Mike Ashley Takeover …Ready and Waiting (10 Viewers)

[TomRad85]

He isnt buying us

Ruling it out is a bit weird. Blokes a billionaire who owns our ground, he would hardly be out of nowhere.
Short term is just going to hope the fresh investment from Doug and whoever else is behind him means we don't have to flog anything that's not nailed down.

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[Saddlebrains]

Ruling it out is a bit weird. Blokes a billionaire who owns our ground, he would hardly be out of nowhere.
Short term is just going to hope the fresh investment from Doug and whoever else is behind him means we don't have to flog anything that's not nailed down.

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Well here's my take

Doug King is Sepalla in disguise. We may see some initial investment, but we all know how that works out when a hedge fund takes control.

Ashley doesn't need to buy us. He's literally a billionaire. If he can get his money from the redevelopment of the land and ensure the exhibition hall and concert bookings are rammed, along with filling up the offices up there, why would he get involved with the charlatans we have now?

This was our big chance and we fucked it

 

[rexo87]

He isnt buying us

With all due respect, you know fuck all

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[TomRad85]

Well here's my take

Doug King is Sepalla in disguise. We may see some initial investment, but we all know how that works out when a hedge fund takes control.

Ashley doesn't need to buy us. He's literally a billionaire. If he can get his money from the redevelopment of the land and ensure the exhibition hall and concert bookings are rammed, along with filling up the offices up there, why would he get involved with the charlatans we have now?

This was our big chance and we fucked it

No he doesn't need to buy us, no billionaire needs to buy a football club, its an ego thing and he's clearly still interested in owning a club.

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[Sky Blue Harry H]

I'm trying to work out what the game is here.

Not really sure of anything apart from nobody is being up front.

You still going on about the Blackpool game?

 

[Saddlebrains]

With all due respect, you know fuck all

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Whys he buying us then?

 

[Saddlebrains]

No he doesn't need to buy us, no billionaire needs to buy a football club, its an ego thing and he's clearly still interested in owning a club.

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Is he?

Because there's one going, that play at the stadium hes just brought. And yet has not uttered one word between him and Sepalla. Widely reported.

I don't get why everyone's so desperate to assume he wants us. Absolutely zero indication, and he can make enough coin off the arena itself if he sorts it our, along with the surrounding area to not piss away millions on a football club where he may or may not get any money back

 

[shmmeee]

Whys he buying us then?

Cos he loves football and we are football

 

[Grendel]

Whys he buying us then?

There would be an opportunity to make money - put some money in and see if a promotion could be achieved

i doubt he will keep the complex for that long and combined with a premier league club he could sell at a fair profit

in finance terms it’s relatively low risk

 

[Gynnsthetonic]

Ashley doesn't want to own a mid table championship club, he wants his face seen on MOTD, Sky Sports and all the foreign Premier league channels, its where all the money is and eventually he'll get us there once he takes over the club.
Well that's my take on it anyway

 

[shmmeee]

Personally, I think he’d be a disaster. Think Peter Reid “instant success” type disaster.

 

[TomRad85]

Is he?

Because there's one going, that play at the stadium hes just brought. And yet has not uttered one word between him and Sepalla. Widely reported.

I don't get why everyone's so desperate to assume he wants us. Absolutely zero indication, and he can make enough coin off the arena itself if he sorts it our, along with the surrounding area to not piss away millions on a football club where he may or may not get any money back

I'm not assuming anything, frankly I'm utterly over talking about it. But I think it's also bizarre to assume a bloke who's owned a football club, who has shown interest in owning another and here's the big one, owns our stadium, has absolutely no chance of buying the club. It would be about as surprising as Phillip Schofield coming out the closet.

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[Covkid1968#]

I'm not assuming anything, frankly I'm utterly over talking about it. But I think it's also bizarre to assume a bloke with who's owned a football club, who has shown interest in owning another and here's the big one, owns our stadium, has absolutely no chance of buying the club. It would be about as surprising as Phillip Schofield coming out the closet.

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In fairness it was a huge surprise to Gordon the Gopher who was forced to have Schofields hand rammed up his backend for a number of years.

 

[Sky Blue Harry H]

In fairness it was a huge surprise to Gordon the Gopher who was forced to have Schofields hand rammed up his backend for a number of years.

