[divinewind]

It's not ambition when your best players would sooner play for similar sized clubs. If Man U or Asrenal wanted them fair enough,i wouldn't blame them. But Kamara, Odemwingie, Berahino, Kevin Phillips, Gary Megson...are they all wrong about Peace?
If we had spent the £5m on Lukaku for another loan spell who knows what might have happened, but again, we showed no ambition, left it until the last minute and then signed sick note Vic for £6m.
We won't sign any players who will improve us again this window, despite the prem money going through the roof.
If we had a decent price for the sale,say £50-£60m we would be snapped up.
The only ambition Peace has got is to make money for himself.
He has even moved to Jersey to avoid mainland tax.

[liverbaggie]

Why don't you get off the owners back?
He's done his best for the club he supports within his means,and always a profit at year end.
So what if he makes a great profit by selling its not a crime to make money you know.
He won't sell us down the river,as usual he will do his very best for WBA.
Stop knocking the guy eh.

[wba13]

Great post liverbaggie Peace done a wonderful job over the years and if or when {I'm still sceptical}He does sell idont think he will send us up the river.

[divinewind]

I remember when you all wore Tony Mowbray masks as well. Oh how i laughed.

[WednesburyAlbion]

It's not ambition when your best players would sooner play for similar sized clubs. If Man U or Asrenal wanted them fair enough,i wouldn't blame them. But Kamara, Odemwingie, Berahino, Kevin Phillips, Gary Megson...are they all wrong about Peace?
If we had spent the £5m on Lukaku for another loan spell who knows what might have happened, but again, we showed no ambition, left it until the last minute and then signed sick note Vic for £6m.
We won't sign any players who will improve us again this window, despite the prem money going through the roof.
If we had a decent price for the sale,say £50-£60m we would be snapped up.
The only ambition Peace has got is to make money for himself.
He has even moved to Jersey to avoid mainland tax.

But you haven't mentioned McCauley, Yacob, Mulumbu, Hodgson. One went in to manage England the players were fantastic business. Your examples are poor considering none of them achieved nothing once leaving us.

[SirTonyM]

It's not ambition when your best players would sooner play for similar sized clubs. If Man U or Asrenal wanted them fair enough,i wouldn't blame them. But Kamara, Odemwingie, Berahino, Kevin Phillips, Gary Megson...are they all wrong about Peace?
If we had spent the £5m on Lukaku for another loan spell who knows what might have happened, but again, we showed no ambition, left it until the last minute and then signed sick note Vic for £6m.
We won't sign any players who will improve us again this window, despite the prem money going through the roof.
If we had a decent price for the sale,say £50-£60m we would be snapped up.
The only ambition Peace has got is to make money for himself.
He has even moved to Jersey to avoid mainland tax.

Some good points but just a couple of things. Lukaku wasn't going to sign for us initially we could have offered 10 million. He went back to chelsea to fight for a spot.
Also using Berahino, Kamara and Odemwingie as character witnesses isn't the best defence

[baggie82]

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Peace buy majority control of the club with a loan leveraged on it and used the clubs profits to then pay back the loan his investor, i.e. put not a single penny in to acquire our football club? The same strategy used by the glazers a decade later. We don't know what he is looking for, £150m to £200m is rumoured in the press. If we are not sold this summer despite the low value of the pound and all interest in the prem then I think it's a fair conclusion to draw that he has set the bar too high. More to the point there is clear tension between what is best for the club and the maximum money Peace can try to obtain for himself. Suppose the club is worth £150m, he could keep £100m and demand the remainder is put back into the club, which don't forget is still £100m out for no investment in. I will eat my hat if that happens.

It is not in doubt that he has managed the club well but let's not also forget his annual £1m dividend to himself so he is paid handsomely for doing his job. On a day to day level I think we have every right to be peeved with the failure to lower match-day prices (not matching the £30 away fan ceiling this year was pathetic), the lack of ambition to redevelop the Halfords and the general refusal to take any calculated risk to try to kick the club on.

I don't see how we can improve any further under his handbrake chairmanship so the sooner we are sold onto an investor with deep pockets and some ambition the better. In truth we went stale about three years ago. A few murals around the BRE won't cut it.

The bottom line is if he holds out for the maximum sale price and takes all the money with him then he is putting his own interest before the football club. I'm glad he has managed our club as a business so we are financially secure but I won't applaud a sale that doesn't leave something behind. Be interesting to see what happens this summer. I suspect we will not be sold, as the chairman doesn't strike me as someone willing to be flexible or is easy to deal with. Hope I'm proved wrong.

