Rumours of takeover/investment interest

What from this summer has indicated this?

We only drew at home to Sunderland

An excellent post.

"We don`t buy success - we breed it." Now where have I heard that before?

Getting a few PMs asking for my thoughts on this so here goes....

 

Has Les and Kathryn taken us as far as they can and will? Imho YES

 

Will new owners take us up a level? No guarantees but why spend £200m to take us down a level?

 

Do we have more chance of keeping our best players and managers under new owners? Yes (can't get much worse)

 

Do I appreciate everything Kat and Les have done - yes I wish them well and thank them

 

Am I excited for change? Yes as the alternative is mid table prem and selling best players every summer

 

Thanks

This by far is the funniest post of the year on here, I am still chuckling about this 24hrs later

Keep up the good work Glasgow

Getting a few PMs asking for my thoughts on this so here goes....

 

Has Les and Kathryn taken us as far as they can and will? Imho YES

 

Will new owners take us up a level? No guarantees but why spend £200m to take us down a level?

 

Do we have more chance of keeping our best players and managers under new owners? Yes (can't get much worse)

 

Do I appreciate everything Kat and Les have done - yes I wish them well and thank them

 

Am I excited for change? Yes as the alternative is mid table prem and selling best players every summer

 

Thanks

Lol at this loser suggesting people are intersted in his opinion....

This by far is the funniest post of the year on here, I am still chuckling about this 24hrs later

 

Keep up the good work Glasgow

Cheers CC

I am quite happy with the way things are going at the moment there is no guarantee with new owners that we will do any better but I await developments

I cannot be bothered to trawl through five pages of posts and I apologise if someone else has already made the point. At what point do people, including club owners, the FA, fans, sponsors, broadcasters etc. really care as to whether the country's football assets are all Chinese owned? Also, as we have already seen in other sectors, is there really enough liquidiity in the Chinese economy to sustain this massive expansion?

I am quite happy with the way things are going at the moment there is no guarantee with new owners that we will do any better but I await developments

My sentiments exactly.

Good of you to point out that we have improved continually since 2009.

 

The argument that we can't go further without big money is the same one the Venkys made and the current Chinese owners at Villa and all the other big money but no sense owners that have blighted our leagues over the last few years.

 

Our continual improvement over the last seven seasons has been largely due to the excellent stewardship of our club under the current owners. Many on here predicted disaster this season because in the summer we didn't spend big money on the likes of Zaza or Bony or Berahinho or Sigurdsson. Show some ambition was their rallying cry but now the reality of a fine manager, promising young players and probably the best squad we've had in years is apparent they're not showing some contrition for their ridiculous posts back in September.

 

A potential wheelbarrow full of money is being dangled and the salivating is starting because they think money is a fast track to success.

 

We spent way less than the likes of West Ham and Stoke over the summer and yet they seem to have gone backwards whilst we are continuing our relentless march forwards.

 

It's not money that makes a good club, it's how the club is run and on that point I think we're some of the most fortunate fans in the league.

Excellent strawman pal: none of those other clubs have the infrastructure to spend money effectively. We do. Other things being equal, having more money to spend is a good thing.

The more important question is whether any prospective owners, like Liebherr, would allow and respect the football people to get on with things. There are no guarantees, though that is much easier when you have a successful track record, again a contrast with your contrived examples of Villa and Blackburn.

Big face palm to all those giving it "NO WAY and "NOT WELCOME" our continual improvement since 2009 means this is inevitable, we can't go any further without big big money, yes that perhaps brings with it an amount of risk, but it may also project Southampton Football Club onto the world stage and make us real big hitters in world football......I swear some people on here would rather we were a small "fan owned" club in division four.

There is not much evidence from what I have read about this group that they will be bringing big, big money to the table. £200m (or whatever the price turns out to be) simply buys the club as it stands. You would need double or triple that on top to compete with the Man Cities of this world.

hopefully we get sold to (one day) some mega rich/group who want to splash the cash, expand the mega-dome and not sell our best players every summer

Batman in full I Wish We Could Be Like Manchester City mode.

