- Home
- Birmingham City
- Current Squad
- Adam Legzdins
- Jonathan Grounds
- Paul Robinson
- Ryan Shotton
- Maikel Kieftenbeld
- Robert Tesche
- Stephen Gleeson
- Clayton Donaldson
- Diego Fabbrini
- David Cotterill
- Rhoys Wiggins
- Che Adams
- Lukas Jutkiewicz
- Viv Solomon-Otabor
- Jacques Maghoma
- Greg Stewart
- Jonathan Spector
- David Davis
- Michael Morrison
- Tomasz Kuszczak
- Paul Caddis
- Development Squad
- Academy
- Ladies Team
- Sophie Baggaley
- Alex Windell
- Meaghan Sargeant
- Jess Carter
- Kerys Harrop
- Freda Ayisi
- Kirsty Linnett
- Bella Linden
- Andrine Hegerberg
- Abbey-Leigh Stringer
- Melissa Lawley
- Charlie Wellings
- Chloe Peplow
- Rebecca Lloyd
- Connie Schofield
- Emily Westwood
- Cheryl Edwards
- Corina Schröder
- Ashlee Brown
- Coral-Jade Haines
- Aoife Mannion
- Ann-Katrin Berger
- Out on Loan
- Former Players
- Boards and Advisors
- Appearance Data 2014/2015
- Current Squad
- Factfiles
- Series
- Sponsorship
- Website Info
- Social Media
- Contact Me
Checkmate or Stalemate?
March had promised to be quite a busy month for Birmingham International Holdings and so it transpired; Carson’s appeal was heard and there have been further movements with regards to the Receivers in Hong Kong. With April almost upon us it looks like it could get even more busy.
April is always a busy month on the football calendar. Blues return to league action on Good Friday at home to Rotherham which starts a run of eight games in 29 days culminating in our seemingly annual season finale at the Reebok Stadium on May 3. Is it me or do we play them every season away last game?
In the Far East it could well be a month that sees the endgame come into full swing. Carson’s appeal verdict will be with us soon enough – which if he succeeds could massively change the way the pendulum swings. I’ll be talking to Will about that tomorrow morning to get his views on what could happen, and I’ll be posting the video interview online as soon as I can.
Wednesday also sees Carson’s summons hearing being heard in the courts. Again, it’s impossible to know which way it will go but the assumption has to be that the courts will play it safe and adjourn it to hear more evidence – which of course prolongs the amount of time it will take the Receivers to do their job, as they will have to go back to court to get permission to do anything that could materially affect the summons.
Yet time isn’t on our side as I can see it. I’ve seen no evidence of where the football club will receive funding to cover any shortfalls at the end of the season – and with a £4.4million shortfall predicted in the accounts back in December I think I’m within my rights to be concerned that the club will have any money at the end of the season. The plan always was that BIH would put the money in – but with China Energy demanding £4.1million (which before anyone asks is unrelated) I can’t see where BIH will have any money to pay one let alone both.
The whole Receivership has been like a game of chess, moves and countermoves to try and put the other side into checkmate. However, like a game of chess all the cheap pieces are now gone and both sides are having to risk their big guns as they look to finish the game off – and I think it’s now down to who blinks first. Without wanting to belabour the analogy, the real worry is a stalemate where neither side can win and the real loser is the club – without investment or help it will struggle more next year, Bromsgrove Mourinho in the dugout or not.
My hope is that April will see the final moves in the whole drama played out – that Ernst and Young are able to get us to a point where the club not only can be sold but is in the process of being sold officially – and that we can look forward to next season without the spectre of having no money hanging over us. Hopefully, it won’t take the equivalent of a last minute Caddis equaliser to do it.
Tags: Positivity, The Takeover
17 Responses to “Checkmate or Stalemate?”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Dan
Isn’t Carson’s case flimsy enough to fail. The Prosecution have bought in a stronger team and yes his bought in this new expensive lawyer but again as I see it nothing will change on that front (as they said last time he hasn’t got a strong enough case and the other case where there was the guy go free, it seems Carsons case is more rock solid and his time behind bars is justified). Questions for Will. How long will the appeal last, and also will there be another appeal? If the latter it could seem a long while before anything is sorted.
Now E&Y have been at the club doing their job for a while, whats their objective? What worries me most is that I thought when they were appointed we would be seeing “interested parties” (Paladini, Wray?) come forward and say they would be interested, but it seems no one is….which to me is more worrying
It seems to me that CY is prepared to sacrifice the club to save the HKSE listing, although it continues to devalue it is all they have. When they bought Blues the then company, Grandtop, was listed so they must have had other business interests, so what happened to them?
