Dramatic night at club's annual meeting (From Watford Observer)
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Dramatic night at club's annual meeting
9:15pm Tuesday 15th December 2009 in
Watford have been plunged into fresh turmoil tonight after the Russo brothers dramatically resigned at the annual meeting of the club's parent company, Watford Leisure Plc.
It initially appeared that the entire Hornets board had stood down, but it was later confirmed that only chairman Jimmy Russo, his brother and vice-chairman Vince and their close business associate Robin Williams had quit.
Following the dramatic developments, Graham Taylor took over as acting chairman for the rest of the meeting.
More to follow...
Comments(36)
WFC4ever
says...
9:26pm Tue 15 Dec 09
Rick Holden Forever wrote:Unless the Russos are trying to take over the club which has been rejected by Ashcroft/Simpson I fear for us really.
What is going on?
There was only one Scully
says...
9:35pm Tue 15 Dec 09
I think we are in for a big expose!!
the sniper
says...
9:41pm Tue 15 Dec 09
in getting a consortium to invest someone please sort out our beloved club sooner rather than later,are Simpson and Ashcroft going to invest now the Russos have gone? Statement Please Watford!!!!
IRF
says...
9:44pm Tue 15 Dec 09
N Joydegame
says...
9:49pm Tue 15 Dec 09
Jimmy Russo announces that he has tried to buy the others out, they have not responded, and as there is a poll vote for AGM resolutions all reps from Valley Foods resign before the AGM starts.
Graham Taylor gets elected AGM Chairman and tells the audience that he knew nothing of the Russos intentions before the meeting and that they were considering offers from Fordwat and Valley Foods? Fordwat representatives then dive for cover and stay hidden...........Tot
al chaos. Taylor is furious with the Russos for not informing the board of their intentions before the meeting.
Rumours galore about share offers but have to admit my alligance is with the Russos. They want to buy the club and will fund everything going forward, but as 30% shareholders they are not prepared to shoulder all the borrowings needed to fund the club, which is haemoraging £1m per month!!! Simpson is aiming for revenge for last years EGM which cost £178000, but after the state he left the club in, lynch mob to the ready?
What a complete and utter mucking fuddle.
Security word......shot-them! I wish.
worthing_hornet
says...
9:50pm Tue 15 Dec 09
enlightened one
says...
10:04pm Tue 15 Dec 09
a1derek
says...
10:13pm Tue 15 Dec 09
enlightened one
says...
10:18pm Tue 15 Dec 09
a1derek wrote:Lord Lucan rides down Occupation road astride Shergar and becomes the new Chairman,on the evidence of the last few days seems quite plausible.
More importantly...what happens tomorrow???
The Not-so-enlightened one
says...
10:19pm Tue 15 Dec 09
pstannard1
says...
10:26pm Tue 15 Dec 09
I can see us out of business by the end of the season as i can't see cashston and Simpson stuping up the 5.5 mil needed.
WFC4ever
says...
10:27pm Tue 15 Dec 09
IRF wrote:Too many big egos and personal disputes are wrecking our club at the moment.
Dear me, a real mess. The club is on the edge and a few board members resign and demand their money back. A game of chess, a game of poker - who knows. We need strong leaders who remain focussed at managing the football club out of this situation and have a plan and can see it through. Blame and personal interests need to be put to one side for the great good of a Watford Football Club. It needs some independent board members with business experience who are not caught up in the history. I would stand for election!
The Not-so-enlightened one
says...
10:29pm Tue 15 Dec 09
enlightened one wrote:If this keeps up, the team will have to be made up from the crew of the Marie Celeste, because the rest of the players will go missing to pay the bills.
a1derek wrote: More importantly...what happens tomorrow???Lord Lucan rides down Occupation road astride Shergar and becomes the new Chairman,on the evidence of the last few days seems quite plausible.
Mo Tulon
says...
10:31pm Tue 15 Dec 09
All this talk of Taylor and Dame John being in the background has not made a difference.
I hope your club sorts out their difficulties.
enlightened one
says...