Baggytrousers seems to have covered it perfectly.

I would reiterate that "the club" isn't some magical entity that runs perfectly whereas other clubs don't.

We have made the progress we have due to the people running the club. Kat, Les, Ralph, Gareth etc, plus the various management teams over the last 8 years.

If someone else buys us will they keep the same people? If not then we are starting from scratch again unless they adopt exactly the same strategy.

Excellent strawman pal: none of those other clubs have the infrastructure to spend money effectively. We do.

Now who's playing at building strawmen?

Baggytrousers seems to have covered it perfectly.

 

I would reiterate that "the club" isn't some magical entity that runs perfectly whereas other clubs don't.

We have made the progress we have due to the people running the club. Kat, Les, Ralph, Gareth etc, plus the various management teams over the last 8 years.

If someone else buys us will they keep the same people? If not then we are starting from scratch again unless they adopt exactly the same strategy.

Pretty much if new owners came in kept the set up and bunged loads of extra cash in happy days.

Of course we could just as easily see Les sacked and the new owners son in law taking control, while throwing stupid money at some has been name players and Sven-Göran Eriksson as our new manager.....

Now who's playing at building strawmen?

Are you saying Villa and Blackburn, as they were inherited by their owners, have better scouting, recruitment and player development than us? Like it or not pal, money correlates with success -even before conditioning it on the capacity of the club to allocate it efficiently.

There is not much evidence from what I have read about this group that they will be bringing big, big money to the table. £200m (or whatever the price turns out to be) simply buys the club as it stands. You would need double or triple that on top to compete with the Man Cities of this world.

There is only one "man city" in this world(pet hate)?

Sent from my YOGA Tablet 2-1050F using Tapatalk

Pretty much if new owners came in kept the set up and bunged loads of extra cash in happy days.

Not as straightforward as that, though. The FFP regulations have pretty much pulled up the drawbridge when it comes to spending big money - you had to be in that club before the rules kicked in in order to be able to continue to do so in the future.

Batman in full I Wish We Could Be Like Manchester City mode.

At least he's aiming a bit higher these days. He used to wish we were Everton/Stoke/Watford.

Extra money coming into the club from wherever will need to be paid back because new owners will never be philanthropic. So expect ticket prices to increase, for starters.

I hope this never happens.

Extra money coming into the club from wherever will need to be paid back because new owners will never be philanthropic.

Or not if the club is always valued more than what the owners paid?

I suppose it explains the longer contracts on offer to the players to raise the value of the club.

I was more than hoping it was because we were forcing them to stay at the club longer.

I would prefer this not to happen.

It's been mentioned on here and LR picked up on it at the last Fans Forum: FFP has stymied clubs such as ourselves for the foreseeable future, hence our own way of nurturing academy and little known overseas players and selling for ludicrous profit. I am not sure if any new investment brings anything beneficial to our party on the playing budget, only on the infrastructure of the facilities.

I wouldn't object to wealthy foreign owners pouring millions into the club and buying us a trophy or two. That's basically how clubs win trophies as Chelsea and Man city have discovered in recent years. But, Lander don't look particularly wealthy by Premier League ownership standards. In fact after they've paid Kat the 200 million, I wouldn't think they'd have much left to spare and might even look to continue the policy of selling players to recoup some of it. So, I certainly hope she puts the long-term interests of the clubs ahead of any thoughts of short-term personal gain and waits until a wealthier buyer comes along if she does intend to sell the club.

Not as straightforward as that, though. The FFP regulations have pretty much pulled up the drawbridge when it comes to spending big money - you had to be in that club before the rules kicked in in order to be able to continue to do so in the future.

Depends of the sanctions though doesn't it? I'm pretty sure the likes of Man city flaunted the rules in the past and just lived with the consequence (wasn't it a reduced squad in the CL or something) I cant think of any club who has been hit with anything really nasty on breaching FFP.

Not that I want money throwing owners in particular anyway. I'm more than happy with the current owners.

