I’m currently on holiday in Gran Canaria and cutting a long story short, can’t get any WiFi via the hotel.
Fortunately, thanks to 3 mobile’s excellent “Feel at home” benefit, I can get online via my phone.
Unfortunately, I’m rubbish at typing on a phone and find it really tedious, so forgive me for quite a bit of cutting and pasting, courtesy of the Birmingham Mail.
First, Xia apparently outright rejected a £30mill bid for 30% of the club, which on the face of it, is a decent proposal.
“Of course there were some proposals of their own.
One of those was to sell star performer Jack Grealish for no less than £40m – and use all of the incoming funds as operating capital”.
I’d guess that was because it just isn’t enough money.
Next, if the Mail are to be believed, he has now turned down a second offer for 51% of the club, although there’s no mention of how much money is involved.
I’d guess that either the valuation is too low or that the bid required Xia to pump some of his own money into the club, which he just can’t do.
The good news is that it seems both parties were willing to make heavy investments.
And there are still other interested parties.
I personally now wonder what Xia wants and I suspect it’s a total sale.
Hence I reckon we’re going to be looking at new owners and the “investor” part is a bit of a smokescreen.
Which might be a good thing, but we all know there are plenty of shysters out there.
Talking of which, Xia has been censured by the Shanghai stock exchange for claiming to have sold a company to someone.
Nowt wrong with that, but it seems that the “someone” was another of Xia’s own companies and that part wasn’t stated.
That’s tantamount to downright fraud and shows Xia in a really bad light.
It’s probably another example of how desperate Xia has become and puts the lid on the “not able to get money out of China” talk.
The story comes from a new site, Villaleaks.com.
I’d love to know who’s behind that.
Who has the agenda to want Xia in trouble and knows the right sort of places to look, I wonder?
I now sadly believe that regardless of the risk of selling to yet another owner we don’t know, Xia has to go.
The trouble is, we might get yet another totally opaque Chinese owner.
On a brighter note, it’s been a great World Cup up to now, hasn’t it?
Comments
105 responses to “Xia rejects second bid, why? And be careful what you wish for”
God, I hate phones for typing. Bloody corrective text has buggered the title!
On holiday again Badger, you must have a brilliant job, I’ve not got mine till October, still its a 5 star cruise.I read all that today and it looks grim to know this owner not a man that botherd. I’ve also read that a group of fans have written letters wanting to know what’s he up to with our club.the Scum are back in training and off to some far distant land playing other countries. The fear now is how far are we behind in being organized. Albion are offering Man shite 5 million for Johnston and we are standing still. Oh happy days , hey have a good time Badger don’t know why you went its bleeding hot here.😆
Well if 70 hours a week is a brilliant job, I’m not seeing it Bill.
Yes, the money is good, but it’s useless if you don’t get time to spend it, imo.
Hence holidays are my only luxury.
I only go when work drops off and it has, although it’s only the lull before the shutdown storm in August.
As for the weather, it’s brill here. Not as hot as at home, but nowhere near as sweaty or humid either.
That aside, yes it’s worrying that absolutely nothing is happening on the transfer front.
We run a big risk that if we do sell, we won’t be able to get replacements in.
Let’s hope Xia is true to his word in having the club’s interests at heart and sells quickly.
I must admit I’ve been waiting for a new thread.
The ownership saga is one I have little relish watching. The great English governance of football have their decent tests for new owners of clubs. Yet time and again they have failed our great footballing institutions. We have now had two consecutive foreign owners who swore they were claret and blue through and through. However, they both saddled debt into the club. Neither were grounded in effectively running our club and have ground it into the dirt.
With the massive financial restrictions on our club, I really hope youth gets his head. Even if we initially struggle I have faith that it will come good. Moreover, I believe these players will give more than some of the mercenaries who are now thieving a living off us. Our inept leaders bought into an ideology of “no play, big pay’ for over rated players.
Villa to rise from the ashes. But please please please let us have a new financially responsible owner.
UTV
Cheers for waiting Sid.
I’m afraid it’s a bit difficult posting lately, as there’s not much happening and any news out there is constantly recycled.
Your point is the worry for me too.
I struggle to see beyond us being sold to another “get rich quick” outfit that doesn’t give a toss about the club and only sees the rewards that come with promotion.
Unfortunately, I don’t see us playing a team of kids being the answer either.
We need some sensible investment, with the kids being introduced quicker than they have been, imo.
And sadly, much reduced expectations from us fans.
Which will be the hardest part for any new owner to manage.
It’s a bl***y mess and I’m fearful that any outcome will be a bad for the club. It seems that there are potential bidders but I suspect they don’t solve the cash flow problems without Xia having to reinvest a substantial portion of the funds he receives
Yep, that’s exactly the point I was getting at Hitch.
Who’s going to trust Xia, if he can’t put his own money where his mouth is?
According to the Mirror –
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/aston-villa-owner-dr-tony-12840912
Xia has ruled out selling the club to Americans. Looks like our options have narrowed even further.
