Sun Jun 10, 2012 8:38 am
Thanks fellas. Interesting debate & thoughts I must admit.
One thing is for sure everyone's singing from different hymn sheets at the moment & thatnot a good thing obviously.
Quick question.
Why do the owners think changing to red will increase revenue & make CCFC a global brand?
How about teams like Chelsea, Celtic, Glasgow Rangers, Tottenham etc who have all got significant fan bases in Asia.
Ok if we are honest they are much bigger clubs but the point being they do not play in red in any way or form so I really don't understand it.
Talks of the £100m investment being withdrawn if the re branding didn't go ahead is nothing short of blackmail.
Sun Jun 10, 2012 8:40 am
Just to put the record straight, (again) Sam left in Nov/Dec 2006
On may 31 2006 our debts were...
£38m
The £24m Annis speaks about was just what was owed to Sam, and does not include debts to other clubs, other directors, PAYE, wages owed, trade creditors, VAT, etc..
Out turnover was £8m (less than 1/2 what it is now) and we didn't have a stadium. The players were worth nearer £10m than £30m (check out the squad for the game v Norwich) - Annis, with respect you can't add on values for players who were just kids at the time and eventually become worth a lot (in your £30m figure for example you include the fee for Ramsey (£5m) or players who would eventually become salable like £6m for Ledley, and similar for Roger Johnson who wasn't even playing regulkarly then, kept out by Purse and Loovens and who would have been worth about £500k at the time... for a start).
We had just had a poor season and had bounced back to be top of the table, although lost the game when Sam left and quickly dropped off as soon as we got injuries to Loovens and Scimeca, and Chopra stopped scoring.
Sam started the dream for us and stepped in when no-one else was interested and I will always respect him for that, but when he left we were on our arse. No new stadium (he DID NOT have planning permission as he couldn't put a viable business plan together), a decent, but thin squad, and an unsustainable debt.
This debt then grew over the next few years as Ridsdale chased the dream and we spent on the stadium. Yes we've got £70/£80m of debt now, but we do also have assets - a £50m stadium for one. The Malays actually reduced the debt when they first came in by converting loans to shares and have reverted to overspending to try to get us up. There was also a vote to reduce the debt further which never got completed due to a falling out with PMG.
IF they stick to their word now then we might see it stabilised for the first time in living memory (no good just blaming Sam as we were in the shit for as long as I can remember - and thats at least 20 years prior to Sam arriving)
These are the FACTS.
We've been mismanaged for years, our support up until recently has been shockingly poor (in the lower divisions in the 80's and 90's our crowds were similar to towns with 1/10 of our catchment area and we were dwarfed by the likes of Burnley and Huddersfield) and always been short of money.
Sam gave us a bit of hope (as did rick Wright), but at a cost.
The only good thing now is the guys in charge HAVE got the means to put it right.
IF they don't stick to their word, I'll be right at the front of the queue to get them out even if it means us going into admin and sliding down the leagues.