If we're soon to be minted please can we flex our financial muscle and buy Akinfeev for a ludicrous amount of money please?
Yes, if it goes through everyones gona come out with their wishlists.
David Villa please.
Get rid of Silvestre please!
Kroenke to use his spare change to buy a managerless Tottenham (Redknapp in jail for corruption) and make Tweetie the first name on the team sheet every week.
If we're soon to be minted please can we flex our financial muscle and buy Akinfeev for a ludicrous amount of money please?
Yes, if it goes through everyones gona come out with their wishlists.
David Villa please.
Get rid of Silvestre please!
Kroenke to use his spare change to buy a managerless Tottenham (Redknapp in jail for corruption) and make Tweetie the first name on the team sheet every week.
LOL yes. please make it so.
Defoe & Croach to be sold off as a circus bigman / little man balancing act.
Actually, one of you dudes must be able to speak on exactly which big name djs got taken in by the Roadblock /lost rare groove raer episode.
Far, far, far before my time, but I remember reading something where Norman Jay was asked about it later and he replied with something like, "I knew it wasn't original. If it was I would've already had a copy."
DocMcCoy"Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts
Actually, one of you dudes must be able to speak on exactly which big name djs got taken in by the Roadblock /lost rare groove raer episode.
Far, far, far before my time, but I remember reading something where Norman Jay was asked about it later and he replied with something like, "I knew it wasn't original. If it was I would've already had a copy."
What always surprised me was how a record that quite clearly features a Roland 909 as opposed to a real drummer could ever have passed for a vintage 70s funk jawn. There must have been some right cloth-eared cunts back then.
So there's this posh bint with some shares to sell, obviously only in it for the money as she's not interested, as a fan would be, in who buys, just how much they're willing to pay. No chance that Wenger has a a few hundred mil kicking around is there?
Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith today attempted to set up an auction for her Arsenal shares by hiring investment bankers to scour the market for potential buyers. However, few expect Bracewell-Smith, the holder of 15.9% of Arsenal's shares, to find many takers.
That Bracewell-Smith has engaged the investment banking arm of Blackstone, a US-based private-equity group, suggests she is not prepared to sell her stock to the single-largest shareholder, Stan Kroenke. His Kroenke Sports Enterprises has built up a 29.9% stake in the club but has limited the bulk of his acquisitions to ?8,500 a share, which would value Bracewell-Smith's stake at ?84m, less than she believes it to be worth.
"It seems like she doesn't like the look of Stan's ?8,500," said an individual close to the situation today. "Otherwise she wouldn't have taken on a broker who would take a fee while they are at it."
There are no immediate indications that Kroenke is willing to move and, although Bracewell-Smith's decision may be designed to bounce him into a bid for the club, observers consider that to be doomed to fail. Kroenke paid ?10,500 per share when buying large stakes from Clive Carr and Lady Sarah Phipps-Bagge last May. Under the Takeover Panel's City Code, which governs the share dealing of stockmarket-listed companies such as Arsenal, there are still several weeks before the 12-month restriction on paying anything less than that in future significant share purchases is lifted.
It is possible that Bracewell-Smith has timed her move to coincide with a bidder's deadline for Kroenke to sell his 40% stake in American football's St Louis Rams, which expired today. However even if the American were to accept the $300m offer (?195m), it would still fall well short of the ?370m he would require to finance a full, ?8,500-a-share takeover bid for Arsenal.
Nor is the other significant shareholder, Alisher Usmanov, who owns more than 26% of Arsenal, inclined to purchase Bracewell-Smith's stake. Some believe that may change if he can acquire enough floating shares to reach the 30% stake that would trigger a mandatory takeover bidfor the club, since the 45.9% he would then hold would approximate strategic control. But it is clear from today's development that Bracewell-Smith will not wait until then.
And so she must hope that Blackstone can generate sufficient interest from potential buyers in its key regions of the US, east Asia and China. It is believed the firm will market the stake as being the gateway to full strategic control of one of Europe's leading clubs.
