Now I know most if not all view this guy as a complete joke who was the Head of the Goon circus. I happen to have made an about turn on my opinion of him. Reasons being : 1. He ousted Power who was taking us nowhere fast. 2. He mortgaged his house twice for us (the 2nd time he didn't even tell the wife!). 3. He got us some major, major investment when we had no win in 1st 7 or 8 games in Championship. 4. He brought us Luigi. 5. He brought us Adel and Ale. 6. He even brought us Parejo from Madrid when they probably also thought we were in Scotland! 7. During his tenure we went from 3rd tier to the Prem. 8. He had to handle Briatore And the Pelican, Nygaard type failings are also well remembered! But so are Ledesma and Di Carmine which didn't work but were worth the gamble. Gianni for those that don't know was a low level player in Italy in his day. He then came over to Blighty to try his luck and made a few quid in property and entertainment venues. He certainly wasn't minted and risked most of it on us. He's now heading up the consotium to buy Birmingham. Question is - now we've had some time to pass - what is your opinion now of the time he was with us and Gianni himself?
Don't hold a grudge against him at all. He didn't go about things the right way but he has left a legacy. I think we made more progress with him as chairman and those goons in charge than we have under TF so far, but they reached the limit of their abilities (and resources). Hopefully TF can continue his work.
Gianni & Flav - can they do it again? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...to-buy-Birmingham-City-from-Carson-Yeung.html
Re. 4 - he brought us Dowie, Gregory and so many more. Always will be a gangster turned inadvertent comedian for me - major flaws, head buried in sand but some good intentions mixed in.
He came across ok in "The Four Year Plan" and his heart seemed in the right place even though he does tend to come across as well dodgy and even more so when speaking in Italian. Briatore and Ecclestone were real scum but Paladini was different.
Surprised at how you pick up on the Hughes/Jia situation Imaz, but dont feel the same about Paladini... I always thought the guy was a crook, regardless of whether he loved the club. I guess a thanks for the effort, but good riddance from me.
I concur with Imaz, the guy I think truly felt he was doing the right thing for the club and maybe back in the '70's / '80's he might have got away with his shennanigans but his ducking and diving 'almost' broke us over Faurlingate. Well intentioned and I'd buy him a pint & a pie but I'm glad hes gone. I met him at Barnsley away a while back, nice bloke
As has been alluded to after The Four Year Plan, he was just a bungling, hap-hazard buffoon at worst. I think he genuinely had the best interests of the club at heart, but wasn't the sharpest tack in the box when it came to alot of matters. Wish him well in his new venture.
I think he was just an idiot. Maybe I'm being naive. Thanks for the thinly veiled insult again though
The way he speaks in Italian is just, to be put it bluntly, a little "ignorant" which with his heavy regional accent makes some jump to conclusions. Being from Naples doesn't make anyone a crook...
He had passion - and you can see his dedication and love for the job in The 4 Year Plan. I thought he was alright. He was a spastic hooligan like any of you on here, except he happened to land a job as a director.
I think a loveable rogue. Not quite in the same league as 'The Boss of all Bosses' Berlesconi but perhaps made in the same mold. I actually believe he loved QPR but it is hard to forgive him for the will we / won't we get a points deduction tnat so soured the end of our championship season and perhaps cost us the victory parade. Things move and so has he. Good luck to him, except when any team he's involved with plays us of course.
GP isn't a criminal like Berlusconi. The real thing ain't pretty: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLAvdDvz7XU&feature=related
I guess either he misses watching football matches - and doesnt want to buy his own ticket Or he thinks there's money to be made from being involved Birmingham Football Club Personally I'm just so disillusioned. I thought he loved only us. And he was only involved with QPR because of that love - and great personal sacrifice to himself Soccernet Paladini consortium in Birmingham offer November 2, 2012 A consortium led by Gianni Paladini is reported to have offered around £30 million to take control of Championship club Birmingham City, according to reports. BBC West Midlands said Paladini, who is based in nearby Solihull, had submitted the offer to acting Birmingham chairman Peter Pannu. The development comes only a few weeks after Pannu told reporters that he was in talks with two groups interested in taking over at St Andrews. This is believed to be the second attempt the Paladini consortium has made to buy the Blues, who are 17th in the table, with an offer of around £5 million less having been turned down earlier in the year. Birmingham have had a turbulent recent time financially, with part-owner Carson Yeung due to be tried in Hong Kong on money-laundering charges. That means any formal bid would need to be announced to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. In March, a transfer embargo was placed on the club after they failed to file their accounts for 2010-11 on time - the second successive year in which they had not been filed on time. Although Birmingham have not been officially put on the market, Pannu - the chairman of the club's holding company, Birmingham International Holdings Ltd - had said he was looking for investment. Paladini, who left QPR in 2011 after almost eight years at Loftus Road, is understood to be keen for the deal to be completed before the New Year, which would mean the Blues could avoid needing to sell stars including goalkeeper Jack Butland in the January transfer window. Although the process appears to be moving fairly quickly, it is unclear when Paladini could receive a response from the club. But with other potential bidders appearing to have cooled their interest, he looks to be firm favourite. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/1211643?cc=5901
I genuinely think that he did love us - but he was asked to leave by "mutual consent" and we know what that legal term means, don't we, all us Gangsters? But what's he going to do? He does love football as well, like any of us. But he's no longer allowed back to QPR as long as Amit and the gang are still here, though I will not fault Amit and his posse. Gianni did have a tendency to fly off the handle and not realize his insulting language was actually inappropriate at times - but he is just a hooligan football supporter with a foul mouth like the rest of us. I wish him the best. He kept me entertained for the good years. And no matter what anybody says, he had a MASSIVE hand in helping us get back up to the Prem and we owe him for that as he never gave up. And I do feel for him that he was asked to leave.
