Well we are all most certainly at the last chance saloon this afternoon and seeing the unbelievable story that a take over bid was rejected makes me very pessimistic. Because, if you think about it why would any chairman throw any decent money on players when he is trying to off load his business. Talk about
Fans being sold down the river!. Like others have postulated, it’s looking like
another Darlo. Really hope I am wrong but just can’t see it

When Raj Singh initially bought the club, a small pocket of people were concerned. They were mostly accused of been "loids", or been the same people who used to moan about IOR.

When Raj Singh in 2020 sacked several long term club staff, a larger amount of people were concerned. They were mostly accused on Twitter of "not supporting the club" and "wanting a phoenix club" (whatever the fuck that has to do with it).

When Raj Singh single handedly blocked a US based takeover in 2021 (which has now finally been confirmed) a group of people consistently denied it was actually us that they wanted to buy, even though it obviously was.

When Raj Singh lost Dave Challinor through penny pinching, rather than see the forest through the trees, a large amount of people blamed Dave and Stockport, for Raj lying to Dave. Which makes absolutely no logical sense.

When Raj Singh appointed Paul Hartley, after a seemingly never ending quest of other linked managers. People blamed Hartley for bringing in bad players, which he did, but we were still linked with far better names than we actually got.

The consistent catalyst here is Singh. Over time people on here and other sites have changed their tune. When was the last time we heard from Poolie1? And the usual "SUPPORT THE CLUB" suspects have equally gone quiet on Twitter.

I have a mate in Harrogate who I played 5 aside football with. He is a life time Darlo fan. I remember him talking to me some time back telling me how bad Singh was and that he had stripped the club. At the time I wasn’t paying too much attention as it we where being managed by Dave Challinor . And, to be honest I was pretty happy like most supporters . Fast forward 18 months to 2 years and what my mate said has more or less come too
Roost. I like to be optimistic but there is just so much confusion and spin that it’s hard to be positive. Curle maybe playing things down but Colchester has to be a defining moment.

I love Raj me. He was the catalyst, you,re right. He rescued the club, got us through covid, back in the league and if there was a serious offer I’m sure he would have considered it. There was an approach. That was it. If those making the approach were serious they would take the time to do their due diligence and make a sensible offer. Clearly they haven’t. Mistakes have been made. But things can still be turned around. Where Darlo are concerned they were a complete basket case when Singh got involved. What did he strip them of exactly?

Sounds like u enjoy us going down the Scunthorpe Route
.What was i saying about the 1%.

This window was crucial and what have we to show for it…….?
As Churchill said, “Give us the tools and we’ll finish the job”…… looks like the only ‘tools’ in the transfer window are the supporters for swallowing the guff…….

Not sure Raj is trying to "off load his business". He has no control of who tables a bid and when they choose to do it. Of course he will listen to them but if someone tables a bid and it was rejected, we can safely assume it was not the right offer. Raj has consistently said he is very open to investment in the club but I guess the current bidders were not offering enough or were considered not right for other reasons. As for not spending on players if he was trying to sell the club, surely getting good players in would make the club more attractive to a potential buyer and Raj would get his money back by allowing for the cost of the new players in any offer from the potential buyer.

Raj is not perfect but he is all we've got and the time is not right for whining and undermining because all the moaning wont change a thing and just leads to negativity. Of course I would like to see Armstrong, Johnson, Harvey Saunders etc sign for the club but not if it leads to bankruptcy. If we do get relegated I would fully accept people's right to complain because there is doubt the relegation would have been caused by the Hartley debacle which was entirely down to Raj.

I suspect Raj is like the bloke who gets a plumber in to fix a leaking tap and knowing little about plumbing takes advice of mates to try so and so because they’ve heard they’re good …but each time he’s realised they’re just buggering up the plumbing and making it worse that it was when he fell out with his original plumber….