The buyer will require patience, however that Bracewell-Smith clearly has in short supply. The stake would not necessarily deliver a seat in the boardroom ? Bracewell-Smith relinquished hers in December 2008 when she refused to amend the directors' lock-down agreement that otherwise would have prevented Danny Fiszman handing over 8% of the club to Kroenke last year ? and would not generate any income to the holder. That is because Arsenal does not pay a dividend on its shares.
"The Chinese measure their investments in the hundreds of years," said one informed observer. "Blackstone will have in mind a select few people it will be pushing this to. So theoretically it's possible they might find someone." But another was more direct. "No one will pay ?100m for a minority stake in a dysfunctional ownership structure that doesn't pay a dividend. She's got no chance."
I actually think it's a real shame about Bracewell-Smith. She's basically been bullied out of the boardroom and seemed to be the only major shareholder of Arsenal who was actually more interested in the club than a profit as it's been in her family for around sixty years or so.
Actually, one of you dudes must be able to speak on exactly which big name djs got taken in by the Roadblock /lost rare groove raer episode.
Far, far, far before my time, but I remember reading something where Norman Jay was asked about it later and he replied with something like, "I knew it wasn't original. If it was I would've already had a copy."
What always surprised me was how a record that quite clearly features a Roland 909 as opposed to a real drummer could ever have passed for a vintage 70s funk jawn. There must have been some right cloth-eared cunts back then.
It was discussed in the 'raregroove' section of BBC4s Soul Britannia iirc. can't find a clip online though.
Actually, one of you dudes must be able to speak on exactly which big name djs got taken in by the Roadblock /lost rare groove raer episode.
Far, far, far before my time, but I remember reading something where Norman Jay was asked about it later and he replied with something like, "I knew it wasn't original. If it was I would've already had a copy."
What always surprised me was how a record that quite clearly features a Roland 909 as opposed to a real drummer could ever have passed for a vintage 70s funk jawn. There must have been some right cloth-eared cunts back then.
It was discussed in the 'raregroove' section of BBC4s Soul Britannia iirc. can't find a clip online though.
Schlock, Aimless and Waterdown! Its discussed from time to time. Hard to seperate fact from fiction. No dj worth their salt would own up to that. My understanding is that all the big soul boys of the day were "had". (Norman, Tong, Gilles, Madhatter Nelson, etc)
Yes possibly Duder is being a tad unfair on the lady.
My own reading from her actions is that in the past she has been a force for keeping diverse ownership (and therefore as independent an existance as possible) among benign owners.
She has been finessed to a degree by your Stans and Alishers and Deins amongst others and put out to grass.
At this point her best option is to sell up, and she seems to be doing it in a way that causes discomfort to aforementioned profiteers; more power to her elbow (which was eminently feelable some years ago)
Actually, one of you dudes must be able to speak on exactly which big name djs got taken in by the Roadblock /lost rare groove raer episode.
Far, far, far before my time, but I remember reading something where Norman Jay was asked about it later and he replied with something like, "I knew it wasn't original. If it was I would've already had a copy."
What always surprised me was how a record that quite clearly features a Roland 909 as opposed to a real drummer could ever have passed for a vintage 70s funk jawn. There must have been some right cloth-eared cunts back then.
It was discussed in the 'raregroove' section of BBC4s Soul Britannia iirc. can't find a clip online though.
Schlock, Aimless and Waterdown! Its discussed from time to time. Hard to seperate fact from fiction. No dj worth their salt would own up to that. My understanding is that all the big soul boys of the day were "had". (Norman, Tong, Gilles, Madhatter Nelson, etc)
IIRC most of the people interviewed could now see the funny side of it. Time heals all asshurtness.
Times they are a changing and all that cobblers, but if a gooner at heart, why sell? Especially if
"No one will pay ?100m for a minority stake in a dysfunctional ownership structure that doesn't pay a dividend. She's got no chance."
