[Archived] Is It Time To Question The Jack Walker Trust?

[K-Hod]

To the OP- yes.

[thenodrog]

As I recall, they hung on for some before selling and other bids fell through and / or were rejected. I cannot comment on the due diligence carried out but it is very possible that they were conned.

At least 3 years I believe. No wonder they were getting desperate.

[John]

I have always been grateful and supportive of the trust however questions need to be asked - did they even meet with the Rao family?

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

The Walker trust was probably disbanded as soon as the exchange of ownership went through,nobody answerable anymore...a proper good riddance and quick exit through the back door!

A rather sad end to our association with the Walker family.

[FourLaneBlue]

As I have said before on here nothing makes any sense whatsoever UNTIL one completely disregards all footballing issues completely, takes a step back and views the entire scenario from distance.

Exactly.

The actions of Venky's only seem crazy if you first accept that they actually give a damn.

Do you think they really care if the club is a success or not? Their actions don't seem to back up their hollow words.

That, alas, only leaves less palatable reasons for them having bought the club...

[doctorryan]

The only one who ever spoke to the press was Paul Egerton-Vernon, who I believe was Jack Walker's solicitor. I think in 10 years he spoke a maximum of 5 times to supporters. No idea who any of the others are. None of them ever got involved. I read somewhere there were 5 trustees.

Correct.

Jack's Jersey based lawyer.

Jack's Blackburn based solicitor.

Jack's accountant.

Jack's son-in-law.

.... and one of Jack's old golfing buddies.

I'll let someone else name them, but frankly at least 3 are well known to most Rovers supporters.

[doctorryan]

The address for those who want it:

The Jack Walker Settlement

C/O Rathbone Trust Company

17 Seaton Place

St Helier

Jersey

JE2 3QL

Channel Islands

Attn.: Paul Egerton-Vernon

[Brad]

To be fair, they did sell with Allardyce and Williams which you would hope would be a great start for new owners...

But we all know what is happened..

[Bobby G]

They tarnished Uncle Jack's legacy. They didnt do him right. They have to be held accountable and blamed but whats that going to get us? Nothing. They saw the money and ran. Pure and simple.

[John]

Trust the trust we were told - you could not have sold out to a bigger bunch of weirdos.

Sleepless nights we were told for getting the sale wrong....

[Elvis McSmithy]

i think they should have requested the new owners must pay off the clubs debts immediately NOT just take the debt on, this would have proved they where financially committed to the club.

Too late now though sadly, unless there was some kind of clause in the sale but the trust are not interested in getting involved as they have now washed their hands with the club that Jack built and committed a large part of his life and finances too.

[Veevs]

I really dislike all this blaming of the trust, they did all they could but happened to be utterly conned, this kind of thing happens in the world these days.

I believe that contractually Venkys have not done anything wrong, but what they did was mighty shifty to say the least. The blame for all this should fall squarely on the shoulders of them and especially the brokers in this deal.

Venkys might not of lived up to any of the assurances they have given however these are assurances not contractual points, the contractual side of things I believe included keeping the current board for a set period, rather than fire them they made their lives hell and marginalised them to the point they left themselves.

For me the whole sorry affair makes me sick, and Venkys are the worst possible people, to give assurances when buying a company that you will put money in, not sack the manager, get the best deal for sponsorship etc etc.. and completely disregard all of these within 12 months shows just how low these people really are.

The biggest culprits in all these have to be JA and co.. they acted as advisors to Venkys and sales agents to rovers, surely this is extremely dodgy ground and a conflict of interests. It would mean as agents they would benefit not just from the cash from the sale (from both parties) but long term from spin offs like working as agents for player purchases, player sales and also by having players/managers/staff on their own books.

I would hazard a guess that we should not be surprised that JA and co happened to find the most naive and utterly clueless about football new owners they possibly could.

For me the trust did all they could but the advisors and sales agents in this instance had ulterior motives for their actions.

To blame the trust who had in place one of the most successful senior management structures in football and kept us in good shape for so long is wrong on every count.

[yoda's brother]

I really dislike all this blaming of the trust, they did all they could but happened to be utterly conned, this kind of thing happens in the world these days.

I believe that contractually Venkys have not done anything wrong, but what they did was mighty shifty to say the least. The blame for all this should fall squarely on the shoulders of them and especially the brokers in this deal.

Venkys might not of lived up to any of the assurances they have given however these are assurances not contractual points, the contractual side of things I believe included keeping the current board for a set period, rather than fire them they made their lives hell and marginalised them to the point they left themselves.

For me the whole sorry affair makes me sick, and Venkys are the worst possible people, to give assurances when buying a company that you will put money in, not sack the manager, get the best deal for sponsorship etc etc.. and completely disregard all of these within 12 months shows just how low these people really are.

