Yes. That's precisely my point. I was responding to a statement that said that the finances would be scrutinised by the fans to this extent no matter how we were doing on the pitch.
If that’s the case it would Literaly just be a signature, that could Literaly happen any day, might not even get notice, just be a club statement out of the blue
Supporters are always interested in the financial situation of their club, just happier if they're doing well on the pitch. When we finished 7th in the PL people were constantly discussing the finances, fees, wages etc ... ... but they were happier than being stuck in the 3rd division with hypocrites as owners.
Nah, there's a huge difference between being aware of the situation as an investor and due diligence mate, believe me. It's quite a convoluted process and I'm of the opinion (may be wrong) that anyone serious about buying a football club would be wanting to have their own up to date financial projections to base their worst case covid scenarios on. That's why I'm saying it's unlikely a deal could be that close unless they had the wheels in motion for this 3-4 weeks ago, and if they did, then the Rodwell appointment would be bizarre. It's more likely the current deal is still in place for FPP. I'd guess that someone did start that process back then though. It sounded like at least one potential new buyer started DD 6-8 weeks ago. Maybe this is them.
Actually scrub that, I imagine quite big parts of DD could be foregone by FPP as only done last year, maybe 2-3 weeks minimum, more likely a month. My mrs would suggest longer, but she always takes the approach that it's more complicated (possibly because she's making more money if it takes longer
If you think it through logically FPP have deliberately placed themselves in a position whereby they become the outright owners if Donald clucks. They couldn't possibly do that without having completed DD etc. Nor would they do that if the definitely didn't want to own the club. I believe you're quite right, it could all happen in a heartbeat.
I think if you look at how much Ellis Short put into this club most people would agree he’s took a relatively small amount back out. He’s definitely lost a lot out of owning Sunderland, due mainly to his own bad decision making. However, the timing of him taking this out has left us in a bad position although if his successors had any competence in running a football club, we should still have been able to get out of this league at first time of asking. Look at how much the rest of the league spend on the playing side, it tells you money isn’t everything in this league.
DD done 9 months ago will need updating, particularly given the situation. They will be in a better situation than a new bidder, but it would take a few weeks, not a day or two, to do that. Particularly on a weekend btw.
Yes. I'm saying that is not the same thing. DD is a process whereby they get an external company to evaluate the club's financial situation, risks and forecasts.
Didn't FPP have a representative present during board meetings? If that is still the case, then surely they would've been kept in the loop of the day to day movements of the club
M But surely, if Donald does a Reggie Perrin, they become owners immediately as per the 'loan' agreement.
As the biggest, possibly only, investors I'd imagine they know and understand the books better than anyone. FPP would be daft not to know the exact situation ... ... I doubt they're daft.
It's not a case of being daft. These are wealthy people, but they also have full time, extremely important jobs and we are a tiny part of their lives at this stage. Knowing the financial picture as presented by the owner is not quite the same as doing your own DD, because it basically shuts the owner out of the process apart from to answer your questions that you find. That's how the 'black hole' etc become an issue, you can probably imagine how Donald would present it to them.
Tbf to Ellis Short, the new owners had two years to pay him the money but decided to do it after 1 year. At the time most people thought this was good and admirable but in hindsight, did they pay this early as they were hoping to sell quickly and that could have been a complication for a new buyer?
