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Saints for Sale


Guided Missile

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Who are these people? Do they know me offline?

 

cocklebreath says he know's you off-line, he saw you wearing a saints shirt over your jumper with HYPO on the back, you were drinking in the Kingsland tavern, when you left you put on a Pony football manager jacket (Branfoot style)

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cocklebreath says he know's you off-line, he saw you wearing a saints shirt over your jumper with HYPO on the back, you were drinking in the Kingsland tavern, when you left you put on a Pony football manager jacket (Branfoot style)

 

Not me! I suspect the poster is having you on (unless there is another person with hypo on their shirt!) The only saints shirt I own is a black one from a few years back that I use for playing football.

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Manchester United are also up for sale.

As are Liverpool.

People have been trying to buy Arsenal for a while.

 

In fact the only clubs not for sale at the moment are Chelsea & Man City.

 

The only issue is

 

 

The Price.

 

And nobody with a brain will want to pay it for any of the above or Saints

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The single most important factor to Southampton Football club at this crucial stage of transition is Nicola Cortese!

 

The liebherrs were never going to sustain the level of interest and participation that was clearly so important to Markus.

 

Is it likely ownership of Saints will change hands in the future, more than likely, it is probable.

 

Is it going to happen next season? if it does, I'll buy a season ticket @ ****e-on park!

 

Cortese in my opinion, will still be chairman in the event of introducing new owners, and for this reason alone, there is absolutely NO cause for concern when it does actually manifest!

 

No cause for concern, but then I can't see anyone above that is concerned.

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I find the idea that we will be sold sometime in the next two or three years far more plausible than all this guff about how 'in love with the club' the Leibherrs are. Developing Staplewood is not to me proof that we will never be sold. Its over extravagent but essentially Cortese is sticking a loft conversion in to make it a more stable and "future proof" football investment. He's basically an Italian Sarah Beeney. Just with smaller norks.

 

Any ideas how I should now explain my out loud laughter to my missus....? :lol:

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Adam Blackmore ‏ @bigadamsport

Just finishing work on a #saintsfc club finance story which will air @ 0700 tomorrow, fans can also hear details in @solentsport bulletins

 

possibly linked? more to do with training ground I would have thought? Or we're in administration? Or end of financial year profit/loss

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we could be sold...and this could all be bollix and more dark forces who don't like NC at work..

 

christ knows

in the mean time, we are going to win the league

 

:adore:

 

And if we are sold at some point it'll be for big money (ruling out noddy chancers) and as such they will want to preserve such a huge investment with will require us being in the Premiership. So que sera sera, the future is bright - the future is red and white!!!!!

 

So if any players etc happen up this thread or rumour it's of no consequence except that they'd in all liklihood get a pay rise from a new wealthy owner.

Edited by dune
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Wouldn't surprise me, but I imagine it could be a simple case of transferring ownership to a different company and seeing the actual running of the club (Nicola etc.) remain the same.

 

Like somebody said, everything is for sale at the right price.

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Thr training ground is to ensure that on selling the club we have THE BEST infrastructure we could have. £10m investment now is worth £20m on selling the club in the Prem.,It's just a very wise investment.

 

 

Maybe so. But it feels like overkill to me. As a club we are not bereft of infrastructure. I'm not convinced that the extra X% this development will give us will deliver any return on investment in real terms. Bale, Walcott and Oxo came out of the peevious system and gave us thirty million back (or so). I can't see significantly more ROI from the new place than that. The old place gave us one or two players every three years. Is the new one going to give us five or six. Unlikely. Especially if we are premier league. Look at Chelsea if you want a case study.

 

 

Invest in youth, fine. But fifteen million quid doesn't neccessarily make us fifteen times better than before.

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Maybe so. But it feels like overkill to me. As a club we are not bereft of infrastructure. I'm not convinced that the extra X% this development will give us will deliver any return on investment in real terms. Bale, Walcott and Oxo came out of the peevious system and gave us thirty million back (or so). I can't see significantly more ROI from the new place than that. The old place gave us one or two players every three years. Is the new one going to give us five or six. Unlikely. Especially if we are premier league. Look at Chelsea if you want a case study.

 

 

Invest in youth, fine. But fifteen million quid doesn't neccessarily make us fifteen times better than before.

 

I see what you mean, but there must be an ROI rationale behind it somewhere for me.

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Let's be clear about what we mean here. In my opinion if someone came in and offered the owners £75M they would bite their hands off.

 

However that doesn't mean they are any way actively looking to sell.

