The words spoken by Mr Short nearly 2 years ago. A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then, wonder what he is thinking now? Give Gus some coin and go for it, or keep it in his pocket? ...................................................................... Sunderland owner Ellis Short has stated that relegation from the Premier League should not be an option for the club under his ownership. Short took full control of the Black Cats in May 2009, and has seen on-field improvement during that time. "The first goal is to never get relegated again," Short told the club's official website. "Overall we need to improve every year and make sure long-term the club is healthy on the pitch and financially." Short added: "The second goal is to try to always finish well into the top 10. "It's a great club, with great support, we're all going to do our best. "I'm not sure what we can achieve, but we will try our hardest to get a team that is good, hard to beat, respected in the football world and one which we can all be proud to support." http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/s/sunderland/9431864.stm
He could put his hand in his pocket, but trying to consider it from his point of view I'm not sure I would. I bet he rues the day Niall talked him into investing in SAFC - it appears we are cursed!
True para but I don't think many people come to be billionaires by viewing millions of pounds as 'loose change'. When I was younger I spend a couple of summers as PA/secretary to a multi-millionaire and he was tighter with his money than anyone else I've ever met (hence he was paying a teenager peanuts to do a half-decent job rather than someone more experienced)! Financially you would have to imagine it was worth the gamble to invest. The fees coming in from TV are astronomical and its not like you are losing money by buying a player, you are trading liquid funds for a playing asset. Spend £20m and you'd hope to get £10-15m of it back even if you go down and have to sell them. Easy for me to say though - not my money. There is an argument for not throwing good money after bad.
I have the feeling that in the Background Ellis Short will be working very hard to offload the club onto someone else. The very nature of his business is short term, the fact that in hard cash terms his investments to the club over the last few years doesn't demonstrate someone who is it for the long term. I could be wrong of course, but looking at the facts as we know them, that is my thought process.
Its gonna be very hard and very expensive to try and bring in the players needed to save us. The club has been in quick sand since Bruce was manager with millions of pounds squandered and constant overhaul, it was always doomed. The sad thing is I think Poyet is the right man but unfortunately he's captain of a sinking ship. Taking red n white specs off, we are getting relegated so we can't go out and buy players for £10m. If I was Short every single player would be open to sale if a worthy offer came in. The likes of Johnson Giaccherini Larsson Gardner Ji, id be trying to recoup as much as we can get in this month and let Poyet bring in a few of his own faces if possible.
If I had a few billion for investment, I'd rather buy a dying HP company, than a football club. Even top-tier clubs do not earn anything, kept afloat only by long-term debt. Thanks to big name and some kind of stability on and off the pitch they can get cash injections from banks very cheaply. For low-tier clubs like SAFC financial image always will be bad to ugly.
I should imagine a Premier League football club is a wonderful way to write off tax/clean money. Just saying like.
