First things first this morning and a bit of sympathy for any Irish Terras this morning after their World Cup exit to France last night. As the picture shows I am a huge fan of Thierry Henry (and to be honest any excuse to show that picture of me with his shirt at the entrance to the Nou Camp, Barcelona is one I will take) but the handball was a harsh way to knock a team out.

On to matters TerraCotta and with interest building towards this weekends derby in the FA Trophy I (in my new spirit of giving the prospective owners of the club the benefit of the doubt) wanted to bullet point a couple of simple constructive things that will get us moving forward in the wider worlds eyes. 

• Can we get the "Invest in us" stickers off the clubs shirts? I thought 'Weyland' were the clubs new sponsor ? so far their logo has only appeared on the ressies kit.
• Can we have a simple clarified version of the vision set out by the Chris Ryan team? We have been through vague promises and "sleeping giant" type rhetoric too many times. Even if the vision is harsh cuts to the clubs budget, I would rather know than not.  

It's not much granted, but I just think a couple of quick fixes would make life much more bearable in the short term and set us on a stable path in the long term.

Oh and beat Dorchester, that would help. 10-0, smash them. I am still hurting from the 2001 FA Cup match. The pain of conceding the only goal in 19 seconds will stay with me for ever. 

But for a brilliant goal line clearance in the last minute Terras would have been two wins from their last two matches, although there is no shame in settling for a draw with high flying Woking.

Off the field I am continuing my new tactic of keeping my gob shut so will only express my delight at the players getting paid some wages at long last.

That is a real positive.

Plenty of build up to come later in the week before the first "Ridgeway Derby" of the season with Dorchester. Let's make the magic happen boys.

The deal has been done and Chris Ryan (acting for Steve Beasant) appears to have taken control at the Wessex Stadium. It would appear that a bloke who has gone bust for £5.5m just has to slag off Malcolm Curtis and only provide £150k to service a £500k debt to be the messiah so who am I to argue?

I wasn't at the meeting last night so I can't really comment. I asked someone closely involved if this was the end of the roller coaster ride and they told me "ha ha ha, its barely begun if I have read these guys right". 

He does live in Portland now apparently so maybe my cynicism is badly placed. Enough people around the skirts of the club have expressed their concern to me but for the sake of my sanity I am going to shut up now and let whatever is going to unfold happen.

Football never ceases to amaze and Weymouth winning one nil at Bishops Stortford yesterday was one of those occasions where the surprise was pleasant.

Let's put aside the off field issues for a brief second to salute Ian Hutchinson and his unpaid players for humbling their play off chasing hosts in the biggest upset of the footballing weekend bar none. 

A first away win since the first Tuesday in February ensured that the Terras faithful had a few brief moments away from boardroom dramas to enjoy something good that came from football. 

(The orange kit looked good too!!)

But, we have to return from cloud 9 quickly because as I write this article a critical meeting is taking place at the Wessex Stadium to discuss the future direction of the club. 

I stand by what I said yesterday. For me the only way to end this misery is to cut the cord and start again from scratch. I cannot see why anyone would want to take on an insolvent company and try to keep it trading... other than land. 

The club has a debt of £500k+ and Chris Ryan thinks £150k will be enough to sort it out. You don't need to be Carol Vorderman to work out that doesn't go. 

George Rolls is a man with a lot to prove having seen it all go sour for him at Cambridge United and if the club were to continue it would be he who I would want to see take over. 

Seeing Paul Cocks leave the board of the club has left me with a heavy heart. Having spoken to him for a couple of interviews that went on the blog I see a man with the clubs interest at heart. If he says something is wrong then its wrong. 

I would like this opportunity to thank Paul, Shaun Hennessey and Ian Ridley, along with Dave Higson for taking on this impossible job. 

I just hope that it wasn't in vain in the long term. 

But I fear for us...

Weymouth FC in its current format is dead.

Let me be crystal clear on my position on this. For me I cannot see the club continuing in its current format especially under Chris Ryan. 

The more I hear about this guy and his cohort, the less interested I am in him taking the club on. For me a new club is the only way to end this mess once and for all and for this to happen I am calling for the following to happen.

