[baggiejohn]

I see where you are coming from, but the FFP rules actually help us.  Owners cannot just "withdraw funds" because there are very strict limits now on debt levels.  Money has to be put in mainly as equity (capital), not as debt, which changes the dynamics completely.

The best example of this is Chelsea.  Abramovich had lent them £800m. If his situation changed (and there was major litigation between him and Berevosky a few years back), he may have been forced to call in his loan and Chelsea would gave gone bust with no hope of repaying him.  But he had to convert his loan into equity, which means no obligation for Chelsea to repay him, and the only way to get his money back is to sell his shares.  If there's nobody out there prepared to buy his shares at what he thinks they are worth, then there is nothing he can do.  It removes the risk of wealthy owners throwing a tantrum, demanding their money back and the club collapsing because they can't possibly repay it.

I think Abramovich is slightly different, when you look at his enormous personal wealth, it makes sense for him to have number of tax sinks. I suspect Chelsea is one of them.
Also Abramovich & the owners of Man City, ManU etc are all their own men, not driven by some Governmental Ideology. What happens when China decides that Baseball is the new karma?

[overseas baggie]

I think Abramovich is slightly different, when you look at his enormous personal wealth, it makes sense for him to have number of tax sinks. I suspect Chelsea is one of them.
Also Abramovich & the owners of Man City, ManU etc are all their own men, not driven by some Governmental Ideology. What happens when China decides that Baseball is the new karma?

The point I'm making is that if the Chinese put money in as equity, not as debt, then a change of strategy by them further down the line doesn't risk the future of the club, whereas in the past, they could have put it in as loans and just demanded their money back and the club could go bust having to repay it.

It makes no difference who the owner is or what their ideology is.  If it's funded by equity, not debt, then they are all in the same boat.

[baggiejohn]

The point I'm making is that if the Chinese put money in as equity, not as debt, then a change of strategy by them further down the line doesn't risk the future of the club, whereas in the past, they could have put it in as loans and just demanded their money back and the club could go bust having to repay it.

It makes no difference who the owner is or what their ideology is.  If it's funded by equity, not debt, then they are all in the same boat.

Yes got you now, but if it's not working they could still walk away. IMO The business motivation would not help WBA long term, the motivation has to be multi dimensional, I'm just not getting that from the Chinese.

[divinewind]

I think Abramovich is slightly different, when you look at his enormous personal wealth, it makes sense for him to have number of tax sinks. I suspect Chelsea is one of them.
Also Abramovich & the owners of Man City, ManU etc are all their own men, not driven by some Governmental Ideology. What happens when China decides that Baseball is the new karma?

Football is the biggest sport in the world, watched by millions worldwide. I can't see silly game's like Rounders and Netball  dislodging  it anytime soon, leave the girly games to the Americans.
Having said that, i too share you worries concerning Chinese owners.
Once/if we are sold, the club will belong to the Chinese, how much say will the fans have on how it's run and how much would the Chinese listen?
It's a tough one, we do need a good investor in the club, but whether we get one or whether we are left with old mothwallet remains to be seen.
It's a gamble, a big gamble and we could just as easily go the other way. But if the Status Quo remains and this is as good as it gets, we would always be asking what if.

[darbolina]

I think Abramovich is slightly different, when you look at his enormous personal wealth, it makes sense for him to have number of tax sinks. I suspect Chelsea is one of them.
Also Abramovich & the owners of Man City, ManU etc are all their own men, not driven by some Governmental Ideology. What happens when China decides that Baseball is the new karma?

It's almost inevitable that this trend for overseas investors in UK clubs will change and those same investors will move on to other areas, sports or countries .  We've tried 'money ball' under Peace and it's worked well to a point but the game is changing again with the big opportunities coming from Asia and America in the future so longer term we need
1) a bigger fan base overall
2) Global reach
3) the potential for our backers to pull out investment to provide a boost when it's needed.

None of the above would happen under Peace and I'm sure he knows that too well. Peace has been great for Albion in my view and Albion have been great for Peace of course but i think it's worth trying a different strategy for a while to see if we can push on. It might fail or succeed , we'll never know unless we try?

