The Hotel End

Dear Kelvin,

1) Has NBC told you when they will finally decide on the land lease issue?
2) Have you a design for the East Stand to publish?
3) Have you plans to increase the capacity for the rest of the ground (12K)?
4) If so do they include safe standing and the corners developed?
5) Can we expect new owners or investors before the start of next season?
6) Will the new manager be an up and coming person who hasn't been sacked or failed previously?
7) Will it be a condition that a more attacking/ entertaining style of play will be the aim?
8  Will the new manager be encouraged to play 2 or 3 local young  players?
9) Will you be doing a 'open forum' before mid-May?
10) What are your plans for the next 6 months for NTFC?

PERSONALLY: My wish is for a stadium with a 12K capacity including a Conference Centre/ Hotel to SUSTAIN success!


The club is at a massive crossroads under your stewardship!

He must be thinking how the hell do i get some money back from this disaster  ???

The only pressing item is a new team that performs properly under a manager who is young, fresh and knowledgeable. The rest of what you want is useless without it.

Bang on.

Priority of these questions is all wrong.

1. Manager
2. Team investment
3. Anything else

I'd go back to the County Ground if it meant having a decent team to support

Short term you are right BUT I agree with the comments of Ian Atkins and Sammo that if you put a good team together the club can not SUSTAIN progress because the structure is poor off the field.

Therefore long term I disagree with your priority!

The two should be progressed together. But it is not happening and discontent is growing. 

The East Stand did not tempt Wilder away, or Holmes. It's not going to score 20 goals.

Sandbox all you like, even with a 20k state of the art stadium it's useless without a decent team to put in it.

The whole stadium issue is just a distraction from the issues in the changing room. Neglect that and you'll be watching a Conference side before you know it.

Sad thing is, I genuinely think there's some that would be happy with that, as long as their watching it in their white elephant...

So you mean a first time manager with experience? If only that was possible.

If you are only thinking 6 months ahead, as you say the team is the priority. If you want to SUSTAIN a good team then the stadium is NOT a 'distraction' because you need a viable club. So I disagree with your view.

I think the common thing with two of our successful managers were they progress a career through non-league.

ie; Graham Carr -Dartford, Weymouth and Nuneaton, Chris Wilder- Alfreton, Halifax and Oxford.

So yes, ' a young manager with experience', so it is possible!

Whats the point in building up a team that will be sold for shirt buttons as soon as a clued up club takes a fancy?
How can we keep them here longer in order to get the right price and attract up and coming players who choose Sixfields over Peterborough or mk to enjoy 3 seasons of great football then achieve  the right sell on bounty?
At Sixfields now, if we're lucky to attract over the those other clubs we will enjoy 1 season then he would be sold on for an undisclosed 200k.
Something needs to give.

our current level of infrastructure doesn't allow us to build up and retain a team of quality players unless you're happy to wait a decade and then for it to last just several months and see it broken up over night for a few undisclosed small transfer fees?
Also our record of attracting up coming young players from other league and non league is pitiful on comparison to Posh, who need to be seen as example as ti where we need to go, we should be a much bigger club than them and have 30 plus goals a season players that we dont need to sell until the price is right..
Even mk have a player they want £5m for, their second in 3 years!
Infrastructure..Support base and sponsorship level increases ... good players...promotons...profitable player dealings.. this is the only order that works.
Look through our last 50 years history and speak to Kelvin about the dangers of trying to buck a trend fraught with danger.
Steady and sustainable growth with community involvement.

Wrote a piece on there needing to be a plan in place https://nenequirer.com/2018/04/04/who-are-ya-hasselbainks-sacking-and-the-search-for-a-cobblers-identity/
 (https://nenequirer.com/2018/04/04/who-are-ya-hasselbainks-sacking-and-the-search-for-a-cobblers-identity/)


There is a fans' panel meeting Thursday night 7.30-9 at Carrs' Bar. Go along and ask some questions.

It's time to tell the long suffering fans your short term goals Mr Thomas that much you owe us, it would also be nice to see your vision for the medium and longer term.
No more PowerPoint or bullsh1t please

You could meet with him or even email him and ask him yourselves rather than just shouting at clouds on here. Maybe hold beds hand if you do go to meet him

There is a toxic atmosphere brewing and I can see full on protests taking place at the next home match.
Mumbling under the breath,rustling of crisp packets and everything.
It will be like the West Ham scenario a couple of weeks back only milder.

