Clubs in trouble

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Good to see Man Utd still in deep trouble.

Their recent bond issue is one of the worst performers on the market and may restrict them from returning to the bond market to refinance their refinanced, refinanced debts.

I thought that their bond issue went really well?  Or is it a case of them all getting taken up and then performing like shite?

The latter. Dumb asses in the City are now waking up to realise it was over priced. They're not happy.

[Mike Jeffries]

Pompey have been taken over again.

Subject to the fit and proper persons test - don't laugh at the back.

Football establishment no mark: "Ah yes my good man I can tell you are a fit and proper person by the cut of your expensive (looking) suit".

Slimey, untrustworthy looking representative of new owner (who isn't even present at meeting): "Oh yes indeed, slither, slither, hiss, hiss".

[Pete]

Good to see Man Utd still in deep trouble.

Their recent bond issue is one of the worst performers on the market and may restrict them from returning to the bond market to refinance their refinanced, refinanced debts.

I thought that their bond issue went really well?  Or is it a case of them all getting taken up and then performing like shite?

Seems the bond issue didn't go that well.....

"The banks selling the bonds struggled to find buyers and went to the four corners of the earth to get it done," said Jonathan Moore, a high yield bond analyst at Evolution Securities. "There was very little appetite for the sterling part of the deal – of the 30 or so investors in London I have spoken to, only two bought it. As the markets have weakened since the deal was priced, the institutions have offloaded it, but there are particular worries on the Manchester United bond because of the weak covenants, and the Glazers' ability to take cash out of the company."

And they've lost about 5% of their value in a fortnight and people are trying to sell.....

The bond, which was issued accompanied by a brochure that laid bare the club's spiralling debts and outlined the possibility of selling off the club's training ground, was initially priced at a discount to attract investors and has since fallen even further. Bond holders wishing to sell now would make a five percentage point loss.

  Clicky

[Villa'Zawg]

Apologies for the long post.

An interesting spat is developing between the Spirit of Shankly (SOS) Liverpool supporters union and Christian Purslow, the Liverpool CEO.
They had a meeting on the 21st Jan and both sides are disputing what was said, to the extent that they have failed to agree the minutes of the meeting, with SOS publishing both versions on their website.

Examples of the comments attributed to Purslow by SOS are;

CP - It is not a given that £100 million will buy 25%. I need to find £100 million, and if this is for 1% or 100% I don't care. I am concentrating on getting the investment needed. Some investors may have issues with working with the present owners, but some don't just want a percentage, some want 100%. No investor is going to want to invest £100 million and have a smaller stake than the present owners.

SOS - Do Hicks and Gillett value the club too high?
 
CP - No one would invest at the level they want.

SOS - Are there discussions with other banks, to try and get a better deal for any re-financing?
 
CP - There have been around 30 meetings with different banks, we want the best deal for the club. If other banks will give us a better deal, we will work with them. No other bank will take us on with £237 million debt, they want less debt. RBS are unhappy with the present ownership, so an improved situation at the cub will improve our relationship with them. They want to continue working with us.

CP - … The player account is funded by player sales and any profit. Presently profit goes primarily towards paying the debt, so reducing debt means we have more money to spend.

The present owners have made it clear that they will not invest more money of their own; they have already invested around £130 million. We will not be like Manchester City or Chelsea as we are living within our means.

In the summer we had seven new contracts signed on new deals for existing players; this had to be funded from player sales, losing other wage costs and the profit available. Agents’ costs for new signings or contract renewals, around 1.5 %, come out of the player account as well…

SOS - Gillett has told fans including myself in the past that they have used their own money for player purchases, how does this fit with the player account about being self sufficient?
 
CP - I am not the owners, I am the management. They did invest their own money, £15-£20 million each season for the first few years. This wasn't good for us and it needs to be managed. They have no money now to invest; they have spent £130 million, and cannot borrow further.
 
SOS - Will the transfer net spend always be zero as, what goes in is all that can go out?
 
CP – The Player Account is made up of player sales and any profit put into it. Profit will not be as much this season due to disappointing season so far.

SOS - If investors don't come into the club, do we become a mid-table team?
 
CP - LFC is for sale. It will be sold. The owners have to sell, they are out of money. The bank want it sold, the fans want it sold and people want to buy it. The problems on the pitch at the minute aren't the fault of the owners. It is not simple enough to say that new owners will guarantee results on the pitch.

Full transcripts of the minutes from both parties published here

Minutes from Christian Purslow and SOS Meeting - Clicky

The chances of Liverpool refinancing through the bond market are significantly reduced after the news that Man Utd’s bonds, which were sold at a discount 2 weeks ago, have dropped a further 5%.

United's bond scheme sends investors into red - Clciky

I almost felt sorry for Purslow when I read this bit in his version of the minutes "And as I said to a small group of you when I arrived. The most difficult part of bringing in investment is the coverage of disturbances or protests at games. Much is overplayed but it gets read. The fact is that the owners are working hard to bring in investment. They are not an obstacle to this process-indeed they started it and bringing me in confirmed it. But it is tough to persuade new investors of the attraction of the club if they think they will get hassled every time they visit.  So I again urge you all to think about this aspect and try and do the right thing. We are making slow but sure progress.  Please help us get the job done and we will happily continue to keep you and your members informed via this channel of communication."

