JF set a deadline of two weeks into January for Shutes and the other one to put up or shut up.

We've heard nothing so I assume JF and the board are now going to go it alone as regards the new stadium !!!  

We've got our own Ollie!

Has the deadline expired?

I thought it was the end of January,as in the 31st.

Is there ever a deadline with a deal like this? Anyone could come along tomorrow with the funds for a takeover. I guess the idea behind the deadline is to push forwards with Freeman Street before we miss out whilst waiting for Shutes with his dock stadium idea.

Its about time something happened one way or the other. Freemo is my choice so long as we can get everything in that we need there.

I agree with the above post, I’m not sure you can put a time frame on it as such given that someone could literally rock up today with the cash, proof and all the shebang and buy the club.

My view has never changed and even with Holloway I still think it’s time for the sale. Whatever the views of shutes, he doesn’t have to do anything. He was seemingly the only serious interested party...we needed him more than he needed us.

It’s a difficult way to formulate a true opinion because, and it is his right, we only have one side of the story. The club have issued several non statements that were as clear as mud but we have nothing from the other side to refute or support the claims.

The cynical view is that with a small crest of a wave and reinvigorated response from the fans, naturally I can’t imagine our current board and owner are bothered about selling...they’d quietened down after our good start to the season...naturally when it tuned sour, interest and talk of sale came up again...

Will the club ever be sold? Who the intercourse knows...all I know is that we have to start performing consistently on the pitch now to capitalise on the rejuvenated interest...

If under Holloway we start improving a lot than that will make us much more attractive to potential investors, even having an experienced man like Holloway at the helm will make us more attractive

Quoted from Davec

If under Holloway we start improving a lot than that will make us much more attractive to potential investors, even having an experienced man like Holloway at the helm will make us more attractive

That’s how I see it if I’m honest...assuming results pick up, we could much more marketable etc.

Equally, if it goes wrong (I’m sure someone will be quick to point out IH has shares blah blah) or results tail off and a big decision has to be made, it could also sign the current regimes death warrant (should’ve been signed the day after the Burton debacle but hey ho)...

I feel very much like this is last chance saloon and if Holloway works or generates interest then we’re more sellable, if it doesn’t, the product is worth peanuts and the operators will have to swallow their pride and acknowledge that...

My worry is that Fenty will see the change Holloway has made and want to stay and see it through.

He’ll never have a better chance to shift it and the interest is there.

Quoted from Davec

If under Holloway we start improving a lot than that will make us much more attractive to potential investors, even having an experienced man like Holloway at the helm will make us more attractive

Which is why I mentioned about the rest of the club moving along with Holloway on Saturday - make hay while the sun shines.  

While the books are seemingly being run at a profit and fans are more invested in the club for years, now would be the time to start investing in the club and ironing out some of the antiquated processes & practices that hold us back.

One of the first things Lincoln did when they started doing well was selling tickets on Eventbrite - pick your seat, print at home or scan off your phone, easy to navigate, save staff time, no queuing in the rain - little things like that. Might cost a small service charge, but you need to make it as easy as possible for people to hand their cash over.

There’s a million things that could be done to drag more people into BP, but they need to be done now rather than in a few months or a few years when the money and enthusiasm might’ve dried up.

Quoted from headingly_mariner

My worry is that Fenty will see the change Holloway has made and want to stay and see it through.

He’ll never have a better chance to shift it and the interest is there.

Yeah I agree ,  Olly can front it all and bring the passion and enthusiasm but he will need someone with him driving the business side of things

Believe it was Psg that came up with the idea of emptying the cars from in front of the findus (or whatever it's called these days) and having street food and decent beers on offer pre and possibly post match. Not sure how the logistics of it could work, but a pretty good idea for a revenue stream.