 

[SkyblueDad]

My take is IF Mike Ashley wants the football club one day in the future he will get it, but I’ve said IF. Others might come in. Doug King might be the real deal time will tell on that. At the moment he’s saying we are debt free, bringing players in in January its music to our ears.

 

[Esoterica]

I just hope this Doug King charade is a way to push the price of the club up somehow. e.g. Ashley only offered SISU a quid because it's 60 million in debt so they found a way to write it off and say ok, it's debt free now. You can have 85% of a 'debt free' club for 20 million but we're retaining 15% and you can buy us out for another 20 mill if you get to the Premier League (figures and theory both pulled out my arse ).

 

[SBT]

There would be an opportunity to make money - put some money in and see if a promotion could be achieved

i doubt he will keep the complex for that long and combined with a premier league club he could sell at a fair profit

in finance terms it’s relatively low risk

Wow I can’t believe you found the original SISU strategy notes from 2007!

 

[Torquay Sky Blue]

Personally, I think he’d be a disaster. Think Peter Reid “instant success” type disaster.

That just sent a cold shudder. 3-0 down at Leeds. Reid head in hands before throwing on another defender

 

[SW-Sky Blues]

Cos he loves football and we are football

Isn't he a rugby guy?

 

[Nick]

Well here's my take

Doug King is Sepalla in disguise. We may see some initial investment, but we all know how that works out when a hedge fund takes control.

Ashley doesn't need to buy us. He's literally a billionaire. If he can get his money from the redevelopment of the land and ensure the exhibition hall and concert bookings are rammed, along with filling up the offices up there, why would he get involved with the charlatans we have now?

This was our big chance and we fucked it

In which case he didn't really need to buy the stadium, either?

 

[chiefdave]

Ashley doesn't need to buy us. He's literally a billionaire. If he can get his money from the redevelopment of the land and ensure the exhibition hall and concert bookings are rammed, along with filling up the offices up there, why would he get involved with the charlatans we have now?

By the same token he's a billionaire and doesn't need to buy a loss making football stadium. I've seen a couple of articles saying this fits well in his / Frasers portfolio but I can't see any similar or complimentary businesses he's involved in that would make it a good fit.

Seems a bit odd to me that he would suddenly decide to get into the events business. Sure there's money to be made, its been terribly run under council and Wasps ownership, but enough money to make it of interest to someone like Ashley?

Also think the redevelopment is a red herring. Stadium has been there for over 15 years and there's been zero redevelopment after the initial build. If it was such an amazing opportunity something would have happened before now.

 

[SW-Sky Blues]

By the same token he's a billionaire and doesn't need to buy a loss making football stadium. I've seen a couple of articles saying this fits well in his / Frasers portfolio but I can't see any similar or complimentary businesses he's involved in that would make it a good fit.

Seems a bit odd to me that he would suddenly decide to get into the events business. Sure there's money to be made, its been terribly run under council and Wasps ownership, but enough money to make it of interest to someone like Ashley?

Also think the redevelopment is a red herring. Stadium has been there for over 15 years and there's been zero redevelopment after the initial build. If it was such an amazing opportunity something would have happened before now.

But do the frasers group have a history of developing land? This is what concerns me greatly.

 

[Matt smith]

If he didn’t temporarily fund the running of the CBS there would have been no game.

Couldn’t get the money back on that sum either

 

[Gynnsthetonic]

I just hope this Doug King charade is a way to push the price of the club up somehow. e.g. Ashley only offered SISU a quid because it's 60 million in debt so they found a way to write it off and say ok, it's debt free now. You can have 85% of a 'debt free' club for 20 million but we're retaining 15% and you can buy us out for another 20 mill if you get to the Premier League (figures and theory both pulled out my arse ).

What did Derby go for, wasn't it £40m including the ground, so if he gave King £17m with the £17m Ashley paid for the stadium total £34m for a championship club with stadium. Sisu picking up 15% for a certain amount of time

 

[Grendel]

Wow I can’t believe you found the original SISU strategy notes from 2007!

?? that’s not the Sisu strategy at all. Their strategy was to achieve this without stadium ownership

 

[SBT]

?? that’s not the Sisu strategy at all. Their strategy was to achieve this without stadium ownership

Yeah I should have edited that bit out in fairness. But is a Championship football club really that much of a good investment?

 

[Grendel]

Yeah I should have edited that bit out in fairness. But is a Championship football club really that much of a good investment?

