Skint!!

Last updated : 17 February 2002 By Paul Berry
The Magpies have been left in financial turmoil while they wait for the deal - which was initially agreed in November last year - to be finalised.

And a spokesman for the American giants today told the Evening Post that the deal is being held up while insurance details with Lloyds of London are confirmed and warned that it could still be "a matter of weeks or months" before Notts receive payment.

Albert Scardino today admitted that they have started to look into "alternative arrangements".

Notts were forced to take a loan from the PFA to cover the players' wages last month and have mounting debts.

Chairman Derek Pavis set a mid-February deadline for the club to come up with the cash or, he said, he would consider making a bid to retake control of the club he sold to Scardino and Peter Storrie.

"We had stopped looking for alternatives in October, when we thought this would happen.

"But we are obviously still waiting. The money still may come from GMAC, but we have to look at our alternatives as well."

And Scardino appealed for everyone at the club and the supporters to unite to help them through this traumatic period.

"I said some time ago that we have some problems, but they are not insurmountable," he said. "They can soon be solved with everyone working
together.

"We cannot solve them alone, but if everyone at the club works together we can get through this.

"We are convinced that Notts County still has a very positive future, we just have some things to work through."

Tim Corbett, marketing director of General Motors Commerical Credit, says the group are still interested in completing the loan deal with the club, but says there are still details to be ironed-out.

The seven other clubs involved in the £120m deal are also still to receive
any cash.
"We have not yet made a formal offer of a loan to Notts County," he said.

"We have drawn up a draft of the terms and conditions, but we are waiting for approval from our credit approval committee.

"But that cannot be completed until certain criteria are put in place.

"Part of the reason it is taking a little while is because it is new territory for us.

"It is a high-risk investment for us and we want to make sure we get it right."

And Corbett confirmed that the main cause of delay was the insurance cover on the deal.

"One of the things that the loan relies upon is an insurance policy drawn with Lloyds of London being finalised," he said.

"Until that happens we cannot move forward, we need that protection to move ahead.

"But it is very difficult to put a timescale on it, simply because we are waiting on outside sources. I cannot say whether we are talking about weeks or months.

"Once we have the final pieces in place, we can put it before our internal credit approval committee within the space of 48 hours.

"But we are just waiting for the pieces to be put in place."

Corbett says that the club's relegation plight is not necessarily an issue.

"The only thing we would look at would be their ability to pay back the loan and to keep up with the repayment agreements," he said.

"If anything were to happen to affect that it might make a difference."