I think its only right we congratulate Mike and Lee too for their part in the turnaround. Supported their manager at the right time, got him quality players on loan that he wanted. Win as a team, lose as a team. It can't be all Mike and Lee's fault when things are going badly, then all Rafas doing when things are going well. Lets not be fickle like Mackems eh lads/lasses.
Mike hasn't done a ****ing thing. Three loan players? What part did the fat overlord play in that?! "What's that, Lee? You want THREE facking footballers?! Fack off. Oh, they don't cost nuffink? Deal" I'll perhaps give charmless a tiny scraping of credit for finally pulling his finger out of his arse - but let's not forget he wasted 10 days with a pointless pursuit of Jorgensen, whom we were never going to buy anyway, before returning for Slimani on the final day of the window - a player Rafa believed was available on Jan 1st. All of the deals we did took far, far too long. The press were reporting about Dubravka from December, Kenedy from July last year. Quite how it takes Wonder-Lee somewhere between 1 and 8 months to secure loan signings is a ****ing mystery, and certainly nothing to be celebrated. What's more frustrating is if the "board" (i.e. Lee) were just a touch more competent, we'd be on nearer 45+ points today and possibly have done better in the cups. Edit. Reel me in.
I wouldn't be surprised if they leave the loan signings for as long as possible in the window to save a few weeks salaries!
I don't know what you are insinuating here? Look the Rafa Facts are that Mike and Lee got the job done in January for Rafa despite him having spent all the money. They secured the players he wanted and better still, one was from the Champions, one was a 30m striker out of favour and the other a keeper they managed to keep off everyone elses radar. To suggest its all Rafa's doing is silly. he said he doesn't do the deals, Lee does. mike provides the finance. Rafa will tell you himself there is no I in TEAM mate.
I think we should have a sing song for Mike and Lee. We could kick off with: I mean I know you're all feeling... after they got the job done and its all worked out. However really its a time to rejoice and say...
I completely agree that if it was all down to Rafa we'd not have signed three loan players on the last day of the Jan window.... You might need to check another of your amazing "facts". Not sure Rafa has spent "all the money"; there's quite a lot that simply hasn't been spent. Most hasn't even appeared....<cough> free sponsorship <cough> fun88 <cough> At a guess - not claiming this as fact, mind - we battened down the hatches in preparation for sale. Then Mike eventually came clean and said - in I think very late January after a three week holiday - that the sale was never actually going to happen, at which point we finally moved on players! So maybe Lee gets out of this with a bit of credibility having got what Rafa required albeit far later than necessary - but it's entirely probable that was Mike, not Lee. So to clarify - you agree that the quality of player identified was Rafa, the fact they were available was also Rafa, the fact they've worked out is Rafa and the fact they arrived at all is Lee. Not really seeing Mike's part in this, apart from probably being the main reason it took so long to get the deals done. So as I said, plaudits for Rafa, a faint nod in the direction of Charnley and a disgusted look of scorn towards the owner for still not paying his advertising fees, hiding the Fun88 money somewhere and refusing to allow Rafa to access the funds we're going to generate from TV.
I think it’s worked out mainly because of the lack of quality in the rest of the k ague which is good luck. Rafa has done a good job but he’s paid to do that and he has delivered twice. This next twelve months will be interesting. Let’s see if we can try and kick on and avoid a relegation fight next season. I would like us to try and focus on players like Kenedy. Young hungry players who are not getting game time at other clubs. We can offload mitro and get Kenedy. If we can get slimani in for another loan deal that would be good so we can assess if he is good in the team.
All that is a lovely conspiracy but has no basis in truth. The facts are simple. We have given our manager a squad capable of staying in the division. He looks like he will achieve that goal. If so, everyone has done their job. Owner, MD, Manager, Coaches, Players, Tea Lady... Its time for everyone to stop being so hysterical every window, get behind the club as a whole, and rid ourselves of the negativity which serves no purpose. I think the hysterical conspiracy fans just have to chomp down on the humble pie. Now about that sing song and sorry to Messrs Charnley and Ashley, all together now...
Lets just say a takeover happens during the summer...who would be the first out of the door between Penfold and Rafa? There you go.
I think it's worth buying all three loan players we have in. Just for a start. Not sure how much money will be available in the summer (assuming we don't collapse and get relegated) but will Ashley play the "I'm selling the club so I won't invest in players" card yet again?
Definitely Kenedy and dubravka but we can’t afford to take a big risk on slimani at the price it will be which is why I suggest a loan deal with option to buy. There are players out of favour at other clubs who we could pick and you can tell there is a feel good factor with the players. A togetherness that I think is also important. You need players who come in and gel with that mentality. I just think Rafa has got the very best out of the players to get results, mitro aside. I also don’t know what’s happening with merino. But Diame is totally unstoppable at the moment so cannot be dropped which I cannot believe I am saying as he was terrible first half of the season but seems to be enjoying his football and the Crowd are not on his back anymore.
