BBC are reporting that Mr T has agreed a deal in principle with the american consortium but are saying he has a meeting with a Chinese geezer on Tuesday.

I don't like the sound of a 'consortium' taking over at Notts, they might have money but be right idiots and have no clue about football, I'd much rather have Alan Hardy who care about notts and would care about the fans!

Chinese may have better idea of defensive "great" walls than Jamie. Maybe Scardino returns ???  

Whistles..... @super_ram

I'd rather have Alan Hardy at the reins, but I must ask. Why all of sudden are other people reportedly making 'offers', to which local journalists do not know 'who'? Yes, yes, yes... I know agreements have been reportedly signed but everything quiet, then Hardy says it looks like it's off - then the day after it seems like there's 'some' hope. it goes quiet and reports are that he has purchased the club, followed by the offer had been made 'in writing'.

Now we are being told these quiet 'Americans' have placed a bid and a deal has been agreed in principle.

I hope all parties involved are good at poker, where's PokerPie when you need him.

Edited March 18, 20169 yr by super_ram

I thought Ray Trew was no longer handling the sale of the club...

The danger is that with an overseas consortium, they continue with Jamie as manager.... how long will it take to get the FL to agree that they pass the "Fit and Proper persons" test? Maybe a long time for "overseas owners". 

If Notts are taken over by a foreign consortium, I doubt I'll support/follow the club any longer. Can't go through another Munto. Sincerely hope Mr Hardy is the new owner.

Alan Hardey has just tweeted:

"Sorry guys, I really did my best. Let's hope Ray Trew selects wiseley and we don't inherit empty, soulless promises"

Judging by that, I think we can safely say he won't be the club's new owner.

We don't know anything about this consortium, we'll have to wait and see I guess. I'm sure Ray wil do his due dilligance and the FL will make sure they're fit and proper, especially after the Munto fiasco. 

Must say its kind of exciting and nerve racking also , my own preference is AH , notts fan local ect ect , but who knows how even an overseas owner may do what all notts fans would love, and that's bring stability and forward movement , all without jeopardising our very league status 

The majority of foreign owners have little or no concept of English football. Americans think in terms of their own sports which are franchises. Franchise is a dirty word in English football.

Alan Hardy ‏@Bigalanh5  6m6 minutes ago

Alan Hardy Retweeted Josh Spencer

#circus is exactly how I'm feeling tonight especially as I understand his agent recommended my offer be accepted!!

I'm not sure how to feel about this news. Alan Hardy felt like the safe option because he's a supporter and local man. I suppose until we know exactly who they are and how much they are worth it's difficult to say! The club needs to be run properly and nobody wants another Munto as in non existent!! It would be great if we really did have very wealthy owners with ambition. I want JF replaced with an experienced manager who knows the English leagues well. Definitely want ticket prices reducing because I believe we'd get more supporters coming to games at affordable prices and thus a much better atmosphere. 

Warning signs of the Scardino years... investment blundered on players like Worthless...we had no saleable assets as we entered administration the first time. One only has to look at American involvement in Villa and Fulham where wrong decisions have been made.

37 minutes ago, Dripsey3 said:

The majority of foreign owners have little or no concept of English football. Americans think in terms of their own sports which are franchises. Franchise is a dirty word in English football.

*cough*... Randy Lerner... *cough*... Billions to spend and not one proper football person on the board... *cough*... relegation and shame.

*cough cough*

My immediate issue with the words "American" and "consortium" is not that I feel Americans, Canadians or others are incapable of understanding the nuances of English football, because I genuinely believe we can. My issue is that this sort of terminology generally means we're talking about financial people. As someone looking at this whole situation from across the pond, I can honestly say that I echo the sentiments of those who preferred Hardy not simply because he is indeed a local boy, but because he's a fairly sharp one at that. Notts needs someone (singular) who has a real vision. I feel this way about all clubs. Worldwide. Vision and the willingness to allow a certain degree of fan ownership and fan influence on the composition of the board; the "texture", for lack of a better word, of the club as a whole.

With regard to Villa, I think they're a flawless example of a club that has had all the financial backing anyone could ever ask for, and not one person at the top with the aforementioned vision required to craft something worthy of the top tier. I think Randy really did try, but without the right people in place and a solid long-term strategy, all he was doing was throwing money on a steadily growing bonfire.

I just hope we don't end up with a team of perceived value builders. Clubs, like human beings, are fairly organic things. Balance sheets are all well and good, but unless there's real passion in the recipe and fire under the pot, the soup of numbers will be cold indeed.

I just don't like the fact we know nothing about them, they are reported to be billionaires but no one knows ? What's to say they will spend if they are ? It just all seems abit fishy to me.

