With the news that Norris is now considering a move to Hull i can see us missing out on all the decent free transfers and having to put a team together based on loan signings again as we won't be able to afford to sign players permanently. Its now been about a month since it was announced that the takeover would be completed within 2 weeks and everything seems to have gone quiet, apart from the odd story in 'the news' trying to convince fans the deal is still going through. As the weeks go by i am starting to think that the deal is not going to happen. I really hope that i am wrong but just cannot see it at the moment. It needs to be done in the next week or so, to make sure that we can get the targets we want and not settle for what has been left like we had to last season (Sonko, Dickinson) If it does not happen soon we will definitely struggle next season, and i am quite worried!
I think the process of this takeover is being over-looked by the fans. As we know, the financial mess we were in at the start of last season is something that not many teams have had to witness. This only confirms the fact that this takeover is anything but simply signing a piece of paper. With the CVA, land ownership disputes and ground ownership disputes this is never going to be an easy takeover. Ok, I agree that the longer it takes, the more chance there is of us missing out on targets. The transfer window opens again on 1st July - so nearly 6 weeks away, but the free transfers and out of contract players will be released on the 31st May. If news that it is CSI that has imposed an embargo due to the amount of assets etc then I believe this to be fair play by them - they only want to pay for what we actually have. We all know the Chanrai is not going to put anymore money into the club while there is a chance he will get his money back - so unfortunately we are in a chicken and egg situation! My betting is that the takeover WILL go through but not until 1st June at the earliest. Come the 1st June, CSI will have a good idea of what everything is worth, including the current in contract players. Now this is harmful to us - because players like Nugent are then free to join whomever they wish - unless Cotterill can use some kind of pre-signed contract to keep him. Why would CSI want to buy the club at present when there are numerous "asset" still owned by the club that would affect the price. Get the club back to square one - albeit with 8 contracted players - and then buy the club at the lowest cost to them. This is my opinion anyway - that CSI will buy the club on 1st June when the out of contract players have left and then starting to rebuild from there. Although saying that, there was rumour flying around yesterday that the reason CSI have not finalised the deal yet is because they want to completely overhaul the management of the club - whether this is a good idea or not is to be seen!