10:34pm Tue 15 Dec 09
The Not-so-enlightened one wrote:As I say anythings possible,you never know short sighted cricket officials might even get the odd decision right.
enlightened one wrote:If this keeps up, the team will have to be made up from the crew of the Marie Celeste, because the rest of the players will go missing to pay the bills.a1derek wrote: More importantly...what happens tomorrow???Lord Lucan rides down Occupation road astride Shergar and becomes the new Chairman,on the evidence of the last few days seems quite plausible.
pfwhornets
says...
10:40pm Tue 15 Dec 09
WFC4ever
says...
10:49pm Tue 15 Dec 09
pfwhornets wrote:Trouble is our ground will be the only asset to raise funds (plus players)
Ashcroft doesn't want to invest or sell his shares. Simpson doesn't want to lose his shares nor does he have any capital to put in. The Russo's want to buy the club outright but Ashcroft doesn't want to sell his stake. There is only one solution to stop this merry-go-round: Administration - clears the debts and gets rid of them all for good so that someone can buy the club for £1 who has some real money to invest (NOT LEND) and has the good of the club at heart. I'm happy to take the 10 pt deduction if it means we can concentrate on football and I get the football club back that I love. Only hope the Russo's don't steal our ground in the process.
Beds Horn
says...
11:01pm Tue 15 Dec 09
Not sure the Russo's will end up with the club now. I suspect they'll sell up to Ascroft/Simpson who will find others to share the burden.
I still think we'll be ok but some choppy waters to sale through in the next few days/weeks.
Beds Horn, Biggleswade says...
11:11am Fri 11 Dec 09
This is a game of brinkmanship. JR paints a very black picture about whats needed by June, up's the anti by announcing that his £1m loan will only see the club through till 22 December (just after the AGM) and at the same time tries to engage in a negotiation to acquire the majority of the shares from Fordwat and Simpson.
If a deal is done, JR will refinance the club, securing the short term future but I'd be interested to know how the re-financing will be structured and secured. Will it be against the freehold of the Vic or will it be guaranteed by VGS.
If it is the latter I would see that as good news in the short to medium term, the former and I would wonder what JR's next move will be.
JR is trying to push the other parties into selling by committing short term cash in an attempt to get the others to fold. WFC is at the centre of a game of poker and it looks to me like JR is getting the upper hand. Having said that, Michael Ashcroft will have more tricks up his sleeve than JR will have ever known so I don't think this will be the last chapter of this saga.
The next move will either be for Fordwat/Simpson to let it be known that they are planning to make a significant investment to move the club forward - which will defuse JR's current position and indicate that they are not ready to role over and sell cheaply or they decide that they have had enough and sell to JR and walk away.
Jimmy's moves to date, whilst being a bit blatent, seem to have enabled him to gain the upper hand, so unless the others get their ar**s in gear, he is goin to win the 'hand'.
The thing that I am certain about is that WFC are not about to go into administration on the 22nd.
The Russo's are business men, so longer term, the only way they will make a return is to increase the clubs value and sell it on.
If WFC ends up in the hands of VGS I would predict a stable 3 to 5 years and then the ownership issue will spark up all over again.
Theres my Christmas prediction for what its worth.
GrahamTaylor
says...
11:06pm Tue 15 Dec 09
derry pigweed
says...
11:11pm Tue 15 Dec 09
Hold your head in SHAME!
Did you ever support Watford or are you a luton fan?
Billie
says...
11:18pm Tue 15 Dec 09
TonyCoton
says...
11:31pm Tue 15 Dec 09
The ONLY person we can trust to give us any truth is GT. But how damaging to the club is it for him to tell us what the truth is? He is the only person thinking solely of the club.
The Russo's from the EGM last year wanted revenge on Simpson above anything else including WFC so for me they are not to be trusted either.
So lets just hope GT wins euromillions otherwise we are stuck with one of two groups of tw*ts
sec- free-loan...
Beds Horn
says...
11:41pm Tue 15 Dec 09
At that point the last thing he will be interested in, is WFC going into administration.
Unfortunately it's just a clash of cultures and for all their barrow boy charm, Ashcrofts corporate sensibilities will simply never see eye to eye with a couple of small businessmen made good.
