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Paladini to the Rescue?
James Nursey of the Mirror broke a story last night that former QPR chairman Gianni Paladini is close to completing a takeover of Birmingham City. The story goes on to say that MirrorSport hears that talks have been successful and the hope is that the takeover could be concluded before November.
I will admit to my surprise that this story has broken. I’m not surprised Paladini is back in for the club – there have been rumours about that for some time – but more that Paladini hasn’t learned from the lessons of the past and kept his mouth shut until the deal is done; after all there are many slips between cup and lip. Of course, I’m assuming that it is Paladini’s camp who have leaked the story to the press but I couldn’t believe Pannu would do so after pouring scorn on it in his statement on Wednesday.
Of course, it’s whipped up some excitement because people want to believe a takeover is close and without wanting to rain on anyone’s parade I wanted to sound a cautionary note; I think it’s fine to be hopeful that something might happen but judging on the past I think it would be a foolish move to bank on anything materialising quickly. For example, I believe the timescale in the report to be erroneous; before November would mean a takeover being completed in the next 24 days yet I do not believe that would give sufficient time to achieve the shareholder approval that would be needed for the takeover to be completed much less the relisting of BIH shares as seems to be desired by the holding company.
What also piques my curiosity is that the report says talks have been positive – but it doesn’t say who the talks are between. It’s been noted on this site of late that there seems to be some distance between Pannu and Carson and my concern would be that if talks had been with Pannu then does that necessarily mean Carson will definitely accept the deal? It’s a fact that Carson has asked other people to sell the club for him thus one must consider the possibility that a deal might not be to Carson’s satisfaction – which would effectively kill the deal stone dead.
I’ve long held that the first news we should take as gospel is when a proposed takeover bid is announced to the HKSE by Birmingham International Holdings and I firmly believe this still. The truth is that until it’s announced we don’t know if the bid has been received and/or accepted by the BIH board and thus we can’t know for sure if it will definitely go ahead. If this report in the Mirror is true, then we should hear something from BIH very shortly; the longer the delay the more sceptical I would be that a deal has been agreed. All we can do is watch and wait.
Tags: BIH, Carson Yeung, Gianni Paladini, Peter Pannu, The Takeover
88 Responses to “Paladini to the Rescue?”
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Al is right: I aint believing anything until it’s on the HKSE.
Quite right, Pannu clearly stated that the only announcemt, of the sale of the club, would be made on the Hong Kong stock exchange. So the Daily Mirror statement is rubbish !
We’re on our WAY!!!!
Keep buying the Red, Yellow and Black scarves.
Haven’t they sold out? Heard on Saturday that only 300 were produced. Please let me know how to get one. Thanks
Dino – as Puddleglum (aka Margaret) at Long Long Road.
Thank you. More on the way apparently.
MIB sellershave them.
If anyone wants to know what paladini is like, watch the four year plan documentary. But anyone is better than Carson at the moment, so lets pray this rumour is finally correct!
What was ‘The Four Year Plan ‘ about ? I was more interested that Allardyce didn’t give Blues any credit for helping Morrison turn himself around in his interview last night.
Dan, you have more insight and access to local HK knowledge so for me I will believe it when you open a new thread “Birmingham City sold and the new owner is….”
You keep up to date with events and are more reliable than local or national press
KRO
And although they mention the month of November they don’t actually say which year! :)
The story in the mirror is 2nd hand news,the sunday people broke the story saying it understands BLUES will be sold this WEEK for £30 million-plus.
Thought we couldn’t speculate & have names thrown around about who was interested in the buying of BLUES ….. Hong Kong rules ??
If the rules have changed lets hope the people in the media who are suppose to be in the know can now tell us fans who they were on about…. “The so called consortium’s”
Paladini probably has nothing to lose as if this offer is rejected its admin time. So he is letting the fans the other BHL shareholders and the HKSE know that a bid is on the table and putting pressure on CY to sell .
PP has stated no offer has been forthcoming so he is putting the record straight.so they can not claim they had no choice nut to go into admin and so will be answerable for their actiions should .
Needed to be done .
The mirror is about as trustworthy as pannu himself…. Both speak a load of ****. Like Chris W ill start getting my hopes up when a blog on hear appears saying we are sold! ^^
If this this true it’s great news-if this is true!
I’m so sick & tired of more sorrows than joys, I will only believe we have new owners when they’re stood in the kop with a Birmingham City scarf held high. KRO
If the transfer of ownership of our club is a game of brinkmanship, then this rumour would tie in with the speculation recently that Blues are well and truly on the brink.
If it goes through in the next couple of months, Paladini and his friends will be buying a championship club that still owns its stadium. Wait any longer and that might no longer be the case.
Fingers crossed.
Nursey…James Nursey….FFS.
