Peter's Latest E-mail Joust

Not quite Bakeresque guys, but thought a few of you might be interested in the conversation Peter and I had today via e-mail. If you start from the bottom up for the chronolgical order of events.

Peter,

Much to your annoyance, as it is clear you are trying to delay this inevitable meeting at which you will be held accountable for gross incompetence and the financial mismanagement of our club, we will indeed find out soon enough. Regrettable it will be for you and only you. If you could out-line what I have said to be untrue I would be enlightened I'm sure.

Regards,

Neil

> From: peterridsdale200@hotmail.com
> To: saladthedragon@hotmail.co.uk
> Date: Sat, 16 Jan 2010 13:02:04 +0000
> Subject: Re: Cardiff City
>
> Regrettably, it will just prove that you don't know what you are talking about. Peter
> Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Neil Lewis <saladthedragon@hotmail.co.uk>
> Date: Sat, 16 Jan 2010 12:59:51
> To: <peterridsdale200@hotmail.com>
> Subject: RE: Cardiff City
>
> Peter,
>
> I'm afraid all the drivel is coming from you. We have had enough of your deceit and incompetence and I have no doubt whatsoever that the EGM will prove this beyond any doubt and force you to resign anyway.
>
> Regards,
>
> Neil
>
> > From: peterridsdale200@hotmail.com
> > To: saladthedragon@hotmail.co.uk
> > Date: Sat, 16 Jan 2010 12:57:24 +0000
> > Subject: Re: Cardiff City
> >
> > Don't bother e mailing me with such ill informed drivel. Just leave me alone as you sadly don't know what you are talking about. Peter.
> > Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Neil Lewis <saladthedragon@hotmail.co.uk>
> > Date: Sat, 16 Jan 2010 12:54:22
> > To: <peterridsdale200@hotmail.com>
> > Subject: RE: Cardiff City
> >
> > Peter,
> >
> > That answer is quite frankly laughable, insulting and untrue and you know it. People know the truth now Peter, you can't wriggle your way out of it with sweeping generalisations or false statements such as what you have just said. There is no short term problem, the problems have been here throughout your reign, are here now and here to stay. With potential investors rightly sceptical of your motives and trustworthiness, the likelihood of investment is slim to non-existent despite the latest propaganda in the Western Mail. If you drip-fed a story to them that you were to attend the next home game by riding barebacked through the streets of Carfiff on Shergar to be then accompanied at the match by Elvis and Lord Lucan who had expressed an interest in investing in the club, that would have been more believable than this rubbish. The only place we are heading under you is Administration and I have little doubt unless you leave we will be in that unfortunate position long before the end of the season. Quite how you would resolve your personal issues without the windfall from those shares you have is anyone's guess, which as many know, is your primary concern, not Cardiff City Football Club.
> >
> > I don't expect you to do what is best for CCFC as you are out for yourself and no-one else, but if you want any chance of being able to resolve your personal issues, the only chance of that is via a takeover or investment of some sort. The only way that will happen is if you are not involved with CCFC. It is clearly best to all concerned, yourself included, that you resign with immediate effect.
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Neil Lewis
> >
> > > From: peterridsdale200@hotmail.com
> > > To: saladthedragon@hotmail.co.uk
> > > Date: Sat, 16 Jan 2010 12:40:24 +0000
> > > Subject: Re: Cardiff City
> > >
> > > Neil, I'm not going to enter into a lengthy debate once again. The current short term cash pinch is soley due to the cost of stadium fit out. We are in a far better financial position than for many years with substantial positive net assets. Peter
> > > Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Neil Lewis <saladthedragon@hotmail.co.uk>
> > > Date: Sat, 16 Jan 2010 12:20:02
> > > To: <peterridsdale200@hotmail.com>
> > > Cc: <paul.guy@pmg-plc.com>
> > > Subject: Cardiff City
> > >
> > > Peter,
> > >
> > > I would just like to try and out into words how I feel about the situation we are currently in. Before doing so, I would like to point out, as indeed I have before, that I very much like you as a person, but the only importance for me and most fans is what is best for Cardiff City Football Club, not any individuals, whoever they may be. Personal feelings either in the positive or negative will not and never have influenced my thoughts whatsoever.
> > >
