[Archived] Ali Syed to buy Racing Santander

[thenonda]

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11840_6692689,00.html

What does everyone think?

[onlyoneDuff]

still wondering what the real reason he was denied here...looks like he does have the funds

[imy9]

90 million euros over 5 years 22.5 million a year is a little different to spending 80 million in one transfer window!

Spains laws for football clubs are too lenient, Racing are a great club says Syed, never won the league in 75 years and highest finish is sixth, tyre kicker glad he did not take over.

[John]

As with Venky's, action will speak louder than words, let's see how he does.

[imy9]

Problem is John Venkys are a brand, they have been around for 30 years, who is Syed? His home town don't even know him!

[John]

He does seem a mysterious character, proof will be in the pudding as always, let's see what he gets upto!

[Iceman]

Hmmm, he said exactly the same about Rovers? His plan is still the same, 5 year plan etc.

Hmmm, he said exactly the same about Rovers? His plan is still the same, 5 year plan etc.

[Steve Moss]

I worry about his statement that sport is a good investment. How many football owners turn a profit? My unsupported half baked opinion as to why the Trust sold to Venkys as opposed to Syed is that Syed thought he could make money but Venkys knew they would spend it but accepted the advertising and marketing opportunities as a fiar trade. One seems more sensible than the other.

[Balwer]

90 million euros over 5 years 22.5 million a year is a little different to spending 80 million in one transfer window!

Spains laws for football clubs are too lenient, Racing are a great club says Syed, never won the league in 75 years and highest finish is sixth, tyre kicker glad he did not take over.

If he's just a tyre kicker you should probably let the people selling Santander know before it's too late. Whatever inside knowledge you have on the guy I'm sure would be very helpful to them.

Also if you're arguing the case against his spending plans you might want to divide by 5 rather than 4 as it will get you a lower number.

[Amo]

It'll certainly be one to watch, although I won't be impressed if he starts splashing the cash. It's what state he leaves the club in that matters.

[imy9]

If he's just a tyre kicker you should probably let the people selling Santander know before it's too late. Whatever inside knowledge you have on the guy I'm sure would be very helpful to them.

Also if you're arguing the case against his spending plans you might want to divide by 5 rather than 4 as it will get you a lower number.

Do you know Syed personally? Have you heard of him before his link to Rovers? Maybe I should direct the Racing people to the creditors Syed owed thousands of pounds too, yeah he is a billionaire.

You are right about the figures I should have adjusted them to support my argument... Syed said he was going to invest 80 million plus pounds in one transfer window, at Racing he is going to spend 76 million pounds over five years that's just over 15 million pounds a season... You are right that sounds better than 22.5 million...

[Gav]

still wondering what the real reason he was denied here...looks like he does have the funds

He simply couldn’t satisfy the criteria set out by the Walker trust, be it funding or whatever, didn’t tick all the boxes.

[Balwer]

Do you know Syed personally? Have you heard of him before his link to Rovers? Maybe I should direct the Racing people to the creditors Syed owed thousands of pounds too, yeah he is a billionaire.

I hadn't heard of him before, nor had I heard of Venkys, neither of which bothers me. Venky's had an offer accepted to buy Blackburn Rovers and are now the owners of our club. That they were able to get the funds together to do so proves to me they aren't tyre kickers. In a similar way if Syed is able to do the same with Santander then he too isn't a tyre kicker. I don't see how you can really differentiate the two situations to date, yet you seem to have an abiding love for one group and a vehement hatred for the other, which I don't understand, since you don't seem to have any personal connection to either group.

[imy9]

I hadn't heard of him before, nor had I heard of Venkys, neither of which bothers me. Venky's had an offer accepted to buy Blackburn Rovers and are now the owners of our club. That they were able to get the funds together to do so proves to me they aren't tyre kickers. In a similar way if Syed is able to do the same with Santander then he too isn't a tyre kicker. I don't see how you can really differentiate the two situations to date, yet you seem to have an abiding love for one group and a vehement hatred for the other, which I don't understand, since you don't seem to have any personal connection to either group.

Can you show me ONE quote where I have shown hatred towards Syed? I called him a tyre kicker, he talked the talk but failed to purchase the club why? You don't know Venkys, ok, a lot of people do, their history can be traced with a few clicks on google, Syed, well no one knows him, surely that sends alarm bells. Where I have shown abiding love for Venkys? Again ONE post to hint at this... Oh yeah I have said that I am going to give them a chance, that maybe confused you.