1. Shaun Hennessey and Ian Winsor (if they are the remaining Directors) put the club into liquidation without further delay.
2. If this triggers a land deal then so be it, most of us are beyond caring now about who will own what. The second thing I ask is that Morgan Sindall and/or Malcolm Curtis offer use of the Wessex Stadium to the new club until they deliver their new community stadium. It is my understanding that they don't even trust Ryan/Beasant and if that is the case you could see them chucking the existing entity out of the Wessex.
3. The Terras Trust start working now on getting us a club set up and ready for August 2010 which can play in preferably the Wessex League or the Dorset League. I have never been a Trust member or supporter of what they have done but this act would get my tenner in the post and would give them access to all of the information I have on where we got with setting up a new club a while back.
4. I would ask all fans to back this opportunity and not become divided over issues such as which badge will be used or what the club will be called. We need one group getting together to make this happen.

What I saw and heard last night restored a lot of the dented faith I have in some elements of the clubs support. We can act in a united way and as one (Weymouth United perhaps?)

I plea to all Terras fans and actors in this pantomime to end this fiasco now and let's prepare to start again without property developers and vultures.

...this comes up.

More tomorrow.

Insolvency proceedings

"The deadline for any proposed purchaser to reach an agreement prior to administration with the proposed administrator of WFC LTD has now passed. The administrator, having set out his requirements to all interested parties, did not receive any offer that complied with those requirements. The administrator has to comply with general law, insolvency law and the requirements of the football authorities, as well as securing the best deal for creditors. The situation surrounding WFC LTD is particularly complicated by (a) the complex situation relating to ownership of the land and (b) the possibility of a legal claim against former chairman Malcolm Curtis. The deadline having passed, the directors of the club are now under an obligation to take formal insolvency proceedings, and will be meeting as soon as possible with a view to commencing that process" PAUL COCKS

The Dorset Evening Echo is reporting that an announcement regarding the future of Weymouth FC will be made at 5pm this evening.

More when we have it.

The man who visually resembles a teak sideboard could be in line for yet another cash windfall as a result of speculation surrounding Bournemouth Manager Eddie Howe.

Jason Tindall is one of the men most responsible for Weymouth FC finding itself at deaths door today having allegedly been handed a wonderful contract (along with that clown Marcus Browning) when JT's Father in law was owner of the club. 

When Mel Bush left the contracts still stood and it took us until the summer of 2009 to rid ourselves of Browning. 

Tindall was sacked much sooner when it became clear that he couldn't manage for toffee. But he, of course, landed on his feet getting a huge payout rumoured to be in the hundreds of thousands of pounds. 

He then (after not being able to play for Weymouth due to his old injuries) pulled on his boots again for Bournemouth and is part of their management team. 

Eddie Howe is the bookies favourite to take over from the departed Darren Ferguson in the Peterborough United hotseat and you can be sure he would want to take his back room team with him.

Could Tindall soon become a neighbour of mine up here? Let him knock on my door for a cup of sugar the tosser. 

Unless a miracle has happened between me writing this post and it becoming live on the site, Weymouth Football Club will today enter administration (finally) and face up to life in Conference South with a 10 point deduction.

This will leave the club on -4 points and facing a mountain to climb to avoid starting next season back in the Southern League, a division we said adiós to back in 2001/02. I am still going to call it the Southern League and will not be forced into calling it the Zamaretto league. Oh no.

It seems we have been waiting for Terras to go into admin longer than we have been waiting for release of the new Scooter (for you Walshie and Tim) or 30 Seconds to Mars albums. And this next few days could be hardcore and noisy (do you like what I have done there?!!!) as we wait to see who if anyone decides to take on the club.

We will need to wait and see if the stadium remains in the clubs ownership or whether Malcolm Curtis will complete the monopoly type acquisition of that small corner of the Granby Industrial Estate for the rumoured sum of £1.  

Will any reformed club still be entitled to the new super stadium or £7m compensation he promised?

Will Gary Calder or Garry Hill make a comeback ? Please God no!!

All I know is that there can be no more deadlines, no more waiting and no more room for negotiation. 

Let's hope this isn' the last TerrasBlog..

Peterborough United have reportedly sacked their manager Darren Ferguson, a news story I will struggle to avoid living around the city.

But confusion reigns at London Road as no-one will actually confirm that the manager has left. The comedy hate figure of Director of Football Barry Fry remains in post and many supporters are still boycotting the club (even though they have risen from league 2 to the Championship in consecutive seasons). This is a protest at the way Mr Fry is alleged to have 'done well' out of some transactions back when he was owner/manager/tea lady/cleaner.

Say what you want about Weymouth FC and its regular off field melt downs. At least we know how to sack a manager and let the fans know. 

