Dunning1874 Posted December 28, 2022 Share Posted December 28, 2022 2 hours ago, Enigma said: Pretty much. Throughout my time supporting the rovers we’ve spent our time yo-yoing between Championship and League One, we’ve on the spiral back down again, make no mistake. I’m at the point where I’m ready to take the chance with Mr Burns’ mystery box. Fan ownership would just see the most well-kent in charge (not the most able) and the dead wood behind the scenes would remain. The club run by committee type stuff at the likes of Stirling Albion doesn’t enthuse me one bit. As you say, in that scenario we can look forward to being reunited with Cowdenbeath. Fan-owned doesn't have to mean fan-run. You can have the security of fan ownership stopping asset-stripping shysters ever taking over while still having a board appointed for their expertise in various areas, rather than just electing some fans everyone knows from seeing their face on a Saturday. Obviously it doesn't seem there's actually a workable route to that for Raith just now anyway, with Sim looking like he wants to recoup some sums which would take years for fans to raise, and is therefore going down the route of taking an offer from the first dodgy consortium to rear their heads instead. That's far more likely to send you down the Cowdenbeath route, with added homelessness. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renton Posted December 28, 2022 Share Posted December 28, 2022 2 minutes ago, Dunning1874 said: Fan-owned doesn't have to mean fan-run. You can have the security of fan ownership stopping asset-stripping shysters ever taking over while still having a board appointed for their expertise in various areas, rather than just electing some fans everyone knows from seeing their face on a Saturday. Obviously it doesn't seem there's actually a workable route to that for Raith just now anyway, with Sim looking like he wants to recoup some sums which would take years for fans to raise, and is therefore going down the route of taking an offer from the first dodgy consortium to rear their heads instead. That's far more likely to send you down the Cowdenbeath route, with added homelessness. Agree with this, to be honest I'm not even sure what the position from our fans trust even is regarding attempting a takeover. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pub car king Posted December 28, 2022 Share Posted December 28, 2022 It makes little sense as an investment really. We are a debt ridden club, with a crumbling stadium thats sat on worthless land. Poorly supported and in the second tier of an at best average footballing nation. We have nothing to asset strip so their motivation could be to have the club as an entity for writing off tax/poor investments. Or to actually invest in it for some end game We don't know. How much profile does scottish football have in Asia? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma Posted December 28, 2022 Share Posted December 28, 2022 2 minutes ago, Dunning1874 said: Fan-owned doesn't have to mean fan-run. You can have the security of fan ownership stopping asset-stripping shysters ever taking over while still having a board appointed for their expertise in various areas, rather than just electing some fans everyone knows from seeing their face on a Saturday. Obviously it doesn't seem there's actually a workable route to that for Raith just now anyway, with Sim looking like he wants to recoup some sums which would take years for fans to raise, and is therefore going down the route of taking an offer from the first dodgy consortium to rear their heads instead. That's far more likely to send you down the Cowdenbeath route, with added homelessness. Yeah, obviously it can be done well, sure, your set up seems to be working, for now... I frankly wouldn't trust us to get the balance right and it not be a complete mess, people carving out their own wee fiefdoms etc. though. As you point out it is a moot point anyway, Sim isn't going to see that happen here. He's selling to this consortium presumably because he wants some of his money back but also because from what I've heard nobody local is willing to put any money in, and who can blame them. I'm don't mind us taking the gamble here, the mystery box, and homelessness could be a blessing, Stark's is shite ground with no atmosphere to speak of and a maintenance bill as long as your arm. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zen Archer (Raconteur) Posted December 28, 2022 Share Posted December 28, 2022 9 minutes ago, pub car king said: We have nothing to asset strip But the Titan... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philpy Posted December 28, 2022 Share Posted December 28, 2022 1 hour ago, Zen Archer (Raconteur) said: Far east betting syndicate anyone? I hope they will be here for our 5-0 win over dundee?? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TxRover Posted December 28, 2022 Share Posted December 28, 2022 9 minutes ago, Zen Archer (Raconteur) said: But the Titan... Is it insured? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirJimmyofNic Posted December 28, 2022 Share Posted December 28, 2022 IF this consortium do buy/ have bought us , that would mean the supporters trust, NRR Ltd would have to get their share of the proceeds or is Sim just selling his Shareholding or has that all been gobbled up along the way ??? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philpy Posted December 28, 2022 Share Posted December 28, 2022 Wonder if they'll change the catering.... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumswall Posted December 28, 2022 Share Posted December 28, 2022 29 minutes ago, philpy said: Wonder if they'll change the catering.... Here's hoping. The current offering is grim. