EPL Talk » Thaksin Shinawatra

Portsmouth’s Fans Don’t Deserve Being Messed Around

Paul Bestall — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 22:53:31 +0000

Ah, isn’t buying a football club the easiest thing in the world. Look how quickly Abramovich bought Chelsea, the Glazers bought Manchester United and the Abu Dhabi group picked up City. Compared to the protracted nature of the proposed takeover of Portsmouth, even buying Newcastle United may be easier.

When Sulaiman Al-Fahim reappeared in May to announce he was to buy Portsmouth, I wasn’t surprised, just perplexed. I’d forgotten that the buyers of Manchester City had quickly jettisoned him last autumn when he started making wild statements to the press about transfer targets and wages. Well, now here he is again and it seems another can of worms has been opened over the takeover.

The English press, well known for its balance and refusal to use knee jerk headlines, has been all over the Pompey takeover this weekend. From the Guardian, to the Sun to the, erm, Daily Star, rumours abounded about who was actually involved in the deal. First we had Premier League Chairman Dave Richards getting embroiled in the takeover before going on a media blitz to say he had no involvement or had set the deal up.

Then amazingly, international fugitive and former owner of Manchester City, Thaksin Shinawatra then came out claiming he was not involved at all after he was reported to be involved. Finally, expecting Adolf Hitler to be involved in some freak time machine/cryogenically frozen worm hole scandal, disappointingly it then seemed that Al-Fahim’s Hydra Group was owned by the brother of Manchester City’s owner, Sheikh Mansoor.

Ok, have you followed this so far? Good. Now after all that, what must the Portsmouth fans think of it all? The Fratton Park faithful, who have seen more than their fair share’s of ups and downs over the years, must have thought they’d seen most things, but even this little pot-boiler must be an unusual set of events even in Portsmouths history.

With no manager with Paul Hart’s temporary contract now having run its course, Glen Johnson tipped to leave very soon and now Peter Crouch coming out in the press to admit his disappointment and frustration at events, it could hardly be duller. Add to that Chief Executive Peter Storrie’s annoyance at the wild speculation surrounding the Al-Fahim’s bid and Crouch’s comments and you have a situation that will have the Pompey fans wondering if Godzilla may turn up coming out of the Solent next and stomp his way through Fareham on the way to the cricket ground.

When the dust finally settles, I truly hope that Al-Fahim is as good as his word, the Portsmouth fans deserve it. The last 10 years have been like a day out at Southsea fairground for the loyal fans of Pompey. This is a club that deserves and needs some investment on a continual basis, as great a ground for atmosphere Fratton Park is, it looks well past it sell by date. The new proposal for the ground that came out last year looked fantastic; it’s such a relief to see a ground so different to the normal identikit shoeboxes that seem to pop up these days and let’s hope the new owners agree to it.

New investment is crucial though for Portsmouth to compete both on and off the field and the sooner Al-Fayims due diligence is completed, the better for the fans. After all, they’ve a certain other clubs recent relegations to warn them of the promise of good times that are always around the corner but never arrive.

Is Manchester City Really Better Off with New Owners?

Richard Whittall — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 16:58:20 +0000

So, the shortish reign of Thaksin Shinawatra has finally come to an end.

None too soon perhaps for Man City fans settling down to some Pepto Bismol after that ridiculous and probably unnecessary roller-coaster ride. While stern looking Premier League officials waxed on about ‘fit and proper persons,’ it was clear that the former Thai Primer Minister with the dubious human rights record would provide the sort of leadership the Premier League could do without.

Things started off well, as they often do in these early ownership periods. Sven Goran Erikson managed to turn City around after a dismal and almost fatal two-year run under Stuart Pierce. The club did the double against Manchester United, and City looked to be on the upswing. Fans were happy. Players were happy. But as so often happens with massively-wealthy persons with a track-record of abusing human rights, Shinawatra wanted more, more, more.

Seemingly off in his own world, which is apparently like Football Manager with unlimited funds and the difficulty setting on ‘Easy,’ Shinawatra got incensed at City’s respectable ninth place finish and Fair Play UEFA Cup spot. Like a petulant forum poster, he demanded Erikson get the sack, all to the delight of Man City fans who lashed out at their owner at the end of the season to, surprise surprise, no avail.

So on to Mark Hughes, and then, mercifully, Shinawatra’s tax evasion stuff back home, and today the selling of the club to an Abu Dhabi consortium.

So it’s a clean slate for City, right? Brand new owner Abu Dhabi United Group representative Dr Sulaiman Al-Fahim reported today that, “Our goal is very simple: to make Manchester City the biggest club in the Premier League, and to begin with to finish in the top four this season.” So, back to realistic expectations then. And all that for the glory of the club, right?

Al-Fahim again: “We in Abu Dhabi United Company for Development and Investment are keen to develop ways to provide support and care for various sports activities to help build and develop a new generation of young State, which represents the real wealth and the future of this nation and the cornerstone for building the future of our civilisation.” Well, the glory of the UAE, Manchester City, you know, either/or.

So not only are Premier League football clubs the playthings of the super-rich iron fists of the world, they are also propaganda arms for super-rich oil nations with their own stake in the human rights game. Arab consortiums, American Football team owners, Thai Prime Ministers on the lam; it’s all starting to resemble a Tintin comic. While City fared pretty well in comparison with other clubs destroyed by hubristic ownership (Leeds Leeds Leeds!), this in-one-day, out-the-next ownership system does not suit the slow-progressing and unpredicabtle world of club football outside the Top Four, as the number of administrations and point-deductions in the lower tiers reveals.

