Eric offers to step down?

maccawozzagod · 04-09-2007, 18:08

see todays Telegraph

no doubt somebody will find a link but I aint got time!

Tin Monkey · 04-09-2007, 18:23

It's here, but there's a lot more to this story than is being made out.

Whalley Would Walk Away (from Lancashire Telegraph)

Doug · 04-09-2007, 18:46

There was something on ITV tonight but I missed it.........

MichiganRed · 04-09-2007, 21:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tin Monkey

It's here, but there's a lot more to this story than is being made out.

I take it that you are in no hurry to dig through your records for the share you purchased so you can be prepared when that big offer is made.

Tin Monkey · 05-09-2007, 08:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichiganRed

I take it that you are in no hurry to dig through your records for the share you purchased so you can be prepared when that big offer is made.

I don't own the other 40% of shares.

To be honest, I never bought the shares as an investment. They'll never be worth what I paid for them.

Tin Monkey · 05-09-2007, 18:56

Did anyone hear the exclusive interview with Eric on Radio Lancashire tonight?

I'm surprised nobody else has commented on this thread, considering the importance of it.

Doug · 05-09-2007, 19:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tin Monkey

Did anyone hear the exclusive interview with Eric on Radio Lancashire tonight?

I'm surprised nobody else has commented on this thread, considering the importance of it.

Missed it. Any chance of a link?

K.S.H · 05-09-2007, 19:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tin Monkey

Did anyone hear the exclusive interview with Eric on Radio Lancashire tonight?

I'm surprised nobody else has commented on this thread, considering the importance of it.

You might be the only one from Accyweb that heard it, tell us more

Tin Monkey · 05-09-2007, 19:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doug

Missed it. Any chance of a link?

Nope.... but basically he said that he'd been 'misquoted' in the media and the club only needed investors/money if they want to progress. He said the club was in fine financial condition, although they were running on a very tight budget. He denied that the club was going to go the same way that the old club did in 1962.
He must have been very misquoted then.

At no point in the interview did he suggest stepping down, although he did say that he'd be willing to listen to "silly offers for the club". In other words, he has no intention of selling the club. That's how I read it anyway.

Bagpuss · 05-09-2007, 19:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tin Monkey

In other words, he has no intention of selling the club.

Well that's just spoilt my evening I thought at last we could get rid of that Russell (your names not down so you're not coming in) Whalley.

Seriously IMHO this is not good news for the club, Eric does not have the cash we need and it's doubtful any investor would want him to stay, I wouldn't if it was me.

lancsdave · 05-09-2007, 20:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doug

Missed it. Any chance of a link?

I've not got my speakers plugged in so don't know if it's the interview but there is a file at the bottom of this link;

BBC - Lancashire - Sport - Accy apathy has to stop

Jesus_was_A_red_ · 05-09-2007, 20:12

Cheers. Clarified a few burning questions/issues.

maccawozzagod · 05-09-2007, 21:31

good interview.

Eric will sell if a 'stupid' offer comes in? (I'll offer a tenner then - thats a stupid offer

)

the club is financially stable and can afford to remain in the league. But if we want to progress we need investment.

TheLedge · 05-09-2007, 22:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by maccawozzagod

good interview.

Eric will sell if a 'stupid' offer comes in? (I'll offer a tenner then - thats a stupid offer

)

the club is financially stable and can afford to remain in the league. But if we want to progress we need investment.

I'm not trying to be controversial as I understand that Eric has done a great job at Accrington but is this quite right?

I read in last nights LET that he has previously turned down a £750k offer from that Khan chap, it made me wonder just how much a club like Accrington is actually worth?

Does anyone knoe what EW actually paid for his shares or how much he has personally ploughed into the club?

No way should the guy lose out and he should definitely be rewarded for his efforts but i'm just a tad concerned reading figures like that that he wants to make a packet out of the club.

Don't have me wrong, he is a businessman and if he can get a great deal then of course he is perfectly entitled. I was just thinking about other clubs though, Wolves for example, where the owners have only really looked to ensure that the right people take over who can bring the right investment to the club.

I think, at this level, you will struggle to find people willing to pay well in excess of £1m for a club with gates like Accrington and then look to make further, significant, investment on top.

maccawozzagod · 05-09-2007, 23:22

the thing is with Eric, is that he is a businessman but he bought the club because he was fro Accrington, had a love of the club and wanted to do right by it. When he bought it from John Alty he would have paid a decent five figure sum for it and then took on the debt as well. That would have been a significant purchase at the time as we had gates of around 3-400.

Nobody will ever know just what personal fortune he has put into the club but there is no doubt that he has. Whenever the game wasn't sponsored EW Cartons stepped in etc etc as well as any number of pocket dippings he would have made just like other directors have to do.

When he turned down the Khan money we all thought he was stupid, but could Khan have dleivered us to the Football League? we'll never know. But when other fans accuse us of having been bankrolled into the league it make sme chuckle. How many 'sugar daddies' are willing to have the worst facilities in their respective division? and we have only ever really paid money for a handful of players Prendergast £7k? Calcutt £5k?, Mullin £15k?, Craney £15k? Williams £25k (after selling him months earlier for £60k) and Roberts £4k. I can't think of any others we have paid actual coin for.

As far as Eric selling the club is concerned, I hope that he does, IF, his level of investment has run its course and only if any buyer seriously has the club at heart. Nobody buys a club really to just throw their money away but very very few will ever get a return for their money. Stanley have got weak gates and that in turn produces weak revenue from merchandise, but we have all said all along that the club would be a goldmine in the hands of an astute marketeer. There is potential here for a good solid business, but putting that money back into the ground and squad would have to be a priority for quite some time.

But what is happening at the moment as regards the money situation will happen again if we are to step up a league. The ground needs hundreds of thousands spending on it to bring it up to scratch let alone make it 'nice' The squad needs hundreds of thousands of pounds spending on it to make us a promotion team (and then its not a guarantee). If we were to go up a level we would find those figures going up at least threefold.

Better the devil you know many a time over, but maybe the job is becoming bigger than anybody anticipated it would?

We now have youth squads to run, a reserve side, an academy, Football in the Community (massive scale from scratch), the business getting side of it must have had to increase massively, the squad has to be bigger, merchandising will have increased. All these things take up a hell of a lot of time and Eric oversees everything. That maybe to his and the clubs detriment but he has kept us solvent and has taken us to a level we never dreamed about.

If we had never won the Conference we would not be complaining about half the things we do and we would have a team competing in the top half of the table and we would still be dreaming about the promised land

If Eric does sell up I hope he is very well rewarded for his efforts over the last 12 years because he deserves it.