Surely she can't be that hard up, seems like she's decided that her investment isn't earning enough for her. Why not sit tight on her stake and see how things pan out? I think my main fear is that Alisher Ulmanov (or whatever he's called) is dodgier than Dr No. Owns Barca (not "teh fans"), Uzbikestan oil reserves, and was the bloke that English ambassador lost his job over when he brought up poor human rights, torture, assassinations, boiling journalists alive, etc. Ulmanov wouldn't pass a fit & proper ownership test, but has enough money to turn eyes blind. There are some things about Barcelona that Arsenal aspire to, but a financial connection with Ulmanov ain't one of 'em.
Yes possibly Duder is being a tad unfair on the lady.
My own reading from her actions is that in the past she has been a force for keeping diverse ownership (and therefore as independent an existance as possible) among benign owners.
She has been finessed to a degree by your Stans and Alishers and Deins amongst others and put out to grass.
At this point her best option is to sell up, and she seems to be doing it in a way that causes discomfort to aforementioned profiteers; more power to her elbow (which was eminently feelable some years ago)
Surely she can't be that hard up, seems like she's decided that her investment isn't earning enough for her. Why not sit tight on her stake and see how things pan out?
1. She's is definitely not hard up. 2. Arsenal shares don't pay dividends, so there's never been a pay-out, and so in no sense has her investment ever earned for her. The price has appreciated for sure, but at no point has she ever taken money out of the club. 3. Things have already panned out. Deserted by greed-driven allies on the board, 'forced' to walk away from any power at Arsenal, the woman should wash her hands of it and let Stan and Alisher fight mano a mano. Naked swathed in baby oil. In a pit with a sawdust floor, lightly strewn with fresh hay.
This probably explains it as well as anything else I've read about it Duder.
No change in Arsenal stock stalemate Post categories: Football Matt Slater | 01:16 UK time, Tuesday, 13 April 2010 When news of Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith's decision to appoint a leading US investment firm to sell her stake in Arsenal reached BBC Towers on Monday afternoon, it prompted a chin-stroking debate amongst those hunched over the sports news benches: is this a twist or a development?
In the twist corner were those who claimed we were not expecting the news so it must be a bit twisty and that twists always sound more interesting than developments.
Arguing for development, on the other hand, were those who pointed out that these shares were already "for sale" and it is just how that sale is being advertised that has changed (she tried a postcard in the post office window and was now going for an advert in the local paper).
My view, a minority one, was that this is basically a development, with some twist-like attributes, that actually changes nothing. Probably. Let me explain my thinking (so even if I'm wrong, you'll give me some credit for the working-out).
Bracewell-Smith, who with 15.9% of Arsenal's 62,217 shares is the fourth largest shareholder, has been a seller ever since she was dumped from the board of directors in December 2008.
This ruthless example of corporate argy-bargy was orchestrated by the club's third largest shareholder, Danny Fiszman, and rubberstamped by its largest, Stan Kroenke. The logic being that Bracewell-Smith's shares were no longer needed as a bulwark against the unwelcome advances of Arsenal's second largest shareholder, Alisher Usmanov.
As Fiszman, Kroenke and the rest of the club's directors were now in cahoots, this was almost certainly true. It just wasn't very gentlemanly.
This left Bracewell-Smith, whose shares were basically a family heirloom given to her by her husband Sir Charles, in the position of holding a reasonably large stake in a company she knew little about and which wanted little to do with her.
What will Alisher Usmanov's next move be? Photo: Getty
This tricky situation was compounded by the fact that there were only two realistic buyers for her shares, the American tycoon Kroenke and the Uzbek oligarch Usmanov, and neither was in a hurry to take them off her hands.
She could, of course, have tried selling them piecemeal on the semi-open market on which Arsenal's shares are traded but that would have meant breaking up what she believes is a strategically significant stake in a highly desirable concern.
Of the latter, she may well be right but it's the former that is no longer true, and that is why her latest move is unlikely to bring her any more joy than the last 15 months have.
Kroenke holds all the aces here. He has been steadily building his stake in the club since 2007 and is now just 10 shares short of the 30% mark that would oblige him to make an offer for the rest.
That offer may come but it will not come until next month when, under Takeover Panel rules, that offer price drops from ?10,500 a share to ?8,500, the typical price Kroenke has been paying for his pieces of Arsenal paper. The difference between these prices is ?87m to Kroenke in potential savings and ?20m to Bracewell-Smith in missed opportunities.