Got a bad feeling about all this so thank God for the World Cup to take my mind off it for a bit.
Par57, that took my breath away about not wanting to sell to the yanks. Whats he up too, he will ruin our club with that type of attitude, I’m now thinking Learner sale upset him in some way ,now he’s hurting the club. I just dont understand what’s going on.
What we read of Xia’s comments backs up my hunch that he is just a front man. With the US and China trading insults rather than goods it is probably advisable for Xia to rule out a sale to Yanks that would not play well in China this week. It could all change next week.
What has moved on is the agenda. Xia’s continued ownership of Villa, backed with more investment in the FC, is no longer possibility. He is a seller, and approaching being a distressed one if he is going to be picky about whose money he takes.
OLL, at the end of the day, Xia’s a businessman, as he said himself.
Which tells me he’d sell to anyone, much as it might not be a culturally good idea.
I agree, he’s probably a front man.
I also think there’s another, better deal on the table.
Else, if he’s so distressed, I don’t see how he can pick and choose.
He’s also shown himself to be a gambler – and gamblers become increasingly desperate for that one ‘big win’ which, invariably, fails to materialise.
We may well be in the sort of trouble Portsmouth found themselves in – I just hope I’m being overly pessimistic.
The history on Portsmouth Hitch as it was a family run concern, they owned a motor sale company and money was being used to support it, when it went tits up it came to light Portsmouth had no money, my company boss joined a consortium to save it but that failed. Other buyer bought it outright, that don’t hide the fact we are in desperate situation heads are down and hearts are broken over a Chinese gamblers whim.
was anybody else impressed with the japanese team last night, i was gob smacked to how well drilled their team was, how high they pressed and how long they kept up this high tempo up. they had 5 or 6 players high pressing belgium backk line and the middle of midfield. that prevents belgium building any of their tippy tappy build ups play they love, also japan had loads of movement with the ball. they had always had options always had width it was a joy to watch the old 442 cope well in the modern day where teams pack midfield.
just hearing johnstone has signed for baggies, some villa fans saying we should have, could have lol we cant afford anybody let alone 6.5 million, we fans have got to start understanding the shit we are really in, we need to reduce wages and live within our reduced income. if they don’t find 40 million ish we might have a ban on incoming transfers. then we won’t be able to bring anybody in at all.
last summer about the same time of year. you couldnt shut bruce up or the drx we learned he holidays in portugal and he was getting terry drunk to sign for villa. compare that to this time around, hes quiet as a mouse, drx tweets every second, except since after the defeat at wembley, its a deafening silence.
their are still few harden fan, not reading or believing papers or watching the news outlets, they will continue to doubt anything wrong. they ignore the alarms its just a warning were staying put, until we see the flames ravage us
i will ask you all when will this end.
We have become the laughing stock of the Midlands – just like in the 60’s – something I’d hoped never to see again.
We are f……..
I despair
My god, watching England is like watching the Villa. Sitting back late on. Southgate, you utter wanker.
Definitely Hitch, this episode has dragged us back years, its plain on your face that we been chewed up and spat out by this Chinaman that gambles in business. I cannot see a way out if he’s playing silly sods like I won’t sell to the American, can you honestly see anyone but a yank to come up with 80 million net. We might have sold 20 thousand seats but I gamble sales are down in all departments.
Spot on Bill. He’s just trying to save face and massage a few Chinese egos with his anti America stance. It’s our club and he has no right to play politics with it.
He’s turning out to be a bigger disaster than Lerner. We should have realised when he came in with his own version of proud history, bright future.
The amount of times Columbia players have put the knee in is a total disgrace. Dirty bastards.
But be honest Badger, we’ve created nowt. Apart from the penalty we haven’t tested their keeper once. Typically poor England performance.
england were poor for me also, for a hour they were on top, by that i mean they had the chance to create more chances, if they pressed home their advantages. they failed to build a lead or add to the lead during this time. they lost control of the game and almost came a cropper in the end. we should have put that game to bed long before penalties. we ended up winning and thats great. but we could have have easily lost this game. we could have won that game fair more comfortably than the dreaded pens. maybe this is lessoned learned.
Let’s not be fooled by the penalty win, we were poor. Typical England performance. Disjointed, lack of movement, inability to keep possession. I thought Southgate was going to be braver but felt he froze last night.
As for Villa and Xia. We just need this resolved. The fact that there are interested parties gives me some hope, but we could just as easily end up with an even worse owner (I remember saying the same when Lerner sold up). The amount of money in football just attracts all the chancers, looking to buy the club on borrowed money and milk it for their own personal gain.
So, having said we just need this resolved I’ve said it could end up worse. Go figure.
Well DS Villa, it’s got worse, the director of football has left his post, that leaves Bruce in a bigger predicament. It never rains but pours on Villa.
Bill – not just left but dismissed by Xia according to the Telegraph. The EFL are getting nervous about Villa’s ability to finance this year’s EFL season and also be competitive – again according to the Telegraph.
