TerrasBlog

TerrasBlog 19/11/2009 - A blueprint for success...

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:34:48 -0600

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.

TerrasBlog 18/11/2009 - Results continue to improve Terras 0-0 Woking

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:04:02 -0600

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.

TerrasBlog 16/11/2009 - High farce at the Wessex Stadium

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:14:38 -0600

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.

TerrasBlog 15/11/2009 - Bishops Stortford 0-1 Terras + 2 offers to save a football club

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 12:42:01 -0600

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...

TerrasBlog 14/11/2009 - Time to start again

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 04:41:18 -0600

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.

Shaun Hennessey and Ian Winsor (if they are the remaining Directors) put the club into liquidation without further delay.
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.
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.
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.

TerrasBlog 13/11/2009 - Just when you thought we were dead and buried...

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:50:05 -0600

...this comes up.

More tomorrow.

TerrasBlog Extra 12/11/2009 Terras insolvent...

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:33:30 -0600

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

TerrasBlog 12/11/2009 - Echo reports announcement to be made.

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:16:26 -0600

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.

TerrasBlog Extra 11/11/2009 - Could Tindall get lucky again?

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:32:13 -0600

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.

TerrasBlog 11/10/2009 - May the force be with us

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:53:47 -0600

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..