The bloke who bought Pompey was an unknown, still is where did they end up again?

Watching the Barca game where they have said Syed has paid 2 million Euros for the club and taken on 15 million Euro debt, that's 17 million Euros in total, Venkys purchased Rovers for a deal worth 48 million pounds, I can see why Syed struggled to purchase Rovers.

[Clitherover]

Will be interesting to see what he does at the club if he buys Santander. If he ends up splashing the cash and becomes a success story there, i'll just be glad that he did it in Spain as opposed to buying another Premiership team.

[Balwer]

Can you show me ONE quote where I have shown hatred towards Syed? I called him a tyre kicker, he talked the talk but failed to purchase the club why? You don't know Venkys, ok, a lot of people do, their history can be traced with a few clicks on google, Syed, well no one knows him, surely that sends alarm bells. Where I have shown abiding love for Venkys? Again ONE post to hint at this... Oh yeah I have said that I am going to give them a chance, that maybe confused you.

Watching the Barca game where they have said Syed has paid 2 million Euros for the club and taken on 15 million Euro debt, that's 17 million Euros in total, Venkys purchased Rovers for a deal worth 48 million pounds, I can see why Syed struggled to purchase Rovers.

Sorry maybe the expressions were a little extreme, my point was that you seem to be pro one group and anti another. You have talked about giving Venkys a chance, and I agree that they should be, just like Syed now should be down there.

Anyway I'm not trying to argue a pro-Syed case here. Venkys were the successful bidder and hopefully we will have a mutually beneficial relationship while they are in charge. However I like many others here will follow Syed's progress down in Spain with interest, it would be difficult not to.

Also Reuters are saying the club has 140 million euros of debt, so unless the regional government have forgiven the loans it made to the club over the past few years then I imagine it's a fair bit more than 15 million he's taking on. Can't imagine taking on any Spanish club (or business for that matter) is a good idea in the current economic climate, but that's just my personal opinion.

[imy9]

Fair enough mate. I am personally happy with Venkys as our owners as they have pedigree in the business world and obviously have finances (a lot more based on recent reports). Syed may be decent but I think that will be proven once he has left rather than what he spends.

Conflicting reports about the debt, I have seen the £140 million Euro debt as estimated by a University study, but newspapers stating £22 million Euros, will we ever know?!

[Balwer]

Fair enough mate. I am personally happy with Venkys as our owners as they have pedigree in the business world and obviously have finances (a lot more based on recent reports). Syed may be decent but I think that will be proven once he has left rather than what he spends.

Conflicting reports about the debt, I have seen the £140 million Euro debt as estimated by a University study, but newspapers stating £22 million Euros, will we ever know?!

I get the impression, and it's just a guess, but with the state of Spain's finances I imagine Spanish owners are a lot more willing to offload their clubs than English ones at the moment, so perhaps they are more willing to take a chance on a guy like Syed? Could be a win-win for both to be honest, if Syed is so sure of his business model then he'll get a chance to prove it at Santander. Anyway who cares, as long as people are buying Venky's chicken and chicken-related products then I'm happy!

[Bobby G]

He already bought them.

Most people here didn't think he had money.

[Tim Southampton Rover]

In the end I don't think everyone doubted the fact that he had money, especially after paying for DD and various charities around the town but a lot of us doubted the fact that he was right for the club after all his talking and seeing no action.

He had so many opportunities to purchase the club and so many promises but the fact is he failed to deliver.

Venky's came in, paid the cash....bish bash bosh, Venkatesh's your uncle.

Good luck to him and his ideas at Racing. I hope their fans get the benefit of his promises and not go through what many clubs over here have had to go through.

[John]

Is Jean-Claude Darmon involved?

Will always remember that day when they turned up at Ewood looking like gangsters.

[American]

I thought that was the Rao brothers!

[RoversSG]

Would Syed be interested in taking Andrews,Vince etc off our hands

[BPF]

My link

[philipl]

I see Adrian Goldberg had yet another pop at Syed yesterday. That guy and the people who put him up to it will not be very popular with Rovers fans come the beginning of September this year.