To make matters worse for Bracewell-Smith, Kroenke already, in effect, calls the shots at the Emirates. His relationship with Fiszman has deepened over the last year or so, to the point the Denver-based sports and property billionaire is clearly the diamond dealer's chosen successor as club custodian.
Kroenke does not need Bracewell-Smith's shares - not yet, anyway - because he has first refusal on Fiszman's 16.1% and could possibly scrape together another 4% if he felt he really had to be the majority shareholder.
Usmanov, the much-delayed second front in this assault on Arsenal's marble halls, is also unlikely to write Bracewell-Smith a big cheque anytime soon.
Having been blocked by the board's collective refusal to sell him stock - the infamous "lockdown agreement" - and stymied by the global recession, the metals mogul has got bogged down on 26% of the shares and is months away from being in a position to launch an aggressive move beyond 30% (or a position that makes financial sense, anyway).
There is, of course, a chance Bracewell-Smith's "remember me" appointment of Blackstone as her new sales team will do the trick with Usmanov and remind him that he could beat Kroenke to the prize of the last English footballing giant in old-fashioned ownership.
There is also a possibility Blackstone will pull a rabbit out of the hat in somewhere like, oh, I don't know, say China, and give Bracewell-Smith the ?100m exit she craves without triggering a whole-club bid from one of the two front-runners.
But it is not a very likely outcome. Buying her stake on its own would be a bit like buying one wheel and a bit of the backseat of a Ferrari. You've got yourself a slice of a very nice car but it's no good without the other more important bits.
Which is why I believe Bracewell-Smith's frustration is set to continue. There are no new rabbits out there. The most likely buyer for her shares is still Kroenke or Usmanov. And she could make that sale without Blackstone, saving herself a considerable sum in bankers' fees.
So this isn't really a twist or a development. But it is something. Perhaps just a signpost that bigger twists and developments are coming.
The next of those will be Kroenke's decision on what he wants to do with his 40% stake in the NFL's St Louis Rams. The deadline for that was also Monday but there were no smoke signals from the Pepsi Center at the time of finishing this so I'll update later.
DocMcCoy"Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts
Eamon Dunphy's an utter f*ckin' shithouse whose entire career - on and off the park - is predicated upon his never having got over his failure to make the grade at United.
Fear of f*cking with the formula have seen me put in scores around average for the last month. I think I may actually weep with gratitude when this comes to an end though I'll miss having the activity to do Friday afternoons.
Juventus have asked Rafael Ben?tez for a decision on his career plans within the next 10 days as they attempt to finalise their shortlist to succeed Alberto Zaccheroni at the Stadio Olimpico
What do you think Doc? Time for a change? Liverpool's form this season looks like burn-out after the exertions of last year, but they've had cash and spent, but maybe not so wisely.
I hate reading Rafa complain about financial restrictions and how he needs all this money to compete with the big clubs. He's already had a bunch but spent it on a ton of average players rather than a few good ones, plus Aquilani wasn't cheap, neither was Glen Johnson or a Robbie Keane who he didn't give too much of a chance to.
Rafa supposedly looking at signing some Bolton winger last week.
He jumped the shark long ago in this job.
He should go if only for the stark digging choice: rooting throgh Maghull chazzas looking for Chuddie Nuddies 45s amid a sea of Deacon Blue and rinked scouse house vs trips to Milan's sun-dappled street markets with a proper frothy coffee talmbout euofunk 45s in pukka paper pic sleeves and fly bellas walking along seductively sucking down ice creams.
Also been a few man-management issues from the sound of it; Reira has left with a few dark words to say, and he looked like a good player, maybe not the fastest winger, but good with the ball, lots of technical flair, then, as mentioned, there was the Robbie Keane episode that looked like Rafa really willing Keane to fail, and perhaps the strangest is Ryan Babel who was purportedly one of Holland's brightest prospects before he went to 'Pool.