[Topman]

Who says we have to be sold by the time the season kicks off. We are guessing that after what happened last year but this year there has been no timescale on this. As it has been already said our business dealings won't be effected so this could run and run. It took years seemingly for Everton to find investment. I personally like the previous poster said fear peace will price out of any deal due to the valuation he has on the club.

[tommcneill]

It's not ambition when your best players would sooner play for similar sized clubs. If Man U or Asrenal wanted them fair enough,i wouldn't blame them. But Kamara, Odemwingie, Berahino, Kevin Phillips, Gary Megson...are they all wrong about Peace?
If we had spent the £5m on Lukaku for another loan spell who knows what might have happened, but again, we showed no ambition, left it until the last minute and then signed sick note Vic for £6m.
We won't sign any players who will improve us again this window, despite the prem money going through the roof.
If we had a decent price for the sale,say £50-£60m we would be snapped up.
The only ambition Peace has got is to make money for himself.
He has even moved to Jersey to avoid mainland tax.

No we had agreed everything, he was on his way to us when he got a call to goto Everton instead cant see how you can have a go at anyone at the club for that

[Lloydy]

Why don't you get off the owners back?
He's done his best for the club he supports within his means,and always a profit at year end.
So what if he makes a great profit by selling its not a crime to make money you know.
He won't sell us down the river,as usual he will do his very best for WBA.
Stop knocking the guy eh.

Please don't kid yourself, he doesn't care about this club. All he cares about is his bank balance.

[caravanc58]

Jeremy Peace has done a great job at the Albion but he will walk away a very wealthy man when he sells up, if things improve it wont be through ambition shown by the club it'll be more a stroke of luck. from a fans point of view we've become steady eddie where survival will be seen as job done. if the figures quoted are anywhere near the truth about Peace wanting £150m + isn't it overvalued.   

[baggiejohn]

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Peace buy majority control of the club with a loan leveraged on it and used the clubs profits to then pay back the loan his investor, i.e. put not a single penny in to acquire our football club? The same strategy used by the glazers a decade later. We don't know what he is looking for, £150m to £200m is rumoured in the press. If we are not sold this summer despite the low value of the pound and all interest in the prem then I think it's a fair conclusion to draw that he has set the bar too high. More to the point there is clear tension between what is best for the club and the maximum money Peace can try to obtain for himself. Suppose the club is worth £150m, he could keep £100m and demand the remainder is put back into the club, which don't forget is still £100m out for no investment in. I will eat my hat if that happens.

It is not in doubt that he has managed the club well but let's not also forget his annual £1m dividend to himself so he is paid handsomely for doing his job. On a day to day level I think we have every right to be peeved with the failure to lower match-day prices (not matching the £30 away fan ceiling this year was pathetic), the lack of ambition to redevelop the Halfords and the general refusal to take any calculated risk to try to kick the club on.

I don't see how we can improve any further under his handbrake chairmanship so the sooner we are sold onto an investor with deep pockets and some ambition the better. In truth we went stale about three years ago. A few murals around the BRE won't cut it.

The bottom line is if he holds out for the maximum sale price and takes all the money with him then he is putting his own interest before the football club. I'm glad he has managed our club as a business so we are financially secure but I won't applaud a sale that doesn't leave something behind. Be interesting to see what happens this summer. I suspect we will not be sold, as the chairman doesn't strike me as someone willing to be flexible or is easy to deal with. Hope I'm proved wrong.

Very good post, just a couple of things though. You are quite right JP, allegedly took out a loan using the assets of the FC as collateral, & then used the profit to pay back the loan. But wasn't it shrewd buying of Players & employment of Managers/Coaches that helped him to realise that profit, & wasn't it the development of the Walsall Road training ground & other improvements in infrastructure that helped us to attract better players.

Our wage bill in 2012 was £50 million & our current Head Coach is reputedly earning £1.7 million a year. I'm ready to be corrected, but it's my understanding that the dividend of £1 million per year is in fact a salary. I don't begrudge him that one bit.

[baggie82]

Re Peace salary / divided of £1m year - I don't disagree he has more than earned that and recognise the development of the club under him. The wider point I was getting at was the tension between maximising his personal gain and the best outcome for the club under any potential sale. That is a balancing act and a decision he has to make - be nice to see him show some leeway on his own huge return (which it will be in any circumstance) and not just try to extract the highest bid. What if buyer A offers £120m and £150m investment in the club and buyer B offers £150m and £75m investment in the club? Anyone confident enough to predict he takes the first option?

