Michael Eisner - Disney Billionaire wants to buy our club | Page 4 | Vital Football

Michael Eisner - Disney Billionaire wants to buy our club

Tony, GREAT to hear from you! I've tried getting in touch with you but not go anything back :52:

Good views from all, the best thing about this takeover (or not) is it WILL happen quickly, we'll not have things dragging on and on as once the vote is cast, that's it, whatever will be will indeed be - like it or not we then have to accept it, come together and STAY united, there's no point having in-fighting and fractions starting up.

All should become clear soon enough...
 
Although there is a vocal part of the fanbase out there against the idea of the takeover, I do think they will be in the minority, and when the vote is made I'd expect it to be a comfortable victory in favour of selling. Although saying that, I think Eisner will have a lot to answer tomorrow night and wouldn't be surprised if he makes a few minor adjustments to his agreement once the fans have a word with him
 
interview from BBC South Today

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39796079

He states cannot have other shareholders as when he puts more money in their holding will reduce, so it will be money in, shares out, protecting his investment.

Ground will be done up overtime
 
@pompeyweller I think you are missing the point of the argument. The selfish opinion is aimed at some of the PST.

Can £1000 really make them have more of a voice. You could have someone that paid the grand and has only been at FP a couple of years.

There could be an octogenarian that has spent thousands in their lifetime supporting Pompey but, as much as they tried, they couldn't afford to buy a share.

That's fair? I think not.
 
Great post jimsmithswig, he wants a project.

There isn't any club on earth that comes close to Pompey and it's fans.
 
Stubbsy - I haven't missed the point at all - there are no guarantees and why wouldn't people who have worked so hard not only to save the club but help build it up be worried about giving it away again with no guarantees? Why do you have to level this as a big headed 'I own my club' thing. It is divisive, unkind & ungrateful and, lets face it, untrue.

Eisner came across well in the interview, he seems genuine, I just wish there were some guarantees, I don't want to have to go through the 4 years prior the the PST and two years afterwards trying to save the club again then shore it up. I would like to think it wont come to this and I am almost convinced it is worth a go. He isn't going to throw money at it, so it will be interesting to see if the progress is as quick as a lot of people who favour the benefactor model will want. Patience is pretty thin with a lot of people.

Whatever happens, I will accept the decision either way. I hope others feel the same.
 
Not being divisive, just relaying the views of some people on both sides.

I still stand by the fact that there will be many long term fans that have been at FP year in year out that have been excluded from the process. I don't think that's fair. A small minority deciding on behalf of the masses.
 
After listening to Eisner's interview last night it just confirms to me that he's the right guy. I'm a bit hesitant about accepting the first offer, as I think we might be able to squeeze a bit more out of it, but at the same time there's always a chance there won't be a second offer.

At tonight's Shareholders meeting I have no doubt he will say all the right things and anyone who is on the fence will be swung in his favour.

As for the 'small minority' deciding Stubbsy, I still think they will reflect the overall feeling. They are the ones who stood up in our time of need and I do think they will have the clubs best interest at heart. I don't foresee any detrimental surprises in the voting.
 
The season ticket holders should be forever grateful to the 'small minority', they saved the club and set the base for only our second promotion in 30 odd years. Lets face it, most are season ticket holders too. Some might not have been able to afford it, a far greater number were too apathetic or too keen on any other model to bother doing anything. Still, as Frippy says, they will have the best interests of the club at heart, I am certain of that and will vote accordingly. I'm still uncomfortable without guarantees to be honest, he seems genuine yes, he came across very well but long term I am still a bit worried.
 
Talk of £5m-odd being all he's 'investing' is wrong though isn't it, there's another £10m going in, it's just unclear as to when, which isn't a loan either is it, or have I got it wrong?

Got to admit what I've seen, read and heard sounds impressive, but it'll be interesting to see what sort of answers are given when pressed by fans, sitting down chatting with a journo is 'easy' enough, hard mind, but when you've got passionate fans basically screaming at you it'll be interesting to see his reaction?

Big moments coming up...
 
Yes, tonight will bring answers. What I do see is they've been very thorough with due diligence. There are probably lots of little things that no one would have spotted because it was seen as the status quo - such as the club badge, a small point but from little acorns.....

Eisner is keen to keep peoples feet on the ground, small steps. If he came in throwing cash around it would worry me.

Let's hope by 5.30pm Saturday we are happy - who knows what will happen in the next two hours..........PUP
 
Basically any business may be sold to a new owner, in any sale it is only shareholders (large or small) that have a say, slightly different is that the Trust are in the minority, when the presidents taken en masse and assuming they all vote one way, but have a golden share when it comes to the vote, so he only probably has to win over the Trust shareholders and a couple of Presidents and it is job done.

The extra £10m will go in but exchanged for shares straight away, if the club is sold in the future at a loss then its his loss. Others have loaned money to clubs but then convert to equity in the future, either way if you took Man U model they loaned and took out interest or Arsenal got shares and get high dividends, money will go out of the club either way unless its gifted.

Not saying what way is right but all the "gifting " owners go belly up in the end, Bolton and Wigan to name 2, when the owner wants to or needs to get out.
 
Well, I listened to the forum online and I'm sold on Eisner now. He seems so genuine and his sons also seem like they're gonna play a major part.

Some of the questions were embarrassing, especially towards the end, and asking the same question over and over again expecting a different answer was just downright silly. I'd suggest it was poorly organised more than anything, perhaps the questions should have been vetted beforehand (although that would probably lead to people accusing it of being set up.