Another Edinburgh then?

Sorry if I’m being thick but it’s not clear if the original post (or some that follow it) have also been sent to KT/the club personally - I hope that you’re not expecting him to magically log on here and post answers to the questions one by one.

Instead of me writing to KT personally and maybe receiving a reply direct to me, I thought it was more relevant if KT spoke to a group of fans instead of one individual.

That was the theory anyway!!!

Does that make me/and/or you Irchy being thick?

I'd suggest he doesn't/didn't fit the description given that he had just had a failure on his CV in the same league we were in.

If we could identify a manager in non-league/league 2 who was in his second or third job and hadn't been sacked they would be worth looking at. That was Wilder's profile, that is Danny Cowley's profile but of course he is out of our league now.

Is there someone out there with that profile that we could get? I don't know but the club should.

Doesn't always work. Neil Aspin had a good record with non- league clubs Harrogate, Halifax and Gateshead. Port Vale took a punt on him and they languish near the foot of League Two.

Of course and no one is saying it is a golden ticket to success but it feels like giving someone the chance to step up is a better idea then letting someone hop back on where they fell off last time. Also, much more chance of them accepting performance related clauses I would think

It wasn’t my intention to snipe - apologies if you have taken it that way - all of the questions are very relevant I would just question the forum as it is unlikely that you will receive any responses if it is just on here.

I've looked at the promotion spots in League One and League Two.

Wigan and Blackburn both have managers with failure on their CV.

Accrington top League Two with a manager with failure on his CV. Whilst Luton and Wycombe both have managers in their first managerial role.

I'm surprised the non league route is so in favour right now.

Players don't join or stay because of a fancy Dan stadium

They stay if they're in a successful Team, led by a manager with vision

I think it is just the desire to do something different, to try a new approach. It is always a gamble appointing a new manager, sometimes someone just 'fits' at a club and doesn't do so well elsewhere, John Coleman and Keith Hill are good examples. If you have a manager who has held 2/3/4 jobs, never been sacked and always left each club higher up the pyramid then when they joined, you can see why fans would be attracted to that.

There surely won't be enough people there to protest.

I get that. Every time we sack imagine, you read the same 'well it can't get much worse' whilst wanting a manager the polar opposite to who we had previously. I think just about every manager who has managed us at League One level has eventually been sacked by us? I guess it's a tough job when you're playing above your natural level and up against it week in week out.

Sent the questions to KT for you Village Idiot.

Await the standard political nonsense answers...

Thanks.

I won't hold my breath!

Call me cynical Was but I reckon they stay where they’re offered the best contract? Trophies and Stadiums are a small dusting of icing on the cake.

Players will go where they think is best for them at that stage in their career.

If they are past it / not really good enough they go where they will get the best money / security  - see Van Bleeding Useless  (which we are fantastic at attracting)

If you are young and want to develop with the aim to play as high as possible you go to a club that has a manager that will improve and play you - see Roofe at Oxford   (we don't attract or buy any of these types of players - I wonder why)

For all those who want a better team first - you are INSANE  -  you expect a different result from doing the same thing

We have for the last 50 years had a crappy ground with no facilities, with no ambition, who on the odd occasion gained promotion, lose a best players and then go back to square one.

This latest example is perhaps the worse one, in modern times where communication / motivation is much easier, with a team that won the league by 13 points, with a Chairman with £4m to invest, and we still fail

ITS TIME FOR A CHANGE - from top to bottom   KT  Do as you promised or LEAVE

Well, I can't imagine this will be received too well but here you go..

Thanks for the email.

 

As you know I certainly don’t respond to anonymous questions however as they have indirectly come through you happy to answer.

