The Takeover Thread - Recon Group - NOW WITH NEW POLL

[Richard E]

I've counted at least 5 - could be 6 if you think calling someone a "pretender" is defamatory.

[Stirchley Villain]

Fantastic.
After the credit card yankee pretender with his war-criminal mate departs  we get a chinese moneylaunderer led into the deal by a known criminal representing the worst kind of private equity usurers (expect the club up to its eyeballs in future secured debt) who is expected to appoint an known asset stripper as chairman.

How many libellous comments can one person get into a sentence?

How much nonsense more like...

[Ger Regan]

That is dripping with libel. I would suggest you edit the post, mal, or we may have to do it for you.

[pauliewalnuts]

absolutely, only in football does it seem to be the norm to be rewarded beyond most people's wildest dreams for failure. Incentive, incentive, incentive!

I'm not sure about.  In most industries people are given contracts and the companies are obligated to pay them pretty much indefinitely.  You'll only get the sack for gross misconduct and the like, whereas managers are only ever 10 games from the sack...  Compared to the players, I'd say that managers are underpaid based on the level of responsibility and the job's insecurity.

The difference being that football managers get their contracts paid up when they depart.

[mal]

That is dripping with libel. I would suggest you edit the post, mal, or we may have to do it for you.

The only censored sentiment which I might suggest is defensible as fair comment. All the other sentiments have been expressed elsewhere on this site and linked to sources on the internet at large. FT find censored, censored is up in court in the US. Censored I accept that in the modern world this may be described as 'good business practice' but it may equally be termed censored. Censor me if you wish.

[ChicagoLion]

Fine to have that sort of idea for a contract (if that is a legitimate quote) a bit less fine if you are broadcasting it for all and sundry to hear.

As others have mentioned, it immediately reduces the appeal of the job.  You can talk about rewarding failure, but the average life expectancy for any manager in the top two divisions is about two years now. Paul Lambert was third longest serving manager in the PL at one point.

Even good managers aren't immune from a 4/5 game losing streak, which will immediately have the knives out for most managers these days.   It is a precarious job, so it is an extremely hard sell without compensation. 

The key is picking a manager who has a bit of pride in himself and isn't attracted to the job for that reason alone.

All this shooting from the hip is fine, but talking about these kind of high performance winning standards doesn't ring true for me.  I come back to the earlier point that if this chap does want to make us a major player in the world game (and has the resources to do so) why wait until we have dropped out of the most high profile league in the world?   Why risk the complication of having to gain promotion and the two lots of rebuilding it will need (this summer and then having a team fit for the PL) when he could have gone in with a higher purchase price in Jan (or even last summer) and banked the new TV deal?

The 'We will spend £30, £40 or £50 million' all sounds a bit vague and Carson-esque to me too (not saying he will go on to be a rotter of Yeung-like proportions, mind).   There is a big difference between £30 and 50 million. 

Paul Winch and a few others have mentioned that there are reasons to be concerned with this deal, but that another year of Lerner and co would have seen us plummet even further, and that is a fair point.

I don't think this will be a long-term fit.  But If it is a venture capitalist-style deal and the aim is to invest heavily in the first year or two, get us up and and then sell on at a profit, then so be it.

I took the transfer funds thing to mean that he has set a figure and will see what the manager wants once they're in place.  I think that is exactly the right approach for him to have at this point.

As for long-term fit I think you're completely wrong, as I've said before from everything that has been said by him and about him, a glance at the main business in his group and an understanding of where investments in rebuilding Birmingham are coming from I see this as a Man City style takeover where he wants to rebuild the whole area and use the club as a way to draw people in.

that's some massive expectation,
 and there was me thinking he was just a bullshitter

I'm with you John e.

There's more a whiff about all of this.

Mention has been made of the Chinese being interested in devloping football clubs in some sort of recipricol deal for their players but this seems to have taken a backseat in the recent news.   

The idea now being touted is this Dr of Design (town planner/architect) has a business plan which seems to be based around some sort of regeneration plan for Aston.   

If he pulls it off then great, but I just can't see what his Chinese backers would get in return, so that leaves  Birmingham Council, the governement or private backers needing to pump money into the scheme.  Can anyone see that happening?

We all know where the debt will lie if it all goes tits up.  That's why I'm very sceptical.

