I shall not be about until March 1st now, so don't expect any more page updates until then.
Tomorrow at 2pm sees the Council's Strategy and Resources Committee
meeting to debate Minchery Farm proposals.
Friday marks the deadline by which the club must apply to the
Football League for permission to use the Manor next season.
Saturday sees the cinematic debut of "Seven Nil - The Sequel",
hopefully subtitled "Holding out for a Draw". It is also the first match
ever to be shown on pay-per-view television in the UK, a dubious distinction
for Oxford. Watch at the Manor or don't watch - that's my advice...
The margin between a 7-1 defeat and a 2-2 draw is narrower than previously thought. Oxford could easily have conceded seven on Saturday, to an Ipswich team who, in the first half, looked better than Sunderland had in October. Brian Wilsterman could and perhaps should have been dismissed within ten minutes for a professional foul. Marlon Harewood contributed significantly to Ipswich's catalogue of misses, including a sitter from two yards which merits inclusion on many videos. But, in the second half, Oxford tightened up and we could even have snatched an undeserved point. We can almost feel confident for the visit of Sunderland (oh yes...)
Portsmouth have been warned that they face a large fine if they fail to "control their fans" following an incident in the match between Pompey and Oxford in December. Joey Beauchamp was shoved in the back by a Pompey fan after his late challenge on a Portsmouth player. He also had a drink container and crisp packets (!!) thrown at him.
We're not the only club falling foul of ground regulations. Read this
Electronic Telegraph piece about the problems at Dundee. It certainly
has echoes of our situation. Oxford have to apply to carry on using the
Manor next season by Friday (26th). Apparently this is NOT the date by
which we must convince the league that we have concrete plans to move to
Minchery Farm in place. It gives us a bit more time to sit and hope that
Kassam, or London Irish, or someone else helps us out.
The Deano transfer rumours continue today. Huddersfield, who themselves were after Deano until recently, could hand Forest the chance to make an official bid, as the Terriers look likely to buy Forest defender Craig Armstrong for about £750,000. This would free up enough cash for Big Ron to bid for Windass. Both Malcolm Shotton and Mark Harrison have been quick to assert that Windass is not for sale.
You may have noticed that there is now an Official
FOUL site. It is still under construction, but should in future carry
details of all Press Releases, FOUL news and issues of FOULMouth.
The Daily Mail (as in SoccerNet) today reports that Deano's £900,000
move to Forest was "delayed" by lack of cash at the City Ground. This makes
it sound like a transfer has been agreed. I suspect they're jumping to
conclusions. (The Daily Mail? Never.) Loyal as ever, Windass said, "I would
go tomorrow if I could." So I wonder who keeps planting speculation in
the papers then?
Huddersfield appear to have switched their attention to Everton's Danny Cadarmateri in their quest for a striker, which is perhaps an indication that they have given up on prising Deano away from Oxford. Nottingham Forest are definitely interested though, but are thought to need to sell a player before they can buy. Typically deano made it clear that he would love to move. Such a loyal man...
Oxford are currently giving a trial to Paul Lundin, a Swedish goalkeeper. Lundin impressed in keeping a clean sheet for the reserves against Fulham, and will play again for the reserves against Bournemouth on Monday before Shotts decides whether to sign him. Lundin is available on a free transfer from Swedish club, Oesters.
Chris Brown has supplied a piece about Barrow FC, written by Graham
Murphy, the editor of the Barrow Fanzine Give Em Beans. You can
read it here. Well worth a look.
Apparently the Evening Express (an Aberdeen paper) claims that Forest are poised to sign Windass for £900,000 (not what you might call "silly money"). TeamTalk still claim that Peter Jackson is confident of signing him for Huddersfield.
With Barrow and Merthyr Tydfil both in administration and facing news
of their respective futures in the High Court this week, news comes in
that Dundee are considering a merger with deadly rivals Dundee United in
a bid to get out of financial trouble. The club will get automatically
relegated from the Scottish Premier League if they don't have an all-seater
10,000 capacity stadium for next season, which is an unlikely prospect.
According to a poll in a local paper, 58% voted in favour of a merger,
but if you look at these two Dundee Web pages - The
Dee Online and Dundee
FC Online), it seems both are against the merger, and feel that the
majority who pay at the gates are also against it. Dundee chief executive,
Peter Marr, is sure to endear himself to fans in saying, "Football is a
business and mergers happen in business." A merger of the two clubs had
been attempted in 1991, but died after a furious response from fans of
both.
