Anindya Bakrie

Yes a nice sound bite to get the fans on side and very welcome, but what are all these people really here for and how long will they stay?

The same question asked of 99% of owners at every club every time. What if the answer is the same, to enjoy owning an English club (as he says). And try and make some money. (Which he probably will) if we get promoted in the next couple of years (as he says). He also has vast experience of running football clubs, which isn’t always the case

Very rarely do u get the 1% with genuine best interest of the club. And when u do they often ain’t quite rich enough and it nearly bankrupts them
 
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Very encouraged with his comments. He knows as well as others on the board, they must start keeping fans in the loop. Keep the fans on side, and show some ambition not just words, and bums will fill seats.

Could be some very exciting timed ahead, especially as they say they will pump money in too.
 
Just in case anyone misses it as it’s not under the heading - “the plan”

Here’s Erick giving some detail on timescale.


And there’s also a 55min fans forum tonight, giving some more communication


6.05pm is the start for the 55 minute Fans Forum on Rad Ox.
 
Questions that are being asked again and again on here: how long will he/they stay? , how will they make the club sustainable?

Answer to both are : impossible to tell. Financially they will lose money, but they are billionaires, this is a billionaires playground stuff played by those fortunate to be part of the 1% who have 99% of the world's wealth (what a f*cked up world in which we live) so in taking on an annual fee they are essentially paying their fantasy football subscription fee (be it a larger one but one they can comfortably afford) with the aim of overseeing this world renowned city's football club to the dizzying heights of the Premier league (motivation: fans adoration? (good luck with us lot lol), willy waving? (I've got a bigger club than yours ?... sideways!). Who knows?...
I don't think they will be looking to sell (maybe Tiger might at some point as he is the 'least' wealthy of the lot) or asset strip as they don't exactly need the money (granted this might change - a global financial meltdown for example).. If/when our billionaires leave it will probably be when they are just bored... Like when a lot of us got when we could no longer be a*sed to update our fantasy team anymore, eventually dropping out of the league in favour of playing 'candy crush saga' or something else instead (like getting a life) . Here is hoping Erik and the boys are entertained long enough for a new stadium and for a few 7-0 thrashings of Swindon whenever we meet (in a cup competition obvs ?). ???⚽??
 
It's good to have it cleared up a little - it should quell some of the rumour mongering that's been flung about - and refocus the club with next season. I hope the nonsense of the WUPs are a thing of the past. Good to know it wasn't a one and done appearance from Thohir.

Feels like (another) big summer for OUFC.
 
Just in case anyone misses it as it’s not under the heading - “the plan”

Here’s Erick giving some detail on timescale.


And there’s also a 55min fans forum tonight, giving some more communication
couple of years!! expect to go up next season. Erick out
 
I expect the plan is to invest hundreds of millions as a show of Indonesian and Thai soft power, a bit like Abu Dhabi and Man City.

To be fair, unlike a lot of clubs, we do at least have some history of a rich owner bringing success. We were on the verge of bankruptcy when Maxwell took over and this could be more of the same with Tiger and Erick. I can see two successive promotions going up as champions both times, off to Wembley to win a major cup competition, Tiger diving into the North Stand when we play Pompey to break up a fight with his bow tie. Then Erick decides he prefers Derby County and his son takes over at Oxford, immediately selling our best striker to Derby. This to be followed by and long a torturous decent to the Conference, strung out over many years, with the only bright spot being Paul Moody's hat-trick away to Cardiff.
 
Why are they here? To make money, that's what businessmen do. It's what SD wanted, it's what Satori wanted, and unsurprisingly it's what Tiger and co. want.

However, you have to look at how they make money out of Oxford. We have no assets. They can't just sell off the ground for housing. As good as some of our prospects are, selling off Whyte, Brannaghan and others would only cover the operating losses until all installments are made.

So they way to make money is either to achieve promotions to maximise TV revenue, or to develop/build a stadium and get all associated revenue, or both.