We have great foundations to build on e.g. Own ground, academy , reliable fanbase and some good people at the club who understand the game and our position in it.

[divinewind]

I would imagine there would be a clause in the contract, as there is at Wolves, whereby a new owner would be committed to investing so much into the players and ground as part of any deal.

[Standaman]

If a large corporation like Wanda were to buy us they are in it for the money.  It is a good thing that an organisation that is dispassionate about the investment can see's a solid long term financial future for the club.

Do they care about the club like you or I? No, but equally their investment only makes sense if they can keep us in the Premier League and as such they have sufficient skin the game to want the club to succeed.

The bigger question is how does owning West Bromwich Albion integrate with the Corporation's broader strategic goals?  Wanda for instance have interests in sports broadcasting,entertainment and property development. It is not difficult to see how owning a Premier League club in an area that is ripe for development might work for them. Equally they are very keen to diversify away from China and have been buying Western assets. It is very much a case of the one hand washing the other.

We are never going to be owned by a fan, a corporation with a clear strategy might be  better than a billionaire on a bit of an ego trip. 

[WBArgo]

What's Peace's intention been over the years?

He's been making money...by improving the club which is what I was saying.
He originally took us over as predominantly a Championship club, now we're a Premier League club. However, he has hit a ceiling. To take us higher, he would have to take ridiculous risks in spending.

That's my point entirely. Peace took us over with a fairly 'easy' route to improve, whoever takes us over now will have a very difficult time improving profits...unless they use us a giant advert.

[WorcsWBA]

He's been making money...by improving the club which is what I was saying.
He originally took us over as predominantly a Championship club, now we're a Premier League club. However, he has hit a ceiling. To take us higher, he would have to take ridiculous risks in spending.

We'll just have to wait and see, although I'm sure the waiting is becoming ever more frustrating for everyone.

It's certainly true that we've hit a ceiling and all we've really done for the past few seasons is stagnate from a club development perspective, so something different will at least have an excitement factor about it, for a while at least!

[LongBridge Baggie1]

He's been making money...by improving the club which is what I was saying.
He originally took us over as predominantly a Championship club, now we're a Premier League club. However, he has hit a ceiling. To take us higher, he would have to take ridiculous risks in spending.

That's my point entirely. Peace took us over with a fairly 'easy' route to improve, whoever takes us over now will have a very difficult time improving profits...unless they use us a giant advert.

Which is maybe how it'll go, which, brings up another thing naming rights to the stadium. Would you mind if it brought a lot of revenue? It will always be the Hawthorns to me and stay that way. I would't have much of a problem

[baggiejohn]

The bigger question is how does owning West Bromwich Albion integrate with the Corporation's broader strategic goals?

Is the key question for me, & I just don't see how the Chinese culture fits with the strategic goals that JP has for the football club. Certainly JP appreciates that the club matters to the fans.

[Adder]

The fact that West Brom is outside the Birmingham boundary probably won't matter a jot to potential investors.
They could see us as the only premier league team in England's 2nd largest city and they would get the kudos of owning a premier league team immediately (unlike Wolves and Villa). That could well appeal to them, though how they plan to develop us as an asset is a more complicated matter.

[VANDERLEI]

I think there's a game going on.  Deal probably already agreed, but a desire not to announce it yet as we need to buy 6/7 players and selling clubs will just put their asking prices for players up if it's known that we are flush with cash.   All stacks up with the bid activity over the past 48 hours.

Exactly. I genuinely believe we will have new owners within the next 4 weeks.

[WBArgo]

Which is maybe how it'll go, which, brings up another thing naming rights to the stadium. Would you mind if it brought a lot of revenue? It will always be the Hawthorns to me and stay that way. I would't have much of a problem

It depends on much money it bought in and if it was reinvested into the team. As well it depends on the name, i.e. "Sports Direct Arena" was awful, whereas "The Emirates" is more tolerable. Still, it's all a bit soul destroying but is definitely part of the modern game, sadly. As long as the money was put into the team then I wouldn't mind so much, but if it was taken out then it would not be a good thing.

[Droitwich Baggie]

Rename?

