[Archived] Rovers Takeover Thread

[leftfooter]

Of course, if Ince fails to reproduce the success that Hughes achieved the club's financial position will take a dip - less TV revenue, lower crowds and less place money. Personally, I think giving Hughes a few million in January would have been less of a gamble than the path we have chosen. However, if Ince proves a success then no harm will be done. Whatever happens, it should prove to be an interesting season one way or another.

However, you can understand why Hughes and Moyes demand more money. Ultimately, the fans expect them to compete in the Premier League and if they fail it's their jobs on the line. Sadly, without money there is no chance of breaking into the top four and probably the top six in future. I don't think it's ego, simply the realism of professionals who know that in the Premier League the days of achieving success on a shoestring budget is fast becoming a thing of the past.

Fair points PB.

I was also advocating that Hughes be provided with funds, particularly last January. His track record warranted that.

I think however, we could never match 18M being spent on the likes of Jo and ultimately we would never be able to match MH's long term ambitions.

Hughes would have left anyway, and we would eventually have had to employ another manager, so I don't think it is relevant to speculate whether Ince will be a success or not.

Goodness knows what else he was promised by Gary Cook in spending power in the bid to lure him to Ci'eh.

I doubt whether the fact that City neither had the money to employ him in the first place, nor that the money for Jo is on the never never particularly concerns him too much.

Imagine the reaction on these boards if Kia Joorabchian wrestled control of the club's player acquisition policy?

That's exactly why I have more faith in the much maligned trust (read back to the antipathy directed towards them in this very thread) than some spiv with an ancillary agenda, either foreign or British.

Whether Hughes is still in charge or after he has either been fired or walked out for a more lucrative position, we all know which way things will ultimately go at Eastlands.

Regarding your other point, by leaving Rovers for the paper dragon of Shinawatra's new Man City; has Hughes earned himself greater job security?

I would suggest he knows the answer to that and his ego overrode any concerns regarding his job security.

[Plastic Head]

I think however, we could never match 18M being spent on the likes of Jo and ultimately we would never be able to match MH's long term ambitions.

Goodness knows what else he was promised by Gary Cook in spending power in the bid to lure him to Ci'eh.

I doubt whether the fact that City neither had the money to employ him in the first place, nor that the money for Jo is on the never never particularly concerns him too much.

Imagine the reaction on these boards if Kia Joorabchian wrestled control of the club's player acquisition policy?

That's exactly why I have more faith in the much maligned trust (read back to the antipathy directed towards them in this very thread) than some spiv with an ancillary agenda, either foreign or British.

Whether Hughes is still in charge or after he has either been fired or walked out for a more lucrative position, we all know which way things will ultimately go at Eastlands.

Regarding your other point, by leaving Rovers for the paper dragon of Shinawatra's new Man City; has Hughes earned himself greater job security?

I would suggest he knows the answer to that and his ego overrode any concerns regarding his job security.

The fee for Jo was £5M I beleive - officially undisclosed.

See also Other Prem League Happenings thread - page 62 I think.

[Brfcrule1]

Nicko, any news in tommorrow's people on any potential takeover any news on the Americans?

your info as always is gratefully appreciated.

[Cally]

Liverpool is an interesting place with a big but declining population and very low income per head. Manchester's economy is over £50 billion (considerably more than Glasgow and Edinburgh combined). Liverpool is about £6 billion - believe it or not behind East Lancashire.

Both Liverpool Clubs have huge demand for success without the inherent money in the City to provide it. Liverpool rely on, and unlike Everton, can rely to a limited extent on overseas support/non Liverpool support and commercial money. However they are in effect not a viable 'going concern.' They are spending the owners money and money they are hoping to earn in the future. If - and it's by no means clear cut - they do get a big stadium they will be able to bring in some of the money through gate revenue but even with half the seats and corporate side sold to 'non scousers' they won't be anywhere near the revenue of the two big London club, Chelsea and Arsenal and possibly not even Tottenham (and maybe even West Ham). They are in schtuck and relying on spending owners money for a long time if they are to remain top four four at LEAST five years.

Everton is a completely different kettle of fish. They are the 'Liverpool' peoples club and supported largely by local. They have unquantifiable debts and even a full 60,000 stadium would not bring anywhere near the revenue even the current Anfield setup. And as I do work sometimes at Everton I can honestly say they are not convinced themselves they can fill it in Kirby - if it ever gets built. I think the moving on of the Chief Executive has more to it that it seems. The opening up of China has not happened and the good gates at Goodison not only won't produce huge revenue (much better than Rovers though) but a good proportion of that will be debt interest - so net they are probably competing finacially with the likes of us.

