Phoenix Ownership - Rob says FTFFA (Part 2)

edit: No hang on investigative journalism is not dead in this country!

https://i.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/a-league/103950543/wellington-phoenix-legend-ben-sigmund-believes-embattled-club-can-be-saved

I love Sigmund's raw enthusiasm. Perhaps if he could sit down with the Welnix board some of it might rub off. 

This is why I think a private eye and sue the source of bad stories etc. No other head office bad mouths the product and expects it to increase sales. We've a better recent history than Newcastle. It can be turned around. 

Dave Gallop and Fox were happy to generate negative press. What if they had generated positive stories: turned up to present Durante with an award, remembered players and moments in trans tasman footy history and so on. It feels like discrimination and Kiwi bashing.

I mean imagine the metrics without the Chris Payne handball. Not exactly related but show why beating up on a club in a dip is unfair. We've had our share of that- though Newcastle even more this season!

One question- was there any real commitment to oceania when aussie left or was it a vague gentlemans agreement? 

Siggie, Brown, Muscat, Daniel 

Giving up so easily is to disrespect their legacy. 

Lucky headbandage time 

Thinking about Griffiths at Newcastle. 'All the fouls were coming from Sydney fc'. Culture, continuity and cutting edge.

Also had respect for Roy but would Siggie have missed games as he did? Hurt our season 

No we haven't

Point out a lie

"Piney : Is the Phoenix licence for sale

Morrison : errrrrrrrrr.........................no is the easy answer

Newspaper headlines a couple of days later : FFA reject $15m Phoenix licence sale"

So I suppose that it technically isn't a lie as he didn't really rule out a sale (people just decided he did as thats what they wanted to hear)  but it feels a bit like the World claiming its the t-shirt tags that are made in NZ, 

Wait a couple of days. If the FFA come out with their official rejection then we know the club is going under. If they don't then everything is fine and we have absolutely nothing to worry with how things are. 

Have Welnix made a statement yet? 

but that isn't what the Sydney Herald article said last night and it isn't want the Nix said recently. As I recall they said we weren't for sale just looking for investment. The SH article said we were selling our knickers and TV's. 

I pointed out until I'm blue in the face, but I'll do it again:

- that newspaper headline was an unsourced rumour. It didn't even say where the journo's facts were coming from. If it had said "sources close to FFA/the Nix/the Campbelltown FC told us" I would give it some credibility. If it had said "we approached the Nix for comment but got none", again it would have some credibility. But it did not, and it cited no sources, so I give it none.

Why do you believe it? Just because it was in an Aussie paper? It may still be true but it's certainly not evidence that Rob was lying to Piney's face.

Too many specifics, no response from the club, the journo is going to look a right c*nt if the FFA don't do the formal rejection in a couple of days. 

The club have been repeating over and over again that they're not going to reply to wild speculation in the papers. They released something on Saturday knocking back certain pieces of wild speculation which had also been printed in the paper, and it didn't help. They're trapped in the chasm between "if they don't deny it, it's true" and "if they do deny it, it's probably still true".

Perhaps this is my academic background, but I don't accept any story as fact without sources. Accepting stuff because (as james dean said) "it makes sense" or "it's got a lot of details" is precisely how people fall for propaganda.

             FIX THE PROBLEM

  UNTIL THE OFFICIAL FULL DISCLOSURE

Also nobody on the planet who is a journalist seems to have asked the FFA or Welnix for a comment. 

A newspaper story from Oz, with no comments from the alleged seller (Nix) or alleged buyer (South West Sydney). 

Why hasn’t some journo rung SWS to confirm the story. If deal is dead surely they are open to talking about. All the other expansion teams were more than happy to talk about their ‘dealings’ with the Nix.

Well, if they'd asked Welnix for comment and didn't get it, as I say, that would indicate to me that it was real and I would be inclined to believe it.

On the other hand, why ask the FFA for comment when - as Michael Lynch the Aussie journo admitted - most of these wild Nix stories seem to be coming from the FFA anyway?

I should also point out that anyone expecting journalists to care about whether they look "a right cod" when their stories are revealed to be bullshark has not been paying attention to the media over the past 2 decades

Then a simple "This is a load of crap again we'll be talking to our lawyers" would have sufficed.

Regardless of the source, Doloras, this story is so toxic it can't be allowed to stand without a firm, and unequivocal response from Morrison. 

Lawyers? I don't think such stories are defamatory in the legal sense of the term. It's not illegal to make up lies. It's illegal to make up lies if someone else can prove they caused them financial damage.

That really is semantics, if it was a blog then yeah I can see your point, this is the SMH a reasonably reputable newspaper, they aren't going to just print wild rumours, if they had no real substance behind the story they'd either ignore it or run it as an opinion piece. Also if it didn't have credibility, no other media organisation would run with the story and several have (on both sides of the Tasman) 

There was a meeting that took place between Morrison, the bloke from SW Sydney & Gallop, why else would these 3 be meeting?, why has there been no movement at all on appointing a coach or signing players?, why is Morrison not getting back to reporters (You know the lot he complained wouldn't pick up the phone and give him a call to get the story straight)? 

The silence from the Phoenix is becoming deafening and all of these things coupled by the way the club has been run in the last year leads me to believe there is some truth in the story

don't be so patronizing, some journalists actually want to find out what is going. 

So this stuff ins't damaging a business interest then if Welnix want to continue to invest in the club? 

You'd have to prove it in a court of law

wouldn't be hard to do if you asked an average season ticket holder if they are going to renew for next season. 

From Liam Hyslop (A Journalist) on twitter earlier today

FollowingFollowing @liam_hyslop

I'm not an average season ticket holder, but: I will certainly not renew if some bullshark merger which leads to most home games being taken to Aussie happens. If, on the other hand, it is proven that Rob Morrison lied to us, that he did try to sell us to Campbelltown for $15 million, but it didn't happen, I will call for his resignation but I'll still renew as long as there is a Wellington Phoenix.

May have missed the call because he was on the can, listened to the voicemail, planned to call back, and then just forgot about it.

I do that all the time.  No malice intended.  Then one day it pops back into my head that I forgot to call them back, and I do so.

May have just been a classic can call mishap, as the kids call it.

That's a very charitable spin to put on it. 

Make the most of it, there's only a couple left

Fans?

There's never been an off-season quite like this and I've been there for all of them. 

"Liam Hyslop Retweeted Liam Hyslop

Further to this, I requested an interview with Rob Morrison on Monday to clarify the situation after Friday's reports."

He is yet to get a response - make of that what you will

[/quote]

My guess: very likely that a high noon summit of the Welnix group is being called and that would not be easy to organise at short notice

sorry guys what ever ways you crunch the numbers if the corporate raiders after asset stripping had got 15 million, they would have made money on their investment 

Never mind all the business deals made inviting clients to the games

I'm wondering if part of this is designed to discredit FFA. If clubs are unable to seek investment and to act in their own best interest is this likely to cause further concern for FIFA around how the clubs are being goverened?

Wishful thinking?

Certainly the way to get ahead in business....

FIFA CRWG - to reconstitute FFA  with special attention to 15 J 

We are testing it and proving FFA has no interest in it CAS Closed. 

Lowy/ Gallop Out

Can someone please decode this for me???

Think some here should reverse the roles to apply some common sense

Let's say nz football invited a team from Vanuatu into our local premiership football league.

Gave them some coin each year as part of the deal

Then they were key players in trying to stop NZ football being involved in their own league 

Then with a couple of years going on their license they tried to make some coin and flick it to the Levin Tigers for 15 million quid

You would be kind of pissed wouldn't you?