[Archived] Rovers Might Have Been Sold?

[Balwer]

Of course they did, they didn't pump millions into Birmingham.

True, and to be honest with the differences in revenue streams available I'd be surprised if anyone who bought a team in the lower leagues then sold them in the Premier League didn't make money on their investment.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Clubs like Blackburn and Torino will never make money or profit for anyone.And any business person who thinks they ever will hasn't got the sense god gave geese,and certainly does not understand football and it's nature.

This is what frightens me personally Roberto.We have had posters claiming these 'investors' would be looking for a return on their money......HOW? this is Blackburn not Barcelona.

We should ALL be worried if this is the sole intention of any new owners.

THERE WAS ONLY ONE JACK WALKER,HE SPENT A FORTUNE ON US FOR LITTLE TO NO RETURN.

[PAFELL]

This is what frightens me personally Roberto.We have had posters claiming these 'investors' would be looking for a return on their money......HOW? this is Blackburn not Barcelona.

We should ALL be worried if this is the sole intention of any new owners.

THERE WAS ONLY ONE JACK WALKER,HE SPENT A FORTUNE ON US FOR LITTLE TO NO RETURN.

It is how the money is spent. When Rovers won the title, it was with players that were not stars. But they became stars at Rovers. i believe that can be done again. It can be done with good players / scouting / home grown players. Finding the right players and turning them into a team. Yes rovers did spend a lot in those days, but that was because they could do so. I believe it still is possible to find good players who are hungry for success - with a sell on value. I also believe it is possible for Rovers to finish higher up the table than they did last year.

Rovers do not need a new ground, training facilitees etc - those things were what a lot of Jack's money was spent on. Of course he also bought the players - but the premiership winning squad was not put together in one season, it was a gradual putting together of the squad. That can be done again.

A lot of other clubs have huge debts, compared to Rovers who have minimual debts. That debt has to be repaid by those other clubs. It is during that period that Rovers could become a good investment for somebody. I think man U and Liverpool cannot continue the way they are going. Therefore they will suffer on the pitch.

You are right there is only one Jack Walker, yes he spent a fortune. But a new investor would not need to spend the same to get Rovers further up the league.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

i believe that can be done again. It can be done with good players / scouting / home grown players.Finding the right players and turning them into a team.

That is the holy grail of ALL clubs PAFELL but very few if any have realised that goal,your idea is a romantic one but surely pie in the sky.The Premierleague is all about money and big investment...take a look at the sides at the top and the relative financial worth of their respective squads!

The FACT of the matter is we make very little profit,how can this be improved on and surely anyone looking to 'invest' in Rovers will be looking at that problem and scratching their heads.We are a club with a long and proud tradition but we will always be a 'town club' from a provincial backwater.

[doctorryan]

As for Desperate Dan and rivercider....

Of course all our American friends met up with cider I presume.

[Bobby G]

So what was the story on rivercider?

[PAFELL]

That is the holy grail of ALL clubs PAFELL but very few if any have realised that goal,your idea is a romantic one but surely pie in the sky.The Premierleague is all about money and big investment...take a look at the sides at the top and the relative financial worth of their respective squads!

The FACT of the matter is we make very little profit,how can this be improved on and surely anyone looking to 'invest' in Rovers will be looking at that problem and scratching their heads.We are a club with a long and proud tradition but we will always be a 'town club' from a provincial backwater.

How can it be a romantic, pie in the sky goal? It has already been done by Rovers. I suggest it can be done again.

These top 4 clubs way of doing things is coming to an end, as it cannot be sustained. man U nor liverpool can continue spending the money they have been doing. They are selling clubs now. That debt, like the countries is not going away, without pain. West Ham, I think could be the next club in administration. There is only so far the the current owners of these other clubs in the prem can go. The current owners of prem clubs after a while will have to withdraw or sell up. How long do any of us think spending 30mill etc on players will go on for. Even if it goes on for a little while longer, the goal has to be to find that player (young and up and coming player) so they can be sold.

Rovers have already done it. look at the squad that won the prem and what they were sold for later.

Romantic, pie in the sky ideas are only hopes. Rovers, with Jack showed it can be done. Even recently, Rovers had RSC bought for a small fee and a club came along and paid a pathetic (thank you very much) high fee for him.

