Off Topic Foreign Ownership- Good Bad & Ugly

I don't often start threads ,but I am sitting here this morning (Sydney time) after just seeing that my former local club Leyton Orient are on the verge of relegation out of League 3 (the old fourth division). I am upset and saddened by this event.
Their demise is solely down to the fact that a few years ago Barry Hearn the boxing promoter and chairman /owner decided to sell the club to foreign interests (Italian businessmen) in 2014. At that time they were seconds away from promotion to the championship via the playoff final losing to Rotherham on penalties . From that moment they crumbled to what that they are today a shambles - without the official count i think they have gone through about 10 managers all their decent players have gone and with no disrespect have had to dig into their youth teams to build a new squad.
The reason for this rant/editorial is the fact that foreign ownership doesn't guarantee success (Chavs,$ity,United etc the most well known) it can end up like this.

 

I think a lot depends on the stature of the club?

If we got foreign owners I do believe it would not be to basically asset strip...you are not interested in asset stripping if you are paying £685 mill for a club, the worth according to Forbes. I believe you pay that much with the full belief of making a lot of money through the brand as oppose to the £4 million Hearn sold Orient for. The profit margins will be smaller in the latter's case so a lot of money is made quickly by eating into the club and little millionaires are probably tempted by that strategy. The worst you will get at a big club will be something like the strategy from the foreign owners at Arsenal...where they make sure the cash cow never starves so that their other financial/private interests can be supplemented.

I'm still for a Sheik or whoever buying our club in the hope he will send it through the stratosphere..I wasn't about 5 years ago...but I smell blood with what we have happening at Spurs and you won't be buying THFC unless you are filthy rich not a bottom of the scale millionaire. I also believe Daniel Levy would not do us a disservice and would only sell the club to someone who is going to at the very least maintain the upward spiral. We are talking Billionaire purchasers. They will make more in 5 years of maintaining the club at its current upward spiral than trying to asset strip it over 3 or 4.

I could be wrong.

 

Am in in agreement with that re Levy.
Read almost on a daily basis of a takeover over some club or other. The destabalising of the day to day running of the club whomever it might be isn't always for the good of the game you only have to look at Leeds for that. The foreign investor ,as they are putting their own money in think its ok to appoint a manager and then interfere with team selections and then sack him because the team isn't performing.
A lot of them have done dodgy things in other countries and run to the UK and hope authorities don't find them out.

 

Personally I think foreign ownership is a disaster for English football. Just consider one point.

Of the top six only Spurs are English owned and only Spurs have such a showing of English players.
Nearly half the England team is Spurs. Foreign owners have no care for the history or traditions of our football. In Germany, France, Italy , Spain, their top teams are mostly presenting local players.

Football is a good substitute for war and you can't win wars with mercenarys and people who are just in it for the money.

 

Hi PML.
You will be pleased to hear there were collection buckets all around the ground today raising funds for Leyton Orient Fans Trust who I believe are hoping to buy the club. It looked as if a lot of our fans were contributing.

.

 

I don't think Chelsea and City fans would bemoan the fact that they have foreign owners. Both clubs have seen their fortunes transformed like lottery winners. As long as the teams are doing well, there are no worries. But if results fell away for a prolonged period and the owners got bored, withdrawing their capital and moving on to something else, where would these clubs be? The value of a football club can diminish rapidly if the team is not successful and the financial backers cash in their assets. Unless another sugar daddy comes along willing to pay top dollar for a stake in a club, these clubs can face financial ruin very quickly.

 

And how many English footballers do these teams promote. You might just as well support Barcelona or Madrid they have very little to do with England, but then you are a United supporter and have to support your bunch of mercenaries. Remember your finest modern team was English based with players you had brought on from your academy.

 

I don't think my comment suggests I support foreign ownership.
Utd have always supported the promotion of young English players. Even when foreign players have been signed, the emphasis has been on nurturing young talent.
It's only since SAF retired that there's been an unseemly haste to buy big name foreign stars for big bucks - with mixed success.

 

Not going to happen with Chelsky.

Oligarsky has effectively had to write off at least 700m to have Chelsky as his plaything
(do you think somebody else is going to back him back his PERSONAL stake as well as
the additional money needed to fully take over the club ?? ) .

There were also rumours that he has legally drafted a contract that in the event of his
death, his missus etc will not seek to destroy Chelsky by trying to claw back said 700m
(which would be legally theirs etc) .


As for Citeh, when is the oil money due to run out in the UAE ??

 

......Bad and Ugly ... 2 out of three is bad

 

English players who have played first team football for United this season

Jones
Rooney
Smalling
Lingard
Carrick
Young
Rashford
Shaw
Fosu-Mensah
Tuanzebe

Really lacking that English element to our team/squad. We may improve that though when people like Wilson, Blackett and Johnston are back from loan or fully fit (all have featured in the first team and done well)..

 

Apart from Spurs and United.

 

Since it's inception in 1953, Utd have won the Youth Cup 10 times, more than any other team.
However, Chelsea have won it five times in the past seven years. Not sure how many English players featured as few progrees to the first team.
Utd have been synonymous with the development of young players in the past - many locally produced. Many have become stars.
I hope that's a trait that continues despite the pressure to bring in foreign stars at great expense to regain success as quickly as possible.

 

HI OS yes I was aware of this thanks for the comment.

 

http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/timothy-fosu-mensah/nationalmannschaft/spieler/315131

English?