The biggest culprits in all these have to be JA and co.. they acted as advisors to Venkys and sales agents to rovers, surely this is extremely dodgy ground and a conflict of interests. It would mean as agents they would benefit not just from the cash from the sale (from both parties) but long term from spin offs like working as agents for player purchases, player sales and also by having players/managers/staff on their own books.

I would hazard a guess that we should not be surprised that JA and co happened to find the most naive and utterly clueless about football new owners they possibly could.

For me the trust did all they could but the advisors and sales agents in this instance had ulterior motives for their actions.

To blame the trust who had in place one of the most successful senior management structures in football and kept us in good shape for so long is wrong on every count.

+1

[John]

Come on guys, trust have to accept a bit of blame here - I was one of the trust's biggest fans but Indian chicken farmers who don't understand anything about football, it seemed extremely odd from day one.

[walk down bolton road]

Come on guys, trust have to accept a bit of blame here - I was one of the trust's biggest fans but Indian chicken farmers who don't understand anything about football, it seemed extremely odd from day one.

+1 What did Dave Whelan say when they came in,something along the lines of "There is something not right about all this".

[Mattyblue]

The Trust didn't want to fund the club, up to them, but the least they could do was ensure BRFC was run professionaly, and on that score they served us well.

However, on the takeover they have failed the club and Jack Walker big time. From getting that Agent to oversee a sale to selling up to the first bunch of cretins to stump up the cash, absolutely no thought was paid to this football club's future, a club that meant everything to the man who has provided them with their Monaco appartments.

'Trust the Trust' indeed...

[Jimmy612]

+1 What did Dave Whelan say when they came in,something along the lines of "There is something not right about all this".

'The Blackburn deal doesn't sound right and doesn't look right' I think were his exact words.

[broadsword]

However, on the takeover they have failed the club and Jack Walker big time. From getting that Agent to oversee a sale to selling up to the first bunch of cretins to stump up the cash, absolutely no thought was paid to this football club's future, a club that meant everything to the man who has provided them with their Monaco apartments.

'Trust the Trust' indeed...

Did they question where the money was coming from to buy the club?

Was the club in fact not bought with borrowed cash? I now cannot remember, so much (dirty) water has gone under the bridge.

If rumours are to be believed, the Walker family are aghast at what has unfolded over the last 12 months. We have also had rumours that the Walkers never met the Raos/Deasai and we have also had rumours that the indians were coached in what to say to make sure the purchase went through.

Either way, the Walkers didn't care or didn't take care. Because, coaching or not, due diligence and some basic common-sense/reasoning/logic/interrogative methods should've told them what was coming round the corner.

So, for me, they're villains in all of this as well. Hope they can sleep at night after what they've done.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Did they question where the money was coming from to buy the club?

Was the club in fact not bought with borrowed cash? I now cannot remember, so much (dirty) water has gone under the bridge.

If rumours are to be believed, the Walker family are aghast at what has unfolded over the last 12 months. We have also had rumours that the Walkers never met the Raos/Deasai and we have also had rumours that the indians were coached in what to say to make sure the purchase went through.

Either way, the Walkers didn't care or didn't take care. Because, coaching or not, due diligence and some basic common-sense/reasoning/logic/interrogative methods should've told them what was coming round the corner.

So, for me, they're villains in all of this as well. Hope they can sleep at night after what they've done.

I can't argue with that, they're as much to blame for me. What about the role of Rothschilds in this ? I thought they were the trusts advisers.

[jim mk2]

Rothschilds brief was to find a buyer for Rovers. It took them a few years but in the end they succeeded........the fact that the buyer proved to be totally unsuitable is our misfortune.

[Stuart]

Rothschilds brief was to find a buyer for Rovers. It took them a few years but in the end they succeeded........the fact that the buyer proved to be totally unsuitable is our misfortune.

Didn't we hear this week, from the horses mouth, that an agent had lined up all of the potential the buyers? Or did I misunderstand that?

[jim mk2]

Didn't we hear this week, from the horses mouth, that an agent had lined up all of the potential the buyers? Or did I misunderstand that?

Possibly, or maybe Rothschilds handled the financial and legal side of the sale. Either way presumably they were required to do due diligence on Venky's and their ability to fund a Premier League club.

[Amo]

Rothschilds brief was to find a buyer for Rovers. It took them a few years but in the end they succeeded........the fact that the buyer proved to be totally unsuitable is our misfortune.

/their incompetence.

[den]

Didn't we hear this week, from the horses mouth, that an agent had lined up all of the potential the buyers? Or did I misunderstand that?

Wasn't it JA who was asked to give the trustees "options"?

As I said on the JA thread, the other "option" is being hunted by Interpol. I would prefer him.

[Exiled in Toronto]

I got the impression that Rothschilds got nowhere finding a buyer so the Trust and JW turned to Anderson.

If he hadn't have been invited in, none of this would have happened