The unofficial AFC Rushden & Diamonds messageboard

DiamondsR4ever wrote:What was said in the program for those that missed it?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0 ... 4_04_2011/

10 minutes in.

Mad Dog wrote:

Two of Diamonds wrote:I expect that club officials have been deep into negotiations in order to sell Joe in order to clear our financial problems and for that reason the club must operate in silence. This is the correct thing to do and they should be applauded for doing it the right way.
As for throwing schoolground personal insults around, it does no one here any credit.

I don't mind about keeping quiet about the transfer negotiations Robin, but we were told that we were financially fine at the fans forum. We've gone from that to the threat of administration.

I'm not fickle as my posts have proved on here in the past. But even some form reassuring statement might have helped temper emotions.

Well (once confirmed) relief and a good move all round. P'Boro have another fine young player and their investment in youth from lower leagues is to be applauded. A great move for Joe too and well deserved. On our part, the right thing to do in the circumstances if a gap in the cashflow had to plugged. I think the way forward for all clubs at our level is to try and spot those talented youngsters and develop them for sale and to pick up talented loanees like Byrne/Sharp.

Of course any negotiations had to be kept confidential and I respect that position. What still irks me and is proven by the this sale is the lack of investment now. I think the new management must level with the fans on this otherwise the share sale will be a disaster and potentially season ticket sales harmed too.

I don't think they have misled us as such. It was always clear that PBDevs was going to be the fund generator, but at no stage was it made clear we have to be wholly self sufficient in the interim. I think that a presumption of some funding in the short term was legimitate given the tone of fans forum and statements made. I just wish they had been honest that it will be a very rough ride in the first 12-18 months and that until PBDevs gets going, we're on our own.

Just listening to the link I posted earlier, they also said our Conference hearing on the financial reporting charge is on Friday.

Oundle Diamond #2 wrote:

CalversonDiamond wrote:I am just hoping that we have a massive sell on clause included in the deal as he's guna be a bloody god player and will prop make it all the way and we deserve some higher regonistion we have a great youth set up here and Joe is a product of that !!

It's worth noting that Tomlin, Jackson & have all come here as rejects from others clubs. Whoever finds these 'rejects' is the real reason Rushden & Diamonds still exists.

Agreed, the scouts and coaches who work with them before they break into the first team deserve a lot of credit for this! Harnessing the talent and ability that is being shown now

I'm going to play devils advocate for a minute:

IF someone knows the length of his contract at R&D then they can put an end to this straight away ;) .

If his contract was up this summer, and we offered him a contract of the same level (or more) for next season, and he turned it down, we would then be entitled to a fee from the club he next moves to. Maybe Peterborough have given us 25k now instead of the 50k they would have had to pay in the summer by tribunal? In which case, this is a move out of desperation.

Of course this might not be the case ;)

I sincerely hope we've let him go for no less than 100k.

BartonRaz wrote:I'm going to play devils advocate for a minute:

IF someone knows the length of his contract at R&D then they can put an end to this straight away ;) .

If his contract was up this summer, and we offered him a contract of the same level (or more) for next season, and he turned it down, we would then be entitled to a fee from the club he next moves to. Maybe Peterborough have given us 25k now instead of the 50k they would have had to pay in the summer by tribunal? In which case, this is a move out of desperation.

Of course this might not be the case ;)

I sincerely hope we've let him go for no less than 100k.

£70k tops IMO, keepers always go for less than outfield players. That'll pay for the players' wages and a chunk of the tax bill.

I think the thing that worried me the most is that I've been hearing good things coming out of the club, I was optimistic about our future, I was keen to support the new owners in their efforts to develop the club and move us on, over a period of time. I don't want quick fixes, I don't expect them to lob in tons of cash at the club, I never thought for one minute that they would, my expectations of the next few months were low, my hopes for the much longer term were growing - BUT, I also don't want to be told everything in the garden is rosy when it clearly never was. That insults my intelligence.

