Sale of the Club

[OOH! SHAUN TAYLOR]

Out of that whole interview, that smile was the thing that allayed my fears the most. Paolo is incredibly calm, which is not normal, so clearly he has no fears.

If someone with more pent up drama than a closet gay in an all male drama school can keep his calm, something's right behind the scenes. I'm more than a little happy that all is well.

He wouldn't be much good at poker would he? There's no way he hasn't met the prospective owners. Whether or not they include AF and/or JW is anyone's guess.

[bigbobjoylove]

Paolo and Phil Spencer as the silent partners? We seem such a soap opera I'd believe anything these days.

[pauld]

Paolo and Phil Spencer as the silent partners? We seem such a soap opera I'd believe anything these days.

Agents aren't allowed to own football clubs or parts of companies that do

[red sheldon]

I thonk that if Fitton and Wray were involved it would have come out by now, as it would help to get the fans onside and supportive of the new regime particularly after the Ritchie 'incident'

[Simon Pieman]

Let's wait and see. The previous consortium knew very little about running a football club of our size too, I won't be besmirching the new lot until I:

a) Know more about them.
b) We definitely can work out they're a group of 'chancers'
c) They fuck up.

It appears they've probably prevented us from dropping out of the football league (at least for the time being). Their financial clout beyond this is of concern but isn't the be all and end all. We're supposed to become self-sustaining at some point right?

[red socks]

the way PDC smiles when hes asked if hes met the new owners makes me think its gotta be someone he knows..

It's Harry Redknap  - that's why we flogged richie to Bournemouth 

[pauld]

In the "Be careful what you wish for" column, for all those hoping we'd get taken over by oil-rich Arabs, well that was supposedly what happened to Forest, except it rather seems if they do have money, they're not quite so keen on spending it at Forest as they may have led many, including their new manager Alex McCleish, to believe. Which is apparently what lay behind yesterday's George Boyd eye test fiasco. And it was being strongly rumoured last night that McCleish had walked as a result. Which the club are denying, it has to be said

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/feb/01/nottingham-forest-alex-mcleish

Oh dear

[sonicyouth]

so relieved that we're being takeover by some local, British, down to earth double-glazing salesmen

[RobertT]

Was the incorrect spelling of Boyd in the sentence about his eye sight done on purpose?

[pauld]

so relieved that we're being takeover by some local, British, down to earth double-glazing salesmen

Having endured the local "dream team" of Wills and Diamandis, I wasn't making a petty nationalist point. Just been slightly alarmed by some of the "Hope it's some rich Arabs" posts we've seen on here of late and thought this was a salient example of why that isn't necessarily guaranteed all good either. I'd have hoped Portsmouth would have shown that, apparently not.

Hopefully what the last week or so has taught us is that the fat cat benefactor model of ownership isn't really sustainable any more.

[RobertT]

Do you think some of these clubs are unwittingly part of a long in development series from the BBC for a new twist on The Hustle?  If so, I'll watch it.

[sonicyouth]

Having endured the local "dream team" of Wills and Diamandis, I wasn't making a petty nationalist point. Just been slightly alarmed by some of the "Hope it's some rich Arabs" posts we've seen on here of late and thought this was a salient example of why that isn't necessarily guaranteed all good either. I'd have hoped Portsmouth would have shown that, apparently not.

Hopefully what the last week or so has taught us is that the fat cat benefactor model of ownership isn't really sustainable any more.

wasn't a remark aimed at you, more a comment on how far away from rich Sheikhs we really are...whether this is good or not, we'll soon find out.

[pauld]

wasn't a remark aimed at you, more a comment on how far away from rich Sheikhs we really are...whether this is good or not, we'll soon find out.

If we could find some guys who have just enough to underwrite the wage bill while they get the club on a more sustainable footing, I'd be delighted. Then maybe we could break this constant dependence on the whims of rich individuals who toss us aside as soon as they get bored and constantly leaves us one bad owner away from being right back in the shit. And actually start to build something more solid. Sadly that was what I think Fitton and Co initially planned on doing and it just didn't work out.

[animalwilliams]

Makes you almost wish we could go back to the old days of a board made up of local small business men. Wilf Castle the baker, Eric Lane the butcher and Cecil Green the painter and decorator.
Can well remember the Town End in full voice inviting Mr Castle to go to Vietnam.l

[Simon Pieman]

If we could find some guys who have just enough to underwrite the wage bill while they get the club on a more sustainable footing, I'd be delighted. Then maybe we could break this constant dependence on the whims of rich individuals who toss us aside as soon as they get bored and constantly leaves us one bad owner away from being right back in the shit. And actually start to build something more solid. Sadly that was what I think Fitton and Co initially planned on doing and it just didn't work out.

Spot on Paul and what I alluded to in my post.

Fitton & Co were great and they had the right idea. But as soon as Fitton walked that idea went out of the window. Some blame di Canio but his spending has been sanctioned and in fairness to him, he's hinted the club needs to spend on infrastructure (such as youth development) to sustain long term success.

I think we almost became a boom or bust club (chasing the Championship) and as soon as Black decided enough was enough it has screwed us over in the last month or two.

My main concern is surrounding the long term goals of the new owners and how they will achieve it (redevelopment etc.). It'll be very interesting to know what has happened/will happen with the County Ground lease for example. I think we need some 'boring' off field shake ups to support the exciting stuff happening on the pitch.