Hello! (Aston Villa Relegated Thread)

[DarkSithLord]

Delighted for Villa fans. Everything crossed that this Chinese bloke is legit and gets Villa back where they belong!

 

[JaseTheVillain]

Cheers, he sounds good already, but then so did Randy! Time will tell, but he apparently wants us back in the Top 6 in the PL competing in Europe again. So, basically, he wants to turn back the clock 10 years and have us trying to crack the Champions League again.

 

[El Guapo]

Fronted by an anti-semitic architect who appears to have fabricated his academic (and possibly his business) credentials. Sometimes it is better the devil you know than the devil you don't.

http://multipletext.com/2010/10-two-Chinese-men.htm

"I'm not a fan of Jews, but..."

 

[Blitzballer]

according to Collymore

 

[El Guapo]

If you search Recon on Google, it returns...

 

[Blitzballer]

yeah that is kind of disturbing

 

[Blitzballer]

I found the Collymore tweet via FB, because for the record..

 

[JJH]

New owner is supposedly giving the new head coach 'up to £50m' to spend.... Ridiculous.

 

[AFCB_Mark]

Derby spent 30 and it didn't guarantee anything for them.
Boro did likewise and yes they went up, but easily could have slipped into the playoffs instead of Brighton.

A competent manager and board first and foremost will be what Villa need, not raw money.

 

[Dayman]

Why is this Xia bloke only turning up now Villa have gone down? Didn't Lerner put the club up for sale two years ago? I appreciate Xia might not have to pay as much but if you've got £27bn in the bank then I can't imagine the asking price is going to be a sticking point. Surely Villa already in the top flight would've been a better proposition for a new owner?

 

[hodge]

New owner is supposedly giving the new head coach 'up to £50m' to spend.... Ridiculous.

If someone fails to get a team promoted with £50m (unless every player is injured all season) they shouldn't be allowed a job in football ever again really. You can basically pick and choose a fantasy side for that money.

 

[JaseTheVillain]

New owner is supposedly giving the new head coach 'up to £50m' to spend.... Ridiculous.

Don't worry, we'll still find a way to bottle it, we're Aston Villa ffs, nothing is straight forward for us.

Why is this Xia bloke only turning up now Villa have gone down? Didn't Lerner put the club up for sale two years ago? I appreciate Xia might not have to pay as much but if you've got £27bn in the bank then I can't imagine the asking price is going to be a sticking point. Surely Villa already in the top flight would've been a better proposition for a new owner?

Because the original asking price was £200million + debt to be paid, he has just purchased the club for £60million + debt. There's a rather large difference there.

 

[El Guapo]

There is no evidence of Xia’s wealth.

And Recon haven't published any annual reports or audited financial statements, according to http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/86e008f2-1da2-11e6-a7bc-ee846770ec15.html#axzz496uCi2Mc.

 

[JaseTheVillain]

Can't read that mate, you need a subscription.

 

[Dayman]

Don't worry, we'll still find a way to bottle it, we're Aston Villa ffs, nothing is straight forward for us.



Because the original asking price was £200million + debt to be paid, he has just purchased the club for £60million + debt. There's a rather large difference there.

When you've got more money than God though surely £140m is a drop in the ocean considering what he could have made with a bit of investment, a manager he's happy with and guaranteed Premier League status next season?

*disclaimer - my financial nous on this matter may explain why I'm skint and work in a factory.

 

[El Guapo]

Can't read that mate, you need a subscription.

Recon declined to answer questions or make Mr Xia available for an interview, and he does not appear to have published an annual report or audited financial statements.

The company, according to its website, has controlling stakes in five publicly listed companies in China and Hong Kong: a soap maker, a maker of food additives and a company that does small loans and appraisals.

Recon’s largest investment appears to be a stake in the Shanghai-based Lotus Health Group, which, according to the statement, is “the largest glutamic acid company in China” (the sodium salt of glutamic acid is the food additive MSG). It has 12,000 employees and 10,000 distributors in China. Company records put Mr Xia’s Zhejiang Recon Investment Ltd stake at 75 per cent.

Lotus produces 150,000 tonnes of MSG, exporting to more than 70 countries every year, according to Shanghai stock exchange filings.

Last month it announced it had made a net loss in 2015 of Rmb508.5m ($77.6m) on revenues of Rmb1.7bn, compared with a net profit of Rmb23.9m the previous year.

Formerly known as Henan Lotus Gourmet Powder, Lotus Health Group was at the centre of a mysterious episode last December when it announced, and then two days later retracted, the appointment of Chinese president Xi Jinping’s cousin to its board of directors. Calls to Lotus went unanswered on Wednesday.

Recon’s website says the company also owns a controlling share in Hong Kong-listed Roma Group, which had profits last year of HK$36m (US$4.6m) and is “principally engaged in the provision valuation and technical advisory services” in Hong Kong.

Public documents indicate it makes small personal loans and loans collateralised by stock shares. Calls to Roma went unanswered.

 

[Liam_SWFC]

So are Villa the next Manchester City?

 

[NorthernSoul]

Got a feeling something doesn't add up here.

 

[hodge]

When you've got more money than God though surely £140m is a drop in the ocean considering what he could have made with a bit of investment, a manager he's happy with and guaranteed Premier League status next season?

*disclaimer - my financial nous on this matter may explain why I'm skint and work in a factory.

It's still £140m....

 

[El Guapo]

Got a feeling something doesn't add up here.

