The Sunday Times - Southampton put up for sale at £250m

[benjii]

If I were selling my house or car I would advertise and try to get as many people interested as possible.

 

Perhaps it works differently when trying to sell a football club, keep it a secret from as many people as possible in order to find a buyer?

 

The board know very little of Goa's plans, wider business activities or financial standing. It's why the club couldn't answer Premier League enquiries about state influence when the Chinese government expropriated a large chunk of Lander.

[hypochondriac]

It's happening....

 

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/bill-gates-microsoft-board-melinda-foundation-stepping-down-a9401791.html

The ghost of Paul Allen.

[Wade Garrett]

Whatever Toby Steel says...there are American investors interested.

 

I was told a few weeks ago that the club were in the process of becoming lean and that Americans were going to buy the club.

 

The person that told me is very close to the club, but is a born wind-up merchant.

 

I honestly don’t know if he is being genuine or not, but there you go.

[Gordon Mockles]

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.

 

Take a deep breath along with that sip of reality.

 

Wow! You’re very economical with facts to suit your own misguided argument. Separate the owner from the club with the club. And what would that achieve other than rendering any debate more senseless than that of which you’ve just uttered?

 

Unsure why you are talking about taking a deep breath, odd.

 

It’s as odd as when people say spending money to maintain a club in a league is “throwing money at the club”.

Would it have been “throwing money at the club” to have signed a couple of desperately needed defenders the club (yet again) alluded to but reneged in January? Just curious in your choice of language.

 

I’ll be concise, for a change. You say “take a sip of reality”. How about you take a sip of the financials & player trading figures (incoming transfers compared with outgoing transfers in the three years since the majority shareholder took charge) then come back once you’ve de-misted your rose tinted spectacles (made in China) and see if you can formulate a sensible argument.

 

Tell me, I’ve spoke to virtually everything Saints fan I know about Gao. Quite rightly, no-one defends this prevaricating owner who is arguably the worst in our history (and I have a massive hatred towards Rupert Lowe & hatred isn’t an emotion I like to harbour).

 

Yet, you continuously defend Gao. Please explain why? I appreciate that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, no matter how strange but your opinions and defence of a man who has led us to 3 relegation battles & hasn’t even the common courtesy to speak to the fan base is beyond obscure. Are you really Nelly?

[Lighthouse]

Wow! You’re very economical with facts to suit your own misguided argument. Separate the owner from the club with the club. And what would that achieve other than rendering any debate more senseless than that of which you’ve just uttered?

 

Unsure why you are talking about taking a deep breath, odd.

 

It’s as odd as when people say spending money to maintain a club in a league is “throwing money at the club”.

Would it have been “throwing money at the club” to have signed a couple of desperately needed defenders the club (yet again) alluded to but reneged in January? Just curious in your choice of language.

 

I’ll be concise, for a change. You say “take a sip of reality”. How about you take a sip of the financials & player trading figures (incoming transfers compared with outgoing transfers in the three years since the majority shareholder took charge) then come back once you’ve de-misted your rose tinted spectacles (made in China) and see if you can formulate a sensible argument.

 

Tell me, I’ve spoke to virtually everything Saints fan I know about Gao. Quite rightly, no-one defends this prevaricating owner who is arguably the worst in our history (and I have a massive hatred towards Rupert Lowe & hatred isn’t an emotion I like to harbour).

 

Yet, you continuously defend Gao. Please explain why? I appreciate that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, no matter how strange but your opinions and defence of a man who has led us to 3 relegation battles & hasn’t even the common courtesy to speak to the fan base is beyond obscure. Are you really Nelly?

 

Yes, because he were safe by the middle of January and he didn't need to do it. FROM HIS POINT OF VIEW we did not desperately need defenders - He's the owner, his POV is the one that counts.

 

When are some people going to get this. We are an investment for Gao, so long as we're a secure Premier League asset he doesn't need to spend more money.

[egg]

Wow! You’re very economical with facts to suit your own misguided argument. Separate the owner from the club with the club. And what would that achieve other than rendering any debate more senseless than that of which you’ve just uttered?

 

Unsure why you are talking about taking a deep breath, odd.

 

It’s as odd as when people say spending money to maintain a club in a league is “throwing money at the club”.

