Knighton agreed to listen to a new offer from John Courtenay that the Irish businessman said he would send over to the majority owner on Monday morning. However Courtenay insisted it would be a reduced offer because of the recent developments at Brunton Park with players released and staff sacked. Courtenay also said he would now be interested in forming a consortium with other interested parties, in particular insurance tycoon Brooks Mileson, who has already failed on three occasions to cut a deal with Knighton. Mileson was listening to the phone-in yesterday and could start talks with Courtenay if the Irishman's latest offer is rejected. Courtenay, taking part from a studio in Dublin, accused Knighton of lying early on in the phone-in with regard to a fax sent to him on April 9 by Knighton's lawyer Joseph Glass. Mr Glass later read out a prepared statement at Brunton Park, accusing Courtenay of not demonstrating he had the financial means to buy the club. The two also clashed over claims by Courtenay that Knighton had said in a meeting held in Lincoln in March that he "didn't care if Brunton Park was converted into a pigsty". Ex-manager Roddy Collins was also at that meeting, held the day after he had offered to resign over the state of the stalled takeover negotiations. Contrary to Collins's comments at the time, both he and Knighton had fallen out and barely managed a dialogue during the meeting itself. Knighton also fought a verbal contest with CCUIST representatives Alan Steel and John Wilson and the News & Star's Vic Gibson. At one point Knighton compared Mr Gibson to Liverpudlian comedian Stan Boardman, saying the only difference between them was that Boardman was paid to tell jokes. Radio Cumbria's Paul Newton had to intervene on several occasions as tempers began to fray. Knighton re-iterated that he wasn't planning to walk away from the club and said he wouldn't be dealing with CCUIST, claiming they had never offered to talk to him. Later he admitted to having talks with both CCUIST chairman Mike Corry and former MP David Clark, now Lord of Windermere. He also said the club was in the process of setting up a committee of supporters to bring about fan representation. He also said he had offered a 51% stake to supporters in January 1996 with little response and that he had endeavoured to set up a supporters trust in conjunction with Brian Hall's CISA group in 2000. This initiative ended in failure when two directors Steve Pattinson and Peter Fletcher resigned from the steering committee. Alan Steel read out a letter from former chairman Albert Doweck which stressed that future attempts at forming a trust should remain independent of the club. Picture from News & Star |