We had the same rhetoric when Carson Yeung and co took over Birmingham City, stating their intent to make us the most famous football club in China, 'billionaire' owner, new stadium, £40m for new players, etc.

There is almost a sense of deja vu with Xia and Recon. Unknown backers, offshore accounts, etc. Chris Samuelson who is involved in the takeover has twice been investigated for money laundering. It will be interesting to see what direction they'll take Villa... the Portsmouth route, or back to the Premier League.

 

[JaseTheVillain]

Yeah it is all seeming a little fishy. The small confidence I currently have is that the Chinese government are fucking crazy on football recently, so we may end up being basically funded by the government really.

Still, nothing would surprise me any more, trying to be as optimistic as possible though.

 

[last request]

£27 billion dollars.

 

[El Guapo]

 

[TractorBoys]

Why is this Xia bloke only turning up now Villa have gone down? Didn't Lerner put the club up for sale two years ago? I appreciate Xia might not have to pay as much but if you've got £27bn in the bank then I can't imagine the asking price is going to be a sticking point. Surely Villa already in the top flight would've been a better proposition for a new owner?

Just because he's filthy rich doesn't mean he doesn't consider whether a deal is financially sound before committing to it, quite the opposite in fact.

 

[Madejski]

We had the same rhetoric when Carson Yeung and co took over Birmingham City, stating their intent to make us the most famous football club in China, 'billionaire' owner, new stadium, £40m for new players, etc.

There is almost a sense of deja vu with Xia and Recon. Unknown backers, offshore accounts, etc. Chris Samuelson who is involved in the takeover has twice been investigated for money laundering. It will be interesting to see what direction they'll take Villa... the Portsmouth route, or back to the Premier League.

Wouldn't trust him at all given what he was allegedly like as director for us. We're still almost 3 years on recovering from that ownership problems.

 

[Dayman]

Just because he's filthy rich doesn't mean he doesn't consider whether a deal is financially sound before committing to it, quite the opposite in fact.

I get that but surely if we're talking about a financially sound deal to take over a football club then surely you wouldn't go after a club that's just dropped out of the richest league in the world? He won't have just turned up to buy Villa. He'll have been looking, poring over the details and getting advised for some time now. I just think if you're going to give a manager a decent transfer budget like he says he is then (in my opinion) it must be easier to keep a club like Villa in the top flight than it is to get them promoted from a notoriously difficult league to get promoted out of. Then there's the financial rewards of staying in vs. potential failed attempts to go up if things don't go right. There's parachute payments but I mean, come on...

Obviously if he can walk the walk then my point is...well...pointless. If he can get the wind behind the sails of a club as big as Villa and if he genuinely has got finances on par with Mansour then there's no reason why Villa can't emulate what City have done recently because they're arguably a bigger club. It just concerns me when things like this happen. There's a fine line between being a saviour and a maniac in these situations.

 

[Dayman]

Sorry. All my posts are like fucking essays. I'll dial it back a bit

 

[TractorBoys]

I get that but surely if we're talking about a financially sound deal to take over a football club then surely you wouldn't go after a club that's just dropped out of the richest league in the world? He won't have just turned up to buy Villa. He'll have been looking, poring over the details and getting advised for some time now. I just think if you're going to give a manager a decent transfer budget like he says he is then (in my opinion) it must be easier to keep a club like Villa in the top flight than it is to get them promoted from a notoriously difficult league to get promoted out of. Then there's the financial rewards of staying in vs. potential failed attempts to go up if things don't go right. There's parachute payments but I mean, come on...

Obviously if he can walk the walk then my point is...well...pointless. If he can get the wind behind the sails of a club as big as Villa and if he genuinely has got finances on par with Mansour then there's no reason why Villa can't emulate what City have done recently because they're arguably a bigger club. It just concerns me when things like this happen. There's a fine line between being a saviour and a maniac in these situations.

My logic would be that he's just saved himself £140m to reinvest and rebuild the squad, get rid of the deadwood and have a genuine shot at returning to the Premier League at the first time of asking. If he paid the £200m, he essentially takes over with no guarantee he'll be able to save them from relegation.

I think £60m in the Championship right after relegation is far more attractive than £200m in the Prem with uncertainty.

 

[hodge]

£27 billion dollars.

 

[HarvSFC]

I get that but surely if we're talking about a financially sound deal to take over a football club then surely you wouldn't go after a club that's just dropped out of the richest league in the world? He won't have just turned up to buy Villa. He'll have been looking, poring over the details and getting advised for some time now. I just think if you're going to give a manager a decent transfer budget like he says he is then (in my opinion) it must be easier to keep a club like Villa in the top flight than it is to get them promoted from a notoriously difficult league to get promoted out of. Then there's the financial rewards of staying in vs. potential failed attempts to go up if things don't go right. There's parachute payments but I mean, come on...

Obviously if he can walk the walk then my point is...well...pointless. If he can get the wind behind the sails of a club as big as Villa and if he genuinely has got finances on par with Mansour then there's no reason why Villa can't emulate what City have done recently because they're arguably a bigger club. It just concerns me when things like this happen. There's a fine line between being a saviour and a maniac in these situations.

He's a businessman rather than an expert in football and especially the English game. His way of thinking was probably that he'd get the club at a cut price once they were relegated and then get them back up without a sweat. Let's be honest, he probably doesn't have a clue about the Championship, or how hard it is to get out of and back into the Premier League.