[Archived] Rovers Might Have Been Sold?

[Majiball]

It's a good call. I hadn't appreciated they had been so successful - but the inference is that even they are struggling against debt. If it was easily achievable then more clubs would be doing it.

The way I see it, if I had £300m and I wanted it to make more money, I wouldn't put it in to football.

I'm going with the earlier call - this guy has access to credit - the cashflow from a Premier league team will allow him to get credit to much more.

I would see the main difference between us and an Ajax or a porto is that we are not one of the top teams in our league and constantly chasing, champions league success and title challenges. Even with 300 million we will find it difficult to push for those coveted top 4 places. A seriously pragmatic approach would be required as porto have 60 first team players on their books and its their wage bill that drags them down.

But if that could be kept down to say 30, along the lines the club said it was going to follow IE 18-20 quality and the rest potential good ones, why not? It would require long term development of players though from the academy and those bought and experienced staff in doing so.

I don't see why we couldn't using that sort of model with the initial investment required not become what we were perennial european contenders. I'd be very happy to see us persistently finishing 7th for the foreseeable.

Signing the best young kids IE the Romelu Lukaku's and Neymar's of this world who are seriously good bets to be very very good footballers and then selling them on. With all the money in football these days even at 10+ million provided they are developed right, what would the manchester city's and the such pay for them? 30+ million for a striker who can score 15-20 goals a year in our league is easily realistic (torres is worth 50M+). This is the major advantage we have over the likes of Porto and the such. They will be proven in one of the top european leagues, their players are considered gambles because they don't and the fees they get reflect this. Look at Milner for example as well, I think you could make money in the EPL as it stands provided you are happy to be there or there abouts and not chasing the poisoned chalice. Add in redeveloping Brockhall (600,000 for a 6 bed house, how many of those could you fit on that site?) and the increased value of the club & squad as well.

Personally if I had 300 million to invest I'd think about a club like Rovers, but then again I'm useless with money.

[PAFELL]

This is serious; the first one probably.

That's what we want - positive reactions. Very easy to dismiss something first hand (which we all do at times) without first finding out if something is true or not.

[brian_gallagher85]

The guy could be genuine. He seems a player in the world of business...with the Irish and Aussie things happening right now too.

Many Premier League clubs have been bought for strange reasons recently. This fella may be legit. But who knows?

That's the thing, he is legit and he sees us as a genuine source of cash-flow. This guy could be either very very good or an extremely bad move for Rovers.

I continually hear that he will use his own money...well he has to as it his only source of funding given the high gearing ratio of debt to capital in all of his other "interests".

He does however seem to want to invest in Rovers rather than take us over per se - a fact that I don't think is lost on Philipl

It will all depend on the way in which he wants to do so and the demands he'll make.

Anyway, it beats talking about Vaughans knees for another week

[67splitscreen]

Take a look at some of the European clubs. They sign quality young players from brazil and the such and as soon as they have a good season sell them on for a profit.

I'd be happy for Rovers to follow this model provided the right balance between selling and league position could be obtained.

If I was looking for a club to replicate for the above a i would say Udenese has done a pretty good job in the last five years or so.

Player expenditure 70m, player revenue, 155m, many of there player coming young and on frees.

[Hughesy]

Balwer - any background on his familys wealth? Where did they make their money, and how much?

Philip - Do you have details of what the trust are requiring in any deal? I.e. signed agreements that they cant sell off brockhall, ewood or whatever? Is there any such rules in the Trust?

As for people saying 'In JW we trust' - to be honest he has very little impact, he's not the owner - its up to the trustees & Roschilds to get it right!

[Balwer]

Balwer - any background on his familys wealth? Where did they make their money, and how much?

Philip - Do you have details of what the trust are requiring in any deal? I.e. signed agreements that they cant sell off brockhall, ewood or whatever? Is there any such rules in the Trust?

As for people saying 'In JW we trust' - to be honest he has very little impact, he's not the owner - its up to the trustees & Roschilds to get it right!

Can't find anything. Newspapers claim he's the sole heir to a fortune that can trace its way back to the East India company.

Here's his CV, for what it's worth. Appears to have been an entrepreneur from the get-go.

http://www.westerngulfadvisory.com/download.php?file=WGA_CV_Ahsan_Ali_Syed.pdf

[Majiball]

If I was looking for a club to replicate for the above a i would say Udenese has done a pretty good job in the last five years or so.

Player expenditure 70m, player revenue, 155m, many of there player coming young and on frees.

A fantastic example.

They even still have some serious players, sanchez and zapater are both going to be top rate players. It s the best way forward for us IMO you just need that initial investment to get it all going. Commitment to the policy from the board and the manger.

We'd end up with the odd cup win every so often and could easily make the UEFA cup most years.