Would it have been “throwing money at the club” to have signed a couple of desperately needed defenders the club (yet again) alluded to but reneged in January? Just curious in your choice of language.

 

I’ll be concise, for a change. You say “take a sip of reality”. How about you take a sip of the financials & player trading figures (incoming transfers compared with outgoing transfers in the three years since the majority shareholder took charge) then come back once you’ve de-misted your rose tinted spectacles (made in China) and see if you can formulate a sensible argument.

 

Tell me, I’ve spoke to virtually everything Saints fan I know about Gao. Quite rightly, no-one defends this prevaricating owner who is arguably the worst in our history (and I have a massive hatred towards Rupert Lowe & hatred isn’t an emotion I like to harbour).

 

Yet, you continuously defend Gao. Please explain why? I appreciate that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, no matter how strange but your opinions and defence of a man who has led us to 3 relegation battles & hasn’t even the common courtesy to speak to the fan base is beyond obscure. Are you really Nelly?

 

Gordon, we've done this to death. You consistently misquote me and fail to see any argument other than yours.

 

You think the club should sign players. I say I'd love them to, but as I can read a balance sheet and have a bit of common sense, I accept we can't.

 

We both want a different owner. I've said that several times but you appear to think I'm a fan of his. Bizarre.

 

In case you haven't noticed, there's a bit more going on in the word. I'm not interested in trying to debate with someone as blinkered as you. I'm more interested in stuff that actually matters.

[egg]

Yes, because he were safe by the middle of January and he didn't need to do it. FROM HIS POINT OF VIEW we did not desperately need defenders - He's the owner, his POV is the one that counts.

 

When are some people going to get this. We are an investment for Gao, so long as we're a secure Premier League asset he doesn't need to spend more money.

 

Common sense is lost on him mate. There's not one business man in the world who'd inject tens of millions into a business knowing it'll never come back. But Gao should do that apparently.

[Gordon Mockles]

Yes, because he were safe by the middle of January and he didn't need to do it. FROM HIS POINT OF VIEW we did not desperately need defenders - He's the owner, his POV is the one that counts.

 

When are some people going to get this. We are an investment for Gao, so long as we're a secure Premier League asset he doesn't need to spend more money.

 

I think everyone gets that and it’s more than obvious but thanks for the recap. It’s just weird because why would you buy a club if you’re not going to at least try & compete?! He is a property billionaire so I assume he has a certain level of intellect and you wouldn’t buy a Premier League club as a viable business unless you’re bringing it up from the championship for a profit as Markus successfully did.

 

I have a good idea why Gao bought the club but libel reasons prevent me from elaborating but don’t pedal that tired old owner investment cr*p. If he wanted a profit making business, he wouldn’t have bought a Premier League club. We sell any player than attracts attention yet we are bizarrely owing 90 million somehow. They need to elaborate on that.

 

It was clear after our December run, we didn’t need to desperately spend in January but if I owned the club, I certainly wouldn’t take that gamble. There may be a reason given like it’s better than buying in the summer but they’ve done that before and we won’t do that either. We now know the strategy is clearly just to make do, possibly to set up the club for a sale. I find it strange & incredibly tight to add 40,000,000 to the value of the club when you’ve decreased it largely, considering VVD, Gabbiadini, etc.

 

So, I still feel we must have the tightest owner in the Premier League. Why do people on here keep bizarrely saying he’s potless? He’s a property billionaire. If he even spent 20 million in Jan, which I accept he didn’t need to do, do you believe he really will in the summer? No.

 

Of course, no owner has to spend anything on the club they buy but it’s pretty ridiculous to expect a self-sustaining model in the current environment. They always move the goalposts and go back on their word and we will not likely sign much in the summer despite practically needing half a squad.

 

To put things into perspective about their level of stringent finances, we are amongst the top seven in the league wealth table and in the billionaire category. Our owners are worth 4 billion, according to official Premier League figures which is the figure we must go by. That’s more than Liverpool and more than Everton and not far-off Manchester United. Wolves and Leicester are marginally ahead. Compare all those clubs and look at their behaviour in the league. I’m not saying we should copy them but I’m just saying compare them. Then consider each league place is worth 2 million.

