Robbie Williams

[Howjy04]

I think there's more chance of seeing The Book of the Dead than Vale's books.Christ how long have they been at it.?

[VantaaVale]

This is a letter to the Sentinel by Charles Machin shortly after Peter Jackson's bid was accepted. It also states that Paladini offered £25K just to keep the club afloat while negotiations continued, which is quite different to what I'm sure Bill Bratt said at the time.

 

VALE BID NOT AS EASY AS ABC FOR THE JACKSON FIVE

 

 

12:00 - 03 January 2004

 

Sir - The negotiations by the Vale board with Mr Paladini last week and on Monday have been misrepresented by whoever gave the version reported in the Sentinel of January 1, 2004.

 

In fairness to your newspaper, my account was also reported, but on an inside page, whereas the headline suggested Mr Paladini had tried to buy the club on the cheap, which was not the case. It was Mr Jackson who nearly got the club on the cheap when the five directors who voted for him - 'the Jackson Five' - voted to accept his original offer of £2 a share when everyone else was being asked to pay £5.

 

Mr Paladini did not reduce his offer on Christmas Eve. The board wanted the full deal tied up before Christmas. When I realised this was not going to happen, I quickly drafted a stop-gap agreement on Christmas Eve morning to try to get the £150,000 we urgently needed into the club straightaway.

 

This interim deal was accepted by Mr Paladini, but the club's own lawyers baulked at it. So nothing happened. Hence my anger in the radio interview I gave at Hillsborough on Boxing Day.

 

It is not true Mr Paladini only offered £25,000 on Monday morning. His people offered an immediate no-strings non-returnable cash injection of that amount to keep the club afloat while negotiations went ahead for the full £530,000.

 

I, on behalf of the board, told them we needed £150,000 immediately or there would be no club to negotiate about.

 

Mr Paladini then went on to offer £150,000 up front as cash, not a loan as has been suggested. He never asked for guarantees from the directors. All this has been misrepresented.

 

At the end of the day, Mr Paladini's offer was massively better than Mr Jackson's. It guaranteed £530,000 for the club. Contrary to what has been said, he provided written proof of funds for half-a-million pounds, unlike Mr Jackson.

 

I shall never understand why the 'Jackson Five' accepted an offer with no certainty (just an option) that Mr Jackson will pay the £350,000 over and above the up-front £150,000 (much which has now been spent). Come the end of this month the club could very well be back where it started.

 

I have deep concerns about the Jackson deal for three reasons - that the £350,000 will not come, that the club could well run out of money before then, and that by the time we find out it will be too late to find another rescuer like Mr Paladini or otherwise.

 

In all this, of course, the real question has been lost - who are these anonymous people in the Jackson consortium who now hold the future Port Vale in their grip? Why won't they declare themselves and their intentions?

 

CHARLES MACHIN

 

Vice-Chairman

 

Port Vale (Valiant 2001) Football Club Ltd

[Guest We're all Vale aren't we?]

Andy, as I said earlier that was not the point I was making when I mentioned Paladini.

 

It looks like admin for Vale then if neither side will make a telling move.

 

Let's hope the FA are kind with regards points deductions and that Mark and Mo win the bidding war that will ensue. Oh, and that we can afford to rent the ground back from the council or whoever brokers a deal with them to take over the loan once Vale default on the loan.

 

Scary times, but I am sure everyone knows what they are doing!

[Birdy]

Can't get the video on Youtube so it's on the NLV site for the time being.

 

http://northlondonvaliants.co.uk/Home.html

[NLVMalc]

Cheers Birdy

 

Get the link emailed around and see if we can generate some publicity out of this.

[Robbie Earle's Perm]

Yes why not upset a vale fan with millions of pounds in the bank.

Not a good move in the long term i think.

Hes given a statement, this smacks of desperation

 

Agreed, this could backfire big time.

 

And to insinuate he could become a villain is scandelous, calm ****** down.

[philpvfc]

Robbie gave money to the club to help save the club,not to get involved in politics. I doubt very much he will get involved in any take over and I can understand that. Hopefully he will use his vote after he has looked closely at both parties but it will be very unlikely he will.

[Birdy]

Robbie gave money to the club to help save the club,not to get involved in politics. I doubt very much he will get involved in any take over and I can understand that. Hopefully he will use his vote after he has looked closely at both parties but it will be very unlikely he will.

I agree Phil but I think we have no choice in contacting his management team, his support would change the situation beyond belief. But as you say it is his decision and whilst I hope he would publicly back the campaign for change all we can do is show him the discontent amongst fans. I am unsure how much he knows whats going on, I think we owe it to him to at lease send him information, then he can make his decision. A lot has changed since he last made his statement.

[JB78]

Robbie gave money to the club to help save the club,not to get involved in politics. I doubt very much he will get involved in any take over and I can understand that. Hopefully he will use his vote after he has looked closely at both parties but it will be very unlikely he will.

 

if he GAVE the clun 250k then it should have been a donation not a share purchase

 

as a majority shareholder you take on responsibilities

[Robbie Earle's Perm]

As a shareholder it is important for Robbie to have his say. I fully respect him which ever way he votes as I know his vote would be in the best interest of the club. It is important that he actually looks into the situation and what has been going on. He's a big boy and can make his mind up after researching...

 

Respect him then, he's made his decision.

[Fosse69]

That's not the point' date=' it's what they used to fend him off and Mo is potentially leaving himself open to the same thing.[/quote']

 

The point is they always lie, so how can anyone trust/respect them? You dont let them touch your money, as Mick Simms has found out it, it is soon forgotten.

[Mr Carter]

Robbie gave money to the club to help save the club,not to get involved in politics. I doubt very much he will get involved in any take over and I can understand that. Hopefully he will use his vote after he has looked closely at both parties but it will be very unlikely he will.

 

Unfortunately for Mr Williams he is a major shareholder and thus has a responsibilty,he should have given the money as a donation.

[philpvfc]

I agree Phil but I think we have no choice in contacting his management team, his support would change the situation beyond belief. But as you say it is his decision and whilst I hope he would publicly back the campaign for change all we can do is show him the discontent amongst fans. I am unsure how much he knows whats going on, I think we owe it to him to at lease send him information, then he can make his decision. A lot has changed since he last made his statement.

 

Don't disagree, worth the try but he shouldn't get linched if he declines to use his vote, that is his decision.

[Birdy]

Don't disagree, worth the try but he shouldn't get linched if he declines to use his vote, that is his decision.

 

Again, I completely agree. If after this he still chooses to abstain then that's his decision but I think we all have a duty to at least inform him (and others) about our viewpoint and to present a concise argument showing those who support change.

[Memphis]

Can't get the video on Youtube so it's on the NLV site for the time being.

 

http://northlondonvaliants.co.uk/Home.html

 

How depressing!

 

We really do have some ugly fans!