Money can't buy Vincent Tan love,but Cardiff City holds a very special place in his affection again
Money Can’t Buy Me Love - the iconic lyrics of the 1964 Beatles hit.
By Paul Abbadonatto
Monday 14th August 2017
Five decades on, Malaysian tycoon Vincent Tan kind of echoed those words by reiterating every single one of his business enterprises are up for sale at the right price because he doesn’t ‘love them.’
Including Cardiff City, the most high-profile one of the lot.
However, if anything is likely to rekindle an old flame and feelings somewhere deep inside the Bluebirds owner, then it is Saturday’s thumping 3-0 triumph over Aston Villa.
This is not about stocks and shares or a balance sheet. This is about raw passion and adrenaline, something Tan simply cannot get in any other part of his business portfolio, be it property, food and beverage, financial services, McDonald’s, or even the £100m profit made on the sale of his Facebook shares.
Only football can provide those ‘other’ elements. What’s not to love when you have days like Saturday and the future suddenly looks so bright once again?
Fortunately, Tan was there in person at Cardiff City Stadium to witness first hand a real Championship statement of intent from Neil Warnock’s team as they battered one of the red-hot favourites for promotion to the Premier League this season.
It was a very, very rare recent appearance at a Bluebirds match for the owner. Given the question marks surrounding Tan’s commitment to the club, perhaps what happened at the final whistle was as significant as the spellbinding events that had just taken place during the preceding 90 minutes.
Wearing a blue Cardiff top, big beaming grin on his face, Tan walked out onto the pitch to shake hands with the players, embrace his manager and do the Ayatollah with the delirious, dare I say it disbelieving, fans.
It was kind of like a reconnect. The owner, the club, the team and the people together again. The type of thing we used to see during Cardiff’s promotion-winning and Wembley heyday when Tan, standing next to Malky Mackay, fed off the adulation of the supporters.
None of his other business ventures can offer that. Can’t even come remotely close.
As with any love affair, when things go wrong the hurt can be deep. Rightly or wrongly, Tan felt betrayed as a sequence of events unfolded.
By Mackay, by the fans who rebelled against his red rebrand, some of whom sung the most unflattering of songs about him at games.
But at some point you have to forgive and forget. Move on. Well on the evidence of Saturday’s showmanship, it seems as if Tan has at least begun to.
There will still be an anti-Tan stance from some Bluebirds supporters, but what we saw post-Villa was an indication that a sizeable proportion are behind their owner again and the fresh drive for the Premier League.
It helps when you’re winning, mind, and this was Cardiff’s most significant victory for years. It really was that important.
The best atmosphere at the ground, too, since the top flight triumphs over Manchester City and Swansea back in 2013.
There is a buzz in the Welsh capital again and the people flocked into Cardiff City Stadium with a new-found sense of hope and anticipation.
Queues for tickets were so big that many were tweeting pictures of themselves still waiting outside with the match well underway.
It was either going to be one of those rip-roaring occasions from recent yesteryear, or a complete bursting of the Bluebirds' bubble.
Fortunately it was the former as Nathaniel Mendez-Laing (two) and Junior Hoilett fired the goals in a rout which, if truth be told, could have been even bigger than the final 3-0 scoreline.
The fans sang loud and proud, the manager cajoled, the players dazzled, the sun shone, the owner watched on. How on earth do you quanitfy that on a balance sheet?
Football, and Cardiff City, are completely different to every day business dealings and Tan would not be human if he didn’t want more of this.
Whether Warnock’s Class of 2017 are as good as Malky’s title-winners is, of course, open to question. The Championship is littered with really good teams this season and automatic promotion is going to be one heck of an ask.
Top six is the more likely aim, even accounting for the Villa annhiilation, and a crack at the Premier via the play-offs.
But in Warnock, these Bluebirds have arguably the best manager in the division. He has put together the kind of Cardiff City force that is reminiscent of the days under Mackay and Dave Jones.
An excellent defence, a tigerish and hard-working midfield, rounded off by players further forward who can make the difference.
Under Mackay it was Craig Bellamy. Jones had Jay Bothroyd and Michael Chopra at his disposal.
Warnock’s front three on Saturday - Mendez-Laing, Hoilett and Kenneth Zohore – absolutely terrorised the Villa backline.
Zohore ripped each and every one of them to shreds with his pace and direct power running. Terry may be nearing 37, his legs going, but that won’t have happened to him too often down the years.
Of course, keeping Zohore is key to the Bluebirds’ promotion hopes and will be evidence of Tan’s commitment. He has ploughed an estimated £150m-plus into Cardiff City and wants a sizeable chunk of it back. That’s business.
He could net £20m in one fell swoop for Zohore, but Cardiff simply have to keep hold of their main man. So far so good, he's not for sale.
If they continue to punch their way up around the top, Tan will also have to release the purse strings further in January and let Warnock strengthen again.
But you sense he will be more inclined to do that than he was at any other stage over the past three seasons.
Tan trusts Warnock’s value for money judgement on players.
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