The same Paul Duffen who had his assets frozen as leverage agaist debts owed to Hull City? Surely this is a conflict of interest?
No way..... He nearly destroyed us. I know prem club normally supplies trusted insider infomation...but no way.... I'm praying that this is one of the those stupid twitter rumours!
Listening to Sportstalk - apparently a 55min interview with Duffen is "in the can" having been recorded last week and is in post-production as we speak for airing sometime soon. According to MW, there are editorial and legal checks to be done, but I did think at the time both "Why now?" and "could this be the source of the rumoured 49% investment?". One thing I do know is that the Allams seem not to have a problem with him, having been their guest at a number of matches recently. I do trust Pappa Allam to look after his investment, and suspect there is much more to the Duffen/Bartlett saga than has previously been reported. Duffen did in fact resign his position - almost certainly due to a falling out with Bartlett. Could it possibly be that Duffen carried the can for Bartlett's ineptitude? Besides, chair of the SMC is hardly any direct power over HCAFC is it? It will take a hell of an explanation from Duffers for me to have any trust in him once more, but at the same time, there needs to be someone who has a better relationship with HCC running the SMC, and I'm not naive enough to think I know the full story behind the tigers financial crash post 2009. I think Duffen was the figurehead for a guy who's dealings were at best shady and who probably took a risk on getting the tigers promoted then selling them on for a profit. I assume the same benefactor probably lost a lot of money (on paper at least) during the credit crunch and couldn't sustain the required investment - or find any suitable buyer after the recession hit. I wouldn't mind betting that Duffen just enacted the policy handed down by the money-man, and his hands were tied in all reality. In that scenario, he could well have been led down the garden path along with the rest of us. The asset freeze happened under Pearson who was in the employ of the aforementioned money-man at the time didn't it? I do know that the assets were unfrozen at a court hearing of which nothing of the outcome has been officially reported. It's a murky, murky situation, but I do think Assem has the nous to act in the interests of his own investment, just like he had the nous to hire respected investigative accountants once the books were opened to him before buying the club - something which resulted in the club being bought for a nominal fee. He'll know more about what went on than any of us. Therefore I will listen to that interview with an open mind - but there will need to be a lot of convincing answers for there to be any renewed trust, that's for sure.
I think you could be right there Spectrum. Truth is, I’ve heard a lot said/written against Duffen by people I trust and a lot by people I don’t know. But, as you'd probably expect, I’ve seen no facts. Allam’s seem to be shrewd, if not ruthless, in their business. So if Duffen was the loose cannon (and more) in the last meltdown it doesn`t stack up that they’d have him near the club and their business again.
duffen was not the crook ... anyone who thinks he was is a fool .. I thought so at the time but Ive looked from outside now and have realised what a ****ing crook Bartlett was/is ...
The problem is that Paul Duffen has a history of looking after Paul Duffen. I know business people who are shocked by his involvement with any football club. They have told me of his past dealings and they do not trust him. They refused to invest in the club because of him in the past. The big problem is this. There are wealthy investors around the world who are looking to put money into PL clubs. They look at Paul Duffen, a multi lingual business advisor, who already runs an investment guidance service, who has PL experience and what they see is opportunity. He is perfectly placed to make a killing, by putting the right parties together. It does not matter to the investors, that we see a different side to him. They only see that there are not many with his links to the PL and there are not many clubs that deals could be done over. It has to be this way no matter what we feel, he is the right man in the right place at the right time and the Allams know this. I do not have any doubt that he will become involved with the club again in some way and the SSMC is a perfect project for him. I don't like him, don't trust him and don't want him back here, but that will count for nothing. It's just a good job off shore money is getting scrutinised.
That's all well and good but the point been there was a confidentiality agreement put in place and unless that Is lifted and we get carte blanche to ask duffen what the hell went on he will always remain a shady character in most fans eyes.
afraid it is quite true Im afraid , I worked at city during his tenure .. and found a lot of things out .. one thing I can say 100% true is that duffen was a puppet .. he was told what to do by Bartlett etc .. he loved the limelight etc but the cost to him was that he was the "frontman" .. in other words when it went tits up , he took the flack .. sorry to ruin your illusions
Is this real? Anyone can Google just as us, they can look at the history of our club with and after him. Unless they are total cretins they can draw a reasonable conclusion about how best to invest their money - unless, of course, they are total and absolute ****s. Edit: Sorry! Failed to make it clear that they were a pair of ****s - can't see why folk need to split them, it's not even interesting.
There was a consortium that bought the club in 2007, not just Bartlett and Duffen. There was Martin Walker. James Craddock was Executive Director. Murky times.