If this takeover isn't going to get the go ahead then the club needs to finally get their thinking caps on

Does anyone remember back in December when Fenty clearly stated that he had had enough and wanted to sell the club. Maybe Ollie had been given the heads up during his fish and chip interview, and so rather than the club being sold from under him and him not having any say in the matter, Ollie decided to have a piece of the pie and invest his own money, so he can have a say-so. Maybe its a very wise move on Ollie's part. Rumours abound that it was a figure around £100k. That would make him a major shareholder.

I man not bothered if the said takeover takes place now we have Ollie not only as manager but a major shareholder too.Things are on the up and the high profile of Ollie will be to our benefit when other people with real money want to invest in our club.

UTMM

I think John Fenty is probably less inclined to want to sell given the massive feelgood factor which the arrival of Holloway has brought and the deserved praise he has received for landing him.

That said if we go on a run without a win and Holloway's many inspiring interviews and school visits etc start to tail off (as they surely must eventually) the knives will soon be out for him again

Personally now Holloway is on board with his enthusiasm and dreams for the future of GTFC which has clearly unavoidably rubbed off on Fenty and if Freeman Street goes ahead (which is also part of Holloways dream I suspect) then frankly I wouldn't mind if he didn't sell.

So long as he continues to ensure that our club is not handed over to the wrong people which I'm sure he will (and I think Holloway will have a say in that) then how Fenty wants to play t is OK by me

The 'Fenty must go' demands have for now hopefully lessened

If reports are right about Shutes wealth then Ollie has a better chance of taking over the club As he has more to offer.

As it stands I think we will carry on with the new stadium by our self and if we have some success on the pitch and a new stadium then we will have generated a bit more interest from prospective buyers.

Think JF’s last video release suggested that any interested parties would be encouraged to join the current board and work alongside them thus ensuring they were “genuine and committed” to taking the club forward.

Appreciate that IH is a positive character but he talks about the new stadium more as “when” than an “if” so maybe there are to be new investors or maybe I am getting carried away with this new wave of positivity 😄😄

Quoted from Lincoln Mariner 56

Think JF’s last video release suggested that any interested parties would be encouraged to join the current board and work alongside them thus ensuring they were “genuine and committed” to taking the club forward.

Hopefully history won’t repeat itself. That’s not exactly worked out well before.

Quoted from KingstonMariner

Hopefully history won’t repeat itself. That’s not exactly worked out well before.

Hopefully he will exclude lottery winners from that invitation

Quoted from Ipswin

Hopefully he will exclude lottery winners from that invitation

I was thinking of people who weren’t just lucky

But to be fair to Fenners he deserves credit for landing Holloway and I agree with you that he shouldn’t sell to just anyone.

Shame everyone can't club in together like Lincoln.

Quoted from mimma

Has the deadline expired?

I thought it was the end of January,as in the 31st.

You're getting mixed up it was that Breggitt or Bressitt thing I think i heard about somewhere

All quiet on the takeover thing - which is good imho - doesn’t necessarily follow that things have stopped. May well be that process is ongoing behind the scenes.

I would guess that with Ollie investing his own money then various things are happening behind the scenes, also Mr Fenty might be thinking that with an upturn under Ollie and a new stadium (hopefully) with a positive council then it is his best chance of getting his money back eventually.

Quoted from Gaffer58

I would guess that with Ollie investing his own money then various things are happening behind the scenes, also Mr Fenty might be thinking that with an upturn under Ollie and a new stadium (hopefully) with a positive council then it is his best chance of getting his money back eventually.

I'm not sure that he will want to leave and get his money back at all if we get a superb new ground, Holloway works his magic promotion wise (at least twice!) which will keep the euphoria going and the fans stay off his back.

There is no doubt he is as bigger fan as we all are and the scenario I have suggested would be absolutely everything he has ever wanted for GTFC and if all those things happened would we still want him to go anyway?

Agree, I also didn’t mean that Mr Fenty was purely after getting his money back and walking away, it’s a win win situation for him if a) we get a new stadium, b) he gets all his money back, c) we become  an established championship club. And to be honest I think we would all take that scenario.

