[Albion] McGhee 99% likely to leave by end of week!

[Lord Bracknell]

Thank you Lord B.

In a nutshell anybody could buy the Football Club with no fears but anybody who wished to buy the Developement Company if that is possible would be saddled with the debts of building Falmer but from what you say it would appear that the major shareholder in the developement company will be the City Council.

As things stand at the moment, the major shareholder is Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club Ltd.

 

[BensGrandad]

If only BG could rid himself of the notion that the future of this football club depends upon a bunch of rich geezers who can buy and sell control of its assets, he might begin to understand what is going on.

.

Lord B

My life has been dominated by a tory attitude of those with the money have and pay the piper. I am totally against the idea of a co-operative or workers having shares in a company.

I also do not believe that supporters should have shares in a football club I believe that football clubs and companys should be run by the man who has the money to buy it.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

I have news for you, BG.

McDonalds isn't owned by Ronald McDonald.

 

[BensGrandad]

I have news for you, BG.

McDonalds isn't owned by Ronald McDonald.

Perhaps that is why I think they are shit and should be closed.

 

[The Large One]

Lord B

My life has been dominated by a tory attitude of those with the money have and pay the piper. I am totally against the idea of a co-operative or workers having shares in a company.

I also do not believe that supporters should have shares in a football club I believe that football clubs and companys should be run by the man who has the money to buy it.

And therein lies why your opinions jar with the vast majority of fans who have no desire to see a repeat of a Bill Archer-type figure running Brighton & Hove Albion.

Football clubs are far, far more than just toys for rich people to play with. They can be the focal point of a community, a source of great civic pride, and the creator of jobs, wealth and income not just for the club, but a wider town or city. Short-termist, bigoted capitalism can never hope to create those much-needed social benefits through greed and power-mongering.

Our conflicts with Archer and Bellotti, and later with Lewes District Council have brought fans together to have club run not exactly by consensus, but with a level of openness and (relative) honesty which makes the club more relevant to the community and less distant and parochial, like in the days at The Goldstone. The days of austere aldermanic figures who 'always knew best' are long gone, thankfully.

 

[BensGrandad]

.

Football clubs are far, far more than just toys for rich people to play with. They can be the focal point of a community, a source of great civic pride, and the creator of jobs, wealth and income not just for the club, but a wider town or city. Short-termist, bigoted capitalism can never hope to create those much-needed social benefits through greed and power-mongering.

Our conflicts with Archer and Bellotti, and later with Lewes District Council have brought fans together to have club run not exactly by consensus, but with a level of openness and (relative) honesty with makes the club more relevant to the community and less distant and parochial, like in the days at The Goldstone. The days of austere aldermanic figures who 'always knew best' are long gone, thankfully.

Hasn't this been the case at BHA prior to Archer & Stanley etc. Everything seemed to run well in the 40s 50s 60s 70s 80s and for one bad apple the whole system must change!!

We had no problems with previous Chairmen until Archer, the likes of Stringer, Bamber etc. So if Mr Iamrichski comes in why should we expect problems with him.

 

[The Large One]

Just because a Bill Archer scenario didn't happen before, it didn't follow no-one else would have done it. There were no safeguards in place to stop Archer doing what he did. For instance, Bamber was the majority shareholder, but he didn't try and wreck the club, although some of his spending was pretty ludicrous. Point is, Archer didn't care one jot for the club, and used it as his plaything to asset-strip.

Granted, if anyone came in now, there is little that can be done to stop someone throwing away the 'no overall control' clause, but while it remains there in spirit, there is a little less cause for concern.

While I have major reservations about 'official' fan representation on the board I am a forward-looking person, who would love to see the fans have a greater say in the running of the club, and the direction it endeavours to take.

 

[BensGrandad]

Just because a Bill Archer scenario didn't happen before, it didn't follow no-one else would have done it. There were no safeguards in place to stop Archer doing what he did. For instance, Bamber was the majority shareholder, but he didn't try and wreck the club, although some of his spending was pretty ludicrous. Point is, Archer didn't care one jot for the club, and used it as his plaything to asset-strip.