I get accused of being a Raj lover which I am certainly not, just as I wouldn't call anybody a Raj hater.
My stance has always been he is, until someone else is willing to replace him, all we've got.
There are rumours that Raj is turning down genuine bids for the club but there is never any tangible evidence to back them up.
Mistakes have been made and the chairman has the ultimate responsibility for those mistakes and the added responsibility to rectify those mistakes.
The general consensus of opinion is that he is falling short, I think that is painfully obvious.
There is currently a "Raj out" theme which is gathering momentum which will probably drive him out. My fear has always been that the club and us, the supporters, will be the biggest losers and the possibility is we may never recover.
We recovered under Raj and now we are going backwards under him.
We would all love to see a new owner at the moment, including me.
Let me know when a genuine candidate, with the right credentials, who is willing to invest in the club and take it forward, is walking up Clarence road and my fears will subside.
As long as his first name is not Gary.

Im with you derwent but seems some journalist will be publishing details of the new Consortium later today

https://twitter.com/RyanwFWA/status/161 ... O1PlFzeIkA

If there is a credible buyer, Raj has a choice to make.

He certainly has but I've heard ducks fart before. So here we have a willing consortium also willing divulge their plans before any announcements are made.
Although my heart is hoping beyond hope this is all true, my head is sceptical. After 70 years of following Pools I request permission to wait and see.

You could say we've been here before - almost exactly 9 years ago, in fact:
https://www.skysports.com/football/news ... ool-united

It would be wonderful symmetry if the worst period in the club's history that started then was turned around this season by new owners with serious money - IOR Mk II you might say. But till somebody 'shows us the money' Mr.I is right to remind people with short memories about TMH and Coxberg.

I will be comforted if there is local fan connection to the consortium, icing on the cake would be some involvement of someone who actually understands running a football club.

For me IOR wanted Pools off their hands at all costs, first TMH who stole nearly £50k in takings then Coxhall supposedly an owner of an employment agency with offices in London and Dubai who no one had ever worked for or knew anything about them. Pools struggled financially after they lost the backing of Larsen Oil and Gas, no way could IOR with around 20 employees continue backing Pools and sustain the losses.

Dont try to put words in my mouth, that gives you less credibility. Nobody is happy with the current position the club are in. We don't need you claiming to be the worst affected by it lol.

New owners won’t make a bit of difference at this stage, too late to recruit the talent we need.
Let’s hope they have the cash and the desire to win the Conference, if they ever appear.

Credibility.
Whats that

The title of this topic is ‘THE FUTURE’……..er, what future.

And now the end is here
And so I face that final curtain
......
And more, much more
I did it, I did it Raj's way

It’s pretty simple stuff. Raj Singh is a wealthy man but not a billionaire. He has funded a couple of million and has a group of struggling care homes / they all are. He’s reached his limit as far as his own funds are concerned and the club is reliant now on self funding. That said you have to question the wisdom of appointing a completely untried manager and letting his sign no end of gash players. Those decision have done for us. Therein lies the problem.

Add the fact that Raj is attracting personal abuse and the "Raj Out" cries are gathering momentum, causing him to walk.
The charlatans will gather again hoping to make a quick killing. We all know where that will end.

Maybe. But not a reason to keep Raj forever. He has the club surviving but it's not LIVING. I get that its desirable to be as self sufficient as possible but I think our fanbase can support something a bit better than a L2/National League yoyo club. I also think that you have to spend to save when it comes to a club. Got to get those revenue streams in place and make sure your best players don't leave for nothing. Raj just seems to have one tactic, penny pinching. When you do that to your playing budget you've got to make sure you've got a manager who can work with that. They are rare and in demand. DC was ours and it'll be a long time before we might see the likes again.

Spot on, if genuine backed with more funds around great but will belieevyit when I see it

Hartley was a completely untried manager ? he had managed 4 clubs, sacked from 3 of them, signed 44 players at Dundee, 16 at Falkirk, it doesn’t take a football expert to work out he wasn’t a very good manager to put it mildly. It would be interesting to know who recommended him, I hope Singh receives better advice for his Care Homes.

Pools struck lucky with Neale Cooper, he was at Ross County in the Mickey Mouse league for 6 years then resigned, no real success, only one managerial job yet he had success at at Pools, yes football is a funny old game.