Dean Windass scored two more goals as Oxford beat Swindon in an unmemorable game at the Manor. The Sunday newspapers duly reported that Huddersfield are set to make an £850,000 bid (what? only?) for him. This story is just not going to go away, is it?
Oxford City Council have stated that they want to see "money on the table" before they back Firoz Kassam's proposed takeover of the club. Labour councillor, John Tanner, said "I am sure Mr Kassam has some money he wants to put in, but we are talking about debts of more than £10 million. In any package that will enable Mr Kassam and others to bring in money, we want a cast iron guarantee that we get a club that is stable and a stadium that is built. I am sure Mr Kassam's intentions are honourable, but we could get someone saying they will develop the ground but end up developing the commercial side and leaving the club in a mess." Certainly it is difficult to disagree with these sentiments.
It has been confirmed that Ipswich have kept former Us midfield genius on a second month's loan. This means he will play against us next week. We will be without both Paul Tait and Phil Gilchrist, both suspended for five bookings this season. (Presumably Tait picked up a few for Brum reserves?)
Players at Portsmouth have agreed to give up their win bonuses in order
to help backroom staff keep their jobs. A list of cutbacks has been announced
at the club today, as the administrators attempt to reduce from £35,000
the amount the club is losing each week. Nine of the backroom staff have
been made redundant, including the acting chairperson, Les Parris.
Apparently BBC1's Question Time on 18 February (next Thursday)
will feature Tony Banks on the panel. It has been suggested by FOUL that
an Oxford fan attends and asks Tony Banks some awkward questions about
the situation at Oxford and other lower division clubs. Unfortunately the
programme is being recorded in Hull. If any Oxford fan lives in that vicinity
and wants to try to attend (if it's not too late), see the BBC's Question
Time website.
Details of FOUL action that were made apparent at the Open Meeting were as follows :
Firoz Kassam attended last night's FOUL open meeting in person, and received a warm welcome when taking the stage. (We once used to give Herd warm welcomes!) John Tanner gave assurances that the Council would not call in Oxford's debts until the club was able to pay them. Apparently FOUL spent some time attacking the council on the land issues. FOUL also announced that if these land issues were not settled in time for the March 31 deadline, candidates representing FOUL would stand at the council elections in May.
The issue of ground regulations was also raised. The situation is that even if relegated Oxford need to be at an all seater ground for the start of next season, unless the club can show it is actively in the process of relocating to a new all-seater ground. This all then depends on Firoz Kassam (or other buyer) restarting the building at Minchery Farm. Sadly the date to apply for such a concession is 26 February, well before we'll actually know whether Kassam's takeover is going ahead, and thus before we know whether the building will restart. Shit.
FOUL committee member, Martin Brodetsky, had the following to say about last night's meeting :
Survival of the club is inextricably linked with the completion of Minchery Farm. In order for Minchery Farm to be completed the leisure development has to go ahead to finance the project. The council is central to this happening on many levels. Firstly in terms of granting planning permission as soon as possible for the multiplex cinema. It is only because the council were hell bent on the ridiculous Oxpens project that Minchery Farm has such a development excluded from its planning brief. Now Oxpens is dead and burried they need to remove this restriction from Minchery Farm.
Secondly buying the club, restarting Minchery Farm and associated leisure developments is a massive and complicated financial transaction involving many millions of pounds. The council are central to the success of this project in that they have set the land value for the stadium and will do the same for the adjacent land. Both of these are open for negotiation and can make the difference between the takeover and stadium project going ahead or the club dying. Other councils around the country have viewed a new football stadium in their towns and cities as an asset for the whole of the community and have set land values to a level that takes this into account. This is what we are asking of Oxford City Council particularly as the stadium proposal now includes leisure facilities that the council have failed to provide for the community so far despite their being a clear demand for them.
So this is not a question of raking over the past it is at the heart of what's going on now.
Oxford held "Union Jack" Hayward's (a man who loves the UK so much he lives in the Bahamas) big-spending Wolves to a 1-1 draw on Saturday, with yet another goal from Deano. Malcolm Shotton again reiterated that Deano will not be leaving, and even Huddersfield's interest seems to have cooled for now. Shotton also commented on his meeting with Oxford's potential buyer, Tanzanian hotelier Firoz Kassam. "The players and myself have had a meal with him at his hotel in London and it's a magnificent place," said Shotton. "He seems a really nice bloke with a genuine love of football and if everything goes through it's going to be a massive boost for us." Let's hope he's right...