I hope it doesn't deter Eisner, but I'm more confident now than I ever have been that anyone who had doubts can now be assured that the guy is the real deal, and should be given the chance to take our club forward.
 
Rug

Have not seen anything from you :( so that may explain my lack of response.

Have sent you a pm with contact details
 
I have stayed out of this 'debate' until I'd heard from the man himself, read all the reports, etc. What I haven't liked is some of the pettiness from both the 'yes' and 'no' camps. Rug posted an article a few days ago saying we should all be in this together and I completely agree. Even worse is that people obviously went into tonight's event with a pre arranged agenda and that was clear from some of the people asking the questions at the end. As Frippy says, it was embarrassing. Eisner had already gone over the main talking points and they didn't raise anything new in their questions. The amount of times he had to stress that we're not moving to Scum was ridiculous! And as for the suggestion that we should have first dibs if the club is to be sold for £300m, well, I have no words. Then there was the drunk bloke FFS! Just so unprofessional.

My decision is yes to Mr. Eisner. As much as I like the fan ownership model and would really love for it to be sustainable for us, football in this country with the money involved just isn't set up for this. There is no way we compete in the Championship and funding the FP repairs will be an incredible challenge - even more difficult than saving the club. That's without talking about expanding and extending Fratton which, in my opinion, has to be an aim for any owner in charge at Pompey. Eisner's background, his reasons for getting involved with Pompey, and his vision for the future suggest to me that we can trust him and that he will take us forwards.

The Trust, the shareholders, and the presidents have done an incredible job. Surely nobody needs reminding that without them we wouldn't even have a football club today? They have lifted us from the bottom and set us back on the path upwards but it is now time to pass the baton on. I think it's credit to their work that they've managed to attract a man of Michael Eisner's calibre to the club and they should be remembered as true heroes. That's why its sad to see people tarnishing the names of people like Ashley Brown just because he has been sceptical. It's natural to be nervous about a potential takeover after past events. However, I now think that those fears have been allayed.

PUP.

*Additional note: I like that Eisner doesn't see this as the opportunity to quickly fly Pompey up the leagues and recognises that it's a long term project which requires patience and steady progress. He also likes to keep faith in managers so Cook will be staying on and Mark Catlin will remain at the club too. He'd obviously be stupid not to retain the CEO of the Year but still, it bodes well for the future!
 
Thanks for posting feedback from tonight. I've saw the reaction on Twitter to the questions that were called embarrassing and it seems some people went into the meeting with a negative mindset.

I watched a clip of The News interviewing some of the audience.......oh dear!

So a thanks goes out to all of you that listened to Eisner and I'm so pleased it's got such a positive response.

 
Hi All,

Listened to "The Man" last night but the reception on Express FM was very poor if I'm honest. It was a great performance by Mr Eisner from what I could hear....excellent character acting in the lead role of "Me, Myself and Disney".

The stand-out points for me though are how cheaply some fans appear to be dazzled by the bright lights of Hollywood and prepared to sell out to the first offer. Mr Eisner stated his offer was one time only and conditional on dumping the fans-ownership 100%. In other words take it or leave it. Personally, I don't want this attitude back again.

I agreed there is a massive opportunity at Pompey and I think we should reflect on how the PST can continue to be the beacon for other football clubs. We need to find a way to retain our independence from the football circus and prosper. The joint fan ownership model works very well in Germany and I hope the vote will be to stick with it and move onwards.

In reference to the stadium investment. I propose raising funds through "Equity Seat Rights". I already proposed this to Ashley, Mick & Mark at a meeting backin the day at IBM. May be it is time for them to take another look?





 
Stick with it? How much money can you invest on a regular basis?

The club has said funds are running out, do we run the risk hoping people will invest more money into one of the most volatile stocks? You don't invest in football to make money. You can afford that?

Personally, I'm glad that the reactions I've seen show the 'yes' vote is easily out in front.
 
Couldn't follow - an article to come later has some thoughts - but the impression I get is he came across well, so this is another step forward after Thursday?

Talking to journos is one thing, doing an open debate like Thursday another, no retakes, no time to stop and think, you react. If he came across as well as I've been told the only let down were some morons in the crowd, idiots.
 
Why do people invest in football Stubbsy, I seem to remember a lot of people making money out of us?

It is such a tight call, the lack of guarantees mean the future of the club is in doubt if/when it goes through. It doesn't hit the minimum criteria I had set for my own peace of mind before I heard any detail and the problems of our past could well come back in our future. If we are not doing well will Eisner bankroll the club, will the attendance drop and if he pulls the plug will the club owe local business and the tax man again and will the ground be separate from the club so any chance of saving it again with Fratton at it's heart will be lost? All valid worries for me. I want to enjoy my football, I want to feel a part of my club, something that I certainly didn't in the latter half of the premiership years, I want the club to feel part of the community and feel that as supporters we have a role to play in the direction and ethos that the club goes in. I do think the club will be fine going forward under the current model and was really hoping that Eisner would come on board with some more tangible safety nets and in partnership. It's really disappointing that this is not the case but he has his reasons and you can't hold it against him. He does come across very well, he took the time to come and meet the fans and answer questions he debated with the alternative very well and I am sure he accepted that there would be a few more vocal types in the crowd to contend with - to be fair, that is one of the draws of the city and club, the passion of the fans. I have to respect what he has said, how he has said it and the opportunity it brings. I haven't decided yet, I will at the time. Once done, we all move on together.

 
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