Oh God, I hope you are right. Mind the message did say he had bought Sunderland, it didn’t say part buy. I’m clinging onto this for now
The Italian fella, Mr Tonna, is a great friend currently in lockdown in Lugano ... ... he's a wonderful man, we'll work for him again I'm sure.
It could explain why MSD are now looking at Derby. Must say the Derby thing looks a bit odd. A commercial loan of 30 million yet do they have any assets to secure the loan after selling Pride Park? Given that they may still be punished it would be a hell of a gamble thinking that they would get promoted next season.
If it's MSD I'm pretty sure Phelan can't be involved with a takeover of us. There wouldn't be any impact while ours remains a loan. Interested to see what happens with the Aussies, surprised if they do it while this is still on.
According to the Times, Newcastle United officials have now sent paperwork to the Premier League outlining the proposed takeover of the club by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia. They report that the Premier League have been contacted by Newcastle United – which they deem to be a ‘significant’ move in the takeover process and ‘the clearest sign yet of Ashley’s renewed intention to sell’.
if you’ve done due diligence and the price is going south I could see why people would by a club now. It’s a gamble but they’re gambling on the bounce back. I’d be worried about the Sky contract if buying a Premier League club. The HMRC issue is a gamble to as HMRC are going to need money soon.
Surely if the price is going south... you hold on and wait? I read Methven's piece, I'm surprised by the May deadline, it is such a weird deadline and implies that no due diligence has been done, which would mean that everything was still up for debate, but if it has been done, why 2 months away? A reasonable interpretation is that they want to know what is going on before buying us. A lot could depend on whether Donald has been bullish about getting the season running again or not.
I was talking about the Mags and Arabs. If I was buying us I would let us tank completely and then step in. This season is looking like a write off so you just start again next season.
So was I - I don't understand the Mags being bought now unless they think the price can only go up... As for us, who knows. I (kind of) gave up on FPP some time ago based on the circumstantial evidence about their situation, coupled with us not looking likely to get promoted. Obviously I'd like them to but it's pretty clear they don't have any intention to change their current deal. Pretty open-minded about who gets us, but I hope that whoever it is wouldn't let us 'tank completely' and I'm not sure we'll even get to that stage. two months ago, being down to a single figure first team squad would have been a nightmare Summer. Now it might be what keeps us going. Whatever happens, we have to keep in mind that what is bad for Donald will inevitably be bad for us to some degree. I still don't want us to financially implode on the increasingly unlikely basis that FPP or Ann Other will swoop in and rescue us while we're in League One and financially scuppered. That's a hell of a rebuild and not what it sounds like FPP or anyone else had in mind.
It will be baby steps for us for a while yet. Someone slightly more affluent than Donald till we get closer to the big time, when the big boys might come calling. It’s utterly depressing
Just guess work on my part but I am still hopeful of FPP. If MSD are investing in Derby they must see some way of making money out of football and will not be seeing the CV as an issue, as they must've been looking at Derby before it took hold. For me tanking means that SD has to dip into the FPP money. I believe that is the best case scenario for now, as that will make them more deeply coupled to us. I imagine that their cooling and distancing is they have baited the fishing rod, sent out the line and are just waiting for the bite probably on the basis that SD messed them around (allegedly). They have invested too much time, money and effort to just walk away imho - here's hoping anyway.
The problem may be that Phelan is still very much in de facto day-to-day charge of MSD capital, so while it might be positive that they're willing to lend to a football club, I think one of those deals is likely more expendable than the other if push comes to shove, and it's ours. At very best, Phelan and Piatek would not be able to move forward with us if MSD has any intentions on Derby in the longer term too, which means Fuhrman has to be comfortable doing all of this alone, in circumstances that are very... interesting for investment houses. Ultimately I just don't think FPP have ever been set on buying us outright and it doesn't seem that has changed in the last 4 months since Donald officially started looking elsewhere.
I don't believe a word coming out of the club..... SportFootballSunderland AFC LiveSunderland AFC takeover news LIVE: Cats in talks with 'quality' investors as Stewart Donald looks to sell While League One may be on hiatus for the foreseeable future, there remains a host of news coming from the Stadium of Light. By Mark Donnelly Wednesday, 1st April 2020, 7:00 am please log in to view this image We’ll have the latest from the Black Cats and their third tier rivals throughout the day, plus updates on the takeover of the club – with Charlie Methven having provided a key update over the last few days. Sign upto our Sunderland AFC newsletter Simply scroll down for fresh updates as the day progresses, as we’ll be across all the breaking news from the club: please log in to view this image All the latest news from Sunderland AFC Copyright: JPIMedia LIVE: Sunderland AFC takeover news (1st April) Last updated: Wednesday, 1st April, 2020, 08:47 Charlie Methven has discussed the takeover of the club - suggesting that Sunderland are in talks with high quality individuals Sunderland 'Til I Die season two will be released today The EFL are set to map out their next steps on the 2019/20 season soon 14 minutes ago Stewart Donald claims Sunderland were quoted £10m for John Marquis Sunderland were quoted an asking price of £10million for Doncaster Rovers striker John Marquis when they looked to sign the striker last January - according to owner Stewart Donald. Marquis, now of Portsmouth, was one of a host of players considered by the Black Cats as they looked to replace top scorer Josh Maja after his move to Bordeaux. But Sunderland’s move for Marquis hit a stumbling block when they were quoted an asking price of £10million for the striker. In a revealing clip from ‘Sunderland ‘Til I Die’ season two, owner Stewart Donald is shown on a phone call with recruitment chief Tony Coton - and tells him they have been quoted the lofty sum to sign Marquis. 1 hour ago Here's everything you need to know! 1 hour ago Do you agree with Carlos Edwards? Ex-Sunderland star Carlos Edwards wants to see the season concluded once safe to do so, with all football currently suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. "I’m not a fan of just cancelling the season, I would like to see the games finished,” the 41-year-old told the Echo. “To call it null and void now, I think it would be very harsh because players have been working their socks off to be in the position that they are." READ MORE HERE 15 hours ago Season two is out today! 15 hours ago Charlie Methven discusses talks with 'quality' investors during an interview with the BBC Given the quality of the people we are speaking to I would feel quite proud [if a sale was completed]. This is a club two years ago no-one wanted for love nor money. Charlie Methven High quality, high quality my arse
Assuming the club learned the lessons about premature blabbing it wouldn't surprise me if this is just Methven throwing corn down. There's no way this statement could possibly aid negotiations so why oh why would he do it? By this point I doubt it's an attempt to curry favour and, in any case, no one believes a word of it. For so-called professional people these two could not have made a bigger mess of talks from day one. From the 'Dell announcement to the fanzines' through to this latest effort it's been pretty shoddy. Only Newcastle and Ashley have come close to this shambolic state of affairs. Whatever happened to NDA's and integrity ffs
Yeah I agree with that. Going back to February, 'sources' in the club were saying it would be the Americans, then all of a sudden it's someone else, or another party, or it'll be done by x or y date... with Methven in particular, everything he says has an ulterior motive. Donald is a bit more... 'unrefined' and will sometimes let things slip, but CM is so relentlessly 'on message' that if he told me the sky was blue, I'd ask who he was trying to sell it to.