Confimred new owners of Raeding Footbal Club

[Ian Royal]

perhaps you should ask the supermarkets you shop in to provide you with its business plan seeing as you're an "investor" in it.

Have you shopped in the same supermarket for your entire life then, Ian?

[Royal Lady]

Why did anyone think that AZ would be buying the training ground, makes sense to invest some of the Premier money into the club IMHO, why should it all be pissed up on players, while someone else pays for the infrastucture?

I doubt anyone really did, but my point is, why did/do people think he is some sort of saviour when he's not spending his own money on anything other than half of Madejski's shares? Having the majority shareholding has allowed him to decide, one assumes, that he wants to buy the new training ground and may have had an influence in some of the players. He hasn't bought Roberts - that money was a loan which I expect has been repaid to him now. So, basically, other than the money for 51% of shares, he's not spending a penny on our club and, if anything, will probably end up putting us in a tricky situation if he decides to bugger off any time soon. Also leaving SJM in the mire, at a time when he'd like to sit back and perhaps enjoy a bit of retirement, as he's not getting any younger.

IMO the training ground could have been purchased when we were sure we going to be back in the Premiership, rather than leaving us with a super duper training ground, on a par with Man Utd when our team will be on a par with Scunthorpe Utd if we're not more careful. I fully expect the usual suspects to keep their RTG's firmly stuck on their face, but back in the real world, it would be wrong not to have even a hint of concern at the current situation.

[winchester_royal]

Why did anyone think that AZ would be buying the training ground, makes sense to invest some of the Premier money into the club IMHO, why should it all be pissed up on players, while someone else pays for the infrastucture?

I doubt anyone really did, but my point is, why did/do people think he is some sort of saviour when he's not spending his own money on anything other than half of Madejski's shares? Having the majority shareholding has allowed him to decide, one assumes, that he wants to buy the new training ground and may have had an influence in some of the players. He hasn't bought Roberts - that money was a loan which I expect has been repaid to him now. So, basically, other than the money for 51% of shares, he's not spending a penny on our club and, if anything, will probably end up putting us in a tricky situation if he decides to bugger off any time soon. Also leaving SJM in the mire, at a time when he'd like to sit back and perhaps enjoy a bit of retirement, as he's not getting any younger.

IMO the training ground could have been purchased when we were sure we going to be back in the Premiership, rather than leaving us with a super duper training ground, on a par with Man Utd when our team will be on a par with Scunthorpe Utd if we're not more careful. I fully expect the usual suspects to keep their RTG's firmly stuck on their face, but back in the real world, it would be wrong not to have even a hint of concern at the current situation.

Who's been calling him a saviour?

What part of him saying that the football club would continue to be run as a business, i.e. using it's revenue (or financing) to fund expenditure, did people not understand?

He's not a sugar-daddy in the mould of Abramovich, but he never claimed to be. It was always clear that TSI's purchase of RFC was a business decision (the clue's in the name) so those expecting Anton to use his own money to finance multi-million pound losses every year were jumping to conclusions that had very little founding. He's just maybe a little more ambitious in the way he wants the club to run as a business (speculate to accumulate) than Sir John ever was.

If he's struggled to come up with the money to buy the extra 49% then so be it. The club will carry on because over the last year it has continued to be run on the sound business principles that it always has been.

[Extended-Phenotype]

Ok, seems like people disagree that a club should keep the fans informed.

I think that's quite sad, really. And I'm not just talking about the lame analogies.

[Ian Royal]

Ok, seems like people disagree that a club should keep the fans informed.

I think that's quite sad, really. And I'm not just talking about the lame analogies.

Informed to a degree, but given that most fans seem to be dribbling ignorant reactionary fools, probably best to keep the info fairly broad.

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

Worth pointing out that land is not always available when it is wanted, so has to be bought when it is available. We had problems before when we no longer used Sonning, before RFC got the current training facilities sorted.

As for buying half the club and not putting money in, isnt that just capitalism, if I 'invest' £20k into Tesco by buying shares how does it help Tesco as they dont get the money.

[Uke]

What part of him saying that the football club would continue to be run as a business, i.e. using it's revenue (or financing) to fund expenditure, did people not understand?

He's not a sugar-daddy in the mould of Abramovich, but he never claimed to be. It was always clear that TSI's purchase of RFC was a business decision (the clue's in the name) so those expecting Anton to use his own money to finance multi-million pound losses every year were jumping to conclusions that had very little founding. He's just maybe a little more ambitious in the way he wants the club to run as a business (speculate to accumulate) than Sir John ever was.

If he's struggled to come up with the money to buy the extra 49% then so be it. The club will carry on because over the last year it has continued to be run on the sound business principles that it always has been.