Birds nest with Throstle in it? 

[Adder]

I think there's a game going on.  Deal probably already agreed, but a desire not to announce it yet as we need to buy 6/7 players and selling clubs will just put their asking prices for players up if it's known that we are flush with cash.   All stacks up with the bid activity over the past 48 hours.

I fully see the point...but suspect that everyone and his dog will have worked out our position now anyway. It certainly looks like being a painful waiting job though both on takeover and signings.

[liverbaggie]

Let's hope were not left crying in our soup eh?

[LongBridge Baggie1]

It depends on much money it bought in and if it was reinvested into the team. As well it depends on the name, i.e. "Sports Direct Arena" was awful, whereas "The Emirates" is more tolerable. Still, it's all a bit soul destroying but is definitely part of the modern game, sadly. As long as the money was put into the team then I wouldn't mind so much, but if it was taken out then it would not be a good thing.

That what I meant any investor doing purely for benevolent reasons. As you say Sport Direct arena was SO bad that people just called it St. James's Park anyway. I think 1 of the best renaming was Bescot to Bank's although I perfer the former the latter isn't  horrible. For the sake of arguemeant the name gets changed to "The Dailian Wanda stadium" just for arguement sake and it brings say £400m sponsership over 4 years. I'd be cool with that.

[darbolina]

At the Albion we're a traditional bunch - look at the pin stripes strip furore . Any new owner will need to pander to this side of the club. We have a rich and proud history as well as a richer and prouder future in the modern game (hopefully). Peace always understood this very well and still made a few mistakes in the fan's eyes so we'll need to understand the new guys will likely make a few mistakes along he way too. Provided they listen to fans and keep the 'soul' of the club intact ,  they/ we should be fine.

[ABaggie]

The stadium will be renamed after a takeover. 100% guaranteed. It's the one main income stream that hasn't been exploited. Ffp dictates that any significant increase in wage bill must come from non tv revenue.

[LongBridge Baggie1]

Let's hope were not left crying in our soup eh?

Hopefully we wont I think JP is trying to sell to right people. People who study Anglo-Chinese Trade have said a deal is happening. they just don't know who with. The Club Itself has been suspiciously quiet why not kill all rumours? Going back to the UFC that took 6 months to sell for a lot lot more. 2 weeks before Dailian Wanda were denigning involvement, but, it turns out they were the money part of the consortium. Now I'm not saying it's them. I'm just saying nobody knows who yet

[divinewind]

The stadium will be renamed after a takeover. 100% guaranteed. It's the one main income stream that hasn't been exploited. Ffp dictates that any significant increase in wage bill must come from non tv revenue.

I hope not.

[Standaman]

I think there is a world of difference between stadium naming rights being sold as part of a new build like the Amex rather than a tacky rebranding like the ill fated Sports Direct makeover of St James Park. With the former the club gets something that it might not otherwise have got whereas the latter doesn't help anyone.

[WBArgo]

At the Albion we're a traditional bunch - look at the pin stripes strip furore . Any new owner will need to pander to this side of the club. We have a rich and proud history as well as a richer and prouder future in the modern game (hopefully). Peace always understood this very well and still made a few mistakes in the fan's eyes so we'll need to understand the new guys will likely make a few mistakes along he way too. Provided they listen to fans and keep the 'soul' of the club intact ,  they/ we should be fine.

That's the issue. Lots of people want Peace out. You can say goodbye to tradition when he goes as foreign investors won't care. I hope the 'Peace out' crowd do not start moaning when things change because it's unrealistic to think we will simply improve and not sell naming rights etc at the same time.

[VANDERLEI]

Hopefully we wont I think JP is trying to sell to right people. People who study Anglo-Chinese Trade have said a deal is happening. they just don't know who with. The Club Itself has been suspiciously quiet why not kill all rumours? Going back to the UFC that took 6 months to sell for a lot lot more. 2 weeks before Dailian Wanda were denigning involvement, but, it turns out they were the money part of the consortium. Now I'm not saying it's them. I'm just saying nobody knows who yet

Dalian Wanda group haven't bought the UFC, they bid but lost out to WME-IMG group.