 

1) Has NBC told you when they will finally decide on the land lease issue?  Unfortunately, not.  We are now 11 days past the deadline they gave the Trust.  It is very disappointing and demoralising for us.
2) Have you a design for the East Stand to publish?  Until we get the green light and everything in place releasing plans will only be showing something that possibly can’t be delivered and that is not our style.
3) Have you plans to increase the capacity for the rest of the ground (12K)?  Not at this time no, not convinced of the business case of increasing capacity at this point
4) If so do they include safe standing and the corners developed?  See 3
5) Can we expect new owners or investors before the start of next season?  We have said consistently for the club to compete higher up we will need financial help and whilst the partnership/ownership of 5U didn’t work out for other reasons, the principle of that type of deal remains the right course of action for the club.  Whether that is in the next few months I would have no idea at this point.
6) Will the new manager be an up and coming person who hasn't been sacked or failed previously?  A very general question, but I said that we will not discuss a manager until the season is over.  Dean and Jon have the team until then and that is the immediate focus.
7) Will it be a condition that a more attacking/ entertaining style of play will be the aim?  It is always the aim
8  Will the new manager be encouraged to play 2 or 3 local young  players?  It is not our style to implement Football demands on a manager, however always in favour of developing and brining on young talent
9) Will you be doing a 'open forum' before mid-May?  Don’t think mid-May will be the appropriate time but later in the summer I would expect
10) What are your plans for the next 6 months for NTFC?  Hard to make any plans when we still have the season to finish but it will certainly include a full review on what has gone wrong this season and what happens next.

 

You are correct when we are rubbish on the pitch all kinds of questions do come up, but the club has been through times like this before and will come out the other side.  It’s been a depressing and disappointing season so far for all us us and everyone is truly gutted at the moment, but we still have four games to go and amazingly given our record we can get out of it, I know it would be an incredible turnaround, but we can hope.

 

This season has been probably more frustrating for fans and us alike, as we have invested more this year and were expecting things to be so different, there was an excitement and expectation generated.  Even after January and the investment made there we really thought we had turned a corner and even as recent as Feb 10th we looked in good shape after beating AFC, but then we seemed to have fallen off a cliff.  It’s hard as a board because once you get past January there is very little you can do, and it’s been as tough to watch for us as it has been for the fans.

 

Anyway, hope this answers the questions as openly as possible and thanks for the support, even in the crap times.


Cheers,

 

Kelvin

 

All decent enough answers apart from No.2, he didn't need to release the plans but it would have been clearer if he had said something along the lines of 'we have the plans but won't release them until we get the green light'.

Beds won't like number 3 at all though. (or 4)

There are many questions to be answered and much soul searching to be done come the end of the season, a full review of this season must be done from top to bottom, I'm sure there are many lessons to be learned. Well Done Kelvin for answering those questions now I for one appreciate it. For now though can we the fans just get on with giving the team every bit of our support for the final push. It isn't over till the fat lady sings, and while she may be warming up she an't singing yet. Leave the questions and cross examination till the end of the season.

Fair play for Alistair for asking some questions but Kelvin's answers don't relate to the bigger picture of 'identity' and a wider plan for the club.

I guess that comes with the "what went wrong, what happens next" etc.

Thanks for getting the answers Alistair, unfortunately I don't think they have helped but then I don't know what we can expect him to say at this point. Good to get the response on the council situation though, at least we know it is NBC holding that up still.

Yup but surely it's something that owners in it for the long haul would start dealing with on day one? A football club is about far more than keeping things ticking over and getting the East Stand finish. This is one of the biggest frustrations.

We also need clarity on whether the East Stand works are dependent on Thomas/Bower accessing land around the stadium or is it private money (4 million was it mentioned?).

Good response from, KT. We have been through rough times before and I still think the future's bright. Too many on here have been holding the owners responsible for NBC's inertia. I'm grateful the owners continue to give us something to moan about.

Thanks, Alistair.

I think this is generally spot on but you mention Roofe with a very large dollop of hindsight. I can't remember much clamour for his signature when he went to Oxford.

It was said on here several times in the past couple of seasons that we shouldn't be signing players from Prem academies as they are too lightweight/pampered and can't play at this level.

Oxford have signed quite a few young players from Prem sides with very mixed results, Posh have done similar with non-league players. You have to throw a lot of s*** at the wall in the hope that one eventually sticks and you profit from it. I'm not sure the appetite would be there for this amongst our fans. Maybe I'm wrong.

