She did alright by us, no one can accuse her of letting us down or acting dishonourably in any way. We are entitled to wonder what might have been though, had her father lived a decade or so longer.
I do think that the sale to Gao represents letting us down. There were more red flags than a May Day parade, including the FA trying (and failing) to block the sale owing to his past corruption, and she persisted because it represented the fastest return on investment. That's her right as a business-owner, but it didn't reflect well on her commitment to anything beyond her personal wealth.
Was this reported at the time?, I can't remember reading it on here. My feelings towards Gao's ownership would've been much more negative from the outset if I had.
It was. The FA attempted to deny him under the Fit and Proper Persons test, but it was appealed on the basis that, while Gao had twice admitted corruption, he hadn't actually been convicted (he was given immunity in exchange for testifying against the people he bribed, at least one of whom was executed). As TLL noted, this resulted in the FA changing their regulations to ensure that there would never be another Gao. And given some of the individuals who have passed FPP, that's saying something.
Paul has a story to tell, but has never wanted to tell it. Hopefully that might change now. Apparently Shaw ‘liked’ the tweet about Hunter/Reed’s departure too.
None of the academy lads liked Hunter, none of them liked Reed as Reed just let him do whatever he wanted. Reed was untouchable and made his friends untouchable even though some of them did disgusting ****.
Strange coincidence that the whole club has been in decline since Reed/Hunter gained complete control under KL reign of ineptitude