> > > Having had correspondence and a conversation with you previously last summer after I wrote to you documenting my concerns at our perilous financial state, it quickly became clear how irked you were that I had the audacity and temerity to question your fiscal management of our club, despite overwhelming evidence that substantiated these fears unequivocally. Your complete denial of any problems were then and are now simply untrue and patronising in the extreme. To claim as you did that the club has never been in a stronger financial position was utterly grotesque, nauseatingly arrogant and quite simply, a blatant lie. Having spoken to you, the only way I could explain my perception of you is that I am just as mystified after speaking to you as I was before. You like to talk about what you want to, changing the subject if it veers from an agenda you wish to discuss or is a subject that may be unflattering to you, putting a positive spin on things and avoiding answering direct questions with a direct answer. You resemble a politician when you speak, hardly a flattering platitude I'm sure you will agree, rarely divulging anything substantial or in an unequivocal manner, often saying things simply because its what fans want to hear. Whatever happened to the "open and transparent" approach you proclaimed to operate with? These meetings you attend are the same whereby only titbits of information are gleaned with it predominantly being a public relations exercise for you and an opportunity for you to say what a great job you are doing, even if the truth is somewhat different to that.
> > >
> > > One of the things you love to claim praise for is the stadium. That it happened on you watch is undeniable and for that we will be eternally grateful, but the truth is as long as Sam was out of the picture, the prospect of delivering the stadium should have been achievable fronted by anyone so long as it wasn't Sam. It is safe to say, given your well deserved reputation from your well documented previous exploits, that you were not necessarily the most credible person in football or indeed business in general, so incompetent and disastrous were your previous reigns at Leeds and Barnsley. You have often claimed the stadium was built on time and within budget, both of which are simply untrue. The original completion date was December 2008, yet was not completed until May 2009, but more importantly, has gone way over budget, contradicting your statements yet again. You recently announced £7m in additional costs in building the stadium, the very same one that was allegedly built within budget, whilst I'm sure its not the first time unforeseen costs have been announced. That you claimed a substantial 6 figure sum as a bonus for delivering the stadium, even though it was late, over budget and not fully operational is yet more questionable business practice.
> > >
> > > Also, given that you are on a wage of £350k per year before your plentiful bonuses and other perks, why is it that you and the highly paid management staff, most of which take home 6 figure sums per year, didn't think it might be an idea to ensure the under soil heating was fully operational come the middle of December? It's impossible to describe as anything other than gross incompetence. You are exceptionally quick for claiming praise for things not necessarily in your remit, but rather less forthcoming when things go wrong which more often than not is your domain. There is quite a list of such occurrences, but the verbal agreement with JFH that you believed held sway over a signed, written contract probably tops the rather competitive list you are racking up. Round figures, but that pearler cost the club around £750k in paying Jimmy for a season he didn't play and around £2m in total for effectively one season. Gross incompetence again, even by your standards.
> > >
> > > You also claim praise for delivering new training facilities. Are these the same training facilities that we rent, not own, and reportedly owe £500k which unless paid soon means we will have nowhere to train again? Are these also the same training facilities that were predominantly built for Welsh rugby, rather than built for us and certainly not built by us as you would have us believe? Or maybe you will say you have delivered the best team we have in living memory for most of us? Quite true I agree, though there isn't much competition for quite some time, but given you have and are spending over £13m on wages alone per year at times, way over what we can afford, one would expect us to have a reasonable squad of players. Besides, I can't remember you managing the side since you have been here or your latest match winning hat-trick. You are responsible for the finances and overall running of the club, not the football, and the finances are in a dire state whilst for all the promise at times, mid-table finishes are hardly a resounding success.
> > >
> > > That brings me on nicely to the business strategy that you have operated with during your reign, which was and is completely unsustainable and, contrary to the propaganda you espouse at every given opportunity, has severely exacerbated the undeniable and obvious problems you inherited. No-one denies the mess you inherited, but the current problems are of your making and yours alone.
> > >