Football defies financial gravity in many countries with just one or two really viable clubs - we are heading the same way and unless their is a general rationalisation something akin to the housing market or the 'world product' we have created is supported from other than the fans pocket we'll end up like Italy or Scotland.

Hard to even know where to start with that nonsense, so I won't.

[RevidgeBlue]

As I alluded to in nicko's thread I feel it's now definitely time for the Trustees to **** or get off the pot.

They've already driven one outstanding young manager away for want of financial backing, a new man comes in and there's no indication he has been allocated the sort of resources needed to compensate for the sale of a key player.

Like Hughes before him if Ince turns out to be a huge success it will be despite, not because of the owners. It appears the Trustees like the kudos of owning a Premiership Club too much to actually relinquish control but at the same time they don't actually want to put any money into it.

[stuwilky]

What is the alternative Rev?

Seriously.

[RevidgeBlue]

What is the alternative Rev?

Seriously.

If that Gary Cook character can attract people richer than Abramovic for Citeh inside a matter of a few weeks I simply can't believe there's no-one at all out there for Rovers.

You could buy an entire Champions League team at Ewood for about half the cost of taking on shipwrecks like Citeh and Newcastle.

What have Rothschilds been doing exactly for the last few years?

[stuwilky]

If that Gary Cook character can attract people richer than Abramovic for Citeh inside a matter of a few weeks I simply can't believe there's no-one at all out there for Rovers.

You could buy an entire Champions League team at Ewood for about half the cost of taking on shipwrecks like Citeh and Newcastle.

What have Rothschilds been doing exactly for the last few years?

Id rather not have anything to do with these fly by night takeovers to be honest, but that is personal opinion.

Perhaps you could ask what Rothchilds have been doing?

[Billy Castell]

No-one wants us and we'll be watching real football in places like Plymouth and Norwich. On the plus side, if we get as far down as the third division, I might be able to watch us play Exeter.

[RevidgeBlue]

Id rather not have anything to do with these fly by night takeovers to be honest, but that is personal opinion.

Perhaps you could ask what Rothchilds have been doing?

I know what you mean stu, I don't really expect another Abramovic to ever pitch up at Ewood but I find it difficult to believe that no-one reasonably suitable has shown an interest in a Premiership Club over a prolonged period of time.

[American Rover12]

Well when I hit the lottery here's what'll happen.

1. Take care of mom and the family.

2. Pay off my student loans.

3. Buy Rovers.

Now wheres that ticket...

[dingles staying down 4ever]

What is the alternative Rev?

Seriously.

Sell the club to somebody who is probably using somebody else's money. They think they can develop the club into a big player in the league by borrowing more money to buy overpriced big name foreign players to get bums on seats. Then they realise it is not working..so restructure the debt and borrow more money. Then they decide that the only way to grow the business is to pack up and move and move to Milton Keynes or somewhere that has not got a major footballing team and a better fan catchment area etc. And if that does not work we fold.

Or we carry on looking for a buyer who can keep the club in the premiership without borrowing oodles of dosh and keeps the club relatively stable.

[Alan75]

Sell the club to somebody who is probably using somebody else's money. They think they can develop the club into a big player in the league by borrowing more money to buy overpriced big name foreign players to get bums on seats. Then they realise it is not working..so restructure the debt and borrow more money. Then they decide that the only way to grow the business is to pack up and move and move to Milton Keynes or somewhere that has not got a major footballing team and a better fan catchment area etc. And if that does not work we fold.

Or we carry on looking for a buyer who can keep the club in the premiership without borrowing oodles of dosh and keeps the club relatively stable.

I'll go with the second option.

The way that other clubs are carrying out their busines I predict will end in tears.

If the supposed resession hits football then the gates will soon drop then it will be like someone buying a Ferrarri and having to keep it in the garage as they cant afford to run it.

[dingles staying down 4ever]

I'll go with the second option.

The way that other clubs are carrying out their busines I predict will end in tears.

If the supposed resession hits football then the gates will soon drop then it will be like someone buying a Ferrarri and having to keep it in the garage as they cant afford to run it.

I agree whole heartedly. I suspect the impending recession is the main reason why Rovers did not spend excessively in the transfer window. Rovers have in the past looked into the future before deciding on their transfer policy. Walker trustees do not want to tarnish Walker's legacy by selling the club to someone who will take the club back to where we are close to going to bankrupt every other week.

[Atomicrover]

Id rather not have anything to do with these fly by night takeovers to be honest, but that is personal opinion.

Perhaps you could ask what Rothchilds have been doing?

..actually I wouldn't mind a "fly-by-night takeover" with someone who makes $500,000,000 A DAY evry time the price of oil goes up $1/barrel..................

[leftfooter]

If that Gary Cook character can attract people richer than Abramovic for Citeh inside a matter of a few weeks I simply can't believe there's no-one at all out there for Rovers.

