Slugsy

I think many mistake revenue/turnover for cash on here - for instance we stated £99m in turnover in the June 2008 accounts but £29m of that was internal management charges which didn't generate any cash whatesoever. Additionally, part of that was sponsorship, the cash being already banked by Shepherd previously - so our actual income in cash terms wasn't any greater than £70m for the year ended June 2008. We had a cr*p year last year with falls in revenue in media, sponsorship and gate receipts - so I'd be curious as to what people actualy think we made this last year. Next year aside from parachute payment, we get a piddly amount from TV money, no setanta, huge drop in sponsorship and a drop in gate receipts.

I don't think that's far off

50% of £50m is better than 100% of nothing though... What he could do in theory is sell the players and repay some of the loan he has made to the club - unless he has given a written declaration that the loan would not be called in during a specified period (and of course we are still in that period). My guess would be that in order to get a clean audit opinion he would have had to provide such a guarantee. Losing the wages would make the club more attractive, but the transfer fees received should not change the value of the club unless (as has been pointed out somewhere in here before) we are selling at figures grossly over or under what the buyers of the club valued the players at. WHo would take it off him then? Come on man, only a fool would buy us even for £50m Thats where your logic fails. 50mil for a club with huge fanbase, top facilities, and LOW wage bill is far more tempting than 100mil for a club with huge fanbase, top facilities, overrated stars and HUGE wage bill! Good one, pull me up for logic? Are you even aware theres now under 20 days til the transfer window? Are you even aware how long it would take to sell the players let alone then conclude the sale of the club then appoint a manager then buy an entire squad? So what if the club is bought for £50m. It would be a shell of a club without players and virtually zero chance of getting it near sorted by 31 August. This is the real world not Football Manager FFS Jesus H Christ you think MY logic fails? But i am not talking about it getting sold in the next few weeks. I am saying (and i will say this slowly) if he fails to sell the club this summer (are you still with me) he will take spend the next 12-24 months reassembling/selling players make a more streamlined proposition for potential buyers whilst making a tidy little profit in the mean time Oh why didnt you say, instead of being daft you are clearly delusional. I wont act the t*** like you and suggest reading slower but i will ask, what the hell sort of club can survive a season like that? It will still be unsold as £50m ofr a League 1 side is still extreme. The only way to make the club look saleable is for players IN not emptying the squad. Apologises for rational thinking there, i was clearly on the wrong track...oh look i can patronise too You're talking as if all clubs in each league are created equal mate, they aren't. Our revenue is likely to be 3 times that of any other club in the league. £50m for a club with a revenue of over 50m per year and a Championship level wage bill (which I think was what Sicko was saying Ashley might want to achieve) would be incredibly attractive to any buyer. Having said that I don't believe he'll look to do that as imo if he stays it will be with the intention of getting back into the Premiership were he would immediately put the club up for sale again so he can get more money back. £50m - dream on I can't confirm this but have heard some juicy rumours from what was uncovered in the due diligence and it aint pretty and if true means there a few on here that have a very rosy picture of what in reality is a total, total mess financially.

Excellent OP which I agree with. I also think it is going to be a lot harder than some think to get promoted and even with 2 or 3 additions we will struggle as what we have at the club is a) not good enough in terms of volume and b) not good enough in terms of quality for the most part. I also agree more will go out with less coming in.

Friday is D day

I consider him about as perfect as they come at the moment. Man City type owners would make me feel uncomfortable. This is a guy who is an avid toon fan, and with Shearer on board will understand how to run a club properly. We are a big club who can generate big turnover so money for transfers will never really be an issue. I think we can generate our own funds for transfers ( about 15mil a year) with good decision making. No offence, but I think that's very optimistic and you don't know anything about Moat or his agenda. We are leaking cash big time at the moment so there is going to be a further cull on players - £15m a year (where that number comes from who knows) isn't going to help us from a standing start of having a threadbare 1st team let alone squad. Our turnover next year is going to be vastly down, so money for transfers is a very big issue, our cost structure needs completely restructuring and the pain of that will be very evident next year.

Barry Moat is far from the perfect candidate to take the club over but reading that article, I now hope he does quickly, we need to get that evil out of the club, Ashley is like a poison slowly killing us. Ironic that Moat was the one who introduced Ashley to SJH in the first place though.

I understand what he did at Leeds and also understand that was helped by a significant amount of cash. I'm not clear as to how much cash he spent at Villa, what were the placings he had and why he was sacked?

Ashley won't spend any cash so we are well and royally screwed if he stays on, regardless of who the manager is

I berated him last year and my opinion hasn't changed, he is sh*t and has never indicated to me anything else.

Its the lack of pace (deja bloody vu) that concerns me, we literally have no pace in the side and add to that most of our players aren't physically strong/dominant to compensate, I think we are really going to struggle.

I don't think he is a total c*** and I'm wary of saying anymore on an internet forum but lets just say there might be a few skeletons in the closet. That being said, like Shepherd, he is a canny businessman and knows how to make money. I don't think its my place to comment further but given the choice of him or Ashley, its a no brainer.

This I'll ask you the same question. Do you know him? Yes

This

It was mentioned in another aticle that he was backed by US investors. He will need to be

Not particulalry impressed - he doesn't have a lot of cash, very similar in some respects to Freddy but I suppose he is a better option than Ashley and beggars cant be choosers.

Gutted - class, pure class

I am not a tax advisor but pretty sure you can't transfer the losses to a company that is not conducting the same trade under common ownership. Secondly, what profits is he making elsewhere?

Administration will depend on a number of things not least: 1. What exactly people are offering for the club - regardless of what people think its worth, what are people offering? 2. How much the club is sucking up cash each month at present 3. What is the realisable fire sale value of the assets of the club in adminstration bearing in mind, Ashley is the bank and will get first dibs on any value. I would have expected the club to be worth more as a going conern than in adminstration but the debt clouds the issue, as does these on-going contract costs as does what people are actually offering and how much cash is being sucked up each month the business continues to operate in 'limbo'. Initial thought is that adminstration is a ridiculous notion, but I wouldn't discount anything with that man.

I haven't renewed yet - I just don't trust Ashley - maybe I'm being a poor fan but would rather pay at the gate till I know for certain what's happening and then get one - which I intend to do when this sorry mess has been sorted out.

If no sale occurs, Ashley sits back, realises that he is losing a lot of money every month - the dreaded 'A' word methinks

As I have said before, I would be gobsmacked if anyone has offered near £100m - the club just isn't worth that and each day, the value deteriorates a little more. I haven't kept very close to the announcements but was there ever an official statement by Seymour Pierce that there had been more than 2 bids of £100m or was that just Lambias? Also, was there ever an clarification whether those bids were a enterprise value offer or equity offer because its quite possible we did have two bids of over £100m for the enterprise value which includes the £100m debt and thus while Lambias wasn't lying BUT the valuation of the company excluding that £100m debt and £x overdraft would be sweeties.

I'm afraid this is now feeling like the most likely outcome. What a circus, we have been the laughing stock of the football world a few times over the years but this is situation is a real cracker - how did we manage to get bought by a football bufoon who makes Shepherd look shrewd?

Got the text a couple of hours ago, bless my mate, had to let him down gently, he thought he had a scoop!

Did he not also stick in circa 30m for additional working cap?