How would you feel if the Golds wanted to buy the club?

[Scoffers]

Here it the full article from the Mirror website


SULLIVAN: I'M SELLING
STAY-AWAY FANS HAVE GIVEN HIM THE BLUES
James Nursey 15/02/2007

* More Football

DAVID SULLIVAN last night admitted he and the Gold brothers are ready to sell Birmingham City after revealing the club has cost him £10million in 14 years.

Sullivan and his co-owners at St Andrew's, David and Ralph Gold, have been left increasingly disillusioned by City's poor crowds despite the club lying third in the Championship.

Just 15,854 turned out for Sunday's 1-0 victory over Stoke and Sullivan has had enough of the doom and gloom after relegation last term.
Advertisement

Sullivan, who lives in Essex, would like to sell his 40 per cent stake and reinvest the money in another club.

"Our gates are appalling and we are having a bad time," admitted the Welshman, who bought Brum in 1992 with the Golds.

"Very few bosses of companies survive 14 years and sometimes people just want a change because they get fed up with you.

"The travelling has been getting me down for some time and when people turn on you it is a bad day.

"Our ground is like a morgue and even when we get 25,000 there is a lack of atmosphere and I don't know what we can do to turn it around. I'll be involved with Birmingham until someone better comes along and if someone buys my 40 per cent then, under Stock Exchange rules, they then have to bid for all the shares.

"The Golds, who also own 40 per cent, have said they do not want to sell, but publicly and privately might be two different things.

"The reality is the travelling from near London tires them and then there's the feeling whatever you do for supporters isn't enough, which is hard when you have lost £10m in the club."

Sullivan plans to let kids in for £1 at Birmingham's home game with Cardiff on Sunday, March 4 and allow season tickets holders to bring friends for £5 to win over disgruntled fans complaining about prices.

But Sullivan concedes building bridges with Steve Bruce could be harder following defender Matthew Upson's sale to West Ham for £7.5m against the manager's wishes.

Asked about his relationship with Bruce, Sullivan replied: "Any person with any common sense would have sold Upson.

"He made it massively obvious he was very unhappy and could have left in the summer for just £900,000, but the manager never wants to sell anyone - all they want to do is buy players."

Upson made a personal plea to Sullivan to let him leave and has joined the Hammers on a bumper £45,000-a-week deal.

But Sullivan, who used to own shares in West Ham, thinks both Upson and the Upton Park outfit could regret the move if they are relegated following their recent £85m takeover by a consortium headed by Icelandic tycoon Eggert Magnusson.

Sullivan added: "West Ham has been purchased at an enormous price and I think there will be blood on the carpet in the Premiership.

"West Ham could have big problems if they went down.

I don't blame Upson for going but I don't think anyone else would give him £45,000 so a get-out clause may be worthless if they go down."

 

[Brovion]

To be honest I'm basically in favor. As has been mentioned they have a track record; they're not a couple of johnny-come-latelys who've gotten into football over the last few years either because they think it's trendy, a chance to accquire another 'franchise' or through a desire to launder money.

I'd want to examine any deal, but, yeah, I think they'd improve us.

 

[Pavilionaire]

I watched a bit of Birmingham beat Stoke 1-0 on the weekend and couldn't believe the shite atmosphere and plethora of empty seats.

The club have everything going for them but the fans don't seem bothered.

Given that there are some good sides in that division I think Bruce is doing pretty well.

 

[Man of Harveys]

Simon Jordan f***ing HATES them - they must be OK.

On Sullivan and fellow chairman David Gold…
"I think they are disingenuous. The ethics with which they do business, I don't appreciate. I have had enough dealings with them to be able to have that view.
"Am I surprised? They sell dildos for a living. That gives you a judgement on what they may or may not be."

 

[ROSM]

I watched a bit of Birmingham beat Stoke 1-0 on the weekend and couldn't believe the shite atmosphere and plethora of empty seats.

The club have everything going for them but the fans don't seem bothered.

Given that there are some good sides in that division I think Bruce is doing pretty well.

one of the issues there is that they have recently been in a higher division than perhaps they deserved to be and so where they are now is seen as failure. people can't quite reconcile that with how awful they were say 10-15 years ago.

the home ground is like a morgue, they need to sell players to fund the club overall and yet they still get stick.

Now remind me, what would they see in the Albion?

 

[ROSM]

Simon Jordan f***ing HATES them - they must be OK.

On Sullivan and fellow chairman David Gold?
"I think they are disingenuous. The ethics with which they do business, I don't appreciate. I have had enough dealings with them to be able to have that view.
"Am I surprised? They sell dildos for a living. That gives you a judgement on what they may or may not be."

if you can know a man by his enemies, then that is the best recommendation so far

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

one of the issues there is that they have recently been in a higher division than perhaps they deserved to be and so where they are now is seen as failure. people can't quite reconcile that with how awful they were say 10-15 years ago.

the home ground is like a morgue, they need to sell players to fund the club overall and yet they still get stick.

Now remind me, what would they see in the Albion?

Thing is, overall, we have been crap for the last 15-20 years!!! Therefore its almost a clean slate I suppose...

 

[Drumstick]

one of the issues there is that they have recently been in a higher division than perhaps they deserved to be and so where they are now is seen as failure. people can't quite reconcile that with how awful they were say 10-15 years ago.

the home ground is like a morgue, they need to sell players to fund the club overall and yet they still get stick.

