Convict Colony

until i made the mistake of watching the game the other night i forgot how boring England are. I expect us to crawl through the qualifying then get smashed by the first proper team we play.

would be happy with that scoped him out a lot a few months ago but they are trolling us having him signing a contract extension until 2025 back in Jan. Maybe it was a lets maintain the value and we guarantee we will listen to offers in the summer for 10mil. Obligatory youtube

yeah we are not flush with money and based on the awesome stats breakdown about how rubbish they are by @TWar i'd for this season try gunn and play him as an interim solution until summer as his distribution is vastly better and his save ratio can't be any worse.

Dan Sheldons piece this morning on our transfer plans in the Athletic. Wont bother copying and pasting it as there is nothing in there that hasnt already been covered in there. Trying to sell Lemina/Hodet Keep ings unless 25-30mil comes in Veestie undecided Left/Right backs and reserve needed Goalies - all shit (sorry thats just me) but possible to leave - Gunn norwich 5mil + possible angle

I dunno hopefully he maintains the energy to perform

Just looked him up and looked at the Gabon review where he is linked with celtic as a Mo replacement but whilst I was there I say Les Reed was mentioned and this is what he said about Lemmina. “Mario Lemina could be world class, he's a great athlete. When he joined the squad at Southampton everyone thought we got the best out of Lemina and Pogba from that Juventus midfielder, ”

I make rookie errors every summer thinking this will be the summer of awesome transfer business and no unwanted sales.

Just want to be the first to post in the wonderfully named potential takeovers Thanks Lighthouse

Id take JWP, he can play CM, right midfield, right back, endurance and is the best dead ball specialist we have. If we need a goal and have 15mins left I'd put him in and try and win free kicks.

yeah i can see that - played 5 months - did well but this is what southgate said at end of march and scored 4 goals in remaining 9 games so probably not enough. "Jesse, of the three, is a bit more fortunate to be in," said Southgate. "Luke and John have performed over a period of time. "We've got injuries in the attacking areas that have opened up an opportunity for Jesse but, I have to say, his performances for West Ham have been excellent. "Ideally, you'd be saying you have to do it for a little bit longer but that's not been the option this time around."

The interesting thing to check would be what system Basel played and is it similar to our style or completely different. He was Man of the match v Man City in a European game and scored 13 goals and 17 assists in the same season. So was it a flash in the pan, a good system or an over performing player ?

it will probably be copied and pasted in a couple of weeks

Really enjoyed that thanks amigo. Happy that both Salisu and Diallo have potential and more minutes should hopefully increase their learning scope.

Bro the sun is shining, it's the weekend and we have no money. Go outside and dream of better days when we thought we could get Tuchel and Ziyech. I've resigned myself to us having no money. Unless someone can reconcile semmens statement of "I'd of thought we would have investment now I'm surprised its not happened" (sic) from the fans forum to actually us having some cash I'm over this transfer window to be honest and its more frustrating that this THE WINDOW to spend on players due to the cash strapped clubs around the world. If we had 70mil we could parlay that into players who would normally be up past combined a 100m + total. Cash is king and we are in the stocks getting veg thrown at us.

