egg

Backhanders to get business probably is to an extent, but it's not paying off officials to turn a blind eye to something illegal or something akin to that, ie corruption proper. The truth is that we don't know the extent of what he's been doing, but, if it's business related in China its not the ridiculous assassination or international money laundering suggestion that was thrown out there.

No you can't and unless they've been in contact with a confirmed sufferer they can't be tested either. It's ridiculous and how anyone can think this approach reduces the risk of spread is beyond me.

Instead he delivered 5 burdens in the form of Hoedt, Vestergaard, Ely, Lemina and Carillo.

That's nuts. He didn't do much and did it badly. The money we've wasted is scandalous. Any idea what Les was earning?

I'd prefer to see the whole accounts rather than a couple of headlines. Got a link? Accounts aren't yet available from companies house. A loss ain't new though, the last accounts showed an operational loss but if you're info is correct, hopefully people will understand why we couldn't sign more players.

Fair point.

Brighton v Arsenal off. Sensible.

That may be so, but when we hear that 10,000 people probably have it, it's obvious that not enough people have been tested. Take Tom Hanks as an example, if he called 111 over here he probably wouldn't have met the criteria to be tested. He'd potentially have gone about his life passing it on. If he hadn't tested positive, anyone coming into contact with him who displayed symptoms wouldn't be tested either.

Absolutely. The lack of testing here is scary - we can display symptoms but not get tested cos we haven't been in contact with someone who's tested positive. Problem is that person wouldn't have tested positive cos he/she hasn't been tested, cos he/she hasn't been in contact with someone who's tested positive!

Mule

That is bloody scary.

So he's a business man who gives bungs and not afraid to grass? Is that the extent of his wrong doing, or are you still claiming he's involved in assassinations, corruption and international money laundering? Would your strong anti Gao feelings subside if he spent millions and our team was better? If not, your anti business men paying for business stance is commendable.

Lava

The point is that we don't know what he's done. If he was convicted killer, fraudster or paedophile for example of course I wouldn't want someone like that associated with the club. He isn't any of those things and instead there's loads of wild accusations but ultimately he's not a convicted criminal. I've run nothing into the ground. I do however question the logic of anyone who thinks that an owner of a football club should be expected to throw tens of millions at that football club to never get it back and/or accuse the owner of all sorts of serious crimes then claim that as their dislike of the owner. Be honest, would you be as bothered about him as you are if he threw money at the playing side and we were performing better on the pitch? I suspect you'll say no citing his non existent criminal record or lack of Delia type passion. I repeat, the fundamental issue for most fans is our crap squad and performances. That comes back to money and the genuine reason for most of their dislike of Gao.

We're way behind, and this nonsense that we should only be tested if we have been in contact with someone who is confirmed as having it is crazy. If we have symptoms we should be tested but until that becomes widespread drastic measures are needed to arrest the spread.

Agreed - so what actually are you complaining about re Gao if it's not the lack of money? If it's that Wilson and Reed were crap, they've been binned. If it's that Hughes was crap, he's been binned. If it's that we have loads of crap players on daft contracts, Gao can't be blamed for the decisions of people he hired in good faith who made shocking decisions - he didn't know what Wesley Hoedt is like and whether he could cut it in the Prem! However you cut, the main issue for fans is the team, and the main issue with changing it is money. It all comes back to the same point - fans expectations that we spend money that we haven't got and that Gao can't provide.

He really has. He responded to the point you quoted with some absurd allegations of organised murder, corruption and money laundering! He also ignored the point that i suspect that any negative thoughts about Gao would fade away if he chucked money at the club. Be honest, none of us would mind if we never saw or heard of Gao if he was giving us cash to spend. All negativity flows from his lack of cash, not that keeps himself to himself. I mean, if he was joining in the pre match huddle and doing a Delia on the mic, he wouldn't suddenly become owner of the year would he.

It's his performance here that matters to me. We all have different opinions and mine is that I'd like an owner to throw in loads of money and make us better. I accept he won't or can't do that but how Gao has done in other businesses is of no relevance to his ability or willingness to do that. The one thing we all appear to agree on is that we'd like a different owner. The one thing that you, me and a few others don't agree on is the relevance of what Gao has done in the past or is doing elsewhere.

No. But did he fail it for the reasons benjii suggested? Didn't he ultimately pass it?

The allegations benjii made are bloody serious. Were they the reasons he initially failed the fit and proper person test? Genuine question. We ain't a corner shop. I'm only interested in how he runs our club. I repeat, the fundamental issue most people has is that he can't or won't throw tens of millions at the club.

That's it pal, swerve the issues.

None of that really has anything to do with his performance as our owner. Wild allegations that he's been involved in corruption, an organised murder, and money laundering are serious. I've no idea what they're all about. His staying under the radar could be arrogance and a lack of understanding of what English fans expect. Alternatively it could be the sign of a bloke who's not ego driven and would rather stay out of the limelight. Either way, I doubt you'd make the same complaint if he was low key but throwing tens of millions of pounds at the club. I don't care how his other businesses have done - they're of no relevance to our club.

You're on your own planet mate and read things that aren't written. Try to separate Gao and the club. The club has spent all its money. That's completely different to Gao throwing money in. What he does back home doesn't interest me. This comes back to the fundamental point - the only thing Gao has done that fans don't like is not throwing money into the club. That's another fact. Alas there are those like you with a complete inability to see facts. Instead you accuse Gao of "asset stripping". I interpret that to mean selling assets for his own gain. I've seen nothing in the accounts to suggest that's the case but if you know better, show us how he's stripped away the assets. If on the other hand you mean he's sold players, of course he has, we've got an inflated squad and need to restructure. That's not asset stripping and any fan with sense knows that we need to cull plenty of crap rather than loaning all over the place. Nobody has ever described Gao as a legend or even a success. Bless ya. As for Markus, I've never said a bad word. He was a legend. NC spent Markus money and did well for us. Sure, he was wasteful re Staplewood and did things in his own way, but he gets all the credit for overseeing our resurgence. Take a deep breath along with that sip of reality.

Blimey Gordon, that's selective quoting, and completely misses the context. I said: "The biggest fallacy is that we haven't spent money. We've spent a fortune. My issue is with muppets who've been in charge and overseen the signing of complete shiite at inflated prices and on ridiculous contracts. I think most sensible people can see that. That said, I'd love an owner with more money than sense rather than one with more sense than money." We have spent money. All that we have earned, and more from sales. Read the accounts. That's the facts. We have signed crap players on expensesive contracts. Reed etc were responsible for that. They're facts too. I said nothing about our squad so feck knows what you're little rant is in response to. But I agree, our squad is ****e, it needs surgery. Can we afford it? No. And yep, Gao does have more sense than money. We all know he's potless, and only a an ego driven billionaire sheikh or similar would throw tens of million (that they'll never see again) at a footy club. So yep, to reach the next level, we need a load of cash that we cant self generate from an owner with more cash than sense. Do I want us to get one and get rid of Gao? Of course. Will we? No. Grab yourself a glass of reality mate and take a sip.

Building