Often Partisan

Blues Deny Takeover Rumours

Birmingham City have this afternoon released a statement on their website confirming that there is no imminent change of ownership in the club and dismissing recent speculation regarding that.

Whilst the statement is unsigned I understand it has come directly from Peter Pannu, and is in response to many emails such as the one I sent myself asking about the rumours that had been circulating in social media and the forums.

Of course, this statement could be seen as a direct rebuttal to Tom Ross who has continually insisted on Twitter, Facebook and on his own radio show that a sale has been agreed and that he didn’t understand why there was no announcement to the stock exchange.  For what it is worth Tom has since tweeted “This is Peter Pannus [sic] statement via the club-time will tell and it will all come out in the wash.”

I do not believe that there has been any intent from Tom to mislead the fans; I think he was passing on information he genuinely understood to be accurate which for whatever reason has been denied by Peter Pannu. However, as much as I like Tom and admire him as a passionate Blues fan I think he needs to learn from this that sometimes it’s better to keep schtum – I worry that if there are any secret negotiations then talking about them in the manner Tom has will negatively affect the outcome.

As I have said repeatedly, no matter the source of the rumour the only time it becomes anything like fact is if there is an announcement made to the stock exchange here in Hong Kong. I understand that people want to believe that something is happening but it’s the hope that kills – all we can do is wait, and get behind the team at the ground.

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101 Responses to “Blues Deny Takeover Rumours”

  • James says:

    Nursey has now tweeted a wealthy blues fan is leading a consortium,
    But everything is dependant on state of bihl/books.

    Until it comes from tatts, this site, or pp introduces the new owners on the pitch
    I’ll take it with a pinch of salt

    KRO

  • mark says:

    unless Carson wants to sell the football he will then inform pp, and confirmation will be on bcfc site…..
    There absolutely no surprises in this statement imo

  • mark says:

    Dan- your last comment of your blog hits the nail on the head………….it’s the hope that kills – all we can do is wait, and get behind the team at the ground. kro

  • StaffsBlue says:

    The overriding feeling I get from all this, is a big fat *yawn* No matter what any of us say, it won’t affect a thing, either way. Let’s put it to bed now and wait and see what happens.

    As Almajir said, quite rightly, “all we can do is wait, and get behind the team at the ground.”

  • Tony says:

    As a Statement this could prove counter productive, people have been clinging to the hope of getting rid of these two idiots, if that hope now expires it could be reflected in Attendances.

    • mark says:

      sorry i disagree with you there Tony imo simply if the team performs then imo the attendances will get higher, not because Carson or pp…… This about our football team doing the business………. Tom will get over this as they do……… fingers burned, and all that. Fans also need to move on……..Marlon will move on, and we get over him, and the same as Nathan…….kro

    • John says:

      Almajir says he “understands” the statement has come from Peter Pannu. Does that mean he has been told that fac,t by Pannu himself,or from an official at BCFC ? Pannu has shown nothing but contempt for the club and it’s supporters,without whom, the club will not survive. He and Carson Yeung inheriited a healthy well run club,that now,because of their incompetence,is a financial wreck.

  • Mickey07 says:

    Tom currantly last seen down beachy head as he’s gone all Arthur fowler with the Christmas club money…

  • Steve says:

    The phrase “seek fresh investment” implies to me that they have no intention of selling, but instead will borrow more money, at ridiculous rates from dubious sources, in a desperate attempt by Yeung to hold on to their cash cow. And nobody could fail to spot the irony in the phrase “we trust all supporters will continue to give their full backing to Lee Clark and his squad”, something BIHL have patently failed to do over the last 2 years or so. These guys simply have no shame and there seems no end in sight to this nightmare. As such, I’ll continue to keep my money in my own pocket.

  • Steve W says:

    Sadly Steve, you are spot on. They have no intention of selling the club.