 

Consider any transfer window but let’s consider January, hypothetically. 20 million is a lot of money but when you consider a couple of defenders and our league status and the cited 4 billion Gao has got, we are talking 0.005% of their wealth. Let’s hypothetically say I have 2k in the bank. The equivalent of 0.005% of that is a tenner. Our manager wears RoKo’s old, monogrammed gloves. Now that’s tight!!!

[Gordon Mockles]

Common sense is lost on him mate. There's not one business man in the world who'd inject tens of millions into a business knowing it'll never come back. But Gao should do that apparently.

 

What, you mean other than football? Or motor racing? Or many other sports?

 

Besides, it’s not always known to never come back but I’ll leave you to it. If you’re more interested in more important things, don’t come on this forum and stop replying rather than doing so then moaning about it

[Lighthouse]

I think everyone gets that and it’s more than obvious but thanks for the recap. It’s just weird because why would you buy a club if you’re not going to at least try & compete?! He is a property billionaire so I assume he has a certain level of intellect and you wouldn’t buy a Premier League club as a viable business unless you’re bringing it up from the championship for a profit as Markus successfully did.

 

I have a good idea why Gao bought the club but libel reasons prevent me from elaborating but don’t pedal that tired old owner investment cr*p. If he wanted a profit making business, he wouldn’t have bought a Premier League club. We sell any player than attracts attention yet we are bizarrely owing 90 million somehow. They need to elaborate on that.

 

It was clear after our December run, we didn’t need to desperately spend in January but if I owned the club, I certainly wouldn’t take that gamble. There may be a reason given like it’s better than buying in the summer but they’ve done that before and we won’t do that either. We now know the strategy is clearly just to make do, possibly to set up the club for a sale. I find it strange & incredibly tight to add 40,000,000 to the value of the club when you’ve decreased it largely, considering VVD, Gabbiadini, etc.

 

So, I still feel we must have the tightest owner in the Premier League. Why do people on here keep bizarrely saying he’s potless? He’s a property billionaire. If he even spent 20 million in Jan, which I accept he didn’t need to do, do you believe he really will in the summer? No.

 

Of course, no owner has to spend anything on the club they buy but it’s pretty ridiculous to expect a self-sustaining model in the current environment. They always move the goalposts and go back on their word and we will not likely sign much in the summer despite practically needing half a squad.

 

To put things into perspective about their level of stringent finances, we are amongst the top seven in the league wealth table and in the billionaire category. Our owners are worth 4 billion, according to official Premier League figures which is the figure we must go by. That’s more than Liverpool and more than Everton and not far-off Manchester United. Wolves and Leicester are marginally ahead. Compare all those clubs and look at their behaviour in the league. I’m not saying we should copy them but I’m just saying compare them. Then consider each league place is worth 2 million.

 

Consider any transfer window but let’s consider January, hypothetically. 20 million is a lot of money but when you consider a couple of defenders and our league status and the cited 4 billion Gao has got, we are talking 0.005% of their wealth. Let’s hypothetically say I have 2k in the bank. The equivalent of 0.005% of that is a tenner. Our manager wears RoKo’s old, monogrammed gloves. Now that’s tight!!!

 

No... just no. Gao does not have anything close to £4bn sitting in his bank account.

[egg]

What, you mean other than football? Or motor racing? Or many other sports?

 

Besides, it’s not always known to never come back but I’ll leave you to it. If you’re more interested in more important things, don’t come on this forum and stop replying rather than doing so then moaning about it

I'll reply to this post then leave you to it.

 

You're confusing Gao with a multi billionaire with money to burn on a hobby. SFC ain't a hobby. It's a business. He ain't a multi billionaire. Business men do not throw money away. It's really not a difficult concept.

[Vancouver Saint]

Typical Saints - only we could find a Chinese investor with no money!

[Gordon Mockles]

No... just no. Gao does not have anything close to £4bn sitting in his bank account.

 

And you know this because........

 

Owners have to divulge their finances to the PL and provide evidence prior to purchasing a club, much like when you are getting a loan/mortgage. If this is wildly wrong, I assume this could allegedly be classed as fraudulent).

