Pavis makes fresh takeover approach

Pavis had stated that his offer to buy-out chief shareholder Haydn Green was over, after seeing his initial approach rejected on the basis that it relied largely upon loans and back-payments.

However, the 74-year-old and his consortium are now set to table what is a second and final offer for the Magpies, with the acceptance of Pavis' proposal thought to lie squarly at the feet of the 1,400 members of the Supporters Trust.

Senior members of the Trust met with Pavis for the first time earlier in the week and are now set to call a meeting where all of their members will be told the details of the bid, before voting on whether it should be succesful or not.

It is a quite unprecedented situation and one that could be key to the club's future.

"It is the trust's understanding that a further bid to purchase shares and provide loans to the club may well be formally submitted in writing by the Derek Pavis consortium in the near future," Trust Chairman Keri Usherwood told the Nottingham Evening Post.

"It remains the trust's view that this would be highly significant with respect to the future direction of Notts County Football Club and that, as major investors in the club, all trust members should have the chance to meet and vote on whether they feel it would represent the best way forward for their club.

"Should this occur, it is anticipated that this meeting would take place at a special meeting of the trust some time in December in accordance with the rules of Notts County Supporters Limited.

"We are very pleased that Derek Pavis has agreed to sit down and begin a face-to-face dialogue with the trust.

"It was accepted that the most important issue was for everyone to work in the best interests of Notts County Football Club."

Notts need investment to see them through to the end of the season, where they will then be able to re-structure the club's finances to a far more manageable level. This will, in-turn, give manager Gudjon Thordarson more funds to strengthen his playing squad and ensure that the club is never in such a precarious position again.

The amount of the investment needed depends on results, particulary in the FA Cup. Should Notts manage to overcome Torquay a week on Saturday, for example, and then draw a Premiership club for the Third Round, the Magpies may not require Pavis' input.

However, if the approach from the former County supremo is succesful, Pavis would own enough shares to again become Chairman of the Meadow Lane Football Club.

The Trust vote promises to be an interesting affair. Pavis has always been a figure who provokes strong reactions from the County faithful, ever since first buying the club in 1987.

And - if the debates on the NCM Messageboard are anything to go to - the final, all-important, result promises to be extremely tight.

The latest poll on this-very website showed 40% of readers in-favour of the bid, with 41.3% saying it was extremely worrying and 18.7% saying it was bad. The official verdict in NCM headquarters to the results of the poll was that they were 'inconclusive'.

The Trust meeting - which has yet to be assigned a date - promises to be one of the most important meetings in the club's history. But, this time, with the supporters set to make the key decision, we'll only have ourselves to blame if it all goes wrong.

For all the latest takeover talk, continue checking back to NCM throughout the coming weeks.