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brashy's Boots Posted December 28, 2022 Share Posted December 28, 2022 8 minutes ago, grumswall said: Here's hoping. The current offering is grim. Away man. Steak pies are decent. The rest is a bit shit though. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raith1974 Posted December 28, 2022 Share Posted December 28, 2022 Maybe this consortium are not interested in SP and will buy the club, rent the stadium and build a 6k stadium with modern facilities and pitches for youth development. That's one way to start making money but first you need to spend money. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renton Posted December 28, 2022 Share Posted December 28, 2022 2 minutes ago, Brashy's Boots said: Away man. Steak pies are decent. The rest is a bit shit though. They should try and get the lads from Buffalo Farm in to do it. They have incredible pies. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Binos Posted December 28, 2022 Share Posted December 28, 2022 4 minutes ago, raith1974 said: Maybe this consortium are not interested in SP and will buy the club, rent the stadium and build a 6k stadium with modern facilities and pitches for youth development. That's one way to start making money but first you need to spend money. One way to make money is to stay out of Scottish football 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hank Scorpio Posted December 28, 2022 Author Share Posted December 28, 2022 I can just envisage a boardroom somewhere in Hong Kong with an evil mastermind furiously gesticulating at a drawing board with a map of Linktoon on it. Circling Starks Park and “prime real estate” written next to it… The idea that someone is going to buy our club with the underhand thought of bulldozing Starks Park and building houses on the land is a bit far fetched. There is a housing crash. It is in one of the least desirable areas in an already undesirable town. The buy to rent market is now pretty much unviable. There is the east coast mainline mere meters from the back of the land. There are so many other areas of Kirkcaldy which you could buy and put houses on - if that was your wish - without the need for evicting a football club and bulldozing a stadium perched on a terribly shaped piece of land. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renton Posted December 28, 2022 Share Posted December 28, 2022 I suppose we have to consider the possibility that the evil mastermind here is Sim, and these poor b*****ds haven't got a clue what they are about to walk into. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beachbum Posted December 28, 2022 Share Posted December 28, 2022 17 minutes ago, renton said: I suppose we have to consider the possibility that the evil mastermind here is Sim, and these poor b*****ds haven't got a clue what they are about to walk into. John Sim wants his legacy to be that of the kind and well-intentioned benefactor of the citizens of Kirkcaldy, not the evil mastermind mentioned above. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank conner Posted December 28, 2022 Share Posted December 28, 2022 Could you imagine being fan owned? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hank Scorpio Posted December 28, 2022 Author Share Posted December 28, 2022 4 minutes ago, Frank conner said: Could you imagine being fan owned? Hardly worth thinking about 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael W Posted December 28, 2022 Share Posted December 28, 2022 The housing crash is not due to an oversupply of property, though. The land Stark's is on is low cost and any development suitably priced. The most pressing problem with housing is affordability for those looking to get on the ladder, after all. At any rate, that's clearly not the base intention and is the insurance policy if the attempt at building the club up fails to generate income - this is what this lot are looking for and the fact we are likely a cheap acquisition will help. PE outfits are not some sort of benevolent enterprise existing for the greater good: they are hard-nosed, profit-driven setups. They will slash costs to bring the business around to profitability and will not absorb losses like we have done. That isn't a bad thing for our viability (indeed it's good), but cutting costs correlates with bad footballing outcomes. Bad footballing outcomes will not allow money to be made. Most PE buyouts end up with assets being stripped to generate cash as well. It is therefore baffling why on earth such an outfit would look at Raith Rovers given our general loss-making and poor position. If they want to generate money they need to invest in good players that 1) Get us up the top of the league and possibly promoted and 2) can be sold for decent fees. Or spend absolutely loads on facilities the community can use and hope a profit is generated. This cannot be done on a shoestring, barring a miracle. In the immediate term, they could achieve profitability by cutting costs and hoping declines in the team's fortunes don't turn fans away. This is almost certainly incongruous to their aims. All I'm saying is that there must be something of substance they see if things don't go to plan and the club doesn't start making money and they want to cut their losses and get their money back (pr at least most of it). It's not how PE business work - they buy businesses with substance behind them and usually those with assets. It's why the whole thing makes me suspicious - looking at the situation as dispassionately as possible, it seems they would be backing a loser. The club is in a shite position and therefore vulnerable to shysters as well. We need to hear more about what might happen, particularly with the stadium, but the alarm bell are ringing. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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