Bluedell

Do we really need an answer as to what we could do with it now? We may have another use for it in 10-30 years, but once we've sold it and it's been built on then the chance is gone forever. We missed the chance with the Hinshelwood estate and look at it now. Horrible flats deliberately hiding the stadium and making the area look more undesirable, and we're making the same mistake again. Flats are going to be built on it. More residents means more people to object when we ask for things like the fanzone. It may be only used every second Saturday but it sill offers parking for the disabled. Presumably any replacement parking is going to mean more of a trek for them. Perhaps fine for us able-bodied but my mate struggles to walk from the Albion and he'd be unable to go if he has to walk further. The lack of communication from the club is dreadful as well. I'm presuming that they are deliberately holding off saying anything until the season ticket sales are complete as they don't have to worry about those who are unable to walk not renewing (assuming that they're going to supply a replacement area for car parking, but who knows?

The club should be getting to increase its footprint around the stadium and not selling off prime land. Thid is land that is now lost to the club, possibly forever. Dreadful decision by the board. ?

Fixed that for you.

The difference this year is that the new kits will be available in plenty of time before the season starts.

Yeah, it's basically blackmail.

That's outrageous.

There's been a suggestion that it could be up to £30 million over 5 years.

Why do you think it's a bad deal?

Yes, or perhaps T@ig, although I don't know that I would use "racist" as that opens up another argument and allows hem to take it off-topic. Probably sectarian is more correct.

There's a risk for any kit manufacturer getting involved with us, given the recent litigious history with SDI. Presumably the deal has been done very recently and therefore it will not have the same planning that usual deals have, Given the above 2 points, that's presumably why the likes of Adidas and Nike weren't involved in the bidding. Everything has also to be viewed in a post-covid-19 world. Adidas have had to get €3 billion of support, Puma have major financial issues and have to relocate their manufacturing base, putting up costs. It is expected that the US-China trade war may have an impact as well. I can't say for sure whether it's a good deal or not, but given where we are right now, and the state of the world, it doesn't look to be a bad deal.

Just because we're able to go ahead with the new deals doesn't mean that the court cases have been settled.

I'm shocked. I guess some sort of payoff has been made, but even so, it's still great to be finally rid of him. Great news!

I'd have hoped that the club would be publicly trying to get the players to take pay cuts, rather than just asking us to fork out to pay their wages. They seem to be taking the easy option by not doing that. C1872's Q&A on season tickets will certainly be interesting, and hopefully they'll ask the right questions.

He allowed his name to go against it.

That pisses me off. Taking a wage deferral and making out that it's showing some level of loyalty to the club. Yes, it's good in that it defers season ticket renewals, but they're ultimately not going to be out of pocket, so there's no sacrifice and therefore very little loyalty, so please don't crow about it, Mr Gerrard.

I'm finding it difficult to justify renewing for something that may not happen.

Football faces season behind closed doors Football matches would be played behind closed doors all next season under plans being considered by the sport’s authorities. Senior figures believe that games in the top four divisions, including the Premier League, will be held without crowds until Christmas as Britain tries to control the coronavirus pandemic. They think this could continue until May next year if government permission for mass gatherings is tied to production of a widely available vaccine. Other sports, music festivals and concerts would also be banned if Boris Johnson takes such a hardline stance. Holding matches behind closed doors for the whole season would mean a big drop in income for clubs, and the Football Association is looking at how to minimise damage to clubs at all levels. Manchester United earn £111 million a season from ticket sales and matchday revenue, 17 per cent of their total income. Across all four divisions the total income lost would exceed £1 billion. Clubs in the lower divisions are more vulnerable as they rely on income from ticket sales far more than those in the Premier League, where most of the revenue comes from television rights. In League One and League Two, matchday income makes up an average of 40 per cent of clubs’ income. There is concern that wages will fall and some players might have to go part-time. Jonas Baer-Hoffman, secretary-general of the international footballers’ union Fifpro, said: “In terms of fans being back inside stadiums that might likely not be possible until people are vaccinated. So it may well be that we play a full season without spectators.” Sports organisations are aware that attention has been focused on whether mass gatherings in March contributed to the spread of the virus. These included the Cheltenham races and the derby match between Manchester United and Manchester City on March 8 and Liverpool’s Champions League match against Atletico Madrid on March 12. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/football-faces-season-behind-closed-doors-phxssnw9l

I'd rather have Sheikh Mansour than Craig Whyte, so I'm not sure how much nationality comes into it. It won't make any difference.

Employees can only be furloughed if they agree to it. In most cases, people agree to it because the alternative may be redundancy. However that's obviously not the case with players. It needs to be public pressure for them to look to help, rather than them sitting back and collecting cash being paid for by supporters who are on furlough or reduced hours.

There's no war chest. The directors had to guarantee that they would put in £10m during the season just to keep us going. There's none domestically. We don't have any rights to show games in the UK.

There may be a government guideline which insists on social distancing.

When will football be back up and running? Will there be social distancing within the stadium, which will have a major impact on crowds and season ticket sales? 2 unknowns and a difficult situation for the club. I'd be stunned if the club do buy Hagi. Surely we don't have the cash for that. The current crisis is a game changer and we will have to watch every penny, particularly as we have little cash coming in but over £1m/month flowing out and then a big bump in July when we have to pay the deferred salaries. As you say, Buster, it's a scary time.

Winning the league at their midden in 1999, while they totally humiliated themselves both on and off the pitch.

I hope that we're getting decent legal advice on this and not relying on James Blair.