nPower Football League Thread 2012/13

[Lineker]

The Football League welcomes Blackburn, Bolton, Wolves, Fleetwood Town, and York.

Blackburn, unfortunately, will continue to sink under Kean and the Venky's. I do hope that Bolton can bounce straight back though. I like Coyle. Not sure how Solbakken will do at Wolves.

And War Cherries!! Promotion please! Plus another season of stability at Watford will do me nicely.

The auditors that signed off the latest annual accounts of Birmingham City FC have questioned whether the club gave them all the required details.

Accountancy group BDO said it was "sceptical as to whether we have received all relevant information" from the directors of Birmingham City PLC.

The club's owner, Carson Yeung, disagreed with the comments.

He said the the directors had "taken all the steps" to give the auditors all the information required.

The dispute is in regard to Birmingham City PLC's results for the year to 30 June 2011, which were filed last week at Companies House.

BDO added: "During the audit process an individual director made comments in writing about certain transactions reflected in the financial statements that indicated concern as to the integrity of these transactions and their recording/or disclosure in the financial statements.

''We have not been provided with sufficient and appropriate evidence that the board of directors have formally considered and resolved as necessary the issues relating to these comments, or that these comments have been withdrawn by the individual director.''

Birmingham City reported an annual pre-tax loss of £12.4m, compared with a profit of £109,000 a year earlier.

The loss came as the club's staff costs, which includes player wages, rose from £36.7m to £45m.

The dispute over the club's latest accounts also comes as its parent company Birmingham International Holdings (BIH) continues to delay the release of its own figures.

It said last month that the already-delayed release of its results for the six months to 31 December would not now be published until August.

BIH's annual results have also been delayed.

Mr Yeung, who owns both Birmingham City and BIH, continues to face money-laundering charges in Hong Kong, which he denies.

Mr Yeung took control of Birmingham City in 2009, and is the club's largest single shareholder with a 26.3% stake.

He worked in England as a teenager before becoming a hairstylist in Hong Kong. He made his fortune through investing in nearby Macau in the 1990s.

Nottingham Forest's new club sponsor says a takeover of the club is imminent while the Reds chief executive Mark Arthur has admitted there is interest from more than one party.

Adam Pye, who is the managing director of new sponsor John Pye & Sons, told BBC East Midlands Today: "It is imminent we are told and so exciting.

"Hopefully we will be talking to you in 10 days time with more exciting news."

Arthur added: "There is good interest in the club, not from just one party."

The Reds chief executive continued: "We do not know who they are and where they come from.

"We are hopeful the new owners will be in for the start the season, but we can't say that for certain.

"The process is not being handled by anyone at Nottingham Forest and all that John Pelling [finance director], Frank Clark [chairman] and myself do is answer questions that are put to us.

"It is a very difficult situation for everyone working at Nottingham Forest, it is a very difficult situation for all the fans. We are in it together.

"There is no timescale at the moment. We have told them the dates of when players report back and when they season starts.

"If the owners are to have an impact on next season they need to be in Nottingham the sooner the better."

Forest have been for sale since October 2011 when Nigel Doughty resigned as chairman but his death in February has made the sale more complicated.

The club's sale is being handled by merchant bank Seymour Pierce.

[Matt]

I was hoping the first post in this thread would be a Leeds takeover, maybe the 2013/14 thread.

[Adam]

Ah bastard, you've beaten me to it for the second year running

Expect more despondent posts from me in this thread as we continue to be useless, just now in a lower league.

[IAceI]

Get to be useless against Carlisle now though.

Edited June 13, 2012 by IAceI

[Lineker]

Derby County are introducing "demand-based" ticketing for the coming season with prices fluctuating according to the opposition, the team's form, kick-off times and even the weather.

Prices will still initially be graded according to the game's importance.

But the idea is that tickets will be cheapest when they go on sale and rise as demand rises nearer the game.

Derby say fans will get the "best value for money" and insist season-ticket holders will still get the best deal.

The new scheme, which will be implemented by pricing technology experts Digonex, is the first of its kind for an English football club, but has been used by clubs across the major sports in North America.

Each home match will be placed into one of four categories with tickets in each category starting at a different "base price".