 

I'd say this is about th most sensible post here. As the OP says, this is just a rumour and he was careful not to say he believed it or if he thought much of the source. He just heard something and came on here to see if anyone else had.

 

One day the club will probably be sold when an offer comes in that seems to be good business. I think when that happens, it will only go to somebody the Liebherrs believe in as they wouldn't want to see something Markus believed in thrown away.

 

My guess would be that the club isn't up for sale, but as we're a club with well publicised assets who are about to move into the big money division, people have begun to discuss the possibility and what they think the club would go for.

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I'd say this is about th most sensible post here. As the OP says, this is just a rumour and he was careful not to say he believed it or if he thought much of the source. He just heard something and came on here to see if anyone else had.

 

One day the club will probably be sold when an offer comes in that seems to be good business. I think when that happens, it will only go to somebody the Liebherrs believe in as they wouldn't want to see something Markus believed in thrown away.

 

My guess would be that the club isn't up for sale, but as we're a club with well publicised assets who are about to move into the big money division, people have begun to discuss the possibility and what they think the club would go for.

 

Good post.

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Who is to say that the 5-year plan didn;t only include (a stated target of a return to the Premier League) and (an unstated) plan to sell the club for a profit. Markus and his family business make big profits and there is no reason why they wouldn't sell a comp with high revenue and valuabale assets. They will never make money out of the club even if in the Prem.

 

One way or another, we are so much better off than before. Let's just worry about the last seven games.

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Misguided missile!!

 

Madness, the bloke has made one post on this thread where he gave no opinion at all and just said that he'd heard a rumour. He didn't say he believed it. It's also sparked a lot of debate on a subject that's worth discussing.

 

I can't see anything there worthy of abuse at all.

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I don't get why some people get in such a flap when a rumour is posted. It's perfectly feasible that the Leibherrs are open to offers.

 

Indeed. In fact, any truth in the rumour that people might want to buy us is good news, not bad. It shows how healthy the club is at this moment in time. Allow me to point you in the direction of a certain club 20 miles to the east for a stark comparison of "desirable club" versus "undesirable club".

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Just heard that Saints are up for sale for £75M on promotion to the Premier League. Anyone else heard the same rumour?

 

I wouldn't have you down as one for idle gossip. Now you've reeled a few in, is it time to tell us more of what you've heard?

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It is very likely that Mr Cortese is courting interested parties, in the same way that he courted the idea to Mr L.

 

He has contacts with plenty of money to invest in sound projects.

 

If Saints are promoted this season, then stage two of the Cortese plan will be to take us up a further notch - and that will mean serious money and a further commitment from our owner.

 

If the Liebherr estate can get a strong return on their investment, whilst leaving Cortese at the helm and with further substantial backing for the Stage Two business plan, then I think they would take that (and most Saints fans would be happy too)

 

So, Saints may well be "up for sale" - at the right price and with the understanding that a certain exec at the top of the tree remains in charge (as he is likely yo be the introducer too)

 

:)

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Football is big business. Sale is inevitable at some point, but if the aim is top half of the Premiership then there is far more money to be earned by staying with the club. Personally I don't care if we are sold - but I WOULD care who we were sold to if and when it happens. Until that time I'm just enjoying the ride....

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Even if this were true, the club is extremely attractive for investment. Even more so than when Liebherr bought it.

 

- It is on the verge of promotion to the richest, most high profile league in the world

- Is currently building a state of the art training ground

- One of the best academies in England

- Jackson's farm

- Strong playing squad

- Large modern stadium

- Large matchgoing fanbase

- As far as we know, no notable external debts

- etc etc

 

Compare that to what Trevor Birch is trying to sell at Portsmouth to investors...

 

If anyone in the world was looking to buy a football club, Southampton would feature quite high on a list of investment opportunities. The day the Liebherr's sell, it won't be to "no-one", it will be to someone that has met the asking price. In any case I find it hard to believe given what Cortese has said publicly.

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Cortese was cagey about plans following promotion to prem in a recent fans dinner.

 

He said he refuses to comment on what will happen to the club until we get there.

 

That either tells me he hasn't made his mind up or more likely that the liebherrs (who never wanted a football club) will look to pass it on. Wether or not Cortese stays on is a different matter but he also made it clear that he never wanted a football club either and he is doing everything for the wishes of his best friend afterall.

 

Whatever happens we're in an awesome position based on today's football standards.

