Walking Down The Halbeath Road

[TN10Y]

 

A season opener for the ages as Michael Wood and Robbie Devlin convene to discuss:

 

THAT statement

Social media expectations

New kits

Pars TV

️ Oh, and some footballing matters, sadly

 

Shares appreciated.

 

 

Listen here!

[AL-FFC]

1 hour ago, Parscelona said:

https://dafc.co.uk/club-update-16-08-2024/

Hope they've changed the login details so the Germans can't post anything else.

[TxRover]

3 hours ago, LatapyBairn. said:

Sorry, the fact all these clubs are running efficiently and have been for sometime while being owned and ran by fan or community groups actually disproves your point. Please explain to me which clubs here are “truly independent” and which clubs are somehow “vulnerable” because of being fan owned and explain why? Unless you have intimate knowledge on how these clubs are structured and ran that’s unavailable to the rest of us your point makes absolutely no sense, looking through Scottish football absolutely every club or business is vulnerable to bad decision making regardless of ownership as it boils down to human error however clubs that are fan owned are better placed to deal with this having a broader set of shoulders to carry any financial burden of said bad decisions and with democratic processes to remove individuals who make those bad decisions. A club reliant on the whims of an individual owner have none of that should that owner loose interest, run out of money or even just continually make poor decisions in which instance there is no official mechanism in which they can be removed. 

While I would dispute efficiently in some cases, yes, they’re running. Are you suggesting that there is ultimately a difference between independent and vulnerable, other than financial position, when you ask which is which…because you then seemingly agree? For instance, Morton are running at a decent clip, with what is presumed to be a smallish Championship budget, but they have much less wiggle room than perhaps Hearts. Hearts has a depth of resource that Morton simply can’t emulate, hence it is literally more independent.

Yes, every club (except perhaps the OF, see 2012 for evidence of their undying nature*) in Scotland is vulnerable is a sense. No, I have no mystical insights, but I also think you are overvaluing the myth of fan ownership as some democratic paradigm. The reality of fan ownership seems to all to often boil down to a start with everyone owning a bit and slowly transforms into another retelling of Animal Farm, with some fans being more equal than others. Some see success, some are buried in the pyramid.

Yes, single owner vanity projects are rife with risk, but they often seem to do pretty well. It isn’t that I’d prefer that model, but I do think it’s undervalued in many cases, despite the need to keep the one owner interested. Scottish football overall has been relatively lucky with the vanity projects, especially when compared to other league. That might also give insight into the problems facing fitba.

Meanwhile, the subject here would be is there a viable path for a return to fan ownership at EEP? How (and how much of) will the investment in the club be recouped by the Germans, and what will their criteria be for selling their stake? Does the current fan structure at DAFC have a right of first refusal, and what is the timeline for that? If this is what will happen, is it reasonable to raise those funds within the window?

Overall, it’s better to have a healthy and competitive (but not too) DAFC in the SPFL.

 

*There’s also a very good argument for the position that had someone driven a stake through the heart of Rangers corpse, Scottish football would have been much better off by now.

[Frazd103]

48 minutes ago, TxRover said:

While I would dispute efficiently in some cases, yes, they’re running. Are you suggesting that there is ultimately a difference between independent and vulnerable, other than financial position, when you ask which is which…because you then seemingly agree? For instance, Morton are running at a decent clip, with what is presumed to be a smallish Championship budget, but they have much less wiggle room than perhaps Hearts. Hearts has a depth of resource that Morton simply can’t emulate, hence it is literally more independent.

Yes, every club (except perhaps the OF, see 2012 for evidence of their undying nature*) in Scotland is vulnerable is a sense. No, I have no mystical insights, but I also think you are overvaluing the myth of fan ownership as some democratic paradigm. The reality of fan ownership seems to all to often boil down to a start with everyone owning a bit and slowly transforms into another retelling of Animal Farm, with some fans being more equal than others. Some see success, some are buried in the pyramid.

Yes, single owner vanity projects are rife with risk, but they often seem to do pretty well. It isn’t that I’d prefer that model, but I do think it’s undervalued in many cases, despite the need to keep the one owner interested. Scottish football overall has been relatively lucky with the vanity projects, especially when compared to other league. That might also give insight into the problems facing fitba.

Meanwhile, the subject here would be is there a viable path for a return to fan ownership at EEP? How (and how much of) will the investment in the club be recouped by the Germans, and what will their criteria be for selling their stake? Does the current fan structure at DAFC have a right of first refusal, and what is the timeline for that? If this is what will happen, is it reasonable to raise those funds within the window?

Overall, it’s better to have a healthy and competitive (but not too) DAFC in the SPFL.

 

*There’s also a very good argument for the position that had someone driven a stake through the heart of Rangers corpse, Scottish football would have been much better off by now.

Apart from the (but not too) , this is one of the best posts I've seen on this sorry episode.

[northstander]

As an ICT fan I’m especially feeling for all you Pars fans right now. Got everything crossed that you guys get out of your current mess and are a better and stronger club as a result.

The last 4-5 years for us off the field have been nothing short of a f**king omnishambles brought upon by an inept board and Scotland’s biggest snake oil salesman Scot Gardiner. However this past week has given us the first glimmer in a long time that better days are coming.

Here’s hoping that day comes a lot sooner for you guys and anyone resembling Mr Phygital is nowhere to be seen!
 

[Chubbychops]

I've often wondered if Meggle had a big say in the way we played and had a bit too much say in football matters at East End.

