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Sheff Weds up for sale

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Same old story - rich owner; loads of money to spend on a gamble for promotion.  Gamble fails; FFP kicks in and club for sale with big debts unless the owner is prepared  to  write them off and take a big loss.

How many times do we have to see this before we all dismiss it as a good solution for City?

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12 hours ago, Badger said:

Same old story - rich owner; loads of money to spend on a gamble for promotion.  Gamble fails; FFP kicks in and club for sale with big debts unless the owner is prepared  to  write them off and take a big loss.

How many times do we have to see this before we all dismiss it as a good solution for City?

You are totally against some outside investment then Badger ?

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32 minutes ago, TIL 1010 said:

You are totally against some outside investment then Badger ?

Isn't that different to selling the club?

 

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We have to appreciate that we were bought out by decent owners 20+ years ago who didn't have to pay too much (easy for me  to say).

If the club were to be sold now, then I would expect a majority of supporters would want to see big money involved. It is only natural, those envious of the amount that other clubs spend would want something spectacular.

We are proving at the moment that at this level, self financing, along with uncovering stars to sell on, can still be competitive.

I would guess that many Wednesday supporters, historically a top rank team with a famous ground, are miffed that they are in such a position. But they even went to the very bottom division if my memory serves me correctly so the day has arrived when you are only at the top on merit or finance.

Bournemouth continue to make do with a poor ground yet spend a fortune on players. Many clubs not too many divisions below are not allowed promotion if their ground isn't satisfactory. But on the playing field, they are worthy of being in the top half of the Prem.

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A bit harsh on Bournemouth KG - agreed their stadium is small but I think it is in much better condition than Hillsborough, which apart from the Hospitality facilities in the building behind the main stand, is a hovel. 

The Wendy's have a history of trying to buy success stretching all the way back to 60's.  So much so that any real investment in the club is always spent on player salaries at the expense of anything else.  It wasn't so long ago the Co-op wrote off their £20M + loans to the club so they could rid themselves of the burden of trying to manage a board that had no intention of reigning in their expenditure in the pursuit of success.  The days of Big Ron in charge are long gone though.

I know one of their ex-chairman who tried to steady the ship a la Smith & Jones but had to resign in the end because he was suffering so much stick from the fans who were threatening both his life and his family's.  I well remember watching him disappear under a storm of phlegm after Norwich tonked them one match - certainly not something I'd ever want to experience. 

Here in Sheff it's generally accepted that Wendy's fans feel they have more of a right to Premier League football than the Blunt's.  The latter seemingly tried to out do them with their current ownership model, but that has led to no investment in the squad whatsoever and yet a good manager (no matter his feelings towards Norwich) has taken them closer to the Prem than Wednesday have been for a while.   

The current owner is a playboy rather than a self made man however.  He has no real business achievements and seems to have acquired the club on a whim.  There are plenty of videos doing the rounds of him having stand up arguments with fans, so no real surprise that he is getting out.  However any purchaser has to be mindful of both the limitations and long term cost of the current squad, and the investment required in the ground to keep it open.  Mind you given attendances drifting into the teens of thousands they could probably get away with shutting half the ground and no-one noticing.  The interesting thing is that because of this, following the announcement none of the Wendy's fans are expecting anything to come of it. 

Like the Blue Scum, it might take a drop to League One (or beyond) to clear out the malaise.  And quite a few fans there would welcome it.

I think the experience of both these clubs is that there is no panacea in overseas rich billionaire's taking on your club.  With FFP beginning to bite finally it just might mean the Norwich way is the only way!

Edited by shefcanary

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23 minutes ago, shefcanary said:

A bit harsh on Bournemouth KG - agreed their stadium is small but I think it is in much better condition than Hillsborough, which apart from the Hospitality facilities in the building behind the main stand, is a hovel. 

The Wendy's have a history of trying to buy success stretching all the way back to 60's.  So much so that any real investment in the club is always spent on player salaries at the expense of anything else.  It wasn't so long ago the Co-op wrote off their £20M + loans to the club so they could rid themselves of the burden of trying to manage a board that had no intention of reigning in their expenditure in the pursuit of success.  The days of Big Ron in charge are long gone though.

I know one of their ex-chairman who tried to steady the ship a la Smith & Jones but had to resign in the end because he was suffering so much stick from the fans who were threatening both his life and his family's.  I well remember watching him disappear under a storm of phlegm after Norwich tonked them one match - certainly not something I'd ever want to experience. 

Here in Sheff it's generally accepted that Wendy's fans feel they have more of a right to Premier League football than the Blunt's.  The latter seemingly tried to out do them with their current ownership model, but that has led to no investment in the squad whatsoever and yet a good manager (no matter his feelings towards Norwich) has taken them closer to the Prem than Wednesday have been for a while.   