You could buy an entire Champions League team at Ewood for about half the cost of taking on shipwrecks like Citeh and Newcastle.

What have Rothschilds been doing exactly for the last few years?

And there's the rub; it seems the best way to attract this type of investment offered by the Abu Dhabis is to find a Chairman willing to push the club to the absolute brink, like Shinawatra at City and Bates did at Chelsea.

Any potential investor sniffing around at least knows that any offer cannot be refused.

That seems to be the reason Arsenal and Newcastle were passed over (victims of their own restructuring success and therefore too expensive?)

When it works (like at City and Chelsea); bonanza for the fans!

When it doesn't work; abject misery (see Leeds).

City got lucky.

Hughes aside I can think of few more deserving than City fans, who stuck with their club even in the basement of the 1st Division. It could be worse. It might have been Newcastle………

[CrazyIvan]

I just don't like City fans much. Remember the game at Ewood when they got promotion to the big league in 1999?

I was talking to my wife about this take over of City and how lucky they are to get out of the hole they were in. I am wondering if this is the reality of football from now on. Are we watching the destruction of the English game by the ultra-rich who, literally, can buy anything? The board of the Premiership are going to be cock-a-hoop over the huge amount of publicity and kudos this kind of money brings and are going to be basically up their own @rses even more. Scudamore is going to love it and the 'extra' game will happen now, there is no doubt.

What happens to the smaller clubs? The Division 2 outfits who struggle to survive now? Will they get a trickle-down from the Premiership coffers? Not a chance. The rich get richer and the poor go out of business. The only way to stop this cycle is to limit the amount of foreign players in teams so that those big teams have to look to the lower leagues and scout the English game to pick up youngsters. Let them buy the big names but put a limit on how many they get and, for gods sake, how much they can spend on wages! I was never in favour of that before but with the amount of money that can be thrown around, it makes sense to try to redistribute it somehow. I am probably going to be seen as naive but I can't see a better way other than direct intervention and how do you do that?

How this relates to Rovers is simple, the youth team, the Academy and the scouting network needs investment on a consistent basis. I'd much rather see a decently wealthy buyer who understands the English game and the culture of football, not the culture of the Premiership, with a long term plan to take over. Someone with aims but who is realistic enough to know that the money ploughed in might only be returning a very small profit eventually or, most likely, will never return a profit. We may then see our season tickets staying at the cheap level they are at now which is good for Rovers fans. It's going to take a while to find someone like that though...

The additional benefit might be an England side that could win something too but maybe that's a dream too far...

[Gav]

The takeover of City pushes us further down the league, we just won’t be able to compete with the finances they’re going to generate. I think now is the time for the club to put all its efforts into finding a backer, so far things seem to have been half hearted at best.

The Blackburn public don’t need excuses to stop turning up week in week out and if the prospect of possible European football or a good run in the cup disappears then gates will fall. People won’t come down to watch a relegation fight year after year and thats where we'll end up if we don't find a backer soon.

[bubblerrovers]

I'll go with the second option.

The way that other clubs are carrying out their busines I predict will end in tears.

If the supposed resession hits football then the gates will soon drop then it will be like someone buying a Ferrarri and having to keep it in the garage as they cant afford to run it.

Or it could end up with with your club signing one of the best players in world, bringing joy to all the fans and hope for the future, and i don't mean FOWLER

[Billy Castell]

Mike Ashley will be looking for another club soon!

[Alan75]

Mike Ashley will be looking for another club soon!

and manager

[Bazzanotsogreat]

That's not a given, GAV. When you compare ourselves against the financial clout stacked against us last season, we did amazingly well to finish 7th (Sunderland, Spurs, Newcastle, City - they all spent millions yet finished below us). There are players out there to be had that 'big' clubs overlook - we may view them as rejects, but I think they're rejects who have flourished at Rovers because of the type of club we are.

But that was with Hughes: he had he ability to turn poor-avergae players into decent-good premiership players. We dont have the luxary of relying on Ince and future managers to work miracles

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

I suspect the impending recession is the main reason why Rovers did not spend excessively in the transfer window.

I too have been thinking the exact same thing over these last few weeks and if it means Rovers remaining a stable outfit then so be it.

[67splitscreen]

But that was with Hughes: he had he ability to turn poor-avergae players into decent-good premiership players. We dont have the luxary of relying on Ince and future managers to work miracles

Hughes the one man band. Even he was not that good, fair to say it was the team behind the scenes which did the hard work IMO, he has been given all the glory. As we do not have his back room staff though, your point is still a valid one.

[brfcmad1979]

After unsucessfully trying to sell our clubs for so long surely it's time to give Rothschild the boot and look for someone who might have the contacts to bring us in a serious buyer!