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Maybe so. But it feels like overkill to me. As a club we are not bereft of infrastructure. I'm not convinced that the extra X% this development will give us will deliver any return on investment in real terms. Bale, Walcott and Oxo came out of the peevious system and gave us thirty million back (or so). I can't see significantly more ROI from the new place than that. The old place gave us one or two players every three years. Is the new one going to give us five or six. Unlikely. Especially if we are premier league. Look at Chelsea if you want a case study.

 

 

Invest in youth, fine. But fifteen million quid doesn't neccessarily make us fifteen times better than before.

 

You are missing the point though - to continue producing the this calibre of youngster in the future we will need to have tier one academy status to attract and keep the best kids - that requires amongst other things a certain Standard of infrastructure, education suites etc... That is why we are spending the money... So we can continue to produce 1 or 2 very good players every. 2 years or so - our big advantage is location and catchment area for the academy - no competition until you get to London and for many youngsters and parents we are a safer bet for the whole of the south of England... So this is wise move.

 

 

Club for sale? Who cares really. If Markus were still with us I am sure it would be longer term, but the key for our future is NCs current approach to getting us in position where we are able to build within a prem environment - how far you can go will always depend on the money but new fair play regs will ensure its a little easier.... I am sure that if wee were sold it will be to someone who would recognise the work done and the strategy and look to continue that with NC at the helm.

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Cortese was cagey about plans following promotion to prem in a recent fans dinner.

 

He said he refuses to comment on what will happen to the club until we get there.

 

That either tells me he hasn't made his mind up or more likely that the liebherrs (who never wanted a football club) will look to pass it on. Wether or not Cortese stays on is a different matter but he also made it clear that he never wanted a football club either and he is doing everything for the wishes of his best friend afterall.

 

Whatever happens we're in an awesome position based on today's football standards.

 

Think he stated his intentions right at the take-over...

Regular Champions Leauge football at Southampton!

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It is very likely that Mr Cortese is courting interested parties, in the same way that he courted the idea to Mr L.

 

He has contacts with plenty of money to invest in sound projects.

 

If Saints are promoted this season, then stage two of the Cortese plan will be to take us up a further notch - and that will mean serious money and a further commitment from our owner.

 

If the Liebherr estate can get a strong return on their investment, whilst leaving Cortese at the helm and with further substantial backing for the Stage Two business plan, then I think they would take that (and most Saints fans would be happy too)

 

So, Saints may well be "up for sale" - at the right price and with the understanding that a certain exec at the top of the tree remains in charge (as he is likely yo be the introducer too)

 

:)

 

This is entirely possible.

 

If I was the Leibherrs I think the optimal time to sell for maximum return is this summer (providing we go up). What is guaranteed at that point is a full season of hope in the Premier League and four years of parachute payments. Selling in the summer ahead of any pressure to start splashing cash on "Premier League quality players", before the agents are all over us and before we have kicked a ball, would be a masterstroke. If I was the Leibherrs that is what I would do. Mission accomplished, bought at the bottom of the market, sell at the top.

 

That's said, I don't think this will happen, and Cortese and Adkins will of course push on to mid-table Prem establishment, which will make the club worth more, but will also require more investment, specifically in wages, even if we don't sign "big names". And brings with it risk.

 

Selling the idea of mid table establishment to the next owner is the best way to maximise return in my view, rather than risk more money in the pursuit of it oneself.

 

I'm saying Mid-may 2012 is the high water mark for selling up from the Leibherrs point of view but I don't think they will sell this summer.

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You are missing the point though - to continue producing the this calibre of youngster in the future we will need to have tier one academy status to attract and keep the best kids - that requires amongst other things a certain Standard of infrastructure, education suites etc... That is why we are spending the money... So we can continue to produce 1 or 2 very good players every. 2 years or so - our big advantage is location and catchment area for the academy - no competition until you get to London and for many youngsters and parents we are a safer bet for the whole of the south of England... So this is wise move.

 

 

Club for sale? Who cares really. If Markus were still with us I am sure it would be longer term, but the key for our future is NCs current approach to getting us in position where we are able to build within a prem environment - how far you can go will always depend on the money but new fair play regs will ensure its a little easier.... I am sure that if wee were sold it will be to someone who would recognise the work done and the strategy and look to continue that with NC at the helm.

 

If our prime advantage is catchment area then we don't neccessarily need the best of the best of the best of the best academy, especially when I don't think we need to tie up huge amouts of cash in infrastructure.

