Branagan talking to fans | Page 3 | Vital Football

Branagan talking to fans

king_dezeeuw06 said:
I would agree Brannigan would most likely be keen for Talal to not be talking too much on Twitter day to day.

But on a major matter like this if the article was all made up as Brannigan said wouldn't he welcome Talal retwetweeting his statement and making comments backing up his CEO? I imagine Brannigan would've happily included direct quotes from the chairman in his statements if he could get one. He was meant to be in Bahrain with the chairman at the time the story broke so surely he could've got one saying the club isn't for sale if it wasn't. The statement didn't come out for more than 24 hours could've surely got one before it went out.
out the contract extension though long before website article was ready.

Also Talal tweeted about the contract extension with an old photo an hour after the story broke and before the official site had the full story up so he clearly wasn't leaving all comms to Brannigan.

I think if the story was false like we are claiming Talal probably would've immediately challenged it rather than completely blanked it.
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Didn't MB initially state in his press release that the club was not for sale, and all this speculation is down to a question asked by Hindleymon at the supporters club where he answered, "not to his knowledge".

Surely, we have to take the initial statement at face value as that is the one that is in writing. His statement at the SC was probably because he was caught unprepared and gave the politicians ambiguous reply, leaving room for wriggle if as some suggest that any club is up for sale if the right offer comes in.
 
This forum is turning into FB, Twitter etc all rolled into one.
People have a ridiculous idea and suddenly it becomes the truth and everything else is a lie or a cover up.
people put two and two together, come up with 6 and then start slagging off the club and management team because the answer MUST be 6 and if anyone says it’s 4 they must be lying / deluded or gullible.
A lot were moaning a few months ago that Talal should keep his mouth shut and stop posting on social media, now suddenly when he has toned down he is accused of going missing so the club must be in financial difficulties and they are looking to sell, no matter what they say.
Get real and try not to over think things
 
If someone stupid enough offered them £15m for the club as Mike Keegan implies is the asking price then of course they'll sell, who on earth wouldn't? Problem is, they'll get absolutely zero interest at that price and zero interest even if they dropped the price by £10m quid. A League One bound football club who attracts around 9k home fans give or take in the second tier of the English football?

If Al Jasmi sold us tomorrow, then I'd wish him well for the future and thank him from the bottom of my heart for saving our club and not only that, guiding us back to the second tier of English football (although it looks set to be a short stay).

I wouldn't miss the gobby chairman. I'd miss Mal though, who I get the impression is an excellent CEO and would be a significant loss. To be brutally honest, I wouldn't be surprised if he gets fed up at some point with the bank issues and quits of his own accord. That would be a massive red flag.
 
Kenny Morris said:
This forum is turning into FB, Twitter etc all rolled into one.
People have a ridiculous idea and suddenly it becomes the truth and everything else is a lie or a cover up.
people put two and two together, come up with 6 and then start slagging off the club and management team because the answer MUST be 6 and if anyone says it’s 4 they must be lying / deluded or gullible.
A lot were moaning a few months ago that Talal should keep his mouth shut and stop posting on social media, now suddenly when he has toned down he is accused of going missing so the club must be in financial difficulties and they are looking to sell, no matter what they say.
Get real and try not to over think things
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It is a massive straw man argument to say that people suggesting Talal should manage fans expectations by not teaseing new signings when the signing isn't due to be announced for weeks - is somehow contradictory to the fans wanting the chairman to address a massive story that directly links to him and the club's future

It's also not a conspiracy theory we missed wages 3 times in 6 months. The mail clearly has a inside source to allow them to break the stories about late wages accurately twice. It's naive to assume there is no chance the source on the inside hasn't told them the sale part too.

Talal had a go at the mail in the past about a story he felt was not accurate even though it was directly connected to him, so why would he not say anything about an inaccurate story directly connected to him?
 
TRUE BELIEVER said:
Didn't MB initially state in his press release that the club was not for sale, and all this speculation is down to a question asked by Hindleymon at the supporters club where he answered, "not to his knowledge".

Surely, we have to take the initial statement at face value as that is the one that is in writing. His statement at the SC was probably because he was caught unprepared and gave the politicians ambiguous reply, leaving room for wriggle if as some suggest that any club is up for sale if the right offer comes in.
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He wouldn't have been caught off guard, he went to answer questions and knew it was definitely going to be asked.

Why give a politicians answer if the answer is definitive directly from the chairman a few days earlier?

If there story about the sale is completely fabricated with not an ounce of truth I think Talal would've been quick to rubbish it personally and I don't think anyone asked a yes or no question answers 'not to my knowledge' if they are certain the answer is no.

If I was looking at this from the outside at another club I didn't follow and a chairman I didn't personally like, I'd say it looks like they are probably trying to sell. So even though I hope it's not true I fear it probably is more likely than less the club is for sale.
 
