Firstly, thank you to everyone who put a question or questions to bluekipper.com to ask Paul Gregg today. We received over 100 questions per hour between midday and 5pm yesterday and drew the line at 9am today. Sorry to those who submitted questions after that but we were sure we had the general concensus. We sorted the questions, all 500+ of them, into various groupings, The Board, Finance, Rooney, True Blue Holdings, Transfers (Inc Smith), Personal to Paul Gregg, Stadium, Everton General etc and off we went to our 1pm appointment at The Radisson SAS (we didn't see them there, they are reportedly in Iraq), Old Hall Street to meet the man himself.

We arrived at 12.45pm and met various other groups of Blues who had been there already, the interviews were conducted in the White Bar. The Echo was represented and Paul Gregg's PA was trying to pull the strings. It was disappointing from the off that we were not in a private room and that previous groups had overrun. We were told at this point that Gregg had to be back in 'The City' and was leaving at 1.45pm. Kipper said that was OK as Dale Street was only 5 mins walk away, I mentioned that this was half the problem, Gregg thinks THE City is London, not our home town!

Paul Gregg Accepts over 500 questions from Sausage

Worse was to follow, after a quick blast with The Echo, we were told that we would be with Paul Gregg at 1.30pm, our one hour slot was now down to 15 mins! We started by asking 'What is your objective in organising these meetings and what do you hope to gain from them?' The reply was along the lines of allowing us to meet up and an opportunity for us to ask questions'. We painted the picture of the depth of feeling, the huge response to Blue Kipper and the disappointment at the short time we had been allowed. Following the short meeting Paul Gregg was presented with your questions, he agreed to respond to Blue Kipper and his PA offered us a future meeting where there would just be Blue Kipper and Mr Gregg, this went some way to making up our disappointment. So your questions (bar some that could not be shared & those which were received after the deadline) are in Paul Gregg's hands and were being read this afternoon on his train journey back to 'The City' - watch out for the 'Man throws himself off train' headlines!

The questions we did get chance to ask were as follows:

Blue Kipper: WHY IS IT ONLY NOW YOU HAVE COME OUT & SPOKEN?
Paul Gregg: Basically I have been saying there was a problem for 18 months and change was needed and we needed to find new investment and we haven't done that and I just felt we had to do something otherwise everyone would be wondering what the hell we were doing.

Blue Kipper: WHAT ARE YOUR PROPOSALS?
Paul Gregg: Basically the proposals are, what we want to do is, create a new injection of cash by way of a rights issue at the end of September/October when we've got the paper work done, effectively we want to go to the fan base over the next 18 months and see what we can achieve there. We want to re-evaluate all the clubs assets to see what we can do with those to maximise the value and make a base to go forward, it is very difficult at the moment to go forward.

Blue Kipper: WOULD ANY OF THAT MONEY GO TO DAVID MOYES TO STRENGTHEN THE SQUAD?
Paul Gregg: There would be in the region of £4/5 million going to David, the current conversation is that the lad from West Ham would cost us £2.5m a year!

Blue Kipper: HOW SOON WILL THE FUNDS BE AVAILABLE, YOU RECENTLY MENTIONED SEPTEMBER WHEN THE TRANSFER DEADLINE IS AUGUST?
Paul Gregg: The point is if we know we are going to create a new share issue then everybody is comfortable about what we can achieve in the short term. We have one offer on the table for a player now and I would hope before the end of the transfer window we will have the opportunity to purchase someone else.

Blue Kipper: FAN'S ARE VERY UNSURE ABOUT YOU, YOU HAVE JUST COME ON THE SCENE HAVING NOT ATTENDED A GAME FOR TWO SEASON'S, WHY?
Paul Gregg: It's only one season actually. I wanted change a year ago and felt totally frustrated that we weren't making any change and I got a mind set, I should have gone to the games.

Blue Kipper: WHY DID YOU BUY INTO EVERTON FOOTBALL CLUB?
Paul Gregg: I supported Bill and his vision, I wanted to join the Club.There were two opportunities, I felt that Bill had done a very good deal which I wanted to be part of and secondly, I believe that Everton could be made bigger than it is. I thought we could achieve that.

Blue Kipper: YOU ARE A SELF CONFESSED NON-FOOTBALL MAN, SO DIDN'T YOU JUST BUY A DEBT?
Paul Gregg: Yes, I bought into a debt but my capabilities have been frustrated because we haven't changed anything since I've been there. A lot of people have under achieved and expectations have changed. My vision is to make us a solid club going forward with a proper business plan, going forward in a way that we can grow our resources.

Blue Kipper: HOW CONCERNED ARE YOU ABOUT OUR PERFORMANCES ON THE FIELD, SURELY THIS IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS?
Paul Gregg: I was paranoid last season when I thought there was a risk we could go down, it's something we should not bear thinking about.