Where have all the JSF bashers gone

Shut up!!

Let’s not kid ourselves, a few better results and Limberick would have got the job.

I still believe it’s time for John to step aside

Of course, but personally my bashing and berating on back burner for now as we seize a wave of positivity.

Quoted from golfer

Where have all the JSF bashers gone

You of all people will be moaning like fcuk if we started having a go at Fenty so fcuk off and play with your little dimply balls.

I think being an established championship club is a bit of a pipe dream, infinitely more difficult than when we were there last, the budgets are insanity. The population isn't here to sustain a championship club. Established league 1 with a new ground would be fantastic, with a promotion being a cherry on top (albeit almost certainly short lived)

I think being an established championship club is a bit of a pipe dream, infinitely more difficult than when we were there last, the budgets are insanity. The population isn't here to sustain a championship club. Established league 1 with a new ground would be fantastic, with a promotion being a cherry on top (albeit almost certainly short lived)

Reach for the stars and you'll end up in the sky... Or something.

Brentford doing alright. Just to be grinding our way upwards would be a great thing

Benham has reportedly pumped £90 million in to Brentford.

That's the sort of money required in the championship.

Fenty simply does not have anyway near that amount of money.

Gone are the days were clubs survived on gate money, when we averaged 12,000 gates under big Mac. and were considered as one of the big clubs in the lower leagues.

Christ, okay. League 1 with the odd foray it is then... Until some oligarch watching on Quest takes a shining to us 👀😅🤞

The 'potential' is there to be getting crowds circa 8-9000 each week, dependant on away support, and, with IH doing the rounds in the schools at the moment, this is a great way to secure a new wave of support.

Quoted from KingstonMariner

You of all people will be moaning like fcuk if we started having a go at Fenty so fcuk off and play with your little dimply balls.

If you saw my dimply balls you would pass out my son

Quoted from KingstonMariner

You of all people will be moaning like fcuk if we started having a go at Fenty so fcuk off and play with your little dimply balls.

So aggressive

Quoted from toontown

I think being an established championship club is a bit of a pipe dream, infinitely more difficult than when we were there last, the budgets are insanity. The population isn't here to sustain a championship club. Established league 1 with a new ground would be fantastic, with a promotion being a cherry on top (albeit almost certainly short lived)

Isn't that what's being a fan is all about dreaming ?

There is no reason why we can not have a few seasons up there until we have to sell our young players that have come through the youth team and go and make a name for themselves in the prem.

Quoted from grimsby pete

Isn't that what's being a fan is all about dreaming ?

There is no reason why we can not have a few seasons up there until we have to sell our young players that have come through the youth team and go and make a name for themselves in the prem.

Of course it is! The clubs priority should be to get into Div 1 and establish ourselves over 2 or 3 seasons at that level. If we produce a team that gains promotion to the Championship then that's great. IMO I don't think we have the fan base or commercial appeal to remain at Championship level for an extended period but so what. Enjoy the experience at that level but the club shouldn't throw silly money on players to try to maintain that. Past statistics from our recent excursions at that level show that if we are only maintaining bottom half positions then the home gate starts to fall away with subsequent downturn in revenue. Enjoy the ride but don't take it too seriously because the financial pressures and expectations of being at Championship level would be too much for us.

Quoted from rancido

being at Championship level would be too much for us.

We're going to struggle when we get to the Premier then!  ;)

(When we do perhaps every sodomist will stop knocking Premier league football)

Look at what Burton Albion have done. We could do the same- why not?

We have a large catchment area with no big local rivals to speak of (Lincoln??) and no other sporting clubs for fans to watch.

If we get the new stadium right I can't think of any reason why we couldn't average 10,000 home fans at least.

Quoted from mimma

We have a large catchment area with no big local rivals to speak of (Lincoln??) and no other sporting clubs for fans to watch.