Never ever been known to get it wrong at all.
who feeds this bloke………..Tom Ross?
Can’t see what paladini has to lose to be honest,he’s prob been pulling his hair out the last 5 months or so dealing with these idiots….fair play to him if he has,there will always be someone when your dealing with the likes of these people that will break rank…..pally is proberly giving it one last shot after pannus statement last week then move on….
There’s something very Birmingham City about the notion of having an Italian loonie in charge. It feels right.
Oh gawd… Di Canio is out of work atm.
If it’s Paladini it can’t come too late
James nursey’s full of more crap than minworth sewage works
The recent statement from PP stated “Carson Yeung is personally in preliminary discussions with some buyers from Asia. So yes, I believe it may be his (and the shareholders’) ultimate intention, however, as outlined above, he is working to his own strategy on how to achieve this.” Therefore, could CY be negotiating directly with Paldini without Pannu’s involvement?
I’d like to think that a grown man can learn from his mistakes. I really do think Paladini has learned and it is to our benefit, he lives local and is a fan of football. Hopefully there will be some investment, the manager in my view has to be paid off and ditched. Realistically we need stability and consolidation. Promotion in a couple of seasons?
Disagree with paying LC off, he deserves the chance to operate with the right tools, money.
with the board’s backing he can still work within the loan market and then the transfer window.
If we have an Italian consortium we could end up with De Canio as manager….
Careful what you wish for springs to mind….
KRO
Nursey now saying nothing finalized but the Italians are hopeful. #notnews
Bottom line: It’s James Nursey folks. He deals in more crap than the Las Vegas Sands
Please just let this be true. I don’t care if he doesn’t spend any money on the club, aside from paying off the debt. Clark is doing a good job bringing the youth through.I think we just really need to have hope again. Something for the fans to believe in again. I cringe when I see all those empty seats at St Andrews. That’s not the Blues I know.
I see where most are coming from with regards to Paladini, but to be honest, I would LOVE a clean break from the current ownership. Yes it might not be the best thing for us in the world, but surely it cant be any worse than our current downward spiral.
I’m not sure whether I agree with Clark being sacked immediately, It would be interesting to see how he does with some money available. I think a lot of Blues fans are psychologically tying the board level mess to Clark and I feel that’s a little harsh. The guys probably had to put up with a lot and despite the **** he’s dealt with, still wants to be here and do well.
Yes his tactics sometimes let him down, ( Bolton on Saturday ) but I feel he deserves at least a proper shot at it.
I ack that statement too, he has operated, in PP words “with his hands and legs tied”
KRO
and who tied his hands pp and cy say no more !!
I think you’re right about LC Carl. I am continually stating I’m not yet convinced about him. He has brought in some good players, and some not so good. And his tactics are just as erratic? But you have to ask yourself why that is. In my mind it’s because he is essentially a League 1 manager who has been brought into an ailing Championship club to learn his trade. He is going to make mistakes, but he deserves the right to learn from them? And he deserves that right because in return he has shown absolute commitment and desire for the cause without complaint, and has transmitted that to his players who in my view are all behind him and believe in what he wants them to do. And that has to be worth something?
In terms of Palladini…………I agree with you that anything has to be better. But part of me thinks we would end up in a similar predicament within a couple of seasons?
Can’t see this happening the way it was reported this morning.
James Nursey and Tom Ross both work for the media and good new items sells newspapers and in TR case improves his Radio ratings.In the meantime the fans get fed BS.
I really do hope I’m wrong on this occassion.
I can see why Nursey would be willing to break a non story in order to sell papers, but although I am not a great fan of Tom Ross, I can’t see how he would benefit in the long run by creating a story that is later proved to be rubbish. But following what appears to be the majority view I won’t count any chickens until I see them running round the farmyard.
Roy,
Do you not think that Toms story could already be described as being RUBBISH?
He’s has publically trotted out the same story since June.?
As previously stated.
ANYONE would be better than Pannu and his ‘terracotta army’.
Lets just hope its true.
People said that about Sullivan and Gold.
I hope paladini does not buy the blues, as I have said before “it would be like jumping from the pan &into the fire” no punn intended…..I just don’t see what him & his mob can do for the blues, other than everything on the cheap & loan deals after loan deals….will he really take our club forward, I just carnt see it!
People aren’t exactly queueing up behind Mr Paladini are they ?
No Pannu = heaven to me.
Plus no more ‘shell companies’ on the HKSE.
Mr Paladini .. come on down !
People aren’t publicly queuing up behind Paladini.
Mat ? 4 u………got any names of said people who would not want to publicly be queuing to by us ……lol
almajir you are the biggest tease in hong kong, you totally know what’s going on don’t you lol
And they were, saving us from the brink…
KRO
Mayor the local butcher in charge would be better than what we have at present…..
not me thought they did a good job just needed sullivan to keep his mouth shut !