FOUL have asked me to remind everyone that there is a meeting tomorrow evening at 7.30pm in the Town Hall. Oxford City Council will be represented by John Tanner, and Firoz Kassam has promised that either he or a representative will be there. Brighton supporter and punk poet, Attila the Stockbroker, will be providing the entertainment. Obviously Keith Cox will no longer be attending.
Huddersfield still seem to think they are about to sign Dean Windass. Every day a variety of web sites and newspapers seems to carry this rumour. Is it my imagination, or is someone deliberately keeping talk of this transfer alive? Leicester are set to pull out of the race for Deano as they are close to signing Arnar Gunnlaugson from Bolton. Forest are still interested in Deano, though, and Big Ron is a known admirer. You only had to watch any ITV coverage of an Oxford match this season to know that!
Interestingly Manchester United seem keen to appoint former Oxford player
and coach, Steve McLaren, as number two to Alex Ferguson. McLaren has become
a highly respected coach whilst at Derby under Jim Smith.
You can check out Issue 7.5 of Yellow Fever - handed out at last night's Chelsea match. (HINT: Click on the cover to get inside the issue!)
Well I don't suppose there's a lot that can be said about the match that never should have been. Chelsea played much better than at the Manor, and scored some excellent goals to beat Oxford 4-2. Credit goes to the Oxford fans who kept singing (audibly on ITV highlights) until the end. The Chelsea crowd seemed muted by comparison. Oxford's luck was such that even when Chelsea were reduced to ten men with Wise's dismissal for two handballs, Paul Tait's injury soon left Oxford with ten as well. Placards held by Oxford fans picturing the referee with CHEAT emblazoned on them drew comments from Radio 5 Live. On ITV, I thought Big Ron was going to start crying for Nicky Banger after his dreadful backpass that led to Chelsea's third.
Malcolm Shotton said in his post match interview that the team (presumably minus Paul Tait, who was rushed to hospital for stitches in his head wound) would have an evening meal with the club's potential buyer, Firoz Kassam. Kassam was said to be eager to meet Shotton and the team.
Shotton also repeated his promise that Dean Windass would be going nowhere unless "someone offers mega money for him". He also commented, "We came to enjoy it and the fans enjoyed it."
Apparently last week Oxford turned down an approach from Wycombe for
Malcolm Shotton. Shotton, who has two and a half years left on his contract,
did not seem eager at the prospect of managing Wycombe anyway.
LAST GAME FOR WINDASS?
It is still being extensively reported that tonight will be Dean Windass' last match for Oxford, if the team fails to overcome Chelsea. Both Huddersfield and Leicester seem to think he is poised to sign for them, with TeamTalk even describing Windass as "Leicester City striker Dean Windass". Ok, so his son posed in a Foxes shirt, but I'm not sure that represents a contract. Nottingham Forest have joined the race, and Manchester City are also rumoured to be interested (fat chance). Malcolm Shotton has flatly denied the stories that Windass is on his way tomorrow.
SMUDGER LEAVES
Dave Smith has left Oxford to join Stockport County after four and a half seasons at the Manor. After being a virtual ever-present in the side for most of that period, he found himself mainly on the sidelines this season, especially now with the arrival of Paul Tait. Smith joins Stockport on a free transfer.
Extensive web searches by various Oxford fans have failed to turn up anything on Firoz Kassam, aside from the fact that he is in the hotel business. He seems at one time to have been in an important position within the Bass/Holiday Inn chain. The Press Association describes him as a "wealthy hotelier". The deal for Herd's shareholding is apparently worth £1 million, so on paper he's no pauper. The major stumbling block remains the question of whether Kassam can reach agreement with the council over land near the Minchery Farm site. He has given the council until 31 March to decide - he will otherwise pull out of any deal.
Yesterday's other development was the resignation of Keith Cox as MD of the club. Cox claimed he had waited for definite news of a potential buyer before resigning, but to me this seems a tad disingenuous. After all it was only on Sunday that the Mail published the details of the US fraud case that Cox claims forced his hand. The idea that the Mail on Sunday held back the news until Cox had found a potential new buyer seems fanciful, to say the least. Cox said on his departure, "Although my resignation is in no sense an acknowledgement of wrongdoing, it may not be credible for me to represent the club in some very delicate negotiations in coming weeks with the tag of a man 'wanted in a fraud inquiry'."
