Liverpool FC Forum

We have said it for years, when he gets bored and sells them they will implode. Apparently he will not call in the debts and all net proceeds to the sale will go to the victims of the Ukrainian war. Sounds far fetched but time will see, if anything a new owner may make them more stable and not fire the manager every year, especially if they are debt free.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sportsnews/article-10568873/Chelsea-Q-Roman-Abramovich-wants-3BILLION-it.html

Even if Abramovich is gone I think Chelsea will unfortunately continue to compete on the big stage. One can hope though..

Who's going to buy a football club with £1.5b worth of debt?

Apparently he wants to sell for 3 billion and forgive the 1.5 billion debt, he will probably not get anywhere near that with 1.5 billion more likely. He wants to sell quick because he is afraid of being sanctioned but quick sales normally get a much lower price. The vultures probably smell blood and are circling. He is as crooked as crooked can get so hopefully some sweet karma on the way. Chelsea have been living way beyond their means with issues associated with their stadium, which they don’t own.

Life will probably change for Chelsea supporters as without a sugar daddy they would not be able to pay salaries let alone buy top players. If American owners buy them will they follow our model or put the club into debt like ManUre? They have a lot of players moving on this summer so could get quite interesting. Imagine if he has loaned the club 1.5 billion over 20 years that is 75 million per year that they over spent, not a formula for success.

There was a reason for FFP rules and it is just this, it is not beyond the realm of possibilities that they get into financial strife and fall down the leagues, it happened to Leeds and they are a bigger club historically. Maybe it is needed that Chelsea fall for more emphasis on FFP again, with better enforcement this time. Could easily happen to City, PSG, Newcastle and all the other sugar daddy clubs. It is bigger than hating Chelsea fans and wanting them to suffer, it is about the direction of football and this could serve as a timely reminder.

Just my opinion.

Being honest I think it's a shame that he is being hounded out in fear of having the club taken off him. He's been a good owner for Chelsea and has put them on the map as a club. Not being ignorant either about how he got his money but that was somehow not a problem until now.  Its not even clear as to what his relationship is like with putin and highly doubtful he has any influence over him anyway.

In terms of the sale. All the money they owe is to him and not financial institutions so it will be debt free when any new owner takes over.

Being honest I find it disgusting that anything Russian is being targeted for what Putin is doing. I get taking the CL final out of there and it was the right move but the Olympic committee kicking the paralympians out is a disgrace. Sporting institutions should always remain neutral in matters outside of their remit.

Newcastle are owned by the Saudi government but somehow escape any criticism despite their war in Yemen and the human rights abuses they carry out in their own country. Chopping up a journalist on foreign soil because he tells the truth about their dictator has actually opened doors and hearts for them which stinks of absolute hypocrisy.

War is wrong regardless of who's doing it and where its happening so any country partaking in it should be hit with the same level of sanctions and disgust that Russia is experiencing for their war.

From a philosophical view what you say is correct but the whole FFP was really set up for individuals like Abramovich who come in, basically bully the league, spend a lot more than what the club earns and at some point get bored or run out of steam and leave the club, a national institution, with severe debt. Football clubs are bigger than the owners and should live longer. Chelsea have been guilty of circumventing the rules in regards to FFP rules, their strategy of buying all young talent than loaning them out so to own them caused the league to change the rules because it was not good for those young player, but money talks…..

I don’t feel sorry for him one bit, he was born from corrupt practices, he operated through corrupt practices and he is certainly in Putin’s inner circle other wise he would have been put in jail or poisoned. I don’t believe he has control of Putin or an ability to change his mind as he is more of a minion. Years ago Putin rounded up all these Russian Oligarchs and they had two choices, pay him 50% of their ill gotten gains or face jail/death. These Oligarchs are where Putin hides his billions and are implicit in his dealings. The west sanctioning all the Oligarchs and their families is probably the only way to have Putin run out of money and thus stop the war.

If Putin manages to take over Ukraine then Poland is probably next (in time anyway), that would probably mean war in Europe and the “Sh*t will get real”. History repeats itself and this situation is alarming and bigger than football. Invading Ukraine has far reaching consequences and needs to be stopped before it burns out of control, the only way to do that is stop the money.

Imagine all these professional Ukrainian athletes two weeks ago were playing in their respective leagues and now many have left their families to go back and defend their country and many will probably die, it turned so fast and could easily and probably will spread further. So  Abramovich at the end of the day is a party to all this and should not be painted as a victim….. you live by the sword, you die by the sword and I hope they stick it to him.

I would have thought at this stage Kazza everyone could see FFP for what it is and that is not worth the paper it's printed on. It's designed to keep the big clubs with the big debts where they are. Telling other clubs they can't spend beyond their means is laughable when the Clubs at the top owe ridiculous money. Abramovich put his own money in to Chelsea and isn't fleecing them every year to get it back. He isn't bored either but is selling because he is being forced to. Uefa are as corrupt as fook mate and just watch as the big clubs divvy up the 7 billion covid fund between them and drip the pennies down to the rest. Football isn't going to suddenly dissappear if the likes of Manure, Real and Barca went broke but that is the last thing UEFA would allow.

