The clubs future

Give Pattison £27 million to spend on the club and he would do a runner.

At the end of the day, they have a stadium-we have a relic.Who has won Marko?

"I wasn’t doing it to make a profit"

That means you were doing it wrong.

Altruism in business is a myth.

Investing (seriously) in a football club and admitting you expect to lose all your money is accepting failure and admitting defeat from the start. You've failed before you've even begun.

What sort of culture does this foster in a club?

If you're serious, why wouldn't you expect to get a return on your investment? There's no other sensible reason to get involved.

Build a shit small ground and aim to consolidate at our current level, eh? That's no better, in fact it's worse, than the custodians' strategy.

I didn’t say that actually.I don’t like bad surprises so going into a football club expecting to make a return is likely to disappoint.

The vast majority of football clubs rely on expertise, goodwill, sweat and tears from fans and local community-that’s a good thing in my opinion.It’s the soul of football.

Anyway you seem to enjoy berating me yet why don’t you focus for a change on why I live on a 900 acre Northumberland estate with a house in Mallorca and have turned around many businesses, created significant wealth for others, including many employees , and generally done very well for myself.

"I didn’t say that actually"

Holy monkeys, man, I'm quoting you from this very thread. How can you deny saying it?

And yes, I'm aware of your apparent circumstances, which makes me smell an even bigger rat.

If you're this huge business guru, wealth creating machine, living the life etc. It makes no sense at all why you would get involved with any business expecting not to be successful and not to make a profit.

The old "I'm doing it out of the kindness of my heart, with no thought of personal gain" while the violin plays in the background, is hogwash frankly. That's clearly not the attitude you took when you were "creating significant wealth" so why wouldn't your approach be the same for a football club? (Which at the end of the day, is just a business like any other)

Maybe I don’t need the money-there is more to life than that, certainly in my experience.Wanting the club to be a profitable successful enterprise isn’t conditional on me making a profit-why would it when I was simply trying to improve the club for all?Maybe personal satisfaction in something is paramount-I don’t need the money.

I have just sold Hyperdrive for a lot of money.The biggest kick wasn’t me trousering millions-it was actually changing some of the employees’ lives by allowing them to pay off their mortgages.Humbling and very satisfying as most people in this country are only as good as their next mortgage payment.

You might not see it Pig but I get a huge amount of pleasure in giving people a leg up, a break.I got one many years ago and it allowed me to push on to where I am now.

No violins needed-I just remember where I come from.As for smelling a rat, you’re looking at the wrong person.

"Wanting the club to be a profitable successful enterprise isn’t conditional on me making a profit"

That's true, but you're obfuscating again.

If you takeover the club, turn it into a "successful" profit making enterprise, why wouldn't you expect to make a profit yourself? Surely the two go hand in hand?

Two points-

I wasn’t taking over the club-never crossed my mind.We we’re buying c30pc and looking to change things from within.

I don’t believe Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, whose Fund bought into a Hyperdrive, are that bothered about making a huge profit for themselves.They are more interested in buying profitable businesses in the green space for I suspect charitable or self satisfaction reasons.We sold because we had a great business and it was a good price.

At the end of the day, I know why I wanted to try and reshape Carlisle-and it was not to line my pockets.

Your plan was to invest a 6 figure sum and reform the club so it would be debt free, play at a modern stadium and go up the leagues.

You would make the club self sufficient, so no cash injections from the board beyond initial investment

How could you therefore fail to make a profit (if all went to plan)? You’d own 30% of a football club that was much more valuable than when you took it over.

Unless you’d only ask for initial investment back when it was time to move on. Or hang on like Jenkins into your dotage

I think I did say at the time that if I made a profit, it meant the project was successful-but I can honestly say making money on the equity was not a factor for me.I really don’t need the money.

As for hanging on, the new Articles include a clause for a 5 year rotation policy on board appointments which excluded AJ for his efforts over the years

For crying out loud, the title of the thread is 'the clubs future NOT 'Laffy's Past' ffs.

The deadwood at the club saw to it that Laffy wasn't successful and ridiculed in the process.

I don't know the man but, in all honesty I don't believe we would be where we are now had he succeeded. It didn't happen, move on instead of ripping the guy to shreds.

Piggy boy, didn't you call for some sort of amnesty leading up to Christmas? You've started well, typically.

"I don’t believe Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos are that bothered about making a huge profit for themselves"

Oh come on. You're comparing yourself with two individuals who are worth approximately $350 billion. There's a term for this, it's "having delusions of grandeur".

If you were in the same league you could've bought the club without sniffing, and if you were a genuine supporter with this level of wealth why wouldn't you?

The Club's Future ? bit of a contradiction in terms as things stand.

No-I’m only telling you who funded the purchase of my company by Turntide.

It’s absolutely ridiculous that you continue your campaign to discredit me.

Today I have been shooting on my estate with a few mates, mostly from Cumbria.A very crisp pleasant day, no stress, relaxing, fresh air, and all on my own land so no hassle from intrusive neighbours.Why the [censored] would I risk all that, my health, my family, owning a football club?Maybe AJs boys can answer that one.

I'm not conducting any campaign to do anything, especially not to discredit you.

It's called having an honest and forthright discussion, is it not? Of course I'm going to question your motives, it's only sensible (especially when they don't seem to make any sense) and it's what I would do to anyone who is here because they want to stick their fingers into the club.

Just because I'm not tugging my forelock and crawling around in sycophancy at your feet like some of the general hoi polloi on here doesn't mean I have any agenda apart from what's best for the club.

If you have purely honourable intent then it's within your own power to convince me. So far, you haven't.

I’m convinced-because it’s my head and brain.

Getting a bit boring all this

You’re telling me.Pig should be in the old bill

Quoted from Piglet_Phoenix on Monday, 29 November 2025

I'm not conducting any campaign to do anything, especially not to discredit you.

It's called having an honest and forthright discussion, is it not? Of course I'm going to question your motives, it's only sensible (especially when they don't seem to make any sense) and it's what I would do to anyone who is here because they want to stick their fingers into the club.

Just because I'm not tugging my forelock and crawling around in sycophancy at your feet like some of the general hoi polloi on here doesn't mean I have any agenda apart from what's best for the club.

If you have purely honourable intent then it's within your own power to convince me. So far, you haven't.

You have a strange way of pleasuring yourself.