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The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Trust Board response to letter sent by the club.
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on: Today at 07:00:16
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It's embarrassing at this point. Honestly don't know why they bother, they've been proven unquestionably wrong over and over again.
I guess it's just because their only aim is and always has been some kind of misguided sense of importance, if it was genuinely about what was best for anyone (club, trust, members, fans) they'd have gone away by now, realising that they have proven themselves utterly unfit for purpose.
The only thing the Trust board could do at this point that warrants anyone paying attention is a statement holding their hands up as getting it all wrong, and those involved stepping down to allow the Trust to rebuild. Might even get a little bit of respect back from people that way. Will never happen though.
As there has been a lack of transparency and openness regarding the matter on the part of some of the people in and around the board, it’s a little hard to confirm what the motives were. TBF that may not even be evident between the individuals themselves, let alone the members. After all, the actions of some were only revealed to other board members once they were exposed by Radio Northampton. Therefore there may have been other events that took place that are only known by the individuals themselves, who knows? That’s the problem when individuals involved in an organisation such as this carry out actions without consultation, it provides a justification to cast an element of doubt and perhaps suspicion over everything. With hindsight that appears to be an ill-advised decision that may leave an element of speculation over this affair indefinitely?
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3
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General Category / General Chat / Re: Politics
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on: Yesterday at 23:10:52
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There’s a complex mathematical equation that works out the amount of time spent with engines idling caused by the tree huggers x the amount of extra carbon in the atmosphere as a result. Turns out they killed 31 polar bears and calved an iceberg the size of Newport Pagnell for their efforts.
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7
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General Category / General Chat / Re: Moon Landings
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on: April 25, 2025, 23:04:21 pm
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Talking about moon landing conspiracy theorists, I watched The Truth vs Alex Jones last night. I recommend anyone to watch it, particularly if you are susceptible to this kind of stuff. What an absolute c*** that bloke is, truly shocking example of where this stuff can take people.
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9
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The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Open evening at the Cobblers & consultation on development at Sixfields
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on: April 25, 2025, 19:08:30 pm
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Thanks Michael for the information.
I'm not sure there is actual an answer to this point - but taking KT stating that revenue from the development would be used to support the club - it is totally reasonable (although I'm sure the usual suspect will object) that a fair proportion of that would be to pay off the director's debts - one wonders what sort of revenue the development could generate pa and how that revenue will be proportioned between paying off the debt versus funds for either further ground development or significant investment in the playing staff.
Whatever the answer I think 95% of supporters can see we are in good hands with owners who have committed to a realistic and sustainable strategy - somewhat preferable to Cildara owning the majority of the land, the East Stand unfinished and the Trust running a box park on the running track.
https://www.prologis.com/what-we-do/resources/how-much-does-it-cost-to-rent-warehouse
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10
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The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Credit where credit is due
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on: April 25, 2025, 18:38:01 pm
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The whole world is run based on performance, not just sport. Chairman get bonuses if their business does well, Managers get bonuses from increasing revenue/customers. When I worked on the railway ticket staff could get bonuses from increased revenue. When I began at work I was with the John Lewis Partnership (Waitrose), we got bonuses for increased profit. By the same token if profit, customers, revenue was down, people could lose their job.
In sport, a footballer can get a win bonus, there is no stipulation as to whether the other team had an off day, a player sent off, or were hit by injuries, a win is a win. Race car drivers get bigger contracts on how many races they win while those that underperform are showed the door. Jockeys are on more money tied to the amount of wins they've had and that has nothing to do with the standard of horse they are riding. I could go on and on the list is endless.
A little tip when it come to posting. If you find Everbrite is in agreement with you, chances are you've got it wrong.
Absolutely it’s performance based. IMO there should be a factor for mitigating circumstances, but all too often there isn’t. Knee jerk emotional reactions made off the back of poor evaluations can be hugely detrimental. Since I happen to fall into the categories you mention, I can state that as fact rather than opinion.
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11
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General Category / General Chat / Re: Politics
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on: April 25, 2025, 13:51:11 pm
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I’m on 1 x 40mg tablet of Telmisartan a day. Apparently despite the 40mg amount it’s quite a low dose. Anyway, I’m following the advice of the GP, you don’t buy a dog and bark yourself.
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12
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The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Open evening at the Cobblers & consultation on development at Sixfields
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on: April 25, 2025, 09:58:34 am
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Consultation requires a balanced response. What aspects are you concerned about, what do you approve of, what additional factors would you like to see? Personally I haven’t seen anything in the way of approvals from certain complainants. That would be fair enough, but that is in direct contradiction to the literally hundreds of average fans who have communicated positively. That indicates to me a biased premeditated view which unfortunately renders the opinions of a section of the support worthless. If you want to be part of the process then provide a balanced impartial contribution or don’t bother. I’m afraid certain people placed themselves on the “pay no mind” list long ago.
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13
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The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Redevelopment Closer Than Ever?