With Alan Hardy we knew where we stood, he cares deeply about notts and has ambition to take us forward but I think Mr T just wants as much money as possible, Hardy said on the twits that one of Trews agents recommended his offer but then Mrs T slammed it and simply posted NDA, possibly reminding AH he can't talk about anything

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Whoever the new owners turn out to be, I really, really hope they stay well away from messageboards and Twitter.  Just tell us what we need to know on the official site like most well run clubs.

NDA who are they?

NDA who are they?

It means none disclosure agreement, if you sign one then you can't talk about anything to do with the proceedings, so Hardy isn't supposed to tell us anything about the deal

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12 minutes ago, wacky said:

NDA who are they?

A new trillionaire African bidder, Nigerian Diamond Associates.*

*In case you were serious, NDA refers to Non-Disclosure Agreement, otherwise known as a KYGS (Keep Yer Gob Shut).

Billionaires generally don't require consortiums in order to get what they want, in particular things like clubs, which tend not to be classified as growth concerns or traditional "investments" as far as their portfolios go. Not saying that doesn't happen, but it always seems silly to me when it does.

With an NDA in place, it's all just speculation. Interested to see who emerges.

1 hour ago, Elite_pie said:

Whoever the new owners turn out to be, I really, really hope they stay well away from messageboards and Twitter.  Just tell us what we need to know on the official site like most well run clubs.

Or limit what they say and do.

Is it Burton's owner who's got a relationship with the fans or was it Port Vale? I think any statement should come via a official site but owners shouldn't ignore fan sites. They're not 'evil' but can be the downfall for some. I personally like owners being open to a degree, as it's refreshing but there should be a limit to what owners say, I wasn't a fan of 'hinting at signing' - I expected some to be disappointing but I do feel you should acknowledge any that exist.

There's a place for 'em, not all but some.

Just to add one more thought here, if Hardy's bid was rejected despite the agent's recommendation to make a deal with him, I can only assume it's because the new bidder might have (and by "might have", I mean "probably") agreed to assume either a portion of the club's debt or all of it. I believe Hardy made it clear that he wanted the debt gone before he came on board, and if Trew's goal isn't to drop any more cash, a new bidder willing to assume the debt makes complete sense. The speed is also a factor here; a strong offer is going to be pursued with vigor.

The trouble with owners posting on messageboards is that everyone knows exactly who they are, but the people who respond to them are totally anonymous.  We've all seen the abuse that's been directed at the Trews elsewhere,  which has got pretty nasty at times.  But who is it from?  All it needs is a couple of people with multiple usernames to spout their bile and it soon appears to be the general opinion.  Even Fawaz over the river is hinting he might sell up because of negativity and abuse on social media.  If he didn't go on there, the only abuse he would get would be face to face, and the vast majority of those who are hard cases behind a keyboard go strangely quiet when 'face to face' is mentioned.

7 minutes ago, Elite_pie said:

The trouble with owners posting on messageboards is that everyone knows exactly who they are, but the people who respond to them are totally anonymous.  We've all seen the abuse that's been directed at the Trews elsewhere,  which has got pretty nasty at times.  But who is it from?  All it needs is a couple of people with multiple usernames to spout their bile and it soon appears to be the general opinion.  Even Fawaz over the river is hinting he might sell up because of negativity and abuse on social media.  If he didn't go on there, the only abuse he would get would be face to face, and the vast majority of those who are hard cases behind a keyboard go strangely quiet when 'face to face' is mentioned.

If an owner understands the difference between being trolled and being confronted with legitimate concerns, I don't think it's an issue. Unfortunately, for an open dialogue to exist between supporters and owners, the owners must exhibit a certain degree of charisma, a willingness to roll with the punches, and an ability to detach themselves from the vilest of the bile for the sake of both the club and their own mental health. It's quite a balancing act, and I'm not sure anyone has ever come close to mastering it.

That said, I sincerely hope one day we see a shift to high level finance capable of being shoulder-to-shoulder in the trenches.

1 hour ago, Elite_pie said:

A new trillionaire African bidder, Nigerian Diamond Associates.*

*In case you were serious, NDA refers to Non-Disclosure Agreement, otherwise known as a KYGS (Keep Yer Gob Shut).

What a fool I am, had to many beers at Cheltenham today but what a Great Story Don Cossack was, happy days ????

I think AH's tweets could be the same instance as the first time he told us he thought it hadn't worked.

The longer the takeover is handled, the more likely I think pressure will mount. We know of one bid, allegedly two with the American consortium but this upcoming meeting could interfere with the consortium (if genuine). I would have thought a takeover could remain quite simple without complications, I wouldn't rule Alan Hardy out especially whilst he's the only one willing to come out in public.

Why isn't anyone else?? It's not normal in football.