It’s beginning to look as if Xia’s on a ‘suicide’ mission with the club – unless he’s prepared to sell at least part of his ownership quickly with new investment as part of the deal then I see no alternative than administration and the first thing the administrators will do (apart from looking for a new owner) will fire sale our best assets. So not only will we have a -12 points penalty but no team to speak off. It’s going to be a long way back.
Shit Hitch, and I thought it would go away. So our saviour is a Chinese snake and out to sink us into liquidation. it’s getting worse by the minute Hitch and I,cannot remember a worsening time for Villa. God help us.
Sorry for the emotive language chaps, but we’re going nowhere under Southgate, imo.
Where was the midfield?
Anyway, we’ve sacked our director of football?
Is that Steve Round?
I’m now very worried.
why?
you have backed failure bruce all along
JV – we accept that you don’t support Bruce but his or the club’s failure to achieve promotion in no way explains or excuses Xia and the Board for failing to manage the clubs finances in a responsible manner – in my view the owner, the former CEO and the Board have failed in their fiduciary duties.
Bruce and Round made recommendations to the Board who set the financial budgets within which the manager had to work. Of course if it makes you feel better to blame all that on Bruce as well then so be it.
I believe the fans are within their rights to expect the owner and the board to act in a prudent and sensible manner. The Board have failed the club and the fans. To gamble everything on promotion in the EFL – no matter who is the manager – is downright negligence.
There is no doubt that the financial gamble was a massive mistake. Having the wrong manager sits alongside that as just as bad. Compare our spend to that of Wolves. Compare their manager and style of play to ours. Defend Bruce if you want, but it just wasn’t good enough. Here’s an easy forecast. If he stays in the job next season won’t be good enough either. Then again, the excuses are already made.
DS I wasn’t defending Bruce per se but to suggest or imply that we, the fans, shouldn’t be surprised over the financial state of the club because Bruce is our manager is, frankly, nonsense.
Yes its him, me and Hitch feel the road to oblivion is just around the corner. Boy its unbelievable that not one Villa businessman as come to the rescue .
Because they all understand the nature of football – too risky financially.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/cash-strapped-aston-villa-tell-12852055
Bill this story won’t help allay your fears either. Reinforces what OLL has been saying.
I suspect JV may get his wish; don’t be surprised if Bruce goes this week with McDonald put in charge.
If I was a potential investor looking at Villa I’d disappear until the administrator is appointed. Wonder what odds I could get?
Talk about a prefect way to sabotage the new season and everything Xia personally hoped to achieve. For being a great motivator Xia sure does have a funny way of doing it. Unless there is a new owner(s) on there way this week, I honestly can’t see the club having a future – or gate – under the current regime. Given the dire press and lack of communication with supporters, I’m sure demostations are right around the corner too.
On the plus side Villa Park may finally get “safe” standing out of necessity – no chairs.
why sack round ????? seems pointless to me and the timing is even stranger. if he was always going to sack him, why not after wynes got the chop. now players are returning for preseason training and the club is in a right old mess. might as well concede wave the white flag before the season starts.
all summer this nonsense has played out, nothing seems to be sorted, confusion goes all the way through the club. might as well do us all a favour and sack jvillan daddy sack bruce and then have no football knowledge at all.
you can see all the clubs wanting to buy a villa reject, rubbing their hands, knowing dealing with us will be like taking candy of a baby, no way will will get any bids of market value for any players while this circus is in town.
back to name calling again ,such a baby nath,same old post nath knows it all ha what a laugh
yuo bean two shcolo i sea” i magnde to raed yoru opst
The fact is Xia is selling all or part of the club. That isn’t going to happen as fast as we would like. Remember when Lerner sold out? It took months, even years. The club is in a crisis, and we fans want an instant solution. The only thing that could happen really quickly is administration. If it rumbles on then that suggests that Xia can at least keep us afloat while he finds an answer. The bad side of that is that Xia’s answer isn’t necessarily the same as ours would be. Delay and uncertainty will not help us prepare for next season, but I don’t think we can do anything about that apart from moan.
nobody is gonna buy us if we sell grealish and the better players. then if we don’t sell the better players we cant meet the ffp rules. seems like we are in a catch 22
To be honest Nath, the way things have gone I’d get the fraud squad in. Over 10 years ago we was solvents, owned houses across the way club was our the bowling Alli you name it we owned it. God knows what’s happened , and if they knew why wasn’t things said.
i heard over the grape vines that the club accepted two bids today, but i cant find anything on this, must have been b/s fake news. pissed off with this shit i think we are pissing in the wind with villa this season
Nath, according to reports there are two other bidders interested but no offers received. This might be what you heard?
great so i wasn’t imaging that. my mate txt me earlier saying these two bids of 51% were accepted. but i checked all news i found nothing just more chaos sacking of round
fancy that nath,the doc didnt inform such an important knob of what he is doing,