The same sully that had had enough of travelling to games and even mentioned that he would not be at every home game, but i noticed he was at the west ham match in hull the other week.
It’s known that Pannu and Paladini don’t get on following their spat last year, is it possible CY is personally talking to Paladini to get the deal done. After all that would then cut the selling fee that’s been mentioned will be due to Pannu. That would make the deal cheaper and allow Paladinin to get one over on his “mate” . Perhaps (for once) he actually told the truth and really doesn’t know what’s going on!
I believe the world is flat and salmon live in trees and eat billard balls !! So there HAS to be some truth in this story !!
Paladini was a complete joke at QPR and we seem to attract all the uneducated dross thats around in football so IF Yeung sells us, DONT be surprised for another load of bunkum and cosy half truths from Paladini if it is him that buys us !!
The Blues roler-coaster of shame goes on and on and on ………….
Paladini still got QPR into the prem have this lot and he didn’t ‘bankrupt’ himself by paying twice the price for it and obviously isn’t willing to do that now to own us as is no one else.
£40 million for something worth £10 to £20 million Yeung has no chance of seeing that dough unless it is staged payments based on league positions and i believe his turned down that type of deal by Paladini already.
They won us a cup though, which i would still take even with this debacle we are now in.
Paladini seems to have found a decent owner for QPR, though do worry about their debt levels which i wouldn’t want us to have and under FFP in the next few years probably wouldn’t be allowed anyway.
I love the way that Wikipedia says Paladidni “came to England in a boat.”
As opposed to, y’know, a UFO a hovercraft, or a space-hopper.
Paladini has his faults but he has to be better than the mob we have at the moment
Tatts is now saying reports of an impending sale are Boldly Speculative.
Paladini to the rescue?
Answer — no.
Even if he did take over, which I find unlikely, I’d worry he’d land us even more in the doggy’s doo-doo.
paladini and di canio, dont know weather to laugh or cry, i think i will do both! KRO.
This is typical of James Nursey making a story with no evidence. He has simply read PP’s comments from last week and speculated as all journalists do .
I can almost guarantee he has no more information than we do, and certainly no more that Alj does.
I’ve never bought The Mirror (and never will) but I understand Nursery’s journalist talents and accuracy are questioned by many so I won’t put too much faith in a tatty old rags hearsay. Until I see photos of Paladini & consortium entering Stans for talks with PP or, like Dan, an announcement to the HKSE I won’t believe a word of it. There have been so many false dawns and rumour that I try not to get too excited when I read anything about a takeover.
I’m a firm believer of what most people have said above. I’m not saying any change would be good but I simply want Yeung and Pannu out of our club. The hairs on the back of my neck are rising and I can feel the anger and adrenalin increasing and coursing through me as I write this. I’m not usually an angry man but I still can’t believe and won’t ever forget what they’ve done to my club. Time for a change and hopefully one that sees us rise again.
I don`t know why everyone is going on about Paladini, I thought he was only the front man, surely its the consortium that he is acting for are the main people we should be interested in. They may well be nothing like the QPR lot.
That’s a good point, there’s bound to be a couple of ‘associates’ from the QPR days , but hopefully not necessarily all or indeed any of them !……..
When Paladini is pictured at St Andrews with a scarf above hos head then ill believe it. Too many times now we have had our hopes up and too be let down over and over again. Please for the sake off the fans and the club lets have something that is cast iron.
This supposed deal suggested by Tom Ross might actually be with another party altogether and Paladini could just be muddying the waters and secretly hoping Blues run out of time and go into administration. A much better deal for any purchaser.
Past Nursey stories — not always spot on.
Birmingham have offered Nikola Zigic a free transfer and a big pay-off in a bid to ship him off to Real Mallorca. (30 August 2012)
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/birmingham-offer-nikola-zigic-a-free-1289169
Birmingham chiefs hope to announce soon to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange a firm offer for the club. (26 October 2012)
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/carson-yeung-hoping-to-sell-birmingham-1400435
New BIHL investor an announcement due soon. Supposedly ‘mega billionaire’ and should help team back up. That’s all i heard (1 September 2011)
https://twitter.com/JamesNursey/status/109309004366352384
Plus,…Curtis Davies on his way to Norwich, when I personally challenged him on his… ‘un-findings’,..he DM me on twitter telling me not to dis-credit him lol
Personally I want someone who believes in the club, do they have to be a fan …no ….do they have to have plenty of cash to run the club as a profit making business…..yes….do they have to have passion in what they want to achieve….absoluteln
Most owners don’t support their clubs its a business venture, most owners don’t go to the games, its a business venture
We happened to have a hairdresser from Hong Kong that wanted to be seen as a football club owner without the business acumen to see it through he hired people within his organisation who it seems took advantage of the clubs name and goodwill and dried it of any money to line their own pockets alledgedly
We aren’t the first or last club to see the wheels fall off but with new owners whoever they are (and we won’t get a multi billionaire chomping at the bit ot buy us) we may just try to put some of the pride back in the club and team and fans that we all want to see
Lets not speculate right now lets just support the team (and please stop tinkering with the formation) and hope for a few more wins KRO
At least Paladini is local not thousands of miles away, he can be got at.