The most menacing development is the prospect of Citeh sewing up a Champs League spot - once astronomical wages are partnered with playing in European competition, I fear that Citeh will have a much easier time convincing the best players from other clubs to jump ship. Liverpool, out of the Champs League, will wonder how much wonga it would take for Torres or Gerrard to wear sky blue. Arsenal, with their prudent wage structure, might see more names joining Adebayor & Toure. Spurs have some good players that might get fed up with 'Arry's twitch. Only Chelsea would look immune really.
Comments
Yes, if it goes through everyones gona come out with their wishlists.
David Villa please.
Get rid of Silvestre please!
Kroenke to use his spare change to buy a managerless Tottenham (Redknapp in jail for corruption) and make Tweetie the first name on the team sheet every week.
LOL yes. please make it so.
Defoe & Croach to be sold off as a circus bigman / little man balancing act.
Far, far, far before my time, but I remember reading something where Norman Jay was asked about it later and he replied with something like, "I knew it wasn't original. If it was I would've already had a copy."
What always surprised me was how a record that quite clearly features a Roland 909 as opposed to a real drummer could ever have passed for a vintage 70s funk jawn. There must have been some right cloth-eared cunts back then.
So there's this posh bint with some shares to sell, obviously only in it for the money as she's not interested, as a fan would be, in who buys, just how much they're willing to pay.
No chance that Wenger has a a few hundred mil kicking around is there?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/apr/12/lady-bracewell-smith-arsenal-shares-sale
Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith today attempted to set up an auction for her Arsenal shares by hiring investment bankers to scour the market for potential buyers. However, few expect Bracewell-Smith, the holder of 15.9% of Arsenal's shares, to find many takers.
That Bracewell-Smith has engaged the investment banking arm of Blackstone, a US-based private-equity group, suggests she is not prepared to sell her stock to the single-largest shareholder, Stan Kroenke. His Kroenke Sports Enterprises has built up a 29.9% stake in the club but has limited the bulk of his acquisitions to ?8,500 a share, which would value Bracewell-Smith's stake at ?84m, less than she believes it to be worth.
"It seems like she doesn't like the look of Stan's ?8,500," said an individual close to the situation today. "Otherwise she wouldn't have taken on a broker who would take a fee while they are at it."
There are no immediate indications that Kroenke is willing to move and, although Bracewell-Smith's decision may be designed to bounce him into a bid for the club, observers consider that to be doomed to fail. Kroenke paid ?10,500 per share when buying large stakes from Clive Carr and Lady Sarah Phipps-Bagge last May. Under the Takeover Panel's City Code, which governs the share dealing of stockmarket-listed companies such as Arsenal, there are still several weeks before the 12-month restriction on paying anything less than that in future significant share purchases is lifted.
It is possible that Bracewell-Smith has timed her move to coincide with a bidder's deadline for Kroenke to sell his 40% stake in American football's St Louis Rams, which expired today. However even if the American were to accept the $300m offer (?195m), it would still fall well short of the ?370m he would require to finance a full, ?8,500-a-share takeover bid for Arsenal.
Nor is the other significant shareholder, Alisher Usmanov, who owns more than 26% of Arsenal, inclined to purchase Bracewell-Smith's stake. Some believe that may change if he can acquire enough floating shares to reach the 30% stake that would trigger a mandatory takeover bidfor the club, since the 45.9% he would then hold would approximate strategic control. But it is clear from today's development that Bracewell-Smith will not wait until then.
And so she must hope that Blackstone can generate sufficient interest from potential buyers in its key regions of the US, east Asia and China. It is believed the firm will market the stake as being the gateway to full strategic control of one of Europe's leading clubs.
The buyer will require patience, however that Bracewell-Smith clearly has in short supply. The stake would not necessarily deliver a seat in the boardroom ? Bracewell-Smith relinquished hers in December 2008 when she refused to amend the directors' lock-down agreement that otherwise would have prevented Danny Fiszman handing over 8% of the club to Kroenke last year ? and would not generate any income to the holder. That is because Arsenal does not pay a dividend on its shares.
