[Archived] Rovers Might Have Been Sold?

[deryck guyler's spoon]

why do people still not understand that there isn't a conspiracy and blackburn rovers have to pay wages/bills etc?

do some people honestly believe they are hoarding this money and keeping it for themselves?

To be fair Roy didn't actually say that. Large incoming transfer fees have dissapeared and that is surely beyond dispute. Whilst most acknowlege that wages have to be paid I find it hard to believe that Rovers supporters aren't supposed to be thoroughly p1 ssed of with the unrealistic disparity between incoming and outgoing transfer fees.

[Ricky]

The money hasn't disappeared though. Jw has explained many times where it went. We finished up 7 places below where we had budgetted for and had to pay off ince and his cronies.

That's where the money went. If we had just spent that money we would be very heavily in debt now.

[American]

....And what evidence have you that he isn't a chancer DGS?.....very little is known about him or his intentions for taking us over.

Only natural to err on the side of caution with this one I fear.

As much as you talk about erring on the side of caution, etc, etc, it doesn't matter what you or any of us think. If the trust and Rothschilds think the bid is good and the buyers are legitimate, that's all that matters.

[47er]

The money hasn't disappeared though. Jw has explained many times where it went. We finished up 7 places below where we had budgetted for and had to pay off ince and his cronies.

That's where the money went. If we had just spent that money we would be very heavily in debt now.

In other words if we stay as we are we are fu***d because there is no investment in the club.

[philipl]

Four finishes in the top half in the last five Premier League and "we are f*cked".

There are 85 other clubs out there in an extremely sorry state then!

At this stage, the fact Saurin is conducting his negotiations through the press has worrying echoes of Dan Williams.

Yes he is loaded by the standards of most of us but I cannot see much pointing to him being sufficiently loaded to be able to do what the posters dreaming of a take over are hoping for.

I don't know whether his pockets are deep enough or, crucially, long enough to say that Rovers in 2014/5 would be anywhere near as safe with him as we are with the Trust.

He has sold a business well but that doesn't mean he has ongoing income streams to support a Premier League hobby. The success of his venture would be critically dependent on Rovers becoming de facto the Premier League club of the sub-continent as far as I can see from what is out there at the moment.

[ewoodpo]

I might be wrong, but did somebody mention that the Ambani brothers are involved .Where has that information come from ?

If it's true , which I doubt it is then exciting times are ahead for the club.

These guys along with Laxhmi Mithal have a lot of influence in India.

Where ever you go in India you will see the Relliance group logo.

[den]

I don't know whether his pockets are deep enough or, crucially, long enough to say that Rovers in 2014/5 would be anywhere near as safe with him as we are with the Trust.

Philip, serious question, - how safe are we with the Trust? Safe from what exactly?

[47er]

Four finishes in the top half in the last five Premier League and "we are f*cked".

There are 85 other clubs out there in an extremely sorry state then!

At this stage, the fact Saurin is conducting his negotiations through the press has worrying echoes of Dan Williams.

Yes he is loaded by the standards of most of us but I cannot see much pointing to him being sufficiently loaded to be able to do what the posters dreaming of a take over are hoping for.

I don't know whether his pockets are deep enough or, crucially, long enough to say that Rovers in 2014/5 would be anywhere near as safe with him as we are with the Trust.

He has sold a business well but that doesn't mean he has ongoing income streams to support a Premier League hobby. The success of his venture would be critically dependent on Rovers becoming de facto the Premier League club of the sub-continent as far as I can see from what is out there at the moment.

Once again a reference to the past. What has happened in the last few years will not be relevant to the next few.It is becoming harder and harder to survive, let alone prosper in the Premier League now so many clubs are being bankrolled by owners and we are not. I think we will be relegated in the next few years without a change of ownership and plenty of others do too.

Even the likes of Wolves and Stoke can outspend us now. How can there be any FUTURE safety with the Trust?

You say you don't know whether the new prospective owner is sufficiently loaded or not but somehow you feel qualified to pronounce negatively anyway! Isn't it the Trust's job to reach a conclusion about this or do you not trust them to do it properly? In that case why do you trust them to continue running the club especially when they have made it abundantly clear they don't want to?

[deryck guyler's spoon]

Four finishes in the top half in the last five Premier League and "we are f*cked".

There are 85 other clubs out there in an extremely sorry state then!

At this stage, the fact Saurin is conducting his negotiations through the press has worrying echoes of Dan Williams.

Yes he is loaded by the standards of most of us but I cannot see much pointing to him being sufficiently loaded to be able to do what the posters dreaming of a take over are hoping for.

I don't know whether his pockets are deep enough or, crucially, long enough to say that Rovers in 2014/5 would be anywhere near as safe with him as we are with the Trust.

