Confirmed raj is the man


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I am disappointed but not surprised.

Somebody is better than nobody. He is local, he has a proper business with a good financial history so it sounds better than some of the con men who have been in charge recently.

Like it or lump it situation. Beggars can't be choosers. Think those payments could stifle any future development, but at least we will have a club, for the time being at least. The future will depend on Raj's integrity, appetite for the fight and the business plan working.

Now all we need to do is empty our bank accounts

He has actual money.

So he already has a head start on tanned shoes gary.

Translated - He has yet to be caught out

has a proper business too as oppose to a made up one.

if this buy out happens suppose a hignett and bates management duo is a nailed on certainty

Well if it is , my money will be staying in the bank. Think Hignett lacks integrity and Bates, well he just lacks everything

Good clear statement, the only words stopping me throwing money at it are Raj and Singh.

Yes he has money but he's not getting into this for nothing. If he wants our money be straight with the fans, not bullshit like Coxall and Sage gave us.

If it's to obtain land around the ground tell us, I couldn't give a feck if that's what it takes to save the club.

I propose a genuine and honest meeting with Stelling, Singh and HUST ASAP.

A greed


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Bates has proven he has balls, unfortunately.

I think if Singh were in charge I'd take a minute amount of reassurance that someone like Hignett might be advising him.

I think if the Trust want people to invest in this consortium then they need to organise some documentation and perhaps an open meeting at which the other parties attend and answer questions. A few questions would include

1. what are the shareholdings going to be ie will Singh be in the consortium or will he have a controlling interest
2. will investors/trust get shares in the club
3. why is Singh interested in HUFC, is it for the football or the property potential
4. what are Sage actually being offered
5. how can Singh guarantee that HUFC won't go the same way as DFC, what lessons has he learnt
6. what litigation is unresolved

There will be other questions for sure and we can't guarantee straight answers but there should be more facts and projections available.

I'm massively suspicious of Singh after what he did at Darlo. A generous account would be that he took over a half dead club with a plan to save it. He then pulled the plug at the most damaging time to cut his losses when the plan didn't work.

A less generous account would be that took over because he sniffed some profit from land development and then killed the club once he realised there was nothing left in it for him.

Neither account makes him a Coxberg-style conman but neither makes him the ideal choice for a new owner either.

Having said that, what are our choices? We can gamble on the Trust and Jeff Stelling being able to keep Singh in line or we can gamble on what happens if the club goes pop. Hanging on at the highest possible level while we hopefully transition into a well-run outfit looks like the better bet to me but that's very much based on the idea of it being the lesser of two evils.

The lates statement is now enough for me.

Raj may have a bit of “history” but as others have said does have actual money and an actual business.

The Trust have confirmed that debts will be written off and only a small proportion of the Sage debt would be repaid if we reach League 2 and 1. To be honest it would be a nice problem to have. On top of this supporters have a direct say in the running of the club for the first time in its history.

This is the best option for us at a time when we don’t have many to consider.

There are risks and there may be frustrations along the way but I’m in. I had previously put £100 in to the Trust and now will commit to more.

My view is I might lose a few quid or help save one of the most important things in my life. I’m not a serious gambler but even I can see it’s a no brainer.

Who else is in???

The naive side of me thinks, if it's just the land he wants, why get involved now? What does he stand to gain over just waiting for the club to fold?

This I agree with.

Sage said Coxall only took a nominal amount when he left. I'd like to know figures although I doubt NDA will allow that. It does sound like a much better deal that expected but without knowing the inns and outs of it it's hard to share your enthusiasm. I'm more optimistic than I was before reading the statement though.

Singh they reckon doesn't like being criticised. Fookin ell ! he's gonna love it here then.

Good job he's not a player! Although how much worse than Scott Harrison can he be?

This question would stand no matter who was involved, or wanted to be involved.

However, in this case, the man is standing shoulder to shoulder with Jeff fucking Stelling. I'm not trying to be funny, but if we don't trust the club president, the TRUST president and lets be honest almost one of the biggest reasons HUFC is held so highly with like minded fans up and down the country, then who can we trust?

What if this guy sees a chance to put right a few wrongs, what if he sees a massive adventure, what if he sees Jeff and the fans passion and wants in?

This is my view as well. People seem to have given up on us being able to hang around this level regardless of what happens but seem to be forgetting just how bad this league is. Staying at this level gives us a chance of one good cup run at some point that could help support us for a few years, we're a long way away from that if we're starting all over again. I'm curious as to how life would look as a phoenix club but I'm sceptical that it will be an instant success, if at all. Raj Singh won't be forever, but Jeff is and so are the supporters. So I'll take a leap of faith that between them they can sort this out and have the club moving in the right direction. There's clearly a price to pay for keeping our identity and this seems to be it.