> > > You have consistently operated with a wage bill above and beyond our entire turnover, financial suicide. You can say that operating within our means would have meant potential relegation, but plenty of other well run and well managed clubs have managed to survive and indeed prosper operating within tight wage budgets vastly inferior to ours. Given our management team has you earning £350k per year before bonuses and perks, with Dave Jones on £800k per year, to expect the club to be well run should be a given with such an extortionate outlay for this level. That has certainly not been the case. Our budget has been anything but tight during your reign, despite the mythical shoe-string budget you and Dave Jones perpetuate to have worked with. This is simply yet another untruth. Operating with a wage bill of £8.1m in 2006, £9.6m in 2007 and an obscene and extortionate £13.4m in 2008 is irrefutable proof that we have had anything but a shoe string budget. Little was spent on transfer fees, but any remotely perceptive individual is aware that the wage bill is the primary budget with which to operate. That our operating losses ranged from £5.5m to an unbelievable £8.4m in our Cup Final year is testament to your financial mismanagement of our club.
> > >
> > > Since taking over in 2006, our debt has increased by over £10m, despite making a transfer profit of over £20m in that time. That is frankly astounding. That you recently completed negotiations with Langston to reduce the debt is indeed a positive, but it certainly does not right the wrongs of such dire financial mismanagement in the first place, whilst there is he small issue of paying back £10m with a year. Given that we owe £2.7m in tax, something that will seemingly only be paid by the personal intervention of other Directors, whilst of course you avoid any personal financial commitment and will no doubt try to claim the credit for other people personally paying your bills, how do you intend to pay back the £10m to Langston as required to avoid incurring effectively £1m fines per year? Given that at least £3m, maybe even as much as £6m of next seasons money has already been spent, a conservative operating loss for next season would be around £5m, that's before finding a penny of the £10m owed to Langston. Borrowing money against future income is the same blueprint you followed at Leeds, and we all know the devastation your incompetence caused there, yet you are doing exactly the same again despite knowing full well the ramifications of such action. Are you really that bereft of the most basic intellect not to realise you are making one catastrophic mistake after another? Your only "plan" has been to spend money we don't have in gambling on promotion and hoping someone takes over the club, thus recuing the club from bankruptcy due to your unsustainable "plan." What's wrong with trying to run the club within its means and paying off its debt, Peter, is that so foolish? In your world, seemingly so.
> > >
> > > I do not believe you are doing or have done this deliberately, you are merely a chancer, a dreamer, completely disengaged from reality until it is too late, then you disappear into the sunset with your 30 pieces of silver, leaving a trail of devastation in your wake yet again, no doubt blaming others for our capitulation. Well there seems to be one constant to the problems wherever you have been. You. That you have surrounded yourself at boardroom level and throughout the club with friends who even have the gall to set each others salaries is so ludicrous you couldn't make it up. Your personal dealings relating to W H Sports are also extremely questionable to say the least, but my only concern is CCFC. That your economical with the truth approach has ostracised us from our only hope of salvation via a takeover or substantial investment from the Malaysians is yet more proof of how counter-productive your presence at our club is, despite your protestations otherwise. To see you drip-feed these sensational stories of supposed other investors to the media in the hope of getting people back to the table whose trust you have betrayed is laughable. It is also clearly obvious as to how desperate you are, both at a personal and professional level, for you to reap the substantial monies you need to pay off your dubious personal transactions. The ever more increasingly desperate measure you are resorting to are almost amusing. Well, it would be amusing were the ramifications not risking the very existence of the club me and so many others care passionately about, whilst you merely see it as a vehicle for you to rape and pillage the club for personal gain and profit.
> > >
> > > In truth, so much mounting evidence is there against you, both in your entire football career, at Cardiff City and your business career as a whole, I could go into next week documenting them all. One thing you do deserve credit for though is unanimously winning a recent poll in the Independent. At the time of writing, out of 3,360votes made, you received 2,281 votes, 68% in total. The name of the poll? Villain of the Decade - Sports Most Scurrilous Villain. Suffice to say there are a growing number of fans, and more crucially for you, potential investors, who realise what you are, an incompetent, deceitful buffoon who should never be allowed to run even the smallest kind of business again, let alone a football club. The sooner you leave and never come back cannot come soon enough. Rest assured, the fans are doing everything within our power to get you out of our club and I for one will not invest another penny whilst you remain at the club in any capacity.
> > >
> > > Regards,
> > >
> > > Neil Lewis

