If they have actually paid £40m to Short, but used the parachute £20m, then they need £20m for themselves and need another £20m to pay back the club, hence asking price of £40m? Or have I missed something here? But when buyers come along surely they are just going to say " well I'll just pay £20m and I have to sort the rest from there myself as no point giving you an extra £20m just for it to come back to myself." I'm not sure it makes that much difference really. SD gets his £20m back. The buyer gets it for £20m and the loser is 'the club' itself that never saw that £20m, but with the buyer getting it for cheap they can then just invest the saving and look like a hero. Unless SD wants to walk away with the whole £40m which is then of course wrong.
The truth is in that last paragraph. If Stew wasn’t such a deluded spunktrumpet the whole sorry episode would be over by now
Sounds like he wants to walk away with the whole lot, hence ensuring the obligation to repay (which Methven said didn't exist) is removed. It allows them not to do it. It seems like buyers have noticed this money which seems to be why numerous attempts at a sale have hit problems. Mind, by offering the loan, FPP have handled it well and I still think it likely they'll get involved down the line . Might not just be them though...
And If Uncle Ellis did this by design he’s made sure that the club have £20m to play with whilst banging between L1 and, hopefully, the Championship. Unless the dynamic duo get away with it.
I think it's probably not a stretch to imagine that Short is disappointed with how this has all gone. Clearing the obligation to pay SAFC does help in one regard though. If someone wanted they could buy Madrox and wouldn't be needing to pay £20m to Sunderland. They buy Madrox and all of a sudden its them running it, and they still have the FPP loan because it was paid to Madrox. So effectively FPP maintain their position, but with someone else in Donald's place. Someone who might think they can get us to the championship or Premier league and then sell for a big profit to FPP (having benefitted from them putting more money in if they see its being well used). FPP would have to approve the sale, but if they don't think Donald can run it, but still don't want to run it themselves, they likely wouldn't stand in the way. The new buyer would know they had a likely future buyer lined up who could give them a big profit down the line as well as loans at favourable rates in the meantime. Donald gets out of it and can say he sold to someone who can take it on and kept FPP at the table. The above happening wouldn't surprise me
A lot of good points as usual mate. One thing that does puzzle me is why 'FPP' would want to become involved if it was primarily to do with making money. People with their wealth can use it to make more in much easier and safer ways. I have a feeling that it started off as an adventure and the manoeuvres, from Donald and Methven, have slowed the whole thing down. I've tried to give Donald the benefit of the doubt but I'd now prefer him out under almost any circumstance. He's killed all of the goodwill and momentum ... ... two things which are powerful but fragile.
That's the one just think were turning a corner then 20 years backwards. Bastards lol have to laugh and take it on the chin just would be nice to have some luck for once. I'm sure that curse is real.
Personally think the only way he will Pay the loan off, is If a new owner gives him the money, hopefully this is all slowly going to push him over the edge and just give up to FPP
There is no way back from this for them, no way at all. The club is about to start bleeding out and he hasn’t the money to stem that tide, it will take his other assets with it, and there will potentially be threats made with intention to him and his family. You can’t get away with this at a club of this size, the fact the national press are all over this for a 3rd tier club says it all, this isn’t Bolton or Bury, it isn’t even Portsmouth. There’s no spin to be put on it, there’s no reasonable excuse, and there’s no way out or back for them. Sell the club for £1 more than your total investment and **** off. I’d wager the amount you get back isn’t enough to live on for very long, but it’s a lot more than it’s about to start costing you after being responsible for a 3rd year out of the big leagues. They have royally ****ed it, losses next season will be eye watering.
As I've said previously.. the potential loss of gate receipts, food and drink, club shop sales and corporate boxes/hospitality by playing behind closed doors will be crippling. If SD's arse isn't dropping out at the prospect I'd be amazed. If it was me I'd be doing an 'Ashley' and take the money before the **** hits the fan. The difference here is Donald's gamble hasn't paid off and he stands to gain nothing and more than likely lose.
It appears to me that, as things stand, the club is unsaleable at anything approaching the price we've seen reported. The second thing is that, despite some people's belief that Donald can easily absorb current losses, I believe he'll be panicking as @kingkeane said. Whatever Donald's plan was it's all fallen to pieces, there's no way this situation is anywhere close to what he wanted ... ... I just hope he's gone before he does any more damage.
