TAN, MOODY, MACKAY, KAZAKHSTAN RUMOURS & FALLOUT

I write this not as somebody who is claiming to be 'in the know' as many are/were especially during the transfer windows but as someone who has a slightly different perspective on things and as somebody who wants to try and make some sort of sense of what is happening.

For those that know me, i'm a Cardiff boy, working in the film industry now in Mumbai but with business ties to Scandinavia and, particularly, Russia and some in SE Asia. I talk to people, particularly in Asia about CCFC whenever there and can confirm to you, despite other rumours that our club is gaining in popularity in these territories. But that is beside the point...

So, Tan it seems has fired Moody in effect by placing him on Gardening leave which it appears has been suggested by his lawyers. So, it was dangerous to suspend/sack him legally? This can only be because he has a weak case against Moody in terms of dismissal. A post I have seen here suggests it was down to Moody voicing his concerns of Tans behaviour/treatment etc. towards players. As a trusted aide of MAlky, this is plausiblke that he would do so and seems plausible that this is a reason for his gardening leave.

Moody, I read here and elsewhere could have been a 'leak' or a 'mole'. Surely nonsense. Firstly, the amount of smoke & mirrors that is praqctised by clubs these days in transfer dealings etc. is at quite a sophisticated level. Do we really buy that someone who has been a success in a role for nearly a decade has suddenly forgot how to do their job and is leaking stories to the press with no authority? That is almost slanderous to somebody that has done an otherwise good job in terms of player recruitment. In my opinion, more could had been done but due to the fact Tan, as admitted by himself, has attended most if not all negotiations himself, Moody can not be held accountable for losing such targets such as Tom Ince etc. and deserves credit in recruiting Caulker, Medel etc.

As for Malky, well, he seems to be a fall guy at the moment, caught in the crossfire of politics, money and ego.

Now here are one or two rumours I have found/read/been told:

Tan is now in or close to being in a position in which his stake in the club amounts basically to him being able to ask investors to join him in his enterprise without any boardroom discussion or dilligence. Having a controlling stake, i.e. 51% does not entitle you to this but him having 90+% soon will mean a rollover of any other stake holders.

The mere fact that up to £70 million invested by Tan is now a 'debt to equity' or 'investment as loan' suggests that he is either not willing or simply not wealthy enough to use City in the same way as an Abramovich, Sheikh Mansoor and other wealthy chairman way. Now, this is not unusual or a blueprint for a disaster as this is the way Southampton are now run and they are enjoying success but the difference, in my opinion, is the levels of bullshit. The sacking of Adkins aside, what nonsense do we read/hear about Southampton? They are run by competant people, I'm not sure we are.

Now, the Kazakh side of my post:

Yes, we know a young guy has been placed in Moody's place. I'm not going to assume he is incompetant due to age/experience. I am going to point out he is at least an aquaintance of the Tans and this is because Tan is (and this is not a secret practise) courting Russian/Azerbaijaini & Kazakhstani money. I have been told first hand that in Russia, Cardiff have been on the table (from an investment and not sale point of view) for a couple of years already and that there is an attractive prospectus doing the rounds (I asked a Russian film financier to try and get hold of one but he is apparently not rich enough as a mere multi millionaire). However, Mr Apsalaymov, father of our new 23 year old replacement of Iain Moody is in that category and preparing to invest in the club.

My personal fear is that we will see this investment if/when promotion is secured ready for the stadium expansion and another recruitment drive and, after another season or before, we see an Arsenal style Usmanov/Kroenke battle and split in the boardroom. I am also informed that this Kazakh family are very much football people and, Abramovich style, have funded Kazakh national level football and the wages of coaches. I am told that the wages of the former Kazakh national boss, Bernd Storck (I know, who?) a German coach now coaching Olympiakos youth or something, is a friend and that this family and Storck left the Kazakh set-up together in an act of unison as a protest to how Kazakh football was won (worryingly though it looks like he was doing a terrible job).

Are we going to find ourselves in a position like Newcastle where our owners parachute friends/aquantances into the positions of power at the club?

If we do not have further investment, is Tan going to use his complete lack of footballing nous to replace Malky with someone 'he has heard is good'?

Surely, from what I read coming from Tan's mouth, in relation to Moody and the PR department, the 'leak' we need to worry about is Tan himself. Suggesting in one interview we should be top four and in another suggesting the bonuses offered to the players (that we know are lower than average) are 'correct for a club of our stature'. Surely these are contradictory and this is happening daily from what I read in the UK press and that of Malaysia etc.

I fear we are days/weeks/months away from a complete fiasco.

I'm afraid that Tan and or cronies are missing the football
Side of this 'business'

A team can go on a bad run as well as a good run and nothing
Is guarranteed.
Malky is a club legend and the owners are not showing respect
To the club or its fans in their quest.

While VT will get support from some fans through blinkered
Eyes - the vast majority can see that Malky got us here and Malky
Conducts himself with respect.
Chelsea and geordies were big clubs before their current owners
Came along.
Cardiff are not.

Plus he has already split the fan base in 2.

I fear if we go on a bad run due to this -that this could spiral badly
And our support will fall back as quick as it came on.
Wile the loyals 'Blues' have been kicked aside already.