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on: April 25, 2025, 02:08:57 am
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I listened to the excellent fans forum online this morning. What a positive experience it was as well, from the reactions of the attendees to the completed East Stand, to the professionalism of the management team regarding the on the pitch planning and strategies for next season. It does seem that some of the anti club protagonists made some serious errors of judgement during their alternative mission. I would like to think the culprits would make themselves accountable by being magnanimous enough to apologise for some of the appalling, misguided, unjustified commentary, accusations and conduct that have taken place over the last few years. Perhaps once those responsible make themselves accountable for some of the issues, will we finally be able to draw a line under what has turned out to be a very good outcome for the club and it’s history. That is in-spite of the very best efforts of the disruptive few.
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14
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General Category / General Chat / Re: Politics
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on: April 25, 2025, 00:50:22 am
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These end of season shenanigans hasn’t done me any favours. Went to give blood the other day but couldn’t because my blood pressure was too high, so got sent around to the quacks. 24 hours later I’d had all the tests, they had monitored the pressure over night, had a phone consultation with the GP, received a prescription by text as we were chatting, and been put on medication. None of it depended on private health cover. Healthcare is unbelievable here, there is another way. As I’ve said before, private healthcare costs me 7 grand Australian a year for a family of 5, and the GP trip still cost me $100, but I don’t pay NI so go figure.
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15
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The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Redevelopment Closer Than Ever?
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on: April 24, 2025, 23:03:49 pm
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The other match day experience of a Grand Union barge cruise listening to radio Noddy, whilst watching a duck flash its arśe in the canal has not proved quite as popular. Perhaps the hill will get an opportunity to redeem itself?
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16
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The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Redevelopment Closer Than Ever?
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on: April 23, 2025, 21:23:07 pm
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FFS I’m trapped in a never ending Deloitte report, written by some young graduate for an exorbitant fee. Football isn’t a business, it’s a passion, anyone who tries to make money from it is a fool.
Thats irrelevant mate, it still needs someone to finance it at that kind of level.
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17
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The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Redevelopment Closer Than Ever?
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on: April 23, 2025, 14:58:27 pm
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Mannys favourite cut and paste, the Deloitte Report 2024 for the 22/23 season. Just a taste of the finances required as of a couple of years ago. These figures have increased significantly since. As I said, a challenge. https://www.deloitte.com/uk/en/services/consulting-financial/research/annual-review-of-football-finance-football-league-clubs.htmlEdit: from the net. The average ground capacity in EFL League One is approximately 14,368. The largest stadium in the league is St Andrew's, holding 30,016 spectators, while the smallest is The Broadfield Stadium with a capacity of 5,996. So as a general observation the average capacity this season is over 14k and the average loses are exceeding 5 million given they have increased since the Deloitte report. Therefore even if we spend the money to get up to 12,000 our capacity will still be below average and our losses will still increase significantly to compete at the top end financially even with ground expansion. The Championship is a whole other level.
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18
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The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Open evening at the Cobblers & consultation on development at Sixfields
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on: April 23, 2025, 13:33:26 pm
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I agree with some of this, but once (if) we get to 85-90% full capacity and a regular good place in L1 then the chicken is up and strutting it's stuff.
Only then does an expanded capacity become an investment worth assessing?
And it's true that we're not in the top 50 clubs in England at the moment, but then nor were Bournemouth..
There's no risk free investment in football, but there are extremely foolish ones and there are ones which are worth assessing.
Wouldn't you agree that a Cobblers in the top 10 of L1 with 85% average attendance and a loss less than 90% of other clubs in L1, is a lot more attractive option to new investors than one in L2 with only 45% capacity and substantial losses.
I don't accept that the Cobblers always have to be a small club. I do accept that to grow it responsibly it has to be done in smallish incremental steps..
It's taken us 128 years to get here, I'm happy for it to take us another 7 years or so if we can become a sustainable club in the championship.
The bottom line is it doesn’t matter what I agree with or what any of us think. If it’s a viable proposition it will happen, if it isn’t it won’t. That is with the caveat of an owner too rich to care taking on the club. Even if we did, sustaining a place in the Championship within 7 years is a massive financial undertaking, and that in itself presents some huge challenges. Peterborough can’t manage it, neither can Rotherham, both with significant financial backing. Derby, Luton and Cardiff are all in danger of the drop. I can’t see it, but as I said it doesn’t matter what I think.
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The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Open evening at the Cobblers & consultation on development at Sixfields
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on: April 23, 2025, 11:23:33 am
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It’s the same old chicken and egg argument. To spend the kind of money to increase capacity there has to be an incentive to do so, or someone with too much money to care. It’s a huge spend, and in the real world in the absence of unlimited wealth there needs to be a convincing reason and minimal risk. Supporters coming from the angle of “I reckon” and “we need” are not being very realistic. We’ve been in the Championship for 2 seasons in our history, once on the way up and once on the way down in the 60s, our average gate over the last 30 years is somewhere between 5 and 6 thousand. There isn’t enough there to make a compelling case, so any ambitions on this score are going to present a challenge. If people disagree then fine, relax it’s going to happen. If not, it probably won’t.
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