LONDON, Jun 24: Promoted Queens Park Rangers face their first Premier League campaign since 1996 with two of Europeâs wealthiest men fighting for control of the club. The outcome may be crucial to unfashionable QPRâs chances of retaining their elite status. Multi-millionaire Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone owns 67pc of the west London club. He bought out the previous major shareholder - ex-Renault Formula One principal Flavio Briatore - last December. However, Ecclestone says if he ever wants to sell his shares, he will give Briatore first refusal and the pair continue to work together. Meanwhile, Britainâs richest man, steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, has owned 20pc of the shares since December 2007. He has already made one takeover bid. Across west London, Russian oil oligarch Roman Abramovich has spent massively at Chelsea and multi-millionaire businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed has bankrolled Fulham. By contrast, Ecclestone and Briatore have spent very little since taking over QPR in August 2007. Ecclestone said: âThe idea of pouring in millions to buy success is not my way of doing things.â But Mittal has reportedly promised manager Neil Warnock a £40m transfer fund if he gains control. He made a takeover offer of £30m in May. Ecclestone and Briatore dismissed that figure as âinsultingly low. They value the club at closer to £100m. Ecclestone bought 15pc of QPR for £150,000 in August 2007. Briatore bought 54pc for £540,000. The pair also guaranteed debts of more than £13m, to stop the club going into administration. But it was only the arrival of Warnock in March 2010 which brought on-field stability. He is QPRâs 11th manager under the Ecclestone-Briatore regime. He steered QPR away from relegation, then brought in a core of experienced players last summer. Warnock also made two key signings. He brought goalkeeper Paddy Kenny from his old club, Sheffield United for £750,000 and made midfielder Adel Taarabtâs loan from Tottenham a permanent transfer. Weight problem Kennyâs ability had never been questioned. But he had spent years trying to control a weight problem. He had also been banned for nine months in 2009-10 for failing a drugs test after the 2009 Championship play-off final. He looks back on the suspension as a turning point. He said: âI promised myself that Iâd come back fitter and better than ever. I couldnât train with United, so I hired a personal trainer and spent five days a week in the gym.â A slimline Kenny missed just two Championship games as QPR topped the table, four points ahead of Norwich. He was voted Player of the Season by the supporters. QPR boasted the tightest defence in the division. They conceded just 32 goals in 46 games. Taarabt was their star though. He scored 19 goals, many spectacular, and orchestrated their attacking play. The Morocco midfielder is now linked frequently with bigger clubs. If QPR lose the 22-year-old this summer, their survival hopes will plummet. Warnock, 62, knows that keeping QPR up will establish him as a Premiership manager. He has won eight promotions with different clubs. But his only season at the top ended in relegation for Sheffield United on the final day of 2006-7. He knows he needs to strengthen fast. He wants to introduce some younger players â and a prolific striker is a priority. QPR have been linked with West Hamâs Carlton Cole, Andy Johnson of Fulham and Cardiffâs Jay Bothroyd. Warnock may have to replace Wayne Routledge too. The dynamic winger, on loan from Newcastle, contributed so much in the second half of the season. Newcastle have released him. QPR have offered him a three-year contract. But he has yet to sign, hoping for a move to a bigger club. QPRâs image as a small club remains a serious problem. Their ground holds just 18,360, the smallest capacity in the Premier League. They have increased ticket prices by 40 per cent to increase revenue, to many fansâ disgust. But QPR have often punched above their weight. Their best-ever side, led by England midfielder Gerry Francis, ran Liverpool all the way before finishing title runners-up in 1976. QPR would be relieved to finish 15 places lower in 2011-12, simply to consolidate their Premier League existence. Warnock will watch the takeover battle with interest. He would be delighted to have money to spend.
Reconstituted bull. And how does the author manage to jump from ownership issues to Paddy Kenny's weight??? Hardly relevant.
What, do you mean that according to this 'source' Ecclestone and Briatore bought their shares at £10k per 1 per cent and now want something like £1m per 1 per cent? No good at maths but isn't that a 9,000% mark up?!! Didn't respond to that part of the article because we don't know, let alone trust, the source. The source also gives percentage share holdings different to those generally considered to be Ecclestone / Briatore trust: 62%; Mittal: 32%; Paladini: 6%... Oh, the smoke and mirrors... who and what to believe! Help us out someone... Mr McIntyre?!!
It's not unusual for companies to be bought for a nominal sum of even £1 because the purchaser is buying debt, so Bernie and Flav paid £690k for the club plus debts of £13 million which have been restructured but are still with us under 'loans'. The debts have now risen to £35-40 million which is petty cash to the owners but crippling the club if they don't underwrite it. That's why they are seeking a sale at the £100 million figure that includes £35-40 million of debt. It's well documented that many players in 2007-08 were brought in on 3 or 4 year contracts at wages that are currently near the limit set on new signings now, that's why our debts are now much higher. I don't see the PL payments being the answer to the debt problem while Bernie & Flav are owners, their nature of business is pure profit so I still expect a sale in the near future before the value begins to fall.
Agree deano, but I'm no longer confident it will be soon. Unless we win our first four games in August and lead the Prem then, QPR's value must be at its highest at the moment. Any shrewd businessman like Lakshmi Mittal would wait rather than pay a premium now - if our season goes tits up (as it shows every indication of doing at this, admittedly, early stage), then Mittal may come in with a reasonable bid to take the club off the Goons hands (Flabio will have run through most of the 1980's Italian national team by then), and if Mittal is successful, will try to resurrect our season by purchases in the January transfer window - and we'll live the final months of the season on the edge of our seats. This isn't a prediction - I've given up predictions after the CernyBerny debacle (hope he has since gone over to his mates home with a large garden gnome tucked under his arm) but it is a distinct possibility imo...
If he's the real McCoy, I think I may have pricked his conscience, Brixton! What he's saying bears a ring of truth - I can just see Flavio posturing during the negotiations to squeeze the juice from the deal...
Yeah, I know - but on the flip side that Jeffro sounds plausible too. Dunno which side I'd put my money on - but like most of the rest of us, the heart's praying CernyBerny's the man!