 

We do have a pretty good one as it is. Making the club sustainable means being choiceful about investment too, and I remain unconvinced that this is essential. It's a "nice to have" but that isn't the same thing.

 

And it wasn't long ago during the reign of a previous chairman that people on this forum would scream the place down if anyone suggested that infrastructure or investment in youth had any bearing on producing young players. According to many on here, Southampton just produce young players regardless, they just spring out of the ground and always have and no decision that that particular management made had anything ever to do with it. "We produced Channon and the Wallaces therefore we will always produce young players its nothing to do with fancy academies". Fascinating to see the remarkable change of tune these days.

 

Lots of talk about how infrastructure investment is better than just spending on players, but we went into administration before primarily because we couldn't keep up with our mortgage on the stadium. So let's not kid ourselves that any bricks and mortar investment equals risk-free cash cow.

Edited by CB Fry
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I'm going to go with that fact that GM posted this and then did a runner, leaving the obvious lot to debate / turn on each other then he is clearly bored and decided to start trolling again.

 

Well GM. You seemed to be coming back with some good debatable points but tonight all I can say is BORE OFF YOU @£$%.

 

Thanks that is all.

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If our prime advantage is catchment area then we don't neccessarily need the best of the best of the best of the best academy, especially when I don't think we need to tie up huge amouts of cash in infrastructure.

 

We do have a pretty good one as it is. Making the club sustainable means being choiceful about investment too, and I remain unconvinced that this is essential. It's a "nice to have" but that isn't the same thing.

 

And it wasn't long ago during the reign of a previous chairman that people on this forum would scream the place down if anyone suggested that infrastructure or investment in youth had any bearing on producing young players. According to many on here, Southampton just produce young players regardless, they just spring out of the ground and always have and no decision that that particular management made had anything ever to do with it. "We produced Channon and the Wallaces therefore we will always produce young players regardless". Fascinating to see the remarkable change of tune these days.

 

Lots of talk about how infrastructure investment is better than just spending on players, but we went into administration before primarily because we couldn't keep up with our mortgage on the stadium. So let's not kid ourselves that any bricks and mortar investment equals risk free cash cow.

 

With EPPP coming in 2012/13, clubs will have to spend on infrastructure in order to be a category one academy. Being a category one academy will give Saints huge advantages over non category one clubs in terms of attracting players to the club. They simply can't stand still with EPPP coming in, if they did the academy would struggle to compete and would be restricted to older players than a category one academy would be.

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If our prime advantage is catchment area then we don't neccessarily need the best of the best of the best of the best academy, especially when I don't think we need to tie up huge amouts of cash in infrastructure.

 

We do have a pretty good one as it is. Making the club sustainable means being choiceful about investment too, and I remain unconvinced that this is essential. It's a "nice to have" but that isn't the same thing.

 

And it wasn't long ago during the reign of a previous chairman that people on this forum would scream the place down if anyone suggested that infrastructure or investment in youth had any bearing on producing young players. According to many on here, Southampton just produce young players regardless, they just spring out of the ground and always have and no decision that that particular management made had anything ever to do with it. "We produced Channon and the Wallaces therefore we will always produce young players its nothing to do with fancy academies". Fascinating to see the remarkable change of tune these days.

 

Lots of talk about how infrastructure investment is better than just spending on players, but we went into administration before primarily because we couldn't keep up with our mortgage on the stadium. So let's not kid ourselves that any bricks and mortar investment equals risk-free cash cow.

 

But if not a tier one the kids go cheap to other Academies - that's what all the fuss is about - This investment won't produce better players- it merely ensures we attract the kids and can keep them until they are worth something more than small compensation - that is why it's so important as a business as well as a footballing strategy - read up on the new system and you will see why we are doing this

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I'm going to go with that fact that GM posted this and then did a runner, leaving the obvious lot to debate / turn on each other then he is clearly bored and decided to start trolling again.

 

Well GM. You seemed to be coming back with some good debatable points but tonight all I can say is BORE OFF YOU @£$%.

 

Thanks that is all.

Alright, you got me. This is a minor part of what I heard. The main story is that there will be a bid for Pompey next week and I know exactly who will be making the bid. Not sure how true the rumour is about Saints, but think it is very credible, given the source. The Pompey bid is definite, though...

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Alright, you got me. This is a minor part of what I heard. The main story is that there will be a bid for Pompey next week and I know exactly who will be making the bid. Not sure how true the rumour is about Saints, but think it is very credible, given the source. The Pompey bid is definite, though...

 

Is it a good bid for them?

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