Chinese Takeover

So to those who are so against it - given our owner's health, and the fact no ****** else wants to buy it, what else do you think he should do with the club?

People quote venkys as an example, they didn't even know that they could get relegated. They bought what they thought was a guaranteed cash cow.

Barnsley offers no such opportunity at the outset so you can't imagine they see it as a short term milking exercise. Yes there's risk I guess but what have we to lose? None of the clubs mentioned have ceased to exist and as I've asked, exactly what other options are out there?

The fact the guy is Chinese has no bearing on me whatsoever. If we want to compete then the days of local ownership might have to cease. Plus if that in turn promoted the club to a wider audience then brilliant.

I understand some of the reluctance but I honestly wonder whether some are just resistant to change generally rather than this particular one. Stopping your support for the club - or threatening to - because it's potentially having a takeover with foreign investment seems bizarre to me but each to their own.

 

perhaps they drive a hard bargain?

I'm confident that Patrick would not sell us to someone that he didn't think would be a good fit.

As other posters have suggested, what's the alternative here.

 

It's a shame Patrick's health has took a turn for the worse and he has had to sell. Its exciting and may help us progress to the next level and help us keep our stars like Conor next time round. Just hope heckingbottom stays and they don't want their own man in.

 

I wonder if GG would be here now if this takeover wasn't already in the making or will he stay if it doesn't happen. All too convenient GG has had to be part of the takeover all along.

It's also now apparent why we have bought so many young players in who won't get many games ie Pinnock Mallan Pearson Mccarthy Barnes etc etc it's good to have a good sized squad but when have we previously for example had so many equal talented wingers to pick from hammill Isgrove hedges barnes with Thiam, potts and mallan who can play there plus the U23s. It's definitely a change from normal bfc way of a small cost squad, I'd expect now a couple of big name loans soon if this take over is happening.

I have enjoyed the last few seasons more than I have for years and it's with a bit nervousness that I look forward to a change of this magnitude as I thought the long term plan was working but the plan was actually a club selling plan not a long term way of running the club. I understand obviously that PC s health is a big factor in this.

 

Really? Venkys didn't know about relegation? Where did you read This?

The club does represent the opportunity for a short-term milking (oo-er) as last season demonstrated we have the infrastructure of staff to work near- miracles on a tiny budget. So, as the Daily Mail article said, you can have a punt with a relatively small outlay to aim at the 80 million promotion pot. It could leave us with unsupportable wage outlays if the push failed and the investors pulled out.

Another issue I would worry about is that this approach assumes they know the value of Hecky and wouldn't replace him with a 'name' manager, often from abroad, that happens in takeovers which would be very alienating.

 

If the worst were to happen and this goes ahead and the new owners bleed the club dry stripping it of all its assets, selling the ground and forcing us to ground share with Darfield Longbow, then I for one will certainly be requesting that the title of this thread is changed to Chinese Takeaway.

 

I can't say it feels me with joy, dread perhaps but not joy, but given the state of Patrick's health then it is what it is. I for one hope the Council don't sell us the ground. Its ownership is set up as it is for a reason. To protect us if things go tits up.

 

I didn't know anything at all about this apart from the little threads that were on here a while back, which, like most, disappeared into nothingness.
The whole idea is exciting, but has to be approached with great caution.
Having seen other "big" clubs go down similar lines and then almost collapse it is very important all loose ends are gathered in and tied up very tightly.
Even down the road at Sheff Weds all is not sweetness and light. Chansiri is looking to get money out of the fans by his three year promotion plan, costing fans like you and me anything up to and around two thousand pounds.... on a whim and a fancy. Remember when Ken Bates was at Leeds? Season ticket prices shot up, match day prices shot up, supporters were, to put it mildly, miffed.
Can we say that similar wouldn't happen at Barnsley? My £190 senior season ticket might not last for much longer.
Would we still do "quid a kid" type offers?
Local input is absolutely vital otherwise we'd just become another club for rich supporters, sadly not in Barnsley's remit. There's plenty of spare land around Oakwell to build hotels and conference centres but is that really Barnsley?
I'm not advocating we stay small just cos we are "little old Barnsley" but please, everybody, take care !
I love my club, been supporting them since 1968, but I couldn't bear the thought that they might, one day, be out of my reach.

 

Councils are well known for having their heads turned by offers of filthy money. Backhanders..... have you heard of that?
I'm sure Barnsley councillors would never dream of going against public opinion.

 

To be a little more positive, I've read a bit about Chien Lee and it might not be quite what folk are thinking. He's certainly not a Venky type. Talks about investing in companies and using other parts of his "portfolio" of companies to bring value and hopefully take things to the next level. He hasn't interfered with how Nice is run on the football side and they are doing well having finished 4th last year in Ligue 1. The guy has lived in the states for 30years and gradually built up an empire based on hotels and entertainment. He invests for both short term and long term gain so that could work both ways for us.
We all knew that the club needed to be bought by someone and any new owner is a risk but at least this potential owner seems to know what he is doing.

 

Our current model is better than what we've had in the previous ten years but it has the flaw of us not being able to retain any of the gems we find, so we're still having to rebuild nearly every season, it's tiring.

I'm as skeptical as anyone about rich foreign owners given how many examples there are of it going horribly wrong, but this isn't an individual or a family, it's an investment group who have a vested interest in things going well, yes they want to make money but in order to do that the club has to be successful. If we sell a player for £5m they will take a big chunk out of it, people will balk at that, but looking at how much we've received in transfers over the past few years (must be approaching about £30m), how much of that has been plowed back into the team? I say approximately zilch.

 

What's the alternative? Not not giving anything a go? Keeping the "local club for local people" because that's the way it's always been so will always be?

 

Because he cares about them all as if they are his own children. He has a deep connection to all the clubs, areas and people after visiting on holiday with his wife and two kids. He saw them all play and became an instant supporter from which he had to help them out through the goodness of his heart and love for all things Boro, Hull, Brentford.

 

I'm not sure making those sort of allegations is the best idea.

 

Can see this happening, PC is ill and we need some money to keep us in the mix of this league, clubs like us, Burton, Maybe Bolton and others need some money as the clubs in this division have gradually got more wealthy and better than others clubs have. I mean, look at Wolves, 15 million for a player in the championship is ridiculous.

 

Google it, tells you all you need to know. Valid reason why he pulled out of two and the other wouldn't sell

 

And how much did PC put in of his own money without return? That's the difference.

If people want to chase rainbows, then that's their prerogative. I like the fact Barnsley is owned and run by local people and authorities. There's a written and unwritten accountability.

Once sold there isn't. That link to local ownership, heritage and history will be broken. I'd happily be proven wrong in that the club ends up being really successful. But the methods don't sit right with me. It would be fake. And for all Barnsley's faults, being fake isn't one of them.

 

Alex Jarvis was asking on twitter two days after we beat them how much Forest were sold for. So put 2+2 together and get 5 because he's obviously said "Look Chien you can buy this club for a million and they've just beat these fookers that's cost £60 million"

I've just seen Chien Lee in Timpson getting a key cut for West stand board room.

 

I don't want BFC to be sold to wealthy foreign owners, but understand PC needs to sell, so will cross my fingers and hope for the best if this happens.

But, if we think having this backing means we'll be able to keep our assets for longer, then why the chuff have we let Roberts go and accepted an offer for Yiadom? Surely if the board know this is developing, then they'd take a gamble on keeping them with the expectation the deal gets done and we benefit long term?

 

What do you think the current regime have done?