The issue for me would how would fans react to always seeing us looking to sell our best players?

[brian_gallagher85]

This article at least gives some details of his intentions for other business ventures.

WGA’s primary motive has been to help businesses gain and preserve wealth through funding in a cash-strapped economy. As a “facilitator” of wealth, the company’s mission is to channel capital and provide liquidity power through transparent and stress-free finance arrangement. The company has a 10-year old track record of enhancing the financial standing of its clients, successfully drawing significant finances for those who have sought its expertise. By facilitating high cash flows, WGA enhances the credit status of clients and aligns market dynamics in their favour.

Approaching business networking and fund management from a long-term perspective, WGA has identified fertile areas for collaboration, facilitating the joint attainment of mutual goals and objectives towards fruitful and environment-friendly returns. Although WGA’s role has evolved with changing times, the focus has continued to be the best advisor and advocate of our clients, and build bridges for even more successful, exclusive, long-term and diversified growth and investment.

[philipl]

Just skimmed the WGA accounts which make interesting reading.

It is essentially, Ahsan Ali Syed's personal investment vehicle- he has loaned it a cool $1bn in cash equivalents to manage on his behalf and it yielded $92m profit in 2009- a middling level of return depending on when the cash went in.

Interestingly it is forecast to become a $3bn operation this year; it is not clear where the extra $2bn is coming from.

In terms of red flags, this is a tiny operation- salaries of $600k (Yaya Toure earns that in two weeks) and fixed assets of $100k of which $7,000 is computer equipment. A tribute to the power of modern IT that you can run a $1bn investment fund on the equivalent of a couple of fancy laptops.

The reality is that WGA is just the most public face of Ahsan Ali Syed.

[RevidgeBlue]

The issue for me would how would fans react to always seeing us looking to sell our best players?

It'd be like now only we'd hopefully always be looking to replace with similar quality, unlike now.

I was only trying to suggest a theoretical way of balancing the books. I'd far rather see us keep hold of our best players in practice.

Interesting Hughes has gone into Fulham already reciting his proven mantra that he wants to turn Fulham into a permanent top ten club and that means signing and keeping hold of players not selling them.

Sigh.

[brian_gallagher85]

Just skimmed the WGA accounts which make interesting reading.

It is essentially, Ahsan Ali Syed's personal investment vehicle- he has loaned it a cool $1bn in cash equivalents to manage on his behalf and it yielded $92m profit in 2009- a middling level of return depending on when the cash went in.

Fairly decent level of return there Philipl. How would an investment of £300 million coupled with a return of all the TV money Rovers would earn in a season compare then?

[67splitscreen]

The issue for me would how would fans react to always seeing us looking to sell our best players?

Were used to it, so nothing new.

Exciting young players, sort of gets the adrenalin flowing any way, in my case. Watching a young worldie of the future develop beats the arse out of watching some of our recent signings, especially the ones from the lower leagues.

With the additional funding behind you, maybe we would be in a position were we could see them develop for longer then Udenese can.

[BPF]

The level of press interest in this seems to be in a totally different league than the Shah bid:

BBC:

BBC

[nicko]

Ok, a slither of news on this.

Sounds like the guy has a football advisor on board. A football agent, from what I gather. No harm there. It explains the leak and where it came out.

So perhaps a 'plan' has been formulated to make the thing pay...

Interesting that people - quite rightly - hail Udinese for what they have done. The only snag Rovers would face is the work permit problem. Many of their South American prospects in recent years would not have been allowed into this country. But I digress.

[67splitscreen]

But I digress.

Just one point, if they are brought in as scholars,students do they still need all the red tape, IE picking them up much younger.

[philipl]

Just one point, if they are brought in as scholars,students do they still need all the red tape, IE picking them up much younger.

Got to be an accredited training institution with the UK Borders Agency- and that is no easy status to obtain these days. The students have also got to provide compelling evidence of motivation to leave the country once they have completed their course in order to qualify for a Visa.

[thenodrog]

There is a business model that would be good for the long term health of the Club but it would need substantial initial investment.

Give the manager say 150m to spend on ten or eleven top class players on the understanding that they are to be developed and eventually moved on at a net profit. Then repeat.

will anybody be paying transfer fees by that time? Only a few are able / willing to do it now it seems. It seems a dying feature of modern football to me Simon.

With a population of a billion or more there must be a few good undiscovered players on the Indian sub continent that might be waiting to be brought over but for some reason asians don't seem to make good football players.

[Exiled in Toronto]

Exciting news, dampened only by the predictable negativity.