In the words of Saint John of Lydon, 'no future, in Poolie dreaming'

if true about his finances it means he is incapable of putting more in rather than unwilling. if fans knew the whole truth there might be a bit more sympathy with our plight. its not we do not want success and get something wierd out of a pools defeat but many are quite understanding why we are where we are if they are sold truth instead of bullshit.

thats it you need luck with untried managers at a new level. hartley could have been a success even with the scottish experiment which has been done before. very few managers have had success everywhere they went and the much mentioned brian clough is also one of these. said at the start of the season we,d finish anywhere from the play offs to being relegated and slowly but surely i feel i,m going to be correct.

Agree with Accrington. People do not like being treated like mugs, just be transparent we may not like it but at least we can empathise.

Vince Barker said we skint and dont have a pot to piss in and thats how it is.
Fairplay to his honesty.

No bullshiting from Vince.

I would not buy that story either. He's not putting money in, its being added to the club debt which is massively lower than it was before. We will lose a shit ton of money going down. Spend some of it to stay up now and you are still in a better situation. That's his problem, he doesnt seem to want to 'spend to save'. Unless he been offering out massive contracts out willy nilly and they've all said no. I just cant believe that though.

exactly, he was just telling us what most thought anyway at the time. seems in todays world truth is as rare as a good politician.

Although if you are trying to attract players it might be best to keep quiet until after the transfer window closes.

We have been told we have a play off budget, that was obviously a complete lie to sell season tickets. We are told we can outbid any team in this league by our manager. Which planet do these people think we're on? It's complete lies. Tell the truth and fans might have a semblance of sympathy. This has been going on for 2 years now, I can't believe it's taken most fans this long to see what's going on. We are going to have major problems with this chairman in the near future.

fans still talk about the cup money being used on players so in some ways we deserve to be bullshitted.

Not my favourite chairman after discussing flogging the club to the Scarborough owner and we wanted rid of him too….but the crowds were shite like the football… and he never had any money either…part of a long story of owners without the clout or will to change anything.

It might attract being able to talk to a player but they are going to realise we are skint when they see the wage offer.

End result is the same, signings with playing experience from two-three divisions below FL and an ex from the Indian retirement league.

No one is suggesting that we keep Raj forever, therefore there is no reason being given that suggests that.
However until somebody else appears who can take over, stop the rot, genuinely has the cash/ wealth to financially commit to the club and is not wanting involvement for personal gain, we are stuck with him.
People want him to do the right thing and go whilst hurling abuse at him but don't seem to realise that we need somebody else willing to take up the baton.
I wish there was a queue of genuine candidates straining at the leash but there isn't.
More's the pity.

Yes but they won't come along unless he actively tries to sell the club and doesn't put stupid valuations on it.

I’m guessing that his valuation is based on his investment. If someone came along and paid him close to what he’s put in then he’d sell, I’m sure of that. But what then? We would be in exactly the same position unless the purchase came with a chunk of extra capital.

If we go down which seems very likely we will still struggle in that league with the number of "big" clubs now in the National league.
I sense 10 years in the wilderness.

I don’t ever see us returning. We will bounce between league 5 & 6 in perpetuity.

There must be a case for the National league being incorporated into the EFL as division 3. The size of the crowds and clubs surely justify it?

Thats nothing to do with the value of the club. Its also widely accepted that money one puts into a small football club, one does not get back. Also, say if he did expect to leave having broken-even, that kind of bursts any kind of bubble that he is some kind of benevolent saviour of the club. Anyone could create a debt secured on the clubs assets. Its someone else's debt, not my money.

I would argue that to all intents and purposes it already is.

In accountancy terms of course you are right. But, the bloke with the big key values it at assets plus investments. You can’t get past that as he owns all the shares.

Question is, do we just accept being kept on life support, the club merely existing, having no kind of life or do we think the risk is worth taking to see if we can be bought by someone who can make us live again.

Of course. It's his right to be as outrageous about it as he wants to be. Doesn't stop us seeing it exactly for what itv is though, lunacy.

We’re all spectators and the bizarre experiment will continue to wind it’s weary way.

So basically Raj wants the next owner to pay for his tenancy of the club as well as there own. He is living in cloud cuckoo land. Can see us eventually going the way of darlo and he won't get a penny.

Only positive I can see to counter that is hopefully no Wrexham and Notts in that mix. Surely we can get play offs in that division without those two in the mix.

What a devastating state of affairs. Such a wasted opportunity since our return.