  • Ray Power says:

    Ross and all the other local hacks are totally out of their depth when it comes to finding out what is going on at St Andrews.Not only didt they welcomeYeung with total sycophancy,never once raising any critical questions about his financial status when the most basic investigation would have told them that there was trouble ahead.
    The most accurate reporting has been provided by David Conn at the Guardian.Can you imagine the local media in Manchester,Liverpool or Newcastle being so pathetic if a team on their patch were having the problems they are having at St Andrews.Methinks not.In fact the facile local media is partly responsible for the dire state of football in the region.

    • Ali Duncan says:

      Friends and I were saying just that in the pub just before Tuesday’s game. The coverage has been pathetic and you’d almost think there wasn’t a crisis going on.

      I can’t help but wonder if it would have been the same if it was aston villa. Naturally the nationals would have given it more coverage but it would have been interesting to see if the local hacks would have given it coverage of epic proportion and got involved in much deeper investigation. My thoughts are that the answer to that would be yes.

  • Tony says:

    Agree with Steve they have no shame whatsoever, they just dont care ,must admit I feel even more miserable than usual.

    • Ali Duncan says:

      Tony – is that possible? Is there somebody we can call? Now that would be a story The Mail and every national would pick up and ensure blanket coverage ;)

  • Lee says:

    Tony is right, as far as I’m concerned while they own the club I won’t go, like quite a few others I know, they’re not getting a penny from me, they just prey on people’s loyalty, I work hard for my dollar and they are not seeing a penny of it

    comment edited – please moderate your language…

  • ESONEULB says:

    You can only buy something if the seller is willing to sell, or they go bust and some esle sells it for them etc

    I think if the court case had continued he may have sold us by now. Until he is forced to sell he will hang onto us for as long as possible to get as much money back as possible.

    I 100% believe that what Tom Ross was told was correct.

    KRO

  • mark says:

    got more chance of Dan having Cantonese meal with Carson……..lol

  • Tony says:

    Must admit I was one of those clammering for Sullivan and Gold to get out of town, and then welcomed Carson with his promise of 40 mill. He delivered our first major trophy and highest premiership place.
    We have payed a heavy price for that, there were questions about Yeungs financial stability before he came, in fact Sullivan told him to get lost at his first attempt to buy the club.
    Goes to show i guess be careful what you wish for.

    • mark says:

      teach you a lesson for crying wolf……..eh tony

    • Paul says:

      Fair play…

      With Golds etc, one thing we could be assured of was the financial affairs of the club were robust and correctly governed… there are many examples Portsmouth, Coventry and Blackburn, Rangers etc etc… at least we have not reached that state yet and PP from a business point of view is keeping the company a float in extremely difficult trading times…

      I hope all those on the pitch after the Blackburn game a few years ago are happy with the outcome…. and from a business point of view why would any person try and buy the club the transaction appears extremely difficult.. when other clubs would be cheaper in terms of purchase due diligence…

  • Wilco says:

    An excellent piece again well balanced and informative. I hope Tom can learn from your pragmatic approach, he has lost a bit of respect from all quarters.you’re blogs are both informative and keeps it real! Well done mate

  • Tony says:

    Yep Mark your right , oh by the way where is your mate lately,TVOR

  • AF says:

    A basic fact that many forget here. Tom Ross is a Bluenose through and through. He has the clubs interest as a supporter. Peter Pannu cannot be described in the same way. We should be behind and support Tom Ross and at the same time asking Peter Pannu and Carson Yeung to get their act together and sell as soon as possible.

  • Tony says:

    Totally agree AF I for one will not think any the less of Tom he is a bluenose and he wears his heart on his sleeve.
    The question remains where did he get this info from, who told, him and why?

  • Bluebird says:

    Wilco ~ Tom has not lost any of my respect…
    He acts like a True Bluenose in that we are all hoping and praying that our Team gets it’s respectability back and has the future we all want!
    Tom doesn’t tittle tattle but he is in a better position than most to know what is going on…
    So he tries to give us some form of reassurance just like most Bluenoses want…
    If we lose ‘hope’, then what happens?
    I do not point my finger at anyone…
    But if I hear anything, and it has some credence, then I will let people know just like Tom did!

