[Baggie79]

I fear that we will start to see the asset stripping phase start within the next month. Could all the crown jewels be sold off this summer? Probably.

[baggiejohn]

I fear that we will start to see the asset stripping phase start within the next month. Could all the crown jewels be sold off this summer? Probably.

What do you mean by asset stripping?

[LiamTheBaggie]

I fear that we will start to see the asset stripping phase start within the next month. Could all the crown jewels be sold off this summer? Probably.

Who are all of these Crown Jewels you speak of?!?!

Pereira and Johnstone most definitely but there really is nobody else.

There is no benefit to these owners of being in the second division. The only way they recoup their money is with a promotion.

[tex]

I thought it had been established that Lai could not asset strip the club.

[Blowee]

I’m mystified by his reasons for spending £200 million on the club. He seems to have little or no interest in us. Does he seriously have that much money that he can afford to throw it around in such a way? Did he expect our value to increase so that he could cash in on his investment? Why is he so anonymous?

[gazberg]

I just think he thought we were solid and established which we were and we would never get relegated which we did in his first full season when he took his eye off the ball. I believe he thought he could sit back and not care and the club would run itself. When it came to take action instead of letting Pulis contract expire and break away he re-signed him as the easy option. FIrst and final nail in the coffin.

[baggie82]

I’m mystified by his reasons for spending £200 million on the club. He seems to have little or no interest in us. Does he seriously have that much money that he can afford to throw it around in such a way? Did he expect our value to increase so that he could cash in on his investment? Why is he so anonymous?

In China, the communist government (CCP) can take your money from you any time they want and/or make you disappear. So anyone with any wealth in China is desperate to transfer it overseas. That has become more difficult over time, but one of the ways back in the day was to buy a company / football club abroad etc. So he was probably just looking to safeguard his assets outside the reach of the CCP.

[SmethDan]

If that's the case he should have been looking at something with the potential to expand and return yields. We can't even redevelop the Halfords (should we ever actually wish to) because of a stubborn Dingle (allegedly) who rents Tonka Toys to Bob the Builder types. Serious lack of due diligence.......

[gazberg]

I was told the Dingle land owner is willing to sell but wants silly money Dan. Inbred swine

[darbolina]

I’m mystified by his reasons for spending £200 million on the club. He seems to have little or no interest in us. Does he seriously have that much money that he can afford to throw it around in such a way? Did he expect our value to increase so that he could cash in on his investment? Why is he so anonymous?

ownership of assets in other currencies e.g. GBP and the ability to trade across currencies (player transfers) might have been a factor. Moving money around the World under the banner of football transfers is important to some people e.g. Abramovich , maybe Lai and his backers needed the same vehicle.

If he purchased us for investment reasons, then he was mad or stupid or both

[SmethDan]

I wonder if he's lost his noodles over this new manager malarkey yet.........

[ex coseley kid]

This man is going to destroy our club...

[tambag]

I want him to sell up because he won't invest in our club. The only he has going for him at present is he hasn't asset stripped the club and kept the money for himself, yet !

[royhan]

JP did his due diligence on Lai before selling the club to him. He checked his financial status, checked that the money had gone into his bank account and then deserted these shores without any further care about Albion. With Lai controlling the purse strings we haven’t a hope in hell of moving forward

[ex coseley kid]

I can in all seriousness only see this going one way.

[BB74]

He has been here 5 years August. He hasn’t destroyed us yet and doubt he will. Let’s get a bit of perspective here.

[johnny Cash]

He has been here 5 years August. He hasn’t destroyed us yet and doubt he will. Let’s get a bit of perspective here.

I didnt want Peace to go, I always felt he was a steady hand. However even if he had stayed we could have had a very similar 5 year period. It could easily be far worse than it is too.

Pretty much everytime people call for Lai out, when you dig in to why it’s because they want a benefactor, which hasn’t materialised in nearly 150 years so far, so I’m not sure why people think Lai is locking one out.

[BB74]

I didnt want Peace to go, I always felt he was a steady hand. However even if he had stayed we could have had a very similar 5 year period. It could easily be far worse than it is too.

Pretty much everytime people call for Lai out, when you dig in to why it’s because they want a benefactor, which hasn’t materialised in nearly 150 years so far, so I’m not sure why people think Lai is locking one out.

Absolutely, I was in the better the devil you know camp and would still rather have Peace here. They both want to run a self sufficient club which they do/did.

[paulosull]

JP did his due diligence on Lai before selling the club to him. He checked his financial status, checked that the money had gone into his bank account and then deserted these shores without any further care about Albion. With Lai controlling the purse strings we haven’t a hope in hell of moving forward

hope Ebenezer chokes on his prawn sandwich if I'm honest

[WBArgo]

He has been here 5 years August. He hasn’t destroyed us yet and doubt he will. Let’s get a bit of perspective here.

In fairness, it took Carson Yeung a few years to be found out at Birmingham. He had a 30% steak for years, then took control in 2009. They didn't get relegated until 2011 and nearly got promoted under Hughton in 2012. It was in his fourth season when things became very apparent.

Ok, we've been under Lai for 5 years which is a little longer, but it still doesn't mean we couldn't go down a similar route at some point (I imagine failure to get promoted would be telling)

Personally, I think Lai isn't a complete moron and wants to protect his investment as much as possible. This means feeding the club enough crumbs to make a good go at getting promoted ASAP, rather than starving the club completely which doesn't help anyone. If you will, he's like a worse version than Mike Ashley, in that he has a business model to try and do things on the cheap rather than burn his fingers. I do worry though if we fail to get promoted 2/3 years on the bounce and what would happen then.

[baggie82]

Absolutely, I was in the better the devil you know camp and would still rather have Peace here. They both want to run a self sufficient club which they do/did.

It was Peace choosing to sell the club to Lai that got us into this position, he didn't give a monkeys who took over as long as he got as much money out of his shares as possible.

[BB74]

It was Peace choosing to sell the club to Lai that got us into this position, he didn't give a monkeys who took over as long as he got as much money out of his shares as possible.

But why should he really?

If you sold your house would you do the due diligence on the purchaser beforehand to make sure they’re going to water the plants and maintain the boiler? No, you’ll take the cash and do one.

[leeiswba]

It was Peace choosing to sell the club to Lai that got us into this position, he didn't give a monkeys who took over as long as he got as much money out of his shares as possible.

The same as what 99.9999% of people would have done

[johnny Cash]

Also... what is the position we are in? As far as I can tell it’s Pretty much the same one we were in for 10 years previously.

[WorcsWBA]

But why should he really?

If you sold your house would you do the due diligence on the purchaser beforehand to make sure they’re going to water the plants and maintain the boiler? No, you’ll take the cash and do one.

As owner & chairman, don't you feel that he had some level of obligation to do his best for the future wellbeing of the club, rather than simply seeking to maximise his personal return? A football club, with a fanbase to consider, is hardly comparable to a house.