Promotion to the championship is achievable with additional investment in players, but as Sunderland are looking to prove, this offers no guarantees. That is why the stadium option looks the most likely.

Why Oxford? Global, Oxford is as big a name as any outside of London, Liverpool and Manchester. It also gives a realistic opportunity for gain, not just as a club but as a global brand.

So, this is why "random Asian businessmen" want to get involved with out club, and they have the wealth and experience to succeed where others haven't. Of course, they might find that getting land and building a stadium in Oxford is much harder than they imagined. They might find a better prospect to invest in. They might just get bored and walk away. But the indications are that they have done their homework as far as possible sites, employed the very best people to do the initial feasibility studies etc. They have concluded other commitments and are now coming out to talk about their initial plans for the future.

People don't like change, especially when change has normally resulted in us experiencing more and more problems, but I'm struggling to see anything but positives with these guys getting involved.
 
Good to hear from Erick.

A new empowered CEO with relevant experience please, gents. Then plenty of action to back up the platitudes.

This is the issue. You demand to know their plans then say actions speak louder than words! So maybe give them the time to put their plans into action before damning them, I don't think you'll need to wait long!!
 
As good as some of our prospects are, selling off Whyte, Brannaghan and others would only cover the operating losses until all installments are made.

Just an aside here. I get the confusion with Ruffels, but why do so many people on here add an H when spelling Brannagan?
 
This is the issue. You demand to know their plans then say actions speak louder than words! So maybe give them the time to put their plans into action before damning them, I don't think you'll need to wait long!!
Why wouldn't I? Actions need to follow or they're not just platitudes, they're empty.

They don't need to be today, but time moves very quickly.
 
It's a case of being cautiously optimistic. We have heard similar things from past owners and shareholders. There is nothing wrong with aiming for the Championship, but the gap between that and League One, financially is huge. I would be looking for them to resolve the stadium issue first. We just have to give them time to put their plans together. It does sound like in the meantime, there might be a decent budget for next season and the plan is to try and keep the team together.
 
What if these guys are looking to buy the whole site - Ground, Cinema, one of the Hotels? Kassam would be a very unpleasant neighbour so it could be .." there you are Firoz, now f***off!"

I thought the Cinema had already been sold by Kassam?
 
What if these guys are looking to buy the whole site - Ground, Cinema, one of the Hotels? Kassam would be a very unpleasant neighbour so it could be .." there you are Firoz, now f***off!"
I agree that Kassam would be an awful neighbour.
I can imagine problems with car parks, and there would be legal disputes/ arguments.
I think that from a financial perspective IF the club can move it will.
 
The same question asked of 99% of owners at every club every time. What if the answer is the same, to enjoy owning an English club (as he says). And try and make some money. (Which he probably will) if we get promoted in the next couple of years (as he says). He also has vast experience of running football clubs, which isn’t always the case

Very rarely do u get the 1% with genuine best interest of the club. And when u do they often ain’t quite rich enough and it nearly bankrupts them
That is rubbish as you know, there was an entourage of 20 people in the restaurant Saturday, the board their advisers and security, they flew in from all over the world.
That doesn’t strike me as the format to chuck a few million at a football club to enjoy, they had a vary of skills and expertise, there is a bigger picture here and hopefully we will all end up happy.
 
I thought the Cinema had already been sold by Kassam?
I thought when he first built the Ozone, no cinema chain wanted to take it on, so Kassam ran it for several years.
What if these guys are looking to buy the whole site - Ground, Cinema, one of the Hotels? Kassam would be a very unpleasant neighbour so it could be .." there you are Firoz, now f***off!"
I've always thought that could be a problem with buying the stadium and trying to run conferences / weddings without also owning the hotels. So at present, if I were running the conferences I imagine that there would be a good deal for the organiser for hotel rooms around the ground as they are under joint ownership.

Also I'm not sure that Kassam really wants a Championship level club and its crowds clogging up the rest of the Ozone once a fortnight, potentially stopping development of the overflow carpark etc.
 
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