Cheers, I dont usually read long posts, but I really enjoyed that, you really got under his skin

Hope your not suggesting I go on a bit Annis...

Let's hope Ridsdale makes a slip like Tom Hicks Jr.

Hope your not suggesting I go on a bit Annis...

No but PR is

Good emails there mate. He didn't answer one of the accusations did he? I wonder if sections of those emails will be available for all to see in this weekends press

Typical of him to avoid answering questions directly. The silence from him is deafening from my last request by the way. I was expecting nothing less in truth. He did exactly the same before when I pressed him about our finances, backed up of course by the published accounts. He can run but come the EGM he will be unable to hide any longer. The clocks ticking Peter and you know it.

Good emails there mate. He didn't answer one of the accusations did he? I wonder if sections of those emails will be available for all to see in this weekends press

I wish he'd stop getting involved in this sort of thing and just concentrate on trying to sort the mess out.

Nobody gains from this.

Good emails there mate. He didn't answer one of the accusations did he? I wonder if sections of those emails will be available for all to see in this weekends press

I wish he'd stop getting involved in this sort of thing and just concentrate on trying to sort the mess out.

Nobody gains from this.

He is incapable of sorting out the mess. At the end of the day it will be for someone else to sort out the mess. The sooner he goes the sooner the mess gets sorted.

Neil, I'm not going to enter into a lengthy debate once again. The current short term cash pinch is soley due to the cost of stadium fit out. We are in a far better financial position than for many years with substantial positive net assets. Peter

Salad as a matter of interest how is that reply from Ridsdale "laughable, insulting and untrue?"

You can't possibly know the cost of the stadium fit out (which is completely different to fixed price stadium build) and in any case whether you like it or not the stadium is a fixed asset owned by the club.

The value of that asset added to the value of the players does in fact give a substantical net positive on the club's balance sheet.

TBH having read your assumed drival I agree with Ridsdale you haven't got the slighest clue what you are on about.

Neil, I'm not going to enter into a lengthy debate once again. The current short term cash pinch is soley due to the cost of stadium fit out. We are in a far better financial position than for many years with substantial positive net assets. Peter

Salad as a matter of interest how is that reply from Ridsdale "laughable, insulting and untrue?"

You can't possibly know the cost of the stadium fit out (which is completely different to fixed price stadium build) and in any case whether you like it or not the stadium is a fixed asset owned by the club.

The value of that asset added to the value of the players does in fact give a substantical net positive on the club's balance sheet.

TBH having read your assumed drival I agree with Ridsdale you haven't got the slighest clue what you are on about.

Tony

Not all of it is complete drivel the paragraph concerning the wage bill is pretty much spot on i would say.
With regards to the stadium fit out the 7 million over budget is absolute garbage.
Compass fitted out the kitchen area's at their own cost in exchange for the catering rights.
steve borley installed the corner seating area's at his own cost and i would suggest the club would only be feeling the pinch cash wise if they had paid any of the bills anyway.
Its amazing to think back in august with the stadium completed and i would assume most of the works invoiced to the club that our chairman did not think that the finances were financially pinched enough to award himself and another director a very large stadium completion bonus.
I agree that there would be a net positive on the clubs balancesheet now that the stadium is built and is probably(thank god) why people are currently looking at us.
None of this should hide the fact that our chairman has had in excess of three years to get the club on a more secure financial foundation but in fact has carried on in the same reckless fashion as his predecessor

Neil,
That's a brilliant exchange of e-mails. I believe you are 100% right in what you're saying and in putting Ridsdale under pressure.
Well done mate. Won't be long now.

Tony

Not all of it is complete drivel the paragraph concerning the wage bill is pretty much spot on i would say.
With regards to the stadium fit out the 7 million over budget is absolute garbage.
Compass fitted out the kitchen area's at their own cost in exchange for the catering rights.
steve borley installed the corner seating area's at his own cost and i would suggest the club would only be feeling the pinch cash wise if they had paid any of the bills anyway.
Its amazing to think back in august with the stadium completed and i would assume most of the works invoiced to the club that our chairman did not think that the finances were financially pinched enough to award himself and another director a very large stadium completion bonus.
I agree that there would be a net positive on the clubs balancesheet now that the stadium is built and is probably(thank god) why people are currently looking at us.
None of this should hide the fact that our chairman has had in excess of three years to get the club on a more secure financial foundation but in fact has carried on in the same reckless fashion as his predecessor

Steve, my point is Ridsdale gave an answer and Salad he replied "that answer is quite frankly laughable, insulting and untrue and you know it"

Your figures re-the stadium fit out are speculative even if you think they are correct. We can't argue with Ridsdale over the actual figures as we don't know them for certain or what the deals with Compass was EXACTLY.

Also as you acknowledge the stadium does provide a net positive on the clubs balance sheet and that is attracting possible interest from investors. So which ever way you wish to look at it Ridsdale was correct in his first reply.

Indeed it was Salad who replied with a laughable, insulting and untrue answer which is unhelpful in the extreme.

Before fans like Salad challenge Ridsdale they should think hard about what they want to say and have the proof to back up their statements. Failure to do so makes supporters collectively look like a right bunch of idiots.

Before fans like Salad challenge Ridsdale they should think hard about what they want to say and have the proof to back up their statements. Failure to do so makes supporters collectively look like a right bunch of idiots.