Abramovic made it after the collapse of the USSR through acquiring state assets for a fraction of the price. He's labelled a scumbag for that but in the west he would be a capitalist and idolised. He's also one of the many oligarchs who donate to the tories and has avoided any sanctions to date. If he was as close to putin as is made out then he would have been sanctioned years ago like when putin annexed crimea and supported 2 breakaway regions. He won't leave Chelsea in debt either as that will be done by whoever buys it.

Once upon a time in Russia is a book wrote by a guy called Ben Mezrich and it documents the rise and fall of the oligarchs. I can't recall any mention of putin taking half there money off them. It was the opposite as in he told them mother Russia had given them enough but no more. He then exiled a good chunk of them to londongrad where they were welcomed with open arms. Putin is filthy wealthy and no fool so these threats of sanctions on him and his cronies is just waffle to appease the masses. He is also not stupid enough to leave his money where any western bank can seize it likewise the oligarchs. They might get their hands on a few assets but they have had years to find ways of putting it well beyond the reach.

A couple of books I have about Putin:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/000 ... UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/030 ... UTF8&psc=1

Once you read these amongst others, you'll understand all you need to know about mafia godfather Putin.

Concerning FFP, there was a good article in the Daily Telegraph the other day highlighting the small chance that sides being promoted from the Championship will ever have to compete within the top 4. It's a great achievement to be in the PL, but as Everton, Villa, Palace etc.. know, it's a different world to be in the 7th to 12th place region, 5th and 6th costs a couple of hundred million and top 4 is largely impossible unless 300-400 million is available over 4-5 years. The distribution of income is so top heavy in the top 4 that they can spend the required amounts from revenue whilst extending the ground etc. however clubs lower down need sugar daddy gifts to propel them up the table.

It's sad but true, only mismanagement (Man Utd) will see a club leave the top 4, whereas clubs will spend hundreds of millions and fail to improve or penetrate the top 4 (Everton, Villa, Spurs etc..). Klopp has worked miracles, where would we be if we'd given the same money to Brendan Rodgers etc..? Probably still in 5-6th.

Reg wrote:A couple of books I have about Putin:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/000 ... UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/030 ... UTF8&psc=1

Once you read these amongst others, you'll understand all you need to know about mafia godfather Putin.

Hope I didnt come across as an Putin apologist as that would not be my intention at all. The man is a total ballbag imo. My points were just highlighting how sanctions didnt and probably wont have the effect people think they will.

At the moment I am currently reading this  https://www.easons.com/prisoners-of-geo ... gKoHPD_BwE
Grabbed this one at the same time as they had a deal on https://www.easons.com/east-west-street ... gLuH_D_BwE
Will keep an eye out for one of those that you listed next time I am Travelling as that's when I usually book shop 

With regards to FFP. They were talking last year about changing the focus from " break even" to focus more on wages and fees. If that goes ahead it still isn't going to improve the fortunes of the newly promoted clubs or the clubs trying to take that next step into CL qualification. In 10 years time the same clubs will still dominate despite owing vast sums. Already the bigger clubs have shares in many other clubs so the likes of City will just loan players from one entity to the other splitting the wage.

Red, don't worry I hadn't considered you as a pinko!

I read 'THE POWER OF GEOGRAPHY' over summer, also by Tim Marshall. Excellent book and got my sons to read it, the kind of book that explains many things to young minds.

I have also read EAST WEST STREET ! A great read, tragic, but amazing that both genocide and crimes against humanity should come from 2 men from the same city. And that Lviv is once again in the centre of a war.

Both books thoroughly recommended to everyone reading this.

In a slightly different vein, I'm currently reading https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blue-Star-Line ... 057200849X  which I found for £4 in a local bookshop and 'Once is Enough' by Miles Smeeton, the story of a guy who sailed a wooden yacht round Cape Horn with his wife and a young guy as crew back in 1956 and how they barely survived after the boat was badly damaged. Usual stuff.

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11668/12562138/chelsea-owner-roman-abramovich-sanctioned-by-uk-government

His assets have been frozen and no longer allowed to sell the club

So they cannot sell any tickets only current season ticket holders can watch match. They cannot sell merchandise. They have sponsors abandoning them, 3 have asked for their name to be removed from shirts. Cannot sell or buy players. With their wage bill its going to be tough just getting to the end of the season.

Their fans were more than happy with the dodgey dealings, still sing about Gerrard’s slip even though they won nothing that year, they had no issues that their owner was as crooked as they come, they didn’t care where he got that money, cheered when their players and managers cheated on a regular basis then accused the other teams of cheating when they lost. Despicable fans that bought their history through corruption and underhand dealings.

I have no issues with what is happening to that club. Same might happen to Newcastle at some point.

Chelsea friend of mine is mega depressed....   especially after I told him there's a rumour UEFA are going to null their CL victory due being based on dodgy finances!