The league is a lot more levelled now and clubs can challenge on relatively low wages. It’s not a huge leap to combine then try and achieve promotion in a 3 year timescale then sell the lot

 

[Matt smith]

What is the point of Doug king even being here?
Unless he’s going to take the huge risk of investing in the team short term in the hope we get to the premier league.

I can’t see him investing in January

Agree with others, was all about the ground and now he hasn’t got it I am dubious about his level of interest in supporting MR and AV in on the pitch matters

 

[AOM]

Was against the idea of Mike Ashley when it was a just a rumour he was interested in the CBS, but as it stands is he not the only alternative option to our current one if we want to be joined with our own ground and if he was interested in the football club?
(Genuine question btw, not rhetorical)
Surely that has to be a better situation than our current one?

 

[SW-Sky Blues]

What is the point of Doug king even being here?
Unless he’s going to take the huge risk of investing in the team short term in the hope we get to the premier league.

I can’t see him investing in January

Agree with others, was all about the ground and now he hasn’t got it I am dubious about his level of interest in supporting MR and AV in on the pitch matters

Do any of us actually know if he has any money?

The judge did say his bid "lacked any substance" after having my hopes raised, that concerns me.

 

[Esoterica]

What did Derby go for, wasn't it £40m including the ground, so if he gave King £17m with the £17m Ashley paid for the stadium total £34m for a championship club with stadium. Sisu picking up 15% for a certain amount of time

I don't think it will ever get to the point King takes over. Think this is just a thinly disguised method to flush Ashley out on SISUs own terms. It's Joy through a megaphone shouting 'Hey Mike we're selling 85% of the club NOW, better get your wallet back out quick!'

What that figure is though, who knows. I don't think this current weird 85%/15% split is a coincidence either, that's just SISU knowing we're not a million miles away from the big PL money and wanting a slice.

 

[SW-Sky Blues]

Was against the idea of Mike Ashley when it was a just a rumour he was interested in the CBS, but as it stands is he not the only alternative option to our current one if we want to be joined with our own ground and if he was interested in the football club?
(Genuine question btw, not rhetorical)
Surely that has to be a better situation than our current one?

But it wouldn't be joined. We would just share owners.

We need to accept that we are never going to own that arena.

What does a typical football club owning its stadium look like? A club owning it and operating it for the benefit of the club.

IF Ashley buys us, we would just be renting the stadium off of him and as he would own both, he would have free reign to charge us whatever rent he wanted. This is Mike Ashley. He isn't going to let us play there for free, even if he owned us. He isn't going to let us keep commercial revenue and all of that. This is Mike Ashley.

We need to be realistic about this.

 

[Gibbo]

Why would anyone “invest” in a football club anyway?

Bit of land off the M6 is far more likely to make money than a Championship football club.

'Bit of land off the M6 is far more likely to make money than a Championship football club' THIS THE BIT THAT MATTERS..

We are obsessing with owning our own ground or Ashley buying the club, yadayadayada. The value in the deal is not the prospect of buying the club, but how he can leverage his new asset to generate cash and add to the value of his Fraser Group. Owning a mid table Championship club does neither of those things per se. The club is important to us - not necessarily to him.

 

[SW-Sky Blues]

'Bit of land off the M6 is far more likely to make money than a Championship football club' THIS THE BIT THAT MATTERS..

We are obsessing with owning our own ground or Ashley buying the club, yadayadayada. The value in the deal is not the prospect of buying the club, but how he can leverage his new asset to generate cash and add to the value of his Fraser Group. Owning a mid table Championship club does neither of those things per se. The club is important to us - not necessarily to him.

I think a lot of us overlooked Simon Jordans comments, especially the ones he made yesterday.

The council has other plans for the land, the council were very keen for Ashley to buy the arena...

For Ashley buying the arena has essentially cost him nothing. Because instantly it becomes an asset so whilst it costs him 17 million, the value of the arena has been added to the books.

I'd not be surprised if he knocked it down and build a warehouse or a retail park. That's the buisness he is in. Not football club/arena ownership.

 

[Gibbo]

Cos he loves football and we are football

That's a feeble reason. He is a businessman who took a lot of shit from entitled Newcastle fans. If I was him I'd steer clear. The stadium is the value, not the club (except possibly as a way of reducing tax paid). Most on here want club and stadium combined, King wants it too, but there is no strategic imperative on Ashley's part to combine the two.