But when you approach Ridsdale with facts (or simply point out that he lies all the time), he either doesn't reply or just denies out.

We KNOW that he lies a lot.

We KNOW that there are big financial problems at the club.

Ridsdale is flat-out denying both and saying that everything is fine.

To a layman like me, balance sheets, positive assets and other financial terms mean little if debt and an ever mounting number of bills cannot be paid. I would suggest its a little like me owning an expensive house and being perceived to be affluent by owning a house worth several hundred thouands of pounds, but being unable to pay the mortage or bills. It looks great, but in reality it is false economy. A little simplified I know, but that is the position we are in, absolutely broke. What I held the most disdain for is that it is a "short term cash pinch." I defy anyone to believe that is the case, indeed I believe the problems are more medium to long term rather than short term as I have little doubt even by Peter's standards that the tax bill will be paid, the big question is how we pay the £1.2m wage bill until the summer and indeed throughout next season with several £m of next seasons money already spent? That is not a short term issue, but rather more substantial and concerning to be dismissed so flippantly.

Can't wait to see his next response if any

salad, we are still accumalating tax since we 1st went to court, at i think an alarming rate how are we going to pay this???? the debts are just mounting up. The next crisis will be wages not paid, i am convinced we are facing certain administration

Can't wait to see his next response if any

He won't reply with anything of substance because he is unable to answer the accusations laid out before him. Salad may have a reply of "get stuffed" or F**k off" or some other expletive and thats about it

Salad, what a 'robust' and compelling interaction with our chairman - Can't wait to read the next instalment.....

Peter

Well done, Salad mate. I wish I put what I wanted to say in the form that you did but my anger always gets the better of me in these situations and his rude responses don't help to be honest!

There's no doubt, also, that this will make it into the Independant

Cheers Baker, means a lot coming from someone who has almost acheived notoriety! Just a shame I couldn't extract a comment such as you got or better still a Hicks Jnr comment! Or for that matter, an honest answer. I'm just being sily now. Still, for every fan out there who feels the same, lets get him out of our club as soon as possible.

Not quite Bakeresque guys, but thought a few of you might be interested in the conversation Peter and I had today via e-mail. If you start from the bottom up for the chronolgical order of events.

Peter,

Much to your annoyance, as it is clear you are trying to delay this inevitable meeting at which you will be held accountable for gross incompetence and the financial mismanagement of our club, we will indeed find out soon enough. Regrettable it will be for you and only you. If you could out-line what I have said to be untrue I would be enlightened I'm sure.

