[Archived] Club Takeovers

[M-K]

Back on the 'sugar daddy' / Russian billionaire question, I had a weird dream last night that maybe Uncle Jack's investment was, on balance, a Bad Thing for us.

Don't get me wrong, we had some great years, saw some great players, beat the kind of teams that in the past we'd have been dead chuffed to hold to a 1-1 draw at Ewood in the FA Cup 3rd round before going down fighting in the replay.

But now... plenty of our fans are upset that we're losing players to Liverpool; that we've only bought one Champs League winner in the summer rather than a whole team of them; that we might not finish in the top half of the Premiership. This is Blackburn Rovers we're talking about. Maybe forgetting your history is the price of having a super rich owner.

Yes, I remember when it was all fields round here...

[Cheshireblue]

The two gentlemen that are trying to buy West Ham are the guys who ultimately own the registrations for the two Argentinians that have just gone there. They also own an interest in the Corinthians club in Argentina.

West Ham are a plc and so have to stay quiet until they have something concrete to announce, but lets be honest, these two guys would not have been told to sign for the Hammers if they weren't sure that the deal was going to go through.

[daveoftherovers]

Darth mate, EXCELLENT post, completely agree.

Expect unpleasant things to befall the likes of Man ure, Spartak Kensington, Villa & Pompski.

I expect the likes of us and clubs like boro to be around for the long term.

6th for us is fantastic, another season like last or even better (With a decent Euro tour) would be amazing.

Keep your feet on the deck and support your local club or join the lemmings, simple as really.

TBH I'd really like it if the "Super" clubs did bugger off and form their own euro "Champs" league as it would bring back some norm and allow them to go away & self destruct with fewer re percussions for the rest of us.

Lets be honest, the bubble has to burst soon, crowds are down quite dramatically at most normal prem clubs already and this will get worse at the PL continues to over-do the hype and more glory hunters dive in for the vain clubs that are happy to sell out.

[Tris]

They also own an interest in the Corinthians club in Argentina.

Which is actually in Brazil.

[Fife Rover]

Darth mate, EXCELLENT post, completely agree.

Expect unpleasant things to befall the likes of Man ure, Spartak Kensington, Villa & Pompski.

I expect the likes of us and clubs like boro to be around for the long term.

6th for us is fantastic, another season like last or even better (With a decent Euro tour) would be amazing.

Keep your feet on the deck and support your local club or join the lemmings, simple as really.

TBH I'd really like it if the "Super" clubs did bugger off and form their own euro "Champs" league as it would bring back some norm and allow them to go away & self destruct with fewer re percussions for the rest of us.

Lets be honest, the bubble has to burst soon, crowds are down quite dramatically at most normal prem clubs already and this will get worse at the PL continues to over-do the hype and more glory hunters dive in for the vain clubs that are happy to sell out.

Well, Well! My faith in human nature is almost restored. Thanks to Darth and Dave I can see that there are still a number of people out there that are capable of sensible and level headed thinking, without being carried away by either grandiose or over ambitious delusions.

Time alone will tell, but the way I read it the "BIG CLUBS" will eventually clear off in to a "SUPER LEAGUE" and after a brief spell of ever increasing greed and corruption will inevtably die out because the paying public will become so bored and sickened by it all that they will all have found something better to do. Also the rich boy or company owners of these clubs are not going to stick around and keep pouring money into a sinking ship. As soon as it becomes apparent to them that they have milked the footie cow to the extreme they will be gone.

Menwhile the remaining "little clubs" like Rovers, PNE, Burnley, Accy Stanley, Sheff.U. etc, etc, will still be there providing what they always have done: Great Value footie for the ordinary man! And they will carry on doing so for the future. Have faith!

[stuwilky]

The two gentlemen that are trying to buy West Ham are the guys who ultimately own the registrations for the two Argentinians

The registrations that have to be owned by the club they play for?

[they_think_its_all_rover]

I never meant I want us to be like Chelsea! I meant I'd like to see a bit of money injected into the club, so we can compete to buy the odd gem.

Like, Bellamy was a gem for us, but if it wasn't for his behaviour/attitude e.t.c. we'd have never have got him at that price, therefore we'd never have got the gem.

[philipl]

But we did get Bellamy so we do get the superstars. And now he's gone to fluffing Welsh chances, scouseland and a couple of high profile court cases.

Now we've got Benni and Nonda, and if he didn't play for us, half the MB would be screaming for signing MGP.