There are reports that local lawyer and Us fan, David Bower, has been invited to fill the gap left by Cox. Bower said, "Robin Herd asked me if I would become managing director when Keith Cox leaves. I said I would look at the situation and see what I could do to help, obviously for no fee." One imagines that the final words were a little dig at Cox and his rumoured £67/hour fee.
London Irish are apparently still interested in a deal. Spokesperson, Geoff Huckstep, said, "Negotiations are still on-going, but having a stadium the size of Oxford's is paramount in professional rugby. We will not be in a position to take anything further until the structure of club rugby in this country is finalised - and that will probably be another four to six weeks."
By the way, there is a game on tonight. Justice says Oxford will win, but money speaks more loudly than justice these days. Reports yet again suggest that this could be Dean Windass' last match for Oxford, something the player never seems keen to play down. "I've been told that Leicester and Huddersfield each think I'm their player if we go out of the Cup. I want to play in the Premiership yet at the same time I want to get Oxford into the next round. But the way things are going at the club with all the debts, I don't think they're in any position to keep me.", said Windass. It seems fairly obvious he wants to move on, but he is at least a player who gives his all while he is still here.
A press statement released by the club (after its board meeting today) contains the news that Robin Herd has provisionally sold his 89.2% share in the club to Firoz Kassam, who apparently owns hotels in London. This sale though is still provisional on agreement being reached with Oxford City Council over planning issues for land near Minchery Farm. Kassam has put £500,000 into the club. Keith Cox has resigned as MD of the club.
Whilst the above news sounds positive, it is worth noting that the new "owner" is in fact not yet contractually bound to the club, and the deal could thus still fall through. With Oxford's track record, this is not a possibility that should be ignored. We are also ignorant of the motives of the proposed new owner. With a bit of luck he won't just be in it for the asset-stripping...
Mike Casey has kindly sent me some photos of the famous Oxford "Scarf
of Unity". You can view those here.
COX OUT?
According to BBC local radio (Thames Valley FM), Keith Cox is going to resign at an emergency board meeting tomorrow. This is after the Mail on Sunday ran a story about his being charged by the State of Florida in 1991 with "mail fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud, interstate transportation of stolen property and money laundering". Along with 13 others, he was charged with conspiriing to defraud the US Inland Revenue. Several of these people have faced trial and been acquitted. Keith Cox would still face arrest if he entered the US.
Cox was quoted as saying, "I'm not admitting any wrong doing, but with the delicacy of the club's situation I will have to consider my position. It is a great cause of regret because I have put a great deal of effort into keeping the club going".
The acting chief executive of the Football League said, "We have been monitoring the situation at Oxford for some time very closely. That means we have been working with information provided by the club, as well as other sources. We are determined to establish the exact position. Our major priority will be to safeguard the interests of the supporters of Oxford". Yeah right - when have they ever done anything to aid clubs in trouble? I'll believe it when I see it.
If Cox did resign, what would it mean for the club? Well for a start the club would be £67 an hour better off. Facetiousness aside, it could herald the return of Robin Herd, or Herd could simply install another MD and continue to ignore the club. Either way, it would seem a sensible time for supporters to get together and attempt to gain some influence within the club.
English football is in bad shape, and so is Scottish football. This weekend Raith Rovers announced that they would fold this month unless the club gets an injection of cash. Raith are £1.5 million in debt, and losing £10,000 a week. Raith seem certain to call in the receivers unless they can sell a player very soon. Rovers' situation is described as being "worse than Airdrie", who went into liquidation this weekend. The appointed liquidator is confident Airdrie can survive and prosper. He said, "We are hopeful that this is a short-term problem that can be resolved relatively quickly thereby allowing the club to get back to the business of winning on the park."
The Cooperative Bank lived up to its name, and its policy of decency, by agreeing to let Portsmouth go into administration today. Portsmouth did not manage to meet this morning's deadline, by which they had to pay the bank £400,000. However the bank had been inundated with calls from Portsmouth supporters, and apparently relented. Administrators have been appointed, and it seems the winding-up order to be heard on Wednesday is now of little consequence to the club.
This page is maintained by James Beard.