[Archived] Rovers Might Have Been Sold?

[Guest bluerovers]

All I can say is that Syed's team are still very much in talks...and in the country again.

Where the money is coming from is the key to all of this, as you say.

Their HQ seems to have moved from Bahrain to Swtzerland to London in recent weeks.

The People article also cut out the fact that I checked into their Swiss office. It exists. But according to someone who knows the building there are 'only ever a couple of people there.'

The London office is newly rented or bought. The company has just been made official over here - as someone very shrewdly pointed out a couple of days ago.

So the guy is obviously serious in his plans for expansion.

But there are questions still to be answered.

It's weird, if you were describing a double glazing firm I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole but the fact this deal is so big and public it just seems incomprehensible that this would be a con....

The next few days (and the possibly months) could be very interesting

[Exiled_Rover]

So basically.....it's another dodgy guy trying to buy a football club. Excellent.

[JohnD]

It's weird, if you were describing a double glazing firm I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole but the fact this deal is so big and public it just seems incomprehensible that this would be a con....

That sums it up quite nicely.

[tonyoz]

Well, just to stoke the conspiracy fire a bit more heh! heh!

You don't think that we should read too much into the following words taken from the opening page of WGA's website?

The Swiss capital market is counted among the most active in the world. In 1991 some 50 billion francs were taken up in bond and share issues. Banking in Switzerland is characterized by stability, privacy and protection of clients' assets and information. In fact, the country's tradition of bank secrecy dates back to the Middle Ages.

Globally, Switzerland is perceived as a haven of private banking, finance and the capital of investment management firms. The country’s strict privacy laws and investor-friendly policies reinforce this image. WGA, as an asset protection advisory company, believes that this environment of confidentiality and trust is highly conducive for its shareholders.

[1864roverite]

JHC

you will be linking him to the nazi bankers of WW2 next !

Lets wait and see what happens (if anything)tomorrow

[bob fleming]

You forgot Paul ince

I wish I could.

[Exiled in Toronto]

I thought the most significant bit in Nicko's report was that he called him a billionaire. Hasn't he listened to a word TGM has been saying????

Seriously though Nicko, did you source that he actually is a billionaire?

[den]

You say Pompey disaster, which of the other foreign takeovers have been a success??

Why do you focus on "foreign" investors John?

[John]

Why do you focus on "foreign" investors John?

Because foreign owners usually do not understand football, or the way a football club should be run - oh and just to give you a few examples: Portsmouth, West Ham (was it Magnusson/Gudmundsson?), Man City (Shinawatra).

Don't worry though, ours if it happens will hopefully be different. Afterall, it's only an investment indvidual/company, who could not name a Rovers player when asked, wanting to buy us.

[Balwer]

Because foreign owners usually do not understand football, or the way a football club should be run - oh and just to give you a few examples: Portsmouth, West Ham (was it Magnusson/Gudmundsson?), Man City (Shinawatra).

Don't worry though, ours if it happens will hopefully be different. Afterall, it's only an investment indvidual/company, who could not name a Rovers player when asked, wanting to buy us.

can you give some examples of a way a football club should be run then, and why only a local would understand what it takes to run a business like a football club successfully?

[John]

Easy example would be surely to look close to home, surely, no?

Are you suggesting those football clubs cited were run well by their respective owners? Or is running a club to near extinction/administration the norm?

[brian_gallagher85]

Don't think I've come across too many Chelsea fans who are unhappy with the way their foreign owner has gone about things.

[nicko]

I thought the most significant bit in Nicko's report was that he called him a billionaire. Hasn't he listened to a word TGM has been saying????

Seriously though Nicko, did you source that he actually is a billionaire?

If you read the black and white of the company's report there is a billion dollars in there as a loan - in his name - to WGA.

What no-one knows is where the money came from.

But it would certainly appear to be in his name.

And there have clearly been funds shown to get him to the stage he is at just now.

The question is - in my opinion - where is this money from...

I think you will find that the Premier League will ask that too if it reaches that stage.

[John]

Don't think I've come across too many Chelsea fans who are unhappy with the way their foreign owner has gone about things.

Fanstastic example there - obviously there is a sucess story however most of the takeovers have been negative for those clubs, and most of the takeovers in the Premier League have been from foreign "investors".

[Balwer]

If you read the black and white of the company's report there is a billion dollars in there as a loan - in his name - to WGA.

