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Why Were We Not Sold?


Mick

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I'm not sure why we couldn't find a buyer.

 

£100 million or £80 million doesn't seem to be too high a price for what any new owner would get for his money.  Other clubs have been sold with more debt and worse grounds, Portsmouth being a prime example of a club with very little to offer changing hands and they did it twice. 

 

I know they went for less than we would have so they could attract a buyer with less money than our purchaser would require.  They are in the Premiership but they look as if they will probably get relegated this season and they are supposed to have a massive debt.  They are in such a state that they can’t sign players because they have missed payments for players already bought and possibly sold.

 

I think the way we react might put some off if they are short sighted, surely the gates we get would counter anything which could be seen as negative.  We're in the second tier and are still getting the 6th best attendance in English football so surely our potential is obvious to possible buyers.  Man City have spent shit loads and get 5,000 more through the gates than we do when we are a shambles of a club and they are 6th in the top division.

 

I can’t figure out why we’ve failed to find a buyer when we have so much going for us, even if we’re in the 2nd division.  It wouldn’t cost a fortune to ensure we are back in the Premiership next season, we could go up with what we’ve got.  The purchase price would have bought a club who didn’t have to do much to become a Premiership club.  A club with a ground which is one of the biggest and best in one of the best leagues in domestic football.

 

Would the club be more saleable if promoted?  It shouldn't make much of a difference if a buyer was looking long term because of our current league position.  If Ashley has been a hurdle then that is unlikely to change, not that I think he has as he would be gone once sold.

 

I can’t think of any sensible or reasonable reason why we’re still owned by Ashley other than the recession and I'm not sure how much of a barrier that should be.

 

Any ideas?

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Because Ashley thinks that he can get us promoted on the cheap and then sell us for an inflated price. Shame it doesn't work like that, whoever comes in is going to have to invest massively if we are promoted, and that's not even to get to a decent position, that's just to even compete.

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Guest Slippery Sam

Simple. The price is NOT £80m. The price is £80 to start with, and then he wants all the money (the 'loan') he has spent, back in his pocket. How much more? Dunno, but I reckon around another £100m to be paid in installments.

 

Surely we're too much of an attractive offer otherwise? What other reason could it be?????

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Because Ashley thinks that he can get us promoted on the cheap and then sell us for an inflated price. Shame it doesn't work like that, whoever comes in is going to have to invest massively if we are promoted, and that's not even to get to a decent position, that's just to even compete.

 

Nobody bid the asking price, or even the revised asking price so he wasn't in a position to make a decision.

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£120m debt owed to the chairman after he removed it from the banks (despite the fact it was only costing us £4m a year and was the loan to increase capacity in the stadium). Wages of alot more than the money we had/have coming in. £50m to keep us in the premiership next year and we would still need to shift top earners at the club like Geremi and Butt. Money needed to strengthen the club this season. No real coaching set up, scouting set up, boardroom staff and no manger. This club will probably cost the new owner about £300m to sort all that out and that's just keeping us in the Premiership if we get there.

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Simple. The price is NOT £80m. The price is £80 to start with, and then he wants all the money (the 'loan') he has spent, back in his pocket. How much more? Dunno, but I reckon around another £100m to be paid in installments.

 

Surely we're too much of an attractive offer otherwise? What other reason could it be?????

 

Did Moat or somebody close to him not say that he was close to the £80 million asking price just after the club was taken off the market?  Nobody other than fans guessing have ever mentioned anything about the debt being included in the sale.

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Simple. The price is NOT £80m. The price is £80 to start with, and then he wants all the money (the 'loan') he has spent, back in his pocket. How much more? Dunno, but I reckon around another £100m to be paid in installments.

 

Surely we're too much of an attractive offer otherwise? What other reason could it be?????

 

Did Moat or somebody close to him not say that he was close to the £80 million asking price just after the club was taken off the market?  Nobody other than fans guessing have ever mentioned anything about the debt being included in the sale.

 

No it was the papers they just assumed at the start, it then appears this wasn't true.