 

I find it astounding how you and other members on this forum are privy to such personally, private financial information such as the internal accounts prior to being released, owner's personal wealth and bank statement, etc. If you are in fact privy, it may explain why you so blindly defend the owner when no-one seems to.

[Saint J 77]

Whatever Toby Steel says...there are American investors interested.

 

I seem to remember there was talk of American interest around the time of Gao taking over. I wonder if this is the same people/person? At the end of the day, provided the potential new owner is more like Markus Liebherr and less like Gao, I just hope they get it done fast. I know that would be very unlikely under normal circumstances, so with everything going on right now its even less likely to get it done quickly. As with the current world situation, despite things looking grim, I live in hope for a positive outcome.

[Gordon Mockles]

You're confusing Gao with a multi billionaire with money to burn on a hobby.

 

Oh. Sorry. I assumed he was a billionaire judging by the financial statements and evidence he presented to the PL in order to actually purchase the club. Are you suggesting he has committed high level fraud by the cited figures (into the billions) which were declared?

 

SFC ain't a hobby. It's a business.

 

There was me thinking he purchased our club just for fun. Thanks for correcting me!

 

He ain't a multi billionaire.

 

Apparently, according to the PL, he is. How do you know he is not? Based on the fact he's the tightest owner in the PL or through sheer guesswork? Like all those speculatively claiming Gao is potless without any direct evidence.

 

Business men do not throw money away. It's really not a difficult concept.

 

Other than Roman Abramovich spending almost £900 million on Chelsea since buying the club (for £140 million) and Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan putting near on 1.2 Billion into Man City.

 

What is a difficult concept, accepting some Billionaire's spend money and some (ours) do NOT?! Not even a penny!! This was all I was trying to highlight rather than going over old ground but there is a strange sense of delusion and being unable to accept reality on this forum.

 

I kind of get the not spending in Jan if we really don't need to although I don't entirely agree (but it's not my club, hey, in case I didn't realise) as it carried some risk as our plummeting league position illustrated but we likely would be fine. This is not the point and we digress if we discuss this. My point was merely illustrating how incredibly tight our owner is and why buy a club in the first place. Generally, when you're silent about your intentions, they're often not good or not wanting to be widely known (like when Tony Hayward formed Valleres with Nat Rothschild to take over the largest remaining inshore oil field in Iraq but they didn't want the mainstream media to expand upon it as it contradicted their prevaricating mantra of "Hearts and Minds", peddled a decade previously to the British public during the Gulf War). These tactics generally rely on time passing and history slipping from the minds of the public to avoid any backlash.

[Lighthouse]

And you know this because........

 

Owners have to divulge their finances to the PL and provide evidence prior to purchasing a club, much like when you are getting a loan/mortgage. If this is wildly wrong, I assume this could allegedly be classed as fraudulent).

 

I find it astounding how you and other members on this forum are privy to such personally, private financial information such as the internal accounts prior to being released, owner's personal wealth and bank statement, etc. If you are in fact privy, it may explain why you so blindly defend the owner when no-one seems to.

 

Again, you just fundamentally don't get this. I'm not defending him, I think he's useless.

 

He is obviously not an Abramovic or Sheikh, who basically buy football clubs as fashion statements to get laid. This is a business, an investment. He isn't going to put any more money in that he has to and he doesn't have £4bn in his bank account. Hardly anyone on the planet does.

[egg]

Again, you just fundamentally don't get this. I'm not defending him, I think he's useless.

 

He is obviously not an Abramovic or Sheikh, who basically buy football clubs as fashion statements to get laid. This is a business, an investment. He isn't going to put any more money in that he has to and he doesn't have £4bn in his bank account. Hardly anyone on the planet does.

 

Nail. Head. Saved me the bother, thank you.

[Wurzel]

And you know this because........

Owners have to divulge their finances to the PL and provide evidence prior to purchasing a club, much like when you are getting a loan/mortgage. If this is wildly wrong, I assume this could allegedly be classed as fraudulent).

 

I find it astounding how you and other members on this forum are privy to such personally, private financial information such as the internal accounts prior to being released, owner's personal wealth and bank statement, etc. If you are in fact privy, it may explain why you so blindly defend the owner when no-one seems to.

 

Maybe they do but there is absolutely no way the PL (or any other organisation) would reveal those details to the general public. Wherever you get your £4b from is just someone's guesswork.