We often see supporters on the clubs message board rattling on about how the club should talk to them and keep them in the loop. I 100% disagree with board members and club staff posting on the forum but if they choose to do it then it does show a desire to keep the supporters abreast with developments at the club. 

We shouldn't use that as a stick to beat the board with, we should actually be thankful that we have that relationship. 

15 hours on, Posh fans have no clue whether they have a manager anymore or not...

Tomorrow is D-day. Weymouth FC is looking likely to go into administration and we will be on -4 points. The hope is that the club is bought out of admin straight away from any interested buyers. More on that momentous day tomorrow. 

It's nice to be feeling a bit nearer human again after a fair few days under the weather. Hopefully the cold is on its way out and full health can be restored. I am missing the cycling so fingers crossed I can be training again before much longer.

It could be that the Terras are returning to some level of health too. With administration looming it has been interesting to hear that there are a number of potential suitors for the club. Some have approached the board directly and want to work with the existing ownership (Chris Ryan), others seem to be doing their business through the media and have been keen to keep their identity secret (the so-called Channel Islands 5), and others who are that under the radar that I am going to keep my gob shut!!!

One thing I do want to say is that any new owner should consider the views of the Terras faithful (dwindling as it is) and keep Ian Hutchinson in his job. It is important for the re-building of the club on the playing side that a trusted name for the fans is in post. 

It is also crucial that as we enter these last few days before administration all fans of the club remember that they have a responsibility to show any potential owner that we are worth backing and can show a unified support for the team and the board. 

There are plenty of usual suspects who I understand are doing their level best to ruin any chance the club has of survival, let's not give them the satisfaction of winning by welcoming a new owner to the Wessex Stadium...

Sermon over!

For now!

Stupid damn cold. Stupid broken car. Stupid no football on Saturday.

It has all gone quiet again in Terras land, after the club Director Paul Cocks revealed he didnt even know who the Channel Islands 5 were (even though they were doing their bidding through the press) I think we all wondered if they had credibility?

So who is interested in buying the Terras and taking it out of administration as soon as it goes in?

Maybe its those who don't want the land deal scrutinised? Until a few minutes ago I hadnt thought of that.

Enjoy a soccer free weekend people.

I know that the Poole fans were wondering why the hard core Terras fans were dancing in the cold last night after beating their side 3-1 in the Dorset Cup last night.

It was nothing against their team or themselves. I think many of us feared the club would vanish without winning another game so it was a relief to win even one more. Even though it was against a team three leagues lower than us (currently!) and in a smaller cup competition.

But I don't need to tell anyone how good it feels. 

I am currently following tonights match on the Poole Town forum. Great little club with a good website. Big night for them and the gulf in class is obviously not as large as we would have expected. Having said all of that, how good does it feel to be 2-0 up eh?

They may be three leagues below us but I think us Terras fans are going to have to stop thinking about Rushden and Stevenage and start thinking more local and supposedly smaller clubs for our watching pleasure. And if it is to be the Southern League or worse let's get it all sorted and get ready for next season. 

The one thing I would be desperate for is keeping Ian Hutchinson signed up as manager. Legend. 

A good FA Trophy run would bring in some much needed cash after the FA Cup flop. At home to Dorchester Town is the perfect draw. The Ridgeway derby will be a great occasion and I hope that those who are drifting away from the club expecting it to fold might be tempted along if we limp that far in our current format. 

(Edit, its 2-1 now, bollocks) 

Ok so getting on to the purpose of this post and it is a bit of a rant against the Conference (again). 

I fail to see the upset of Histon supposedly beating Terras into administration this week. Histon have never been a village side that has made good as they have been portrayed. They have been ably backed by a number of benefactors and anyone who thinks their rags to riches story is a sign that football success can be achieved on the cheap is deluded. 

Their poor crowds (for a conference club, not a village team) were always going to catch up with them and the fact that the local FA are hosted at their stadium and they connections on the Conference board has kept their finances out of the firing line so long. 

But as we found out under some of Weymouth's previous boards and off field management, if you dance with the devil long enough you get your fingers burned. 

We have and we will have to take the consequences... they are coming of course. 

(edit 3-1 Terras!!!) 

We are around the Haloween/Bonfire Night season and it wouldn't be TerrasBlog without the annual reproduction of one of my favourite bits of TerrasBlog's history (which now stretches half a decade).

We could talk more about the planned meeting with new investors today or the terrible refereeing that took us out of the match on Saturday. Instead, there is this...

