Anyone could be sold in a fire sale of Charlton players to raise much needed funds says Chris Powell: Powell
What is even more concerning is that with a year left on their contracts most of them would not command a high price.
Anyone could be sold in a fire sale of Charlton players to raise much needed funds says Chris Powell: Powell
What is even more concerning is that with a year left on their contracts most of them would not command a high price.
18 comments:
Slater has lost plot, telling all not for sale but then chasing buyers like a bitch in heat, and putting squad up for sale.
Club on the edge and with annual running losses of £5mn or more and £30 mn of unsecured and secured debt they will not capture a buyer unless stupid or blind to cover their losses. Club probably worth £20 mn at absolute best which means Slater and co without security over Stadium and Training ground which Banks and Ex DIrectors have has loans that are equal to the equity everyone lost last time club in trouble, sooner he realises that sooner a sale happens.
Biggest question is why all old staff being sacked and why Richard Murray who employed the majority of them is doing nothing and backing overdraft and sitting back while club sinks further into debt, unless he is holding a buyer back to repurchase for a £1.
Debate.
This quote from Sir Chris has been taken out of context. He was talking generally and not specifically. I am one of the fans who remain optimistic rather than the conspiracy pessimistic view that is being articulated on many blogs.
Read what Powell has said - he has not said the club are in a fire sale - he just said that any club bar Chelsea and Man City would have to sell players if a suitable offer came in. This is just stirring up panic which Chrissy Powell is trying to avoid.
It is no secret that the current Charlton owners are interested in selling up or getting new investors involved - presumably because they do not have the appetite to continue funding the operating losses that are pretty much inevitable for any club in the Championship (largely because players wages are pushed up by the inflated levels in the Premiership - but insufficient Premiership money is being pushed down to cover the inflated costs that they have created - and the FA/FL are clearly not fit for purpose when it comes to protecting the game as a whole). But I suspect that they have sufficient business sense not to damage their investment (and its saleability in the interim period) by damaging the fabric of the club as occurred in the past ( when RM/Previous board was in charge btw) that doesn't mean that they don't try and run a tight ship in the meantime. From a business perspective there is quite a lot of logic in how the club is being run at present - this sort of thing happens all the time when a company is being sold.
Interesting take, and these were guys hailed as super rich with a 5 year plan to get to Premier League ,here we are almost 2 years later loss projections still the same and they have lost their appetite, and want their cash and a profit back when club swimming in same amount of debt as last time in Championship under Murray.
Where is Murray ? sitting alongside them , with most of his cash tied up in secured loan and watching them sack everyone he either hired or respected for years. He could just resign and leave them to get on with it if he doesn't like what they are doing, or is he happy with them?
Good question for his old mates at Bromley to ask him.
Journalistic licence with the quote never let the truth get in the way of a good story!
Quite possibly we won't sell any players as there are no indications of real buyer interest. However, we are more likely to sell than many other clubs and arguably Chris Powell has been sending out subtle messages. Of course, it is the case that all Championship clubs that don't have a rich benefactor with deep pockets or parachute payments find it difficult financially and many owners want out as the recent BDO report makes clear. However, it was reasonable to ask whether the owners' 'plan' was well thought through and anticipated all the challenges involved. There is also now a lack of quality buyers on the market.
More sensational misquoting from Wyn Grant Shock.....
To be honest it would be difficult for anyone to develop a well thought out plan for such a highly speculative and risky investment as a lower league football club where the risks involved are high and nigh impossible to manage or mitigate. That said I would have thought that the owner’s progress to date was pretty impressive – promotion from League 1, competitive in the first year back in the Championship, substantial improvements to the Youth and Coaching set ups – and I also doubt whether the losses are a million miles away from budget (or any sensible budget given the circumstances). What I suspect is difficult to cope with is one or more of the investors getting cold feet – and who knows what impact Jimenez’s Spanish property investments may be having. Of course, you need an exit plan in such a situation - and to repeat my original point most of the indications are that this is being implemented in a fairly calm manner not too far away from normal business practice i.e. try not to conduct negotiations in public, listen to all sensible offers, pour cool water over the wilder public pronouncements, proper due diligence on buyers and in the meantime keep costs under control and avoid speculative changes that might not appeal to a potential owner.
Personally, I do not like the current model we have for Football Club ownership and finance, and I believe that football clubs should be treated as community rather than private assets. But I’m afraid what we have at present is what we have – and as things go I don’t think our current owners are given the circumstances behaving too badly, and we could have a lot worse.
The last post is right and hits the nail right on the head. The current owners have ticked many correct boxes so let us give them some support.
Have they done well? We were in Division 1 when they bought club for a £1 . Debt at that time around £15mn ,but running at a £5mn annual loss, so they increased losses to get us up a division with the idea they would then create more losses for two years to jump straight into Premier League and then sell on for large profit.
Just short of 2 years later we are now around £30mn in debt and one of major investors for what ever reason has pulled the plug on original plan.
Anybody that worked for the Club before at management level with exception of Dave Archer has been either fired,suspended or left of their own will.
What is different now from the last time we were in Championship with £30mn of debt and Murray was Chairman? same model losing money with a team not good enough to go up and maybe bad enough to go down.
Well said ,too many people got the old blinkers on and can't see wood for the trees.
Their model only works if you throw cash at it and build best team,which is what they did in Division 1.
Stopping as they have will only lead to disaster.
Fans want it both ways. How else to get out of League 1? FFP means cloth has to be cut accordingly, the management team needed a clear out. The Board are trying to get a sale. If all these who have an alternative way are so certain then raise some funding and make a bid.
wildly inflammatory twisting of Powell's very general observation
all talk of fire sale is idioticly counter productive - unless those fanning the flames have their own agenda?
WG?
More likely Chris covering his backside and reputation by saying between lines I don't wanna sell anybody ,they making me do it,out of my control.
I think you will find a lot of potential buyers just can't be bothered to engage as asking price whether at the denied £40 mn or £20 mn is too high for a business losing £6mn a year with an average squad and a stadium in need of some TLC and a prospectus full of fairy tales.
Charlton ate no different than many clubs in Championship and probably better placed than many. I would guess all football club prospectus are full of fairy tales.
No agenda, SCN, other than wanting club to succeed. Avoiding a relegation fight probably requires a bit more spending than has occurred in this transfer window. Matching clubs pushing for promotion is, I accept, not possible.
avoiding a relegation fight will depend far more on intelligent use of the available squad - disposing by whatever means of the clearly disinterested, selecting horses for courses and reacting early enough in games when Plan A unravels - not areas SCP has improved on in his 2.5 years
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