OLDCROMWELLIAN wrote: March 9th, 2023, 8:24 pm

pembsexile wrote: March 9th, 2023, 7:33 pm

lowandhard wrote: March 9th, 2023, 5:29 pm

owlsabout wrote: March 9th, 2023, 9:39 am I agree with PC transparency is appalling we don't want to know what kitman wages is but things like our then secartery going on social media to tell he was leaving before a club announcement. general manager off in November only recently been told of temporary replacement because of rumours
,chairman awol for what ever reason but still manages to write the programme notes on home match games really .imo it's disrespectful to us fans trust members share holders. What is Kevin Ward duties on the board because the club media is pisspoor , we are still advertising our old sponsor who went into bankruptcy on the ifollow. Things are definitely not right at the club ! stan posts could be near the truth no one knows because no statements. When this fan owned adventure started those directors stood on that stage asking us to become trust members and buy shares , telling us transparency is the way FORWARD! Imo they have failed us time for a change

Absobloodylutely mate! Anyone with half an eye can see that. Others can deflect as much as they like, communication and transparency from the club are utter dogsh!t.

Spot on Mike. In their defence they will have a reason for not making a statement, but the silence is deafening. Perhaps they are waiting until we are mathematically safe, I don’t really know. Time will tell.

What I think is as I have said previously. The catalyst for change at the Trust is Jon Pratt. We don’t really know anything about him. He doesn’t have to make a statement about the internal goings on at the club, but if he offered a statement explaining why he is here and what his plans are, that would certainly help. That’s my opinion and we haven’t really moved forward on this issue at all recently.

I also think that it seems pretty obvious that to move forward we will need an EGM. If changes are required, that will be needed. I have no idea as to the rules of the timing of an EGM. Can it be instead of an AGM, or could they both run at a similar time. Can one be announced whilst the other is going? I think it may be a few weeks yet unfortunately until we are mathematically safe. I suspect that then we will know more. Just a thought.

Any changes to the constitution of governance or ownership will need to be discussed at a separate EGM, or SGM as the model rules refer to it, for that purpose alone, and therefore cannot be instead of or included within an AGM. It also says that an extroadinary resolution to pass it has to be passed by a 'majority of not less than 75% of votes cast'.

I'm not expecting any direct communication to the trust members or supporters from Jon Pratt as Peter Madigan's Argus article stated that any plans for potential change have yet to be discussed/decided by the trust board before they are put to the membership, or they may decide to stay as they are. This suggests to me, initially at least, that any future announcements will be made by the board, rather than any individual.

Upon re-reading the trust board's constitutional statement I note that they are only committed to holding a meeting quarterly. Therefore as notes of minutes have only to date been published for January's meeting, which noticeably did not announce a date for the next meeting, it could mean that another official and minuted meeting will not be held until April.

My wild guess is that they are trying to hold out until the end of the season before making any announcements re. forward plans of ownership models.

pembsexile wrote: March 9th, 2023, 8:41 pm

OLDCROMWELLIAN wrote: March 9th, 2023, 8:24 pm

pembsexile wrote: March 9th, 2023, 7:33 pm

lowandhard wrote: March 9th, 2023, 5:29 pm

owlsabout wrote: March 9th, 2023, 9:39 am I agree with PC transparency is appalling we don't want to know what kitman wages is but things like our then secartery going on social media to tell he was leaving before a club announcement. general manager off in November only recently been told of temporary replacement because of rumours
,chairman awol for what ever reason but still manages to write the programme notes on home match games really .imo it's disrespectful to us fans trust members share holders. What is Kevin Ward duties on the board because the club media is pisspoor , we are still advertising our old sponsor who went into bankruptcy on the ifollow. Things are definitely not right at the club ! stan posts could be near the truth no one knows because no statements. When this fan owned adventure started those directors stood on that stage asking us to become trust members and buy shares , telling us transparency is the way FORWARD! Imo they have failed us time for a change

Absobloodylutely mate! Anyone with half an eye can see that. Others can deflect as much as they like, communication and transparency from the club are utter dogsh!t.

