Linked in the Express so might be rubbish but would the Pozzos sell mid-way through their "project"? http://www.express.co.uk/sport/foot...lisher-Usmanov-Walter-Mazzarri-Leonid-Slutsky
With the substantial sky money, running a premier league club is a lucrative business. The Pozzo are successful businessmen who have no long term affinity with our club. It is entirely possible they will accept a crazy offer from a Russian with lots of dodgy money.
It's pretty obvious that, at some stage, they will sell on the club for a profit. It's also obvious that the buyer is not going to be a lifelong Watford fan. Unfortunately the Premiership is a magnet for predatory vultures Worldwide. The reasons for this are obvious - you have a 51% club ownership system in Germany whereby no private individual can own more than 49%. In Spain the tendency is towards fan ownership, and the government there is working on ways of strengthening this link. The French league has not yet reached the marketing value of the Premiership and the Italian Serie A is more known for match fixing scandals, crumbling stadiums and fan violence, with the exception of Juventus. Which leaves only the Premiership as a dumping ground for dodgy money, Worldwide. Unfortunately the top clubs in the Prem. have not yet realised that mega bucks do not equal success on the pitch. If they look around they will see that Barcelona and Real Madrid are fan owned and Bayern are a real 'club', with very strict club rules regarding any possible investors - all of which ensures a continuity unheard of in English football. I fear that the next 'sale' of our club will be the one which finally severs my emotional connection to the club I love - or then again miracles may happen and EJ may buy it back, but I'm not holding my breath.
Good post. The Pozzos must have a net profit figure in mind per year for them to bother with the hassle. For discussion let us put that at £20 million. There is also the prospect of relegation which would spoil the investment. If they could walk away with a guaranteed £150 -200 million clear profit I'm sure it would be extremely tempting. Chelsea have proved a Russian owner is good for achievement, not so sure about the soul of the club but does that really matter anymore?
It could actually come down to something fairly trivial like where Gino's family prefer to live, London or back in Italy.
The Pozzo family have been slowly changing their approach to the business, or project, call it what you will. When they started with Udinese, and then bought Granada and Watford, it was thought that the Italian part was the "mother ship". If you go back to Tales from the Vicarage, you will find that although all the technology is still in that country, Watford is now regarded as the most vital part. Granada was never a huge part of the operation, so could be sold off. Udinese rely on player sales far more than Watford as long as they stay in the PL. I believe that the two clubs are now joined at the hip so to speak, and they rely on each other in many ways, making a sale unlikely.
At present Udinese needs Watford .They can say to a up and coming player "come and sign for Udinese and if you do very well you could end up playing in the EPL with Watford
Time will tell. What we do know is that they are very long term supporters of Udinese and every business has its price. If the father wants to retire or is ill Gino may be required to run Udinese. I would suggest it depends on how keen any Russian is with dodgy money burning a hole in his pocket.
I'm not particularly in favour of a Russian take-over, but I'm not against the idea either - especially if the alternatives are another Bonsor, Petchey or Bassinni. Or another non-dom Tory Lord.