I don't disagree for what it is worth.

Actually you are wrong re Roofe, they had him on loan and faced quite a bit of competition to sign him, but went there as they looked after him before.

The point is that yes no-one really knows if a player will deliver or not, much much more chance if you think player is on an upward curve rather than downward.

Mathius  - or is it Mr Shaq?

You are kidding right?  or hows the weather right now at Sixfields

No need for that, Random.

Yours Faithfully

Mathius Thomas

Fair enough, obviously my memory is playing up.

I agree with you, I think there is certainly room for us to take a couple of younger players from higher up the ladder every season. I think our fans have been burnt by the likes of Hanley and some of the loans we have "enjoyed" the last couple of seasons that they might not be so receptive. Would a young player get enough leeway from the stands to grow if they aren't from our academy in your opinion?

Thank you very much for the response Kelvin.

Obviously I was hoping for a statement saying the Council had resolved all the issues and you were going ahead in the summer with expanding the stadium to 20K, with extra facilities. Plus doubling the playing budget for the new manager, so he can sign young, pacey prospects for next season!!!

BUT as a Cobblers supporter of 51 years I've seen a range of teams and administrations and with that experience I wish to say thank you Mr Thomas for your prompt answers, plus I understand your current viewpoint.

But we get terrible players on loan like Roofe. Where as Oxford get players on loan like Roofe.

Shows how lucky you have to be with your timing.

I think fans would buy into a complete story / picture of a club trying to move forward and having players / manager / owners etc all trying to achieve progress

Many fans buy into our current owner with no medium term vision batting away genuine questions with no real answers, that seems to get lapped up by many


Certainly true timing / luck is very important but the harder you work the luckier you get.

As someone else posted there must be a reason we have never sold a player for big big money.
 

Mainly because if someone offered a fiver we'd snatch their hands off

The spin machine that is KT in full swing I see above but, as usual, nothing of any substance written. Some of you are so easily pleased.

seriously, I cant believe thats there is still those who think we are being BS'd. These answers were fair and about write considering where we are and how much of the season is left. Yes the council are delaying thing but as the saying goes 'once bitten twice shy' so who can blame them. If your that bothered by the so called 'spin' vintage then I suggest that you dig deep in your pocket and buy the club to run it the way you think fit. Otherwise stop complaining. I personnally feel KT is doing a good job of running the club off the field. We just need to deal with on it as that has gone horribly wrong and start once CW left. Sorr for the rant but Im frustrated too but am old enough and wise enough to let things run there course, there will be a time and place to raise these point after the Oldham game.

So, Shadowlands let's consider the progress under KT - (1) 3 failed Managers (2) East Stand progress (3) 5USport (4) Relegation.

Yeah....but what about the GamesZone?? Progress surely?!  ;)

ok 1. Point taken, 2 not his fault its the council who are stalling, 3 disappointed about 5USport but will reserve judgement, would love to know exactly what financial restrictions actually means 4 yes true but he did over see a promotion and rescue the club from certain doom.

Thomas has increased our budget massively since he took over with increased income from sponsorship etc and has given us probably our biggest ever playing budget this season. You can’t blame him for the stand, he’s trying to sort this with the useless council and it would’ve been sorted ages ago if it wasn’t for the clown in charge before.

But to me we’ve been let down by our recruitment strategy (or lack of) which he openly says he leaves in the hands of the management team. There was zero strategy last summer and it was exactly the same in January. How on Earth is it 2 years since we lost Adams and Holmes and still don’t have any proper quality on the wings? Why are we handing out 2.5+ year contracts to players who can’t get into Rochdale’s / Coventry’s team? Why did we give Hoskin a 2 year contract before Christmas when he wasn’t even playing? It’s all an expensive mess and to me there has to be a better approach to recruitment as it’s probably the most important part of running a football club, and the main reason we’re in the mess we are today

Thomas is the face......Bower has increased the budget.

You can't keep blaming the council!! The Council are not holding up completion of the East Stand. If the owners had the money they could build it now, rebuild it now, do whatever they wanted to do with it now......without any alterations needed to any of the leases. (That's what i'm led to believe)

The Council may be holding up the redevelopment by not sorting the leases out....which will hand them over to NTFC/Ventures/Belle De Jour to sell off, and then use the money from those sales to finish off the East, redevelop the ground.