The theory is that to see Derby play one of the most attractive games of the season against fierce rivals Nottingham Forest on the day of the game will cost more than it would to buy a ticket in advance to see the Rams play less appealing opposition.

But a number of other factors, including kick-off times and the team's form, will also determine the price.

Outgoing chief executive Tom Glick said the club are confident the scheme will "help identify the best price for tickets and provide fans with more price options, flexibility and the best value for their money.

He added: "We believe we will entice new fans to Pride Park as well as offering more options to existing supporters whilst re-engaging with those supporters who haven't attended matches as much as they would have wished in the last few years."

Operations director John Vicars told BBC Radio Derby: "It's a new way of selling tickets as far as football in the UK is concerned. Most people will be familiar with the concept when they are booking flights and hotel rooms. It's the same principal.

"It's about the laws of supply and demand. Tickets will go on on sale for the first half of the season at initial on-sale prices and those prices will fluctuate on a daily basis.

"If you want to buy, you buy it at the initial on-sale and the prices will rise through the weeks until kick off when you will pay more for that ticket.

"The message is 'buy early to secure the best possible deal'."

Vicars said the club were mindful of concerns voiced last season that last-minute cheap offers were unfair on those who had bought season tickets.

The Rams have written to season-ticket holders to explain how the partnership will work as well as how their season-ticket package is broken down.

"Season-ticket holders will always get the cheapest football through their season tickets," Vicars added.

"The pledge is that no one will ever buy a cheaper ticket in their part of the stadium, so season-ticket holders will always get the best possible deal.

Vicars also said that he was confident a lack of demand would not see prices plummet, therefore penalising fans who had bought tickets well in advance.

Rams fan Ross Lowe had serious misgivings about the scheme, fearing it would mean having to pay more for his ticket as he is not in a position to buy too far in advance.

"I'm a little bit befuddled by this initiative really," he told BBC Radio Derby.

"I'm not in a position to buy a half-season ticket at the moment because I can't commit and I don't know if I will be able to make all those Saturdays.

"Quite often I will just commit on the day, ring my mates and see if they want to go."

Sounds fair?

[Matt]

I tended to book in advance (before refusing to go) but I can imagine a lot of people who pay on the day being annoyed at that idea.

[Lineker]

Watford are financially screwed. AGAIN. Bassini being 'encouraged to sell'.

Watford are on the verge of being taken over, according to The Sunday People.

Reports suggest that the owner of Italian Serie 'A' side Udinese, Giampaolo Pozzo is 'waiting in the wings' to complete a takeover deal.

Pozzo has been linked with a deal to buyout Laurence Bassini in the past, a rumour which at the time was dismissed as 'journalistic rumours'.

Sky Sports News have this morning also been reporting news of a potential takeover by the Italian, suggesting that there were problems in paying staff wages for May.

Sky's version of events correlates with that of former Watford Observer sports editor, Kevin Affleck, who has been busy on Twitter once more this morning:

@affers1178 '@mrtony2009 Not enough characters to explain complex nature of wrangling but things have to come to head soon. What a mess'

@affers1178 '@CLDWOOD @Rdurham84 and those many doubters on WML ... You were saying? #watfordfc #skysportsnews'

@affers1178 'Pozzo waiting patiently in the wings as Sky Sports confirm LB being 'encouraged to sell'. #watfordfc'

Furthermore, talkSPORT journalist Ian Abrahams has also been pouring fuel on the fire with his own information, suggesting former West Ham Director of Football Gianluca Nani could be appointed at Vicarage Road as a result of a takeover by Pozzo.

@Moose_talkSPORT '@connectelecs been told man who owns Udinese Gino Pozzo - heard this months and months ago and put it on Twitter - story gathering pace'

@Moose_talkSPORT 'Remember ages ago @D_C_W I told you Nani (ex W Ham will be DOF at Watforrd) when club is taken over - well looks like going ahead aparantly (sic)'

It's never boring.

[Lineker]

So, Blackburn have confirmed that Steve Kean will start the season as their manager but things will need to improve.

[Matt]

WACCOE is in hysterics because there's a rumour that the club has been sold. No confirmation yet and I'm keeping the champagne on ice just at the moment but it would tie in with the rumour that Bates and Harvey's offices were being emptied on Wednesday.