Spot on Mike. In their defence they will have a reason for not making a statement, but the silence is deafening. Perhaps they are waiting until we are mathematically safe, I don’t really know. Time will tell.

What I think is as I have said previously. The catalyst for change at the Trust is Jon Pratt. We don’t really know anything about him. He doesn’t have to make a statement about the internal goings on at the club, but if he offered a statement explaining why he is here and what his plans are, that would certainly help. That’s my opinion and we haven’t really moved forward on this issue at all recently.

I also think that it seems pretty obvious that to move forward we will need an EGM. If changes are required, that will be needed. I have no idea as to the rules of the timing of an EGM. Can it be instead of an AGM, or could they both run at a similar time. Can one be announced whilst the other is going? I think it may be a few weeks yet unfortunately until we are mathematically safe. I suspect that then we will know more. Just a thought.

Any changes to the constitution of governance or ownership will need to be discussed at a separate EGM, or SGM as the model rules refer to it, for that purpose alone, and therefore cannot be instead of or included within an AGM. It also says that an extroadinary resolution to pass it has to be passed by a 'majority of not less than 75% of votes cast'.

I'm not expecting any direct communication to the trust members or supporters from Jon Pratt as Peter Madigan's Argus article stated that any plans for potential change have yet to be discussed/decided by the trust board before they are put to the membership, or they may decide to stay as they are. This suggests to me, initially at least, that any future announcements will be made by the board, rather than any individual.

Upon re-reading the trust board's constitutional statement I note that they are only committed to holding a meeting quarterly. Therefore as notes of minutes have only to date been published for January's meeting, which noticeably did not announce a date for the next meeting, it could mean that another official and minuted meeting will not be held until April.

My wild guess is that they are trying to hold out until the end of the season before making any announcements re. forward plans of ownership models.

Thanks for the clarification on the EGM rules OC. I also hadn’t realised that the Trust were only committed to holding a quarterly meeting. As you say, that may explain the lack of notification of the next meeting in the Jan Board minutes. I tend to agree now with your summation of a possible announcement of future ownership models at the end of the season.

With regards to Pater Madigan Argus comments, I just wonder how long it takes for the Trust to evaluate the ideas that JP has. As long as it takes I suppose.

OLDCROMWELLIAN wrote: March 9th, 2023, 8:24 pm

pembsexile wrote: March 9th, 2023, 7:33 pm

lowandhard wrote: March 9th, 2023, 5:29 pm

owlsabout wrote: March 9th, 2023, 9:39 am I agree with PC transparency is appalling we don't want to know what kitman wages is but things like our then secartery going on social media to tell he was leaving before a club announcement. general manager off in November only recently been told of temporary replacement because of rumours
,chairman awol for what ever reason but still manages to write the programme notes on home match games really .imo it's disrespectful to us fans trust members share holders. What is Kevin Ward duties on the board because the club media is pisspoor , we are still advertising our old sponsor who went into bankruptcy on the ifollow. Things are definitely not right at the club ! stan posts could be near the truth no one knows because no statements. When this fan owned adventure started those directors stood on that stage asking us to become trust members and buy shares , telling us transparency is the way FORWARD! Imo they have failed us time for a change

Absobloodylutely mate! Anyone with half an eye can see that. Others can deflect as much as they like, communication and transparency from the club are utter dogsh!t.

Spot on Mike. In their defence they will have a reason for not making a statement, but the silence is deafening. Perhaps they are waiting until we are mathematically safe, I don’t really know. Time will tell.

What I think is as I have said previously. The catalyst for change at the Trust is Jon Pratt. We don’t really know anything about him. He doesn’t have to make a statement about the internal goings on at the club, but if he offered a statement explaining why he is here and what his plans are, that would certainly help. That’s my opinion and we haven’t really moved forward on this issue at all recently.

I also think that it seems pretty obvious that to move forward we will need an EGM. If changes are required, that will be needed. I have no idea as to the rules of the timing of an EGM. Can it be instead of an AGM, or could they both run at a similar time. Can one be announced whilst the other is going? I think it may be a few weeks yet unfortunately until we are mathematically safe. I suspect that then we will know more. Just a thought.

