by strap »
04 May 2014 20:42
Now I don't know a whole lot about company administration, but look at it this way:
If a company goes into administration, it means it will try to pay off as much debt as possible from whatever means are available. You end up paying perhaps 25p in the £1 say, (ignoring the "first call" of secured creditors etc, we don't know if JM/AZ are first in the queue, although I suspect they might be).
Let's say JM is owed, what, £25M, (can't remember the last accounts or whether the impact of AZ's first payment tranche had any effect on the figure, so this could be total nonsense, but for the sake of argument, bear with me), and AZ is owed say £9M with the rest being this Vibrac thing that I must have missed.
If JM or indeed AZ forced the club in to Admin to get their loans back, it is highly likely they will only get a percentage of the original loan back. What sense would that make? Surely it is better to offload those players who could command a transfer fee, (I'm thinking of McCarthy, McCleary, Gunter, Williams, Guthrie, ALF and possibly Obita - and I'm assuming Pog/Drenthe would be immovable due to the size of their salaries, and Blackman/Akan because they're utter pants - and the likes of McAnuff/Leigertwood not having their contracts renewed), and then continue to run the club as we used to before AZ appeared.
Agreed, we would not be anywhere near the play-offs, and indeed would doubtless be fighting a relegation scrap, BUT - it would be an ideal opportunity to start to blood the U21's, and we would significantly reduce our squad numbers as well as wage bill.
I think a degree of reality does need to enter into the fans consciousness now. We have had a damn good last 10 years, (by our own relative historical standards), and it is clear we need to retrench for a few years. This is unpalatable to the "new" fan base, but in the long term must be seen to be a sensible approach. Controversially, I think this would make our Academy even more stronger, as, with the likelihood that progression into the 1st 18 squad is eminently achievable, we would be a more attractive team to join than say or local PL rivals. The key here of course is to retain our Grade 1 Academy status.
Clearly we wouldn't want to become a southern Crewe Alexandra, but with the likes of Eamon Dolan in the Academy, NA as manager (due to his proven record of blooding youth), we do seem to have the foundations for moving forward, albeit from a lower base. Why couldn't we be the next Southampton? (And who would have thought THAT sentence would have been written 5 years ago!!)
Again, being controversial, I am perhaps glad we missed the play-offs this year. It means we cannot paper over the cracks again this close season. If the above does indeed come to pass, we could at least see hungry, enthusiastic players, playing an attractive brand of football next season, without the pressures of being a recent ex-PL team, and expectations muted. I did enjoy the U18/U21 games this season on YouTube etc. If these lads were given a bit of time, I do believe they could take this club forward through the coming 2/3 leaner years.
You must remember that these last 10 years or so have been the best, by far, in the long history of this great club of ours. No-one has a divine right to stay at the top, or even near it - one only has to look at Liverpool for the last 20 odd years, and ManUre this season, not to mention Wolves, Birmingham, Leeds, Portsmouth and so many other clubs too numerous to mention, to accept that statement.
If JM can hold his nerve, get shot of the charlatan currently owning 49% of the club, and keep the Academy going as it is, in a few years we will be wondering what all this recent fuss has been about.
Apologies if this is all bollocks - it just seems to make sense to me!