He didn't get what he wanted :-)

[pdiddybaby]

CP - LFC is for sale. It will be sold. The owners have to sell, they are out of money. The bank want it sold, the fans want it sold and people want to buy it. The problems on the pitch at the minute aren't the fault of the owners. It is not simple enough to say that new owners will guarantee results on the pitch.

no wonder Purslow is disagreeing with these comments, they are inflammatory against Bentiez and lowers the selling price of the club, can not beleive any decent CEO would say that

[Rudy Can't Fail]

I can't believe the Liverpool fans were so stupid to make public the minutes of the meeting. Or maybe I can.

What a mess.

[pauliewalnuts]

CP - LFC is for sale. It will be sold. The owners have to sell, they are out of money. The bank want it sold, the fans want it sold and people want to buy it. The problems on the pitch at the minute aren't the fault of the owners. It is not simple enough to say that new owners will guarantee results on the pitch.

no wonder Purslow is disagreeing with these comments, they are inflammatory against Bentiez and lowers the selling price of the club, can not beleive any decent CEO would say that

That's exactly what I thought. If he did say that, then he's pretty naive to think it wouldn't get published / used against the club.

[pauliewalnuts]

Noticed this

Attended - Christian Purslow, James McKenna, Graham Smith, Jon Paul Hill, Nicky Allt, Fran Stanton, Stephen Monaghan, Keir Culvin, Daniel Nicolson, Tommy Keiner, Andy Williams, Paul Gardner, Peter Hooton.

I imagine he played the conciliatory role. All together now, etc etc

[pdiddybaby]

SOS making things up eh ?

that damages the name of all decent fans groups.

really they should have both agreed an independet person does the minutes.

[pauliewalnuts]

SOS making things up eh ?

Well, we don't know, in fairness, he might actually have said that, in a misjudged attempt to get the fans "on board".

really they should have both agreed an independet person does the minutes.

Yes, if what was said in the meeting was going to be in the public domain, they should have agreed on this.

Reading it, I bet the CEO wasn't aware it was going to come out. Which is very naive.

[pdiddybaby]

SOS making things up eh ?

Well, we don't know, in fairness, he might actually have said that, in a misjudged attempt to get the fans "on board".

really they should have both agreed an independet person does the minutes.

Yes, if what was said in the meeting was going to be in the public domain, they should have agreed on this.

Reading it, I bet the CEO wasn't aware it was going to come out. Which is very naive.

yep regardless of whether he was misquoted or not, he has no way now of disproving it. Give SOS so much credit for actually boxing them in like that.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

SOS have a bit of history for being arse holes, so I suppose it's no surprise. I'd imagine they've now lost any possible direct communication channel with the club.

[damon loves JT]

Pompey have been taken over again.

Subject to the fit and proper persons test - don't laugh at the back.

Football establishment no mark: "Ah yes my good man I can tell you are a fit and proper person by the cut of your expensive (looking) suit".

Slimey, untrustworthy looking representative of new owner (who isn't even present at meeting): "Oh yes indeed, slither, slither, hiss, hiss".

I don't think Pompey will last till the end of the season. Eventually some absent-minded sheikh will forget he owns it, neglect to pay the gas bill, and the whole thing will disappear in a puff of debt

[Dave Cooper please]

I don't think Pompey will last till the end of the season. Eventually some absent-minded sheikh will forget he owns it, neglect to pay the gas bill, and the whole thing will disappear in a puff of debt

They will last the season.
Not because they aren't fooked, they certainly are, but because the Premier League won't want to deal with the inevitable outcry and legal action should a club like, say, Sunderland get relegated or worse, Man City miss out on the Champions League due to the points they will lose when Portsmouth's record gets expunged.

[pauliewalnuts]

More evidence of how football has gone absolutely mental.

Dyer straits! Five starts, no goals...and Kieron Dyer will cost West Ham 30million quid!

The former England midfielder is fast becoming an emblem of the reckless financial regime of Icelandic owner Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson and his sidekick Eggert Magnusson.

West Ham’s medical team raised doubts about Dyer’s signing when he arrived from Newcastle in August 2007 but the transfer was rushed through before the deadline because the owners were keen to showcase top-class players.

Dyer, who has managed just 558 minutes of League action for the club, signed a four-year deal reported to be worth £70,000 a week but broke his right leg soon after his debut and missed more than a year as he suffered complications in his recovery.

His transfer fee was £7m - £1m more than the figure publicised at the time - and the agents’ fees on the deal cost the Hammers another £1m.

Together with bonuses and National Insurance contributions, the club can expect to have paid out the thick end of £30m for him by the time his contract has expired at the end of next season.

Dyer has struggled through this campaign with hamstring problems and the 31-year-old has not played since limping off at Bolton in December.

He is closing in on another first-team return but if his fitness fails and he breaks down again, West Ham could seek to negotiate a deal to pay up his contract and bring to a premature end his disastrous spell at the club.

Such lavish rewards and lengthy contracts are not likely to be encouraged by new owners David Sullivan and David Gold, who signed Mido on loan from Middlesbrough last month for a basic wage of just £1,000 a week

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1249494/Dyer-straits-Five-starts-goals--Kieron-Dyer-cost-West-Ham-30million-quid.html