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£120m debt owed to the chairman after he removed it from the banks (despite the fact it was only costing us £4m a year and was the loan to increase capacity in the stadium). Wages of alot more than the money we had/have coming in. £50m to keep us in the premiership next year and we would still need to shift top earners at the club like Geremi and Butt. Money needed to strengthen the club this season. No real coaching set up, scouting set up, boardroom staff and no manger. This club will probably cost the new owner about £300m to sort all that out and that's just keeping us in the Premiership if we get there.

 

Again though, nobody other than fans have said that the debt to Ashley goes with the club.  The wages for Butt and Geremi are only a problem for this season as they'll be out of contract after this season.

 

Our running costs should be no higher than the proportionate running costs of other clubs in the same division, as long as we're not stupid and throwing money around as if we can print our own.  We would have extra income from an increased gate and we would have sponsorship which is additional to what we have now.

 

We only had debt because we were living beyond our means.  The ground extension was £44 million, I think some of the debt was also because of the training facilities but that doesn't account for anything like £120 million.

 

I don't think it would cost anything like £300 million, I think in total it would be half that if the loans to Ashley were not part of the sale.

 

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Ashley has f***ed the potential buyers around, frequently moving the goalposts.

 

Seymour Pearce were selling the club and they only recommended Moat who didn't offer the asking price. 

 

Did any other potential buyer get passed Seymour Pearce?

 

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Simple. The price is NOT £80m. The price is £80 to start with, and then he wants all the money (the 'loan') he has spent, back in his pocket. How much more? Dunno, but I reckon around another £100m to be paid in installments.

 

Surely we're too much of an attractive offer otherwise? What other reason could it be?????

 

I also think this. 

 

Also is Ashley selling what he bought?  For example, the land and property.  Haven't they sold off the catering side as well?  People keep mentioning how much he has spent on the club already and early on the club were implying, he was writing off the loan but I am convinced that he intends to get all his money back one way or another.  If someone comes along now and pays want he wants then he will take it but if not he will hang around to get it another way.  If we do get promoted, there is the extra TV money, he could sell another player or two at a better price than if we were still in the CC and reduce the wage bill further (latter will be helped because Butt and Geremi will be out of contract as well).  If he is serious about selling the naming rights, then he may want the money up front and that could also go to paying off the loan and there is the shirt sponsorship.  After that, he could then afford to sell the club at what would seem like a cheap price albeit one that is going to need a serious amount of investment at all levels.

 

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No it was the papers they just assumed at the start, it then appears this wasn't true.

 

I can't honestly remember seeing anything which said the loans were included, is that not just a myth?  I haven't seen anything to suggest that it's reality.

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A - Ashley wants £200m for NUFC. £100 up front and £100m in installments.

 

B - We are in the second division.

 

C - Our income is minimal.

 

D - Our playing assets are all but worthless.

 

E - The regime have been proved to be liars and totally untrustworthy.

 

There's 5 excellant reasons not to pay £100m for NUFC. The very truth is we are simply not worth the asking price.

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simple we must be bleeding money badly our wage bill is huge and the cost of keeping the club running in the championship is large not to mention if we don't get promoted, simply too big a risk for anyone with sense to take

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£120m debt owed to the chairman after he removed it from the banks (despite the fact it was only costing us £4m a year and was the loan to increase capacity in the stadium). Wages of alot more than the money we had/have coming in. £50m to keep us in the premiership next year and we would still need to shift top earners at the club like Geremi and Butt. Money needed to strengthen the club this season. No real coaching set up, scouting set up, boardroom staff and no manger. This club will probably cost the new owner about £300m to sort all that out and that's just keeping us in the Premiership if we get there.

 

Again though, nobody other than fans have said that the debt to Ashley goes with the club.  The wages for Butt and Geremi are only a problem for this season as they'll be out of contract after this season.

 

Our running costs should be no higher than the proportionate running costs of other clubs in the same division, as long as we're not stupid and throwing money around as if we can print our own.  We would have extra income from an increased gate and we would have sponsorship which is additional to what we have now.