For what it’s worth paladini and big Ron were in box 16 in the main stand on Saturday wonder why they were keeping a low profile on that side of the ground
Why do people assume if its Paladini it has to be De Canio too? There is another link with Paladini and QPR most will know who that is.
James Nursey has stated before that a takeover was “imminent” – surprise surprise nothing happened. I have a feeling the same result will happen again; it’s lazy journalism that’s designed to fill column inches.
Until it’s released on the HKSE and/or subsequently on this site, I don’t believe a word of it.
KRO
It was strange that Mr Pannu visited Birmingham after such a long absence. Although he maintained he had no appointments arranged, there must have been reasons other than watching matches.
Maybe his presence facilitated a contact from Mr Paladini,I personally hope so.
Why would anyone buy a club brinking on administration for 30 million when they can have it for a song post admin????
They won’t get it for ‘a song’ though with a CVA. They’ll have to strike a deal over the loans otherwise CY and BIH could effectively force the Administrators hand into putting is into liquidation like Rangers
Though if they meet the debt of £14 million and pay for the assets of around £12 million that is still £16 million less than Yeung wants.
I understand why they would want liquidation as it stops Yeung being responsible for the loan debts, but would i be wrong in saying the cost of the club could be less and there nothing he can do about it?
For the Golden Share to be kept by BCFC plc CY and the Administrators have to agree how much if the loan is to be written off or rescheduled as this is used to determine the price the Administrator will sell the club for. With this agreement they can be no CVA and BCFC would be expelled from the Football League
Typo: s/b ‘without’ this agreement
There is another possibility Pannu is using this supposed agreement to drum up interest elsewhere.
Dan am i right in saying that you were against paladini buying the club ??
or have you changed your mind.
I need convincing that hes the right man, yes.
Do you have your own specific preference when it comes to a new owner Dan or are you like me just looking for someone who will have the clubs best interests at heart??
For me short of having a Bluenose in charge (or at worst someone who understands the fan base & our desires in the boardroom) then I will always be concerned about the state of the club and how we’ll end up in the future
this is all crap, CY wont sell until he knows if he is going to do time or not
theres nothing that i have read about Paladini that says that he is any better than CY , other than the fact that he access to his money.Some of the goings on at QPR at the time fill me with dredd.Not sure what scares me more ,the deal going thru or the deal not happening.
Recently the atmosphere was that Pannu wasn’t such a bad egg after all. Well it seems Yeung is “in it” and really wants to recoup some dough before he does his bird and Pannu is the block (that’s how it reads to me)! Something must give soon, I still won’t be surprised if we go into administration, it’s the only way the HK lot will slip out of the financial quagmire.
The moment everyone realises this is Nursey horseshit then we can all go on thinking about a (realistic and better) tomorrow for Blues.
Paladini is neither a suitor nor a solution to this clubs current plight.
I don’t want him and I would need a LOT of convincing to think otherwise.
Let’s all drift back to reality now shall we?
Paladini is not personally trying to buy Blues….so who are the money men behind him …?
Paladini to the Rescue… more like out of the frying pan and into the fire..
It seems we are all talking about Paladini, could this be a smoke screen?
Is PP still in the country?
Who informed the mirror and who gains most from the extra gossip.
We can all speculate, but until I see it in lights or on OP I will back LC and the team.
The whoever or whatever is going to happen once we go into Administration, that is the logical move for any new owner, unless they hit a deal otherwise, however they would be foolish to pay more than they would if in Administration.
KRO
No one is going to pick up BCFC with its Golden Share for a £1
I dont think CY will sell until he has no other option, the guy is a gambler, and wont leave the table untill he has too, until the HK stock market has it on there website its all just talk.
To be honest I think Paladini would only be a temporary fix. He wants to make money, and won’t make an investment in us unless he already has a plan to turn a profit.
This guy though, Mr Eales, he would be ideal: http://www.ldc.co.uk/team/person.aspx?Id=2
Life long Blues fan, excellent businessman, and driven to make successes of his ventures. I’m only throwing his name into the mix as people seem to think there are no options other Paladini or further investment from the East. If we were to start to actually push in a direction rather than limply waiting for administration or further assets to be sold to facilitate the continued abuse of the club, we might, and is only might, nudge the club down a viable direction.