 

And even if he did have £4b that doesn't mean he has it in liquid assets to spend as and when he likes. There are plenty of individuals and companies worth a fortune on paper but without a pot to **** in as far as ready cash goes.

[benjii]

Nail. Head. Saved me the bother, thank you.

 

So you agree that he's useless?

 

Finally!

[egg]

So you agree that he's useless?

 

Finally!

 

I always have been mate. I've just been realistic about what we can expect from him.

[hypochondriac]

I always have been mate. I've just been realistic about what we can expect from him.

Has anybody expected him to be anything other than useless? Because I haven't seen it.

[egg]

Has anybody expected him to be anything other than useless? Because I haven't seen it.

Financial expectations Hypo. Plenty of people have been banging on about us signing players. We ain't got the cash so the expectation can only be that Gao put it in. That was never gonna happen.

[verlaine1979]

Financial expectations Hypo. Plenty of people have been banging on about us signing players. We ain't got the cash so the expectation can only be that Gao put it in. That was never gonna happen.

 

There are three types of fan on this site:

1. Those that know Gao has no money to spend and are annoyed by it.

2. Those who know Gao has no money, but take solace in pointing this out to others as if it should be reason enough not to be annoyed.

3. Those who know Gao has no money, but don't care as long as our crest continues to look a little bit like a man with a football for a head.

[benjii]

There are three types of fan on this site:

1. Those that know Gao has no money to spend and are annoyed by it.

2. Those who know Gao has no money, but take solace in pointing this out to others as if it should be reason enough not to be annoyed.

3. Those who know Gao has no money, but don't care as long as our crest continues to look a little bit like a man with a football for a head.

 

[Chewy]

There are three types of fan on this site:

1. Those that know Gao has no money to spend and are annoyed by it.

2. Those who know Gao has no money, but take solace in pointing this out to others as if it should be reason enough not to be annoyed.

3. Those who know Gao has no money, but don't care as long as our crest continues to look a little bit like a man with a football for a head.

 

You forgot the fourth category - Gordon Mockles. A category all of his own.

[egg]

There are three types of fan on this site:

1. Those that know Gao has no money to spend and are annoyed by it.

2. Those who know Gao has no money, but take solace in pointing this out to others as if it should be reason enough not to be annoyed.

3. Those who know Gao has no money, but don't care as long as our crest continues to look a little bit like a man with a football for a head.

Not often we agree. Very good ?

[Gordon Mockles]

You forgot the fourth category - Gordon Mockles. A category all of his own.

 

Wind your neck in choppy!

[stevy777_x]

@afcbournemouth recorded a loss of £32.4million after tax for the year ending 30th June 2019

 

That's compared to a loss of £10.9million the previous year #afcb

 

Saint s situation doesn t seem that bad compared to the Cherries.

[Saint86]

Apparently, according to the PL, he is. How do you know he is not? Based on the fact he's the tightest owner in the PL or through sheer guesswork? Like all those speculatively claiming Gao is potless without any direct evidence.

 

Did a quick google, Mike Ashley is a billionaire.

[the saint in winchester]

The fella from Dell looking at investing in Derby County. Surely we would be a better investment?

[lambtiss]

The fella from Dell looking at investing in Derby County. Surely we would be a better investment?

 

Possibly, but not at £250 million - a ludicrous amount at the moment.

[Lighthouse]

The fella from Dell looking at investing in Derby County. Surely we would be a better investment?

 

Based on what? They can comfortably fill a 30k stadium even in the Championship. If their asking price is significantly lower than ours and they aren't p*ssing away massive amounts of cash on stupid wages for crap players, they start to look a better option.

[Turkish]

The fella from Dell looking at investing in Derby County. Surely we would be a better investment?

 

Not a chance. £250m buy price, posting heavy losses, a huge wage bill of players we cant shift, a difficult deal to do with a joint ownership, plus an invisible majority share holder.

[Matthew Le God]

The fella from Dell looking at investing in Derby County. Surely we would be a better investment?

 

There is a huge upside to Derby, they'd be significantly cheaper as they are in the Championship and promotion would see their value increase massively.