Not my first choice to head up a consortium, but I trust Jeff and the Trust and I live in the real world.

On the face of it, it seems like sensible planning over the next three years and with the current owner being sensible about what he can get for us.

I’m in.

Deliberate typo?

I would check how Raj is putting his money in, is it a loan or just cash.

Be very careful not to owe this man any money, didn't blame him for not wanting to bank roll Darlo any further but his refusal not to ditch the debt owed to himself sent us all the way down.

No point Darlo fans putting you off as you are desperate but if you choose to go with someone happy to send a club down previously don't be surprised if he does it again.

The first question you really do need to ask him is "is any money you put into HUFC in the form of a gift or a loan and are you prepared to sign a binding contract to state that this will always be the case?"
If he tries to dodge the question then bin him straight away.

Fair point ! I suppose at some point you have to give someone the benefit of the doubt. Jeff Stellings involvement will probably swing it for me and others, IN JEFF WE TRUST, get the t-shirts printed immediately . In any negotiations , if one or both sides don't trust one another , the negotiations are doomed to failure.

Its not as though we have a choice, its this or nothing.

Obviously a phoenix club is an option, but given the split among fans at the moment I doubt that would work. If this fails then that's it, afterwards I 'm sure there would be 100% support for a phoenix club, there would have to be.

Its quite funny how he is expecting Sage to lose out massively but wasn't prepared to do the same himself for Darlo to come out of admin.
How anyone can even think to trust a person with a track record of saying one thing and doing another is beyond me.
Its like needing a babysitter and Fred West turns up, "ah its ok he'll do, better than no one".

It happens though. Desperate people do desperate things. All money men know this.

I repeat, I am not an accountant but the way I see it, if I buy shares in a bank, I OWN part of that bank and can attend the agm and vote on issues. If on the other hand I deposit/loan cash to the bank I have no ownership rights whatsoever.
On that basis a loan from Singh should be out of the question. If he wants in,he BUYS a share of our club.

If Raj is just investing as a loan you can guarantee we’ll be in the same position in 2 years time with the trust 600-800k lighter for a minority shareholder seat on the board.

I would personally prefer a Phoenix with the trust having full ownership of the club but can understand the different opinions.

I agree with the Darlo fans, his share of the 1.2 million must have favourable terms for the Trust/HUFC. There are a lot of unanswered questions surrounding this proposed takeover, that I think a lot of people will struggle to buy in to without knowing the answers.

To add to those listed above:
- Has Raj/Stelling/HUST got a viable plan to be able to restructure the club in just 2 years? Even though we have been an apparent loss making club for x amount of years.
- What happens if after 2 years, we are still loss making? Will we be asked for more money?
- Why do they need the 1.8 million now? Why is 1.2 million not good enough, then efforts put in place to raise 600K over the next year?

It feels like this is our last chance saloon, so we need to get it right, and quickly. I wouldn't want to be in the same situation we are now in 2 years time.

The £1.8mil is eerily similar to the figures Blackledge claimed to be owed.

Why the urgency for the final £600k now? Like PoolieTom says, if it's for running costs surely it can be raised over time?

I am completely with everyone who wants to get on board with this consortium....I have read a few things on this thread and my heart says 'get your wallet out fella' but there is a nagging doubt. How can we honestly not listen to the Darlo fans?? (yeahI know, 'said no one ever'....until now)

I also understand anyone thinking that Jeff's involvement adds credibility to this consortium but he's one of us who just so happens to be in the public eye and probably earns more than most/all of us. He is saddled with the same probelm as us - we genuinely loves the club and will do anything to save it. This causes a problem. We are ready to believe anyone who can say the right things at the right times but fuck me, that's why they have loads of cash! (in some cases anyway). I am not saying we're all easily lead. It's the fact we WANT to believe that makes us vulnerable so couple that with a silver-tongued cockney twat and we'll bend over.

I know time is of the essence and like I said, I am desperate to act BUT this bloke has a seriously bad history and I don't care what anyone says, it can't be ignored.

Brilliant, well reasoned thread by the way.

Because Raj won't be putting all of his money in yet, that's why he wants 250k from you fans.

I presume he is gambling so much in the hope that he will make it back with some planning permission and builds etc. however he doesn't want to risk all his money now he wants you guys to pay partly for his gamble but with no real say on what's happening. Your trust is aiming for 20% but have a look at the issues York have whilst owning 25% the Chairman wouldn't even let the York fans on the board even though it was agreed.

I can see why you all want it to work and maybe it would for a while but it's going to cost you at least 430k (250k now and then 5k a month for 3 years) to find out.