Now remind me, what would they see in the Albion?

our HUGE potential that everyone keeps on about and that its alot closer to london than Birmingham!

So long as dick nd martin read it thru and were happy id be happy!

 

[Drumstick]

some one should email them!

 

[Rougvie]

Sullivan is a their mouth piece basically, he is convenient for the Gold family because at the end of the day they made their money from FILTH, ok they owned an airline and countless other business, but they stay well out of the limelight and get toady sullivan to do their public speaking as they seem aware that anything they say can be turned against them becuase of the way they make their money wheras Sullivan is damaged goods and tends not to be taken seriously anyway.

They are very very shrewd operators.

If they were to come here I am sure Karen Brady would come with them, now there is a REAL opponent for LDC rather than the rather inefectual Perry who talks a good game but suffers from a lack of public profile, do a straw poll of B&H residents and I suspect more people unconnected to the club would have heard of her than Perry, sums it all up in a nutshell really.

 

[Dave the OAP]

I would have thought there will be a mriad of clubs courting their favours ( and their bank balance).

the question I asked originally was would Albion fans welcome an owner like this, and the consensus seems to be Yes, which given our present financial state was always going to be so.

i remember at the time of the Krugers interest, there was a lot of " oh God not them they are a bunch of crooks" - they were music agents and promoters I seem to recall, whereas here we have a group of people who seem to have built their reputation on the Sex industry, but we would still be opened armed as supporters in welcoming them assuming we are promoting ourselves as a "community club"

Are we prepared to drop this idea?

 

[ROSM]

Sullivan is a their mouth piece basically, he is convenient for the Gold family because at the end of the day they made their money from FILTH, ok they owned an airline and countless other business, but they stay well out of the limelight and get toady sullivan to do their public speaking as they seem aware that anything they say can be turned against them becuase of the way they make their money wheras Sullivan is damaged goods and tends not to be taken seriously anyway.

They are very very shrewd operators.

If they were to come here I am sure Karen Brady would come with them, now there is a REAL opponent for LDC rather than the rather inefectual Perry who talks a good game but suffers from a lack of public profile, do a straw poll of B&H residents and I suspect more people unconnected to the club would have heard of her than Perry, sums it all up in a nutshell really.

and it will solve our striker problem as she can bring her hubby paul peschisolido with her.

Job's a good 'un

 

[Rougvie]

Bas Savage could travel to games on this little BEAUTY.....

 

[Brovion]

one of the issues there is that they have recently been in a higher division than perhaps they deserved to be and so where they are now is seen as failure. people can't quite reconcile that with how awful they were say 10-15 years ago.

the home ground is like a morgue, they need to sell players to fund the club overall and yet they still get stick.

Now remind me, what would they see in the Albion?

I was going to say "because our expectations are lower, they could achieve more with a lower outlay". Then I remembered that as a club with our current infrastructure we're at least one division higher than we should be and there are STILL people who think we deserve to be in tier two as of right.

So yeah, fair point. Basically we're no better than Birmingham fans - but then all football fans are the same at heart and they won't do better anywhere else.

So c'mon David - we'll give you a few years before we turn on you!

 

[Man of Harveys]

They've made money making people happy, and entirely harmlessly so. I'm more concerned about them f***ing us over than what people do with their products...

 

[ROSM]

I would have thought there will be a mriad of clubs courting their favours ( and their bank balance).

the question I asked originally was would Albion fans welcome an owner like this, and the consensus seems to be Yes, which given our present financial state was always going to be so.

i remember at the time of the Krugers interest, there was a lot of " oh God not them they are a bunch of crooks" - they were music agents and promoters I seem to recall, whereas here we have a group of people who seem to have built their reputation on the Sex industry, but we would still be opened armed as supporters in welcoming them assuming we are promoting ourselves as a "community club"

Are we prepared to drop this idea?

Bamber was a night club owner and music promoter - I suspect the crooks comment was more to do with other aspects of them rather than their jobs.

 

[ROSM]

I was going to say "because our expectations are lower, they could achieve more with a lower outlay". Then I remembered that as a club with our current infrastructure we're at least one division higher than we should be and there are STILL people who think we deserve to be in tier two as of right.

So yeah, fair point. Basically we're no better than Birmingham fans - but then all football fans are the same at heart and they won't do better anywhere else.

So c'mon David - we'll give you a few years before we turn on you!

I resemble that remark

 

[Hiney]

What could be more in keeping with an image as a 'Community Club' than a massive open-air Ann Summers party?

Marvellous

Sullivan was on Sky Sports News yesterday taliing about wanting to take 'a year off' when he sold Birmingham.

 

[ROSM]

They've made money making people happy, and entirely harmlessly so. I'm more concerned about them f***ing us over than what people do with their products...

after all - every household has one of their products?






haven't they

 

[Drumstick]

I would have thought there will be a mriad of clubs courting their favours ( and their bank balance).

the question I asked originally was would Albion fans welcome an owner like this, and the consensus seems to be Yes, which given our present financial state was always going to be so.

i remember at the time of the Krugers interest, there was a lot of " oh God not them they are a bunch of crooks" - they were music agents and promoters I seem to recall, whereas here we have a group of people who seem to have built their reputation on the Sex industry, but we would still be opened armed as supporters in welcoming them assuming we are promoting ourselves as a "community club"

Are we prepared to drop this idea?

But being a community club idea type thing is likely to bring in local loyal fans which is what there looking for? fingers x'd this end!