[Lineker]

Portsmouth's creditors have voted in favour of Balram Chainrai's Company Voluntary Arrangement proposal at Monday's meeting at Fratton Park.

He now has 28 days to make good on the proposal, and start the process of bringing Pompey out of administration.

But the decision does not mean the end of the line for the Pompey Supporters' Trust, who had submitted a rival offer.

If Chainrai takes Portsmouth over, the PST can do a deal with him directly to buy the club.

Alternatively, if the PST put a better bid together over within the 28 days, then administrator Trevor Birch can choose them to take the club forward, irrespective of the creditors' decision.

They accepted an offer of two pence in the pound from Chainrai's company, Portpin.

The Hong Kong businessman formerly owned the club in 2010-11 and is personally owed about £19m.

In total, however, Pompey are currently £58m in debt after previous owners Convers Sports Initiatives went into administration.

And because Chainrai ceded exclusivity at the meeting, Birch now has the freedom to chose a different offer if he feels it is better.

During the meeting Birch told creditors that the PST's bid to buy the club was "worthy of serious consideration".

Supporters have been pledging a minimum of £1,000 to help support the bid while the Trust recently revealed they had attracted five 'high net worth' individuals who had offered over £1m.

However, Birch added that exiting administration would not guarantee the club would be granted their football share in the Football League as a newco.

Membership is always "at the discretion of the league," he added.

"Today's decision is another important milestone for Portsmouth and takes the club a significant step closer to leaving administration.

"We are beginning to see light at the end of what has, at times, been a very long and dark tunnel. This is, however, still dependent on restructuring the player cost base, which is a condition of both the existing offers.

"As well as securing approval of the CVA, we have also agreed modifications that will enable us to enter negotiations with other interested parties.

"As a result, we plan to meet with the Pompey Supporters' Trust, which submitted an indicative offer for the club last Friday, in the next few days in order to discuss its bid."

[Lineker]

Watford's Troy Deeney has been jailed for ten months:

A Championship footballer has been jailed for 10 months following an attack on a group of students in Birmingham.

Watford FC striker Troy Deeney, 23, was involved in the fracas which left one man with a broken jaw and another requiring 20 stitches.

Deeney, who was seen kicking one of the victims in the head on CCTV, had already pleaded guilty to affray.

He was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court.

Watford FC said in a statement it was aware of the sentence and would issue a full statement in "the next few days".

Idiot. Need another goalscorer more than ever now.

[Lineker]

Lee Clark is poised to be appointed as the new Birmingham manager.

[Matt]

http://www.leedsunited.com/news/20120626/a-club-statement-on-investment_2247585_2823554

http://soundcloud.com/babyshambler/adam-pope-radio-leeds-and-gary

Let's go fucking mental, let's go fucking mental, na na na na, HEY! Na na na na, HEY!

[IAceI]

Yeah? Well. Carlisle have invested in Danny Cadamarteri. So have some of that.

Edited June 27, 2012 by IAceI

[MDK]

And we've signed Odubaju to new one year deal. So there.

[Adam]

Yeah? Well. Carlisle have invested in Danny Cadamarteri. So have some of that.

I'm amazed he's still a League One player!

David Cotterill is having a medical here today, I'd be pretty happy with that signing, always rated him and have been surprised to see him fail to settle anywhere since his Sheffield United days.

[IAceI]

He'll be a Championship player next season.

[MDK]

Aha, I've just realised why Orient haven't signed anyone yet; it's because of the financial fair play rules brought in. Slade has said that we've got two players on their way in and hopefully he has brought in a striker that can actually score goals, I'm looking at you Tehoue and Cureton :@

[Lineker]

Coventry City are to investigate a post by Gary Deegan on Twitter and have suspended the Irish midfielder from training for two weeks.

A statement on the Sky Blues' website said: "Neither the club or the player will be making any further statements while the investigation is on going."

The 24-year-old has been at Coventry since joining them from League of Ireland club Bohemians in January 2010.

The Coventry players are due to report back for pre-season training on Monday.

[Adam]

And what was that statement do we know?

We did indeed sign David Cotterill yesterday as well as Robbie Blake, and James Hayter has signed for Yeovil today on a free transfer.