Reverse your logic and tell me then why he would release a worded statement as per the extract below in response to the same question?

"The primary message that I want to convey is to assure the Club’s staff, its supporters and its business partners that, despite the recent media opinion, the current and future financial health of Wigan Athletic is strong and very secure, and I can confirm that the Club is not up for sale.

Speculation over clubs being for sale is always rife, and while some potential purchasers have approached the Ownership group on a number of occasions since its acquisition of Wigan Athletic in March 2021, no approaches have ever been entertained. "

Surely it makes more sense that the written statement would bear more scrutiny than a verbal answer given to a supporters question in the heat of the moment.

As I say, too much credence is being given to the reply to Hindleymons question and little attention to the written statement put out. I think people are simply looking for sticks to beat the club with and are hanging on to any juicy little titbits that suit their cause.
 
Given that Mal B (do we have any more Spice Girls in the club?) acknowledged that there have been offers made, but they've all been declined, I really don't see why there's any misunderstanding of his "political" answer.

People enquired, and were told we weren't for sale. If people enquire in the future, depending on whether or not silly money is offered, we're still unlikely to be for sale. Mal B obviously isn't aware of us being actively marketed or touted ... so saying "as far as I'm aware" seems to me to be a perfectly reasonable comment.

Of course, people will interpret comments in different ways, but sometimes, no matter whatever response is given, someone won't be happy.

Further up the thread, I for get who, someone posted that effectively, EVERY single club is for sale if the right money is offered.

Edit ... TB's post flashed up just as I posted mine ...... yep, fully agree.
 
TRUE BELIEVER said:
Reverse your logic and tell me then why he would release a worded statement as per the extract below in response to the same question?

"The primary message that I want to convey is to assure the Club’s staff, its supporters and its business partners that, despite the recent media opinion, the current and future financial health of Wigan Athletic is strong and very secure, and I can confirm that the Club is not up for sale.

Speculation over clubs being for sale is always rife, and while some potential purchasers have approached the Ownership group on a number of occasions since its acquisition of Wigan Athletic in March 2021, no approaches have ever been entertained. "

Surely it makes more sense that the written statement would bear more scrutiny than a verbal answer given to a supporters question in the heat of the moment.

As I say, too much credence is being given to the reply to Hindleymons question and little attention to the written statement put out. I think people are simply looking for sticks to beat the club with and are hanging on to any juicy little titbits that suit their cause.
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I think you're more likely to get a candid answer from someone in charge if you ask them face to face than you would get from an official statement published on line.

'Not to my knowledge' needlessly introduces an element of doubt, it's not something i believe you would say if you genuinely believed the club isn't for sale. It would be a outright 'no' with no ambiguity.

I am not upset at Mal - he has to say it's not for sale regardless, he's doing his job but I think his answer is telling me he's less than certain himself.

The lack of any comment from Talal is more telling. For a story that is supposedly totally baseless I'd expect an immediate rebuttal from the chairman but still no comment on it. We know the chairman is happy to directly communicate via Twitter, so if this major story is all made up why not personally assure the fans?

I'm not upset at Talal or Al Jasmi either as it's his prerogative to sell. I'm grateful they saved us and if they want out for any reason and can find a reasonable buyer that's fair enough.

But I am struggling to believe we'd respond as we have if we weren't for sale. I hope I'm wrong though.
 
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king_dezeeuw06 said:
I think you're more likely to get a candid answer from someone in charge if you ask them face to face than you would get from an official statement published on line.

'Not to my knowledge' needlessly introduces an element of doubt, it's not something i believe you would say if you genuinely believed the club isn't for sale. It would be a outright 'no' with no ambiguity.

I am not upset at Mal - he has to say it's not for sale regardless, he's doing his job but I think his answer is telling me he's less than certain himself.

The lack of any comment from Talal is more telling. For a story that is supposedly totally baseless I'd expect an immediate rebuttal from the chairman but still no comment on it. We know the chairman is happy to directly communicate via Twitter, so if this major story is all made up why not personally assure the fans?

I'm not upset at Talal or Al Jasmi either as it's his prerogative to sell. I'm grateful they saved us and if they want out for any reason and can find a reasonable buyer that's fair enough.

But I am struggling to believe we'd respond as we have if we weren't for sale. I hope I'm wrong though.
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You see, that's obviously were we differ. I would take a written statement every time over a verbal answer to a question simply on deniability.

It is very hard to deny a written statement whereas it would be easy to deny a verbal answer by saying he misheard or even that the questioner misheard (unless someone has it recorded).

That's why your average politician is loath to give a written answer to controversial questions and is more likely to offer a verbal ambiguous reply.
 
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