Having failed to get myself
together for the last couple of years and organise a trip
to the AGM, I thought that I would treat myself this time
and pay a visit to be entertained for a cold and dreary
afternoon. Now held in Whites, the meeting attracted a
packed house (just like the previous Saturday v Forest)
brimming with questions for the top table.
A downbeat Alan Sugar welcomed us to the meeting and
introduced the proceedings as the serious business to be
got out of the way, before we could get to the fun part
where the floor was open to informal Q and A’s. The
first query from the floor was about wages and was there
any sign of clubs going bust because of them. Sugar
explained that there was recent evidence of clubs having
to sell players (West Ham and Everton) over the
manager’s head to balance the books and the banks
may have been requiring this from behind the scenes.
Bernie Kingsley of TISA asked how big earners could not
be shifted out of the club, to which the Chairman replied
that it was up to the manager to advise the board who he
would keep and who he would let go. GG also wanted to
bring players in -“having to speculate to
accumulate”. The kit supplier matter was also raised
and it was revealed that Nike, Adidas and Reebok have
indicated that the market for replica kits is well down
on recent years, but the club is to appoint a new
retailing manager to expand Tottenham’s
merchandising into the UK and European market. This would
also produce a revamp of the High Road Spurs shops, of
which Sugar was not proud. A shareholder asked about
Hodram inc. who had bought more than 3% of shares in the
company. This group is owned by a Greek family who are
behind the Easyjet airline/holiday company.
The rest of the financial business passed off fairly
uneventfully, apart from resolution to allow the company
to buy it’s own shares without having to offer to
take-over the whole company. This confused Sugar and the
floor, with AMS getting confused himself, before offering
to “explain it in joined up writing” for one
shareholder, who then retorted that there was no need for
sarcasm. It ended with Sugar asking one shareholder to
“trust me, there is nothing sinister in this”!!
The informal session started with the Chairman doing a
straw poll to find out if Mark Jacobs of TAG was
representative of shareholders or fans views. There was
little positive response from the floor and Mr. Sugar
went on to say that he thought that this person had been
behind the News of the World article on the ticket expose
for the Chelsea match. Sugar explained that under Premier
League rules the home side must offer 10% of the capacity
to the away team, but Chelsea offer 1400 on a sale or
return basis, with a further 1600 which have to be paid
for whatever. The club, via John Sedgwick, said there was
insufficient demand for them to take on the extra
allocation, which brought groans from the audience. After
a question as to why Glory, Glory Tottenham Hotspur was
no longer played when the teams come out (Sugar -
“What’s the party line on this?”) and
confirmation of the Chairman’s more hands on
approach with a change on the executive side came a
question for GG, sitting quietly by Martin Peters and
Bill Nicholson (who got an ovation). Asked if he was
surprised by the quality of the players, he said that the
underachievement of the past few years had to be turned
around and he assured us that he’ll do his best, but
it wouldn’t happen overnight. He had a two year
target in terms of results and a five year plan bringing
players through the youth system. A bigger ground may be
a possibility if the team is successful, with the East
Stand being expanded out across Worcester Ave. and
sweeping round while doing away with the posts supporting
the roof. The club were also looking at ways to increase
the number of people able to attend the Jumbotron
screenings, which AMS said were like watching at home.
All I can say is he must have a very cold home!!
The catering came in for it's usual criticism with it
being unfavourably compared to the food and drink at
Newbury racecourse this year !! Especially when it is
possible to get champagne at the racing, but you can't
get a hot drink at half-time at Tottenham. Or even a
cream cheese bagel, which the questioner thought was the
end of the world !! The caterers have another two years
to go, but the club keep on at them to improve, while
understanding that they have to deal with a lot of people in a short space of time.
The Media Monitor was praised and there are “fans
forum” meetings planned to get the view of
supporters, with other ways of getting info to fans being
looked at. It was at this stage that the previously
mentioned Mark Jacobs stood up to respond to the comments
made earlier. He said that fan groups had a part to play
and was glad that the board had seen sense in following
what supporters had been saying for a long time re: buying
players to make the team better. He then shot himself in
the foot and managed to get the majority of shareholders
against him by refuting that he had said that the
appointment of GG had been the final nail in the
Tottenham coffin, then saying from his Tottenham
tradition, it was. This provoked jeers and laughter,
which effectively ended his say. Sam Chisholm said he
hoped that his expertise in TV would help THFC seize on
“the communication revolution”, but a Spurs TV
channel would be for the board to decide. AMS said that
the gate money currently received covered only 30% of
wages at the club and TV money made up some of the
shortfall, so this was where Chisholm would enhance
THFC’s earning ability. Unfortunately, there have
been logistic problems in the ticket office and despite a
new manager there (who compared to previous incumbents is
“excellent”), things are still not right, but
some new systems may be introduced to provide a better
service. One shareholder suggested a customer care
manager to provide what the fans wanted and a loyalty
card to reward them for their support. The next question
involved the behaviour of the annoying corporate
hospitality guests in the West Stand, which Alan Sugar
agreed with. Player power was next on the agenda with why
Berti was not playing (he’s injured at the moment)
and Pleat explained that although he had agreed to
everything Garry Brady’s PFA rep had asked for, the
player decided that he would not sign. The club were
happy with the £650,000 they got for him, but Pleat felt
that the proof of the pudding will be in the number of
Premiership games he plays. One questioner asked for
performance related pay, but the Chairman thought this
was “fantasy football”. Frank Lampard Jr. had
been discussed, but no mention of a bid was made and when
Shearer was mentioned, Pleat said he would not be signed
this week !! Taricco was played by Ipswich so their fans
weren’t annoyed, but his injury has put back the
deal. The kick to his Achilles was not responding to
Ipswich treatment very well, but the Argentinian was due
at WHL in the next few days to see the Spurs doctor.
All in all, the board produced reasonable answers to the
questioned asked of them, but there was little
groundbreaking information imparted. It was like a live
version of Media Monitor. An entertaining enough time was
had by all and Alan Sugar rounded off by thanking
everyone for coming and he looked forward to seeing us
next year !! Especially, no doubt, those who thought GG
was the best manager in the world - ever
WYART LANE
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