If we get the new stadium right I can't think of any reason why we couldn't average 10,000 home fans at least.

It's all going to depend on results. The love affair with a new ground will soon die off if we are not winning games

We'd fill tatty old BP every week if we were 10 points clear at the top and unbeaten all season

Quoted from Ipswin

It's all going to depend on results. The love affair with a new ground will soon die off if we are not winning games

We'd fill tatty old BP every week if we were 10 points clear at the top and unbeaten all season

Disagree - Chesterfield are getting better crowds now, struggling near the bottom of the conference, than they did at Saltergate in League 1. Same would apply to Rotherham and Donny. Tatty old loveable Blundell Park it may be to us lot - but to the less-committed it is an uncomfortable excrement-hole surrounded by unwelcoming streets and boarded up shops...

A new stadium in the centre of town would transform this club for the long term, no-matter what the short term results. Holloway knows this and I think its one reason he came - he could see the potential for a permanent legacy. He'll want his name on one of the suites in the new stadium...

Quoted from Limerick Mariner

Blundell Park is  surrounded by unwelcoming streets and boarded up shops...

Whilst the Mad as a Box of Frogs Stadium will be surrounded by high class shops, parks and multi million pound Arab millionaire owned apartments you mean?

Quoted from Rik e B

Christ, okay. League 1 with the odd foray it is then... Until some oligarch watching on Quest takes a shining to us 👀😅🤞

Weve got our own Ollie-garch who has took a shine to us. For now, thats enough.

Quoted from Ipswin

Whilst the Mad as a Box of Frogs Stadium will be surrounded by high class shops, parks and multi million pound Arab millionaire owned apartments you mean?

I think we should start more modestly - maybe enough toilets to avoid a 10 minute queue every time we get more than 5,000 on, and a view of all the pitch from every seat - even if there are more than 6,000 on. Some good catering, inside the stadium would be nice as well...

Quoted from mimma

We have a large catchment area with no big local rivals to speak of (Lincoln??) and no other sporting clubs for fans to watch.

If we get the new stadium right I can't think of any reason why we couldn't average 10,000 home fans at least.

Do you honestly believe that an average home gate could support us at Championship level.? Short term, maybe, but not for a long term.

Quoted from Limerick Mariner

I think we should start more modestly - maybe enough toilets to avoid a 10 minute queue every time we get more than 5,000 on, and a view of all the pitch from every seat - even if there are more than 6,000 on. Some good catering, inside the stadium would be nice as well...

None of those attractions are going to get bums on seats if we are getting beat week in week out

Quoted from Ipswin

None of those attractions are going to get bums on seats if we are getting beat week in week out

Which at some point will inevitably happen. But if crowds for the good times in a new stadium are averaging 10,000 then in the bad times we might average 6,000 - not least because if we are playing some yorkies they can bring 4k instead of 1.8k...and of course the the bad times might come to an end. We might sell some space for a few more weddings as well.

If we are to take JF at his word.. the deadline has passed for takeover enquiries and the current board should be pressing ahead swiftly with their own exciting plans for Freeman Street as we speak.. If people in charge of our football club go on record with bold claims, we should expect them to be fully accountable and back it up with action as it's their duty to the fans to do so..

Quoted from Fishy clapper

So aggressive

Just giving the guy what he wants Happy Clapper. If people don’t want ‘aggression’ they should let sleeping dogs lie.

Quoted from WayneBurnettsJockstrap

Weve got our own Ollie-garch who has took a shine to us. For now, thats enough.

Like that! Nice one.

It is not just the large budgets needed in the Championship, many clubs still overspend beyond their funding.  Trying to get into the Premiership.    

Mentioned above that £90 million has been put into Brentford.  They have been forced to sell their best players each season.  Making £120 million in the last 5 years.  

They are moving to a new ground soon.  Interestingly they scrapped their youth team, appointed a dead ball coach and got a sleep coach.

Despite all these changes, they are very successful and could get automatic promotion this season.