It's been mentioned on here and LR picked up on it at the last Fans Forum: FFP has stymied clubs such as ourselves for the foreseeable future, hence our own way of nurturing academy and little known overseas players and selling for ludicrous profit. I am not sure if any new investment brings anything beneficial to our party on the playing budget, only on the infrastructure of the facilities.

What are the consequences of breaching FFP? if it's only a fine, surely it's worth taking the hit?

FFP is a load of sh!t anyway. It's just a way to keep the big clubs at the top.

I'm pretty sure that City got a fine a few years ago for violating FFP. It may also have been a squad reduction. I also seem to recall reading a preview of the Inter Milan game a few weeks ago that indicated that although Inter overspent on players in the offseason, they are avoiding FFP trouble by simply not naming some of their signings to their Euro squad. Teams are finding ways around it.

City's sanction was on the UEFA FFP regulations, not the Premier League ones, which are very different. As far as I'm aware, nobody's managed to breach the Premier League FFP thresholds yet to put any potential sanctions to the test.

I suppose it explains the longer contracts on offer to the players to raise the value of the club.

I was more than hoping it was because we were forcing them to stay at the club longer.

I would say that almost certainly it played a part. Which then further reinforces the not often spoken about feeling but relatively common knowledge in city circles

that we've been up for sale for quite a while.

I wouldn't object to wealthy foreign owners pouring millions into the club and buying us a trophy or two. That's basically how clubs win trophies as Chelsea and Man city have discovered in recent years. But, Lander don't look particularly wealthy by Premier League ownership standards. In fact after they've paid Kat the 200 million, I wouldn't think they'd have much left to spare and might even look to continue the policy of selling players to recoup some of it. So, I certainly hope she puts the long-term interests of the clubs ahead of any thoughts of short-term personal gain and waits until a wealthier buyer comes along if she does intend to sell the club.

Which makes you wonder whats the point in buying the club for £200m if you're not going to invest...the club's valuation will just drop.

Be nice to have a decent stir fry before a match instead of crappy hot dogs. Surely all we cynics cannot have been right in the summer?

Surely all we cynics cannot have been right in the summer?

So what exactly were all you cynics right about?

We did exactly the same as we have done for the past few years. And all we've done is get better and better each season since the Liebherrs took over. It's already looking reasonable business in the summer once again, we're looking a decent side with room for improvement in January. Like most years.

so anyone remotely Chinese looking tomorrow night to be a potential buyer/investor?

......just as long as you don't mistake him for that waiter from the Chinese restaurant in town who likes to sit in the Chapel .....

I wouldn't object to wealthy foreign owners pouring millions into the club and buying us a trophy or two. That's basically how clubs win trophies as Chelsea and Man city have discovered in recent years. But, Lander don't look particularly wealthy by Premier League ownership standards. In fact after they've paid Kat the 200 million, I wouldn't think they'd have much left to spare and might even look to continue the policy of selling players to recoup some of it.

So, I certainly hope she puts the long-term interests of the clubs ahead of any thoughts of short-term personal gain and waits until a wealthier buyer comes along if she does intend to sell the club.

......it might be an encouraging sign to see if she renews her season ticket ....

 

So what exactly were all you cynics right about?

 

We did exactly the same as we have done for the past few years. And all we've done is get better and better each season since the Liebherrs took over. It's already looking reasonable business in the summer once again, we're looking a decent side with room for improvement in January. Like most years.

Cynics? I guess only thick c**ts confuse the Chinese with the Japanese.

Pretty much if new owners came in kept the set up and bunged loads of extra cash in happy days.

 

Of course we could just as easily see Les sacked and the new owners son in law taking control, while throwing stupid money at some has been name players and Sven-Göran Eriksson as our new manager.....

Spot on.

Cynics? I guess only thick c**ts confuse the Chinese with the Japanese.

Damn, what a fick c**t I am...oh well, easily done.

There, I'm over it already.