Regards,

Neil

> From: peterridsdale200@hotmail.com
> To: saladthedragon@hotmail.co.uk
> Date: Sat, 16 Jan 2010 13:02:04 +0000
> Subject: Re: Cardiff City
>
> Regrettably, it will just prove that you don't know what you are talking about. Peter
> Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Neil Lewis <saladthedragon@hotmail.co.uk>
> Date: Sat, 16 Jan 2010 12:59:51
> To: <peterridsdale200@hotmail.com>
> Subject: RE: Cardiff City
>
> Peter,
>
> I'm afraid all the drivel is coming from you. We have had enough of your deceit and incompetence and I have no doubt whatsoever that the EGM will prove this beyond any doubt and force you to resign anyway.
>
> Regards,
>
> Neil
>
> > From: peterridsdale200@hotmail.com
> > To: saladthedragon@hotmail.co.uk
> > Date: Sat, 16 Jan 2010 12:57:24 +0000
> > Subject: Re: Cardiff City
> >
> > Don't bother e mailing me with such ill informed drivel. Just leave me alone as you sadly don't know what you are talking about. Peter.
> > Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Neil Lewis <saladthedragon@hotmail.co.uk>
> > Date: Sat, 16 Jan 2010 12:54:22
> > To: <peterridsdale200@hotmail.com>
> > Subject: RE: Cardiff City
> >
> > Peter,
> >
> > That answer is quite frankly laughable, insulting and untrue and you know it. People know the truth now Peter, you can't wriggle your way out of it with sweeping generalisations or false statements such as what you have just said. There is no short term problem, the problems have been here throughout your reign, are here now and here to stay. With potential investors rightly sceptical of your motives and trustworthiness, the likelihood of investment is slim to non-existent despite the latest propaganda in the Western Mail. If you drip-fed a story to them that you were to attend the next home game by riding barebacked through the streets of Carfiff on Shergar to be then accompanied at the match by Elvis and Lord Lucan who had expressed an interest in investing in the club, that would have been more believable than this rubbish. The only place we are heading under you is Administration and I have little doubt unless you leave we will be in that unfortunate position long before the end of the season. Quite how you would resolve your personal issues without the windfall from those shares you have is anyone's guess, which as many know, is your primary concern, not Cardiff City Football Club.
> >
> > I don't expect you to do what is best for CCFC as you are out for yourself and no-one else, but if you want any chance of being able to resolve your personal issues, the only chance of that is via a takeover or investment of some sort. The only way that will happen is if you are not involved with CCFC. It is clearly best to all concerned, yourself included, that you resign with immediate effect.
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Neil Lewis
> >
> > > From: peterridsdale200@hotmail.com
> > > To: saladthedragon@hotmail.co.uk
> > > Date: Sat, 16 Jan 2010 12:40:24 +0000
> > > Subject: Re: Cardiff City
> > >
> > > Neil, I'm not going to enter into a lengthy debate once again. The current short term cash pinch is soley due to the cost of stadium fit out. We are in a far better financial position than for many years with substantial positive net assets. Peter
> > > Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Neil Lewis <saladthedragon@hotmail.co.uk>
> > > Date: Sat, 16 Jan 2010 12:20:02
> > > To: <peterridsdale200@hotmail.com>
> > > Cc: <paul.guy@pmg-plc.com>
> > > Subject: Cardiff City
> > >
> > > Peter,
> > >
> > > I would just like to try and out into words how I feel about the situation we are currently in. Before doing so, I would like to point out, as indeed I have before, that I very much like you as a person, but the only importance for me and most fans is what is best for Cardiff City Football Club, not any individuals, whoever they may be. Personal feelings either in the positive or negative will not and never have influenced my thoughts whatsoever.
> > >
> > > Having had correspondence and a conversation with you previously last summer after I wrote to you documenting my concerns at our perilous financial state, it quickly became clear how irked you were that I had the audacity and temerity to question your fiscal management of our club, despite overwhelming evidence that substantiated these fears unequivocally. Your complete denial of any problems were then and are now simply untrue and patronising in the extreme. To claim as you did that the club has never been in a stronger financial position was utterly grotesque, nauseatingly arrogant and quite simply, a blatant lie. Having spoken to you, the only way I could explain my perception of you is that I am just as mystified after speaking to you as I was before. You like to talk about what you want to, changing the subject if it veers from an agenda you wish to discuss or is a subject that may be unflattering to you, putting a positive spin on things and avoiding answering direct questions with a direct answer. You resemble a politician when you speak, hardly a flattering platitude I'm sure you will agree, rarely divulging anything substantial or in an unequivocal manner, often saying things simply because its what fans want to hear. Whatever happened to the "open and transparent" approach you proclaimed to operate with? These meetings you attend are the same whereby only titbits of information are gleaned with it predominantly being a public relations exercise for you and an opportunity for you to say what a great job you are doing, even if the truth is somewhat different to that.
> > >
> > > One of the things you love to claim praise for is the stadium. That it happened on you watch is undeniable and for that we will be eternally grateful, but the truth is as long as Sam was out of the picture, the prospect of delivering the stadium should have been achievable fronted by anyone so long as it wasn't Sam. It is safe to say, given your well deserved reputation from your well documented previous exploits, that you were not necessarily the most credible person in football or indeed business in general, so incompetent and disastrous were your previous reigns at Leeds and Barnsley. You have often claimed the stadium was built on time and within budget, both of which are simply untrue. The original completion date was December 2008, yet was not completed until May 2009, but more importantly, has gone way over budget, contradicting your statements yet again. You recently announced £7m in additional costs in building the stadium, the very same one that was allegedly built within budget, whilst I'm sure its not the first time unforeseen costs have been announced. That you claimed a substantial 6 figure sum as a bonus for delivering the stadium, even though it was late, over budget and not fully operational is yet more questionable business practice.
> > >
> > > Also, given that you are on a wage of £350k per year before your plentiful bonuses and other perks, why is it that you and the highly paid management staff, most of which take home 6 figure sums per year, didn't think it might be an idea to ensure the under soil heating was fully operational come the middle of December? It's impossible to describe as anything other than gross incompetence. You are exceptionally quick for claiming praise for things not necessarily in your remit, but rather less forthcoming when things go wrong which more often than not is your domain. There is quite a list of such occurrences, but the verbal agreement with JFH that you believed held sway over a signed, written contract probably tops the rather competitive list you are racking up. Round figures, but that pearler cost the club around £750k in paying Jimmy for a season he didn't play and around £2m in total for effectively one season. Gross incompetence again, even by your standards.