"The Chinese measure their investments in the hundreds of years," said one informed observer. "Blackstone will have in mind a select few people it will be pushing this to. So theoretically it's possible they might find someone." But another was more direct. "No one will pay ?100m for a minority stake in a dysfunctional ownership structure that doesn't pay a dividend. She's got no chance."
It was discussed in the 'raregroove' section of BBC4s Soul Britannia iirc. can't find a clip online though.
Schlock, Aimless and Waterdown! Its discussed from time to time. Hard to seperate fact from fiction. No dj worth their salt would own up to that. My understanding is that all the big soul boys of the day were "had". (Norman, Tong, Gilles, Madhatter Nelson, etc)
My own reading from her actions is that in the past she has been a force for keeping diverse ownership (and therefore as independent an existance as possible) among benign owners.
She has been finessed to a degree by your Stans and Alishers and Deins amongst others and put out to grass.
At this point her best option is to sell up, and she seems to be doing it in a way that causes discomfort to aforementioned profiteers; more power to her elbow (which was eminently feelable some years ago)
IIRC most of the people interviewed could now see the funny side of it. Time heals all asshurtness.
Surely she can't be that hard up, seems like she's decided that her investment isn't earning enough for her. Why not sit tight on her stake and see how things pan out?
I think my main fear is that Alisher Ulmanov (or whatever he's called) is dodgier than Dr No. Owns Barca (not "teh fans"), Uzbikestan oil reserves, and was the bloke that English ambassador lost his job over when he brought up poor human rights, torture, assassinations, boiling journalists alive, etc.
Ulmanov wouldn't pass a fit & proper ownership test, but has enough money to turn eyes blind. There are some things about Barcelona that Arsenal aspire to, but a financial connection with Ulmanov ain't one of 'em.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/apr/13/stan-kroenke-arsenal-louis-rams
1. She's is definitely not hard up.
2. Arsenal shares don't pay dividends, so there's never been a pay-out, and so in no sense has her investment ever earned for her. The price has appreciated for sure, but at no point has she ever taken money out of the club.
3. Things have already panned out. Deserted by greed-driven allies on the board, 'forced' to walk away from any power at Arsenal, the woman should wash her hands of it and let Stan and Alisher fight mano a mano. Naked swathed in baby oil. In a pit with a sawdust floor, lightly strewn with fresh hay.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/mattslater/
Campbell IS starting
Van Percy will be in the squad
Check out these classics.
aka geoff p makes a last minute fight back
aaka Chizzle dun fell off
1 PMGarden who me 49 2093
2 Arse'n'Wenger Marc Dos 36 1999
3 Rio Merk'd Me Ali J 35 1995
4 unity geoff p 41 1976
5 PC brigade Paul Chase 24 1973
PMGarden has had the top spot pretty much sewn up for some time now, but the next 4 spots could go to the last game of the season.
Fear of f*cking with the formula have seen me put in scores around average for the last month. I think I may actually weep with gratitude when this comes to an end though I'll miss having the activity to do Friday afternoons.
Still the WC one should start shortly.
Rooney(C)-Fest again?
Best believe I'm not cursing any England players with captaincy.
What do you think Doc? Time for a change?
Liverpool's form this season looks like burn-out after the exertions of last year, but they've had cash and spent, but maybe not so wisely.
He jumped the shark long ago in this job.
He should go if only for the stark digging choice: rooting throgh Maghull chazzas looking for Chuddie Nuddies 45s amid a sea of Deacon Blue and rinked scouse house vs trips to Milan's sun-dappled street markets with a proper frothy coffee talmbout euofunk 45s in pukka paper pic sleeves and fly bellas walking along seductively sucking down ice creams.
I mean, what kind of choice is there to make?
The most menacing development is the prospect of Citeh sewing up a Champs League spot - once astronomical wages are partnered with playing in European competition, I fear that Citeh will have a much easier time convincing the best players from other clubs to jump ship. Liverpool, out of the Champs League, will wonder how much wonga it would take for Torres or Gerrard to wear sky blue. Arsenal, with their prudent wage structure, might see more names joining Adebayor & Toure. Spurs have some good players that might get fed up with 'Arry's twitch. Only Chelsea would look immune really.