James
Thanks for the questions. Gio is in London engaged in legal business and Peter
is currently abroad, so I regret there is no prospect of my being able to bring
together the Board to answer all these questions directly tonight or this week
for that matter.
I am in a position to answer most of them however and agree we should be making
an effort to keep supporters informed and to allay any unfounded or unnecessary
fears.
I'll do my best to provide meaningful and full answers. I'm sure that you and
the rest of the posters who have provided questions will appreciate however
there will be some questions where for legal reasons or reasons of commercial
confidentiality, we simply cannot make a full public statement, much as we'd
like to. Where I cannot answer a question, I will give a reason why an answer
cannot be given.
Please be assured there's nothing unusual about that - the same would apply to
any SPL club or commercial concern.
I'm happy to put my name to this however and I will stand by all the answers I
give. I am also happy to deal with any follow up questions which you or other
posters may have.
Kind regards
Niall Scott
Press Officer
Dundee Football Club
Can we have an assurance that Mr Di Stefano will refrain from issuing
outlandish statements against anyone who questions his behaviour?
No! I can't give that assurance, nor can the board or the club. Giovanni made a
decision to write and issue his own personal statement as an individual on his
own web-site www.studiolegaleinternazionale.com - the same way any one of us
has a right to make a personal statement. He did not issue the statement through
the Dundee FC site and Dundee FC was not involved in any way in its preparation.
I appreciate however that it has been widely referred to on the official site
and elsewhere on the web, including Dundee Mad. Clearly his statement has
provoked different reactions in different people. I have seen several e-mails of
support he has received from Dundee fans, although I expect there are also fans
who are critical of the statement. It is a matter of personal opinion. If you
wish to express that opinion directly or seek any assurances from Gio himself,
you can do it directly to Giovanni at giovannidistefano@btopenworld.com. I'm
sure he would welcome the feedback.
Has Mr Di Stefano invested more or less than the expected Zurab tribunal fee
and is it true he'll be the one to get whatever money comes from that
tribunal?
I'll answer the last part first. No. Any money coming from Zurab's tribunal
accrues to Dundee Football Club, no one else.
First part - at this precise time Giovanni has invested between £200k and £300k
in Dundee FC to meet a number of commitments, most notably a much publicised tax
bill. He has also helped the club meet its wage bill. As you know Giovanni has
indicated publicly that he plans to invest in DFC on a considerable scale in an
effort to ensure we can compete consistently in the upper reaches of the league
and in Europe. Discussions about the scale, method and timing of that investment
are ongoing. I understand this can be frustrating for fans - but were we to go
public and announce, for argument's sake, that Gio had ploughed £10 million into
DFC, how much do you think the first big name player we bid for would cost?
There's good evidence to show that clubs who shout about how much they've got to
spend end up paying way over the odds for players. It's simply good business
practice to remain discreet about these matters.
What was the outcome of the recent meeting between Mr Di Stefano and the
Marr brothers in Spain?
There wasn't one. I'm not aware of any meeting between the three in Spain,
`though they have met frequently at Dens and speak regularly on the `phone when
separated by business interests. There was a recent meeting in London, but this
was simply because it was easier for the Board to meet there rather than in
Dundee because of Gio's professional commitments.
Who is THE majority Dundee FC shareholder?
Peter and Jimmy own the majority shareholding at Dens. Nothing has changed in
that regard, despite wildly inaccurate media reports to the contrary. I don't
have the exact figures at hand, but from memory Peter and Jimmy own approx 75%
of the club. You'll be aware that Peter is on record as saying that he would
give himself 5 years at Dens to see how far he could take the club and I'm sure
you'll also be aware that Peter and Jimmy have been at Dens now for over 6
years.
How many times has Jim Duffy offered his resignation?
None
If the refinancing deal does not go through on Thursday will Dundee FC exist
next week?
Yes. I'm not about to offer any fatuous assurances and I won't pretend this
isn't a dangerous time for anyone involved in running an SPL club with debts -
which is every club bar Partick Thistle. As we've stated publicly, the club is
in the middle of a restructure which we hope will be complete soon. Despite many
comments I've seen, it is NOT a simple process and there is much to do to ensure
we get the best possible deal for Dundee Football Club before we make the move.
You wouldn't expect us to simply take the first offer or option that came along
and the directors have a legal duty to make sure they do the best for the club.
At the same time, like every other club we face a number of major commitments
like wages, tax bills, monies owed to fellow clubs etc..which must be met from
within existing resources as best we can. We are carrying a major debt and the
financial circumstances of Scottish football in general are changing. There will
always be risk in such an environment, but we have a clear vision of the way
forward.
Where will the club get the 20 million to repay the South African bank
Insinger De Beaufort over the next 25 years?
Good question. This is the heart of the major issue facing SPL clubs saddled
with debt. Take ourselves as an example. Like most clubs, we have a major debt.
We have a choice. We can search around for a sympathetic bank who might, if
we're lucky, let us sit on that debt for maybe 10, 20 or 30 years, occasionally
paying little bits off if we sell a player here of there or manage to reach a
semi-final or final. Naturally, we'd have to sell our best players, taking
whatever we can get for them in a very depressed market. Then we'd have to hope
against hope that we could retain a squad of players capable of keeping us in
the SPL every season, because relegation with debt would spell major, major
problems. If we manage to survive 15 or 16 seasons in the SPL, we might just be
able to reduce our debt to a more respectable level. Of course, we'd have to
achieve this without quality players like Rava, Giorgi, Nacho, Julian, Gavin,
the two Lees etc..and the aim each season would be simple survival, not top-six,
cups or Europe.
Or.. we can take a calculated risk. The Board's logic is that we should aim and
budget strongly for Uefa cup football in the seasons ahead. The new league
set-up for the competition means substantial revenues will accrue to the clubs
taking part. These revenues can be used to pay off any debts or loans over a
much shorter timescale. To achieve European football consistently, the manager
needs to be able to strengthen the squad if he deems that necessary. For that,
he needs resources. Giovanni's argument is that we should be prepared to invest
those resources in the team to maximise our chances of a regular European
pay-day, rather than cower away from our debt. Which is a long-winded way of
saying speculate to accumulate. It goes without saying the latter plan is much
more likely to appeal to fans craving a high standard of competition. It also
increases our appeal to TV, another v important source of revenue.
How many of the out of contract players will be offered new contracts?
The gaffer knows who he wants to keep and c
Copyright James Hegarty not to be used without Permission