> > >
> > > You also claim praise for delivering new training facilities. Are these the same training facilities that we rent, not own, and reportedly owe £500k which unless paid soon means we will have nowhere to train again? Are these also the same training facilities that were predominantly built for Welsh rugby, rather than built for us and certainly not built by us as you would have us believe? Or maybe you will say you have delivered the best team we have in living memory for most of us? Quite true I agree, though there isn't much competition for quite some time, but given you have and are spending over £13m on wages alone per year at times, way over what we can afford, one would expect us to have a reasonable squad of players. Besides, I can't remember you managing the side since you have been here or your latest match winning hat-trick. You are responsible for the finances and overall running of the club, not the football, and the finances are in a dire state whilst for all the promise at times, mid-table finishes are hardly a resounding success.
> > >
> > > That brings me on nicely to the business strategy that you have operated with during your reign, which was and is completely unsustainable and, contrary to the propaganda you espouse at every given opportunity, has severely exacerbated the undeniable and obvious problems you inherited. No-one denies the mess you inherited, but the current problems are of your making and yours alone.
> > >
> > > You have consistently operated with a wage bill above and beyond our entire turnover, financial suicide. You can say that operating within our means would have meant potential relegation, but plenty of other well run and well managed clubs have managed to survive and indeed prosper operating within tight wage budgets vastly inferior to ours. Given our management team has you earning £350k per year before bonuses and perks, with Dave Jones on £800k per year, to expect the club to be well run should be a given with such an extortionate outlay for this level. That has certainly not been the case. Our budget has been anything but tight during your reign, despite the mythical shoe-string budget you and Dave Jones perpetuate to have worked with. This is simply yet another untruth. Operating with a wage bill of £8.1m in 2006, £9.6m in 2007 and an obscene and extortionate £13.4m in 2008 is irrefutable proof that we have had anything but a shoe string budget. Little was spent on transfer fees, but any remotely perceptive individual is aware that the wage bill is the primary budget with which to operate. That our operating losses ranged from £5.5m to an unbelievable £8.4m in our Cup Final year is testament to your financial mismanagement of our club.
> > >
> > > Since taking over in 2006, our debt has increased by over £10m, despite making a transfer profit of over £20m in that time. That is frankly astounding. That you recently completed negotiations with Langston to reduce the debt is indeed a positive, but it certainly does not right the wrongs of such dire financial mismanagement in the first place, whilst there is he small issue of paying back £10m with a year. Given that we owe £2.7m in tax, something that will seemingly only be paid by the personal intervention of other Directors, whilst of course you avoid any personal financial commitment and will no doubt try to claim the credit for other people personally paying your bills, how do you intend to pay back the £10m to Langston as required to avoid incurring effectively £1m fines per year? Given that at least £3m, maybe even as much as £6m of next seasons money has already been spent, a conservative operating loss for next season would be around £5m, that's before finding a penny of the £10m owed to Langston. Borrowing money against future income is the same blueprint you followed at Leeds, and we all know the devastation your incompetence caused there, yet you are doing exactly the same again despite knowing full well the ramifications of such action. Are you really that bereft of the most basic intellect not to realise you are making one catastrophic mistake after another? Your only "plan" has been to spend money we don't have in gambling on promotion and hoping someone takes over the club, thus recuing the club from bankruptcy due to your unsustainable "plan." What's wrong with trying to run the club within its means and paying off its debt, Peter, is that so foolish? In your world, seemingly so.
> > >
> > > I do not believe you are doing or have done this deliberately, you are merely a chancer, a dreamer, completely disengaged from reality until it is too late, then you disappear into the sunset with your 30 pieces of silver, leaving a trail of devastation in your wake yet again, no doubt blaming others for our capitulation. Well there seems to be one constant to the problems wherever you have been. You. That you have surrounded yourself at boardroom level and throughout the club with friends who even have the gall to set each others salaries is so ludicrous you couldn't make it up. Your personal dealings relating to W H Sports are also extremely questionable to say the least, but my only concern is CCFC. That your economical with the truth approach has ostracised us from our only hope of salvation via a takeover or substantial investment from the Malaysians is yet more proof of how counter-productive your presence at our club is, despite your protestations otherwise. To see you drip-feed these sensational stories of supposed other investors to the media in the hope of getting people back to the table whose trust you have betrayed is laughable. It is also clearly obvious as to how desperate you are, both at a personal and professional level, for you to reap the substantial monies you need to pay off your dubious personal transactions. The ever more increasingly desperate measure you are resorting to are almost amusing. Well, it would be amusing were the ramifications not risking the very existence of the club me and so many others care passionately about, whilst you merely see it as a vehicle for you to rape and pillage the club for personal gain and profit.
> > >
> > > In truth, so much mounting evidence is there against you, both in your entire football career, at Cardiff City and your business career as a whole, I could go into next week documenting them all. One thing you do deserve credit for though is unanimously winning a recent poll in the Independent. At the time of writing, out of 3,360votes made, you received 2,281 votes, 68% in total. The name of the poll? Villain of the Decade - Sports Most Scurrilous Villain. Suffice to say there are a growing number of fans, and more crucially for you, potential investors, who realise what you are, an incompetent, deceitful buffoon who should never be allowed to run even the smallest kind of business again, let alone a football club. The sooner you leave and never come back cannot come soon enough. Rest assured, the fans are doing everything within our power to get you out of our club and I for one will not invest another penny whilst you remain at the club in any capacity.
> > >
> > > Regards,
> > >
> > > Neil Lewis