If I'm scoring his stewardship today then it's 7.5/10. It will be dispiriting if we do not have a takeover this summer and a billionaire buys wolves out. That said I do not want to get ahead of myself with doom and gloom when we are speculating. Time will tell.

[caravanc58]

Very good post, just a couple of things though. You are quite right JP, allegedly took out a loan using the assets of the FC as collateral, & then used the profit to pay back the loan. But wasn't it shrewd buying of Players & employment of Managers/Coaches that helped him to realise that profit, & wasn't it the development of the Walsall Road training ground & other improvements in infrastructure that helped us to attract better players.

Our wage bill in 2012 was £50 million & our current Head Coach is reputedly earning £1.7 million a year. I'm ready to be corrected, but it's my understanding that the dividend of £1 million per year is in fact a salary. I don't begrudge him that one bit.

The only figure I can find was the AGM in 2014 where it was reported Peace was paid £1.19m. just sits wrong the way he accrued so many shares with little or no risk to his own personal money but will walk away with a fortune while life long shareholders were railroaded into selling, and lets not forget that after he acquired Paul Thompsons 20% he stated he didn't want to increase his shareholding because he wanted a widespread of shareholders in the company. he has systematically nibbled away (legally) but morally wrong at shareholders and now owns what? 88%. not bad for 13 years work.

[baggiejohn]

Re Peace salary / divided of £1m year - I don't disagree he has more than earned that and recognise the development of the club under him. The wider point I was getting at was the tension between maximising his personal gain and the best outcome for the club under any potential sale. That is a balancing act and a decision he has to make - be nice to see him show some leeway on his own huge return (which it will be in any circumstance) and not just try to extract the highest bid. What if buyer A offers £120m and £150m investment in the club and buyer B offers £150m and £75m investment in the club? Anyone confident enough to predict he takes the first option?

If I'm scoring his stewardship today then it's 7.5/10. It will be dispiriting if we do not have a takeover this summer and a billionaire buys wolves out. That said I do not want to get ahead of myself with doom and gloom when we are speculating. Time will tell.

I'm not sure it's the price that's the issue, It really depends on your opinion on the motive for buying a football club. For example you wouldn't buy one as a stand alone project to make money, there's a lot safer investments, even in these times. My own theory, Its a mixture of a tax sink, & an attempt to own a vehicle to promote your "empire" around the globe. If you look at the second part, there are 20 EPL clubs, let's say 10 have already got foreign owners, so there's ten opportunities for investment, as the number of available clubs become less, the opportunities become smaller, so the last man standing can name his price.
JP has a PhD in brinkmanship, the man's got nerves of steel,

[Sted1990]

Peace has done a fantastic job, I'd give him 10 out of 10.

But if he accepts that he can't take us forward then why can't he accept 100million thus giving him more options and more chance of us getting the correct buyer.

Whatever happens I do trust he will find the correct buyer, but if it's isn't this week then I think that's that for another year.

[divinewind]

I think people are missing the point here. Villa have been taken over by a very wealthy owner,if Wolves are taken over they could,and i say could,have the second richest owner in the country.
I will admit Peace has done well for us considering he hasn't that sort of money.
But we would have been sold before either of them had he not been asking such a ridiculous price.
His interest in us as always been on the financial side, and not the playing side which he sees as secondary importance.
Football is all about winning games,and being entertained, especially if you have a superb stadium to play in.
His promises about the redevlopment of the ground and selling the club  have been white lies.
If he did have the clubs best interest at heart,and he has admitted himself that he cannot finance himself to take us farther, he should have put a realistic price on us.
But his greed,and it is greed, will see us miss the boat again and be the poor relation West Midland club.
Yes we are the only West Midland club in the prem...for now. But things happen very quickly in football.......unless Jeremy Peace is involved in negotiations.

[baggiejohn]

The only figure I can find was the AGM in 2014 where it was reported Peace was paid £1.19m. just sits wrong the way he accrued so many shares with little or no risk to his own personal money but will walk away with a fortune while life long shareholders were railroaded into selling, and lets not forget that after he acquired Paul Thompsons 20% he stated he didn't want to increase his shareholding because he wanted a widespread of shareholders in the company. he has systematically nibbled away (legally) but morally wrong at shareholders and now owns what? 88%. not bad for 13 years work.