    • Wilco says:

      I respect that and understand Tom’s emotions towards the club, compared to the rumour creators at Sky for example he is an angel! He should however report facts not rumour but that’s just my view. It does seem he’s been stitched up though

  • mark says:

    There probably thousands of rumor circling stans even certain people who might think they are in the know get caught out a occasionally….. imo it looks like some has truly given Tom a good wedgie……..

  • mark says:

    There probably thousands of rumor circling stans even certain people who might think they are in the know get caught out a occasionally….. imo it looks like some has truly given Tom a good wedgie……..

  • ESONEULB says:

    The Statement by Pannu. my thoughts now i have thought about it for a while.

    He has probably been asked by the Hong Kong stock exchange about the rumours and had to make the statement otherwise BIHL would of broken there rules.

    not 100% sure what the penalty would of been??

    KRO

  • Bluenosesol says:

    What a blinder by Scott Allan last night!!!!??????
    The single stand strategy for low gates is working well, great atmosphere on the Kop!

  • andy says:

    I have enjoyed the first two games more than any I saw last season! The passion and commitment from the players mirrors the manager, excellent stuff.

  • tamuffblue says:

    Why Ohh why do we distrust every thing that the cretin Pannu spouts off YET when he makes a relatively brief statement about something he hasnt bothered to make a statement for months about most people take it has gospel !!!!!! look at the two statements and the two people making them one a loyal and long standing association with the club the other a greedy manipulative and mistrust as his second name who since associating himself with the club there has been nothing but dire consequences !!!!!!!!!! as TR states ALL WILL BE REVEALED !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    • chas says:

      Why oh why do you have to sink so low as to call Panu a Cretin ? He is most certainly not a cretin no matter what you think of him. He is a very successful Businessman.. Can you say the same about yourself ?

  • peter bates says:

    The only way takeover talk will go away is if either peter pannu or carson yeung go on tv or radio and publicly state wether the club is for sale or wether the club is only looking for investment anybody can write a statement lets hear it from the horses mouth in public

  • peter bates says:

    Having said that he lied cy the day he took over when he said fourty to eighty million on players and didnt pannu say a couple of months ago the accounts would get bih trading again on the hkse pinnochio has nothing on these two

  • Marky mark says:

    Pannu makes an unsigned statement and you all believe him !
    The man wouldn’t know the truth if it slapped him in the face.

    This clown may wish to keep stum, but the club will be sold and all those who have been quick to slate Tom Ross I hope are just as quick to apologize.

    Just because no deal has been disclosed doesn’t mean we are not someway down the line to a conclusion, these things take time and are often kept quite to the last minute.

    • Art Watson says:

      Marky Mark,

      I don’t think anyone needs to apologise to Tom Ross.

      He made a statement sometime ago that the club was very close to being sold and a few months down the line it hasn’t happened.More importantly there is no eveidence to suggest that the club is close to being sold if at all.

      Tom (bless him) made the mistake of going public on a very sensitive issue which is being followed by thousands of Blues supporters and he had given hope to those like me who are desperate for a change of ownership.

      If anything he’ should make a public apology and Im very surprised that someone with his experience has been very nieve unless of course he was looking for his moment of glory.

      • Marky mark says:

        Art,

        Your assuming Tom is wrong and its not going to happen because you have not heard anything, its not in the public domain yet !

        I think you and your counterparts should hold back on slating Tom until the truth comes out, may prevent some egg on face.

        • almajir says:

          Marky

          Tom said on June 25 an announcement was imminent.

          We’re now six weeks plus later with nothing but a denial. That’s not imminent.

          I like Tom and I don’t think he’s lying but I also don’t believe he is helping the situation with what he has said. Maybe he’d be better off not saying anything.

          • Marky mark says:

            Dan

            I wont argue with that, in hindsight Tom should have said nothing, but like all journos he wanted to break the story (i suppose its in the blood) he did it with the best of intentions as a bluenose, all im saying is people should not jump on his back when all along he may be proved right after all he is one of us.