[CB Fry]

The fella from Dell looking at investing in Derby County. Surely we would be a better investment?

Not really.

 

Derby would be cheaper, have a huge potential upside by achieving promotion, plus have plenty of infrastructure and potential - good stadium, good facilities, decent youth development, big fanbase.

[Matthew Le God]

Derby would be cheaper, have a huge potential upside by achieving promotion, plus have plenty of infrastructure and potential - good stadium, good facilities, decent youth development, big fanbase.

 

Derby don't own the stadium.

[rallyboy]

Have we had many viewings?

[SW5 SAINT]

I don't think many football clubs will be worth very much at all in a few weeks, saddled with crippling debts and no income. One thing is for sure football, will never be the same again.....

[doddisalegend]

I very much doubt anyone is buying, any football club, any time soon. As things stand if you really want one no doubt there will be a few going cheap as the economic impact of the virus starts to kick in in the future.

[CB Fry]

Derby don't own the stadium.

As far as I know its owned by Mel Morris. If hes doing some financial gymnastics where he is renting it back to DCFC (that he also owns) then fine but it's all the same guy. I've not read the story so no idea what the plan is.

[stevy777_x]

I don't think many football clubs will be worth very much at all in a few weeks, saddled with crippling debts and no income. One thing is for sure football, will never be the same again.....

 

Players will reduce their wages.

Even Barca players have agreed to it

[Doctoroncall]

As far as I know its owned by Mel Morris. If hes doing some financial gymnastics where he is renting it back to DCFC (that he also owns) then fine but it's all the same guy. I've not read the story so no idea what the plan is.

 

As soon as the stadium is separated from the club, it’s another hurdle to overcome. There are a number of EFL clubs that have had this done by the owners, initially to help (ummh) but then turns bad. See Walsall as an example.

[danjosaint]

Did i not hear that derby are in a whole lot of debt plus court cases and ffp on there back about the way the stadium has been purchased

[Saint Billy]

I don't think many football clubs will be worth very much at all in a few weeks, saddled with crippling debts and no income. One thing is for sure football, will never be the same again.....

 

Disagreed with my own comment after consideration, please ignore.

Edited 24 March, 2020 by Saint Billy

[Depressed of Shirley]

Did i not hear that derby are in a whole lot of debt plus court cases and ffp on there back about the way the stadium has been purchased

 

The problem for Derby seems to be that the stadium was valued in the accounts at £50m, but was sold to the owner for more than £80m allowing them to stay within FPP. They cant have it both ways, so either the accounts have been wrong, or the stadium sale looks a bit fishy.

 

Also, their accounts have shown values for players as assets even though they are out of contract and therefore worth zero in theory. All this has allowed them to stay within FPP and not get fined. Other clubs, particularly Middlesbrough are very annoyed.

[stevy777_x]

Players will reduce their wages.

Even Barca players have agreed to it

 

As anticipated, prem clubs looking at reducing player wages.

Common sense.

[itchen]

As anticipated, prem clubs looking at reducing player wages.

Common sense.

 

They might get to qualify for govt support of up to £2500 a month if the club can't afford to pay them their full wage.

[SKD]

Newcastle on the verge of takeover. Another club that’ll Easily finish above us next season then.

 

Ralph wouldn’t be a bad shout for them, if I’m honest. Not that I think they’d go for him, but give him a Big pot of cash and a reign to put his stamp on a team and I think they’d do very well.

[bpsaint]

Newcastle on the verge of takeover. Another club that’ll Easily finish above us next season then.

 

Ralph wouldn’t be a bad shout for them, if I’m honest. Not that I think they’d go for him, but give him a Big pot of cash and a reign to put his stamp on a team and I think they’d do very well.

 

I reckon they’ll go back for Rafa, with the funds he’s likely to have at his disposal plus the positive effect it would have on the fan base they could easily be pushing for top 4 in a couple of years.

[Depressed of Shirley]

I reckon they’ll go back for Rafa, with the funds he’s likely to have at his disposal plus the positive effect it would have on the fan base they could easily be pushing for top 4 in a couple of years.

 

Well, even being owned by the Saudi Royal family wont make them any bigger or better than Liverpool, Man Utd, Man City, Chelsea, will they be happy being 5th at best?