We were told that finances were available, right from the outset, right from the time Thomas and Co took over, to complete the East Stand........barring putting the plastic seats back in what has been done??

Yes, the Council were stung big time by Cardoza/Grossman/County Group whatever, and that is no fault of the present incumbents....granted.

I find it a little concerning when KT says that we are waiting for the Council to sort out the lease issue, yet at the same time he says there are no plans to increase capacity as there is no business case to do so at this time.

So what exactly are we waiting for the Council to help us do?? Seems to me its handing over some land so that we can get the 18 boxes built........and that's it!

why should the council give him anything when the football club he is using as a means to facilitate his vast gains haven't got a clue as to what is in it for them?
Are you a friend of kelvin on face book by any chance?
Loyal to the very end even to the detriment of the football club you claim to support.
As for rescuing the club from certain doom.. he didn't but prolonging our agony by not selling the club to the like of people who you like to think kelvin is.

No I am not Kelvins friend on facebook never met the man. Why is he to the detriment of the football? And wow didnt know feeling for him was this bad and this strong. I want whats best so if you can show me the error of my way then great. Also if the feeling is that hateful towards the board call for there bloody heads on every game we got left. Just so they know. Also who is trying to buy this club that would be better, please do spill the beans, we'd all like to know???

I hoped this thread might be about A question of sport  :'(

alas not Frank  :'(

Crazy isnt it!! I thought Jimmy had solved it when we signed Hilda and Ariyibi, but he then proceeded to never play them together at the same time on the wings.

I think this is what pains me most about this season! Both players looked quality when we got to see them.

You are going loopy

I am surprised that the Admin allow such anti KT comments as this. It’s almost as if Beds is begging for a libel case to be filed against him. The least Beds should do is apologise to Shadowstorm for his personal comments.

Vintage Cobbler - You forgot (5) We wouldn't have a football club if it wasn't for Thomas and Bower.

The perspective towards KT and the board are being expressed by two or three only on this board, maybe with a couple more silent observers.
It isn't bad and it isn't strong, aside from those vociferous few led by a coward who insists on running away from any sort of direct or indirect confrontation/correspondence between himself and KT to confirm or deny his accusations/allegations.
When those accusations/allegations become libellous or require legal intervention, KT and the board already know who and where the individual is.
"Give someone enough rope..."

100% agree with this. I had a pang of optimism in January that we might start seeing a bit of pace, a bit of flair, a bit of invention and a bit of width. I was very very wrong :(

 >:Deepcut, isnt calling someone a coward, libellous?

No...

Only you could make a comment like that. Random by name and Random by nature.

The comments about the chairman not interfering with the manager do not sit very well with me.

The chairman should be assessing the characters of potential signing and providing necessary due diligence to ensure it benefits the club. The majority of players that have come into this club over the last two years have had completely the wrong profile. He says about undertaking a review of this season and our transfer business should be top of the agenda. Any potential signing should follow a recruitment similar to the following:

1) Identify which positions are required
2) Draw up list of suitable candidates
3) Have players scouted by the club and independently
4) Interrogate CV's and reasoning behind any mitigating circumstances
5) Interview player to ascertain mindset 
6) Thorough investigation into injury / fitness record
7) Thorough investigation into disciplinary record
8) Seek references from former clubs / officials / players / media

The fact is our chairman isn't a football person and until we have someone in charge who is we will continue to fluctuate between the lower leagues. I suspect he hasn't got the hunger or the interest and is happy for the manager to do all this work. Personally I wouldn't be against having a Director of Football type role and have first team coach to manage and focus full time on the playing / tactics aspect because the traditional set up of the last 3 appointments have been a disaster and Wilder is a once in a generation type appointment.

That all makes perfect sense Poggy, recruitment should definitely be looked at.

However, I'd be willing to bet that, if we did have a system like that in place and a sacked manager complained about being blocked from signing 'player x' or 'player y', there would be a good few on here who would jump on that and criticise Thomas for interfering with the manager. It's a difficult line to navigate.

