According to the sun, Ellis is blocking the move: https://ninetyminutesonline.com/ellis-short-blocking-big-money-sunderland-lifeline/? Chinese investors that might be interested in taking over Sunderland are being put off by the asking price and the club’s current position in the Premier League, The Sun claim It’s being reported that current owner Ellis Short has approached Chinese consortiums about taking over the Black Cats, after several other teams in the Premier League have been bought in similar deals. However, potential suitors are unsure because of the 56-year-old’s price tag of £150+ million and the fact that they currently lie in last place in the Premier League. #SAFC were in takeover talks in early summer but any interest ended quickly http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/sunderland-afc-owner-ellis-short-12040082 … Sunderland AFC owner Ellis Short has sounded out potential buyers of the club, according to reports Sunderland are not officially for sale but representatives of Ellis Short are said to have opened informal talks with potential buyers in China Short bought took over the club back in 2009 in a deal thought to be worth around £20m which meant they became the fourth side in the Premier League to have American owners. Since then the businessman from Missouri has invested more than £200m of his own money into the club, but he is now looking to offload the business to someone in China after the increased interest in English football from the area over the past couple of years. Having only just avoided relegation last season, Short seems ready to cut his ties with the struggling side and offload the business to someone in Asia to help the club get back on their feet again. ------------------------------------------------ So he's after getting his money back from the deal - who can blame him?
All of you can blame him, none of you asked him to pump £200m of his own money into things like sacking managers every 11 days, and employing idiots who can't even write contracts for player purchases in the event of something backfiring. He deserves what the club is worth, not a penny more.
What is the club worth though? It's worth what someone is willing to pay for it. If he has a price in mind and if no one pays them no one gets. Much like a player. They're only worth what people will pay
That's not really anything to do with the point you raised about 'who can blame him' for wanting his money back. How much he's wasted won't have any bearing on the value, just like when you spend 10k doing up a corsa, it's still only worth £2k really innit, except it's not a car it's a football club so you're much less likely to find a mug who'll pay well over the odds.
If you had invested in something and been let down by others. Regardless of the buck stopping with you. You'd want your investment money back. I personally think,if that story is true,he doesn't want to sell so the argument is frivolous. I don't blame him for wanting his money back
Spend a decent amount in January to get some good players in that will keep us up and he will get a far better price than not spending and going down.
He's let himself down fella and in turn the club. It's his company, his business model. If one or to people had let him down fair play but it's Short's doing time after time after time. it's not a dozen people letting poor Ellis down.
Firstly, if I hand my money over to somebody it will be somebody who I know I can trust, not somebody who I think I can maybe trust. I wouldn't wade into a business I know absolutely nothing about and be naive enough to think I'll just put my feet under the table and join the big boys club, just because I've paid for my seat. Secondly, investments are not exclusive from risk, if he believes for one second that he was certain to get a return on a £200m investment, in a sport that hemorrhages money like no other, then he's a complete idiot and I'm surprised he's got a 'cent' to scratch his arse with.
For what it's worth I think the guy will spend in January if it's not already too late. As you know from last season 2/3 players can turn things around very quickly.
I think he will too but as you say it could be too late. We realistically need to win 3/4 games between now and then and pick up a few draws from the 11 games just to stay in touch. We've gone into January 2015 with 20 points, 3 above the drop zone and 2016 with 12 points, 7 off 17th position. No better club in recent history to pull it off (not that I'm proud of that fact).
So many people do though mate. They also trust the wrong people. Usually because those people tell them what they want to hear. 18 months ago I told a very rich guy not to start a business he asked me to consult on. I think my exact words were "you would be better off ripping up £50 notes and burning them because at least you would be warm" that guy took the wrong advise and the business went bust in 12 months and cost him almost 1/2 million. I have seen it happen many times and rich people will often "take a punt" on something believing they have so much money it'd will not effect them. I think Short will sell, he is just negotiating the best price. The thing is as far as I see it he has 2 options: 1. Sell quickly probably at a lower price. 2. Spend in Jan to keep us up. If we go down the club is worth a lot less.
If I was Ellis I'd hang on a bit. We have half a team coming back from injury and a couple of decent buys in January could yet see us right. Moyes is a good manager and a bit of stability (even if we go down) will help the club in the medium term.
Looks like the Chinese want their own takeaway... http://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...outhampton-said-to-be-new-china-soccer-target Southampton, the Premier League football club based on the south coast of England, is in exclusive talks to be taken over by Lander Sports Development Co. of China, according to people familiar with the situation. Katharina Liebherr, the club’s Swiss owner, has been engaged in the talks for several weeks, said the people, who declined to be identified because an agreement has yet to be completed. The price could be as much as 200 million pounds ($246.2 million), they said. The talks come amid a surge of investment in soccer by Chinese companies, spurred by President Xi Jinping’s stated desire to turn the nation into a force in the sport. A consortium led by Hong Kong-based GreaterChina Professional Services Ltd. on Wednesday outlined its plans for another Premier League club, Hull City, if it succeeds with a takeover bid. In the talks involving Hull City, club owner Assem Allam has agreed to an acquisition price of $160 million, GreaterChina executive director David Yip said in an interview. The company is looking for investors to help finance the transaction and hopes to close the deal in the first half of 2017, he said. A Southampton takeover would be the most significant Chinese acquisition in English soccer to date, following deals in which West Bromwich Albion, Aston Villa, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Birmingham City were sold to Chinese investors.