I wouldn't object to wealthy foreign owners pouring millions into the club and buying us a trophy or two. That's basically how clubs win trophies as Chelsea and Man city have discovered in recent years. But, Lander don't look particularly wealthy by Premier League ownership standards. In fact after they've paid Kat the 200 million, I wouldn't think they'd have much left to spare and might even look to continue the policy of selling players to recoup some of it. So, I certainly hope she puts the long-term interests of the clubs ahead of any thoughts of short-term personal gain and waits until a wealthier buyer comes along if she does intend to sell the club.

I object to ALL foreign ownership except for the likes of the Liebhers who have proved to be genuine in their dealings. There have been big problems elsewhere with change of name, change of stadium name, change of colours etc. I'm happy as we are. I'm not fussed about Champions League, if we eventually get there fine - if not that's fine too - we are still Southampton F.C. , The Saints, and we play in Red & White stripes at St.Mary's Stadium. If anyone tries to change any of that, they will be in big trouble!

Why do the Liebherr family "need" investors? Serious question.

Man City have rich Middle Eastern owners and yet a Chinese investment group bought 13% for £265m in 2015...

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/dec/01/manchester-city-265m-deal-chinese-investment-group

I object to ALL foreign ownership except for the likes of the Liebhers who have proved to be genuine in their dealings. There have been big problems elsewhere with change of name, change of stadium name, change of colours etc. I'm happy as we are. I'm not fussed about Champions League, if we eventually get there fine - if not that's fine too - we are still Southampton F.C. , The Saints, and we play in Red & White stripes at St.Mary's Stadium. If anyone tries to change any of that, they will be in big trouble!

Not up for the Southampton Cloud Dragons, playing in the Shanghai Plastic Toy Company Stadium, wearing their lucky all red kit, sponsored by Hong Kong fireworks Ltd and made by Peking sweatshops Inc. then.......

Man City have rich Middle Eastern owners and yet a Chinese investment group bought 13% for £265m in 2015...

 

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/dec/01/manchester-city-265m-deal-chinese-investment-group

I'd prefer that scenario with KL staying in control of the club tbh.

Lol at this loser suggesting people are intersted in his opinion....

probably from one of his multiple log ins

Man City have rich Middle Eastern owners and yet a Chinese investment group bought 13% for £265m in 2015...

 

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/dec/01/manchester-city-265m-deal-chinese-investment-group[/QUOTT

Thanks interesting read

Cheers CC

It was perfect, funny and a troll cos you knew a reaction was coming

I will give it a break but in a few months when some contentious happens I am gonna borrow it

The ONLY money required at St Marys to change the current situation would be via massive increases in commercial income. If someone was to buy a stake in the club i dont know how that works with financial fair play. Certainly a rich owner means nothing nowadays as its all about massive sponsorship deals to get around FFP.

I'll only believe it's happening when AR10 says it isn't happening.

It was perfect, funny and a troll cos you knew a reaction was coming

 

I will give it a break but in a few months when some contentious happens I am gonna borrow it

I warmed to it too. TBF Glasgow takes the stick well.

Are U in Shanghai?

I do think we have come as far as KL is willing to take us.

 

And this summer has indicated to me that Les's magic glitter has started running out.

 

So what alternative is there to selling up if we want to continue progressing ?

 

I do however, trust KL and Krueger to ensure we end up with the right owners. Even if Lander doesnt work out, the message is out that we are up for sale and it will eventually be someone else.

 

The Liebherr era is drawing to a close, one way or the other.

Alpine, I am certain you are right. I think this is the opening gambit for a sale of the club.

I'm not sure but alps has reared his head since our loss to a very good Chelsea side - I think he may have run out of his kingsize Snickers the miserable sod... but let's remember he has predicted doom and gloom every since season since Huddersfield were inevitably going to pip us to promotion out of League 1... and then when our luck was going to run out in the championship... oh and then when we were going to face a struggle every single season in the prem because we are run like a shoddy b&b. He is oh so very desperate to be right so he can give a big TOLD YOU SO to us all who don't clearly have a screw loose unlike him. Nutcase.

He will be lurking on the match thread waiting and hoping we lose so he can spout more of his clueless c ra p