If only he had a sound record of success in business though

Where has he been successful? Ever?

[winchester_royal]

What part of him saying that the football club would continue to be run as a business, i.e. using it's revenue (or financing) to fund expenditure, did people not understand?

He's not a sugar-daddy in the mould of Abramovich, but he never claimed to be. It was always clear that TSI's purchase of RFC was a business decision (the clue's in the name) so those expecting Anton to use his own money to finance multi-million pound losses every year were jumping to conclusions that had very little founding. He's just maybe a little more ambitious in the way he wants the club to run as a business (speculate to accumulate) than Sir John ever was.

If he's struggled to come up with the money to buy the extra 49% then so be it. The club will carry on because over the last year it has continued to be run on the sound business principles that it always has been.

If only he had a sound record of success in business though

Where has he been successful? Ever?

No idea, but given he's only in his 20's I wouldn't expect him to have a catalogue of successful businesses to his name.

Plus I'm not sure how his history as a businessman is actually related to what I said.

[Royal Lady]

Oh come ON Winch - the salivating and general excitement when AZ was announced as potential new owner was palpable on here - why would people get so excited if they thought he was only going to carry on in exactly the same way that SJM did and we'd be forever filling black holes or whatever. Some people thought he was the messiah on here. And anyone who advised caution were more or less laughed at.

Like it or not, he's already reneged, for whatever reason, on buying out the remainder of SJM's shares at the time it was agreed he would, new baby or not, he's been conspicuous by his absence, not one soundbite coming from the board, except for SJM's "it's all cordial" piece, which is hardly a ringing endorsement of AZ and his plans to me. If that doesn't start ringing even tiny alarm bells in people's minds, then they, clearly, don't think as much of this club as I and some others do....

[Uke]

If only he had a sound record of success in business though

Where has he been successful? Ever?

No idea, but given he's only in his 20's I wouldn't expect him to have a catalogue of successful businesses to his name.

Plus I'm not sure how his history as a businessman is actually related to what I said.

Other than you should not be surprised when he fails to run a business.

Name one success he has had then?

He's 30 and bought us when he was 28 so he's no longer in his 20's either

[winchester_royal]

Oh come ON Winch - the salivating and general excitement when AZ was announced as potential new owner was palpable on here - why would people get so excited if they thought he was only going to carry on in exactly the same way that SJM did and we'd be forever filling black holes or whatever. Some people thought he was the messiah on here. And anyone who advised caution were more or less laughed at.

Like it or not, he's already reneged, for whatever reason, on buying out the remainder of SJM's shares at the time it was agreed he would, new baby or not, he's been conspicuous by his absence, not one soundbite coming from the board, except for SJM's "it's all cordial" piece, which is hardly a ringing endorsement of AZ and his plans to me. If that doesn't start ringing even tiny alarm bells in people's minds, then they, clearly, don't think as much of this club as I and some others do....

There was excitement, for sure, but again I don't think anyone was calling him a messiah or the saviour. He came in, invested a bit of money that led to us being promoted, and was saying all the right things. That led to quite a few being optimistic of our future under his ownership, but it was always cautious rather than blind optimism.

Maybe a few also saw 'Russian' and immediately thought 'Abramovich', but the PR was always very focused on the fact that the club would continue to be run on sound business grounds so those expecting huge investment were always going to be disappointed but not through any fault of the clubs.

Now things are starting to unravel a touch, and there do appear to be a few issues related to the purchase of the remaining 49%, but until we see even the slightest shred of hard evidence that he's having a negative effect on the club then most of us will reserve judgement rather than jumping up and down in a blind panic every time a new ITK pops up with more unsupported claims of problems.

[winchester_royal]

If only he had a sound record of success in business though

Where has he been successful? Ever?

No idea, but given he's only in his 20's I wouldn't expect him to have a catalogue of successful businesses to his name.

Plus I'm not sure how his history as a businessman is actually related to what I said.

Other than you should not be surprised when he fails to run a business.

Name one success he has had then?

He's 30 and bought us when he was 28 so he's no longer in his 20's either

Eh?

I didn't say he was going to run us as a successful business, just that his intention was that we would continue to be run as a business rather than just pumping all his daddy's money in.

I don't know his life story so no, I can't name one success he's had. Can you name his failures? All I know is that he has stressed that we'd be run as a business, he studies business in higher education, and Sir John talked a lot about his business acumen when he arrived.

[Wimb]

a fairly interesting re-read, does lend itself to the whole 'I'm not going to spunk loads of cash because I don't have lots myself' theory.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... evich.html

[Uke]

I didn't say he was going to run us as a successful business, just that his intention was that we would continue to be run as a business rather than just pumping all his daddy's money in.

