesn't appear to be the case here. Granted, there's nothing definitive enough to be conclusive, but I think it's reasonable to have doubts.

From posts made on COYB it appears a meeting has taken place between reps of BTB and Mark Campbell. Can you guys tell us anything or do you have any plans to make a statement over the coming days? PS I share your caution. I'm concerned we're about to jump out of the frying pan and into the fire.

We were there last July. The balcony is very reminiscent of the one that Spartans / Edinburgh City have at Ainslie Park.

I don't think the Q&A will tell you anything. It's easy to make promises. Any half-competent salesman could get you believing whatever he wants, particularly as you have no way of verifying his claims. If he say's he'll plough ten million into the club over the next five years how can you confirm that? The real test will presumably be the checks carried out by either the club or the SFA. Does anyone know how these work?

That's an open goal and I'm sure you knew the answer you'ld get before you asked. However, Bairnstrust as I understand it are no more, albeit as the last chairman of it ( I think) you're in a better position to know the current status than I am. It certainly doesn't have active, registered, paid-up members. Does Brian Guthrie still have some sort of involvement as the nominal spokesman on behalf of the shares they purchased? Regardless of that, David and Kenny have more trust and respect amongst the fanbase than some of their well-known leaders ever did. I know work has taken place recently to bring all the fan groups together in opposition to the MSG but that's largely been done behind closed doors. As fans, we need some sort of group to represent our interests. BTB have universal support, which is almost unheard of in recent times for a single fans group. It needs to continue. Exactly where it goes is up to the people who run it but it would be a squandered opportunity to let all the goodwill and support that DW/KJ have go to waste. Besides which, any prospective new owner need to be grilled and endorsed / rejected by the fans. Nobody is in a better position to do that than BTB.

Apologies for singling someone out, and it might get me an annoyed PM later, but I'm pleased to see BPM liked your post. Big man - nobody trusts the MSG to do the right thing as it may line their pockets. That might be grossly unfair and totally inaccurate, but it's a common perception amongst fans. We have no Bairnstrust or other organised fan body to represent us. That means it falls to BTB, Kenny, David, Keith and patrons like yourself. I'd suggest that you not only meet Mark Campbell, but also contact Sunderland fan s groups to see if there is any truth in these online rumours. Offer to meet some of the new posters on here too, in confidence, if they can provide evidence they think you should see. The fans need to do their own due diligence. Kenny & David have done brilliant work so far, but it may be that their most important task is still ahead of them. Are you guys willing to take up the cudgel on our behalf?

Have the SFA's fit and proper test not been tightened since the whole whyte shenanigans? Surely between due diligence and the SFA checks if the guy is a fraudster he would be found out. I've no idea; it's not the sort of thing I've ever been involved in. One of the QOS posters that used to frequent this thread seemed to have a good knowledge of SFA rules and regs. If he's still around he might be able to answer.

I understand that all the various fan groups have been meeting and talking for some time. The problem is that unless some of the MSG agree to sell them enough shares to create a veto the they're largely powerless. And the very last thing any fan organisation should be doing is providing funding for a new owner. If he can't do that himself, he shouldn't be taking over the club. If there is an EGM, that would be an appropriate question to ask of the outgoing board / owners: what steps have you taken to safeguard the club should any new owner turn out to be the next Craig Whyte?

I was told on the first day after relegation that the demos had convinced the majority to sell up, hence partly why I was always convinced that today would happen. Re purchasing of shares, how does it work? There's a long-held suspicion that the delay was down to money-grabbing and a desire from the MSG to get the very best they could for themselves. I've always had my doubts about this theory, given that many of them aren't exactly short of few pennies. Do ordinary shareholders have to get the same price offer per share as the MSG? If so then we'll be able to confirm - or lay to rest - that suspicion once and for all after the offers are made.

Not often you and I are in agreement but we're on the same page with this one. It sounds great, but at the end of the day it's a statement designed to get people on board. It says what we'd have wanted it to say. I'm not against it as such - in fact if it works out I'll be delighted - but I think it's wise to be cautious until we see 1) who's involved, and 2) what they actually do, rather than just what they're promising to do. Still, if it dilutes / removes the power of some people on the MSG that's a very good start.

Given the size of our squad and some of the things going on behind the scenes, I think you can add that to the list of "inaccurate" statements that our board have released. Well done BTW. You called it right and correctly predicted who would win the race. I just hope some of your other concerns - which I share - prove to be wrong.

Well that aged well, didn't it?

I agree with your second sentence but not the first. There are people with first-hand knowledge of what's going on (not me - I just speak to some of them) and that knowledge confirms that you're wrong. Some of them post on this thread. Two of them could blow you out the water with evidence, but wont, for reasons of confidentiality. I'd suggest you need to open your mind a little. Just because you don't know about something doesn't mean it's not real.

If there are no buyers, then why did I see the BTB guys this morning? Why did I overhear a conversation from a director about the timetable for the presentations? There are still three prospective buyers who want to take ownership of the club away from the MSG.

I still believe it will happen, for the reasons I gave previously. I don't have any inside knowledge as it's the one thing they seem to be good at keeping secrets on.

I don't agree. CC & ML were the two doing the day-to-day stuff at the club, but that doesn't necessarily mean they were the ones who made the proposal. It could just as easily have been Andy Thomson - who would be the first to realise we were running out of cash - or Lex Miller - who was the director responsible for the Academy, after all. Given what we now know about BOD friction I suspect that if those two had proposed it all the others would automatically have objected. You may well be right, but I'm guessing your conclusion is based on assumption rather than knowledge. Not a dig; just me being my usual boring and pedantic self who wants evidence before damning someone. If you want to assign a legacy to CC I'd suggest doing it with things we know he was responsible for - the copyright threats or the Dennon Lewis statement.