A world away...

...Imagine if you can a country where children spend dark nights begging on your doorstep for any scraps of food or cakes that you may have.

Explosions go off in the background, lighting up the night sky. On the breeze you can hear the shouts of a woman taken by surprise by the intensity of the rockets "boom".

Where are you... Basra? no... Kabul? Getting a bit nearer...

Must be the former Yugoslavian republics somewhere?

No... You are imagining being in any bastard town or city in the uk over the past few days.

Kids "Trick or Treating" scavenging food off you or else they'll let your tyres down or put paint through your letter box.

Fireworks, once exclusive on 5th November now any day or more especially night in the week before or after that "Magical" date.

What a country eh?



Guy Fawkes-a lot to answer for..

So an as far un-named South Coast based consortium is looking to save Weymouth from the chop and will meet wit the board and proposed administrators on Monday.

They have approached the administrators first which means they will not be saving the club as it stands at the moment. We would be going into administration, we would see our creditors having to agree a rate in the pound for their debts and we would have to take a 10 point deduction before being relegated (if we did then stay up). 

So whilst there is a flicker, it remains just that as opposed to a bona fide attempt to save the club lock, stock. But having said that this consortium are one of two things. 

1. Savvy enough to realise that the best financial deal for them and the best opportunity for the club to survive an ulitimately prosper is to take the club from admin.
2. Skint and can only afford to take it on without the debt.  

The other thing to note is that there is no clear indication of what will happen to the legal action against Malcolm Curtis and ownership of the Wessex.

Terras travel to St Albans City today in what would have been a relegation 6-pointer before this weeks administration news. But wouldn't it be nice to end our losing run against them and hopefully drag them down with us?

I would love that. 

Really.

 Not the last time we will see the famous old shirt?

The clubs statement via Paul Cocks yesterday set out clearly where Weymouth FC is right now.

We are looking to enter administration which becomes a lottery because the board have no control over who takes on the club. It will be out of their hands. 

The other risk now is that no-one will want to take it on and despite the debts going away the club will vanish too. 

The third issue as I see it will be the good will of local business who will be sold short in getting their monies owed by the club. 

Whichever way forward is agreed in the next week or so we are likely to see a much changed version of the club (again).  I remember posting back in the summer that stability is the gong to be the key for the Terras to survive but it looks destined to never be the case. 

Peace breaking out at the Wessex Stadium could forever remain a pipe dream. 

Weymouth FC has filed notice that it is looking to appoint an administrator as the loyal supporters worst fears were realised.

What the notice means is that no creditors can apply to the courts to wind us up in the next two weeks. But what is also means is that a rescue package is needed within that period, ideally before the weekend. 

The Board of Directors who have stuck with the club through this period and who have tried to sort out the shambles they were left with deserve everyones support and commitment for two more weeks whilst they try and salvage whatever they can from the Wessex Stadium debacle. 

Don't forget that an administrator can sell what is left of the business to whomever they wish (if they decided there is anything left to sell) so the nightmare could go on. 

One thing that would appear irrelevant is the deduction of 10 points. After a true battle with Bath last night the ultimate defeat means that even without losing points relegation is a near certainty. 

But...

Hats off to Ian Hutchinson and his players for keeping going. You are a credit to the shirt. 

We are still backing the board and the lads, and still hope that a white knight can save the club. 

 

Terras play Bath City tonight. If I were a betting man most of my stake would be on Marcus Browning playing and scoring after a flowing move involving Stuart Douglas, Raiff Gwinett and Sido Jombarti.

When your luck is out, your luck is out and the Terras seem to be on a downward spiral that not even my enthusiasm can see out. 

Fair play to those of you turning out tonight and going down to support the club. You deserve better than how the footballing gods have treated you over the last few years and my admiration for you guys is total. 

It is easy to pick and prod at the board and the club on the internet but it takes balls to go out in the dark and cold knowing that you are 75% certain of seeing your team take nothing from the game.

Terras fans have been different class since the day Martyn Harrison left the club. In the main. The problem is that we will always be damned by those who couldn't keep their gobs shut when times were good and who seem to want to put the boot into the club they profess to support now. 

It is these folk who look like being rewarded with a judgement day that sees the club probably vanishing up the swannery. 

The people who actually support the club will be those who lose out. Not those who treat it as a soap opera and who like to help the gossip, rumour and ill feeling along. 

Having said all of that... something tells me that we could win tonight...