Ashcroft is not a fan he's an investor. He hasn't invested to let it all go down the sh****. He's played a sophisticated game known as 'starvation' where he allows the other party to spend money trying to shore-up their position, only to pull the rug at the last minuite by refusing to play along. It's a stratagy that can only be deployed with plenty of funds and the only surprise is that the Russo's allowed themselves to be played as they have been.
Having said that, it sounds as though the penny finally dropped as they must have gone prepared to throw in the towel tonight.
I just hope that the Russo's sell quickly, Ashcroft assembles his board quickly and you never know, if we're still in or around the play-offs in a few weeks time, they may even back Malchy in the Jan window.
the main one
says...
12:06am Wed 16 Dec 09
-
WFC X-mas present for fans:
Administration and -10 points.
-
You are all right... WFC is doomed unless certain people get their act together!!
-
22.12.09 - Watford's darkest day!!
roob
says...
1:47am Wed 16 Dec 09
Chris the Vic
says...
8:45am Wed 16 Dec 09
The good Tory Lord has had a year to do something, instead it would appear he has sat on his hands thwarted the Russos and left the club to fall into a state of ruin. His one supporter Homer blew us out of the water in the first place and now we are on the brink.
Either Ashcroft sells or puts up the money...if not administration results damage to the club and a loss of any shareholding value.
Makes one wonder about the type of man the tory lord is....a friend of Homer, loyal to the mismanager of our club and with an attitude of stuff WFC.
I think you have tried to defend the indefensible and now Jimmy and Vince have called his bluff
ab11uk
says...
9:22am Wed 16 Dec 09
The russo's have made it clear the tory is the only person who can save this club.
the tory made a mint from the abomination of the flats on our ground "regeneration of west watford" is exactly the hideous sight you see as you walk to your seats.(i say you see but i doubt any real fans post on this forum)
I suggest watford fans unite in the election and make it clear that we relise how much this tory cash grabber has distroyed our club.
A protest vote is a must to save this club. I suggest a banner for future games saying we want tories out!
WFC4ever
says...
9:27am Wed 16 Dec 09
ab11uk
says...
10:19am Wed 16 Dec 09
Any negative press for a government party is 10 times more crucial running up to a election probably more than 10 times infact.
get out your armchair and do something!
if fans do nothing now then maybe we dont deserve club!
WFC4ever
says...
10:34am Wed 16 Dec 09
ab11uk wrote:Any election will be next May and might well be too late anyway.
look at a bigger picture would you WFC4ever. Any negative press for a government party is 10 times more crucial running up to a election probably more than 10 times infact. get out your armchair and do something! if fans do nothing now then maybe we dont deserve club!
Are you going to tell all the non-Watford supports who live in Watford to not vote Tories then?
Will they care and sadly I am not sure in the worldwide press of politics Mr Ashcroft not giving us money will mean much to the Tories and affect them greatly.
I'll be getting out of my "armchair" to vote for the area where I actually live..which isn't Watford adn very much a Tory area anyway.
Spencer Agneau
says...
10:44am Wed 16 Dec 09
HectorHornet
says...
11:10am Wed 16 Dec 09
co.uk/politics/2009/
nov/01/lord-ashcroft
-belize-scrutiny
A long article that provides an insight into the mighty Lord and his wealth creating methods ......"So extensive are his interests, and so arcane some of his methods, that many Belizeans believe Ashcroft owns businesses that he may not. "He uses so many shell companies – you look inside a company and there is another company inside and another inside that, and so on and so on," said Russell Vellos, editor of Amandala, a leading Belize newspaper that has been a persistent critic of Ashcroft. "He may own lots of businesses around here, but you would never know it."" Sound familiar?
Little Miss Hornet
says...
11:54am Wed 16 Dec 09
No Wheels
says...
12:37pm Wed 16 Dec 09
yeah, that daily mail.....
he's a nasty piece of work
http://www.dailymail
.co.uk/news/article-
1036615/Ashcroft-ban
k-accused-diverting-
5m-aid-poor-Belize-c
offers.html
GrahamTaylor
says...
1:13pm Wed 16 Dec 09
-
Whether its right or not does not matter these are big boys thorwing toys around
_
No more no less!
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Rick Holden Forever says...
9:20pm Tue 15 Dec 09