I doubt very much that Cardoza assessed the character of any of CW's signings and I think Chris would have told him that that was a managers job.

Dear me.

You don’t necessarily need to interfere with the manager, just make sure he is doing his job properly by making sure when he wants to sign a player he has completed the research adequately? In other words KTs job is to make sure the manager is doing his job.

I do take the point but I'm just playing devils advocate slightly. Let's take the example of Berto. Let's say Kelvin asked Jimmy for all he due diligence on him and Jimmy duly delivered a report to the chairman. Obviously there are a lot of possibilities at this point but let's pretend there are two scenarios;

1) Jimmy knows Berto has a questionable temperament but really believes he could be the spark that saves his job, so he "enhances" the report a little. Kelvin checks and see's nothing to concern him so sanctions the signing. He's done what you suggest and we've signed him.

2) Kelvin gets an independent report on Berto, see's the red flags (cards) and refuses Jimmy permission to sign him. We get relegated, Jimmy gets sacked. Jimmy leaks it to his friends in the press that he had lined up Berto's signing but was vetoed by the club. It is picked up on here, Berto is researched, get's a glowing reference from Forest fans. We've gone down in a defensive whimper and we see this cult hero, creative winger that our manager wanted but our chairman wouldn't let him.

In scenario 1, we are where we are today and the Chairman is blamed for not making sure the manager is doing his job. Scenario 2, the chairman is blamed for not backing the manager.

I know I am reaching a little bit here but I'm sure you can see how both ways of working would be spun on here.

Maybe a Director of Football is the way to go, but then who decides the signings? If we repeated this season would we sack the DoF and keep the manager? Melville (rightly) gets a lot of stick on here but how many of our signings were decided by him or is he just out scouting the managers targets & making recommendations to the manager?

Would be interesting to know, we have made a lot of dud signings in the last two seasons.

We have also made a few good ones though, even if the bad outweigh these.

I am not ungrateful and I have previously recognised their significant contribution but, as I have previously posted, you can't dine out on this for ever.  Let's not forget they bought the club cheaply and on the back of certain promises.  We are going backwards and downwards under the current ownership on and off the pitch.  My 4 major criticisms stand up to the test.  What worries me is just how complacent many supporters seem to be about the situation.

I like to think it's patience rather than complacency. We know what a minefield was left by Cardoza and his 40 thieves. Hopefully, time will prove me correct and not yourself VC, but I will acknowledge my naivety if I'm incorrect.   

Apart from the East Stand , although that is a major issue, Cardoza cannot be blamed for the present situation of the club. The buck has to stop with the current owners.

Not necessarily complacency, just an understanding and acceptance of the many times that we have been through this scenario before over the decades.
The majority of us have (probably) become immune to any genuine expression of shock and/or emotional outpouring that is normally expected if and when we are eventually relegated from this division.
If we were involved in the next level of relegation (to the conference) I believe that the perceived complacency would be totally different.

I am going tomorrow, but it will be no worse that the years stood on the Spion Kop/Hotel End at the County Ground throughout the majority of the seventies when we used to go through habit or because there was nothing better to do.  It was never in anticipation of anything positive, just hopeful that we were successfully re-elected each season and/or that there may be something special and we didn't really want to miss it (Bournemouth 6-0 etc...).

I go back longer to the Bowen years and have been a season ticket holder at the County Ground and ever since the move to Sixfields.  We can and should be much higher on the football ladder with the town's population and catchment area. Owners rely on the quiet acceptance of things are as they are and get away with it.  Some of the views expressed on this site are music to KT's ears.  What our club has lacked down all these years are owners with deep pockets ready and willing to invest heavily in the club on and off the pitch. Because of this history keeps repeating itself. Other towns smaller than Northampton consistently do better than us and there is no reason we should not be competing at their level. Supporters can and should be more vociferous to change the depressing status quo.

Exactly. So until such time as we get a sugar daddy to finance us we unfortunately have no other option but to suck it up.

doesn't mean we can't wish/dream/hope!!

But you are right...money talks.....and every season more money is needed to keep up with the big boys!

There is absolutely no reason we cant crowd fund the expansion of the south stand.

Off you go then.