Will be interesting to see if anything changes over the next few weeks in terms of how McPake approaches games.

Meggle is now yesterday's man. No need for him to be around our club now. The plan that those Fussball DAFC investment cnuts had is now out the window. Thank fuk.

If the boring football continues post Meggle and with some investment in the playing squad over the next couple weeks, that we're led to believe. It will be last chance saloon for McPake and co. They will have no place to hide.

Still think McPake is simply not good enough in all honesty.

Edited August 17 by Chubbychops

[Stellaboz]

I'm hoping he isn't involved but I'm not sure we'll even know for sure until GmbH is fully gone. I'm more worried about his part in the recruitment process, hopefully he is a barrier that's now removed. 

 

[Home Truths]

7 hours ago, Chubbychops said:

I've often wondered if Meggle had a big say in the way we played and had a bit too much say in football matters at East End.

Will be interesting to see if anything changes over the next few weeks in terms of how McPake approaches games.

Meggle is now yesterday's man. No need for him to be around our club now. The plan that those Fussball DAFC investment cnuts had is now out the window. Thank fuk.

If the boring football continues post Meggle and with some investment in the playing squad over the next couple weeks, that we're led to believe. It will be last chance saloon for McPake and co. They will have no place to hide.

Still think McPake is simply not good enough in all honesty.

It's frustrating that magically investment now appears. The squad is a mess, every man and his dug can see that and could see that for months. It's total incompetence to start the season in the shape the Pars have. 

[AuldReekie]

19 minutes ago, Home Truths said:

It's frustrating that magically investment now appears. The squad is a mess, every man and his dug can see that and could see that for months. It's total incompetence to start the season in the shape the Pars have. 

I don't think the squad is a mess. We're missing about 3 or 4 reinforcements, a couple in key positions (goalkeeper and left side), but there's a solid enough team there. If McPake cant get the team playing better, he'll need to go. 

And I'll celebrate this new investment when I see players coming in. Not before. The statement was very carefully worded and it's clear there are different dynamics in play now from the investment group. 

[AL-FFC]

Reading the statement from your investors it kind of reads like they wanted an excuse to pull their investment and they got it by blaming the fans (sounds familiar).  Ijust hope you don't end up with Mark Campbell type rocking up at EEP as majority of us seen through that one in less than 24hrs of being wheeled out at TFS.

Really hope you get things sorted out and I get that feeling that once your investors are gone then you'll uncover a load of stuff hidden, as what seemed to be the case with us when our old board departed.

Edited August 17 by AL-FFC

[Chubbychops]

3 minutes ago, AuldReekie said:

And I'll celebrate this new investment when I see players coming in. Not before. The statement was very carefully worded and it's clear there are different dynamics in play now from the investment group. 

It wouldn't surprise me if there's certain stipulations in place for how we spend the money.

The statement mentions ''sensible'' signings. I think this will mean that we can only sign young prospects.  Signings that have a potential sell-on value that make the squad look more attractive/profitable to a new owner.

This money is being made available to make us look more attractive to new investors than the current struggling relegation fodder we are just now. 

[North West]

Been banging on about their lack of transparency and also strategy since February this year, of course much of what I said was scorned upon or ignored. But, fitbaw fans to a person only want to go support their team. Now, we've got to carefully manage GmbH's exit or it could be really bad for the club. We'll bounce back, clubs like ours do as it's what we're all about.

COYP

[DA Baracus]

Bit late to make funds available for new signings, as the vast majority of the better ones (if not all) will have already been signed.

[AuldReekie]

1 hour ago, Chubbychops said:

It wouldn't surprise me if there's certain stipulations in place for how we spend the money.

The statement mentions ''sensible'' signings. I think this will mean that we can only sign young prospects.  Signings that have a potential sell-on value that make the squad look more attractive/profitable to a new owner.

This money is being made available to make us look more attractive to new investors than the current struggling relegation fodder we are just now. 

The sensible part I assumed was related to cost (it'll still be a limited budget) or short term deals (could imagine we might see 1 year deals). I think the emphasis on young players could be watered down - ultimately, what matters to a potential buyer is minimal financial liabilities and maximum chance of staying in Championship. New buyer might not share same emphasis on youth and we've already seen it's a very limited short term market for making money. 

[william somerville]

Will that be you selling another training ground?

[Wacky]

22 minutes ago, william somerville said:

Will that be you selling another training ground?

I’d say that’s the owners ground to do what they want with. I think Pars will go back to hiring facilities again. If they owners aren’t to greedy we may even hire that facility from them. 

[DA Baracus]

7 minutes ago, Wacky said:

I’d say that’s the owners ground to do what they want with. I think Pars will go back to hiring facilities again. If they owners aren’t to greedy we may even hire that facility from them. 

You can't actually think the board will charge the club to train at the training ground?

[CallumPar]

56 minutes ago, Wacky said:

I’d say that’s the owners ground to do what they want with. I think Pars will go back to hiring facilities again. If they owners aren’t to greedy we may even hire that facility from them. 

Wait, what are you actually suggesting here? Who do you think owns the training ground and who do you think has the long term lease?

Change in ownership will have zero impact on the current agreement(s) regarding the training facility.

[Heaton]

I've given up trying to educate folks mate. So much BS being said it's unreal

[Salvo Montalbano]

3 hours ago, william somerville said:

Will that be you selling another training ground?

Another? Are you going back to Eagle Glen days? That was about 30 years ago!