He has sold a business well but that doesn't mean he has ongoing income streams to support a Premier League hobby. The success of his venture would be critically dependent on Rovers becoming de facto the Premier League club of the sub-continent as far as I can see from what is out there at the moment.

More chance of Blackpool being in the Champions League in 4 years time than us still being in the Premier League if we are still lumbered with the Trust in 2014.

[Bobby G]

I think thats going overboard. We arent relegation bound necessarily, BUT if we do get relegated it would not be surprised considering the lack of investment. Thats the best prognosis.

[gumboots]

Most people on hree seem to be talking as though we have any choice in the matter. We don't. It is a business deal being done between 2 groups of businessmen who both want to get as much out of it as possible. There is a reputable banking group involved in the purchase, one who has filtered out potential purchasers who did not meet whatever criteria were set out for the sale, and all we as fans can do is wait to see what happens. Utd fans didn't want the Glazers. They protested in no uncertain terms. It did not a ha'ppoth of good. The Glazers bought the club anyway. Now they go round in funny coloured scarves protesting that their club should be resold. It's still doing no good. Same with Liverpool fans. Whilst the club belongs to us emotionally, fiancially it belongs to the Walker Trust, and they can do what they like wit it and we can't do anything to stop them, short of finding an oil well in our back garden, and even then, my land is leasehold so would I get the profits or would RVBC.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

I think thats going overboard. We arent relegation bound necessarily, BUT if we do get relegated it would not be surprised considering the lack of investment. Thats the best prognosis.

To be honest the club are (at last) doing the right thing by aggresively pricing to attract as many fans as possible. I think Jack missed a trick - he should have bank-rolled such an initiative when we were relatively successful. The long term future of the club is in increasing the fan base (on a permanent basis) and also increasing our international appeal (where our friend from India may prove useful).

UEFA are already looking at the amounts "loaned" to clubs from the Abramovich's of this world. So we have to increase the money we generate ourselves - always a difficult feat for a small town club.

[Blue n White Rover]

Philip, serious question, - how safe are we with the Trust? Safe from what exactly?

If I was to have a guess then I would say safe in the sense that we won't overspend (because we don't have the money to do so). With the new owners coming in, everyone seems a lot nervous as to when Dan Williams was about to takeover. The Pompey situation is the main cause of this. With the Trust still in charge, it would mean Rovers need to sell before they buy, and at the same time continuing to graft our way through each season. In that sense we are safe financially, so as long as we keep performing like we did last season.

With the Trust in charge, there is more pressure on the players to perform, as they have to achieve the set target at the start of the season. With a new owner, if we do not hit our target, then he can pump some money in to balance the books.

[Guest Kamy100]

The Lancashire Telegraph are running with this story today.

They understand that a formal bid has been made by the Mr Shah, the deal is being fronted by Nathaniel. They have an interview with Mr Shah and his uncle, they both say that they are serious about purchasing Rovers, they say that there would be transfer fund available should they be successful. They also say that they would like to complete the purchase within 6 weeks, however there is a lot of things to do before this can be achieved. They also say that Rovers would become huge in India if they are successful ion buying the club.

The Indian group have NOT been granted exclusivity, nor is the deal at a stage where due diligence is taking place, there are also other interested parties. The Lancs Telegraph are also comment that there is uncertainty about where the finance is coming from for this deal.

[philipl]

I think we are very safe with the Trust in place.

They have put excellent management in and enable the club to manage its resources to the very maximum.

We have survived one almighty cock-up (Ince) and come through looking potentially as strong as we were the day before he was appointed. There is remarkable resilience in the club the way the Trust have set it up.

People whinge about the lack of investment but lose sight of the fact that £5m of the club's limited debt is borrowings from the Trust on the softest terms imaginable. I keep saying this but the Trust takes nothing out and I mean NOTHING. When fans urge them to put £3m a year in they are forgetting that many other clubs have owners that are COSTING them at least £3m a year in directors' fees, expenses etc etc. Those costs just get lost in the general expenses and don't get commented upon unless something horrible happens like at Pompey or West Ham.

This is one of the reasons Rovers could run at 91% of turnover in wages last season and still be OK.

The most compelling reason going forwards is that the new PL/UEFA financial regulations are going to push the rest of the Premier League to adjust to the Trust's model of doing business from 1 July 2012.

[RoyRover]

Completely contradictory post!

If you say so thenodrog. Good post.

[braddock]

I think we are very safe with the Trust in place.

They have put excellent in place and enable the club to manage its resources to the very maximum.

We have survived one almighty cock-up (Ince) and come through looking as strong as we were when the day before he was appointed. There is remarkable resilience in the club the way the Trust have set it up.