There was a risk to his personal money, let's say he borrowed £10 million using the assets as collateral, He would have factored paying that back over say 5years, Can't remember exactly when JP took control, but I first started going the year we beat Charlton to stay in the Championship, had we gone down we would have been in the third tier. JP took control about a year after that. As it happened we went from strength to strength under Megson, but had it gone the other way JP would have been in the Cacky.
If he does sell the small shareholders who are left will do very nicely, & I know it's not the value, it's the fact you can say you've got a share in you're home town Football Club, but this is essentially a finance topic, & there aint no sentiment in business I'm afraid

[saltnshake]

Peace has done a fantastic job, I'd give him 10 out of 10.

But if he accepts that he can't take us forward then why can't he accept 100million thus giving him more options and more chance of us getting the correct buyer.

Whatever happens I do trust he will find the correct buyer, but if it's isn't this week then I think that's that for another year.

That's the problem i have with Peace up until 3 years ago he did a great job but all the decisions he has made since then have been about  putting the club in a position to be sold we have made nearly £30 million in profits which doesn't really benefit anyone apart from him and the tax man, your right about the price of the club if he really cared about us he would be selling it a really good price as what ever money he gets will all be profit as he has not put a penny of his own money into this club, but as he has proved with the ticket prices this season he cares more about money than any thing else.

[kirk]

To buy the club he took a loan from Barclays using the club as collateral. The football club then paid the loan back. JP hasn't risked a penny of his own money, he has cheated small shareholders (who saved the club from going bust) layered the shares in holding companies and they say you can't make money from football

[WBArgo]

To buy the club he took a loan from Barclays using the club as collateral. The football club then paid the loan back. JP hasn't risked a penny of his own money, he has cheated small shareholders (who saved the club from going bust) layered the shares in holding companies and they say you can't make money from football

That's simply not true.

There is nothing wrong with buying a business with loans, it is quite a common practice in the world of investing and as others have said, he will have risked some of his own personal wealth as part of the collateral.

He hasn't cheated any of the shareholders either. He offered to buy their shares and many accepted. As it happens, 12% still own their shares. It's not like he put a gun to their head.

[paulosull]

Has always put number one first which isn't club, the amount of money he wants is in my humble opinion ridiculous. No wonder there is no interest, realistically the maximum price should be no more than 80 million which would be a handsome return on his investment of zero pounds

[caravanc58]

That's simply not true.

There is nothing wrong with buying a business with loans, it is quite a common practice in the world of investing and as others have said, he will have risked some of his own personal wealth as part of the collateral.

He hasn't cheated any of the shareholders either. He offered to buy their shares and many accepted. As it happens, 12% still own their shares. It's not like he put a gun to their head.

trust me , as a former small shareholder it wasn't as simple as that.

[kirk]

That's simply not true.

There is nothing wrong with buying a business with loans, it is quite a common practice in the world of investing and as others have said, he will have risked some of his own personal wealth as part of the collateral.

He hasn't cheated any of the shareholders either. He offered to buy their shares and many accepted. As it happens, 12% still own their shares. It's not like he put a gun to their head.

I didn't say he did anything wrong but I would question the morality. As for the shareholders yes he did put a gun to their head they had to how shall we put it 'round their shares up 'eg- spend their money or sell to him .... Nice way to treat fellow fans that is if he is really a fan

[PsalmXXIII]

I went to the trouble a year or so ago of posting comprehensive details around Peace's shares, other shareholders, the structure of how the old and new shares worked and posted it here. But STILL some people spout garbage about Peace and his 'despicable' seizing of control of the club.

The worst mistruth is the one where he apparently stole shares from the poor small shareholders. I was a shareholder under the old system, and I upgraded my shares to a new share. He gave shareholders the option to upgrade to a new A share or money to sell. In doing so he has raised the value of those individual shares to much more than anyone purchased them for. If you didn't have the money to 'upgrade' you were offered far more than you bought them for, and in the space of two years the new shares have increased in value 4/5 times over. And by 'overpricing' the club and 'asking too much' he's also elevated the worth of shares he doesn't own - meaning the 'little shareholders' that remain have even more value.

So unless you're a current shareholder, have been through the company's share holdings or are Jeremy Peace himself, stop making slanderous claims. EVERYTHING has been done above board, as would be done in any business.