I will cut them some slack, I understand they are new to this club ownership game and have a bit to learn. However, a simple holding statement acknowledging there were problems and telling us things were going on behind the scenes to rectify the situation would have been enough for me - I'm a trusting soul !! But there is still nothing official on the club's shop window (the OWS), not a thing to officially calm our nerves (and those of our suppliers and no doubt potential sponsors). I too understand there are certain detaisl they can't put into the public domain - but issue some reassuring messages.

The one thing I want to see now is something official, a confidence boosting message. At the moment the worst thing is happening, a growing feeling of uncertainty. That won't lift money out of people's pockets to buy their season tickets early, it won't encourage people to buy shares, it won't even entice people through the turnstiles - let alone lift the morale of our players, which must be rock bottom at the moment.

I wish I could share the optimism being shared on this Board at the moment, but I have a nagging doubt gnawing away at me that we're not out of the woods yet.

Fingers crossed we'll hear something official out of the club soon, they read this Board, they must know how the fans feel? Sure, we're just a small snapshot of them, but all of us speak to other people, the Grapevine grinds on - we now need some official information to replace the disinformation and rumour that is floating around.......please !!!

I don't think it helps that Matt, the press guy, has gone now as well. He was responsible for press releases and info on the offy site. Who is doing it now? Gill Wignall?

I think there are a number of issues which are not clear, and which could have a significant bearing on the finances:-

1. Is money still outstanding from the Tomlin sale? I understood that initial the fee was being paid in instalments over a period of time.

2. Does any sell-on clause on Tomlin benefit the Football Club and it's new owners, or did KC (who appears to be very shrewd) put a clause in the sale of the club whereby he ( or his Company) retain the rights to any sell-on fees, and maybe even any outstanding initial transfer monies from Tomlin's sale.

3. Assuming the Joe Day sale is confirmed ( I guess at the moment there can only be some pre-contract agreement as we are outside the transfer window) how discounted is the price as it is very much a buyer's market at the moment where we are concerned. I believe that Joe would have moved on in the summer anyway, and had our finances not required the immediate cash injection could we have held out for a lot more money.

4. If the Club receive say £50k. for Joe Day it only represents about 1 months wages, so it is only a temporary fix, and we have lost one of our best assets.

As others have said, I think we need open and clear information from the new owners regarding the finances, both current and projected, before commitments will be made by supporters to buy season tickets, and before players/staff will be convinced to sign new contracts or be prevented from looking elsewhere for more secure employment.


I'm sorry if that sounds negative but I think we need to be realistic anout our situation, which appears to be pretty dire at the moment.

1. Is money still outstanding from the Tomlin sale? I understood that initial the fee was being paid in instalments over a period of time.

Yeah, it was £10k a month for 18 months, so we must have had only around half of that so far.

2. Does any sell-on clause on Tomlin benefit the Football Club and it's new owners, or did KC (who appears to be very shrewd) put a clause in the sale of the club whereby he ( or his Company) retain the rights to any sell-on fees, and maybe even any outstanding initial transfer monies from Tomlin's sale.

Surely Tomlin was the club's asset to sell, and therefore any benefit from his sale is the club's? KC was a clever guy, but Tomlin was under contract to R&DFC, not him.

3. Assuming the Joe Day sale is confirmed ( I guess at the moment there can only be some pre-contract agreement as we are outside the transfer window) how discounted is the price as it is very much a buyer's market at the moment where we are concerned. I believe that Joe would have moved on in the summer anyway, and had our finances not required the immediate cash injection could we have held out for a lot more money.

I agree. Barry Fry isn't stupid. He'll have gone for peanuts.

4. If the Club receive say £50k. for Joe Day it only represents about 1 months wages, so it is only a temporary fix, and we have lost one of our best assets.

As others have said, I think we need open and clear information from the new owners regarding the finances, both current and projected, before commitments will be made by supporters to buy season tickets, and before players/staff will be convinced to sign new contracts or be prevented from looking elsewhere for more secure employment.


I'm sorry if that sounds negative but I think we need to be realistic anout our situation, which appears to be pretty dire at the moment.

Totally agree with that. We're not anywhere near safe yet, as you say it's only a short term solution.