Early signs are for City are not good. Perhaps at thrity-two million pounds, Berbatov will come in and somehow do for City what he could not do for Spurs, i.e. lead them to a consistent top four finish…yet the star-striker as club-saviour tactic only works normally when the player is Pele or Maradona. It may be that the Abu Dhabi United Group are beneficent owners with all the best intentions for one the most storied clubs in England, but a few hundred million pounds, a hope, and a prayer does not a sustainable business model make.

Richard Whittall is author of the curmudgeonly footbaholic web log, A More Splendid Life.

Breaking News: Middle East Company Buys Manchester City

The Gaffer — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 14:26:38 +0000

Manchester City officials have confirmed that a Middle East company is in the process of taking over the club from Thai owner Thaksin Shinawatra.

A memorandum of understanding (i.e. a statement of intent) has been signed between between the Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG) and Manchester City Football Club Limited.

“A period of due diligence for all parties, including the FA Premier League has now been entered,” according to a statement made by Manchester City.

ADUG reportedly paid £200 million to buy Manchester City.

Are Manchester City About To Go Into Meltdown?

Paul Bestall — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:50:36 +0000

When the Vedran Corluka story broke on Thursday, it seemed nothing more than transfer speculation hitting the news wires, stoked by the usual rumour mongers and agents, desperately trying to earn a bit of corn for themselves, pushing a transfer through. Manchester City denied it, Tottenham didn’t mention it and Mark Hughes came out and said that he had no interest in selling any of his first choice players. Another statement was released last night to the same effect.

Later on Friday, Hughes once again had to came out and said that the owner, Thaksin Shinawatra, had no interest in selling the club and was committed to Manchester City in the long term. Don’t forget it’s only 6 weeks ago they signed Jo for a club record fee of £19 million pounds, adding Ben Haim to the squad on the 1st August for a further £5million as well as chasing Ronaldinho most of the summer too. Surely Manchester City can’t really be facing financial meltdown?

Yet, on further investigation things began to unravel on Friday evening. Corluka was to join Tottenham for the exact amount that City had paid for him a year earlier and on Saturday afternoon, Corluka travelled to London to complete his transfer to Spurs. To all intents and purposes, Corluka is now a Tottenham player but the deal has yet to be announced to the stock market. Corluka’s agent has also confirmed the deal has been completed but City are refusing to release the players registration. Spurs are apparently considering legal action to force the release of the player.

Prior to the Saturdays match, rumours then broke regarding Stephen Ireland, who was nowhere to be seen in the build up to the friendly against AC Milan, was concluding a transfer to Sunderland. This was obviously against the wishes of Hughes who had only found out when he arrived at the ground that Ireland had been sent to Sunderland to discuss contract terms. He quickly called him back to Eastlands to discuss the situation further.

Sunday then saw stories circulating that Shinawatra was not going to return to Thailand to stand trial in the court case against him for corruption charges but nothing was concrete or official until Monday morning. Shinawatra has indeed released a statement stating that “He and his wife would be staying in the UK where democracy is more important”. The Thailand Supreme Court has now issued an arrest warrant for him, making him an international fugitive, which now causes issues with the Premiership’s fit and proper person test. The British Home Office has yet to receive an application for political asylum at present.

Add to this fact that all City’s new arrivals are being paid for in installments and payments have now begun to bounce, the club don’t own the Eastlands ground, so can’t use that as collateral to raise funds and the £200 million loan that Shinawatra borrowed on the proviso that his frozen assets would be released is also due for payment and the worries begin to grow for this great club. Any new buyer would have to pay at least £200 million immediately to clear Shinawatra’s debt’s and make the club secure and the current financial climate doesn’t make an immediate rescue package seem too viable.

How will Mark Hughes feel in this situation is anyone’s guess, but you have to feel sorry for him if this scenario is as real as some people are making out. He came to Manchester City to improve his standing as a manager and push himself on to a different level, this could force him into reconsidering his position as manager. Being in charge of an owner’s firesale didn’t appear on the application form.

Whilst this could all be a massive misunderstanding, under the surface, things do not sound good. In fact, things seem to be taking a similar route to that which befell Leeds United several years ago but Leeds had tangible assets to try and raise some funds. Other than the playing staff, some of whom they still don’t own, City don’t have anything to sell. With 5 days left to go until the start of the season, it seems bad things are afoot at Manchester City and I have heard that some people feel the club has two weeks left as a football club. Let’s hope that this isn’t true and City can hold on to what they have in these difficult times.

Shinawatra Wants To Sell Entire Manchester City Squad. Or Does He?

The Gaffer — Fri, 16 May 2008 10:48:25 +0000

The Daily Express newspaper is reporting that Manchester City owner Thaksin Shinawatra has sent a letter to each Man City player saying that he’s dissatisfied with the team’s performance in the second half of the year, that each player is up for sale and that he plans on having an entirely new squad before the new season begins.

Expect the news to create quite a storm through the blogosphere and in the online newspapers around the world today. But, is the news even true? Daily Express reporter Richard Tanner fails to name one source in his article. This is one thing I hate about the British tabloids. There are no facts in this article, just rumors.

The Guardian put the story in their rumors section where it rightfully belongs instead of their news section. The Daily Telegraph wrote a piece about the story and attributed the news to the Express, which is often rare for a British newspaper to do so. Perhaps if the story isn’t true they can point their fingers at the Express and say “they said it, not us.”

Not surprisingly, the official Manchester City website doesn’t mention anything about the story. Even if it was true, I’m sure the club wouldn’t touch that with a ten foot pole. Interestingly, their web site does have a section called “What The Papers Say.” City has so far decided not to put that article in there (for good reason, the City fans would riot if the story is true).

When a newspaper is writing an article and cannot use the person’s name because he or she wants to remain anonymous, the writer should clue the reader in to the source of the story. “An unnamed source inside Manchester City Football Club today revealed that” or something similar. Otherwise, how does the newspaper expect us to believe the story?