What concerns me is that at every stage of these dealings BCFC is worth less and owes more, so when the time comes for our club to change hands we will be offered at a budget price ( to clear the debts), which will put us in the reach of more ‘people’ that are less able to afford to run a football club after their initial outlay buying the business, we need serious investment to fulfill the fans aspirations or divine intervention! I am personally looking forward to watching events unfold on Wednesday, fingers crossed. Kro
Anybody can “afford” to run a football club. All you need to do is make sure your costs are less than or equal to your income. You will probably do badly compared to clubs that get a subsidy from their owners but if BCFC make sure the players wages add up to less than the gate and TV receipts we do not need any money from BIHL or any other owner.
Hi S-B-N, That was exactly my point that Anyone can buy into a football club and the cheaper it is the more people can afford the initial outlay, but it would be nice if our next owners were not just anybody but people who want to invest heavily on and off the field. Kro.
i think fans hoping or wishing for a rich owner are heading for a possible fall.
the chances of a rich owner to bank roll the club is remote.
how many other clubs sold in the last two or three years have ended up with decent owners.
Forest owners came in promising McLies loads of money then he left because they failed to come up with the goods and now forest have a transfer embargo.
Readings new owner hasn’t set the division alight, Leeds and Fulham the same.
None of these owners have done anything like these Blues fans are thinking our new owner will manage the club and this is why i say they are being unrealistic.
Let’s hope i am wrong but recent history for these other clubs isn’t inspiring.
The club needs to be run to make a profit or break even and the only sustainable way is to cut wages now the parachute payments have finished and bring the kids through and speculate on up coming young players on free’s or out of contract.
The way to raise more cash is to get back the 8000 fans which would raise about £4 million meaning more in wages and even a million or so for transfers, but they may only come back once these useless owners have gone.
Don’t agree. You have to consider the fans expectations. Didn’t we give Sullivan grief for years for not spending enough? Imagine having a new owner who does not have wealth. We’ll get fed up with just surviving very quickly and he/she will think – ungrateful so and sos
Dan, you mentioned in your ‘Is The End Game Approaching’ that there is a remote chance that CY,PP could appoint administrators, surely these would still be appointed via the courts and would be answerable to the courts first and not be swayed by demands? Do the people that called the administrators in get priority over other creditors?
Maybe if CY stopped wasting his money on useless lawyers & hopeless court cases he could’ve paid China Energy himself by now
I wonder if HK law is similar to UK law with respect to administration, namely
A company, its directors or one or more creditors can apply to the court for the appointment of an administrator. The court may appoint an administrator only if it is satisfied that a company is, or is likely to become, unable to pay its debts and that the administration order is reasonably likely to achieve one of the three potential purposes :-
1. to rescue the company as a going concern – as opposed to selling its business and leaving a “shell”;
2. to achieve a better result for the creditors as a whole than if the company were wound up;
3. to sell the business or its assets in order to pay secured and/or preferential creditors (e.g. employees owed wages/holiday pay).
If these rules applied, then if we examine the pre-requisites, then as a starter for 10, BIHL and hence Blues were never solvent despite assurances that we were and if this is the case, then satisfaction of League financials was a non starter. We would then be thrust into full blown admin once the milestone to appease the league on next year’s cash flow has expired?
In the short term i think it`s stalemate.CY will drag this out for a long time and i don`t see new owners anytime soon.I keep hearing about us approaching the endgame but that`s unlikely.
Frankly I think CY is in a much stronger position than the club.He is the biggest shareholder and he will therefore have to agree any sale.
If the club is heading for legal administration he will agree to sell.,in the meantime he knows he’s in the driving seat but the club financially with all these legal claims could be in serious difficulty.
If he loses his appeal and the summons gets thrown out it will weaken his position big style.
Yeung might well be pushing for admin as if he wins his case he could buy the whole 100% of the club for £10 million instead of just his current 45%
Carson has fought and fought to keep the club which ever way it goes he got money to burn, and will continue to fight any thing, and any one until he appears to finally get his way…..well you got admire the man his pockets are deep…..shame he NOT able to assist GR with a few pennies…..
great goal by N Redmond will still love ya well done England U21
Until carson down to just his king left, and they have a castle and queen you might get checkmate…. but i wouldn’t be holding my breath lol