The current owner is a playboy rather than a self made man however.  He has no real business achievements and seems to have acquired the club on a whim.  There are plenty of videos doing the rounds of him having stand up arguments with fans, so no real surprise that he is getting out.  However any purchaser has to be mindful of both the limitations and long term cost of the current squad, and the investment required in the ground to keep it open.  Mind you given attendances drifting into the teens of thousands they could probably get away with shutting half the ground and no-one noticing.  The interesting thing is that because of this, following the announcement none of the Wendy's fans are expecting anything to come of it. 

Like the Blue Scum, it might take a drop to League One (or beyond) to clear out the malaise.  And quite a few fans there would welcome it.

I think the experience of both these clubs is that there is no panacea in overseas rich billionaire's taking on your club.  With FFP beginning to bite finally it just might mean the Norwich way is the only way!

It was about 10 years ago the club launched a series of libel actions against fans over messageboard attacks. Mainly stupidly, because most of it was common or garden abuse, and you shouldn't sue for that. But in some cases the directors had been - quite seriously - accused of stealing money from the club. Just as Smith and Jones have been here.

As to FFP, it gets routinely derided as ineffective, but I don't think that is the case. However it will still be ignored by very rich and very ambitious owners who think, because of the way the financial limits are currently calculated, that they can escape the consequences.

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A bit harsh on Bournemouth KG

I don't think so Shef. Clubs in the Vanarama have to meet standards whereas it obviously doesn't apply in the Prem. Their wealthy owner said they would build a new ground but has concentrated on the team. Fair enough but if it ever comes to self financing, they will have a rude awakening.

I can't argue with you about Hillsborough as I haven't been there since our semi final there. 

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10 hours ago, TCCANARY said:

Isn't that different to selling the club?

 

Selling the club or seeking investment will not be happening anytime soon as self funding appears to be sustainable season upon season upon season.....................apparently.

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12 hours ago, TIL 1010 said:

You are totally against some outside investment then Badger ?

No - not if is carefully managed. The bond scheme was a good example. It is becoming over- exposed to debt (including owner's capital) that is the risk.

Investment is a bit of a "weasel word." It basically just means debt unless it is a pure gift, which rarely happens.

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9 hours ago, shefcanary said:

A bit harsh on Bournemouth KG - agreed their stadium is small but I think it is in much better condition than Hillsborough, which apart from the Hospitality facilities in the building behind the main stand, is a hovel. 

The Wendy's have a history of trying to buy success stretching all the way back to 60's.  So much so that any real investment in the club is always spent on player salaries at the expense of anything else.  It wasn't so long ago the Co-op wrote off their £20M + loans to the club so they could rid themselves of the burden of trying to manage a board that had no intention of reigning in their expenditure in the pursuit of success.  The days of Big Ron in charge are long gone though.

I know one of their ex-chairman who tried to steady the ship a la Smith & Jones but had to resign in the end because he was suffering so much stick from the fans who were threatening both his life and his family's.  I well remember watching him disappear under a storm of phlegm after Norwich tonked them one match - certainly not something I'd ever want to experience. 

Here in Sheff it's generally accepted that Wendy's fans feel they have more of a right to Premier League football than the Blunt's.  The latter seemingly tried to out do them with their current ownership model, but that has led to no investment in the squad whatsoever and yet a good manager (no matter his feelings towards Norwich) has taken them closer to the Prem than Wednesday have been for a while.   

The current owner is a playboy rather than a self made man however.  He has no real business achievements and seems to have acquired the club on a whim.  There are plenty of videos doing the rounds of him having stand up arguments with fans, so no real surprise that he is getting out.  However any purchaser has to be mindful of both the limitations and long term cost of the current squad, and the investment required in the ground to keep it open.  Mind you given attendances drifting into the teens of thousands they could probably get away with shutting half the ground and no-one noticing.  The interesting thing is that because of this, following the announcement none of the Wendy's fans are expecting anything to come of it. 

Like the Blue Scum, it might take a drop to League One (or beyond) to clear out the malaise.  And quite a few fans there would welcome it.

I think the experience of both these clubs is that there is no panacea in overseas rich billionaire's taking on your club.  With FFP beginning to bite finally it just might mean the Norwich way is the only way!

They've tried League One sabbaticals twice since they were last in the Prem. Even the binners have been in the PL since them. Perhaps they should have tried the Norwich way before. Afterall the much derided cook and her cohorts have had 3 promotions and 5 PL seasons since the Wendy's last had a sniff...

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