That is how clubs like Rovers make their money. Stay in the prem, find the good young player, stay on an even keel moneywise and then demand a good price for the player. If with the right investment, Rovers are in a position where they do not have to sell, that is how money is made. Yes Jack spent a lot on players, but what did the club get back in transfer fees for those players. It can be done and Rovers have already showed everybody else that it can be done. That can be seen by the amount of debt Rovers have when compared to other prem clubs.

[PAFELL]

So what was the story on rivercider?

It appears he knew about another party interested in taking over rovers some years ago. He appeared to know more than some on here who claimed to know. That was my understanding anyway. It appears he once was working with a group or something along those lines, with those that were involved in the possible takeover.

He wrote quite a few posts on the subject. If my memory serves me right, he wasn't proved wrong on any of the stuff he shared. Very interesting read at the time. as to what happened to him, why he stopped posting, I do not know.

Anyway that is my brief summery of the rivercider story.

[philipl]

And he met some of the MB members in the States...

[67splitscreen]

Just read in the LT, the club have declined to comment, JW would have killed the story in one foul swoop if meetings

were not under way. IMO.

[Hughesy]

Just read in the LT, the club have declined to comment, JW would have killed the story in one foul swoop if meetings

were not under way. IMO.

Their is interest & talks...but very early stages

[67splitscreen]

Their is interest & talks...but very early stages

Honest, I wondered what the last 72 pages had all been about.

The Ref. to JW and the LT, was more in a way of confirming all the speculation and media reports.

[Paul]

PAFELL I admire your optimism and truely hope you're right but somehow I just can't see it happening. The prospect of popping down to Victory Park next season is more exciting than another PL grind with no hope of anything exciting happening.

[Steve Moss]

To the extent there is a market for commercial property in Blackburn in the current circumstances, the land and buildings were valued at £42m five years ago. The board were of the opinion the market value of the squad was £47m on 30 June 2009.

Assuming these numbers are still accurate, I'd be concerned that a potential buyer would put 25 million on the table, with the plan of more than trebling their money by stripping the club and putting it into the ground. I don't mean to knock the current potential buyers (who may be genuine Rover enthusiasts for all I know), but 25 million seems like an extremely good price and one which the wrong sort of buyer may take advantage of.

[Bobby G]

I doubt that there are any genuine "Rovers enthusiasts" out there personally!

However, it seems that for the first time in a few years there has been a passing confirmation that something is going on, from the club.

Its very early to suggest how it will turn out.

Personally I dont see the squad worth 47 million pounds or higher right now. I have an idea how the potential buyers are valuing the playing squad as that was one of the first things they would have done. For instance, someone like Samba may be worth 10-15 million to us, but an objective evaluator would put it closer to 6-7m not only because he could safely fetch that much but also because you always have to look at the worst case scenario in these things.

The most important thing for me is that the Trust insure that we are not to become a short-term toy, and they can get certain "guarantees" in terms of investment.

Only one thing bothers me, and it worries me even more, how can someone make money out of our club?

[philipl]

The numbers I have quoted are straight off the published accounts.

The Directors are required to express an opinion as to the market value of the squad each year- that opinion is NOT part of the balance sheet or profit and loss. The previous year valuation was £60m.

I don't see £47m as low for last year's squad. Gallagher, Warnock and Benny were actually sold and probably realised £10m between them- is the current squad only worth £37m when we turned down a bid of £2m for Andrews and have an offer of £2m for Grella???

I have seen no evidence provided by the club of any asking price. However, I guess that if there is a difference between an asking price and the value of the constituent parts of the club, the buyers will be required by the terms of sale to spend at least the amount of the difference on the club over a considerable period of time.

[47er]

PAFELL I admire your optimism and truely hope you're right but somehow I just can't see it happening. The prospect of popping down to Victory Park next season is more exciting than another PL grind with no hope of anything exciting happening.

So nothing excited happened last season? Puhlese.......

[Bobby G]

I should have said the CURRENT squad was not worth 47 million.