Any changes to the constitution of governance or ownership will need to be discussed at a separate EGM, or SGM as the model rules refer to it, for that purpose alone, and therefore cannot be instead of or included within an AGM. It also says that an extroadinary resolution to pass it has to be passed by a 'majority of not less than 75% of votes cast'.

I'm not expecting any direct communication to the trust members or supporters from Jon Pratt as Peter Madigan's Argus article stated that any plans for potential change have yet to be discussed/decided by the trust board before they are put to the membership, or they may decide to stay as they are. This suggests to me, initially at least, that any future announcements will be made by the board, rather than any individual.

Upon re-reading the trust board's constitutional statement I note that they are only committed to holding a meeting quarterly. Therefore as notes of minutes have only to date been published for January's meeting, which noticeably did not announce a date for the next meeting, it could mean that another official and minuted meeting will not be held until April.

My wild guess is that they are trying to hold out until the end of the season before making any announcements re. forward plans of ownership models.

OLDCROMWELLIAN wrote: March 9th, 2023, 10:27 pm “It’s early days with Jon, he knows the club and he has a certain perspective on things,” said director Madigan, who joined the board in 2017.
“Him joining the club strengthens the group that we have got and he can offer advice on what he thinks we could do and how we could go about it.
“I certainly know that when I joined I never quite appreciated how being involved in a football club could be so complicated for such a small business.
“He is not coming in as King Arthur, he is coming to join a team and he is up for doing that.
“Once we have all got our feet under the desk together we can affect a plan to take us forward.
“That might mean staying where we are or it might be a hybrid approach, but we haven’t decided yet.
"If there was to be change then we would need to come up with the details, then there would need to be an EGM but there is no plan for that at the moment.”
The club’s announcement of the Pratt arrival stated* he is a “passionate and lifelong Newport County fan who attended his first match at the age of eight.
“He is senior vice president of a Fortune 500 company [a list compiled by the publication of the 500 largest companies in the United States] and has led multiple global businesses ranging in scale for a few million pounds revenue up to over two billion pounds,” read a statement.
“He serves on the board of directors of companies in the UK, USA, Germany, Japan, and Australia.”



The above is an extract from the Argus article dated 21st Feb

OLDCROMWELLIAN wrote: March 9th, 2023, 10:27 pm “It’s early days with Jon, he knows the club and he has a certain perspective on things,” said director Madigan, who joined the board in 2017.
“Him joining the club strengthens the group that we have got and he can offer advice on what he thinks we could do and how we could go about it.
“I certainly know that when I joined I never quite appreciated how being involved in a football club could be so complicated for such a small business.
“He is not coming in as King Arthur, he is coming to join a team and he is up for doing that.
“Once we have all got our feet under the desk together we can affect a plan to take us forward.
“That might mean staying where we are or it might be a hybrid approach, but we haven’t decided yet.
"If there was to be change then we would need to come up with the details, then there would need to be an EGM but there is no plan for that at the moment.”
The club’s announcement of the Pratt arrival stated he is a “passionate and lifelong Newport County fan who attended his first match at the age of eight.
“He is senior vice president of a Fortune 500 company [a list compiled by the publication of the 500 largest companies in the United States] and has led multiple global businesses ranging in scale for a few million pounds revenue up to over two billion pounds,” read a statement.
“He serves on the board of directors of companies in the UK, USA, Germany, Japan, and Australia.”



The above is an extract from the Argus article dated 21st Feb

pembsexile wrote: March 10th, 2023, 7:33 am

OLDCROMWELLIAN wrote: March 9th, 2023, 10:27 pm “It’s early days with Jon, he knows the club and he has a certain perspective on things,” said director Madigan, who joined the board in 2017.
“Him joining the club strengthens the group that we have got and he can offer advice on what he thinks we could do and how we could go about it.
“I certainly know that when I joined I never quite appreciated how being involved in a football club could be so complicated for such a small business.
“He is not coming in as King Arthur, he is coming to join a team and he is up for doing that.
“Once we have all got our feet under the desk together we can affect a plan to take us forward.
“That might mean staying where we are or it might be a hybrid approach, but we haven’t decided yet.
"If there was to be change then we would need to come up with the details, then there would need to be an EGM but there is no plan for that at the moment.”
The club’s announcement of the Pratt arrival stated he is a “passionate and lifelong Newport County fan who attended his first match at the age of eight.
“He is senior vice president of a Fortune 500 company [a list compiled by the publication of the 500 largest companies in the United States] and has led multiple global businesses ranging in scale for a few million pounds revenue up to over two billion pounds,” read a statement.
“He serves on the board of directors of companies in the UK, USA, Germany, Japan, and Australia.”