Granted, if anyone came in now, there is little that can be done to stop someone throwing away the 'no overall control' clause, but while it remains there in spirit, there is a little less cause for concern.

While I have major reservations about 'official' fan representation on the board I am a forward-looking person, who would love to see the fans have a greater say in the running of the club, and the direction it endeavours to take.

Sorry I must disagree.

If Mr Iamrichski comes in and buys the club thus doing exactly what Dk did and saved it from going broke. which we will do without investment. Why should he be tarnished with the brush of Archer and be expected to try to rip off the club and fans. He may well be 100% genuine in his desire to bring the club on and earn his money and his enjoyment that way.

Because Ken Bates was known to be a shister did Chelsea say be cause of him Abramovich cant buy Chelsea of course they didnt and neither should DK stop anybody buying this club based on what Archer & Stanley did..

 

[The Large One]

That's one way of looking at it. And yes, he may be genuine.

The vast majority of the fans, however, won't accept it. What's to say that Mr Newinvestor won't have the same thoughts as Bill Archer? Where is the element of trust? That cannot be garnered until some years later.

If someone has overall control of the club, there is nothing anyone can do if they disagree with him - be it be fans, directors or sponsors. One of the hot running themes throughout this entire thread is the concept of open and healthy debate. If there is someone in overall control of the club, the debate might continue, but it will ultimately be meaningless.

Do you think the club is prepared to open itself up to that risk again? Once bitten, and all that.

 

[BensGrandad]

The test of time for The Albion, been in existence for in excess of 100 years shows that they have only ever been turned over once by 3 shisters for a few years, probably not even that as they paid the wages for most of the time that they were here.

If I was Mr Investor there is no way on this earth would I offer the club £50m and not have the overall control and final say on any matter concerning my money. The first thing I would do is scrub those clauses made by DK as a precondition of the giving of the money. I am sure that you realise that if I had that sort of money to invest it wouldn't be to make more but to make the club greater than it is.

 

[Ernest]

And - as the Sporting Options saga demonstrates - his track record as an investor isn't 100 per cent successful.

Are you talking about Dick Tight now ?

 

[Chopper West]

If Adolf Hitler flew in today with £50m then BG would send a limousine for him to the Albion

 

[bhaexpress]

If Adolf Hitler flew in today with £50m then BG would send a limousine for him to the Albion

Harsh but probably true !

 

[Gwylan]

The test of time for The Albion, been in existence for in excess of 100 years shows that they have only ever been turned over once by 3 shisters for a few years, probably not even that as they paid the wages for most of the time that they were here.

If I was Mr Investor there is no way on this earth would I offer the club £50m and not have the overall control and final say on any matter concerning my money. The first thing I would do is scrub those clauses made by DK as a precondition of the giving of the money. I am sure that you realise that if I had that sort of money to invest it wouldn't be to make more but to make the club greater than it is.

You really do have very little idea how business operates do you? There are plenty of examples of people putting money into businesses without having overall control - McManus and Magnier put more than £50m into Man U and didn't even have a seat on the board, let alone overall control. Business people will make investments where they think there's the ability to make money - if BHA represents an opportunity for them to do so, that's what they'll do.

As TLO points out, a football club is more than a business; it's a community focal point as well. That's why DK was right to insist that no one person has overall control.

As to your point that because we didn't have a problem with directors before Archer and therefore we should have nothing to worry about, thats just total nonsense and just shows how little you know about the Albion.

For a start, we had an entire board (or pretty much) banned from football for finanical irregularities - so much for the clean and honest approach.

Secondly, there was a non-profit clause in Albion's constitution that should have prevented anyone selling off the clubs assets to make a profit; this was removed by Archer (and exposed by Paul Samrah). Archer relied on the lack of backbone of the FA to do nothing and the Tory councillors of Hove to give him their blessing:I'm sure that other directors looked longingly at the possibility of doing something similar, but the business culture of the time prevented them; that all changed after Thatcher and carries on to this day.