Oh dear - what a Numptee u r Neil, do us all a favour and go and watch Swansea if you don't like the progress our club is making.

[
Oh dear - what a Numptee u r Neil, do us all a favour and go and watch Swansea if you don't like the progress our club is making.

Really? He's a numpty, I'd love to see you come up with some of the points he makes in his emails, not only that but the vocabulary which for a "Numpty" seems to be very good.

It's not that he, me or 99% of the fans "Don't like the progress of our club" but its the fact that we don't know if we are, in fact, making any progress at all or that we don't know if the stories we read in the tabloids carry any truth as our chairman is too ignorant to answer the fans with a decent answer.

[
Oh dear - what a Numptee u r Neil, do us all a favour and go and watch Swansea if you don't like the progress our club is making.

Really? He's a numpty, I'd love to see you come up with some of the points he makes in his emails, not only that but the vocabulary which for a "Numpty" seems to be very good.

It's not that he, me or 99% of the fans "Don't like the progress of our club" but its the fact that we don't know if we are, in fact, making any progress at all or that we don't know if the stories we read in the tabloids carry any truth as our chairman is too ignorant to answer the fans with a decent answer.

Oh dear looks like a negative one here - 99% eh? - hmmm - perhaps 99% of people who are brainwashed by the negative keyboard trouble making warriors like you but without making a percentage up like you have, i would say that out of all the city fans i know (and thats probably a lot more than you) a large majority look at where we are today and see a big opportunity on its way to get to the premier league. We don't moan, we don't childishly email our chairman with irrelevant nonsense, we look ahead as one. We all want success for our football club and continual mud slinging just does not help. Have a day off.

Now now Blazing, surely the luxury of this board is that we are all allowed to have an opinion - Hence why your stated views are heard and not attacked, even though.... on occasions, they are not understood by a minority/majority....



Peter

[
Oh dear - what a Numptee u r Neil, do us all a favour and go and watch Swansea if you don't like the progress our club is making.

Really? He's a numpty, I'd love to see you come up with some of the points he makes in his emails, not only that but the vocabulary which for a "Numpty" seems to be very good.

It's not that he, me or 99% of the fans "Don't like the progress of our club" but its the fact that we don't know if we are, in fact, making any progress at all or that we don't know if the stories we read in the tabloids carry any truth as our chairman is too ignorant to answer the fans with a decent answer.

Oh dear looks like a negative one here - 99% eh? - hmmm - perhaps 99% of people who are brainwashed by the negative keyboard trouble making warriors like you but without making a percentage up like you have, i would say that out of all the city fans i know (and thats probably a lot more than you) a large majority look at where we are today and see a big opportunity on its way to get to the premier league. We don't moan, we don't childishly email our chairman with irrelevant nonsense, we look ahead as one. We all want success for our football club and continual mud slinging just does not help. Have a day off.

Grow up will you, if I could personally speak to Ridsdale I would but sadly this is the only form of communication I can have with him.

We all want success for our football club and continual mud slinging just does not help.

For those of us who believe that the club will be better off without Ridsdale, mud slinging (aimed at our bad chairman) *does* help.

Saddles, we are starting to slip down the table, i dont think its gonna stop, i need an injection of your positive gear, cos i can not get any of my own going

a very depressed bluebird


ta

Great e mails neil - true and to the point - really got his back up the fecking liar.
I'm ready to protest!

What a f*cking numpty you are Neil.


Leave the man alone, let him do his job.