With all due respect. What would posses any of us to crowd fund a stand that none of us will get the slightest benefit from? 

Theres more chance of us getting to crowd fund a stand that no sod is gonna sit in than getting KT to build us a stand!  ;D ;D

. 

We couldn't crowd fund some new goal nets.

OK INFRASRUCTURE BOND.

Fair point. Would have to be done to finish the job so to speak by fans feeling generous. Be interested to see the costs according to Ballast Nedham's plans.

For a minute, lets take away the last 15 years when the club has been owned by land obsessed 'investors'.

Lets just say for a minute we…the fans…had raised just 125k a year by bonds etc. And 125k a year had been put aside from the playing budget. Thats million plus interest…for argument sake lets say 3.5 million.

You'd only need 500 people putting in 200quid a year each to hit 100k. Im sure 10% of our fan base would 'buy into' something that had a real 'end goal' to it.

Of course this cannot happen when the club is owned 'by investors'. Of course the big benefit of an 'investor' is that they have a big wedge of cash to bring to the party to cover financial outlays that are not budgeted for. The only problem we've had is that neither of our last two 'investors' (unless you consider the Chinese overspend) appear to have 'invested' much! KT and co (like DC before them) did bring money to the party initially though to pay bills that the fans couldn't. Or the previous owner couldn't! for different reasons!!)

Id argue that a fresh start is needed unless KT and his fellow director/s reassure the fans quickly that they have positive plans for us. And by reassurance, Id like to see actual 'plans', not opened ended answers to closed questions. Personally Ive had enough of spin now!

crowd funding is successful for projects where people perceive a great social need or alternatively see a prize opportunity of jumping onto something that will do well commercially and thus give them back more than their original stake. Trying to fund an expansion to South stand  would fulfil neither of these criteria at this moment.

would it have 20 years ago?
What about in 20 years time?
Doing nothing these past 20 years really hasn't benefited either but infact sent us backwards.

With the onset of relegation and Thomas highlighting again that building up our club over a period of time is not on his agenda, it may soon become time to ask him to sell up to allow our club the chance to grow its support base by 3000 plus quadruple our commercial  viability and most importantly  be competitive in league 1.

If we go back down to league 2, and NBC see fit to not hand over the valuble land leases to an organisation who on my opinion have used our club only as a means to an end, then there can be no justification for them to continue here.
We've just been unlucky that the land our club stands on, the very thing that should give us the possibility to grow has in fact been a millstone around our necks by those seeking vast personal gains from free land.

Lets hope its not too late and NBC havn't  handed over the land unconditionally thinking their football club will greatly benefit, when it quite clearly wont.

It would make more sense to crowd fund the North Stand using mini bonds from Tifosy, that route could also be taken to finish the East possibly.

There are also grants don't forget to pick up the slack.

When people say that no-one will contribute to something they don't get anything back on I'd say it's untrue. Norwich fans crowd funded a new academy for the club using Tifosy. There are various benefits that come with Tifosy. Stevenage fans received 4-8% interest along with other perks for crowd funding their new stand.

https://www.tifosy.com/en/campaigns/standing-shoulder-to-shoulder-to-build-a-new-north-stand (https://www.tifosy.com/en/campaigns/standing-shoulder-to-shoulder-to-build-a-new-north-stand)

You state one thing and then provide two examples of the opposite?

I'm not surprised to hear what Stevenage have done. They are far more forward-thinking in the way they run their club.

Why are you so negative ?
It's because you don't understand .........do you?

At 3% inflation 3.5 million will be worth about 2.2 million in 15 years time? There always seems to be a flaw in these proposals doesn’t there?

You need to know better facilities will attract more corporate sponsorship, more supporters to visit a more professional welcoming stadium spending money at the club, better players will want sign for us,  players we can sell on for profit. (Posh want £10m for our local school boy Marriot)
Better league and tv revenues are also gaureenteed when challenging in league 1..
So you need to go back to your bean counting for beginners book and fully calculate projected earnings along side loses and bad debts.

I’m not a bean counting beginner though Beds, and I’ve got the CV and track record to prove it. I’ll show you mine if you show me yours? Genuine debate, if you are going to criticise people is it too much to ask to back it up with something factual? How much over how long?