I think the more relevant thing would will we have a serious approach from an investor or just another chancer like Staveley who will just mess us around. We may have dodged a bullet given their reluctance to get to the asking price, and the clauses they were trying to insert. It suggests they either didn't have the money or simply were not serious. The good news is that many of the reports circulating seem to suggest there are at least two other interested parties now. You raise a good point though as we are in a catch 22. We'd all like a new owner, but to get one, you do risk your transfer business.There is no doubt that these interested parties have the potential to **** up the summer window. We will need to set an early cut of point really as otherwise it will hamper us. There is no doubt that any owner in discussions to sell would stop us spending money, it makes no sense to do otherwise if you think they are serious. I think that is why Ashley said enough is enough in January as he could see the game of chicken they were playing with his asset. Given Ashley's activity transfer wise since McClaren has been pretty good I'd be hopeful if a takeover can't happen, then he will allow us to access the TV money and make some progress. We've spent probably near enough 200m on transfers since then which is decent money for a club of our size. We have recouped plenty but if you gave a decent manager 3 seasons to build a PL football team and said you can have 65m a season after sales they'd fancy their chances of getting to mid table. Our problem is we gave a muppet the first 77m (for all the players he bought were ok) and the next guy has been hampered by that ever since.
Agree with this Kenedy and Dubravka are 100% necessities, Slimani not so much. Sell Joselu (28) and Gayle (27), bring back Mitro (23) and Arma (21) and give them a run as second and third choice's and go and buy a proven 15-20 goal striker. Genuinely think with Ayo Perez and Kenedy (play him up top and he will score goals I'd bet my left testicle on it) there that is plenty of depth up top and the aforementioned 3 players. 1 Striker. 1 Full back - Davide Santon would be my shout. 1 CM - if Hayden goes - Ward-Prowse off Southampton. Kenedy and Dubravka.
or Ashley over valued the Club trying to recover the over payment he made when he first bought the Club. I knew you intended to put that bit in but assume there must have been some static causing problems when you posted.
To be honest I can't see a problem with the valuation of the club. It looks about right to me if the talk is to be believed. He paid 134.4m 10 years ago. He pumped in 129m in interest free loans - these are obviously repayable in any sale. That is 263.4m alone. The club has increased in value in that time obviously. Even if I take out the free advertising which irks people (but actually is his business as owner) and the over payment, the alleged valuation of 300m with no clauses looks very reasonable. If he was wanting 400m to make a big profit you could understand it, but would probably say he is being a bit of a ****. He appears to want £300m with no clauses. Is that really that unreasonable? Even conservative estimates seem to value the club at £250m-280m. So they have gone really low end on him. I don't agree with this clause situation, to be quite honest i see it as a ridiculous request. Her offer was either 250m without clauses or 300m with clauses supposedly. Do people really think he should have sold it for either? What is the club worth now with PL status almost retained, a happy manager who everyone seems to think is very talented, a happy set of players - a generally good set up which is very close to securing access to some serious TV money. Surely if that is achieved the price from January goes up? There will then be those who say he is moving the goalposts again. Of course he is because the strength of his selling position has improved dramatically! What else is up for renewal in the next couple of years? Shirt sponsors or manufacturers? Other commercial deals? The value of everything is on the rise if it is related to PL football. He doesn't need to sell, the club is not a financial noose around his neck. Indeed it has been a profitable business for all not a massively successful one. Its also assisted his main business massively. That has value to him and that is what counts most, the value he sees in it. Do people not think any new owners would have their own needs which needed serviced by owning the club? People seem to want him to make no profit out of selling the club 10 years on when everything in the PL costs a helluva lot more. Even more ridiculous, the figures people are suggesting he should take would see him make a loss. Its madness really and all shows a complete lack of understanding of business.
I think the 300mill valuation is reasonable assuming relegation is avoided. In fact could have been higher but lack of investment in PL standard players this last year means new owners will have to invest. However makes sense not to invest in players if you are planning on selling up. Made.sense for Stavely to put a relegation clause on sale when mid season but no reason for that now.
You have done exactly as Ashley seems to be doing. He paid £134.4M for the Club. The extra £129M or thereabouts is essentially because he failed to carry out due diligence. That wasn't part of the deal for Ashley and, therefore, wasn't part of the valuation of the Club when he agreed to pay the £134.4M. If he had been aware of the debt then IMO he would not have paid the £134.4M in the first place. Now though he's trying to get that back ie the £129M part of which he wouldn't have paid if he'd done things properly when buying which means he is over valuing the Club. I do accept that ultimately the sale price is whatever price he is prepared to sell the Club for as ultimately he owns it and can, therefore, accept or refuse whatever offer is made until he is happy with the price. Given the run we were on at the time I would have been more worried about Staveley & Co if they hadn't wanted to put clauses in regarding PL survival or not. Also strange that reports are suggesting Ashley is still prepared to do a deal with that "tyre kicker" Staveley. Would seem to suggest that Ashley's faux outrage wasn't genuine and that she had established then that she had the "spondoolies" to buy the Club.