For the sake of argument:

Robinson 3m

Brown and Bunn 750k x 2

Chimbonda 1m

Lars 750k

Salgado -

Givet 3.5m

Olsson 5m

Samba 8m

Nelsen 1m

Jones 2.5m (Difficult to put anymore at this moment, even though we shouldnt sell him for less than about 8m at the very least)

Zurab 500k

Andrews 2m

Grella 2m

Dunn 2m (How much would he fetch, not more than that and that's how we should be seeing things)

Nzonzi 4m

Lingazi 500k

Pedersen 3m

Emerton 2m

Diouf 1m

Junior 2m

Roberts 1m

Kalinic 6m

Add about 3m for a number of the youth players on the fringes of the first team squad like Judge, Fielding, Doran and maybe Hanley

Based on the above we have a squad value of possibly upwards of 50 million pounds then, so I guess I retract my earlier comment!

[Paul]

So nothing excited happened last season? Puhlese.......

Not when you compare it to what PAFELL is talking about. He's talking about real football not the current PL procession which holds little real interest for me. What is the difference? He's talking about hopes and dreams. Last Saturday I was sat in a Chorley cafe having a late breakfast and idly picked up the Chorley Guardian to read about Flittcroft and Jansen at Victory Park. This was the first I'd heard of it and I'm pleased to say I felt a tinge of the old gut wrenching feeling football used to give me. Nothing in the PL does that for me anymore and I think this is what PAFELL is talking about, and what, for me, is missing at Ewood.

[T4E]

Why do people keep talking about the players as though they are assets to potential new owners? There's no point going through each of them one by one, valuing them and acting as though they are a positive to potential buyers. The reality is that any buyer of the club would be buying in to a commitment to pay each and every player the amount that their contract states, for the period it says they are entitled to it. The are, first and foremost, expenses. A new owner may be able to sell a few on and make some money, but its far from guaranteed. What is guaranteed is that they will have to pay the wage bill in the meantime.

[Bobby G]

Moving on.

It should be an interesting week or two coming up in the future of the club. Could change the direction we are heading significantly or maybe not. Hopefully whatever has to happen will happen sooner rather than later so it doesnt affect our summer transfer activity. I wouldnt be surprised if there is a slow-down or complete halt in pursuit of any players including Guti until this situation is finalized one way or the other. That could explain the sudden silence in terms of activity and pursuing anyone recently.

[gumboots]

Moving on.

It should be an interesting week or two coming up in the future of the club. Could change the direction we are heading significantly or maybe not. Hopefully whatever has to happen will happen sooner rather than later so it doesnt affect our summer transfer activity. I wouldnt be surprised if there is a slow-down or complete halt in pursuit of any players including Guti until this situation is finalized one way or the other. That could explain the sudden silence in terms of activity and pursuing anyone recently.

Or it could just be that nobody can be botherd till after the World Cup.

[unluckymorton]

Moving on.

It should be an interesting week or two coming up in the future of the club. Could change the direction we are heading significantly or maybe not. Hopefully whatever has to happen will happen sooner rather than later so it doesnt affect our summer transfer activity. I wouldnt be surprised if there is a slow-down or complete halt in pursuit of any players including Guti until this situation is finalized one way or the other. That could explain the sudden silence in terms of activity and pursuing anyone recently.

I think the silence is the way Rovers and Sam like to work. We can then concentrate on our targets without advertising the fact and inviting competitors into a bidding war.

I don't think we should look into the anonymous take over bids too deeply, I doubt anybody associated with Taskin Shinawhatshisface would pass the fit and proper test set by the PL especially after the happenings whilst at Man City and the strange goings on down at Pompey. I worry that any take over deal would not be in the best interest of the club and us supporters, meaning that the board members we have at the moment want the best for BRFC, the new owners would be more likely to want the best for themselves and not our club. Look at Hearts, they sold their soul to Vladimir Romanov who brought numerous of his fellow countrymen to manage and play for Hearts who simply were not up to it. I just worry after being spoilt by Uncle Jack, I'd hate to see the club ripped apart by a foreign business man who doesn't understand football and doesn't understand our traditional club.

What on earth would happen to season ticket prices if we were under new ownership? I for one would renew no matter what, but there are many who could not afford it and those who could afford it but have already been considering giving up their season ticket this season.