            PS im not having a go at you, because you as always choose your words very carefully.

          • Art Watson says:

            Almajir.

            This was the point I was tying to make but you got to Marky Mark first.

            It’s all about managing people’s expectations which I’m afraid to say TR has handled badly.

            To date I have received 4 lots of interest from people wanting me to set up a petition so its looks like its a none starter I’m afraid,

  • Shergar says:

    Other Peter Pannu statements include
    There’s going to be no fire sale
    The allegations against Carson are very weak
    We would need an eye popping offer for Nathen Redmond to be sold

    Everything that falls from that blokes mouth is utter BS…

  • steve says:

    Read the first comment on this blog page. Most people believe that ross and co are itk.

    Nursery is itk and feeds off sky and all national outlets plus has football clubs officials glove in hand because he has the power of the press not a blog.

    Read his tweet nursery dont get much wrong

    Its called the power of the press dan will know

  • sappy sad says:

    ………for me carson could be trying to save face..after seemingly going to do big things at brum at the start …all their is left is the statement (at least I got my money back)

  • dave mann says:

    i just wish that everybody would just button it when it comes to spreading false rumours about
    the club and takeover nonsence. we wouldnt have got rid of davies and redmond and push out
    king and others if a buyer was imminent, it dont make sence so unless your100% certain keep
    quiet and stop making fools of yourselves, its getting as boring as the carson gate trial and it
    will happen when it happens!.KRO.

  • tmsblues says:

    The statement has to talk of ‘investment’ rather than a sale. If a sale of BCFC was imminent the BIHL would be going pop which is not what the HKSE need to hear.

  • Frankie says:

    Facts are that BIHL probably couldn’t get a loan from Wonga right now.
    We just want them and especially Pannu OUT.
    They have set our club back 15-20 years and made a nice ‘little nest egg’ for themselves.

    • StaffsBlue says:

      I have to agree with your last sentence… we have definitely been set back 20 years as a club. The chinese have totally undone all the good things G/S/G and Brady did… and let’s face it, they did do a hell of a lot that was good.

  • StaffsBlue says:

    I beleieve that, if the club do find a buyer and is sold… it will come out of the blue. As has been said many many times before… the HKSE will be informed long before we get to hear about it.

  • dave mann says:

    bang on staffs, it will happen just like that(as tommy cooper woujd say)
    no rumours, no gossip, no lies just sold and were be the last to know.
    it just shows you how daft now some blues fans look when they wanted
    sullivan, gold and brady out, how times have changed….. theyed be a god
    send now.KRO.

  • dave mann says:

    yeovil away in the cup, im going there saturday, looks like twice in a month.KRO.

  • mark says:

    Yeovil will be no push overs in either game imo. Blues will need to do professional job on them twice……

  • dave mann says:

    3 points or 2nd round, if you had to choose what would it be?
    i know what id want! KRO.

  • dave mann says:

    to right 3 point every time and so it should be, the cups secondry and always will be
    ………………..but 2011 was nice.KRO.

  • Frankie says:

    Sullivan and Go0ld WERE good businessmen, no argument but they also are one the reasons why we are in the ‘brown stuff’.
    Yeung paid well over the odds for the club, which demonstrated his lack of business nous and also that you can never trust a cockney.
    The Chinese ex-crimper was then playing ‘catch-up and losing financially.
    So although the sullivan and Gold DID do good things for BCFC, I’d be reticent to deify them just yet.

    • StaffsBlue says:

      No one is deifying G/S/G. All that was said, is that they did far more good than bad. In the end, faced with calls for them to leave, they had an offer, which was probably double what the club was worth. They would have been stupid not to snatch Yeung’s hand off. What’s happened since is not their fault.

  • Tony says:

    Someone said Pannu is a very astute business man , well I dont think so, a smart chairman would not let his top assets leave for a song. The man is a liar thats not defamatory its a fact, he is also stupid beyond belief if he thinks we will fall for anymore of his crap.
    As regards setting the club back 20years I totally agree,we are back to the dark ages and I cant see a way out of this.