 

We only had debt because we were living beyond our means.  The ground extension was £44 million, I think some of the debt was also because of the training facilities but that doesn't account for anything like £120 million.

 

I don't think it would cost anything like £300 million, I think in total it would be half that if the loans to Ashley were not part of the sale.

 

 

Butt and Geremi we're just examples, theres plenty more on top dollar at the club which is a huge problem if we don't go up. You say if you don't include the loans which I am including as I'm almost certain they are included. So that's £80m for the club, 120m loan so theres £200m straight away. Wage of new players in January window and any transfer costs. New backroom staff, new board members, new scouts, new manager, writing off contracts of any players you need to get rid of, you've got to be looking at near £50m. And then £50m on transfers once we are in the Premiership just to keep us in the Premiership. There you go £300m.

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Why would anyone spend £80m+ on a championship side when you can buy a lot of Premiership clubs for less?

 

I still find it massively depressing that the people who bought Man City tried to buy us first but Ashley turned them down. Imagine what NUFC would have been like with that investment. Some people may not have wanted us to 'do a Chelsea' but it's a hell of a lot better than the situation we're in now.

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The price of the club is £80m. There is no payment to Ashley afterwards or anything else, no instalments, no payment on promotion. The £80m is actually the price of buying Ashley's loan, the shares are acquired for £1.

 

The reason nobody bought to club so far is that there are two ways to buy an asset like this, with bank funding, or with spare cash. Those with spare cash are the uber-rich, who buy a club as a status symbol, not a work in progress. So they want a Premier League club, not a Championship club.

 

The other way involves raising finance from a bank or other fund, and as well as being difficult in the current climate, the club doesn't have anything to offer as valuable security. This is why Moat's bid stalled.

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£100 million or £80 million doesn't seem to be too high a price for what any new owner would get for his money.  Other clubs have been sold with more debt and worse grounds, Portsmouth being a prime example of a club with very little to offer changing hands and they did it twice. 

 

£80m or £100m- it's a stratospheric price for an organisation that needs a lot of investment to get back to operating on an even keel at the top level. I cannot fathom the rationale of people who think it's a bargain of some kind.

 

As for Portsmouth- they were sold for a nominal fee due to the need to pay down imminent debt repayments and to meet future obligations.

 

If we got promoted we'd need considerable investment to have a strong chance of staying up. Ashley thinks that if we go up we'll be the whole package, ready to sell off the shelf- in fact we'd need a major squad overhaul and a considerable upgrade to the talent on the coaching side.

 

Ashley thinks he will get a better price as he thinks we will go up. It's far from a certain conclusion- one more year in the championship and our perceived value is zero.

 

 

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The price of the club is £80m. There is no payment to Ashley afterwards or anything else, no instalments, no payment on promotion. The £80m is actually the price of buying Ashley's loan, the shares are acquired for £1.

 

The reason nobody bought to club so far is that there are two ways to buy an asset like this, with bank funding, or with spare cash. Those with spare cash are the uber-rich, who buy a club as a status symbol, not a work in progress. So they want a Premier League club, not a Championship club.

 

The other way involves raising finance from a bank or other fund, and as well as being difficult in the current climate, the club doesn't have anything to offer as valuable security. This is why Moat's bid stalled.

 

Who are you like, Llambias :)

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The price of the club is £80m. There is no payment to Ashley afterwards or anything else, no instalments, no payment on promotion. The £80m is actually the price of buying Ashley's loan, the shares are acquired for £1.

 

The reason nobody bought to club so far is that there are two ways to buy an asset like this, with bank funding, or with spare cash. Those with spare cash are the uber-rich, who buy a club as a status symbol, not a work in progress. So they want a Premier League club, not a Championship club.

 

The other way involves raising finance from a bank or other fund, and as well as being difficult in the current climate, the club doesn't have anything to offer as valuable security. This is why Moat's bid stalled.

 

Who are you like, Llambias :)

 

No, I don't look as good naked.

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