The above is an extract from the Argus article dated 21st Feb

Thanks for that Mark. I had read the article but you have put all the relevant points there in a nutshell. Two things stand out for me:

Jon Pratt is the catalyst for change at the club and the Trust are still deciding how they will evaluate his ideas.
The upcoming EGM (whenever that is) will be the driver for potential change at the club.

I just hope they don’t take too long to discuss his plans. My own opinion is that he doesn’t have enough personal wealth to instigate things on his own but would look to bring in outside wealth to do something. That’s reading between the lines of the Argus article and has nothing to do with social media reports about the man.

OLDCROMWELLIAN wrote: March 10th, 2023, 8:18 am

pembsexile wrote: March 10th, 2023, 7:33 am

OLDCROMWELLIAN wrote: March 9th, 2023, 10:27 pm “It’s early days with Jon, he knows the club and he has a certain perspective on things,” said director Madigan, who joined the board in 2017.
“Him joining the club strengthens the group that we have got and he can offer advice on what he thinks we could do and how we could go about it.
“I certainly know that when I joined I never quite appreciated how being involved in a football club could be so complicated for such a small business.
“He is not coming in as King Arthur, he is coming to join a team and he is up for doing that.
“Once we have all got our feet under the desk together we can affect a plan to take us forward.
“That might mean staying where we are or it might be a hybrid approach, but we haven’t decided yet.
"If there was to be change then we would need to come up with the details, then there would need to be an EGM but there is no plan for that at the moment.”
The club’s announcement of the Pratt arrival stated he is a “passionate and lifelong Newport County fan who attended his first match at the age of eight.
“He is senior vice president of a Fortune 500 company [a list compiled by the publication of the 500 largest companies in the United States] and has led multiple global businesses ranging in scale for a few million pounds revenue up to over two billion pounds,” read a statement.
“He serves on the board of directors of companies in the UK, USA, Germany, Japan, and Australia.”



The above is an extract from the Argus article dated 21st Feb

Thanks for that Mark. I had read the article but you have put all the relevant points there in a nutshell. Two things stand out for me:

Jon Pratt is the catalyst for change at the club and the Trust are still deciding how they will evaluate his ideas.
The upcoming EGM (whenever that is) will be the driver for potential change at the club.

I just hope they don’t take too long to discuss his plans. My own opinion is that he doesn’t have enough personal wealth to instigate things on his own but would look to bring in outside wealth to do something. That’s reading between the lines of the Argus article and has nothing to do with social media reports about the man.

I believe we're thinking along the same lines. Although what has also occurred to me is that it is possible that JP hasn't yet finalised a hard and fast definitive proposal to put to the Trust board, and genuinely wishes to discuss with the other directors what their visions are and how they see how JP can best help towards achieving those visions.
What will happen if the board isn't able to come to a consensus ? I have no idea. I would hope as conversations were ongoing between the board and JP for some time prior to his co-option this is unlikely.

