Whitey Grandad

That really is surprising.

Recount at Southampton Itchen

Be my guest: The Premier League has given clearance for a £190 million takeover of Southampton by a Chinese company after months of investigations. Gao Jisheng, the chief executive of Lander Sports Development who has been accused of paying bribes to Chinese politicians, has passed the League’s owners and directors test and an announcement is expected next week. Southampton and Lander have been informed that the proposed deal is close to being given the go-ahead. Katharina Liebherr, the Southampton owner, has been negotiating with Lander over a sale for almost 12 months, with the Chinese property development company offering £190 million for 100 per cent of the club’s shares in March, as revealed by The Times. The matter was then passed to the Premier League, whose lawyers have investigated the sources and sufficiency of Lander’s funding, the company’s business plan and the structure of the deal as well as subjecting all potential owners and directors to the fit and proper persons test. The Premier League are satisfied that all aspects of Lander’s bid meet their requirements. The Premier League undertakes such due diligence before signing off any potential takeovers, but Lander’s offer for Southampton has attracted more interest because of Gao. The 64-year-old property developer and sports entrepreneur has been involved in two corruption cases in China and was named in Chinese state media as one of a number of businessmen who allegedly gave bribes to Xu Maiyong, the vice-mayor of Hangzhou. Gao has always maintained his innocence. Lander is proposing a phased takeover of Southampton in which it would initially buy into the club before going on to take full control. In talks with the club Lander has pledged it will not sell any players this summer, including Virgil van Dijk, who is wanted by Chelsea and Manchester City as well as Liverpool, who have been reported to the Premier League by Southampton for allegedly making an illegal approach to the Dutch defender. Liebherr intends to keep some of her Southampton shares in the short term to provide continuity before selling up completely if Lander’s promises of additional investment materialise. Lander appears happy for Liebherr to stay on as a minority shareholder. The chairman, Ralph Krueger, is likely to remain in place, although Lander will seek representation on the board. Liebherr’s willingness to sell stems from her belief that Southampton require additional investment to cement their position as a top-ten Premier League club and a desire to spread her assets across a wider portfolio. The Times revealed earlier this week that Liebherr is also facing the prospect of a large tax bill as a result of an investigation by Germany’s Public Prosecutor’s Office into the estate of her late father Markus, who bequeathed Southampton to her following his death in 2010. Lander would be the second Chinese owners in the league after Guochuan Lai’s takeover of West Bromwich Albion last year. A meeting of Premier League chairmen yesterday agreed to toughen up the rules surrounding takeovers of clubs, though it is not clear when they will come into force. In the future, prospective owners or directors will be barred if they are judged to have misled the Premier League, or to have engaged in conduct that would constitute a criminal offence in the UK.

That's a bit unfair on Abbott

Yup. Best not to score a goal.

True. Life does have its ups and downs.

It means the selling club gets more the money because the player forgoes certain bonuses.

Indeed they aren't.

In Blackpool wasn't it? Nobody goes there for pleasure, surely?

I'm with Sonic on this. I want to see us winning cups, not just taking part. And I want to see us making a go of it in both competitions, not treating a trip to Wembley like it was something we'd never do again.

For the last few games they looked to me like a group of players who had never played together before. This had happened several times over the season and coincided with the crabby football.

Or an Archimedes screw.

It may not be for sale but it certainly has a price.

Is that allowed under FFP?

Perhaps I should have said left midfield, maybe wingback if they are still around. His crossing in his last game was awful but he had been off injured for a long while so I'll give him that one. You have to ask why he was chosen for hat match though.

That must be a definition of irony.

Do they sell small replicas that you could stick pins in? Just a thought.

Targett will never be a good full back. His positional sense is all wrong for that position. As a left winger he is a good prospect.

He's entitled to the rest of his contract being paid up, or at the least settled. Nothing wrong with that.

'She has loaned the club money'. What that if not putting money in. Any interest charged has to be at a commercial rate. 'She' is not the club, that is a separate entity so she hasn't sold anything. A lot of players have been bought as well as sold. She hasn't sold the club yet. A lump of loan has been converted to equity. I did say 'the Liebherr family.

It all gets very tiresome. The Liebherrs have put a pile of money into the club and are still backing us. If in the future they want to recover some of that money then that is their prerogative. I am very glad that they are here for us.

Give it a rest. You really don't have a clue.

If we're going to start compiling a list of shítty games then we shall be here all night.

I can't hear it.

I suspect there is a problem with the currency symbol seeing as our friend is probably in Hong Kong. They are often transposed.