At this point his phone goes and our 15 mins is reduced even further!

Blue Kipper: COULD YOU DETAIL YOUR PROPOSALS THEN?
Paul Gregg: Yes, put an initial £15m of new investment and go to the fans for a further£15m, re-evaluate the property assets and see what we can do with those and get ourselves on a stable basis so we can at least have a proper conversation about sharing a stadium and doing it from a position of strength.

Blue Kipper: BILL KENWRIGHT SAYS THE PROPOSALS AREN'T DETAILED. OURSELVES AND BILL KENWRIGHT WILL BE HERE IN 2/3YEARS TIME, WILL YOU?
Paul Gregg: Well if I'm not I hope I leave the Club in a better position than it is today. We need to change to get the money, if someone rolled up tomorrow with a load of money that would do a better job and that was a greater thing for Everton Football Club then that would be wonderful as well. I think Bill accepts that as well, but we have to do it in a phased way. I have two other people (besides Lord Grantchester) who are seriously interested who I believe will come together with it and that will make a big difference in going forward, it will strengthen the board and our credibility as well. I am hoping that Bill and I will come to some understanding in the next 48 hours, we must come to some understanding, even if it's only a short term understanding.

Blue Kipper: WILL YOU NAME THEM?
Paul Gregg: No

Blue Kipper: DOES ANITA GREGG WANT TO LIQUIDATE HER INVESTMENT?
Paul Gregg: She doesn't want the True Blue situation to continue and neither do I and that's what I told Bill 15 months ago, it hasn't worked and we need to change it

Blue Kipper: ARE YOU PREPARED TO ACCEPT A LOSS IN THE VALUE OF YOUR OWNERSHIP?
Paul Gregg: We are faced with it if we can't make any progress but what I would like to do is at least have a fight for it?

Blue Kipper: WILL YOU GO TO COURT, IF NESCESSARY?
Paul Gregg: I don't want to go to court, I don't see that as a way forward.

Phone goes for a second time

Blue Kipper: WHAT HAPPENS IF TRUE BLUE DISSLOVES?
Paul Gregg: All directors become responsible to the shareholders, yearly elections every individual director would have to justify his place on the board.

Blue Kipper: ARE WE NEAR A LEEDS UNITED SCENARIO?
Paul Gregg: I don't think so, I think we have a lot more going for us, we have far more assets, what we need to do is strengthen the board, get investors in the short term and move the club forward.

Blue Kipper: Is it true a Guernsey based company has a charge over sale of all players?
Paul Gregg: No

Blue Kipper: Has the club mortgaged off its premiership payments and Sky TV money to a firm named Singer and Friedlander?
Paul Gregg: No, not currently, we have in the past but not currently

Blue Kipper: Is it true the club has mortgaged off Goodison, season ticket proceeds, the merchandise stores, Netherton and Bellefield to the banks? If so, to which banks and/or institutions and for how much?
Paul Gregg: No. Bear Sterns are associated and they are more flexible so I would not say that is the case.

Blue Kipper: Is it true the Prudential will have first charge over any money raised via a shares issue?
Paul Gregg: NO

Blue Kipper: Who recommended the appointment of Trevor Birch?
Paul Gregg: I did in January.

Blue Kipper: What reason did he give for leaving?
Paul Gregg: He was frustrated with the control issue, we currently have a couple of options on a new Chief Exec but the new investors would need a say on that. No, I don't think Trevor Birch will return although I did ask him.

Blue Kipper: These mystery Backers. Will they have a place on the board?
Paul Gregg: Yes

Blue Kipper: ARE there any other people besides the backers, who you have lined up as Board members?
Paul Gregg: Yes, there are a couple.

Blue Kipper: Can you name them?
Paul Gregg: No

Blue Kipper: Is Steve Allinson one?
Paul Gregg: No

That was it! You make your own mind up!

Paul Gregg at this point went for a burst then he had to leave. We continued talking as he went out. He accepted that it was about sorting out Everton Football Club which we all love (he said he'd learned to fully understand that over the last few weeks). He said we must get our priorities right for the Club. He agreed to take all the questions submitted and look at every one of them and provide a response to Blue Kipper. Paul Gregg's PR man, Richard Clein also agreed to another meeting with just Blue Kipper in the next couple of weeks.

We left the meeting just as frustrated as we have been for the last 6 weeks, but at least we got over the first hurdle and Paul Gregg will have seen over 500 Blue Kipper questions from blue blooded Everton fans, he is quickly coming to terms with the passion and depth of feeling we have for our beloved club and that we will not be hood winked by the farce that is currently tearing our Club apart.

Sort it out Mr Gregg and get it sorted quickly, let's hope your '48 hours' statement proves to be correct. We look forward to your reply to our questions and our next meeting. Kipper & Sausage. (05/08/04)