Taunton Iron Cider wrote: March 10th, 2023, 10:19 am

OLDCROMWELLIAN wrote: March 10th, 2023, 8:18 am

pembsexile wrote: March 10th, 2023, 7:33 am

OLDCROMWELLIAN wrote: March 9th, 2023, 10:27 pm “It’s early days with Jon, he knows the club and he has a certain perspective on things,” said director Madigan, who joined the board in 2017.
“Him joining the club strengthens the group that we have got and he can offer advice on what he thinks we could do and how we could go about it.
“I certainly know that when I joined I never quite appreciated how being involved in a football club could be so complicated for such a small business.
“He is not coming in as King Arthur, he is coming to join a team and he is up for doing that.
“Once we have all got our feet under the desk together we can affect a plan to take us forward.
“That might mean staying where we are or it might be a hybrid approach, but we haven’t decided yet.
"If there was to be change then we would need to come up with the details, then there would need to be an EGM but there is no plan for that at the moment.”
The club’s announcement of the Pratt arrival stated he is a “passionate and lifelong Newport County fan who attended his first match at the age of eight.
“He is senior vice president of a Fortune 500 company [a list compiled by the publication of the 500 largest companies in the United States] and has led multiple global businesses ranging in scale for a few million pounds revenue up to over two billion pounds,” read a statement.
“He serves on the board of directors of companies in the UK, USA, Germany, Japan, and Australia.”



The above is an extract from the Argus article dated 21st Feb

Thanks for that Mark. I had read the article but you have put all the relevant points there in a nutshell. Two things stand out for me:

Jon Pratt is the catalyst for change at the club and the Trust are still deciding how they will evaluate his ideas.
The upcoming EGM (whenever that is) will be the driver for potential change at the club.

I just hope they don’t take too long to discuss his plans. My own opinion is that he doesn’t have enough personal wealth to instigate things on his own but would look to bring in outside wealth to do something. That’s reading between the lines of the Argus article and has nothing to do with social media reports about the man.

I believe we're thinking along the same lines. Although what has also occurred to me is that it is possible that JP hasn't yet finalised a hard and fast definitive proposal to put to the Trust board, and genuinely wishes to discuss with the other directors what their visions are and how they see how JP can best help towards achieving those visions.
What will happen if the board isn't able to come to a consensus ? I have no idea. I would hope as conversations were ongoing between the board and JP for some time prior to his co-option this is unlikely.

Events would suggest that the Board is already divided in respect of JP’s involvement, which I suspect is partly because of an inbuilt resistance to change, partly because they don’t want to see their present roles threatened, and partly because they are followers not leaders. For now, it looks as though the more proactive and visionary element hold sway and that is to be welcomed, but at the end of the day any decision on change will be that of all Trust members should a formal proposal ever see the light of day.
With the secret society that runs our Club I won’t be holding my breath.

Bangitintrnet wrote: March 10th, 2023, 7:48 am Anyone thinking this is anything like the Wrexham takeover should note that Ryan Reynolds sold one of his companies for 600 million dollars.

Personally I can see slow growth from the trust's starting position. What I would not want to see is the club take on debt that it may not be able to pay back, seeking something that others mostly try and fail at.

excessbee wrote: March 10th, 2023, 10:35 am Another take on this is that the vast majority of regular supporters are far more concerned about on field results than backtoom machinations. Not to say that the two aren't linked. However, the traffic on this message board consist of how many?.... twenty or so regular contributors, not all of whom attend matches. I don't know anything of the Facebook group but I doubt it's any more in the know than this forum. So maybe a combined total of fifty with serious concerns and 3450 who are far more interested in performances, which at the moment are rather erratic (but not linked to messages on here)

Taunton Iron Cider wrote: March 10th, 2023, 10:19 am

Events would suggest that the Board is already divided in respect of JP’s involvement, which I suspect is partly because of an inbuilt resistance to change, partly because they don’t want to see their present roles threatened, and partly because they are followers not leaders. For now, it looks as though the more proactive and visionary element hold sway and that is to be welcomed, but at the end of the day any decision on change will be that of all Trust members should a formal proposal ever see the light of day.
With the secret society that runs our Club I won’t be holding my breath.

Exile 1976 wrote: March 10th, 2023, 10:37 am

Bangitintrnet wrote: March 10th, 2023, 7:48 am Anyone thinking this is anything like the Wrexham takeover should note that Ryan Reynolds sold one of his companies for 600 million dollars.

Personally I can see slow growth from the trust's starting position. What I would not want to see is the club take on debt that it may not be able to pay back, seeking something that others mostly try and fail at.

I’m pretty sure none of our fans are stupid enough to think of this as a Ryan Reynolds/Rob McElhenny type Wrexham takeover.