There are plenty of valid reasons for someone to want to buy a Premier League club:

Hobby - Al Fayed has been a great owner for Fulham

Can never spend it all anyway - Abramovich - he's spent more on yachts than he has Chelsea

Branding vehicle with almost unlimited tv exposure - I know Emirates don't own Arsenal, but their very long term deal is only one step away from permanent ownership

Capital growth - Plenty of people have got rich by selling clubs for more than they paid for them, usually on the back of...

Projected future increases in profitabilty - EPL football is still ridiculously cheap to watch overseas, I get every game in full for ten quid a month. There is a PoV that overseas rights are still in their infancy

[Iceman]

The level of press interest in this seems to be in a totally different league than the Shah bid:

BBC:

BBC

MAJOR Takeover Link

Premier League Blackburn Rovers

by Vinjay606 (U7834717) 04 August 2010

The Daily Telegraph and Guardian have today published stories regarding new interest in a takeover of Blackburn Rovers Football Club.

The BRFCS website also claim to have spoken to a representative of the bidder who has confirmed the news. That article can be found on their main news page.

Same country but this has nothing to do with the Saurin Shah bid. It is no secret other groups have been interested including rumours of American based interest. However they are rumoured to have registered interest months ago. The club by the way did not comment on this story but did not deny it either. We need to know what the LET or Alan Nixon says about it until the situation becomes clearer.

Out of all the takeover rumours thus far however this one sounds the most promising (the Mamut one in 2003 was denied almost immediately though initially he was supposedly interested)

The Guardian have also published the same story on their website. Also 2 days ago someone from Bahrain (somewhere where Ali Syed spends a lot of time) claimed on the official site forum that a deal could be much closer than anyone thinks. That probably isn't coincidence even for an anonymous board poster they were probably referring to this story.

Nicko, Vinjay wants more clarity on the takeover story

[RevidgeBlue]

will anybody be paying transfer fees by that time? Only a few are able / willing to do it now it seems. It seems a dying feature of modern football to me Simon.

It's difficult to ever imagine a situation whereby transfer fees wouldn't be payable for better players.

For dross like Mokoena etc. I'd have to agree.

[Balwer]

Exciting news, dampened only by the predictable negativity.

There are plenty of valid reasons for someone to want to buy a Premier League club:

Hobby - Al Fayed has been a great owner for Fulham

Can never spend it all anyway - Abramovich - he's spent more on yachts than he has Chelsea

Branding vehicle with almost unlimited tv exposure - I know Emirates don't own Arsenal, but their very long term deal is only one step away from permanent ownership

Capital growth - Plenty of people have got rich by selling clubs for more than they paid for them, usually on the back of...

Projected future increases in profitabilty - EPL football is still ridiculously cheap to watch overseas, I get every game in full for ten quid a month. There is a PoV that overseas rights are still in their infancy

Good points EiT. I hope you didn't include me in the negativity category, I think the news is extremely positive. Of course we've been burned so many times before I refuse to get my hopes up entirely. Syed could easily represent any or multiple options within those categories you listed, I am just curious to hear more about/from the man himself.

Meanwhile Vinjay is just a treasure. Big hello to Vinjay since you are apparently reading this.

[Earlydoors]

Exciting news, dampened only by the predictable negativity.

There are plenty of valid reasons for someone to want to buy a Premier League club:

Hobby - Al Fayed has been a great owner for Fulham

Can never spend it all anyway - Abramovich - he's spent more on yachts than he has Chelsea

Branding vehicle with almost unlimited tv exposure - I know Emirates don't own Arsenal, but their very long term deal is only one step away from permanent ownership

Capital growth - Plenty of people have got rich by selling clubs for more than they paid for them, usually on the back of...

Projected future increases in profitabilty - EPL football is still ridiculously cheap to watch overseas, I get every game in full for ten quid a month. There is a PoV that overseas rights are still in their infancy

Hey apologies if I seem negative...it is merely suspicious.

I agree with evrything you say above. I don't think this ali guy is 1 or 2 but may well have 3, 4 or 5 in mind.

What I definitely don't accept is that investors can make money from developing players.

[thenodrog]

As for asset stripping the playing side, bad news for you fellas. The Trustees beat you to it.!

Quite right too. The obvious way forward. Nobody seemed to want to pay 60m did they? As I said at the time, if mohammed wont go to the mountain.......

[nicko]

What I definitely don't accept is that investors can make money from developing players.

I would have to disagree on that one...

If this guy is real he should go out and buy the entire Spain under-19 midfield and possibly defence.

It would cost maybe £30-40 million.

And in the next decade you would sell one a season or so and get your dough back.

Do I get a commission for that idea?

[Iceman]

I would have to disagree on that one...

If this guy is real he should go out and buy the entire Spain under-19 midfield and possibly defence.

It would cost maybe £30-40 million.

And in the next decade you would sell one a season or so and get your dough back.

Do I get a commission for that idea?

we are skint, so you get nothing