Stephen Vaughan on Management
Posted by John Beech on October 8, 2009
Last season Stephen Vaughan of Chester City won my Most Ludicrous Statement of the Year Award (1) and he is making the early running this season. In an interview with the Chester Chronicle (2), in which the interviewer ‘put Vaughan on the spot‘, apparently over a pub lunch the accompanying photo would suggest, the ‘City supremo’ came up with a couple of gems:
“The club went into administration to safeguard its future and because the club could not pay its debts. The fact that the club has been accused of being mismanaged… you tell me a club in this country that isn’t managed in the same way. It’s speculating to accumulate.”
Ah, yes. I had wondered what it was. I’d always understood speculating to be taking a risk with your own money rather than putting creditors’ money at certain risk. Vaughan proposed paying them off at a reported 15p in the pound (3) – in their case speculating clearly wasn’t going to lead to accumulation if Vaughan had his way.
And that’s every club in this country except Leeds United, isn’t it, that’s not managed by being put into Administration to be bought back again?
“We’ve got a ridiculous offer on the table from Mr Batchelor – £1.5m isn’t it? But where is it? Sky Sports told me about it but I’ve haven’t had a call. The minute you give these people the time of day they end up in your papers and then we’re getting accused of wanting to sell the club.”
£1.5m is certainly ridiculous, but perhaps not for the reasons you find it so, Stephen. With projected ‘worst case’ losses of £660,000, buying the club for £1.5m would not really constitute speculating to accumulate either, would it?
Mind you, fortunately for the club’s fans, who are already suffering enough, Vaughan doesn’t appear to have John Batchelor’s phone number. Which is odd, as Vaughan admitted speaking to Batchelor about the sale of the club only last November (4).
John Beech said
There’s more commentary on the same interview on the Supporters Direct blog.
John Beech said
Stephen Vaughan has said defiantly that he will pay these debts when the club the receives the League parachute payment and the club’s share of Conference central funding (1). As he puts it, “I want to know when our debtors are going to pay us”.
I think you’ll find the answer is ‘during the 2009/10 season’, when they are due.
A more pertinent question is why, even having put the club through Administration to write off the major proportion of the club’s debts, debts to football creditors from last season have still not been paid.
Jigsaw Pieces | S'PORT |blogging on football, finance and fans said
[...] the belief is founded then I really worry. You only need to read the award winning football blog “Football Management” to witness facts about some of the characters behind the [...]