This time next year ⦠Millwall might have been the next billionaire-owned football club, but the trail has run cold. Lakshmi Mittal's son-in-law, Amit Bhatia, quit the board of Queens Park Rangers last month ostensibly in protest at the rise in ticket prices (of up to 73% a match). But he may have had another motive: a bid for another club. Bhatia is understood to be the money behind the Renewal company which is trying to introduce a masterplan for "London's Sporting Village" around the Den. But the masterstroke would have been to buy Millwall and despite a lot of preliminary work, so far there have been no direct talks. Digger hears the reason for that may be that Bhatia is preparing a fresh bid to take over QPR. He did not return a call yesterday but watch this space.
For fook's sake, not Millwall, my other half and her family are all Lion's fans. I took enough stick when we lost at The Den, if they get our best hope of a benefactor I'll be heading for the door...
Eccles is playing hardball because the richest man in the country is interested in buying him out of QPR. If the Mittals look as though they may take that interest elsewhere, it may concentrate Eccles' mind (so long as he believes it!). Problem is, the genial, family-orientated Mittals are about as far removed from your average Millwall fan as it's possible to be, and certainly their reputation would be damaged if the Lions fans went on the rampage - as they do periodically. Fingers crossed hard for the resumption of negotiations between the Mittals and the Goons.
Can anyone really see Mittal choosing Millwall with their reputation and position in the Championship, over us, newly promoted to the Premier league? It would cost him more to buy them and then put a team together to get them promoted, than it would to match the goons asking price. What sense would that make?
and even then,there is a no guarantee that they will get promoted. When do we get the £40mill for promotion?..does that include Sky and other sponsorship?...
God knows that I have been wrong time and time again, but it seems to me that the Mittals are QPR, and I just cannot see them buying into Millwall.
We've had speculation about an interest in Fulham and now Millwall. What this suggests to me is the steel magnate Mittals are intent on a London football club - and we have/had first refusal. You're right Northolt, cowboys and Indians don't go together. Be interesting if it happened though and the New Den became an Indian-run bonehead reservation! I can hear the about turn now, 'you didn't 'ear it from me Del, but that Lakshmi's a right diamond geezer...'!
I wish they would hurry up and get them out of there this could be the reason er are not spending so the quicker this is sorted the better Uuu'rrrrsss