I don't know his life story so no, I can't name one success he's had. Can you name his failures? All I know is that he has stressed that we'd be run as a business, he studies business in higher education, and Sir John talked a lot about his business acumen when he arrived.

The failure to purchase Everton?

Like you, I'll wait and see but there does seem to be a repeating theme.

He talks a good game (literally, according to his then best mate BMcD), it looks knows the theory but when it comes to practice rather than an classroom I am not sure he has the knowledge or the backroom team (Samuelson et al) to deliver.

[winchester_royal]

I didn't say he was going to run us as a successful business, just that his intention was that we would continue to be run as a business rather than just pumping all his daddy's money in.

I don't know his life story so no, I can't name one success he's had. Can you name his failures? All I know is that he has stressed that we'd be run as a business, he studies business in higher education, and Sir John talked a lot about his business acumen when he arrived.

The failure to purchase Everton?

Like you, I'll wait and see but there does seem to be a repeating theme.

He talks a good game (literally, according to his then best mate BMcD), it looks knows the theory but when it comes to practice rather than an classroom I am not sure he has the knowledge or the backroom team (Samuelson et al) to deliver.

You may well be right, and I don't think anything I've said actually contradicts you, I was just trying to explain to RL that there was never any reason to believe that TSI would be coming in and spending big bucks, and that therefore the fact we haven't doesn't necessarily imply that something is wrong. That's not to say there isn't of course..

[Victor Meldrew]

a fairly interesting re-read, does lend itself to the whole 'I'm not going to spunk loads of cash because I don't have lots myself' theory.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... evich.html

I always thought it was much more than £12.7 million that he had to come up with in September.
In the world of business that is not big money-I am more concerned than before about our owner not being able to come up with that sort of money given more than one year's notice.
It does not augur well.

[NewCorkSeth]

Ok, seems like people disagree that a club should keep the fans informed.

I think that's quite sad, really. And I'm not just talking about the lame analogies.

I think they should come to us with solutions rather than problems. For instance why come out and say "we have had a little trouble freeing up funds to sign new players" when A few months down the line they can say "we had some trouble freeing up funds to sign new players but that has since been resolved by blah blah"

Also invariably once a club has announced a problem everyone panics and asks whats being to done to solve this.

[Ian Royal]

Oh come ON Winch - the salivating and general excitement when AZ was announced as potential new owner was palpable on here - why would people get so excited if they thought he was only going to carry on in exactly the same way that SJM did and we'd be forever filling black holes or whatever. Some people thought he was the messiah on here. And anyone who advised caution were more or less laughed at.

Like it or not, he's already reneged, for whatever reason, on buying out the remainder of SJM's shares at the time it was agreed he would, new baby or not, he's been conspicuous by his absence, not one soundbite coming from the board, except for SJM's "it's all cordial" piece, which is hardly a ringing endorsement of AZ and his plans to me. If that doesn't start ringing even tiny alarm bells in people's minds, then they, clearly, don't think as much of this club as I and some others do....

He was sold as SJM + a bit, nothing more. SJM wasn't even the SJM of 2005 and earlier anymore.

If only people had a functioning sense of perspective, half the whining on here would go away.

[East Stand Tom]

I've been reading HNA for years but only now have I felt compelled to post something (looking forward to the f off newbie). I think it is plain for all of us that something is not right behind the scenes at the club, the radio silence about TSI buying the remaining 49% only heightens the speculation. Yesterday a well placed source told me about what is really happening. First things first, AZ has no money but his disappearance goes back to the Momo Sissoko saga as at a board meeting to discuss the transfer he was out voted by not only SJM but Chris Samuelson and Andrew Obolensky because the manager did not want the player. Apparently AZ threw his toys out of the pram and no one at the club has seen him since. The club is being run by SJM again and we are actively seeking new owners and it is unlikely we will see AZ ever again.

[NewCorkSeth]

I've been reading HNA for years but only now have I felt compelled to post something (looking forward to the f off newbie). I think it is plain for all of us that something is not right behind the scenes at the club, the radio silence about TSI buying the remaining 49% only heightens the speculation. Yesterday a well placed source told me about what is really happening. First things first, AZ has no money but his disappearance goes back to the Momo Sissoko saga as at a board meeting to discuss the transfer he was out voted by not only SJM but Chris Samuelson and Andrew Obolensky because the manager did not want the player. Apparently AZ threw his toys out of the pram and no one at the club has seen him since. The club is being run by SJM again and we are actively seeking new owners and it is unlikely we will see AZ ever again.

Thanks for reiterating the boring rumours that have been stated many times over in this thread.. Very fresh ideas and most certainly appreciated.