For all the people wanting a change in ownership, remember Rovers are receiving an average of £5.5m a year from the Walker interests- averaged since Jack became involved that number has remained remarkably similar over the past 15 years. It is producing some remarkable results set against the context of being by some distance the smallest place in the Premiership. It is working incredibly well for the Rovers and is the difference between the club being a Premiership fixture and a return to the neverlands.

It would take a quite remarkable new investor to convince me that Rovers were getting something better.

After all, were we to still be in the bottom three by January, does anyone doubt that the Trust would pull out all the stops in the transfer market to preserve the club's Premiership status?

Edited September 5, 2006 by philipl

[thenodrog]

For all the people wanting a change in ownership, remember Rovers are receiving an average of £5.5m a year from the Walker interests- averaged since Jack became involved that number has remained remarkably similar over the past 15 years.

And if the trust decided otherwise Philip? Fantastic situation for us to be in after the dark years when we hadn't the proverbial pot to p1ss in and one which our neighbours serve as a a constant and regular reminder. I've just read that we may be selling Matteo back to LUFC, which is fine...... but can you recall when we would have been excited at the prospect of signing him? Anyway in this day and age what is £5.5m? That amount bought Shearer, Berg, Le Saux and Hendry few years ago, now it's an Emile Heskey or two Shefki Kuqi's ffs! What will that amount buy us in another 15 years?

Whatever you may think ultimately we do have feet of clay! I suggest that any club that in modern business parlance cannot 'wash it's face' will sooner or later will be unable to continue to defy gravity and will ultimately find it's own level. I would much rather the Walker legacy be used to somehow leave us with self sustainable top flight football rather than simply provide an annual financial backstop. The antics of past managers show us the folly of pandering to the ever increasing demands of poor management who, experience tells us indulge in what is tantamount to financial blackmail rather than their own managerial and motivational skills when the going gets tough.

[pleasure]

worryingly, not many wealthy english fans seem interested in purchasing clubs and , if they are, they are being outbid by foreign businessmen.

foreign businessmen have cottoned on that buying an english premier league club could by them respectability and adulation and find existing chairmen are willing to sell and often inflate the price.

if this trend continues, rovers are bound to be left behind (financially). this will make if almost impossible for rovers to not only compete, but to survive in the premiership.

here's hoping its a phase, but......

[Duff's Minder]

Which English fan would want to invest in a premiership club?

You don't get rich by spending £2.5m on Kuqi (bless him). The sad truth is that being fabulously wealthy like jack was isn't good enough these days unless you are prepared to invest 3/4 of your wealth in the club.

As Pleasure says the only thing in it for foreign businessmen is getting a high profile and respetcability. Man United are the only English club worth owning from a money-making point of view.

There should be much closer scrutiny over who owns the clubs. Foreign billionaires with shady pasts would not be allowed to buy a british bank why should they buy our football clubs?

Personally speaking I wouldn't want one of these guys anywhere near our club. If in the long-run that means I have to start going on away trips to Southend rather than Stamford Bridge then so be it.

[Billy Castell]

I really hope the G14 clubs do eff off and have their Euro Super League. Whilst it'll be really tough for us to begin with, the public will eventually grow bored by playing the top European teams all the time. It will lose that special something. Football is not like rugby, in the sense that there is more passionate support for long-established teams from more people.

The Euro Super League will not be a success like the Super 14 rugby, as the latter was an entirely new format set up with entirely new teams. It's purpose was to be a new competition between the clubs of the tri-nations, and raise playing standards. The Euro Super League will be about one thing-£, and how much each club can get.

I'm egging the G14 to break away, as it may end up like American sport in the Parker and Stone film Baseketball.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Talking about 'money men' anyone else hear the interview with Agent Kilby on radio Lancs and how Bumley are currently losing some £30,000 per week......they need 16,000 crowds just to break even by all accounts!!!

Living on Borrowed time?

[blue phil]

I half expected Theno's name to crop up in that link advocating the "final solution" ....

[Perth_Rover]

I'm egging the G14 to break away, as it may end up like American sport in the Parker and Stone film Baseketball.

Yes, as baseketball was a raging success!!!

Also the super 14 works as there is not as many teams, as in the is state leagues but no real national comp, just the super 14

[Blueboy Downunder]

baseketball, was an awesome movie!!!

[philipl]

Platini's gallic take on the takeover of English football

He sees the road to ruin in the over-heating of the player market.

For all the capital flooding in, 62% of clubs have increased their overdraft facilities. To be honest, beginning of June was the ideal time to chat to the bank manager if you were a football FD- always best to talk overdraft increases when you don't actually need it, have a revenue surge just round the corner and good reasons to "invest" speculatively/react to opportunities.

I am sure Rovers had done the same whilst stalking Bellamy.