In the military they say that time spent on reconnaissance is never wasted.
Last week at Sevco was all about having a look see.
At this stage I think Mr Llambias is rather surprised at what lurks below decks of the good ship Sevco.
I understand that his associate Mr Leach might well be of the opinion that Mr Ashley gets the hell out of dodge.
Sources inform me that the meeting between Charles of Normandy and the Sheriff of Newcastle did indeed take place.
Charlie is a reasonable man and I am sure he would be amenable to some arrangement on the image rights if it was mutually beneficial.
Meanwhile I understand Deloitte are stonewalling on the accounts.
Before they sign off on them they require an ‘immediately actionable plan’ for the business.
For the avoidance of doubt the clock is ticking on those accounts.
At the moment I am told by sources that there is working capital to meet payroll this month, but not December.
Moreover Mr Llambias has made it clear that his boss Mr Ashley is not lady bountiful in this saga.
Of course the hacks have been peddling the fiction that the owner of Newcastle wanted to bankroll Sevco into the Champions League no matter the cost.
Mr Llambias has already worked out that more loans will need to be provided.
The ex-Newcastle United chap was shocked to learn of the remuneration packages of several senior payers and the management team.
I would not be surprised if Mr Ashley does become the lender of last resort after December then, controlling the debt, that a planned Insolvency Event will not be the next move.
This is certainly the understanding of sources close to Mr David Somers.
Of course it has been the position of Laxey Partners since the start of this year to push the button marked ‘Administration’.
Should an Insolvency Event occur then the point’s penalty will be an issue, but perhaps some expedient league restructuring might save the day on that one.
I would not be surprised if some exploratory discussions had not already taken place on that subject.
In the final analysis the decision on whether to stick or bust will, of course, be Mr Ashley’s and his alone.
However he needs quality information before he can make that call and that is why he currently has his two guys in there to crunch the numbers for him.
So far it has not made for pleasant reading.
If he can come to a noble arrangement with Charles of Normandy on the image rights then I think he will stick around.
Mr Ashley knows that most of the Onerous Contracts are Administration proof.
He should do because he has two of them.
The Superstore contract and the stadium naming rights.
If he could get the image rights then that would provide him with a nice little earner out of Ibrox.
Mr Ashley probably has three to four weeks to make up his mind.
Payroll for December will be a problem and more finance will be required.
On a lighter note I learned that one Ibrox oriented blogger had tried to open a line of communications with the Ashley ‘regime’, but the young chap was politely told to go away.
I suspect he was just reconnoitring a new position for himself.
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