Trust look to buy the CG

[horlock07]

Lets be clear - if Clem had a million quid to just chuck against a wall (which would be the inference of saying he isn't in this to try and make some money), then why wouldn't he just be sponsoring the club like FGR do and covering the losses every year to keep his play thing going?

Nope, that doesn't compute for me.  That original investment simply had to be on a promise for something - and the logical conclusion has to be for his business.  Risky, yes.   Stupid, maybe.  However, it was clear we were headed down the path we now find ourselves - just it took a lot longer and he had to buy the damned thing to keep the "dream" alive.

"But he paid all the debt" - yes he did, because that's what makes an exit possible rather than flogging the thing for a quid in three years with a debt pile.  The debt still exists, just all due to him - way more risk than he was probably looking to expose himself to, but the paper exercise, combined with the ground purchase and potential development, give him a way out and may even still give him a small return when it all washes out.

I don't disagree with any of this, but you sum it up with your last sentence, if he is going to invest millions and 'may even still give him a small return when it all washes out.' then bloody hell! Fuck sake, whack it in commercial property and get a decent yield without someone calling you out on the net every 5 minutes.

[Robinz]

Suggest that could be the situation.

If correct and the club is now "clean" from the so called pricks. It's time for CM to try and find some decent investors who will help and assist.  

Surely there are some

[Robinz]

How did Mark Devlin find Bill Power

[horlock07]

Suggest that could be the situation.

If correct and the club is now "clean" from the so called pricks. It's time for CM to try and find some decent investors who will help and assist. 

Surely there are some

But if he has wriggled his way to a very preferential situation now, why would he want to share the spoils by letting others get involved?

How did Mark Devlin find Bill Power

Back of the settee?

[DiV]

How did Mark Devlin find Bill Power

QPR if memory serves me correctly

[STFC_Manc]

The confusing thing to me about people who post all this he has x years to get it right is that we don't have 'good' owners lining up to take over?

By good I mean, who aren't going to take money out of the club/spend big and then pull the rug (you can see loads of clubs in this state).  While it isn't ideal, Clem is running it as a business, which means we will have a club to support for years to come.

Look whats happened at Bury, Southend, Wigan, Derby oh and us on severeal occasions.

[Robinz]

You could also mention the Plymouth Portsmouth and Brighton stories of owners building for success. And Brentford.

Possibly Reading could really catch a cold in the next few years.

Birmingham seems to be spending again... what has happened there ?

   

[Jimmy HaveHave]

Bristol City have a decent chairman who's spent lots of money but still can't get to the promised land!

[DMC]

On the whole outside influences issue, it seems to now be the case that the biggest bogeymen have fucked off over the last 3 months or so, do any of those who are ITK in reporting their reduced influence able to say why, have their investments been repaid or favours paid off, both of which may explain us apparently suddenly becoming skint?

Not ITK here but i personally think that someone has said look just stay away and let us run it as a business and once the club is sold in a few years or whenever it is the others will be looked after

[STFC_Manc]

You could also mention the Plymouth Portsmouth and Brighton stories of owners building for success. And Brentford.

Possibly Reading could really catch a cold in the next few years.

Birmingham seems to be spending again... what has happened there ?

   

All of these stories haven't happened over night though, it takes time to build and that's what they have done over the long term.

[RobertT]

But if he has wriggled his way to a very preferential situation now, why would he want to share the spoils by letting others get involved?

Preferential in terms of being able to sell the business, but it's time limited for a person who does not have endless cash to burn.  Hence the worry about running at a 500k loss - that's small fry compared to some other clubs, he has to worry that the longer it takes to realise his investment, the further into his reserves he burns.

It's why last seasons gamble makes sense to me - he was likely convinced there was a "new" way to stem the bleed and maybe even make a small profit by investing in a particular type of talent.  A sort of Crewe on drugs.  I can well imagine a lot of the backroom changes stem from that going tits up pretty quickly.  Not only did we fuck up on the pitch, we ended up with a bunch of near worthless talent on the books - Hutton & Wakeling maybe, but nobody that is going to give us our Nick Powell type moment at Crewe.  Hell, in his first few years even Power did a better job a turning players into cash.

Once that level of performance has real impacts on his wallet - reduced season ticket sales, especially the early signs that showed me may see a dramatic drop - it soon sharpens the mind.  He probably realised he had been sold a pup of an idea, at least in the way we could implement and operate it.  All those other clubs people mention, even Crewe, invest heavily to make it work.

[RobertT]

Oh, and when people say there are better ways to earn money from an investment.  Of course there are, but plenty of fools continue to chuck their hard earned money away in football clubs - there is something "sexy" about being involved in them, the chance of glory and being a saviour.  Nobody ever celebrates the local guy who runs a profitable Plumbing and Electrical contractor, outside of odd awards nights held at the Marriott that you pay to attend and be given a certificate in a Tux.

[RobertT]

All of these stories haven't happened over night though, it takes time to build and that's what they have done over the long term.

Indeed it does - see my post referencing them.  There was a big difference though, the foundation we have built is a very different one - the good things we have done put the club into a better financial position and set us up for a sustainable future off the field.  We did next to nothing, last year, to invest in the infrastructure necessary to replicate a Brentford though.  We don't even have a proper Training Ground still.  The Academy investment (not the players) a year ago that was trumpeted in the AB notes was someone sponsoring some scaffolding so we could have a camera up high to record sessions.  if we wanted to make the approach we went for work, it's a big investment, upfront, with a view to longer term pay off.  We appeared to try and do it far too quickly, with inexperienced people and next to no investment behind the scenes.

We do at least seem to have started focusing on getting the right people in place now.

[TheDukeOfBanbury]

How did Mark Devlin find Bill Power

QPR - For the record Bill Power never had the money to make Swindon a success, irrespective of the plane crash.

[STFC_Manc]

Indeed it does - see my post referencing them.  There was a big difference though, the foundation we have built is a very different one - the good things we have done put the club into a better financial position and set us up for a sustainable future off the field.  We did next to nothing, last year, to invest in the infrastructure necessary to replicate a Brentford though.  We don't even have a proper Training Ground still.  The Academy investment (not the players) a year ago that was trumpeted in the AB notes was someone sponsoring some scaffolding so we could have a camera up high to record sessions.  if we wanted to make the approach we went for work, it's a big investment, upfront, with a view to longer term pay off.  We appeared to try and do it far too quickly, with inexperienced people and next to no investment behind the scenes.

We do at least seem to have started focusing on getting the right people in place now.

It's hard to invest when you have loads of debts, again it's about being sustainable. A training ground isn't something that happens over night, although I'm not sure it's high up on the list (rightly or wrongly).