Message #445910

[Melbourne Cobbler]

Having read the Trust presentation I am struggling to understand the position. I’ve lost count of the amount of times this has been said but there is no real offering to get past the current status quo. The owners are being what they are which is investors. That means their priority is to make a profit. The long term future of the club is, was and always will be of secondary importance. Most of the issues raised are down to the original Sixfields construction. To change that footprint takes finance and there isn’t a sustainable plan to address this at the moment and build a convincing case for a return. For example, the board of the Trust put forward MK Dons as a model, but my understanding is that this was financed in no insignificant part by Asda and IKEA to circumvent planning issues. Again finance for profit being the underlying message. This makes this part of the presentation somewhat ironic. I won’t go through each case but you don’t have to dig too deep to find flaws in the examples that make applying them to NTFC irrelevant.

If you have investor owners then you have to accept that their priority is profit. What is the realistic alternative at this time, the 50+1 model is a fine ambition but unless it applies to the entire EFL it is fraught with danger. The most likely outcome is a prince and pauper scenario with some clubs living the dream as a billionaires toy whilst the morally admirable clubs struggle at the bottom. Pointing out the flaws with the current NTFC model is one thing, but where’s the plan and long term strategy to push the club forward, there is absolutely no substance to anything that I can see. At the moment the most appropriate analogy I can come up with is that its like reading The Emperor’s New Clothes and likewise someone could end up embarrassingly exposed.

The other difficulty with the Trust boards approach is that once again it could be argued that this was a presentation by 4 Trust members representing the view of 9 Trust members. There may be other Trust members that share this view but thats difficult to ascertain at this point. If I were one of the owners that would be the message I would convey to West Northants Council. At the moment it could be suggested that the Trust board are terrified of canvassing their own membership as it may affect the agenda of the 9 individuals on the board that represent the Trust. They attack the investors but the accusation remains that they are afraid of canvassing and representing their own membership. Right or wrong you see how this compromises the position of the board of the Trust. They continually neuter themselves and are exposed to this kind of attack. IMO this renders them insignificant and to some extent much like the Emperor horribly exposed. Unfortunately without the proven majority endorsement of their membership and the wider support base The Trust Board are significantly reducing their effectiveness. Shoot the messenger if you like but it won’t change the bleeding obvious. I’ve said it before, get the endorsement of the membership and the support base chaps, then people will fear you. Although in the event this happens it’s still unclear what the alternative future holds at this point. On we go into the unknown.