Very good rational post. Thankyou

Eddie, Sadly, I think you are quite right, I can see things unravelling some time soon regardless of results but yes, a bad run will speed this up.

Would you and everyone else agree that it is actually quite difficult to know exactly what it is that Tan and the rest of the club is actually trying to achieve?

In one interview Tan might say something daft aboiut the top four, in the next, it's about survival, the next it is about having a strong season and establishing us as a PL club.

From Malky, quite rightly, it's for him about surviving and then trying to establish us as a PL club with a view on restraint and building sustainably and rationally.

Long gone are the days where a considered press release from the club or simple statement from the manager would tell us fans what the club were aiming for as a unit.

Mr Tan needs a lesson in media relations in my opinion because he is truly terrible.

exiledinjackland, thanks by the way...

I agree with you Mumbai Bluebird.

United we stand -divided we fall.

What is so destroying is how VT regime has cut through
Fans and pitched fan against fan on times.

This -in anyones world- is surely bad for togetherness, strength and
Sustainable roots.

This is retail managment with quick turnaround and fast return on investment.

This is at odds with a football club - that has community roots
History and tradition.
A dangerous game and a dangerous time for gamblers to be at our club.

Decisions for a club supported by generations of families etc at the flip of a coin?

My turn to agree with you again..

Excellent piece Bombay Bluebird and well thought out. I am concerned at what seems to be happening now. 98% shareholder is a frightening proposition, maybe he will make himself manager !! Malky was just what was needed and he manages like he played. Football is all about trust and who could blame Malky if he walked away. Tan seems to like his grand gestures like his recent million to Cardiff Charities. Don't get me wrong, I work for a Charity myself, but these gestures seem to be about ego and deflecting attention from other things. I look at how other clubs have fallen apart like Leeds United, Portsmouth etc and hope we do not go the same way. I hear that a Turmenistan Sheep Herder has been sounded out about running a football team, he doesn't know what football is but then what does that matter. Please Mr Tan come to your senses and bring back Moody, Keep Malky and listen to the fans now and then as they pay to come in.

Great post Bombay Bluebird... It becomes clear more and more this club is just a toy for Tan... Who are his PR team? Actually I don't think he cares

Interesting post and you certainly appear to have a hand on pertinent information. Thanks for that, it certainly gives food for thought as to the potential for 'imminent' investment from outside sources

I stated elsewhere that I thought the 'job' given to the youngster was a political one and not particularly one that will see him running the club's transfer affairs

Bombay speaks sense. End of the day the next two months Moody's position was pointless. If it means getting a billionaire involved then so be it. The guy they have apointed is a temp we all know that

Thanks everyone...

I, like you all, am concerned at what is increasingly becoming laughable from the club.

It wasn't all that long ago that I was thankful for the investment (but against the rebranding for the record) in the club but more and more I am wishing in many ways that it had been on better terms.

Whilst, as one or two of you point out, it could be interesting or even good to have further investment, I'm sceptical now as much of the investment is, at some stage I fear, going to be owed in debts and loans to Tan and whoever else.

I have to say, the comment that made me think the most was that Tan is treating the club as a 'toy'. Fair point.

However, everything is so confosing coming from that man that you can't even be certain it is a plaything to him.

For every whimsical change or decision (like the red) which suggests a toy, there are what appear to be potentially severe financial shenanigans which suggest someone positioning themselves for a buyout of the club (the debt to equity model) or indeed to asset strip, hardly a motive from someone treating the club as a plaything.

Though, with the sacking of Moody, you would think he is just being egotistical and excersising his power there as would a bigger kid taking his ball home when pissed off in the park.

Who knows?

Can you imagine the confusion, anger and disgust Malky might feel at all this? I'm another one who can imagine, and not blame him for, leaving in the near future which will be an enormous loss for us but I hope Mr Tan understands that it will not just be another bit of personnel callatoral damage at his business (sorry, club) but potentially a significant financial one and one liable to strip him unwittingly of his assets such as Caulker, Medel and the rest of the squad who are so far impressing many.

This is absolutely bonkers! No manager will want to work with him at this rate. How can you view Cardiff's start to the season as anything other than solid and assured?

this must be the malaysian humour, , putting in a boy who was painting walls a few months ago, i think sam hammann will be our next scouting chief

Interesting read, mate.

Great post.

Now please someone in Cardiff start a new Cardiff A.F.C , a blue one. Even if we have to start at the bottom tier.

I will gladly come "home" and pay £30 entry to watch the bluebirds playing at home.

Don't get me wrong it's the same for the current team, but if I had the option I would support the new side.

Bit like FC United of Manchester .

My thoughts

Now, the Kazakh side of my post:

However, Mr Apsalaymov, father of our new 23 year old replacement of Iain Moody is in that category and preparing to invest in the club.

This wouldn't surprise me - this is the way things work in the CIS, and Kazakhstan in particular.

However, Apsalyamov is not a very common Kazakh name, and in my KZ dealings to date I've never come across a Mr Apsalyamov within the inner circle of President Nazarbayev. This would be expected if he was way beyond "multi-millionaire". Do you have a first name for Apsalyamov Sr?

NB - google fans, I don't think Erbolat Apsalyamov would be that guy.