[PAFELL]

Not when you compare it to what PAFELL is talking about. He's talking about real football not the current PL procession which holds little real interest for me. What is the difference? He's talking about hopes and dreams. Last Saturday I was sat in a Chorley cafe having a late breakfast and idly picked up the Chorley Guardian to read about Flittcroft and Jansen at Victory Park. This was the first I'd heard of it and I'm pleased to say I felt a tinge of the old gut wrenching feeling football used to give me. Nothing in the PL does that for me anymore and I think this is what PAFELL is talking about, and what, for me, is missing at Ewood.

What I am talking about is what Rovers did years ago.They did not go out and Buy star, big name players, but they tuned them into stars and enhanced their names, that won the prem. Even though they had money to spend on the top, already made it players. They bought players that, some would say,were not experienced at the top level. They turned these players into premiership players. Chelsea, man City all bought players who were already big names. I believe it can be done again.

That is the buzz of real football. When you can get a bunch of young players, build them up and train them up to take on and beat the top teams. To beat teams that everybody expects you to lose against. That is what is missing in the prem today. The belief that it can be done. A young player making their debut needs to believe that they can be, and are capable of playing as well as a £30 million player. It is what happens on the pitch that matters, not how much it cost to get the player there. A good trainer and coach, in any team sport can give that to a player.

when Rovers first came into the prem, nobody, including the club expected rovers to do as well as they did - even though they had money. But, 4th in the first season, then 2nd and then they won it. Even the club at the time said it was too early to acheive that success, even when they had done it. What did Rovers pay for Shearer, Sutton, Le Saux, Sherwood, these players were not big names when they came to Rovers. Then look at what they were sold for. Were Riply, Wilcox, Batty, Flowers big names when they came to Rovers?

I suggest that such a thing can be done again, small name players made to play beyond their own expectations, that is football. That is what is missing today. Missing because neither the clubs, players or supporters believe that little clubs like Rovers can take on the so called big clubs.

I like the fact that compared to other clubs, Rovers are a small, in a small, maybe run down town, club, because nobody expects the unexpected from Rovers, apart from us. That is football. Let the big clubs go and spend their money, increase their debts. But at Rovers we will just plod along, do what we do and give the big boys one hell of a fight at Ewood Park etc.

[unluckymorton]

What I am talking about is what Rovers did years ago.They did not go out and Buy star, big name players, but they tuned them into stars and enhanced their names, that won the prem. Even though they had money to spend on the top, already made it players. They bought players that, some would say,were not experienced at the top level. They turned these players into premiership players. Chelsea, man City all bought players who were already big names. I believe it can be done again.

That is the buzz of real football. When you can get a bunch of young players, build them up and train them up to take on and beat the top teams. To beat teams that everybody expects you to lose against. That is what is missing in the prem today. The belief that it can be done. A young player making their debut needs to believe that they can be, and are capable of playing as well as a £30 million player. It is what happens on the pitch that matters, not how much it cost to get the player there. A good trainer and coach, in any team sport can give that to a player.

when Rovers first came into the prem, nobody, including the club expected rovers to do as well as they did - even though they had money. But, 4th in the first season, then 2nd and then they won it. Even the club at the time said it was too early to acheive that success, even when they had done it. What did Rovers pay for Shearer, Sutton, Le Saux, Sherwood, these players were not big names when they came to Rovers. Then look at what they were sold for. Were Riply, Wilcox, Batty, Flowers big names when they came to Rovers?

I suggest that such a thing can be done again, small name players made to play beyond their own expectations, that is football. That is what is missing today. Missing because neither the clubs, players or supporters believe that little clubs like Rovers can take on the so called big clubs.

I like the fact that compared to other clubs, Rovers are a small, in a small, maybe run down town, club, because nobody expects the unexpected from Rovers, apart from us. That is football. Let the big clubs go and spend their money, increase their debts. But at Rovers we will just plod along, do what we do and give the big boys one hell of a fight at Ewood Park etc.

Good speech PAFELL. I wholeheartedly agree. I've a shiver down my spine and a tear in my eye now.

That is what Rovers are about and we should be proud of that. I certainly am. We need to go about our business as we are, slowly but surely improving and giving everybody a good run for their money.