In one sense you're completely right Shilts, Singh almost certainly isn't trustworthy. Even if he meant well at Darlo initially he fucked them good and proper when he pulled the plug.

But we've got a choice to make. One option is the chance to join a consortium that includes supporter representation and would certainly keep us at the upper end of non-league playing in our own ground. The uncertainty is how reliable Singh would prove to be which I think really means how reliable can the Trust representatives make him be.

On the other hand we can accept admin which opens up a world of uncertainty. Anybody could buy us out of admin and then there would be nobody on the board to keep them in check. If admin ended in liquidation we'd have the phoenix option but what if the council didn't simply hand us the lease? I know they said they would but politicians aren't always totally reliable are they?

On balance I've decided to put my faith in the Pools fans on the Trust board. It's a gamble but if it pays off there is a chance that the club could continue to function at a decent level over the next few years. If it goes wrong the other option or something very similar is still there.

For what its worth Singh's company, Prestige Group, has got a got a planning application in to build a care home at Bishop Cuthbert.

I read somewhere that the plan is to make the club self-sufficient in 3 years, with a year 1 projections of a £850k loss due to existing contracts. Presumably they want to make sure they all the money up front so they can go into it with fixed plans and not run out of cash mid-season somewhere down the line like the last 2 years.

As for what happened with Darlo, there is two sides to every story and Singh had his say in the Echo last summer
http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/l ... statement/

For what its worth Singh's company, Prestige Group, has got a got a planning application in to build a care home at Bishop Cuthbert.

I read somewhere that the plan is to make the club self-sufficient in 3 years, with a year 1 projections of a £850k loss due to existing contracts. Presumably they want to make sure they all the money up front so they can go into it with fixed plans and not run out of cash mid-season somewhere down the line like the last 2 years.

As for what happened with Darlo, there is two sides to every story and Singh had his say in the Echo last summer
http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/l ... statement/

Raj singh could be the biggest conman in england but at the end of the day he is trying to save us. If he wants to earn some money back he has every right too. At the end of the day what option do we have? I dont see anyone else investing nearly a million quid. At least if he shafts us we have time to prepare.

The other option is to start a phoenix club and get to the league we would be in if we got relegated in the time it takes for the restructure to happen. We would be owned by the fans, not dependent on any one individual sounds a decent option to me and debt free

Who says we are going to win back these promotions though. The conference north is like the old 3rd division now. The evo stik league div 2 has scarborough and south shields a team we struggled to beat. The league above includes workington who beat us. To think we will do a darlo and win the leagues at a canter would be naieve.

I can remember reading a lengthy discussion on the Darlo board bout this piece in the Echo. Can't for the life of me find it, but from what I remember, Darlo fans were torn over believing him. Would be interested to read it again if any of the Darlo lads know how? Or if you could share your opinions on it again?

We would be the biggest team in every league we played in, it would be naive to think we wouldn't get back to Conf North relatively swiftly.

It would also be naive to throw your support behind a guy who had been involved with Darlington's demise as it is your only option

The conference north is still a league below where we are now though. I dont doubt we would certainly be the biggest team but considering we have played harrogate and lost workington and lost struggled past shields with a full time team, then im not sure i share your confidence.

Raj singh is not the only one involved though, jeff stelling, maybe others to be named and the trust.

Blackledge is also a businessman with pots of money. Didnt stop him pulling the plug.
What happens in a years time when Singh finds out its costing him more than he expected as it did at Darlo.
Does he say hes pulling the plug unless the minority shareholders stump up more cash or is that when the "loans" start coming in?
Then a year later when he decides he wants his money back you are several hundred grand down and theres no chance of getting it back.
You are setting yourselves up for the same situation as at York.

With regard to Singh trying to get back in at Darlo, I think the majority were against it from the start and a few, myself included, wanted to hear out what he had to say. However the toys came out of the pram before the Echo article. To be honest, its just as well they did as it showed he hasn't changed, he's still twitchy with criticism and how can anyone trust someones word when they are so prone to just spitting the dummy?

That makes no sense, we could release the current squad of no hopers and sign an all new squad of the best players from the Northern League, when we get promoted you do the same so when you play Harrogate, Workington or South Shields you have a team able to compete.

What do you propose we do then loan star? go bust and end up getting stuffed of northumbria university or whoever it was that beat you all them years back. Maybe you wont be so keen on a new club if you got relegated this year and ended up in the evo stik again. Darlo are struggling to get 1500 to watch them in a piss poor ground.

Easy that so how come we didnt sign the best players this year for this league? why cant darlo do that now? What about stockport, kidderminster, York i bet they all thought the same. We have 3500 average gates and cant beat part timers what makes you think a new club with 1500 to 2000 gates can beat them so easily?