The name is De Boer his ex boss and a joke

I blame Marco Polo

Current Chinese club owners are "caught between a rock and a hard place" after accumulating losses of more than €500 million since 2016 5 May 2021 1:06 PM An analysis reveals English clubs have by far been the most expensive investment for Chinese investors in recent years. Clubs such as Inter Milan, Southampton and Wolves have sustained operating losses of almost €1 billion combined. Political expert says owners are now in a position where they are unlikely to invest further but at the same time will struggle to offload their assets. EMIL GJERDING NIELSON AND JOSEPH MAILIL, ANALYST nielson@offthepitch.com After an 11-year wait Inter Milan finally secured the Serie A title on Sunday, representing the first trophy under Chinese majority shareholder Suning. Steady form throughout the season coupled with rivals' slump in form were key to the club's success, but the all-encompassing driver was in no doubt the investment made by the conglomerate since it acquired a nearly 70 per cent stake in 2016 for the reported price of around €270 million. The club have recorded combined pre-tax losses of €163.9 million in the period until this season, a sign of what it takes to become successful in football. But, while Suning's journey with Inter Milan culminated on Sunday night, other Chinese investors have been less successful in European football. Changing priorities An Off The Pitch analysis can reveal the Chinese owners of FC Sochaux, Espanyol, Southampton, West Bromwich Albion, Wolves, Birmingham City, Reading, Inter Milan and Granada have overseen combined pre-tax losses of €539 million since the 2016/17 season when they started acquiring clubs as part of the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) strategy to strengthen the country's football prowess. The findings only pertain to current Chinese owners in European football and therefore do not include clubs such as AC Milan and Aston Villa, though they are also well-known examples of loss-making entities. Now, though, the CCP has called on the country's businesses to focus on national investments, prompting most of the Chinese owners in European football to rethink their future involvement with the sport. Suning, for one, has been in discussions with various parties over a potential sale of its stake in Inter Milan. Therefore, it becomes relevant to ask: what exactly have the clubs, investors and the CCP gotten out of this relationship? Emlyon Business School Professor Simon Chadwick, who specialises in the relationship between sports and politics, explains the main reason Chinese investors started purchasing European clubs was that they wanted to build their own relationship with the CCP. "The investors were speculative in that they thought there was an opportunity to make money through investing in overseas football. But they were also speculative in the sense that they were interpreting what the Chinese government wanted – to raise the profile of Chinese football," he says. Hard to recoup investment As the Chinese investors moved in at a time when the government was promoting overseas investment it lead to some getting involved in over their heads due to their sparse experience with the football industry. One example of this, according to Chadwick, is Lai Guochuan who since 2016 has owned West Bromwich Albion. "I always use the phrase caught between a rock and a hard place. The investment was driven principally by political motives rather than economical, so he's now in a position where he can't pour money into the club because of financial controls imposed by the Chinese government," he says. With losses increasing year by year it has become increasingly harder to recoup investments. Selling at a loss simply would not be acceptable to the Chinese government. "It would be very difficult for these investors to sell the clubs at less than what they paid for because that would draw the attention of Chinese authorities. They are in very challenged positions." Building loyalty And a good relationship with the government, Chadwick explains, is key to success in China. Just look at the case of Wang Jianlin whose Dalian Wanda Group acquired a 20 per cent stake in Atletico Madrid in 2015. Jianlin was subsequently forced to sell all but three per cent of his shareholding in the club as part of a strategy to reduce Dalian Wanda Group's debt. But when he returned to China rumours emerged he had been detained by the authorities and had his passport confiscated. "Arrest and imprisonment are very real possibilities for these people. This is an illustration of the action the Chinese government is prepared to take against entrepreneurs and business people who expose the Chinese financial system to undue and significant risk," Chadwick says. In turn, those who manage to get on the right side of the CCP build political capital they can use to smoothen the operations of their businesses. "If you're compliant with government policy you're much less likely to be scrutinized by the government, much less likely to be subject to interventions," Chadwick says. Uncertain future Assuming the Chinese owners do in fact exit their investments in the coming years they are likely to leave behind clubs in precarious financial situations. Of the clubs surveyed, none have recorded an operating profit since the 2016/17 season - for a combined operating loss of €924 million. Meanwhile, clubs such as Inter Milan and Wolves have been heavily dependent on shareholder loans, requiring significant contributions from investors to balance the budgets. And for those in the Championship, Birmingham City, Reading and soon West Bromwich Albion, with wages-to-revenue ratios exceeding 200 per cent in some seasons, it's clear any new owner would have to be prepared to bankroll substantial losses at least in the short-term. Chadwick points to American investors as some who could fill the vacuum left by the Chinese but also points to the situation with Girondins de Bordeaux as an example of investors who are not willing to accept losses indefinitely. "It's an unfortunate truth for clubs like Girondins de Bordeaux that American investors who do move in can be disappointed by the financial performance of the assets they have bought," he says. That presents a new challenge for governments and football bodies across Europe who are currently facing fan uprisings over foreign ownership – as seen recently in Manchester where fans have protested against the Glazer's stewardship. "European governments, the EU and fans need to start thinking creatively about how they can address the precarious financial situations clubs are in. We need to think about how we preserve these kinds of 'socio,' cultural institutions and how they are perceived," Chadwick says. "Because I'm not sure the vacuum they leave behind will be filled with investors who have a lot of patience and a high tolerance level when it comes to debt and financial losses."

To be honest with everything going on COVID, bad cash flow etc etc you could say we could be attractive as an undervalued asset which has a lot of growth potential on the books. The risk would be to spend the cash to then ensure next season we remain in premier league.

PLEASE MODS PLEASE CHANGE THE TITLE

Man city on 41 pts after 15 games hahaha Shows what ownership with money can provide

Snap, many on here are happy to have the buck stop with the manager but for me its the owner, he is the person who determines everything.

THIS THREAD IS A SICK JOKE

Take over, new funds and better players ...ok i'm praying for that.

Who can we reasonably target and would come to a club with no leadership, money who might be taken over at some point. Understand change the manager but who the fuck will come ?