People whinge about the lack of investment but lose sight of the fact that £5m of the club's limited debt is borrowings from the Trust on the softest terms imaginable. I keep saying this but the Trust takes nothing out and I mean NOTHING. When fans urge them to put £3m a year in they are forgetting that many other clubs have owners that are COSTING them at least £3m a year in directors' fees, expenses etc etc. Those costs just get lost in the general expenses and don't get commented upon unless something horrible happens like at Pompey or West Ham.

This is one of the reasons Rovers could run at 91% of turnover in wages last season and still be OK.

The most compelling reason going forwards is that the new PL/UEFA financial regulations are going to push the rest of the Premier League to adjust to the Trust's model of doing business from 1 July 2012.

but they don't want us so sooner or later we will need someone else

[Guest Kamy100]

but they don't want us so sooner or later we will need someone else

Not true, they want us to be sold to someone who can carry the club forward better than they can in terms of the finance needed. Over the last 10 years the Trustees have done as well as could be expected of them, they are trying to perserve Jack's legacy as well as trying to ensure the long term future of the club.

[Bobby G]

Kamy is there a link to the LT interview?

[Guest Kamy100]

Not yet Bobby, they normally update the website at midday during weekends.

[braddock]

Not true, they want us to be sold to someone who can carry the club forward better than they can in terms of the finance needed. Over the last 10 years the Trustees have done as well as could be expected of them, they are trying to perserve Jack's legacy as well as trying to ensure the long term future of the club.

i wasn't having a go at the trust, i'm very grateful of them and i'm glad they haven't just sold us off to anyone, and still won't do unless they are sure. but my statement that they don't want to own us anymore was true so don't say it isn't. they do want the best for the club and that is great and admirable, but they do not want to own us anymore so we can't just keep saying we want them to own us so that is the end of it. eventually a time will come when they pass us on and it would be silly to pass up an opportunity which may be beneficial simply because we don't know too much about the deal. that is what the trust themselves have to decide from what is presented towards them and the tests they carry out to check the suitablility of potential new owners. but that is to their discretion whether they accept the bid or not and i will back them either way.

i don't understand how anyone can say either way that they want the deal or they don't want the deal since nobody really knows about it. i just want the trust to do the right thing and i trust them to do that.

[philipl]

but they don't want us so sooner or later we will need someone else

Send me a quotation saying they don't want us.

There is a big difference between saying that they believe it is possible another owner might do a better job in the changed circumstances of the Premier League today and not wanting us.

[thenodrog]

More chance of Blackpool being in the Champions League in 4 years time than us still being in the Premier League if we are still lumbered with the Trust in 2014.

'Lumbered'! I feel like including that in my signature as a permanent reminder of your ingratitude.

If Jack Walker was alive today the one thing that would mean more to him than BRFC would be his family and rightly so.

[thenodrog]

Most people on hree seem to be talking as though we have any choice in the matter. We don't. It is a business deal being done between 2 groups of businessmen who both want to get as much out of it as possible. There is a reputable banking group involved in the purchase, one who has filtered out potential purchasers who did not meet whatever criteria were set out for the sale, and all we as fans can do is wait to see what happens. Utd fans didn't want the Glazers. They protested in no uncertain terms. It did not a ha'ppoth of good. The Glazers bought the club anyway. Now they go round in funny coloured scarves protesting that their club should be resold. It's still doing no good. Same with Liverpool fans. Whilst the club belongs to us emotionally, fiancially it belongs to the Walker Trust, and they can do what they like wit it and we can't do anything to stop them, short of finding an oil well in our back garden, and even then, my land is leasehold so would I get the profits or would RVBC.

Talking to my mate a Man United fan in the pub last night. We've discussed the immorality of MU's finances and it's unhealthy effect on them and football in general for a couple of years now. All I can say is that all of a sudden he is now singing off the same hymn sheet as me.... and I have not altered my stance one bit!

Same three weeks ago with another mate who is a geordie and was actually bemoaning the evils of big money in football! Needless to say he said sweet FA when John Hall and the Fat Boys were splashing the cash up there!

It's funny how stuff gets blithely ignored until the sh1t hits the fan and people find themselves staring down the gunbarrel of adversity.

[chaddyrovers]

Let's think positive but be abit caution. If Mr Shah bid is right for the club then the club will sold to him. The Trust and John Williams will not allow the club to go like Pompey. They will want to see where the money from and wouldn't allow the club to be bought with a loan against the club like Man Utd and Liverpool. Also i think they would want to know what the plans are for the club. I would like to see John Williams stay on at the club as Chairman, which would ease the fans caution about the club being bought. He's done a excellent job since coming to the club. Also if Mr Shah bid is successful then he would be able to bring sposnorship from the Asia market which would improve the revenue going into the club. which would allow Big Sam more money in the transfer market plus whatever Mr Shah puts into the pot. Also we would not want they interving in team selections and players being bought.

So lets be positive but be abit caution till we learn more about bid and Mr Shah group.