Unfortunately for Derby, they're in far worse shape than we ever were. At least Ellis Short paid down the majority of the club debt and found a buyer before he walked out of the door (regardless of the issues with both him and the next owners). Mel Morris walked out on Derby and dumped them into administration but he's kept hold of the stadium for himself so they have even fewer assets than the average club and their revenue streams will take a big hit as well.
I think Norwich more or less did exactly that - their stated official ambition for several years was to be "in the top 24 clubs in the country". Most people consider that to be unambitious, as is the modern way, but I think in reality it's a well ran club living within its means. I'm not sure the financials stack up to them making big profits though (with the exception of player sales), most of it will still go on wages to attract the right players.
They were beyond stupid to just ignore Mike Ashley because he was late in declaring serious interest. It's not as if they had some copper bottomed buyer straining at the leash. This mob have emerged to be of little substance, as many had guessed, and Ashley might tell them where to go now, even if they begged him to get involved.
You might be right mate. I tend to think Ashley has played a blinder and will get this eventually all on his terms. If anything puts him off it will be whether he can get the ground I think.
If Ashley is anything he is a hard nose businessman that will only do what suits him. He will squeeze every last bit of this till the deal (if available) suits him down to the ground. A thought on if this deal falls through, surely the administrators have to take some blame if the preferred bidder now can't provide proof of funds
You need to watch this then....from 14 minutes in. (Any excuse to post it really.....but it really is up there)
The think is he will probably sort them out. Despite what the mags think of him he ran Newcastle very well financially.
he proved this by holding onto a club he did not want, with fans that did not want him until he got the deal he wanted... i personally think he played a blinder and got a lot more than the club was worth.
I haven’t got my head round it’s worth anything, they own bugger all so what have the Saudis actually bought?
They have bought a gullible mass of desperate and needy fans, who have made a Faustian pact so that they can have some shiny new mercenaries to watch. And a building, built on rented ground which has signs of concrete cancer on two of the stands.
none of it does these days, few make any sort of money in football so it can hardly be a business venture as such...i stick by my own thoughts that these people have so much money the losses they incur probably equate to me and thee losing a bit loose change down the back of the settee therefore it all comes down to some real life FIFA for them, sucking the soul out of football as we know/knew it. for the television companies it seems to be a good thing but i would really love to get back to the days when every team had a chance.
