egg

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

Hangover

NC had oodles of cash to play with in a lower league, and spent pretty much whatever he wanted to. The latter part is what cost him his job. He was able to bring in players too good for our level, hence we achieved what we did. Essentially, we were the PSG of league 1. Re asset stripping, just look at the accounts, please. We spend what we have, there's nothing being stripped out. I get that he's not sinking money into the club, but let's not go the other way and accuse him of stripping money out. Like you, I hope that we get an owner willing to throw money at us without expecting it back, but people willing to do that are few and far between.

Barrier

Not often I agree with you, but agreed. The last article I saw from the main red bull man though was that he can't see the value of the premier league.

I don't see the performance of his staff as a Gao issue. He had every right to rely on experienced football people to spend tens of millions wisely. They didn't, we have a shiite squad, yet Gao is the fall guy. Those people have gone but the poor players and their contracts haven't. If we didn't spend what we could (our accounts suggests we have) then I'd be all over Gao, but our transfer failings haven't been down to Gao being unwilling to spend what we have. However you cut it, the only actual criticism on here attributable to Gao himself is that he hasn't put cash into the club.

Isn't the only actual criticism of Gao that he doesn't sink personal monies into the club?

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.

I suspect you're in a very small minority with that view. Nonetheless, the fa won't allow the name change - we'd just do an arsenal and have a branded stadium and shirts, with all sorts of perimeter and stadium branding. I'd welcome any legitimate owner who's willing to throw money at the club.

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