What no-one knows is where the money came from.

But it would certainly appear to be in his name.

And there have clearly been funds shown to get him to the stage he is at just now.

The question is - in my opinion - where is this money from...

I think you will find that the Premier League will ask that too if it reaches that stage.

Exactly, this is the crux of the matter. The money was given to WGA in his name, but how much direct control does he have over it?

[nicko]

Exactly, this is the crux of the matter. The money was given to WGA in his name, but how much direct control does he have over it?

The question is more - is it family money that he is investing [as he has claimed] or is it not?

[Balwer]

Easy example would be surely to look close to home, surely, no?

Are you suggesting those football clubs cited were run well by their respective owners? Or is running a club to near extinction/administration the norm?

Sure, Jack Walker did tremendously well for us. As Abromavich has done for Chelsea and as Man City seem to be on track for under the Sheik. Similarly Tottenham have done well under Levy, and Fulham under Al Fayed (both British citizens). West Ham don't seem to have done too well thus far under the smut twins, while Lerner has provided Villa with a substantial amount of investment, on and off the pitch.

My point is that it's the individual, not their nationality, that matters in how positive an impact an owner has. They need to surround themselves with a great administrative team who can run the club effectively, and appoint a management team to achieve on pitch success. They're one part of the puzzle, and to me their nationality is irrelevant, and to suggest otherwise is bordering on xenophobic in my mind.

[den]

Because foreign owners usually do not understand football, or the way a football club should be run -

Why would foreign investors be any different about understanding football or how a club should be run? Don't they play football and run football clubs in virtually every country in the world.

Peter Ridsdale and Leeds?

[John]

Sure, Jack Walker did tremendously well for us. As Abromavich has done for Chelsea and as Man City seem to be on track for under the Sheik. Similarly Tottenham have done well under Levy, and Fulham under Al Fayed (both British citizens). West Ham don't seem to have done too well thus far under the smut twins, while Lerner has provided Villa with a substantial amount of investment, on and off the pitch.

My point is that it's the individual, not their nationality, that matters in how positive an impact an owner has. They need to surround themselves with a great administrative team who can run the club effectively, and appoint a management team to achieve on pitch success. They're one part of the puzzle, and to me their nationality is irrelevant, and to suggest otherwise is bordering on xenophobic in my mind.

The majority of takeovers, in recent times, have been from foreign investors/companies - West Ham, Man City, Liverpool, Portsmouth and even Man Utd have all faced (or are facing), serious financial problems.

Of course it's about the indivudal however all those takeovers have been foreigners who have come in with no apparent knowledge of how to run a football club successfully, you cannot ignore that.

[rebelmswar]

The question is more - is it family money that he is investing [as he has claimed] or is it not?

He has said that it is family money that he has been given to invest, if this is a lie, in this day and age, it should be simple to find out otherwise.

Cant you make some calls about this?

[John]

Why would foreign investors be any different about understanding football or how a club should be run? Don't they play football and run football clubs in virtually every country in the world.

A different way of phrasing it is that they have no experience of running a football club.

As I said the examples are out there, you can't deny the fact that some of those clubs have faced horrific experiences and some of them will do in the future.

Hopefully we would be different...

[tonyoz]

The question is more - is it family money that he is investing [as he has claimed] or is it not?

Yup!

[den]

A different way of phrasing it is that they have no experience of running a football club.

As I said the examples are out there, you can't deny the fact that some of those clubs have faced horrific experiences and some of them will do in the future.

Hopefully we would be different...

Having no experience of running a football club has nothing to do with their nationality though. It's about getting the right person in - not about his nationality surely? That's down to the trustees. I don't think the nationality of the buyer will come into their reckoning John.

How did Peter Ridsdale get on at Leeds?

[John]

Looks like we could go round in cirles on this one - I stand by my original point, the majority of recent takeovers in the Premier League have been from individuals/companies outside of the UK. The majority of them have been catastrophic for those clubs previously which I have cited.

You obviously do not agree with that which is fair enough.

[den]

Looks like we could go round in cirles on this one - I stand by my original point, the majority of recent takeovers in the Premier League have been from individuals/companies outside of the UK. The majority of them have been catastrophic for those clubs previously which I have cited.

You obviously do not agree with that which is fair enough.

That's a change from saying foreign owners don't know how to run a football club.

How many English clubs have run into serious problems under English owners?