 

[Gwylan]

"Poker ace who wants McGhee out

by Andy Naylor

The architect of the bid to oust Albion manager Mark McGhee is a football betting expert and top poker player, The Argus can reveal.

Tony Bloom, nephew of long-serving Seagulls director Ray Bloom, is the wealthy investor spearheading the campaign to remove McGhee.

He is known on the poker circuit as ëThe Lizard', an alias acquired from an old friend who claimed he had alligator blood.

Bloom's sibling, Darren, is often seen in the company of Albion players. They are referred to by club insiders as the ëDangerous Brothers'.

Darren is particularly friendly with Michel Kuipers, Albion's out-of-favour Dutch goalkeeper.

The scale of his brother's involvement in the club and motives are unclear but he has sufficient power to challenge chairman Dick Knight's desire to keep McGhee.

The Argus revealed on Monday a board split over whether McGhee should remain in charge following Albion's relegation from the Championship.

We then revealed yesterday that McGhee is on the brink of parting company with the club, a victim of a boardroom power struggled based on the Seagulls' precarious finances.

Knight and chief executive Martin Perry are strongly in favour of retaining McGhee.

Ray Bloom and fellow director Derek Chapman, the natural successor to Knight, are thought to have sided with Tony Bloom.

Knight has so far been unsuccessful in persuading him that removing McGhee is a knee-jerk reaction, not in the best long-term interests of the club. An announcement on McGhee's future is expected from the club by the end of the week.

London-based Bloom, a former professional gambler, worked for bookmaker Victor Chandler in his football division in Bangkok.

The diminutive 36-year-old returned home on the eve of the World Cup in 2002 to launch premierbet.com, a successful on-line football betting firm which now has thousands of customers.

Bloom is also a leading poker player. Earlier this month he took part in the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas and in January 2004 he won the Australasian Poker Championship in Melbourne, picking up a first prize of £180,000.

The Bloom brothers have funded Albion's end-of-season trips to Spain in recent seasons. "


Still not happy about this. How much money is he putting in that gives him so much sway?

 

[Brovion]

Hang on, people have been talking about a 'major investor'. A few hundred grand, whilst welcome is NOT 'major investment'. Not any more, not even for a small club like us.

 

[Jim D]

'The lizard'; 'The Dangerous Brothers'? They sound like one big happy family along with their harmless and well-meaning Uncle Ray. Is this some sort of a wind-up? I can't believe that our great club is being taken over (because that's where it will end) by this shower.

Personally, I'd rather we had no money and were relegated next year than be run by a bunch of gangsters.

 

[blockhseagull]

Hang on, people have been talking about a 'major investor'. A few hundred grand, whilst welcome is NOT 'major investment'. Not any more, not even for a small club like us.

Is that all it is ?

I would imagine it would have to be considerably more to test DK resolve over MM

 

[Rusthall Seagull]

'The lizard'; 'The Dangerous Brothers'? They sound like one big happy family along with their harmless and well-meaning Uncle Ray. Is this some sort of a wind-up? I can't believe that our great club is being taken over (because that's where it will end) by this shower.

Personally, I'd rather we had no money and were relegated next year than be run by a bunch of gangsters.

What the **** do you mean 'a bunch of gangsters' ?? Have you ever met these guys? are you going to honestly sit there and believe that drivel written by Naylor....

Both of these guys are 100% Albion....the family have been following the Albion for so many years....

 

[Brovion]

Is that all it is ?

I would imagine it would have to be considerably more to test DK resolve over MM

I don't know and I agree with you. It's just that looking at what he's achieved and his business profile he doesn't seem to be the sort of person who has spare millions to invest. A sort of modern Steven Purdew.

Edit: As I said on another thread if he HAS got millions to invest then that's a different story.