    • DoctorD says:

      Whoa, watch your libel language mate. Anway Pannu is acting chairman, not chairman.

    • chas says:

      Tony, are you half as successful as Pannu ? He didn’t lie about the Transfers, circumstances change. You cant force Clubs to pay more than they want to, and if our need was greater than the other Clubs, then we are going to lose out. No one knows, obviously, but if the Floods hadn’t of come, if we hadn’t have been relegated and Yeung ( you belittle yourself by name calling) hadn’t of been arrested, things might have been different , we will never know. We have had a load of bad luck.
      P.S. I thought the treatment of Gand SA was an absolute disgrace and wasn’t afraid to say so at the time.

  • Frankie says:

    For goodness sake …
    Surely we do not have ANYONE still sticking up for Pannu !
    He is a parasite, living off the back of other people’s money, he hasn’t been honest with the Blues fans at any stage.
    I hold him pretty much solely responsible for BCFC’s woes and all this whilst paying him an obscene amount for nothing, just nothing !

    • chas says:

      Frankie, I don’t think him nor Yeung are as bad as made out, as I say , they have been overtaken a lot by circumstances, but my main gripe is the childish name calling that goes on. As Tony says, he moaned at the previous Board so when will he be satisfied?

  • Tony says:

    Doc are you saying Pannu does not tell untruths?

    • StaffsBlue says:

      When do the bosses of any company tell the truth really? I don’t like Yeung or Pannu any more than anyone else, but it’s one thing suspecting wrongdoing, it’s another proving it. You need proof and, so far, there isn’t any.

      • DoctorD says:

        StaffsBlue – yet again you and I are at one. You’re like my double talking.

        I am not sure that what Pannu has been up to is any worse than what goes on at any other club. That doesn’t mean I approve of his actions, but anyone who thinks Blues are far worse than other clubs needs to rethink things. He’s had to sort out the crazy Xtep deal, which he did. He has had to cut the fat off our books by offloading players to keep the business alive. He’s had to deal with an owner who’s in the dock. Not easy times. I doubt I would like to go out for a pint with the guy but then people in business aren’t generally a barrel of fun.

        • StaffsBlue says:

          He wouldn’t go for a drink anyway. He’d refuse to go unless it was for an eye-popping offer. I doubt he’d put his hand in his pocket anyway. :)

          • chas says:

            You are wrong there, Staffs , from what I heard. Apparently he met a group of Blues Fans at an away Match and bought them all a drink , and even entered a ‘Fast pint ‘ competition with one of them, which he won easily. He also has a sense of humour , as shown in his reaction to the fans chanting ‘Where’s the money gone’, it was just a shame that those humourless ones acted like girls and took umbrage.

          • StaffsBlue says:

            I don’t really go in for name-calling and such. I’m as peed off as anyone about the state of the club since the Chinese took over. True, they were all businessmen, who had been successful in other ventures and made themselves a lot of money. But, and it’s a big but, they’d never run a football club before and, as such, got caught out big time, as has since been highlighted by the ridiculous contracts they gave players in past seasons, etc.

            Although they were extremely naive, in football terms, they’re not stupid and won’t come out of this losing everything. So, when the time is right for them, the club will be sold. We won’t be consulted, so it’s just a case of sit tight and wait it out.

  • mark says:

    if Clark turn this team around into potential play off team would all those who still have a axe to grind with the present board still be apparent……not forgetting these same owners bought success…. whether the team worth 200,000 or 10 million does not really matter???? imo its Clark success on the pitch
    is of greater important… like chas said name calling the owners does nothing because they are simply not bother about a small group of fans jumping up down……the ones inside stans they do…………

    • StaffsBlue says:

      If Lee Clark is successful this season, maybe the play-offs or better, I would think he’ll be in demand next season. Would he stay or would he go I wonder?

  • chas says:

    A quote taken from someones Facebook Page.

    Tom Ross

    For now I will take the abuse I have been getting over the PP statement on the chin-but I will have my day in the sun over this.


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