There is substantial amounts (billions) of money looking to get out of China.This money has been flooding into real estate San Fran, NY London. Commodity producers in Africa and all sorts of other asset classes across the globe. So it is not that far fetched to think that this deal may be part of a larger investment scheme. The Chinese have been doing this without debt, that is not the driver, the attraction is to get the currrency out of Remimbi and into other currency denominated assets. Of course it could all be Rubbish.

[Bad English]

The Bird's Nest comment sounds a bit odd, certainly. I don't think it passes the sniff-test.

Yes, you would definitely want your bird's nest to pass the sniff test.

[Percy McCarthy]

If this season proves nothing else it's that nothing in football is permanent.

Indeed. I recall being laughed out of town for predicting the 'eternal' top four (Arsenal, Man Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea) would soon be dotted about the top half of the table. (2nd, 5th, 8th, 10th this season). I think Liverpool have qualified for the Chumps League once since I predicted they were most at risk of losing their place.

I can remember your posts on that a few years ago now
I wasn't one that laughed I thought you made some interesting and unique points at the time

looks like you were not far wrong

Cheers John. Before the revolution, the revolutionary is always in the minority.

[dave.woodhall]

That is dripping with libel. I would suggest you edit the post, mal, or we may have to do it for you.

The only potential libel in there is the anti-american sentiment which I might suggest is defensible as fair comment. All the other sentiments have been expressed elsewhere on this site and linked to sources on the internet at large. FT find Xi worrying, Samuelson is up in court in the US. Wyness sold off large swaths of Everton's land and related businesses whilst chair there. I accept that in the modern world this may be described as 'good business practice' but it may equally be termed asset stripping. Censor me if you wish.

You made libellous allegations and have been asked to withdraw them. Are you willing to do so?

[Ger Regan]

That is dripping with libel. I would suggest you edit the post, mal, or we may have to do it for you.

The only potential libel in there is the anti-american sentiment which I might suggest is defensible as fair comment. All the other sentiments have been expressed elsewhere on this site and linked to sources on the internet at large. FT find Xi worrying, Samuelson is up in court in the US. Wyness sold off large swaths of Everton's land and related businesses whilst chair there. I accept that in the modern world this may be described as 'good business practice' but it may equally be termed asset stripping. Censor me if you wish.

War criminal?

[AVH87]

This articles worries me: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9969d8b0-1e63-11e6-b286-cddde55ca122.html#axzz49CIb7ncT

'Aston Villa's Chinese Buyer DOES NOT control 5 companies'

[mal]

That is dripping with libel. I would suggest you edit the post, mal, or we may have to do it for you.

The only potential libel in there is the anti-american sentiment which I might suggest is defensible as fair comment. All the other sentiments have been expressed elsewhere on this site and linked to sources on the internet at large. FT find Xi worrying, Samuelson is up in court in the US. Wyness sold off large swaths of Everton's land and related businesses whilst chair there. I accept that in the modern world this may be described as 'good business practice' but it may equally be termed asset stripping. Censor me if you wish.

You made libellous allegations and have been asked to withdraw them. Are you willing to do so?

I have done as you have asked, Dave.

[mal]

That is dripping with libel. I would suggest you edit the post, mal, or we may have to do it for you.

The only potential libel in there is the anti-american sentiment which I might suggest is defensible as fair comment. All the other sentiments have been expressed elsewhere on this site and linked to sources on the internet at large. FT find Xi worrying, Samuelson is up in court in the US. Wyness sold off large swaths of Everton's land and related businesses whilst chair there. I accept that in the modern world this may be described as 'good business practice' but it may equally be termed asset stripping. Censor me if you wish.

You made libellous allegations and have been asked to withdraw them. Are you willing to do so?

I have edited both my posts - you may want to edit the quoted versions as they appear to remain the same.

[Quiet Lion]

This articles worries me: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9969d8b0-1e63-11e6-b286-cddde55ca122.html#axzz49CIb7ncT

'Aston Villa's Chinese Buyer DOES NOT control 5 companies'

Yikes

This has the potential to end in tears

[lordmcgrath5]

This articles worries me: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9969d8b0-1e63-11e6-b286-cddde55ca122.html#axzz49CIb7ncT

'Aston Villa's Chinese Buyer DOES NOT control 5 companies'

Me too. All sounds very vague, there could well be more unsettling revelations to come.